Cedric fell onto his cot with a thud, letting out a sigh as he did.
He had been at Camp Green Lake for almost two months and he still didn't have any leads about his list. There were several guys that he suspected but they all fell through. That left him back at square one and he was stuck there for sixteen more months. He knew patience was the only way to solve anything. It was a fact his Grandfather had told him everyday during training. Still, it didn't help him in this situation.
He heard footsteps and turned towards them, "Hey, X."
X-Ray sat on the cot across from Cedric's. "Moose, ya hear the news?" He shifted his dirt-covered glasses and waited for an answer.
"No, what news?" Cedric asked after sitting up. Knowing X-Ray, the news could have been anything. X-Ray did know more than everyone in camp, so Cedric put up with the daily news report.
Moving a little closer, X-Ray cleared his throat, "There's a new kid coming to camp. And I heard that there's something different about 'im."
"What?" This got Cedric's attention. "What's so different about him?" Cedric couldn't help but smile a little. This news meant that the person he was looking for could possibly be on his way to camp.
X-Ray shrugged, "Don't know. I just heard that there's something weird about him." Standing up, he smacked Cedric on the back. "By the way, he's coming today. We're all gonna hang out by the hoops and wait for the bus. You gonna come with us?"
"Yeah, why not." Trying to hide his obvious excitement, Cedric got up and followed.
000
As the car continued to drive, Giselle took a deep breath. She glanced over to the seat next to her. Ulric sat still, flipping a page in a file that was resting on his lap.
It bothered Giselle knowing that he was there. She could still remember him tutoring her and Damien, always correcting them whenever they needed it but still being their friend. She felt like she had let him down, being shipped off to another mortal punishment.
"Ulric," She started, "Say something. You haven't talked to me since we left."
He put down the papers and looked at her. "This is the third juvenile detention center you've been to in the past two months." He stared at her a little longer before turning his attention back to the file. "What do you want me say?"
Giselle let out a deep breath. "I've apologized. It's not like I want all of this to happen. I just don't understand anything. I don't understand why all of this is happening." Folding her arms to her chest, she sat back in her seat, glad she spoke her mind.
"I could tell you why." Ulric looked at her the way she always hated. "The clan, your father - they weren't mad that you decided to work with humans, although your father wasn't too happy about it. What happened was that you're becoming more like them everyday. You've become a criminal just like humans do. As a clan, it's our job to make sure you learn from your mistakes." He looked out the window.
Fighting back tears, Giselle looked at him, "It's not that. I don't understand how they could disown me like that. I don't know what lesson that's teaching me. Going though all this is bad enough, but to lose my family just makes it worse." She tugged on his shoulder, forcing him to look at her. "I'm still a vampire. I live with humans but that doesn't change me."
They sat in silence a while longer before Giselle heard Ulric take a breath to speak but was cut off when the car started to slow down. That's when Giselle noticed the buildings – rundown and ugly. She began taking it all in when she saw them. She saw all the boys that she'd be living with for the next eighteen months. A knot formed in her throat and she scanned the area. That's when she noticed the woman, standing outside one of the buildings with two men. They were waiting for her, and she didn't like it.
000
As the car pulled up, it seemed like every boy in the camp was outside, waiting to see who it was. Cedric couldn't understand why there was a car and not a big yellow school bus like the one he had come to camp in. It just didn't make any sense.
"Look at that car." Armpit leaned against the basketball hoop and stared at the car. Cedric looked around and noticed that all of D-Tent was watching.
Magnet elbowed Caveman, pointing at the car, "Maybe that means it's someone famous. Don't famous people have cars like that?"
"Why would a famous person come here?" Squid commented. "If they're rich, don't you think they'd go somewhere a lot better than here?"
All the guys agreed in unison. They turned they're attention back to the car as it pulled to a stop. Silence fell over the camp as the door opened. The first one to get out was an older man who looked like he spent everyday in the office. His suit looked too perfect as he walked around to the other side of the car. He opened the door and spoke to someone inside. As he straightened up, the other passenger stepped out of the car.
Cedric rubbed his eyes to make sure he was seeing correctly. She definitely wasn't what any of them were expecting, for many reasons. She was tall and her skin was paler than Cedric had ever seen. Her black hair made it look even more noticeable. Cedric stared at her as he got to his feet. "Is that…?"
"Yeah, man." Caveman answered without looking away from her. "I just…don't believe it."
"It's a girl." X-Ray said. He sounded a little confused. "Why is it a girl?"
The others stood in total silence. Cedric managed to look away and saw that the others seemed as confused as X-Ray sounded. He understood why. Camp Green Lake was an all boys camp. It didn't make any sense that a girl would show up. Especially a girl like that. That's when a thought struck him. What if she was who he was looking for?
