Author's Rant: Thank you to everyone who reviewed! I really appreciate it!
"So, each campfire has three tents that can fit two people in it, but not anymore than that! Music is allowed as long as it isn't blasted. We must think of the animals that live around here. Food and drinks can be found at the cafeteria. It's about a mile and a half away from here. It is recommended that you bring extra bottles of water and snacks to your tent as the cafeteria closes at eight o'clock sharp. Please use our restrooms and refrain from urinating or…doing number two on the ground. Thank you."
Eric, the park ranger, had finished telling the students of Tree Hill High School the rules of Uwhattie National Park. Tipping his hat to Coach Durham, he pivoted and started walking all the way back to his hut.
The teenagers had already begun the race of finding good tents and locations. The couples would be sharing the tent, so those few single students hurried to find a friend to stay with.
"You're bunking with me," stated Brooke simply.
"Duh," was the redhead's response. "Okay, I think I found us a tent."
Brooke followed Rachel past the running kids and into the last campfire area. Interestingly enough, Nathan and Haley were at the same campfire. Brooke knew her devious friend loved to make trouble, but this was stepping into a dangerous territory. Wasn't just a while ago that Rachel tried to seduce Nathan? Brooke eyed her friend cautiously to see if she had her signature devilish smirk on her face.
"Hey guys, mind if we use this tent?" asked Rachel sweetly. Haley rolled her eyes and went back into her tent.
"Uh, sure," replied Nathan. "But I already told Lucas and Peyton that they could stay here, too."
He looked at Brooke pointedly. She looked a bit uncomfortable at the prospect of being near Lucas and Peyton as a couple for this weekend. Rachel noticed this and took action.
The yellow school bus driver was on his way back to Tree Hill. Driving on a lonely road in the middle of a North Carolina forest, he turned on the radio. Static. Frowning slightly, he turned it off. It had been a long, stressful day, and he was eager to get home to his wife.
All of the sudden, a rabbit jumped in front of the road. Startled, he swerved, not wanting to kill it. But unfortunately, his bus swerved completely off the road and into a muddy ditch. After banging his head abruptly on the steering wheel, letting out a frightening honk, he stepped out of his car to check on the school bus. But once he stepped out into the crisp, cool air, he noticed something odd. The rabbit was dead. It looked as though it had been stabbed by something sharp. He advanced to take a closer look, when something hard hit him on the back of his neck. The starry sky was the last thing he saw before he passed out cold onto the hard, paved road.
The dusk was upon them, and, by coincidence, the six teenagers found themselves together at the same campfire. It was strange, being together. There was so much history and conflict between the six of them. Brooke, Rachel, Peyton, Lucas, Haley and Nathan sat awkwardly staring off into the fire or at their feet.
"Well, I'm pretty hungry," stated Haley, trying to make small talk. All the attention was focused onto her.
"Yeah," replied Lucas, her best friend. "How about I go get food for us all?"
"I'll go with you," offered Peyton, not wanting to be alone and with no one to talk to.
Together, they marched off to the cafeteria, about a mile away.
Peyton and Lucas returned to the campfire about forty-five minutes later.
"What took you guys so long? I'm starving!" asked Nathan, his stomach growling loudly. Haley and Brooke giggled.
"Uh, there were a lot of people there, so all we got was some fish sticks." explained Lucas.
"Sorry we couldn't get any burgers, but it was either this or stale salad bowls," said Peyton, passing the cardboard trays to everyone. Rachel took up a fish stick, sniffed it, and gagged.
"This is really nasty." Rachel commented. "Pass me the ketchup."
They sat together, making remarks about their food.
"Eurgh, mine has cartilage in it!" exclaimed Brooke.
"I don't think this is good for the baby," frowned Haley concernedly.
"I'll go find you something better to eat. There are probably some good sandwiches at the ranger's station. Besides, I need to walk off those calories before I end up like fatass here." Rachel said, gesturing to Brooke. Brooke rolled her eyes jokingly.
It was beginning to get dark, but that didn't scare Rachel. It had been a long while since the time she had been afraid of the dark. She marched off bravely.
"Nope. I'm not scared of the dark anymore," was her mantra.
She remembered a time when she would lie in bed in her big, beautiful house in Nantucket, while her parents would sneak off into the night with their blaring red sports car. Only eight years old, young Rachel would cling onto her pillow, trying not to think about the fact that she was the only person in the house, and there was no one to protect her. The classic old house would make sudden creaks while she'd lie in bed, paralyzed with fear.
The present Rachel shivered a bit upon this remembrance. She hadn't thought about that in years, even though she needed therapy to get rid of her "night fears." But obviously she wasn't completely over since she forced Brooke to sleep in the same room with her, although the house had several other available ones.
"Damn," she muttered, realizing that she'd forgotten how to get up to the ranger's station. Instead, Rachel decided she'd go over to the next campfire and ask someone.
She walked at a steady pace, breathing calmly and deeply as the sky grew darker and the branches of the trees rattled from birds and bats flying around. Stupid forest animals, she thought bitterly. Finally, she saw the familiar flickering of a warm campfire and approached it enthusiastically before realizing something odd. They're really quiet, she thought. I hope they aren't asleep already.
"Bevin?" she called out. "Skillz? What the…"
She came around a large bush and was horrified by what she saw. Five of her friends, lying dead on the floor. Instantly, the old fear returned. Her body was paralyzed once more and frozen. Her mind was blank and her legs were heavy. She couldn't think or even see straight. All of the calming advice of Dr. Sheffield had vanished from her range of thought. For minutes she stood there, not being able to function. Finally, the fear mounted into a climax and she snapped, running hard back towards her own campfire. She ran like she'd never run in her life, not on the treadmill, not at cheer practice, not ever.
She reached her friends, sitting happily together. Rachel's knees gave way and she fell to the floor, scraping them bloodily, and promptly vomited on the floor. Her panic spread to the rest of her friends, who kneeled next to her and bombarded her with questions.
"What the hell happened?"
"Are you alright?"
"What's going on?"
Rachel looked up and uttered four simple words. "The burgers were poisoned." And she kneeled back down, while Brooke held her hair back.
REVIEW!