Project Integrate Series Boxed Set

by Campbell, Jamie

  The big emergency was a missing camper. I could only imagine what kind of horror befell him. Perhaps there were bears in the woods? Man eating fish in the lake? Snakes? My mind plummeted into all the horrible things that could hurt you once you were alone in the camp.

  I didn’t know Heath all that well, he was two years younger than me so not in my grade at school. I had seen him around quite a bit though, he played on the football team and was at every game. According to the counselors, he wasn’t the loner type. If he was missing, it wasn’t likely to be because he wandered off by himself.

  I teamed up with Lola, finding her in the crowd of quickly disbursing bodies. We were assigned to the woods behind the main building with another dozen campers. All we had to do was keep an eye on each other and look out for Heath, covering as much ground as possible. If the alarm sounded in the meeting circle again, we were to return immediately.

  We spread out far enough to still see each other but also cover a fair amount of ground. It seemed a little silly searching together, it wasn’t like we were just going to stumble over Heath. If it was that easy to find him, he would have been found by the counselors already.

  I tried to walk in a straight line so I didn’t get lost, keeping an eye on Lola on my left and Taylor on my right. As long as I didn’t lose track of them, I wouldn’t get lost myself.

  There didn’t appear to be any footsteps on the ground in front of me, no matter how hard I looked. Surely Heath would have left footsteps at some point, right?

  I was concentrating so hard on the ground I didn’t hear someone sneak up on me. Someone was watching me from behind. Even though I hadn’t looked around to confirm it, I could feel their eyes on my back.

  My heart started pounding in my chest. Maybe Heath was bait? Maybe someone took him just to split us all up and into the remotest parts of the camp?

  I kept walking, straining to hear the footsteps behind me. They were faint, but they were definitely there. Whoever it was couldn’t be looking for Heath, they weren’t likely to find him directly behind me.

  My eyes flicked to the side, Lola was still there. She was further away, but still within screaming distance. Taylor was no longer on my right. Either she had wandered further away, or I had.

  My legs didn’t want to walk anymore, not while I was being followed. I had to look, I couldn’t let them have all the advantage behind me. At least if I was the one to look back, it would be me having the benefit of surprise.

  I stopped in my tracks and shot around, my hand raised to attack whoever it was. When I saw Lochie, I almost attacked him anyway. “What are you doing following me?” I demanded.

  He grinned that stupid grin he always smeared over his face. “I’m looking for Heath. What about you?”

  I took a few deep breaths. Arguing and making an enemy out of Lochie was completely against the project rules. If I didn’t make nice with him soon, it would only be a matter of time before I got into trouble for it.

  Through gritted teeth, I forced a smile. “I’m looking too.”

  “Great, we can look together,” he said happily. He started walking, like it was the most natural thing in the world for two enemies to search for a missing camper together. I reluctantly followed, trying to keep my distance while not being obvious about it.

  We had only taken a dozen steps before he started talking again. “So what’s with the symbol on your wrist?”

  “I don’t have a symbol,” I lied. The rules didn’t say anything about lying, especially about my wrist triangle.

  “Show me your wrist then.”

  I rolled my eyes and showed him my right arm, the one without the mark. “See? Nothing there. Whatever you thought you saw, you were seeing things.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Nice try, it was on your other arm. Show me that one.”

  “I don’t have to do anything,” I said indignantly. Even the fact he had a good memory was annoying. Trust him to remember the details in the chaos of last night’s prank.

  We stomped for another few feet before he answered. “Fine then. But I will find out one day what you’re hiding. Normal people don’t have triangles on their wrist.”

  He could think whatever he liked, I would never let him find out my secret. Not until the project ended in another nine years, anyway. Then he could know everything and I wouldn’t care.

  We continued on for over an hour in the woods. Lola never left my sight on my left, I didn’t want to be completely alone with Lochie. He would probably kidnap me or something as a joke. Perhaps that’s what happened to Heath, a practical joke gone wrong? I wouldn’t put it past any of the boys at the camp.

  We reached a ravine that led down to a lower part of the forest, a wall of rocks leading the way downward. The incline seemed safe enough as I started stepping from rock to rock. I lost sight of Lola as we descended.

  I misjudged one of the steps and my foot slipped on the mossy rock. My shoe got caught in between the two boulders and I tipped over. I sprawled out on the ground, face down.

  My first reaction was of embarrassment. I turned over and began to get up, finding two hands helping me. Lochie steadied me as I tried to stand. “You’re bleeding.”

  I looked down, conscious of his hand still around my waist. I dropped my arm that was on him but he didn’t move his. I pushed the thought out of my mind as I looked down at the stinging area on my leg.

  Blood was gushing down my shin from my knee. It started pooling on my sock, turning the previous blue into bright red. There was so much blood I thought I might faint. I started to sway on my good leg.

  “Whoa, careful,” Lochie warned. “Try sitting again.” He gently lowered me down to the mass of dead leaves on the ground. I clutched my head, trying to stop the world spinning around me. Or perhaps I was the one spinning out of control? I couldn’t be sure which of us was moving.

  Before I knew it, my leg was being raised toward the sky. I tried to fight against the unnatural position but I was powerless against the strong hands.

  “I’m trying to help you, stop it,” Lochie grumbled. Was he really trying to help me? I was too woozy to be able to tell.

  I propped myself up on my elbows behind me, watching what he was doing as pressure was laced around my thigh. Lochie had used his camp bandana to tie around my leg, slowing down the blood supply. So he really was trying to help after all. That had to be the first time ever.

  He peered over the gash in my leg. “You’re going to need stitches, we have to go back.”

  Going back seemed like such hard work. “No, we have to find Heath. He’s the one that needs help. We’ve come this far, we can’t-”

  “So you want to get that infected until your leg has to be cut off? Is that a better option?” He raised his eyebrows as he challenged me. I hated it when he was right, which didn’t happen very often. I sighed, conceding defeat. “That’s what I thought. I’m going to pick you up, okay?”

  I tried to stand, definitely not wanting to be carried. I didn’t want his help for anything. I managed to get almost up before I started going down again. Lochie’s arms slid underneath me as he caught me mid-fall.

  “That’s what I thought,” he chuckled to himself. “Now will you let me carry you? Or do you want to die of stubbornness? I can leave you here, I won’t lose any sleep over it.”

  “Fine,” I finally replied through gritted teeth. He turned around, indicating I should jump onto his back. I struggled on, feeling more awkward than I had ever done in my life. He linked his arms through my legs, careful of my damaged knee, and I slunk my arms around his neck. At least he couldn’t buck me off when he decided he’d had enough.

  Lochie deftly skipped up the rocks and started walking back toward the camp. My weight on his back didn’t seem to slow him down any. If anything, he seemed to walk faster than he did before.

  I refused to notice how good his hair smelt, or the way his strong muscles flexed against my legs, or the way he was trying to make the ride as smooth as poss
ible as he hurried along. I didn’t want to think of any of those things. After all, he was still the same old Lochie. Just because he was being nice now, it didn’t change anything.

  We reached the camp in half the time it took to go the other way. Lochie didn’t let me down until we were in the nurse’s station and he propped me straight onto the examination bench.

  “That looks nasty.” Nurse White pursed her lips as she got a good look at the gash on my knee. “What happened?”

  “I tripped over.” Wasn’t that obvious? It wasn’t like I was juggling knives or something.

  “She slipped on some rocks and took a tumble forward,” Lochie added. Fine, if he wanted to be all descriptive and accurate, he could go ahead and be my guest.

  “You don’t have to wait with me,” I told him.

  “You can’t get rid of me so easy, Jones.”

  “Don’t call me that.”

  “Don’t talk to me, Jones.”

  The nurse busied herself in one of the many drawers on the wall. Pulling out things randomly, she gathered a handful of instruments. “I’m going to clean the wound and then you’re going to need some stitches. I can call your parents and take you into hospital to have a doctor do it, or I can do it here for you now. Which would you prefer? Should I call your parents?”

  Panic struck me quickly. If my parents knew I was injured, they would want to pick me up themselves and take me for treatment. Project members had to be careful about what doctors we saw, I would have to go all the way to the Department and be seen by the FBI doctor. That was just overkill for a small gash to the knee because I was clumsy.

  I shook my head fervently. “You can just stitch it up here, I don’t think we need to bother my parents for such a small cut.”

  Nurse White shrugged. “Suit yourself, but remember I gave you the option.” She opened a syringe, the needlepoint oozing a little with whatever it contained. “This is going to hurt a lot but it will numb the area. Think you can handle it?”

  “Do I have a choice?” I nervously laughed.

  “You might not want to watch,” she advised. I looked at the wall, trying to do as told. I braced myself for the sting that was going to come, already grimacing with the pain.

  It felt like a bee sting to my knee. I squeezed my eyes shut and waited for it to pass, praying it would hurry. The nurse seemed to take forever to numb everything. I started a count in my head, hoping to distract myself and see how long it would take for the drugs to be effective.

  I got to twenty-nine before I realized I couldn’t feel anything anymore. Instead of the pain in my knee, there was a feeling somewhere else. Lochie was rubbing my back. It was only light and in a small area but he was definitely doing it. I stiffened when I realized what he was doing and he stopped, recoiling his arm back to his side.

  The place where his hand had been burned with warmth, radiating out through my back and down my limbs. I was so glad he couldn’t read my thoughts. Nobody could know I actually enjoyed his touch, I wouldn’t even admit it to myself. It had to be whatever Nurse White had injected into me. I wasn’t thinking straight. Lochie was annoying, arrogant, and stupid, he wasn’t really the nice and caring guy he seemed to be. I knew the truth and as soon as the drugs wore off, I would remember that.

  “You’re all done, honey,” Nurse White declared, placing the last of the bandage strips onto my leg. “You need to take it easy and rest up for a bit. Come back tonight after you shower and I’ll patch you up again for the night. We have to keep that wound clean.”

  “Thanks, Nurse White.”

  “Is there a cream or ointment or something she needs to apply?” Lochie asked. How was he so sensible all of a sudden? Seriously, the fresh summer air must bring out the best in him.

  “I’ll apply the antibacterial cream for a few days,” the nurse replied with a warm smile.

  Lochie helped me off the bench and I tested my leg. I could walk on it but every step sent out a burst of pain to shoot down my leg. I limped quite well on it, that was something at least.

  “I’ll take you back to your cabin,” Lochie offered. I was too tired to argue. He put his arm around me so I could rest my weight against him. We limped along like that all the way back to my cabin.

  “My bunk’s the top one.”

  “Hold on.” He bent down and lifted me up in front of him like I was a ragdoll. He gently lay me down on my bunk. If I didn’t loathe him so much, I could have gotten used to the princess treatment.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled.

  “Do you want me to stay with you? Or I could get Lola?”

  “No, I’ll be fine, really. I don’t want to take anyone away from the search for Heath.”

  Lochie nodded and scrunched up his face while deep in thought. “Give me your phone.”

  “I’m not going to give you my phone,” I replied, angry he would even ask for it. Why would I do that?

  “Hand it over.”

  “No, you’re not getting it.”

  He sighed. “I just want to put my number in it so you can call if you need something.”

  Oh, that was actually kind of sweet. Now I felt bad for making such a fuss about it. I handed over my cell phone without any further argument. Lochie took it and used both his thumbs to add himself as a contact. Lochie Mercury’s digits, some girls would have killed for that number. He handed back the phone.

  “Call me anytime, for anything.”

  “Thank you.” I tried to sound sincere but I think I ended up sullen instead. Oh well, nothing he wasn’t used to in the sixteen years I’d known him.

  “See you around, Jones. Try not to kill yourself in my absence.” He gave me one last look before disappearing out the door. I rolled over to stare at the ceiling, trying desperately to get rid of his face out of my mind. Whatever concoction Nurse White had given me, it must have been enough to send me crazy.

  Not only was I bored and my entire leg throbbed all afternoon, I also couldn’t stop thinking about poor Heath. I hoped it was only a prank that caused him to go missing and he would wander back into camp like nothing had happened. I hated being the only one not out there helping.

  CHAPTER 4

  By nightfall, the counselors were getting extremely worried about the missing camper. I was too, testing my leg to join them in the meeting circle. They had recalled everyone from their search before they needed to start looking for anyone else in the darkness.

  I found Lola sitting on a log, exhausted. “Are you okay? What happened to your leg? I looked around and you were just gone today.”

  I used her shoulder to lever myself down onto the log. “Stupid me fell over, nothing major. You know how clumsy I am. Did anyone see any trace of Heath?”

  She shook her head sadly, the fatigue evident on her face. “Nobody found anything. It’s like he just disappeared. Someone said he might have been taken, can you imagine that? The thought creeps me out.”

  It didn’t creep me out, it terrified me. “We shouldn’t jump to conclusions,” I tried to reassure her.

  We were all told to have some dinner and the night’s activities were cancelled. I was pretty sure nobody was disappointed, no-one felt like having fun when Heath was missing.

  After dinner, some of the counselors were gathering in the meeting circle. I lingered long enough to get the gist of the conversation. They were heading out again, continuing the search into the night.

  I thought about all the training my parents had drilled into me. They had prepared me in ways of finding people and things. They had prepared me for a lot of things in case I would need it. I could actually help the search, there was no doubt in my mind I was better trained in search and rescue than any of the counselors.

  I approached the most senior of them, Johnny Balero. “I want to come with you.”

  He looked me up and down, lingering on the bandage around my leg. “We’re going to be covering a lot of ground tonight. I appreciate the offer, but we’ll be all right.”

  “Pleas
e let me come, I’ve been trained in searching and first aid. I’ll be able to help you.”

  “You’re hurt.”

  “I can walk fine, it’s just a cut.” I hoped that was true. The painkillers had worn off a few hours ago and it didn’t seem that bad. “I can look after myself, please just let me come with you. I’ll be able to help, I promise.”

  Johnny looked me up and down again, this time with a resigned sigh. “You really know what you’re doing out there? It will be dark, dangerous.”

  “I know what to expect,” I replied.

  “Fine. Grab a backpack, we’ll leave in ten minutes.”

  “I’m coming too.” The voice came from behind me but I knew exactly who it belonged to. Lochie’s presence wherever I went was seriously starting to get on my nerves.

  “You can grab a backpack too,” Johnny told him.

  I bit my tongue so I didn’t argue with Lochie. The more people looking for Heath, the better. It didn’t mean I had to like it though. I slung one of the backpacks around my shoulders and waited on the other side of the crowd.

  We set off as a group of eight in total. Strong flashlights guided our way. I kept moving my light, trying to find any traces of someone walking the track before us. A broken twig, some flattened leaves, kicked up rocks, they were all supposed to be signs of human interference.

  “We’re going down the eastern track,” Johnny called out to the group. “None of the campers checked there today because of the steep descent. Keep an eye on each other, I don’t want to have to look for more people in the morning.”

  He wasn’t kidding about the steep descent. I walked sideways so I didn’t fall over my own feet. My knee was throbbing before too long but I tried to ignore the pain. I hadn’t done anything to help Heath all day, it was the least I could do now.

  We walked in silence, the only sounds being those taking turns calling out for Heath. I didn’t have to hear Lochie to know he was always a step behind me. I could feel his gaze constantly drilling into my back. I don’t know why he even bothered to come.