A week later the euphoria of reunion still hung in the air. It seemed as if nothing could kill the good feelings welling inside of the former campers. On the surface they had little reason to believe that the darkness would return. Gwen and Noah were back from the dead, Bridgette, Geoff, Harold, LeShawna, and Heather were all safe, Izzy and Courtney were making satisfactory progress in their recoveries, and Thomas had been reunited with his daughter. Despite all of this, the dark cloud was looming. There were still unresolved issues and unanswered questions, the most pressing being when would Dorian strike next? Also on the minds of the campers was the question of how long Gwen and Noah would remain in the world of the living. And Harold still had yet to tell the others about his cancer. Some were more mindful of the returning darkness than others. Gwen, in particular, was well aware that their troubles were far from over. She was not alone in this feeling; Duncan, Trent, Izzy, Noah, Eva, Chris, Chef, Thomas, and Abigail felt it too.
"Man, I got a bad feeling." said Trent, a week after the reunion. "It's been too quiet, ya know? The silence from Dorian's end is freaking me out." They were gathered at the hospital, as usual.
"Dude, lighten up." said Owen. "We've had longer breaks between attacks than this."
"True." said Izzy. "But Trent is right, something doesn't feel right about this. It feels like something really bad is about to happen."
"Are you guys sure you're not just being paranoid?" Geoff asked. "I mean, okay, this has happened before, but come on. Dorian can only go the well so many times, right?"
"Technically, Geoff's right." answered Noah. "But that doesn't mean we are safe. Dorian will strike again, he doesn't give up, remember? I think the best thing for us to do is strike back, hit him before he can hit us."
"It is a good plan, in theory." said Thomas. "But it will be difficult and very risky to carry it out. I should remind you what happened last time we confronted Dorian head on. People got hurt, nearly killed, the proof of the risk is right here in this room." He gestured at Heather and Bridgette.
"Yeah, thanks for that trip down recent memory lane, you jackass." said LeShawna. "Like we really needed that."
"I apologize for my rudeness." said Thomas. LeShawna glared at him, and did not answer.
"Anyway, so what are we gonna do?" asked Gwen. "I agree with Noah. We can't just sit around and wait for Dorian to strike, we need to go after him. And, yes I realize it will be dangerous, but we have to try. If we just sit around waiting, one or more of us could suffer a worse fate, than what has already happened."
"Girl, you were killed. It don't get more serious than that." said LeShawna.
"It can, actually." said Gwen. "I won't go into the gory details, but there are fates that are far worse than death."
"Ugh, I can't stand all this dark talk." said Katie, shuddering. "I'm going for a walk."
"I'll come with you." said Sadie, leaping to her feet and following her BFFFL out of the room. "We'll be back in an hour."
"Don't wander too far." Geoff called after them, remembering how easy it was for the two of them to get lost. They yelled something back, but he didn't catch it. He shook his head, hoping they would be safe.
"Anyway what were we-Harold what the hell?" Geoff shouted, changing direction mid sentence, as Harold suddenly collapsed.
Harold was clutching his head in obvious pain, and had begun rolling around as though he were on fire. "Harold? Harold baby, what's wrong?" asked LeShawna, kneeling down beside him. Harold did not answer and continued thrashing about in pain. "Oh, God. Get some help." LeShawna cried. Gwen and Trent sprinted from the room, returning moments later with a doctor, and several nurses. They loaded Harold onto a stretcher and took him form the room, leaving the campers in utter bewilderment.
"What the hell is wrong with him?" asked Duncan, trying to keep his voice level.
"I don't know." said LeShawna, tears in her eyes.
"He has brain cancer." said Noah. LeShawna looked at him, to shocked by his statement to respond. "He told me three days ago." Noah continued, "I suspected it from the day we got here, ever since he mentioned he was having trouble remembering things. He got it checked out shortly after Izzy's accident. He was keeping it a secret, because he didn't want any of us to worry, and now-" he didn't finish, not wanting to tell them the truth of the situation.
"And now what, Noah?" Duncan asked. Noah caught LeShawna's eye and shook his head. Duncan saw this, and understood. He hung his head, avoiding eye contact with any of them. He and Harold had never really gotten along, even now, but he had never wanted to see Harold die.
An hour later, they went to see Harold, and he confirmed what Noah had told them, adding the bit Noah had left out; he only had a few days left. An intense silence followed this crushing news, broken only by Beth's voice as she asked, "Hey, where's Katie and Sadie?"
