Johnny woke up with a start. He breathed deeply as he wiped off the sweat that was streaming down his brow. It took a few seconds for him to register where he was. He was in a tent with one of his best friends, Truman James, in a clearing in the woods behind their high school, James Madison High. They were frequently there. On cool summer nights, like this one, they would camp out.
The woods were owned by Mr. Larson, a local farmer. Johnny and Truman, along with their other best friends, who were in another tent next to them, Allora, Brystol, and Morrigan, did odd jobs during the summer in return for use of his woods.
Johnny was still shaken up, breathing heavily, still. His mind turned to his dream, which was the reason for his rising. It was really quite weird. He had actually had the dream many times before. It all started in early summer, and had continued throughout and up to now, a week before the start of school. He shook his head in frustration. It was always the same dream. Always. It would begin with a woman. Only she was very small, had purple butterfly wings, and wore a small green dress. Johnny called her Tinkerbell, only this girl had curly brown hair, not blonde. Then he saw all of his friends and him together, plus three people he could barely see. They were wearing weird clothes that, as far as he could tell,were usually reserved for comic book heroes. And, they all seemed to be fighting something. That something, he could not see. Then fire engulfed them and it cut to the Egyptian pyramids glimmering magnificently in the desert sun. And he then would wake up.
Johnny looked down at Truman who was tossing and turning in his baby blue sleeping bag. Johnny wondered if Truman was having the same dream.
He shook his head, ran his fingers through his brown spiky hair. The spikes had been dyed blonde. He got up, and decided to go over to the girls' tent. They frequently stayed up all night talking and Johnny decided to join them. He quietly unzipped his tent as to not wake Truman, and walked outside to find the sky was filled with twinkling stars. He looked at them briefly, to clear his mind, then preceded to the girls' tent.
"Hey. You guys up?" he asked, crouching in front of the tent.
"Yeah," Allora answered from inside.
He unzipped the front and carefully crawled in.
Allora sat Indian-style and waved to Johnny while Morrigan lounged, leaning on the back of the tent. "Hey," they both welcomed as Johnny made his way in.
"I'm sorry if I'm interrupting your girl talk," he apologized. "But, Truman's asleep and I'm extremely bored."
Allora poked a sleeping Brystol. Her dark brown hair was sprawled around her tanned face. "It's okay. Anyways, Brystol fell asleep, too."
"Not a surprise. They both seem to sleep through everything," Morrigan laughed.
Johnny nodded in agreement as he tried to make himself more comfortable. He was very cramped. He was already six foot five at the age of sixteen, and was very muscular. It didn't help that Allora and Morrigan were both tall for their age, as well.
Allora was always one of Johnny's best friends. They had known each other since they were babies. And for as long as he had known her, she always had long, wavy, crayon red hair, and big, bright turquoise blue eyes. She was on the muscular side for a girl, but she was a hockey player, after all, just as Johnny and Morrigan were. Morrigan, though, was also a ballet dancer. She had a thin build and long, straight blonde hair that was streaked with purple highlights and intense green eyes.
"We were talking about this dream we both had. Isn't it weird we both had the same dream?" Morrigan said as she drew her covers tighter.
"What was it about?" Johnny choked, thinking back to his own dream.
"Uh…well it's sort of weird," Allora began. "It starts out with this Faerie. Then we're all here, in the clearing, in these weird outfits, and we're battling something we can't see. Then I saw all this lightning—"
"—and I saw a megalith," Morrigan interrupted.
"A large boulder," Allora explained, looking at Johnny's usual confused expression. "Anyway, then we're—"
"In Egypt, right?" Johnny finished for her.
"You mean you had the same dream?" Morrigan gaped.
"Yep. Almost every night all summer."
"Us too."
There was an odd silence that seemed to last for hours as the three tried to come up with their own personal reasons for this odd coincidence.
"That's really weird," Allora stated, trying to break the ice.
"I think so, too," Johnny agreed solemnly.
Morrigan looked down at Brystol. "You think?"
"I don't know. We'll have to ask her and Truman in the morning," Allora decided.
All three sat, crammed and thoroughly confused.
After another period of eerie silence, Johnny abruptly stood up. "I think I'm going to get some air. I'll be back, though, so save me some room."
The girls smiled as Johnny left the tent. "Okay," said Morrigan.
Johnny looked up into the starry night sky once again, then at each of the large tents, which housed his friends. He laughed slightly to himself. It was really quite amazing they were all even here tonight. Earlier that day tensions were running high. Brystol had just broken up with her boyfriend and Morrigan had had been having trouble with her own boyfriend as of late. Both were extremely on edge. Plus, Truman had once again been rejected by the Pittsburgh Center for Art and Design, a local art school. He had been applying for sometime for their architecture program, but had been turned down each time. He seemed to be taking this rejection the hardest of all. All of this had left everyone a bit at odds with each other. Only Johnny and Allora seemed not to be living in their own little depressions. When they all got together earlier, this campout seemed impossible.
Johnny remembered it well, after all, it was only a few hours ago. It had all started when the mail arrived. Johnny was staying over Truman's house and had been sleeping soundly on Truman's daybed when Mrs. James came crashing in.
"Truman! Truman! They responded!" she shouted.
Truman jumped out of bed and grabbed the envelope his mother was brandishing.
He ripped it open and quickly read through. His wide smile slowly transformed into a sullen frown as he finished. "Rejected again," he whimpered, running his hands through his light brown hair.
By now Johnny had finally shaken off the last remnants of sleep. He got up and walked to Truman's side. "It's okay man, there's always next time."
"Yes, Truman, next time," his mother comforted, trying to hold back tears.
"No. There won't be a next time," Truman said dejectedly.
"Don't say things like that honey. It's a hard program to get into," tears were now noticeably streaming down her face.
"Hey, tell you what, I'll call everybody up and we'll take you out for the day. We'll do all the stuff you like," Johnny offered happily.
Truman said nothing in response.
"We'll go miniature golfing," Johnny smiled.
"Alright," Truman replied, his spirits obviously lifted by this.
Mrs. James smiled at Johnny, mouthing "Thank you". Johnny got up and grabbed the phone by Truman's bed. He first dialed Brystol.
"Hello?" she answered.
"Hey Brys. Um, if you're not doing anything, we were all going to try and cheer up Truman today. Miniature golfing, stuff like that."
Brystol tried desperately to muffle her crying. "I don't know John. I don't think I'm up for a day out."
"Why?" Johnny asked.
"I just broke up with Mike," she wailed, finally letting it all go.
Johnny always felt uncomfortable when people cried. "Okay then. You sure?"
There was a momentary silence. "I guess I'll go. Couldn't hurt."
"Good. Come over to Truman's in about an hour."
"I'll see you," Brystol said, hanging up.
"How about I get breakfast going," Mrs. James decided. "Truman, would you like to help?"
Truman shrugged. "I guess. What do you want Johnny?"
Johnny thought for a second. "Just a breakfast shake I suppose. I'm still in training. Coach wants me to be at optimum level for Granger this year. And that means lots of dieting before school starts up."
Truman nodded and left the room. Johnny then called Allora and Morrigan, who both agreed to meet in about an hour at Truman's.
Johnny walked down to eat breakfast with Truman and Mrs. James. He drank his breakfast shake, bitterly watching Truman and Mrs. James eat heaps of pancakes and fluffy scrambled eggs, not to mention thick links of sausage.
"Just have some pancakes already," Truman demanded, looking at Johnny, who was now literally salivating.
"No, I shouldn't. But I guess I could have some scrambled eggs."
Mrs. James smiled and handed the large plate over to Johnny. "I guess some sausage wouldn't hurt. And I suppose a pancake or two isn't a big deal."
When breakfast had finally finished, an hour later, Johnny had eaten six pancakes, at least eight sausage links, and Mrs. James had to scramble three more eggs on top of the two Johnny had already eaten.
"Some diet, huh?" Truman commented.
Johnny blushed.
They heard knocking at the door. All three walked over and answered. "Hey, you all made it," Johnny welcomed.
Brystol, Morrigan, and Allora all walked in.
"Well, I have some wash to take care of. I'll see you all later," Mrs. James explained.
"Bye Mrs. James," Allora called.
"Hey, sorry about the rejection," Morrigan said soothingly.
"Yeah, thanks. I'll get in eventually, I guess."
"You will," Allora retorted, seeming quite sure.
"Hey, where's your dad?" Brystol asked.
"He went to work early. He has this big Ireland project coming up," Truman explained.
"Oh. Where does your dad work anyway?" Brystol continued.
"I don't know. Mom says it's top secret. I don't even think she knows."
"That's sort of weird. What kind of work does he do?"
"Look Brystol, I don't know. Can we just get going?" Truman answered, obviously annoyed.
"Okay, okay. Just making conversation."
"It's okay Tru. It's no big deal, right?" Morrigan asked, looking worried.
"Of course not. Let's just get going."
They walked out to the front lawn. "Shall we take Brystol's van then?" Allora suggested.
But everyone was already beginning to pile in, so Allora followed. Brystol had just gotten her license and, and of late, could only drive her mom's van. It fit all five friends comfortably and this had pretty much made Brystol the group chauffer.
"Where to first?" Brystol asked, looking in the rear view mirror.
"Uh, well, the miniature golf place isn't opened yet," Johnny said, looking at his watch. "So I guess we could catch an early movie."
Brystol began driving to the movie theater. Her arms seemed to be shaking slightly as she drove.
"You okay, Brys?" Allora asked.
"Fine, fine. I'm fine," Brystol answered, her voice shaking as much as her arms.
"So, what movie you want to see?" Morrigan asked.
"I dunno. We'll see," Truman answered.
They reached the multiplex a few minutes later. No one was really speaking too much. Allora and Johnny were too afraid to bring up hockey, as Brystol ex-boyfriend Mike was the starting goalie on the team. They didn't want to remind Brystol about him.
They got out. Truman looked over the long list of movies playing. "How about Ravers?"
"Alright," Allora replied sweetly, though she really had no desire to see a movie about people who go to raves.
"Whatever," Brystol responded, acting as if she could care less.
Everyone began walking into the theater. Everyone, that is, except Morrigan.
"What's wrong Morrigan?" Johnny asked.
"It's just that raves. Well, I don't know, Bernard likes raves."
Johnny rolled his eyes. Though Morrigan hadn't broken up with Bernard, an extremely rich and artsy junior, the relationship had been under quite a strain. Bernard felt it wasn't physical enough and Morrigan felt they needed to get to know each other better. Lately they had been fighting a lot.
"Anything else you want to see?" Allora asked.
"No. I guess mini golf is open by now, though,"
They all piled back into the van. Now Morrigan was not speaking at all. She seemed near tears. They reached the miniature golf course in total silence. They all got out and paid for their club and ball. To make it quicker, they split into two groups. Johnny, Allora, and Truman, leaving the two depressed girls by themselves. Allora, Truman, and Johnny waited for Brystol and Morrigan to finish the first hole.
"So, school starts next week," Allora said, attempting to start up a conversation.
"Yep, hockey too," Johnny added.
"Yeah, I'm excited about that," Allora continued.
"Think we match up well in our preseason tournament?" Johnny asked.
The preseason tournament was four teams from their area competing in a ten game season of sorts. The top two teams at the end face off against each other. The winner has the number one ranking in the division going into the season. JM had never not been in the final, and yet, had never won. Their arch rival, neighboring Granger High, had defeated them each time.
"Well, I think so," Truman answered.
Morrigan and Brystol had now moved on to hole two. Allora got up first and putted. She, in typical Allora fashion, got a hole in one. Then Truman took his turn. It took him three shots, which was par. Then it was Johnny's turn up. Johnny had always had a bit of a problem with mini golf. He seemed to put too much force on his puts. Considering he was probably the most muscular incoming tenth grader around, this wasn't a surprise. Allora and Truman moved to, what they felt, was a safe distance. Johnny took a few practice strokes. Then he took a swing at the ball. You could tell in his face he was trying with all his might not to put any force behind it. But try as he might the ball still flew high in the air. Johnny cringed, knowing exactly where it was going. The ball hit Truman smack in the head, creating a large purple bruise near his temple. Truman fell back.
"Oh no!" Allora yelled.
Johnny ran to his side. "Real sorry, Truman. I didn't mean to."
"I know," Truman answered. He got up, trying to pretend nothing had happened.
Morrigan and Brystol had noticed and ran over.
"You okay?" Morrigan asked, temporarily forgetting Bernard.
"Yeah, I'm fine. I think I should go home, though. Get some ice on it."
"No, I think it would be best if I took a look at it," Allora said.
Allora, who planned on becoming a surgeon, was not only the star center of the hockey team, she was also the assistant to the team trainer. She helped out all the school teams and had become an expert on most common sports injuries.
They all helped get Truman into the back of the van. Brystol began driving quickly to the high school. When she reached the parking lot she headed for the dirt road that led to the Ice Palace, the school's ice rink.
"No. I left all my stuff in the gymnasium for the cheerleaders and girls' volleyball."
Brystol, instead, turned the van around and headed for the large gymnasium on the other side of the parking lot. She stopped, upon arrival, with a loud screech of tires.
"That bitch!" she screamed.
"What are you talking about…oh," Johnny said, who was sitting in the front, upon seeing Brystol's ex-boyfriend, Mike McCall, sitting with the head cheerleader, Bunnie Ramone, beneath an apple tree a few hundred feet away.
"She stole yet another boyfriend off of me that little slut!" Brystol fumed.
"You don't know that—well, okay, maybe now you know that," Johnny said as he saw Bunnie plant a big kiss on Mike.
"I know this isn't good news Brys, but we have to get Truman inside," Allora said, getting out of the car.
Brystol grumbled and got out as well. She held the gym door open for the others as they helped Truman in. Allora ran to the office on the side of the gym and came back with a first aid kit. She began to treat Truman's bruise, taking pads and medical tape out expertly. She carefully taped the pad to Truman's temple.
"Thanks Allora," Truman said.
"You're welcome. Now, Johnny, didn't you say something about a campout tonight?"
Johnny looked around uneasily. "Well… after recent events…I figured it wasn't going to happen, you know, with everyone all depressed."
"No, we'll do it," Morrigan piped up, obviously knowing what Johnny was talking about.
"Okay. Meet in the clearing tonight at six."
Everyone agreed. They all sat and waited for Truman to regain control of himself. It didn't take long. So afterwards, Brystol dropped them all off.
Johnny was the last to be left off. "See you tonight Brystol."
"Bye Johnny," she returned.
Johnny walked up to his front door, thinking to himself. He wasn't completely convinced that this campout was possible. And now that it was official, he had the sneaking suspicion it would end up horribly. But, here he was.
Light. First there was always light. Then came a burst of brilliant lightning and a ferocious crack of thunder that echoed through the misty night sky.
Lydia tossed her body sharply, allowing her curly auburn hair to fall messily around her face and onto her satiny pillow. She pulled her sheets around her porcelain-like body and shivered. She new this dream all too well. But was it really just a dream? She could nearly feel the sunny warmth of the light and the electrical current of the lightning. And she knew what would be next.
Suddenly, she was engulfed in a dangerous ocean with waves crashing all about her as she began to be swallowed among them. Her breath shortened and she began to choke as she gasped for air. But then, miraculously, she could feel herself being lifted, far above the waves to be thrown into a violent spinning gust of wind. And after what seemed like an eternity of twirling, Lydia stopped.
At a first glance, she seemed to be in a forest of sorts, at second, she realized it was a jungle. And not ten feet away was a snake with deadly venom dripping from its fangs along with the blood of its most recent prey. Naturally, like in all nightmares, the snake spotted Lydia and began to slither quickly towards her. She screamed at herself to run, but her legs wouldn't move. And just as the snake was about to strike, the ground fell from beneath it and the snake was buried under the earth. She clutched her sheets tighter as the ground gave way from beneath her as well. She let out a shrill cry as she fell. The fires of the earth reached out to her as she came nearer and nearer to the bottom. And just as she was about to hit, everything turned black. She became very cold and shivered once more.
Then Lydia saw them. There were eight of them in a large clearing in a forest. They all seemed to be human. Three of which were girls, four of which were boys, and one whose form was shrouded in a blanket of fog.
"Teach them. Show them the way," a weary voice called.
And she woke up.