Thanks to...extra time and a little insomnia...and the knowledge that your suggestion will give me weird dreams tonight...
"I don't want to." Artemis said flatly.
"Come on! Campfire time sounds fun!" Megan said.
"Sitting around a fire with a bunch of people I don't know, singing God knows what as a counselor plays bad guitar?" Artemis shook her head. "No thank you."
"What, scared your singing will deafen the crowd?" Wally laughed.
"No, I'm worried that your singing will bring the dead back to life." Atemis grinned.
"Why?"
"Because you sound like a banshee."
"That doesn't even make sense!"
"Shut up, both of you! We're here." Dick said.
"Crap. I can't sneak away, can I?" Artemis said dejectedly.
"If we have to do this, you do too." Connor answered. "We have to sit with our cabins. See you later." They all walked off to join their respective cabins.
"Hey, mental link is up." Megan's voice floated into their heads.
"Someone is missing." Kaldur said.
"What do you mean?" Wally asked.
"Connor and I's counselor is not here."
"Where is he?" Wally asked.
"If he knew, he wouldn't have said anything, Kid Stupid." Artemis's eye-roll could be seen across the amphitheater by Wally. In the middle was a large pile of wood and tinder, waiting to be lit. It was, by the smell, quite obvious to Connor that it had been doused in lighter fluid. So much for learning to light a fire.
The head counselor, megaphone man from that morning, came to the center of the outdoor amphitheater that served as their campfire site. It was in the middle of the camp, which had come to remind Artemis of a gated community. There was a high fence around the perimeter to keep the camp safe.
"Hello, everyone! For those of you who don't remember, my name is Sam Radnel, and I am the head counselor here at our wonderful camp! Welcome to the first campfire!" There was some applause, while others continued to try to find signal for their cellphones. "Now, it's time to light the fires of friendship!" Sam started to light the fire, and soon had a large blaze going. Other counselors started to sing, and a few returning campers sang along to the familiar songs.
"Kill me." Artemis groaned mentally. Wally snickered.
"What is that smell?" Kaldur asked. "It's almost as if...they are roasting pork over the fire."
"I think I hear something. But I can't get past the singing." Connor said as he strained to listen.
"Guys...I know that smell." Dick suddenly jumped up as other campers finally realized what was going on. "There's someone in the fire!" He yelled. Some counselor grabbed a fire extinguisher and tried to put out the fire, but it was obviously too late.
As the tinder and other smaller things had been burned away, and was now possible to see a squirming, bound figure burning. At least, it had been squirming at first. But not anymore. A girl screamed, and chaos broke out. The team regrouped as teenagers around them went crazy and counselors tried desperately to regain order.
"I have a feeling we know who that is." Connor said.
"Who? Your counselor? It's possible...But there's no way to know for sure." Robin said.
"EVERYBODY! GO BACK TO YOUR CABINS RIGHT NOW AND WAIT FOR YOUR COUNSELORS!" Sam's voice boomed over the camp. Everyone fell still. "Go back to your cabins. This is not a time to panic. We will call your parents tomorrow, and anyone who wants to will be sent home. But right now, you all need to calm down!"
"Wow. That was assertive." Raquel said.
"I do not want anyone to go back alone. We will walk you back to your cabins." Kaldur said.
"What, you think we can't take care of ourselves?" Megan said tensely.
"We know you can, but we're just...worried." Wally said. "Please. It will make us feel better if we walk you back." He looked Artemis in the eye.
"Fine." She didn't even bother to speak telepathically. "Let's go. Dick and Wally, you come with us. Kaldur and Connor, you can go with Raquel and Zatanna." The boys thought about protesting, but Artemis knew that boys should also be in pairs.
Raquel and Zatanna's cabin was the furthest away, and though the path was well-lit, Raquel was shaken. She had never been scared on the job before, but she had never had someone burn to death right in front of her.
"Are you alright?" Kaldur's light-green eyes were searching hers.
"Yeah, I'm fine." Raquel hugged her shoulders. "It's just so...horrible."
"Yes, but we will find who is responsible, and they will answer for their crimes." Kaldur said, and Raquel almost felt better.
Connor was walking with Zatanna, and they could almost be mistaken as brother and sister. They both had dark hair and light skin, and each wore a matching unreadable expression.
Wally walked with Megan, trying to calm her. It was clear from Artemis's body language that she didn't want to talk, whereas he couldn't get Megan to stop.
"Who would do that? What an awful way to die!" Megan, being a Martian, was very sensitive to fire and therefore could not think of a worse way to die.
"We''ll catch him." Wally said lamely. He didn't really expect it to work since he had been talking to her for five straight minutes, and his attention was partially on Artemis. It seemed his attention was always partially on her nowadays.
Robin walked silently next to Artemis, messing with some mechanical thing.
"I don't want to alarm anyone...but I can't get a connection." He was talking about his communicator to the Justice league. "I have this thing hooked up to every network and satellite...Well, this shouldn't be happening." He finished.
"So what, someone's blocking communication?" Artemis said.
"Maybe. I can't be sure."
"Lets talk about this tomorrow. It's been a long day." They arrived at the cabin, and Megan went in after saying goodnight. Artemis paused in the door. "Wally...?"
"Yeah?" He turned back around.
"Just...you know, be careful." Artemis stood awkwardly, and then turned and went in side. But not before she heard Wally say softly:
"You too."
"Hey, what about me?" Dick asked.
"Dude, you're a ninja."
Ok, that was just a quick first death. They will get better and more creative with each chapter. We have one hundred people. How many can I get in seven, no, six days?
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