Author's note: In First Times and Formals (chapter 37) Ian has a dream about a creature that Alexander tells him is a Wraith. That's where I first mention that he's starting to learn about them. Thanks for the reviews!
OOOOOOOOOO
As they were walking to their tents, River moved to walk beside Ian – which wasn't easy since all of their boys were walking closer to their counselors than was the norm. When they reached the tent, the boys filed in silently, but River reached out and took hold of the sleeve of Ian's sweatshirt.
Ian stopped.
"Yeah?"
"What the hell was that?"
"What?"
"That nightmare of a bedtime story…"
Ian scowled.
"I told them I didn't know any scary stories. It's not my fault it wasn't any good."
River shook his head, realizing Ian didn't understand what the problem was.
"Man, you don't know shit about kids, do you?"
"What was your first clue, Sherlock?"
Annoyed, Ian headed into the tent, and found that Chad, who had had his blankets closest to the entrance of the tent now had them against the back of it – where most of the boys had moved their blankets as well.
"Into bed, guys," Shawn said, also giving Ian an odd look.
The New Yorker frowned again.
"What?"
"When Jake gets older, you're not allowed to tell him any goodnight stories, okay?"
Ian sighed, and headed for his blankets. He wasn't all that keen about sleeping on the ground, but at least he didn't have to worry about cracking his shin on that fucking rail this time. It took forever for him to get comfortable – the sunburn was killing him again, although he didn't sleep on his back so that was a saving grace, and apparently every rock in the field was under his section of the tent poking him painfully – but eventually he drifted off to sleep, completely oblivious to the fact that no one else in the tent had even closed their eyes.
OOOOOOOOOO
It was a bad night for the counselors at Camp Millcreek. Rugged tents that were designed to keep out the weather did very little to muffle the sounds of the night, and being up in the field where there were trees surrounding them on three sides only magnified the fact that there were creatures outside; nocturnal creatures that were scurrying from one place to another, hunting for something to eat – or being hunted. And all of them were making noises it seemed. These were all normal sounds of the night, but to the suddenly alarmed children the sounds weren't made by little harmless creatures. They were made by Wraith; big frightening faceless Wraith that were just out of sight, waiting for some unsuspecting child to fall asleep so it could put its hand on their chest and suck the life out of them, leaving them an empty husk.
The counselors tried to calm them – every time someone heard a snapping twig or a shifting stone there was an uproar in whatever tent it was – but the children were tense, and it took a lot of doing. Only when the long day and night finally caught up to them completely did they start drifting off, and even then they would be startled awake by the slightest sound, even those made by the others in their tents.
Exhausted counselors moved their blankets to the entrances of the tents, hoping that would soothe, and all of them had at least one child cuddling close by, which was a small price to pay when they finally drifted off.
OOOOOOOO
The sound of rain woke Ian. It was either that, or the fact that he was really warm. So warm, in fact, that he was actually sweating, even though the tent wasn't all that warm, really. He opened his eyes, and immediately found the source of that extra warmth. Huddled in his blanket, Sammy was sleeping right up against him on the left. When Ian turned his head, he saw that Chance was sleeping right up against him on the right. The two boys must have become cold in the middle of the night and moved close to him for warmth, Ian decided – just a little annoyed. At least, he was annoyed until he saw that Shawn and River were both surrounded by kids, too. Then it was more amusing than anything else.
He debated going back to sleep. The sound of rain hitting the top of the tent was something Ian had always found lulling and the fact that it was raining told him that jogging wouldn't really be all that much fun. However, the extra body heat coming from the boys sandwiching him was uncomfortable, and the longer he lay there debating going back to sleep the hotter he was getting. Besides, if the boys were asleep, then they wouldn't want to jog with him, right?
That right there was enough to get him up. He slid out of his blankets from the bottom so he wouldn't disturb the boys, and then slid his feet into his shoes. Stepping quietly over the mounds of sleeping people, he made his way to the tent opening and almost tripped over River's arm, which was flung out from under the blanket he was sleeping under. Carefully (because he really didn't want any company while he jogged) he opened the zipper of the tent and slipped out, zipping it back up so the rain that was coming down wouldn't soak Hayden. He wasn't a total prick, after all. Most of the time.
The sky was a steel gray that was almost too dark to see through, and the rain didn't help. It really was coming down hard, and Ian's hair was soaked before he even made it as far as the cabin. He changed into sweats and a different t-shirt – realizing as he did so that he was almost out of clean clothing – and then slid his running shoes on. By the time he finished dressing, and stretched (inside out of the rain, thank you very much) the rising sun had lightened the sky enough that running wouldn't be dangerous – although the rain would make it slick and possibly treacherous, so he'd have to be careful of that he knew. He slipped the Air Force Academy sweatshirt back on, and then headed outside. He'd run the fence line again, and would make up for the shorter jog the day before with the kids by running an extra distance today. With the rain coming down like it was, he wouldn't have to worry about overheating, anyways, and he could pretty much run forever without tiring.
OOOOOOOO
Gary Hines frowned when he woke. The staff tent he'd been sleeping in had a leak that they didn't know about and there was a large puddle of water not that far from where his head was. His pillow was drenched, which was uncomfortable, and he was slightly chilled. Obviously the rain that had been forecasted to start that day had arrived early, because it was raining buckets.
Rolling over, he listened for the usual sounds that would tell him most of the children were awake. When he didn't hear any – not even the noise of any kids chattering – he frowned and sat up, looking at his watch. It was well past seven – later than he'd intended to wake. The dark skies had probably thrown off his inner clock, and he'd forgotten to set the alarm on his watch. Ah well, it wasn't like he was the cook or something, so he didn't actually have to wake up early or anything. He'd go see how much damage the kids had done goofing off in the early morning rain, and then send them to their cabins to dry off and get ready for breakfast. Which would give him plenty of time to go get a nice hot shower and some warm clothing as well.
When he emerged from his tent, however, he realized that the kids had been quiet because they weren't in the field playing in the rain. As he passed close to the tent that the kids from Japan were sleeping in, he heard only silence and an occasional soft snore. The entire camp was still asleep, apparently.
Probably they'd stayed awake late chattering, he thought. Or maybe they'd had trouble sleeping after that story Ian Brooks had told them. Even Gary – who had heard plenty of scary ghost stories in his time – had never heard anything like that one, and it made him shiver even then.
He left the campers sleeping, and headed for the main building, where his own apartment was. A shower and a chance to warm up would make him feel better. And then he'd wake the kids. They weren't on a fixed schedule, after all. It wouldn't kill them to sleep in.