Chapter 29
Sam's heart fell at hearing the boy's words and his mind raced with questions.
"What is it? What happened?" Sam asked before once again filling Ben's lungs with air.
"What's wrong? What're you doing?" Jamie asked, his voice shaking with fear as he too ran back to where Sam was.
"I'm trying to save his life. What happened to Bryce?" Sam asked and beneath him Ben gave a great shuddering cough and started choking on the water he had coughed up. Sam immediately turned the man to his side and waited for him to cough up the remaining water.
"Yes!" Sam exclaimed and rubbed Ben's back as the director continued to cough.
"What happened to Bryce?" Sam said again, all attention focused on the terrified young boy before him with tears sliding rapidly down his cheeks.
"I...I don't really know he's...just ac...acting weird." Timothy sobbed.
"Weird how?" Sam asked, climbing to his feet and following the boys as the camp director continued to cough on the ground.
"He's shouting really loud." Jamie replied.
"What's he saying?"
"I don't know!" Jamie exclaimed, sniffing fretfully.
"Okay, okay, just calm down." Sam said, casting an anxious look back to the boathouse from which Dean still hadn't emerged. He saw Ben had rolled over onto his stomach, exhausted at what had just taken place.
As the group of three came upon the mess hall they could hear hysterical crying coming through the open door and various shouts and cries accompanying it. Sam ran ahead of the two boys and rushed through the door to the dining hall. He saw the other boys spread throughout the large room, all with tears in their eyes and shaking with fear.
"Bryce?" Sam asked gently, approaching the wildly crying child.
"Go away!" Bryce shouted in Sam's face.
"Bryce, I can't do that. Why don't you tell me what's wrong?" Sam asked ,cautiously, upon seeing the wild look in the child's shimmering eyes.
"What's he doing?" Bryce screamed.
"What's who doing, Bryce?"
"Dean! What's he doing?"
"He's just getting something out of the boathouse."
"What's he getting!"
"A doll."
"He can't have it! It doesn't belong to him! It's ours!" Bryce screamed.
"Who are you?" Sam asked, suddenly understanding what was wrong with the child.
"You know who I am! I know you do!" Bryce screamed and shoved Sam back, hard, before shooting into the kitchen and grabbing a large knife from the counter top.
"Bryce, what are you doing with that?" Sam asked anxiously.
"Tell him to get out! The doll is ours! Ben gave it to us!" Bryce shrieked and rushed to Sam, the knife blade turned towards the youngest brother.
Sam rolled out of the way in surprise and then turned to see Bryce standing next to him again, having moved faster than any human being could possibly move. The wild eyed child slashed the knife across Sam's cheek, creating a long, horizontal cut. Sam cursed and brught a hand to the wound.
"Make him get out! Make him stop!" Bryce screamed and thrusted the knife towards Sam again, who dodged it, but just barely.
"Jill, Jenna, let Bryce go and I'll make him stop." Sam said slowly, hoping that Dean was nearly finished.
"Liar! You will not!"
"I will."
Bryce's face was flushed red and tears stained his cheeks as he pulled the knife back and threatened to bring in down on the youngest brother once again. Sam saw a flicker in the child's eyes and the knife stopped, but it looked like it was taking a lot of strength out of the little boy.
"Sam, why is he doing that?" Timothy screamed.
"Bryce, stop, put the knife down." Sam spoke, hoping to get through to the fighting child.
"I...I can't, I'm trying. Sam, make it stop!" Bryce screamed.
"Just fight it, Buddy. Keep fighting!"
"S...sam." Bryce replied and Sam saw that the child was losing control and all at once the child turned the knife on Andrew and grabbed him by the arm.
Andrew screamed and struggled to escape, but Bryce pulled him closer and aimed the knife at the boy's stomach.
"We'll make him do it! Tell Dean to stop!" Bryce yelled and Andrew howled with terror.
"Don't do it!" Sam shouted and lunged forward.
"Then make Dean stop!"
"Okay, okay I will, just let him go!" Sam pleaded.
Bryce shoved Andrew hard forward and the boy fell, striking his head against a table and falling unconscious to the floor.
"Oops!" Bryce shrugged with a grin.
Sam rushed to Andrew as the boy was fluttering his eyes open.
"Wake up buddy." Sam cooed and Andrew opened his tear-filled eyes before reaching up to his counselor. Sam instantly pulled the boy into and embrace and when he looked back, Bryce was gone.
"Where'd he go?" Sam asked.
"He went outside." Erik cried.
"Did he have the knife?" Sam asked and all the boys nodded tearfully.
"Okay, this is very important. Jamie c'mere, put your jacket under Andrew's head. I'm going to go after Bryce and I want one of you to close the door behind me and slide a chair under the door handle so it won't open. Do you know what I mean?" Sam asked. The boys watched Sam cluelessly.
"Um, okay. Like this." Sam said and hurried to shut the door, he pulled a chair from the closest table and forced it under the door handle.
"Got it?"
The boys nodded.
"Good, do it as soon as I leave and don't open it for anyone until Dean or myself, or Ben gets here, alright?"
The children nodded.
"Andrew, stay awake, but don't get up. You guys watch him! I'll send Ben over." Sam said and the children watched the young brother leave.
Lyndon followed Sam to the door and shut it behind him, sliding the chair under the door knob as instructed.
"What's going on?" Greg, one of the other counselors asked as he came running, a few other counselors in tow.
"Go back to your cabins and lock the doors! Keep the kids in bed and don't open the door for anybody! Tell all the others too." Sam snapped quickly.
"Man, tell us what's going on!" Greg snapped back.
"I can't right now, just trust me and do what I said!" Sam replied.
"But..."
"Go!"
The counselors obeyed Sam's orders and Sam took off running toward the quick paced figure of Bryce who was just coming up on a still stunned Ben who was just starting to sit up. Sam saw the director try to reason with the child, but to no avail as Bryce cast him a single, silent glance and then continued to the boathouse.
"Ben, can you get yourself to the mess hall?" Sam asked worriedly.
"Uh I think so, why's Bryce got a knife?" Ben asked tiredly, but anxiously.
"That's not Bryce. Go to the dining hall with the boys, Andrew hit his head, he needs to be watched so he doesn't fall asleep." Sam replied quickly and hauled Ben to his feet.
The director stumbled toward the mess hall, casting worried glances back over his shoulder.
Dean cursed as he heard another round of laughter burst around him. He rushed back toward the door, not having found the doll.
"Sam..I can't...Uh Bryce, buddy what're you doing with that?" Dean asked cautiously, taking a step back.
"Get out, that's not Olivia's doll anymore. Ben left it with us." Bryce said and his voice sounded mingled like more than one person was speaking at the same time.
Dean cast his eyes to the spot where he had left Ben in Sam's care, almost expecting to still see the director laying there, dead. What he saw instead was Sam hauling Ben to his feet and waving him toward the dining hall.
"Girls, didn't your parents ever tell you that stealing is wrong?" Dean asked nervously as Bryce drew closer, pointing the knife blade at him.
