Chapter 6
Thanks to everyone out there for taking the time to read my story. Reviews are always warmly appreciated, and if you ever want to talk, please email me at rina560@hotmail.com
* *
The huge wooden sign that read Rushing Cascades Campground soon came into sight, sending everyone, except for Scott, cheering; he was concentrating on the dirt road ahead, barely visible in the darkness of night.
"Alright," Scott said, his voice rising and falling from the bumpy road, "where's our site?" There was some rustling in the back as Kurt pulled out a paper map, and switched on a flashlight.
"It's right here," he announced, pointing one of his three fingers at the circled location.
"Here, let me see," Scott asked, grabbing the map and slowing the car down somewhat. He chewed his lower lip thoughtfully, then turned back to Kurt.
"Geez man, it's in the middle of nowhere."
"Vell, they vere booked up, except for zome place even further away. Vhat can I zay?"
Scott sighed for a thousandth time and heaved the map behind him, accidentally hitting Rogue.
"Would y'all quit thrownin' things?"
"Sorry," Scott apologized, adjusting his glasses. They were heading past the lake and the recreation room, into the middle of the woods. The group couldn't help but feel a shiver run down their spines, especially with the twisted trees and the thick shadows on either side of the car.
"Oh, this here place sure gives me tha' creeps," Marie muttered, her face pressed up the window pane.
"Ditto," Evan echoed. His face was pale, but he turned away before anyone could see it. They pulled into a niche, where there were no trees. Scott and Ororo were the first to get out, showing no uneasiness whatsoever about the dark woods that surrounded them. The others soon reluctantly followed, and Cyclops immediately began to tell everyone what to do.
Kurt was told to unpack while everyone set up the two tents; he did so, mumbling in German about his bad luck. As he was lifting up one of the coolers, he noticed car lights moving past them. Kurt paid little attention to it, and dragged his burden over to the others.
* *
"There they are," Toad exclaimed, gesturing to the group as they drove past.
"Would you be quiet?" Ms. Darkholme snapped.
Todd didn't reply; instead, he studied Xavier's dorks until they were out of sight. He settled back against the seat, folding his arms in frustrated anger. Out of the corner of his eye he could see Aileen, her hair catching the silver rays of the moon. He watched her, fascinated; he had never been so interested in a girl before. In the darkness, her gaunt features and white skin no longer seemed so ghastly. If anything, they gave her an exotic beauty.
Aileen turned her head and he quickly averted his own eyes, wondering if he was sick or something.
* *
After all that hard work, everyone had settled down around the campfire, eating sandwiches.
"I have an idea," Kurt said. He no longer had the hologram up and now he was his true self-blue, furry, and, at least to Scott, utterly annoying.
"What?" Evan wanted to know, taking a bite out of his turkey sandwich.
"Let's tell zcary ztories!"
"Cool!"
"Ah don't know, y'all. Ah'm kinda tired," Rogue protested. She was sitting off by herself, watching them from across the dancing fire.
"You vuss," Kurt teased.
"Ah'm not. It'll be y'all tha' has nightmares. You know wha' Ah'm talkin' about, Kurt."
Kurt's face turned a deep shade of blue.
"That only happened once. And I vas zeven."
"Try thirteen. And you was screamin' like a hog."
Kurt didn't say anything.
"Fine," Marie sighed, rolling her eyes , " Ah'll tell scary stories with y'all."
"Great!" Kurt shouted, dancing on a nearby log. He plopped himself down beside Evan and leaned forward.
"I vill tell the story," he proclaimed, blue tail lashing. Everyone looked at him, watching as he face became stern.
"There vas once a group of teenagers, much like yourselves," Kurt whispered, "and they drove out to the country by themselvez. They vere just sitting around, vhen suddenly the announcer on the radio zaid that an escaped killer vith a hook had escaped-,"
"This ain't 'The Hook', is it?" Marie demanded.
Kurt, who was doing his best impression of frightened teens in a bad ghost story, paused.
"Vhy?"
"Cause it's tha' worst scary story ever."
"Oh."
"So who will tell the story?" Evan inquired.
"Ah guess Ah will," Rogue answered.
Kurt, looking hurt, settled back down.
"Ah heard this legend from one o' mah dad's friends. According to him, it's really old, probably a hundred years or so," Marie said quietly, the red light from the fire illuminating her face and giving her the hellish face of a demon.
Everyone was deathly silent, listening. Even the animals in the shadowy forest seemed to pay attention to Marie's tale.
"Anyways, there was this section down in the bayous called Dead Man's Land. Ah never been there; no one Ah know has been, though they say tha' forest is strange, all rotten an' tangled. Someone once lived there, in nineteen eleven. His name was Dan Surly, an' he was one o' the nicest men you ever did meet, according to the story. Well, he bought that there land, said he wasn't 'fraid o' no legends and nonsense. So he did; he build a right nice cabin there, by the river. Dan even had guests come over, ta show them all that there weren't ain't no ghosts or monsters. It was during one o' those visits that Dan's old neighbor came over to chat with 'im, and then he heard the weird howlin' outside."
"This isn't zo zcary," Kurt sniffed.
"Just listen. So his friend, Elmer, he asked Dan what all that noise was. The other man replied, 'Tain't nothing but the animals. Nothin' ta worry about.' Elmer was afraid, though, and he was considering going home when there was a knock on the door. Dan went to answer it, but no one was there," Rogue said softly, her eyes glittering.
"'Well, tha' sho' is odd,' Dan said, and closed tha' door. Then there was another knock, an' he flung it open, but no one was there. As Dan peeked out, he saw the reddish stuff on his lawn, an' he took a step forward. "Wha' the hell?' He said, and then he noticed that it seemed like a corpse, and that tha' red liquid smeared across his grass was gleamin' like blood. Dan thought that it was an injured rabbit or something, until he heards a bloodcurdling shriek from the woods. It sent shivers down his spine, and he ran back inside, scared half ta death."
"Then what happened?" Scott asked.
"Dan got his gun an' said there was somethin' in the woods. Elmer was too scared to follow, so he just looked out the window an' watched Dan go into the dark woods. He wasn't gone fo' two minutes when there came another scream, this one sounding like ole Dan's. Poor Elmer didn't know what to do; finally he decided to help Dan. But when he got into tha' woods, he saw Dan, his face twisted in a look o' absolute horror. He was dead, and something had jus' scared him to death."
"Vhat killed him?" Kurt demanded, glancing uneasily about, his face pale.
"Ah don't know. No one does. Some say he saw tha' face of fear itself."
"That was pretty good, Marie. Did you make it up yourself?" Scott asked.
"Ah didn't make it up, Ah swear. Ah really heard it."
"Sure," Scott said, humoring her. He glanced down at his watch, then yawned. After saying good-night to everyone, he crawled into one of the tents and into his sleeping bag, thinking about Marie's story.
* *
It was chilly outside, but the nearby fire warmed her, casting its flickering orange glow on the trees and the thick undergrowth. Aileen sat on a rotten log, her hands wrapped around her knobby knees. She was alone: Ms. Darkholme was spying on their targets and Lance was by himself, most likely smoking. The fire crackled softly, and she held her pale hands toward it, enjoying the heat. She looked up at the clear night sky, at the white stars embedded within the indigo heavens. It was good to be away from home, away from her father and all those hurtful people.
A dry twig snapped behind her, and she turned, startled. A short figure appeared, one with a tangle of light brown hair and gleaming yellowish-green eyes. Todd stepped out into the light, holding a half full bag of marshmallows, his expression unreadable.
"Um, I couldn't get a, uh, fire started. Can I use yours, Phobs, er, Aileen?" He asked, rubbing the back of his grayish neck.
"I don't care," she answered, watching as he sat down across from her on a large rock. Tolensky reached down, found a sharp stick, and proceeded to impale a marshmallow on it, watching Aileen out of the corner of his eye.
"Ya want one?"
"No."
"Uh, okay. Hey, didja hear the one about the teacher and the vampire?" Todd asked eagerly, the light reflecting off of his eyes.
"Yeah. It's gross."
"Uh-huh." He squirmed uneasily. The white light from the crescent moon was washing over her features, and he felt a strange lump in his throat.
"Has-has-," Todd started, feeling his heart thump wildly.
"Has what?"
"Has an-anyone," he licked his dry lips, "eve-every told you were pretty?" There was a long, almost tangible silence, and Aileen's face turned a fire engine red.
"Don't tease me," she said harshly.
"I-I'm not."
Phobia looked at him with a mixture of skepticism and hope.
"No one's ever said that, and really meant it. Everyone always said I was ugly," she told him, and he smiled unhappily.
"I know what you mean. My own mother couldn't stand me," he admitted, dropping his false suaveness.
"I don't know why. You're kinda cute," Aileen told him.
"Really?"
"Yeah," she said, blushing.
There was nothing more said, mostly because there was no reason for it. When Lance got back, smelling of stale smoke, he gazed at the two. Toad was off telling some stupid story about a truck driver, and Aileen was laughing.
"Weirdos," he mumbled, retreating into his tent.
**
Kurt sat up and stretched. It was still dark, the crickets chirping loudly. He didn't want to leave the warmth of his sleeping back, but the call of nature was urging him on. Teleporting outside, he finished his business and was turning around when he sensed someone behind him. Warily he looked behind him, and saw a dark figure, one with a waterfall of black hair and spindly hands. She, or he, closely resembled the new girl at school. He started toward her, only to stop in his tracks when she raised her head to reveal a rotting face, the greenish skin peeling off of the bleached white bones. The thing stared at him with hollow eye sockets, a fat worm twisting out of one.
"Kurt," it called out, its bony fingers reaching for him.
He ran without thinking, dashing into the woods, his breath coming out in short, ragged bursts. Branches slammed into his face, sometimes drawing blood, but he ignored them, his mind filled with raw fear. Even as he thought to teleport, the ghoulish monster dropped down in front of him.
* *
He opened his eyes and resisted the urge to scream, still smelling the rank odor of decaying flesh. He looked at Scott and Evan, who seemed to be dreaming peacefully. The darkness seemed to close in on him, a tangible thing.
Suddenly, he wished he had never heard Rogue's story. Now he was terrified, and his mind kept wandering back to the Blair Witch Project, a movie that he had made fun of but was secretly scared of it. Kurt wanted to wake up one of the others, to have someone to talk to, but he was too ashamed to do that. He could just hear Rogue tomorrow if he did that, teasing him about his cowardice. Shivering, he pulled the cloth of the sleeping bag closer to his body, listening for any strange sounds.
Why did I listen to that story? He thought helplessly.
His body was immersed in cold sweat, and he lay on his side, unable to fall back asleep.