Day 7

The youngest children boarded the buses with grand smiles. Some kids cried, some giggled the whole way. The counselors all shared a sigh of relief. Caspian watched the buses pull away from the window in the lodge before abruptly yanking a thermometer from Aiden's mouth and lifting it to check it. Light flipped a page in his book while glancing at his watch.

Undressing the wounds on Aiden's ankles, Caspian let out a forlorn sigh. "Still bleeding. Without proper equipment, I couldn't tell you if it hit an artery." Aiden hissed through his teeth and looked away from the mangled flesh. "Any luck getting a line out?"

Light shook his head. "I can't get a signal, I haven't been able to get anything since yesterday."

The blonde slipped a pair of glasses on as he inspected the leg as he rotated it gently. "Of course. Has Beyond said anything about the cars?"

Light closed his book as he stood and stretched. "He said they're heavily damaged from lack of use and missing parts, he even said one of them was slashed up. Why didn't we just send him on the bus?"

Caspian sighed once again. "I'm probably going to have to stitch a couple of these. Do you trust a bunch of rowdy seven to nine year olds on that tiny bus to not traumatize the wounds further? I'm just as handy as any hospital. I just need my bag from upstairs."

The brunette nodded quietly before turning to retrieve the bag. "The whole thing?"

Not taking his eyes from the wound, Caspian nodded. "It has anything I'd need. First rule little one, never leave home without a fully operational first aid kit. Don't overpack, just take what you know how to use."

Aiden nodded quickly as he braced himself against the couch, flinching at the pain. "Okay. Noted."

Caspian looked up to the young brunette with a pitied glance. "I'm sorry. I'm here sounding like I'm lecturing you. You understand that what happened, wasn't your fault, right?" Aiden nodded as he fidgeted with his fingers as he nervously watched Light bring the bag down to Caspian. The blonde nodded to the other and opened it up. "Alright. This is going to hurt, but not any worse than it already does."

Aiden shut his eyes tightly at the sight of a needle being assembled. A timid whimper escaped the boy when a sharp pain was felt near one of the deep slashes. "What was that?"

Caspian dabbed a swab coated in a clear cream. "Local anesthetic. I need to numb the site before I stitch it."

"What's that?"

The blonde smiled at the boy's curiosity. "A numbing antibiotic cream. It'll help the wound stay clean and ease some of the pain once the local wears off." Aiden watched as Caspian assembled a different type of needle and some sort of thread and set it on a cloth next to his leg. He flicked his sapphire eyes up to Aiden. "That's the needle that's going to stitch your cuts, fortunately only two of them are deep enough to need them, one on each ankle." The guard took note the boy seemed to relax a little when spoken to. "This is nylon threading." Caspian spoke to the boy as he readied his needle with the thread and forceps.

Caspian tapped near the wound several times while gauging the reaction. When no reaction was found Caspian grabbed the small needle with the forceps. "These needles are too small to get a good grip on it and have any kind of control, so we use forceps. So you'll snag this little guy up and make sure your forceps are locked in place so it doesn't slip." The blonde flicked his eyes up to the brunette who was curiously watching his every move.

Caspian smiled slightly. "One fourth away from the wound if you can afford it and enter the needle in at ninety degrees. Be mindful of the fat layers underneath the skin, don't really want to hook that, it doesn't hold the stitch well and could cause slipping on the knots." Caspian twisted his hand clockwise. "You want the needle to move upwards and come straight out." As the needle pierced the other side of the wound Caspian gently pulled the excess thread along, leaving about two inches of thread left. Wrapping the thread around the forceps twice he repeated the action. "You want your stitch to be able to hold up to most pressures, wouldn't want it to break on you during a trip to the bathroom. So you loop it, so it can handle more tension, kind of like a double knot."

After some time, both of the deeper cuts on both ankles were stitched up and Caspian was cleaning up. He looked up to see Gemma was on the couch across from them writing notes. Her hazel eyes lifted from her notebook and blushed slightly. "Uh… I never knew how to stitch a wound before… so I took notes."

The blonde smirked as he patted her head as he walked by. "That's fine. But, he needs rest, you can come see him again later."

Mr. Wallace watched Gemma give Caspian a fist bump before running outside, from the table while sipping on some honey tea. He then watched Caspian hook a small bag up from a coat hanger and attach an IV to Aiden. "What's that for?"

The blonde shrugged as he grabbed a couple of protein bars for the boy. "One less thing to get up for. I have about a hundred of those little packets. It's no bother, he's also showing some signs of dehydration, you know kids and water, they just don't like drinking it."

Mr. Wallace smiled warmly at the boy who eyed the protein bars being set next to him. "You're surprisingly good with children."

Caspian ruffled his blonde hair in the back. "Only because my wife is a patient woman. I have two kids at home, one four the other just turned one. She taught me a lot of what I know from the medical field, she's doing her residency to be a surgeon."

The elderly man smiled bitterly. "Now I see why the money appealed to you."

The blonde sat next to him with a small plate of cookies. "You need to keep your sugar up, sir." Caspian sat back in the chair and watched the view of the mountains from the grand bay window. "I'm a dive instructor and when I go back home, I want to start courses to be a paramedic. Not for professional reasons, other than to further myself in my current field."

Mr. Wallace chuckled while nibbling on a cookie. "Well, you'd make a fine healthcare professional."

"It's not flexible enough. If my wife gets called into work, someone has to be home with the kids."

Caspian left the table to refill Mr. Wallace's tea. "I may have misjudged you boys."

The front door opened and Beyond grumbled under his breath before slamming it behind him. "Does anyone want to explain why a whole engine is missing from a vehicle? I can't build one from scratch without the parts. So there's nothing I can do for those trucks. I'm going to bed." The ravened guard huffed in frustration as he headed up the stairs.

-x- 2:00am -x-

A monitor clicked on with a tag displaying 'Motion 49 - Motion detected.' The camera feed showed a clear picture of the front of the main lodge. Other motion sensors seemed to be going off around the campsite.

L watched the monitor closely before narrowing his eyes at the windowsill that was closest to where Aiden was sleeping. L quietly sighed and lifted a heavy suitcase. "Near. If I don't return, call the other guards back."

A head of silver locks lifted from his current task at his computer. "Excuse me?"

L headed down the stairs calmly. "You heard me. Also, night vision capabilities on camera 97 are malfunctioning."

Aiden startled at the sound of a suitcase landing on the table near him. "Apologies." The brunette watched as the elusive ravened guard assembled a high powered rifle. Charcoal eyes lifted towards the brunette as he recalled what Caspian had said about him. "This is a Remington MSR. Can put a piece of steel into something 1000 yards away if you're a practiced shot."

The boy stuttered at the sight of multiple pieces being added to the gun, including a long tube for silencing the shots. "A-are you?"

L slipped the clip loaded with live rounds into the bottom of the gun. "I am very proficient in death delivered from a distance." L stood and readied the firearm. Gently and quietly L pushed the front door open. He pressed on a small earpiece in his ear and lifted the rifle. "Anax, triangulate movement, white list guards." His eyes darted to the figure under the window. "Get in. Close the door. Kill the lights."

Gemma scrambled to her feet at the sight of the gun and did as she was told. A British voice came over the frequency to L's earpiece. "479 yards to the northeast. Heading true north."

The gun lifted as a slow and steady breath was taken. "White list nearby?"

"Nearest whitelist: 2 yards out, elevation of negative two degrees from the motion target. Wind variant of one degree southward bearing."

"It's hunting, I should be able to at least wound it." A purposeful breath was drawn in and slowly released as the trigger pulled. Both kids jumped slightly at the small flash that lit the room and the quiet sound of the bullet leaving the weapon.

A loud howled screech echoed through the trees. The radios came alive. "What the fuck was that!?"

L lifted his radio as his finger left the trigger and rested the rifle on his shoulder. "All units. Return to main camp, tactical silence is advised."

L turned back to the door and opened it, giving the two teens a sidelong glance before setting himself on the couch opposite of them.

"Sir… what was that?" Aiden said as he shifted an uneasy glance around to all of the windows.

"I don't know. Big and fast. It nearly anticipated my shot."

Gemma felt her lip quiver before she spoke. "But, but, you got it right?"

L set the butt of the rifle onto the floor with a loud thunk sound. "I wounded it, probably grazed it at best."

Beyond, Matt and Mello all bursted into the door together. "What in the actual fuck, L!?"

The raven lifted his eyes and dully searched the group. "Where is Caspian and Light?"

Anax hovered down the stairs and beeped a couple of times. "Both missing details are accompanied by a counselor. They are in route, however, slowly."

L netted his fingers and rested his hands on the barrel of the rifle. "Very well. Is extraction necessary?"

The door flew open and Nadie was tossed inside with Caspian and Light not far behind her. Caspian growled out at her before pushing a large dresser in the way of the door. "There. Safe. What was that!?"

Nadie raised her hands up that were covered in mud and clay. "Okay. Okay. Let's uh, let's talk about this rationally. We can't afford to get angry right now."

Light folded his arms as his eyes landed on L. "Nice shot. Incendiary?" The raven nodded slowly while keeping his eyes fixated on the young woman.

Nadie sighed. "Look, the whole reason Nootau and I…" Her eyes landed on the two teens who seemed to be huddled on the couch together in fear. "Can we talk somewhere else?"

Caspian's jaw tightened before shifting an irritable stare towards the teens. "Aiden cannot be moved, it is more effort than it would be worth. And, Gemma is Near's little sister, anything you say she can hear. Spit. It. Out."

Nadie flinched at the blonde's angry tone. "Okay, okay. Look, I was drawing protection circles. I can't do it during the day when the kids are out and around us. They might disturb them before they can harden."

Mello slammed his hand onto the back of the couch. "The amount of patience I'm losing with you, woman."

She shifted her eyes sadly towards the children in the room. "Wendigo."

Beyond scoffed in irritation at her admission. "Yeah. I thought that's what I overheard. You seriously can't think those things are fucking real."

Nadie pleaded with Beyond. "Kitchi, how can you not!? That's what happened here before! I think it's testing its boundaries before it strikes, just like last time. It's looking for a weak target. It needs to get stronger before it can go for the intended target. There's too much going on around him!"

Beyond rubbed his forehead with the balls of his fingers as L sat quietly before speaking in a monotone hush. "Let me get this straight. You think a mythological creature is somehow behind all of this."

Matt chuckled. "Sounds even dumber when you say it."

L lifted himself from the couch and swung his rifle over his shoulder. "Sometimes the most improbable is the most likely."

Beyond groaned. "You can be fucking serious!"

Nadie huffed in anger. "I know it's them! It's back! I know it! I caused the cave-in last time to lock it away!"

Light folded his arms and watched L walk towards the stairs. "We need to evacuate the kids then."

Nadie sighed defeatedly. "You think it'll let you? Last time they tried to evacuate, responding authorities went missing or turned up dead."

L paused with his hand on the railing. "Whatever it is. I can attest, it's very smart. Wendigo? I'm not convinced, however, there are very few things that can move that quickly."

Gemma followed the conversation with her eyes before darting her eyes towards Light. "Sir! Your drones! I'm sure they caught something?"

Light smirked and bounced himself off the wall. "Smart thinking, kid. In the meantime, until we can confirm and balance a proper evacuation plan, carry on. Now we know what's at stake, even if it isn't this 'wendigo' we should proceed with extreme caution. Even if it isn't, pretend it is. Worst case scenario, if it is this, magical little shit, we were more prepared. So, Nadie, stay the course, but tighten security, I need the counselors to be mindful. We'll cover-story this as a grizzly for now. It'll keep the kids on their toes and stave off any panic."

43 Days Remain

10 Counselors Surviving

75 Campers On Site - 1 Recovering

A/N: Happy New Year's Eve and an early Happy New Year!