"Alright let's crack this thing open." Oliver sighs, stepping into Oscar's cabin closely followed by Max. After the little incident at the library, The group would spend the rest of the day visiting different parts of the camp. They wanted to diversify their activities for the day while also avoiding the softball field in the process. Dealing with Michael was so far at the bottom of the boy's list, they didn't even want to think about it. Didn't even want to think about softball.
Max just wasn't in the mood to rearrange the koala's teeth. Even if he did have it coming. If Susie hadn't intervened, he would have done more than break a table. Though at the same time, his punishment could have been much worse for really hurting Michael than only paying for the smashed property.
After spending most of the day not doing much at all, instead pacing around the Island, briefly speaking with friends and monsters, and having another, less confrontational encounter with Susie, the group would finally come to a decision for a good activity.
The basketball court was empty that day, not surprising given the time Max thinks. If the kids didn't have to, they would willingly spend their time on sports activities, usually opting to do anything else around the Island. This was good for them at least. The vacant space meant the group could enjoy themselves more.
Oliver was never the best at the game, especially compared to Max, though he was far from the worst either. That title went to Oscar who had never been one for sports. He was the type of kid to watch and only vaguely pay attention. The closest thing anyone could think that the boy was good at was softball but even then, Oscar still didn't like that. Especially not with Zack on the team making fun of him to no end.
Max on the other hand was naturally gifted at every single sport that landed in his lap. He even decides that since Oscar wasn't really good at the game, they should have a handicap match. Oscar and Max versus Oliver. The young musician saw the match-up as to unfair to be serious, even when Max puts the rule in place that he was only allowed to guard while Oscar tried and hopelessly failed the shoot.
Not wanting him to feel bad for himself Max would take the ball up in Oscar's hands as he positions himself behind the other boy. He helps him take aim and goes on about lining up the ball with the basket and seeing it as an extension of his own hands, all in an attempt to turn the boy into a better shot. And maybe security as an excuse to get his arms around Oscar and press his body up against the other boys back again. Anything to get that same feeling from earlier, or anytime he touched Oscar.
Surprisingly, Max's quick coaching didn't stop Oscar from missing ninety percent of his shots but ten percent was bad. Better than the usual zero anyway. It ended up being a close game in any case. After that and a few more hours of doing nothing, they had decided it was just late enough to start heading back to the cabins and call it a day.
"Come on Oliver. It'll be fun. Just like old times." Oscar said, quickly covering his mouth with his hand. He had assumed he was talking to Hedgehog for some reason. Only now did it occur to him that his best friend hadn't crossed his mind until then. "I mean just like new times." He rubs his arm. "But this story's like, a classic. Trust me."
"Alright. But I'm out of here as soon as it's done." Oliver says setting on the edge of Oscar's bed He doesn't plan to spend the night with Him and Max. He didn't even want to stay and read the story. Besides not wanting to read a book designed for kids, Oliver thought it would be good if Max had some alone time with Oscar.
Given what he's learned today about the bat, he's still not really sure what it actually was, but he knows he was probably getting in the way. They would be hanging out tomorrow anyway. One night apart wasn't a big deal.
"No problem dude." Max takes a seat on the edge of the bed after Oscar crawls in and other his blanket. He opens the book, looking over the first page briefly then starts reading to them. Though it was mainly for Oscar.
"Ok...here we go." Max clears his throat, looks up to Oscar and Oliver then back down to the book. "Goodnight cats, Goodnight dogs, goodnight newts, and goodnight frogs."
"Ah yes. very informative." Oliver said. He had scooted further onto the bed with one arm crossed over his lap and his chin resting in the palm of his hand. Max could hear a hint of sarcasm in his voice. Not like he was trying to hide it of course.
Max shoots him a quick glance before counting to read. "Goodnight city, goodnight town, goodnight farms, and goodnight cows."
"Hmm. It's actually very insightful isn't it?" Oliver speaks again. He was struggling to keep his eyes open. His eyelids flutter up and down until they finally come to rest.
"Shut up Oliver," Max says. The boy doesn't respond. He continues reading. "Goodnight Mom, goodnight Dad, goodnight home and school bags." He looks over to find Oliver laying next to Oscar. He had fallen asleep and was huddling up next to Oscar. The elapent on the other hand was still wide awake and mouthing the words from the story as Max read along. Oscar did say this was his favorite book. To Max, it looks like he's heard it a thousand times over.
"Goodnight church ministers and pastors, goodnight graveyards and all your cadavers?" Max looks over to Oscar who was still laying down with Oliver now cuddled up next to him. He has a sweet smirk on his face, apparently unfazed by the strange line he had just repeated. He shakes his head slightly and continues reading.
"Goodnight sun, goodnight moon, goodnight world, we'll see you soon." He closes the book when the last line is read. Oscar was half asleep, eyes half closed with a small smile across his lips. He was hanging on by a thread but still wasn't quite ready to drift off.
"Wow. You're a good reader Max." Oscar says he blanks slowly through his half-closed lids. "You're almost as good as Hedgehog."
"Uhhh... right, Oscar." Max was getting a little tired of being compared to Hedgehog if only he could convey to Oscar that he was different and that he could be more than just a friend like she was. This wouldn't happen if Hedgehog wasn't in the picture. He's not saying life would be better if she didn't exist of course. He still considers her a friend even if the young witch has mixed feelings about him right now. He just wanted her as busy as she had been today. That wasn't too much to ask, was it?
"So. What are we doing tomorrow?" Oscar mumbles in his half-sleep state. He was on his way out. Whatever Max says now would most likely go on recognized.
"Well...I'm actually busy tomorrow." He looks over at Oscar. His eyes were closed. he looked like an angel to Max when he was sleeping. He didn't want to admit it earlier but he would be working tomorrow. He had a little summer job he had gotten a mouth earlier and would do that in his off time. Now it was looking like he'd have to put in overtime if he wanted to pay for the library table.
"Oh... don't worry about it." Max felt bad, Oscar says it's okay but he knows it's not. "But, we can spend the night together now."
"Oh okay...Goodnight Max." Oscar drifts off seamlessly. Max almost doesn't realize he was asleep until he hears the soft pitter-patter of the boy's breath, flowing gently in and out of his slightly opened mouth. He really was an angel.
Max scratches the back of one ear. "Goodnight Oscar." He whispered to the sleeping boy. He sat there for a few more minutes with nothing to do other than watch over Oscar and roll his eyes at Oliver when the musician coils his arms around Oscar. Max decides it would be best if he left, getting up from where he sat on the bed before leaning over to Oscar again. Max plants a quick peck on the sleeping boy's cheek
Oscar squirms around a bit. "Max..." He mutters out. The sound feels Max with joy. Then he leaves.
-/-/-/-/-/-/-/
Hedgehog was completely drained from yesterday's escapade with Betsy. After returning from Heartford they spent most of their time looking for a good spot to host the blood drive. They would settle on hosting it right in the center of camp. Senes the drive seemed so important the elves, right in the middle of everything was probably the best spot for it.
All that work being dumped on her so suddenly was a bit too overwhelming. She couldn't even pull herself to even think about visiting Oscar after the day was over.
Even though she'd had bearly gotten any sleep the night before she was determined to make today a good day for Oscar. Their work was far from over, Betsy would no doubt still need her but until then she was going to spend quality time with her best friend.
So she made sure she was prepared this time. She used last night to make sure nobody needed help. She ran around helping camp staff, doing favors and odd jobs for as many people as she could find for today. the witches included. Hedgehog had to admit, doing all of that in one night and only being a little tired now, she was impressed with herself.
The only thing left to worry about was Max. He'd been with Oscar all day yesterday doing Susie knows what. The thought didn't sit well with her but she was confident that he never really made any real progress with Oscar. On top of being naive, He was hers and only hers.
Hedgehog runs up to Oscar's cabin door and begins rapidly knocking. She was expecting to find the boy up and about by now. It was easy enough she thinks. The door doesn't open right away and she starts to get concerned. It wasn't like Oscar to sleep in if Hedgehog wasn't already with him. She puts her ear up the cabin door.
She listens for a bit until she could hear shuffling on the other side and the sound of feet dragging against wood. She sighs, relieved and steps away from the door, ready the great Oscar with open arms. When the door opens though, her expectations are thrown way out of left field.
"Oliver?" Her brow arches to the top of her head when she sees the drowsy musician. "What are doing here?" She spoke carefully. She was taken aback. He had never spent the night with Oscar before. She hoped he didn't have a crush on him too.
"Oh. Hedgehog." He rubs over his tired eyes with closed fists before looking at her, then does a double take. "Hedgehog!" Oliver shouts out in sudden shock. His eyes look in every direction she was in and his face lights up like fireworks. He wasn't expecting her. He doesn't even know what was really going on. "Ah. Max, was reading this book, Oscar got from the library." He says rubbing his eyes, not to wipe the drowsiness out of them but more to avoid looking at her. "It must've knocked me right out. It was so boring."
"Oh... goodnight world eh?" She asked with a smirk. She already knows the answer.
"Yeah, that's it. We actually had trouble finding it. And even more, trouble getting it" He leans against the door frame of Oscar's cabin with his arms crossed.
"What happened?" She questions. Anger or some equivalent of the emotion must have visibly dotted her face when she sees Oliver begin to look worried. What kind of trouble could they have gotten into at a library.
"Well, like I said, it actually took us some time to actually find it. More time than I want to admit." He said recalling the events from yesterday morning. "Then Micheal comes in and starts picking on Oscar."
"God, Michael. He is such a jerk, I swear." Hedgehog felt bad that Oscar had to go through that and even worse that she wasn't there to protect him herself. She was supposed to be his best friend and she was too busy to be there for him.
"Yeah. Then when Max comes around to help, Micheal gets on him." He continued to relay the story. "He starts yelling, calling Max gay, this and that..." Oliver begins to trail off, bobbing his head around.
"Wha-... he's the one with the pigtails." She scoffs to herself. What was Michael even doing there? If she could recall, softball practice had been scheduled for yesterday. So what made him think he could skip it to run off to the library? He wasn't much of a reader. "Then what happened after that?"
"Oh man, This was the craziest part." He comes off of the door frame and smiles at her. "Max just rushes him. Tackled the loser into a table and starts beating his face in." He retold the story with overwhelming excitement laced into his enthusiastic fashion. "I tried to get him off but I couldn't, it was the best thing I had ever seen and probably the craziest thing Max has done. Then Susie came and broke it up." Oliver let out a disappointed huff.
"Man, that's... crazy." Hedgehog was shocked to hear Max had done that. Normally he was a chill guy. He was always so lay-back and never rocked the boat with anyone. She hums quietly. "Are Max and Oscar around by the way?" She asked. She only came around for one reason and hearing a story about Max beating another kid's face in wasn't exactly that.
"Well, I'm guessing Max just went back to his cabin. But Oscar's taking a bath right now." He tells her. By the time he woke up, Max had already been gone. Truthfully he doesn't know where he ran off to. Oliver assumed it was back to his cabin.
"Right, right. So what are you doing here?" She got why he was there. Now she was curious about why he had stayed.
"Oh, I promised Oscar we'd hang out today." He motioned her inside the cabin. "And since I was already here I figured, might as well wait." He shrugged.
"Oh cool. That's cool I know you and Oscar don't hang out much." All she could think was how great it was that she only had Oliver to deal with. For reasons unbeknownst to her, thoughts of the boy begin to flood her mind. She watches him drag himself across the floor, stretching and yawning.
She could practically see what little muscle the boy had been sporting through his white undershirt. Oliver's other articles of clothing were gone but not far. His shoes were kicked off near the front door and his jacket and hat were lying on Oscar's bed still. Luckily his pants were still on, otherwise, she'd probably melt right then and there.
She looks over to the hat that lies on the blue jacket. On its own, it was so stupid she thinks, but paired up with Oliver, it was the cutest thing, she'd ever seen. "Ugh- no-" She mumbles to herself and the unintentional grumble gets the boy in front of her's attention.
"What was that?" He turns to ask. As usual, his eyes refuse to meet hers.
"Nothing. Just holding back a sneeze." She looks away slightly, questioning her weak excuse.
"Oh... okay." Oliver accepted it nonetheless. She needs to control herself. It was yesterday all over again. She doesn't need useless thoughts clouding her judgment. Her main concern was still Max and she was determined not to lose Oscar to that vulture.
"What were you guys gonna do today anyway?" She asked, her thoughts finally coming back under her control. Just like she liked it.
"Oh. I don't know. I guess I was just gonna play my piano for him or something." He said falling back onto Oscar's bad.
Hedgehog takes a seat on the floor. As much as the thought of being serenaded by one of Oliver's songs sound appealing, she could think of much better things to do with their time. then the blood drive comes to mind. Although Betsy told her not to worry, Hedgehog wasn't content with the lack of information that the elf had given them the other day.
She needed a proper answer, something more to go off of than just the event being 'for the greater good' so she decided what she wanted to do today. She wants to talk to Barb directly to get a better understanding of what this blood drive was for. "I have an idea actually." She begins to offer up her new suggestion. "We should head to the sound house. They have a piano bridge there I know you're gonna love."
"Wait, sound what? How come I haven't heard of this." He says a bit puzzled. How could important information like a piano bridge on the Island slip past his radar?
"I don't think most kids here know about it." She explains. "It's one of those things you have to go out and discover. Like extracurricular." She thinks back to how she and Oscar had only managed to find it and that was only due to her becoming a werewolf. One thing always leads to another on this Island.
Oliver grimaces at the ceiling of the cabin. "Ugh, more work. Just what I need." He pouts.
"Oh, hey hedgehog." Oscar had exited the bathroom with a towel wrapped around his body. "Sorry about yesterday. Is everything okay with Betsy though?"
Hedgehog looks over at him with a wild smile on her face. It's only been a few hours since she's last seen him but looking at him now. It almost felt like a lifetime. "You alright Hedgehog? You look a little..."
"Oh, uh- right..." She lightly slaps her fingers on her forehead. "I'm alright. Yesterday was no big deal, just a little emergency."
"Emergency?" Oscar tilts his head.
"Nothing serious. Business for the blood drive. That's it." She explains, thinking back to Heartford and the mysterious elf in the alleyway.
"Ohhh... that's right." Oscar shivers. He looked like he was about to pass out. Hedgehog presumes at the thought of a needle entering his arm. "So now that you're free. What do you want to do today, Hedgehog."
"Get dressed, Oscar. Hedgehog has decided that we will be heading down to the sound house." Oliver says in a polite tone of voice and respectfully lays out the elephant's clothes on the bed. " Honestly, I really want to see that piano bridge dude."
"Wait, how come?" He asked her, taking the towel to dry behind his ear though unintentionally flashing Oliver in the process. "Are we gonna see Barb?"
"Yeah. I want to ask her something." She stood up and walked to the front door. "I'll be outside when you're done."
"Y-yeah, me too." Oliver stammers. One hand was covering his eyes and a deep blush had formed on his face as he quickly follows behind Hedgehog. He never thought he'd see Oscar naked before. He didn't know the boy was that carefree. He needed something to take his mind off of the image that was burnt into his retina and he thinks of something almost immediately. "Hey, Hedgehog?" He turns to her, and she raises a brow. "So, I noticed something about Max."
"Oh yeah... what was it?" Her heart starts racing. She can feel it practically pounding against her ribcage with how fast it was moving. She knows what's about to come next.
"Uh...so. Yesterday I noticed that he was acting weird around Oscar and..." He stops. His next words are on the tip of his tongue, yet he was reluctant to let them roll off. "Hedgehog, is he? I mean, is Max gay?"
"Oh, um." She knew it. Max was so stupid. How could he have made it so obvious now? He defiantly didn't before. "Ok don't tell anyone. I'm now sure if he totally is, But Max did tell me he has a crush on Oscar."
"I knew it!" He proclaims loudly before bringing his voice back down when Hedgehog hastily puts a finger over her lip. "I knew it. He punched me in the arm yesterday for laughing at Oscar. That really hurt."
"Yeah, he's being an idiot all of a sudden. But remember you can't tell anyone." She reminds, bringing him in close to avoid Oscar or any eavesdroppers from overhearing their conversation. "He says he doesn't want anyone to know."
"Don't worry. My lips are sealed." He brings two fingers across his lips, mimicking a zipping motion.
"Okay, I'm ready." Oscar had rushed out tripping over the first step of the cabin but was caught by Oliver and Hedgehog before hitting the ground.
Once they were ready and made sure Oscar had both his shoes on the right foot and that none of his clothes were on backward, they begin making their way over to the sound house.
Along the way, Hedgehog couldn't help but wonder about Max. What did he see in Oscar that he didn't see in her? Sure, she loves Oscar. He was her friend, and she would do anything for him, but he wasn't exactly boyfriend material. From what she knew of the boy at least.
"Woah, you weren't kidding Hedgehog!" Oliver let out an excited squeal when the bridge come into his sight. "It's even better than I could have imagined."
"Yeah, yeah. It's awesome." She said, crossing the bridge ahead of them. "Barb!? Barb, are you there?" There was no reply. She should have been there; she was almost always there. Hedgehog looked back at Oscar and Oliver. They were playing on the piano bridge, re-enacting a scene from a movie she was sure she'd seen before. She decides to knock again. Maybe the elf elder didn't hear the first time around. "Barb? I really need to talk to you about something important." She waits for a bit and listens closely. Nothing. She probably wasn't there. Hedgehog decided she would leave a note for later. Hopefully, Barb would see it and come find her immediately.
"Was she, their Hedgehog?" Oscar asked, still jumping up and down on the piano bridge with Oliver by his side.
She looks back at the sound house. She could but feel that the place seemed a bit lonely then. "No." She sighs. "So that was a bust." She comes to a stop, making sure to sand clear of the two's playing. "I guess she must be in Heartford now."
"Don't worry Hedgehog," Oscar says, jumping around with one arm interlocked with Oliver's. "It wasn't a complete waste of time."
"Yeah, this bridge is insane." Unlike her, Oliver was more than pleased with the outcome of their short trip.
"Yeah." She stares down at the piano keys below her. "But what else is there to do today?" Not only did she not have any answers retaining to the event. The frustration that came with not knowing anything was getting to her as well. She was struggling to come out with an activity she could do with Oscar.
"We could watch a movie. Do we watch movie's here?" Oscar shrugs as he gives the suggestion.
"Susie wouldn't let us," Oliver says still jumping on the bridge with Oscar. "And if she does, it would be one of her catastrophes."
Oscar chuckles. "I mean, you'll never know," Oscar said, continuing to jump along with him. "Let's ask her."
Hedgehog nods. There was no harm in asking. Well, maybe there would be, depending on Susie's mood that day. She gets the boys to stop playing on the bridge to make their way over to the witch's cabins.
Hedgehog's first thought was to ask one of the other two witches, but Betsy wasn't home, and neither was Alice. Their only option now was to ask Susie directly. Hedgehog takes the lead on Susie's cabin. Unlike everyone else, she wasn't so scared of Susie. Not completely.
She brings a fist up to the door, stopping herself before she actually hits the door. She was still nervous, but she would push her anxiety aside and start banging on Susie's door trying to get the witch to open up.
"Susie, Susie, Susie." They all say simultaneously in rapid succession while Hedgehog knocks on the door.
"What!? What!? What!?" She yells as the door swings open. Her expression was twisted into a mix of anger and irritant. Her hair was wild and frizzy. She looks like she'd had been sleeping all day and was indignant with all the unnecessary noise. "What do you bozos want from me now!?"
"We want a movie night," Oscar demanded that the witch give them permission to watch a movie. That was the bravest Hedgehog had ever seen out of the boy. Though he was still nestled close behind her.
"Ah. I get it." She says crossing her arms and leaning on the door. "You babies couldn't get enough of my performance after all huh?"
"No..." Hedgehog snorts at the arrogant witch. "We actually just want a movie night for the whole camp... that isn't yours," Hedgehog said, crushing Susie's pride in the progress.
"Oh... no." She goes to close the door in the kid's faces, but the door doesn't shut. Hedgehog had slipped her foot in before it could close fully.
"Come on Susie," Hedgehog speaks to her through the crack in the door. "If you don't, we won't leave you alone all day."
"Ugh...fine." She groans in defeat, cursing the ever-persistent little tikes. "But I get to choose the movie and..." She scratches her chin, thinking of things she could add to their agreement. "We watch in the graveyard. Those are my conditions."
"Deal." She happily agrees, not giving any more thought to Susie's deal. She was only happy to have obtained a movie night for the camp and for Oscar. "Wait, what movie?"
"Oh, you'll see." A devious smile extends over her face. Hedgehog was starting to reconsider their deal. "I'll call it in. So, all you have to do is pick it up."
"You got it, Susie." Oscar jumps out in front of Hedgehog. He takes the girl by the hand and guides both her and Oliver away from the witch's cabins.
"Yeah, yeah. Remember it's at the library. Now leave me alone." She slammed the door, happy to be rid of them. "Now, what horror movie should I choose from." She snickers to herself. "Oh Oscar, you little bastard. I'll teach you to raise your voice to me."
-/-/-/-/-/-/
"Please, girls. you can't do this" Barb spoke in a weak tone. She had been strung up on a wall of the old chapel, her body was covered in red vines that littered the entirety of the structure from end to end and floor to ceiling. The strange vines held her in place as they pulsate and vaguely moved around her body. "You don't understand what she's capable of. if you bring her back, we're all doomed." She pleads but her practice voice falls on deaf ears.
"Oh, mother." One of the figures steps up and removes the clock from over her head. "You don't seem to understand." Her daughters began to slowly pull each of the hoods off their heads.
They had betrayed her and conspired to bring an ancient evil back to the island. And at the head of it, all was Barbs Eldest. Barb Jonier. "When Lady Elizabeth returns to us. She will retake what is rightfully hers and she will make McCallister suffer." Junior steps up to her mother. "You and Mcallister had always talked about bringing magic back to the world. Saving it. Yet you still have nothing to show for it." She chuckles turning back to her sisters. Barb noticed something about the eyes of the other. They weren't right. With how dark the cathedral was, the elf elder couldn't exactly tell. But she knew that the girls weren't themselves then.
"Now we have that answer, mother. It's only a matter of time. Once we have the essence of the pure blood, no one will be able to stand in her way." Jonier says, motioning to her sisters to leave and prepare for the day of the blood drive. "You should feel so lucky, mother. You get to bear witness to the end."
