HOLLIS MCCALISTER SUMMER CAMP

by Keith McCloud

  “Why do you guys not leave the village? The younger generation: why don’t you guys move from the village? You would have better lives. You wouldn’t have to worry about living with vampires and them eventually biting you. Yes, you can die from other things, but you’re not living in fear.”

  “Well, from what the vampires tell us they are everywhere and they just haven’t let their existence be known to anyone. They say that they are hidden and they drain blood from victims without anyone finding out. They claim they are in every village, town, and city. They say they are doctors, lawyers, police - you name it, there is a vampire in that job. Even your schoolteachers, but I am not sure if that is true because I have never been outside of this village, so I cannot tell you what it’s like out there in the outside world. We just hear stories from people who accidentally find their way into our village. Kind of like you did. Did you even know this village existed before you found your way here? Had you ever seen a wereboon before in your life? I don’t think they are running around in other villages, towns, and cities. I am pretty sure they breed them here and they are one of a kind,” Anita Kay says.

  “I agree with you on the wereboons: I have never seen anything like them before. Not in books or magazines. Vampires, I have in the movies and in fantasy-type movies. Until I came here I never thought they existed. Until I actually see one of them put their fangs out, I am still not going to believe it. Not that I do not believe you guys, it’s just to me seeing is believing. My mom is from Missouri and they call that the ‘show me’ state, so I think I have that part in me, even though I am not from Missouri. I tend to not believe what people say until I have seen it with my own eyes. As for the wereboons, I have seen them with my own eyes. They chased Max and me and wanted to kill us. We thought we had gotten away from them when we ran into that cave, but eventually they found us. Thanks to you guys we are still alive. Can’t remember if I have already asked this or not, but how did you guys know we were even in that cave? We were not making any noise,” I say.

  “We heard all the noise coming from the wereboons. The cave backs up to the village. We take the tunnels sometimes to go outside the village to hunt. We could all hear the wereboons. They were very loud and we could tell they had someone, or something captured. When they capture something they start getting very loud and they all start running to see what it was. They are very protective of each other. They would not have killed you, though. They wanted to capture you and bring you to their masters. Who are the Wasioux, which you already know. They also have their favorite Wasioux like the Wasioux do with humans. They are normally right next to their master. Even though I do not like them at all, I do think they are beautiful when they are jumping from tree to tree. It looks like they are flying and you see how heavy they look, so to me that is amazing that they can jump from tree to tree. That has to take some kind of skill to jump from tree to tree. It’s amazing. Again I do not like them whatsoever. They are always staring at you and you are always wondering if they are going to reach out and just bite you. When I see those big teeth they have, it reminds me of the fairy tale, Little Red Riding Hood. When she says, ‘My, what big teeth you have,’ that’s what I think every time I see one of them and especially when they look at me eye-to-eye,” Anita Kay says.

  “I had one of them almost touching my nose with their nose - that’s how close they got to me. I could smell its breath and I could also feel its warm breath on me. Next time I might not be so lucky. Next time one might bite me and then the vampires would smell my blood,” I say.

  “If one of them bites you, then we are all in trouble. That’s why we are not going to let that happen. That’s why when you go over to the village you will be going with Trevor. They are used to seeing him come there. They don’t bother him - heck, I have even seen him petting a couple of them. Trevor has a way with everything and everybody. He makes you like him. It also helps that the vampire that befriended Trevor is one of the top vampires in the village, so he goes over and gets carte blanche. He still doesn’t know where they have hidden Cody, though. He tries to find out in a nice, secret kind of way. So far, though, they have been very good and have not let him know and no one else knows. So we have Trevor looking and we also have Sandy trying to look without getting caught. Once you get over there we will have another set of eyes on everything. We all go over there, even Stella, but we are not allowed to stay long. We use the excuse to go hang out with Sandy. We are allowed to hang out for a couple of hours with Sandy. Trevor, on the other hand, hangs out for hours at a time. He does not like them at all, but he hangs out with them so he can continue to get more information on them and to try and find their weaknesses. We are so lucky that they are not always vampires and those they only turn on a full moon. This way we can be sociable with them and not worry about them biting us. It’s okay if they smell our blood: they already know what kind we have. That does remind me: we will still have to cover you in pig shit. They were not lying to you about that. It is the best way to hide your blood smell. They might smell your blood a little, but the pig shit does something to the smell of your blood to them. It’s like a skunk smell to us. You know how bad a skunk smells to us, we’ll that’s kind of the way your blood smells to them. They can be around you, but once we put that smell on you and then if you scrape yourself, or if they get any bright ideas and try and prick your skin, all they will smell is that nasty pig shit smell. It is so strong to them that I have heard it makes them throw up, and since they are part-human, they throw up just like we do. They can’t stand that smell. So soon we will have you to sit in pig shit, and get it all over you. It might make you sick at first. I am not going to lie to you, it stinks, but if it’s going to save your life then you will just have to get used to it,” Anita Kay says.

  “Well, I am sure I will get sick, because any nasty, funky smell makes me sick. I will also throw up and it will be nasty because I hate to throw up. Hopefully you guys will have something over my eyes and my mouth and nose so that does not get up my nose or in my mouth,” I say.

  “Don’t worry about that today. We are not going to have you sit in pig shit yet. We will make sure your eyes and mouth and nose are covered. So don’t worry about it,” Anita Kay says.

  “So did you get enough information from the questions you asked me earlier? I can answer any more questions that you have. If that is going to help in any way,” I ask.

  “I am good with the questions for you for about who you are personally. I ask those questions so that I can gage how much we can mentally push you, or they can mentally push you if they happen to capture you. Our plan is to rescue Cody and kill whatever Wasioux that gets in our way,” Anita Kay says.

  “There is that word again: kill. I just can’t get used to how freely you guys say it. It’s seems like it’s nothing to you guys,” I say.

  “We have seen a lot of death here in the village over time. Killing is not easy for us, but we will not back down from it. We actually hate death. So please don’t think we enjoy it at all and please don’t think it’s easy for us. I will tell you since, we made a pact with the Wasioux and give them our blood in blood bags, we have had less death. The issue was they would start biting us and draining our blood and then they would forget and get too excited and then they would actually kill someone without knowing it and not mean to do it. So that’s why we made the pact. We also told them for every one they kill who is part of our village, we will kill one of them from their village. I do have a question for you. If you were captured, what would be the worst torture they could give you that would make you give in to your captors?” Anita Kay asks.

  “Wow, what a question. I have never thought about it. I think being captured by itself will be torture enough. I guess I would say if they started drowning me under water that would be the worst torture for me. I am always afraid of drowning in dark water. Not sure why, but if I have nightmares that’s what is normally happening to me. I am not saying I would tell anybody, but I would be terrified. No
w please do not try and torture me that way,” I say.

  “Why in the world would we want to torture you unless you are some crazy person and we didn’t know it. We are a pretty good judge of character so I know you are not some crazy person. Same with Cody: he is not crazy either. He became weak but he is not crazy. He is a good guy and we need to get him back,” Anita Kay says.

  “I don’t really think you guys are going to torture me -well, not with drowning me - but you are going to be torturing me when you make me get that pig shit all over me. That is going to be torture and that is going to be a very nasty torture. Cody is a good guy: that’s why we are best friends. We will get him out of there,” I say.

  “Yes we will. Now again: who are you and where are you from?” Anita Kay asks.

  “My name is Hollis and I am cousins with Trevor, Stella and Anita Kay. I am here visiting for a little while because I had a fight with my parents and they sent me here for a little while to settle down and basically change my attitude. They think being here will help me. They say you have to do a lot of work here at this village. You have to learn how to farm and you have to learn how to hunt. They feel I was getting too big for my britches. Meaning they think that I was acting like I was a spoiled kid. A kid that got everything he wanted and a kid that didn’t appreciate anything. That’s who I am and that’s why I am here. To get better and appreciate what I have and appreciate people. Once I master that, then I can come back home,” I reply.

  “Wow, that was very good and it was very believable the way you said it. You said it with a hint of an attitude. Like you were a spoiled brat and like you didn’t care about anyone or anything. That’s the rumor we need to start spreading through the village. The faster we get it to spread, the faster we can get you out and start introducing you to other people in the village. I do want to warn you, though; there will be several people in the village that will not like you, because they will think that you are a rich little brat. We will have to show them that you are trying to get better and learn to appreciate things. The village people really like and respect Trevor, Stella and myself, so they will start giving you a chance. Now the Wasioux will love you because they love people with attitudes, but weak at cards and sports. They thrive on that, well, at least most of them feel this way. You know you have probably had enough training for today. I figured Stella and Trevor would be back by now. People in the village must be asking them who you are. Don’t worry, they will stick to the story of you being our cousin. We do need to spread more about you, though. The more we tell, the less we will have gossip and rumors going around. Did you say how long you have had Max?” Anita Kay asks.

  “Actually I just got her. When I took off into the woods to get away from summer camp, I found her on the trail and ever since she has been right next to me. She is very protective of me. She is such a beautiful dog. She is also very smart,” I reply.

  “I can tell that she is very protective of you. If you are looking in from the outside you guys look like you have been friends for a few years and it’s like you raised her. She is so attached to you. I am not sure how the Wasioux will take her. They have seen dogs before, but they have never seen a dog so devoted to its master before. She is a very special dog,” Anita Kay says.

  “Yes she is. She is my guardian,” I say.

  “Yes, I remember you talking about her earlier. I can’t wait to see how she reacts when you have pig shit all over you. She will probably not sit right next to you. She will probably think that you stink. Of course we will all think you stink after you get that crap on you,” Anita Kay says.

  “Ha ha, that was funny. I am sure I am going to stink. I am sure you will be able to smell me from a mile away. Just wait, I am going to hug each one of you once I have all that crap all over me. You better run from me, or else you will smell like me,” I say.

  “No way will we run from you. We don’t want that crap on us. I tell you what: I will not tell Stella and Trevor you are going to try and hug them if you don’t try and hug me. Your secret is safe with me,” Anita Kay says.

  “Okay, that sounds like an idea. I know they are just going to be laughing and laughing at me thinking it is so funny that I have pig shit all over me. I will get them back, though. They won’t even know when I grab them and hug them. That’s what they will get for laughing at me. You know, you guys are probably making this up and just playing a joke on me. Just to watch me take a bath in a tub full of pig shit,” I say.

  “No, they are not playing a joke on you, or I should say we are not playing a joke on you. You can ask Stella’s mom about it. She will tell you that we did it a few times with Cody and yes, at first he thought we were full of crap, but then he did it. Then he did it a few more times before he got caught. You know the thing about Cody is he never seems to take anything seriously, so he is always cutting up with you. He is like a free spirit. That was another reason the Wasioux took to him so fast and so well. They like that and he got along with all of them because he would cut up with them. He’s one of those life-of-the-party-type guys, but he is not a jerk. He attracts people to him just by his personality. I see why you guys are best friends: you are a great combination when it comes to personality. You have a warm personality like Cody, but you are more reserved. He has the more outgoing personality and it mixes well with yours. You don’t mind him getting all the attention, because that is not what you strive for. You like the reserved approach until you get to know people and then you loosen up. Like when you were just cracking jokes about hugging Stella and Trevor. You wait till you are comfortable with someone. Since you are cracking jokes now that means you are comfortable with Stella, Trevor, and myself. This is great to know because this means you are not going to be like Cody and go into the Wasioux village and get yourself captured. You are going to slowly become friends with them, and you are going to study them and get to know them before you decide the timing is right to try something. That is exactly what we need. Now on the flip side we can’t have you to be too reserved or else they are going to think that there is something wrong with you, and then they will start to suspect something. You will have to tell them upfront that you just like to meet people slowly because you don’t trust anyone and that most people piss you off. This will help them like you from the attitude standpoint. They liked Cody from the fun-loving guy standpoint. We are trying a different approach with you. We don’t want them to see it coming. You are going to be so different for them because they are used to people at first being scared of them because they know that everyone in the village has already told them that most of the Wasioux are vampires and to be afraid of them. Now in the same breath I am saying you are going to need to have an attitude. I am also saying you can’t have too much of an attitude or else you will piss them off and they will not like you, and then they will not invite you back to the village and then we will be all messed up and our plans will have to change. We do not want that to happen, but that’s what we are here for, to guide you and train you on their behaviors so that you will know exactly how to interact with them. I think you are going to be great at this and again they are not even going to see it coming. We just have a couple more days of training and then we will let Trevor take you over and introduce you and hopefully get you involved in a card game or two,” Anita Kay says.

  The door opens to the training room and Stella and Trevor come in. “We are back. How did it go with your mental session? Anita Kay, have you learned anything about Hollis? Did you go into his mind and find out a lot about him? Was it scary?” Stella asks.

  “I got a lot of information from Hollis. Plus, I told Hollis more about how the Wasioux are and how they like to befriend a person who they want to be their very own blood supplier for the full moon. I told him how it would be like they are trying to date him. Each one trying to get close to him because they want his blood. One thing I did not tell him is we will need to get some blood for him to use on the full moon when his matched-up vampire needs blood. We will need this so
we can throw off the vampires and they will not suspect anything. We will just have to probably give one of our blood bags since our bloods are common types that everyone has. This is an important thing that we can’t forget. There is no way we can let them even try and get blood from Hollis,” Anita Kay says.

  “Don’t worry, we will make sure we get some blood for Hollis to use. We started to spread the rumor about Hollis being our cousin. We need everyone to believe this story, and with Trevor and me going around just casually telling people, they will eat it up. It will spread fast because this village loves to gossip. That’s all we have to do since we don’t watch TV. We make our own drama by gossiping all the time. I hate it, but in this case I love it because we will use it to our advantage. It will get back to the Wasioux really fast. I say by tomorrow since it’s getting later in the day now. Once they find out we have a new cousin here, they will send someone over to meet you so we will not have much time to hurry and get that pig shit all over you. So first thing in the morning you will need to take your bath in the pig shit tub. Well, we will wait until after we eat because you probably will not want to eat after that. It even might make you throw up everything you just ate. Who knows, though: it might not bother you at all. You will most likely be fine once you sit down in it. Plus if you do have to throw up, you can just throw up in the tub since it is already nasty and you won’t have to worry about getting throw-up on anything. Today I am sure we have overwhelmed you with all this training we did, and you have to be mentally and physically exhausted. So are you ready to go back to the house and eat and relax for the rest of the evening? We have to keep your mind and body sharp otherwise you will not be beneficial to us, or you,” Stella says.