Day 3 - 07:00

Natilly creaked the door open to the first camper lodge full of young girls. "Good morning Campers! Time to get the day started! We only have four days left before you go home! Let's go hiking after some delicious breakfast!"

Beyond and Caspian stood on the porch of the lodge watching the counselors wake the campers for their day of activities. Caspian folded his arms and stared dully at the awakening children while Beyond sighed happily. "Another night's work complete. That's what? Forty-eight left in the season?"

Caspian nodded wordlessly as the children happily chatted amongst themselves as they shuffled to the meal hall. "Can I confide something in you?"

Beyond stretched his arms upwards and netted his fingers behind his head. "Go for it, bud."

"Children give me the creeps."

The raven puffed his cheeks out in a faulty attempt to stifle a snicker while bringing his elbows forward to hide his comical expression. "Why?"

"They're just tiny humans who don't understand the world, society, right from wrong, or even remorse in some cases."

Shifting a crimson stare towards the blonde Beyond smirked. "Got it. So, horror movies with children are your absolute favorite." An annoyed sapphire stare met a playful wink. "I'm fucking with you."

"Language." Light scolded as he stepped out of the front door with a cup of tea. "These are kids, if they overhear that kind of profanity they'll likely go home and yammer on about it at home. I'm sure that isn't the reputation Mr. Wallace wants this place to have." He cheerfully waved back to Natilly and Amara as they rounded up the last of the straggling campers.

Each of the counselors lined up in front of Light quietly talking to one another. "What's this about a what, assigned to us?"

Light smiled cheerfully. "Right. As an extra precaution for camper and counselor safety, I've programmed each drone to follow a counselor using a frequency on these bracelets." The brunette held up a tactical looking accessory. "During the daylight hours, or until the counselor has returned to the assigned cabin, there will be a drone near you at all times."

Shifting an uneasy stare to one another the group of young adults murmured to each other. Before one of the young man raised his hand. Light smiled at him to continue with his action, the counselor lowered his arm while scratching his shoulder. "Why?"

"Ah. Of course. First and foremost, GPS tracking, if an emergency situation arises we'll have immediate coordinates to you and your campers you have with you. Second of all, mapping the campsite. They are recording routes and stops for future use and infrastructure upgrades. They have an installed camera for landmarking, for emergency protocol strictly, the drones do not record live feed, but can be promoted to record audio. They work a little like an AI, they are prompted by a command to record sound. They are named Betas one through ten. So, your corresponding drone and bracelet will have a number on them. That number translates to its name; for example: Beta 7, record."

A drone with the number 7 painted on the side circled around the counselors and security taking still photos. Light nodded towards the drone. "Stop." The drone lifted itself up and away from the group and hovered off to the side. "Alphas one through four record live feeds, but do not leave the cabin and lodge area unless prompted by a frequency wave. You can talk to them all you want, but likely won't respond, they do not have an AI component, they respond solely to external sounds and light sources. They do not leave their ports until after all Beta drones have returned or other stimuli presents itself." Light started handing out the bracelets. "You don't have to worry about the drones, they are durable and quiet. They shouldn't cause any disruptions."

The counselors all clipped the bracelets to themselves and looked around to see Light had already gone back inside the lodge. Beyond waved to the group. "Happy camping and goodnight."

L's computer lit up with ten green dots accompanied by a yellow flashing light on a virtual map of the grounds. "Impressive." The dots all seemed to move towards the direction of the meal hall. A small smile spread across his features.

Light sat himself at another desk opening his laptop and typing quietly before speaking. "The green dots will go red if the chip is damaged, the drone will stop flashing and give a solid red light if damaged and cannot return. Once the campers assigned to the counselors have departed the drone assigned to that group will function as a still framed Alpha. It will follow the same programming commands."

Mello groaned and pulled his pillow over his head. "Go to fucking bed."

Hiking Trails

Amara and Nootau led their groups down the trail set for ages ten to twelve. Amara pointed to a clearing nearing the path. "This path wraps up and down the south end of Wendigo Lake. Around this time of year the water temperature is probably around 24 Celsius or 75 Fahrenheit. And that's at the high end boys and girls, it very well could be as cold as 11 Celsius or 53 Fahrenheit. Talk about cold, cold, cold!" Amara rubbed her shoulders playfully and made a shivering sound while shaking herself.

Nootau chuckled as he rested his hands on his hips. "The lake is believed to be charted for the first time as early as the 1650s. It has many fairytales and myths surrounding it. All of which you'll learn about when you get a little older."

Lodge Front Exterior

Nadie smiled as the children weaved string, beads and other miscellaneous items into an intricate net surrounded in twigs, feathers and bones. "In native cultures, these are called Asabikeshiinh, however, you'd know them as Dreamcatchers! A powerful Ojibwe talisman that is said to protect dreamers from nightmares and evil spirits. The origin of the Dreamcatcher is that the first was woven from the spider spirit guide to protect her tribespeople. Traditionally, they are hung above cradles or beds! Though, some tribes will place them over access points to their homes, to filter out bad energy from negative people or evil spirits."

16:30 - Main Camp Lodge Exterior

Decorative homemade kites and laughter filled the air along with pleasing scents from the dinner being prepared. Matt stretched in his bed before groaning and turning over to his side that would face him away from the window. L quietly typed on his keyboard as Near read over local articles. Raising his charcoal eyes from his computer screen L pressed his thumb against his lower lip. "Find anything?"

A hum resounded from Near's throat. "Nothing of any value. Just local missing ads, but it all seems to stop being recent ever since the Camp closed. Nothing seems to be newer than four years ago. A random forum ranting about mythological cryptids."

Cocking his head to the side, L smirked slightly. "Send me that one."

Casting his hazel eyes in the raven's direction. "You can't be serious."

"I am not. It's for my own personal entertainment. I love stories about myths and legends. Personally, my favorite thus far has been the Navajo Skinwalker. Menacing creature that one."

Beyond stared blankly at the ceiling listening to L and Near converse quietly. "Yeah? Have you looked into Wendigos yet?"

L watched Beyond with an owl-like stare of wonderment. "No. What is that?"

Smiling a little bitterly, realizing there'd be no going back to sleep, Beyond propped himself up onto his side. "My dad used to tell me ghost stories about them all the time. Said they'd hunt and kill people to store them for food for the coming winters. Long story short, they were once people who turned to cannibalism, got possessed by an evil spirit, which would turn them into a fearsome critter that hungers for human flesh."

Near blinked a couple of times at Beyond before grumbling about ghost stories while sending the link to L. "Regardless, there's no mythical monsters, only seven missing people."

Caspian quietly listened to the conversation before blurting out. "Where'd they go then? Why did the caves collapse?"

"The cave system here is hundreds of years old… Caspian, don't tell me you buy into this shit."

The blonde sighed and closed his eyes. "I can't say I do. But, I also won't rule it out. Look, what I'm saying is there is a purpose for legends and myths. Perhaps cautionary tales spun out of proportion to drive home the importance… but, within every tale, there is truth buried in it."

Light sat quietly at his desk tinkering with another drone-like device before yelping loudly at the sound of an electroshock, startling the remaining sleeping guards awake. Chuckling nervously the brunette hung his head and apologized in Japanese before continuing to work quietly once again.

20:30

Sarah sighed as she shifted her weight to one hip as the remaining campers shuffled tiredly into their cabins. Other counselors waved and happily sent their children off to their cabins for the night. The redhead rolled her eyes as the security guards filed out of the lodge all talking quietly to one another. Nadie hopped up to them with a wide grin as Nootau walked up to them greeting them warmly. Nadie squealed in anticipation as she reached into her leather pouch, pulling out widdled wood pieces with symbols carved into them. "I made these for you guys!"

L held out his hand with a curious stare. "What are they?" He eyed the carved form of a wolf.*

Nootau smiled and handed the corresponding pieces to the other guards. "Protection talismans. They depict the great spirits of the forests to ward off evil energy."

Mello reluctantly took his before clutching it in his hand tightly, nearly pressing the shape of the marten* into his hand. "Thanks. Thanks for thinking of us."

Nadie smiled brightly as she tucked her hands behind her back. "I made them special for each of you." Beyond ran the pad of his thumb over the carved figure of a bear.* Caspian eyed the carved eagle* with a small appreciative smile.

Light bowed to Nootau and Nadie. "Thank you very much." He delicately held the carved hawk* talisman in the palm of his hand.

Nadie chuckled at the brunette as a drone buzzed past the group in the direction of the mountains. "It seemed appropriate, you know… because of the…" she motioned her head towards one of the many flying drones nearing the cabins. Light watched the direction the Alpha drone flew towards.

Near chuckled at Light as he admired the deer* carving. Matt tucked his carved hummingbird* talisman in his pocket and held it with a head nod of appreciation.

47 Days Remain

10 Counselors Surviving

100 Campers On Site

Author's Note:

The symbolism of the pictogram used by many Native American cultures are:

Wolf: Direction, Protection, Strength, Leadership.

Marten: Warrior, Protection, Bravery.

Bear: Protection, Courage, Physical Strength and Leadership.

Eagle: Courage, Wisdom, Strength.

Hawk: Rain, Wind, Thunder, Lightning. The hawk within many traditions was believed to fly-fight, protecting people from evil spirits of the air.

Deer: Direction, Safety, Prosperity, Shelter.

Hummingbird: Swiftness, Resilience, Tirelessness.

Meanings sourced from (and will come into play later.) They have some pretty cool stuff. This story or the author is not affiliated with the website.