Reverse Dadvid was honestly not something I intended to be popular, but here we are. This is my most popular story for Camp Camp, so here we go with another chapter.
"…and then… he could hear the drip… drip… drip… of the monster's drool. He curled up in a ball, hoping to make himself as small as possible," Neil said creepily. "That's when it turned the corner and found him—his failing report card!" He cackled evilly.
"Note: never let Neil tell stories on campfire night," Max sighed, rolling his eyes.
"Well, it was a scary nightmare!"
"Because you're a fucking nerd."
"Shut up!"
"I've got one!" Tabii spoke up. She'd returned from the hospital a few days earlier and now had a black eyepatch over her missing eye. "Once, there was this girl who had horrible friends—"
"Was it you?" Max asked.
"Yep. Sasha's a nightmare."
"Aren't you scared of anything?" David asked Max.
"Nah, kid. I'm not. Real life is the scariest thing out there."
"He's not wrong," Nikki agreed, leaning back and stretching. The collar of her shirt slipped down and revealed a red mark on her neck—a red, teeth-shaped mark. Gwen saw it and internally freaked out.
"Well, I think we've all had enough scary stuff for one night," Max said sarcastically. "Everyone go to bed. We're focusing on Extreme Sports Camp tomorrow and everyone needs to be well-rested."
They all headed off to their tents. Gwen followed Jaspar and David into theirs and closed the flaps behind her.
"What gives, Gwen?" Jaspar inquired.
"I saw a bite mark on Nikki's neck earlier!" she hissed.
"A bite mark?"
"Did you hit your head?" David asked, rubbing the spot where he still had a small bandage.
"No! I saw it! There was the indentation of teeth! She's been bitten by a vampire!"
"As if Max would let that happen!"
"Besides," added Jaspar, "vampires aren't real. They're a fictional construct of the overactive imaginations of ancient cultures that has persisted to the modern day!"
"Oh, yeah? Then how do you explain the mark on Nikki's neck?"
"You imagined it in the firelight."
"I'll prove it, then!" She exited their tent.
"Gwen, what the fuck were you doing in David and Jaspar's tent?" they heard Max ask her.
"Nothing! I'm going to bed!"
"You'd better!"
Gwen headed into her tent and dug under her cot for her vampire romance novels she'd brought to camp.
"Now… how to spot if somebody's been bitten…"
"Morning, Gwen!"
David entered his female friend's tent and found her furiously writing.
"Uh, what are you doing?"
"Researching how to recognize the victim of a vampire bite! According to the books I found, a victim will be lethargic, irritable, have chronic pain in the stomach and head, and be paler than usual! Oh, and they'll want more things that are meaty and sweet, like blood. And they'll complain about feeling like they have less blood. Having less blood as a result of the bites will lead to fainting spells.
"But Nikki hasn't been like that!" Jaspar pointed out, coming in. "She's been the same as usual!"
"Yeah, because that was the first bite. A true victim will start showing symptoms after the second bite. They'll become a full vampire when they're bitten a third time."
"Okay, sure, but let's get breakfast so you can do your 'observations'."
The trio headed to the mess hall, where they received their breakfast and sat down in their normal spots. Gwen glanced around and noticed Max was eating with just Neil and Tabii. Nikki was missing.
"Where's Nikki?" she whispered to her friends.
"I don't know," Jaspar replied. "It's weird she's not here, though." The door opened and Nikki walked in. She seemed more… sluggish this morning.
"Ugh…" she groaned, sitting down at the counselors' table and leaning on Max's shoulder.
"Drained?" he asked, putting an arm around her.
"Yep. I went to bed early but I'm exhausted."
"First symptom!" Gwen whispered. Nikki's shirt collar had shifted again, revealing the mark. "And look!"
David looked over and his eyes widened. He believed Gwen now!
"If you don't wanna help out today, you don't have to," Max offered gently.
"No, it's Ered's day! And she's the coolest!"
"Nikki, you're not—"
"I said I'm doing it, Max!" she snapped in a tone more threatening than the campers had ever heard her speak in.
"Fine, but you're going to eat first."
"Meatloaf with extra chocolate sauce, please."
"You got it."
David and Gwen looked at each other worriedly, while Jaspar was starting to feel like maybe there was something to Gwen's theory. He made a note to get some garlic from the kitchen before bed that night.
"We have to protect Nikki from a third bite!" Gwen hissed. "I don't want a vampire counselor!"
"Neither do I!" David agreed. They watched Max bring Nikki the meatloaf-with-chocolate-sauce she'd requested and the female counselor downed it in an instant. After that, the counselors left, presumably to set up for the day's activities.
"What are you guys talking about?" Nerris inquired.
"We're talking about the fact that a vampire is targeting Nikki to be his undead bride!" Gwen explained frantically. "And right when she's gotten with Max, too! We're going to watch for today and see if she displays any more symptoms."
"Like what?" Harrison asked, looking a little worried.
"Okay, so she's already lethargic and craving things that are meaty and sweet at the same time."
"She looked a little pale this morning," Dolph piped up.
"That's another one. She was also kinda snippy and irritable earlier. We just need to watch out for stomach and head pain, along with her complaining about a lack of blood!"
"Yeah!" Nurf agreed. "We'll keep her safe!"
"Why aren't we telling Max?" Space Kid questioned.
"Because Max wouldn't believe us until he lost his girlfriend to the vampire! We're trying to prevent that so that they can have a happy relationship!"
"You've got our help!" Preston declared in a dramatic fashion. "We will not let the best counselors be ruined!"
They all headed outside once they were down with breakfast and found the Extreme Sports Camp setup ready to go. Nikki was looking a little pale standing next to Max, though that might have been his natural skin-tone washing her out. Neil was at the top of the half-pipe with a leveling tool, making sure it was stable enough for ten campers to go on and not fall for at least an hour.
"Okay!" he called. "It's ready to go!"
"Great! You being a nerd is actually useful sometimes!" Neil narrowed his eyes at Max and clambered down the nearby ladder.
"Who wants to go first?" Tabii asked. Of course Ered raised her hand.
"I will."
She got up to the top wearing the helmet Neil insisted she wear and performed a couple of tricks on her skateboard. Other kids tried and failed, but Gwen was more concerned with trying to keep an eye on Nikki. She gasped when her counselor clutched her stomach.
"Max…" the green-haired girl whimpered. He turned to look at her and her eyes rolled back into her head before she fell forward. Luckily, Max had good reflexes and caught her before she hit the ground.
"Nikki!" he yelped, turning her over.
"I'll get something!" Neil called, running for the counselors' cabin. Max laid Nikki on the ground, the campers gathering around and muttering to themselves.
"I don't believe it," Jaspar whispered to Gwen. "She's… she's been bitten by a vampire!"
"I told you!"
Neil returned with a small pack of Twizzlers, which Max opened and waved under Nikki's nose. She groaned as she came to.
"Thanks, guys," she sighed.
"How are you feeling?" Dolph inquired cautiously.
"Like all the blood vanished from my body. My head hurts."
"That's it," Max sighed. "You're not staying out here. You're going into the cabin and resting."
"I'm fine, Max!"
"You just fainted. You're not fucking fine." He picked her up, bridal-style, and carried her back to the counselors' cabin. Neil and Tabii went to go put the helmets away.
"Ugh! So romantic!" Preston gushed.
"It is, but the reason isn't!" Gwen snapped. "I noticed the bite last night before bed, when Nikki was acting fine. That means that she got bitten after she went to bed. We have to protect her from getting bitten again tonight, or she'll be a vampire by morning!"
"But vat can we do?" Dolph worried.
"Relax. I have an idea," Jaspar chuckled.
Normally in the afternoons, the campers would go about their respective camps, almost completely ignoring each other. However, today they had the singular goal of protecting their counselor from a vampire. That afternoon, they all went about preparing for their stakeout that night. Nerris, Dolph, and Harrison made a couple of wooden crucifixes to hide in the counselors' cabin. Space Kid, Ered, and Nurf boiled some garlic to pour in front of the doors and windows. Jaspar, David, Gwen, and Preston were preparing to stand guard over Nikki all night by drinking coffee and eating candy.
"Good luck," Nerris whispered to Gwen, handing her one of the crucifixes. "To protect yourself."
"Thanks, Nerris." Gwen and the boys crept into the cabin and hid around the room. Nikki, Neil, and Tabii were already asleep, so there was no danger of them being caught (except maybe by Max). They sat in wait, hoping that their precautions would work.
"Jesus Christ, what's that smell?" they heard a voice whisper as the cabin door opened. Gwen clutched her crucifix tightly.
The garlic failed. And he's walking right by all the crucifixes!
In the dim light, she could see a figure bending over Nikki's sleeping form. Her breathing hitched and she silently signaled them to attack. David crept out from his hiding spot, as did Jasper. The redhead went for the person's legs while the blonde jumped onto their back.
"What the fuck?!" the person—obviously a man—yelled, waking up Neil and Tabii. Preston tackled the guy around the midsection and Gwen stood as a human shield between the man and Nikki, who was also woken up by the commotion. Tabii flicked on the lights and David realized he was clinging to Max's legs.
"What the hell is going on in here?" Neil asked, looking annoyed at being awoken.
"A vampire's after Nikki!" Gwen explained. "We're trying to protect her!"
"What the fuck are you talking about?" Max groaned. "The three of you, get off me!"
"Yeah, what are you talking about?" Nikki agreed as Max was released from his captors.
"I'm talking about the symptoms of a second bite! Lethargy, irritability, chronic stomach and head pain, blood loss, fainting, and being paler than usual! And craving meat and sweets!"
"What makes you think she's been bitten?" Tabii inquired.
"There's a mark on her neck! A bite shaped like teeth!" Max and Nikki looked at each other and blushed.
"Uh, Gwen, I did that," Max confessed.
"You're the vampire?!" David gasped in horror, backing away.
"What—no! I'm not a vampire! They're h—"
"Love bites!" Nikki cut him off. "S-sometimes, when adults really like each other, they'll-they'll bite each other to show their affection!"
As if to prove it, Max tugged on his own collar to reveal a matching bite.
"Oh," Gwen murmured, staring at the floor. Her head snapped back up. "But… what about the symptoms?!"
"That's a monthly woman thing," Tabii scoffed. "You'll go through it too, when you're older. Nikki just gets it worse than most women."
"Yeah, I'm not turning into a vampire, Gwen," Nikki laughed. "I feel a little better now."
"Wait, so if Max isn't a vampire, why was he sneaking in here in the dark and leaning over Nikki?" Preston inquired.
"Why were you doing that?" Nikki agreed, looking at her co-counselor.
"I was trying to be randomly romantic and kiss you good night," he mumbled. Nikki gave him a smile and got up to kiss him on the cheek.
"Better?" she asked.
"Better."
"Oh my God, this is adorable!" Preston squealed.
"Okay, you guys," Max sighed. "Time for bed."
"I'm glad Nikki wasn't turning into a vampire."
"Yeah," David agreed with Gwen at breakfast. "I'm also glad that Max wasn't the vampire responsible."
"How much trouble do you think we're in?" Jaspar sighed to his friends.
"For attacking a counselor and breaking curfew?" Gwen affirmed. "I'd say we're looking at a solid two weeks of extra chores, at least. And right after we got done with the last week, too."
"You're damn right you've got chores," Max told them, arms crossed.
"We're sorry," David told his favorite counselor. "We really thought there was a vampire."
"Well, there wasn't. Besides, there aren't any vampires around Lake Lilac. It's werewolves and fish men you have to watch out for."
"What?!"
"Max, don't scare them!" Nikki grumbled, walking up beside him. "There aren't any werewolves in this area, either! It's just the fish men."
"What?!"
And that's it for chapter eight!
Yes, Max and Nikki gave each other love bites and Gwen thought Nikki was turning into a vampire. I thought it'd be a cute idea and ran with it.
So long and thanks for all the fish!