“I agree, but remember I don’t have any clothes here and I am wearing your clothes,” I say.
“Don’t worry about that. As you can see, I have a lot of clothes. So please wear what you want. Don’t go around feeling dirty because you are worried about wearing my clothes,” Trevor says.
“Okay then, I will change shirts also and then I am headed to the bathroom and then to the kitchen,” I say.
I grab a shirt then go to the restroom and then to the kitchen where Anita Kay and Stella and Stella’s mom along with Max are. Just after me comes Trevor.
“Alright, I made you guys some sandwiches and some ice tea, and there is also water. Oh, and Max has her bowl full also,” Stella’s mom says.
We all say, “Thank you.” We all make our sandwiches and then start eating. When we are eating we all are so quiet. “Okay, are we about ready for the mental part of the training? I am sure you will be great at this also. We just need to make sure you don’t say something that is going to tip them off in any way when you meet the Wasioux and start hanging out with them. Even though they are focusing on Cody and not saying anything to let you guys know that he is there, they will be trying to find out everything they can about you. So let’s go into the training room,” Stella says.
You know, she is really pretty. When she barks out orders she is even prettier to me. I know that’s strange, but she is. When she talks we all pay attention. I am surprised Cody isn’t trying to date her. That means Sandy must be pretty also.
“Okay, Hollis, we are going to sit over there and talk for a few minutes. Stella and Trevor will sit back there and Max can hang over here with us if she wants to. The Wasioux, like I said earlier, will try and break you when they become vampires. They will work hard to get into your head and your thoughts. So we are going to have you smoke their peace offering. Have you ever smoked in your life?” Anita Kay asks.
“No, I have never smoked anything before,” I reply.
“Okay then, I need to warn you that you might start coughing and choking a little, but you will be okay. I wouldn’t inhale it at first, or else you will start choking. You can just take a few smokes and fill up your mouth and then breathe out instead of in. We want you to experience it now so you will be able to handle it when they want you to smoke one with them,” Anita Kay says.
“Okay then, I hope it doesn’t make me sick. I have really never smoked anything at all, so I am not sure what my reaction is going to be. Like everything since I have gotten here, let’s give it a try,” I say.
“Okay then, let’s get the peace pipe and we will begin letting you smoke the pipe and then we will go from there. Stella, did you get the pipe? Also get us a lighter so we can light the pipe,” Anita Kay says.
“Yes, let me get it over there in the cabinet. I thought we already had it?” Stella walks over and opens the cabinet and gets out a long pipe and then she puts something in it and then whatever the something is she puts it away.
“Here you go. This is the pipe and pipe filler that Sandy gave us,” Stella says and she hands the pipe along with the lighter over to Anita Kay.
“Okay, Hollis, I have wiped the mouthpiece off and I am ready to light the contents that are in the pipe and then you can start smoking it,” Anita Kay says.
She then lights the pipe and hands it to me. It has a strange smell to it. I put the pipe in my mouth and I breathe in and I can feel the smoke coming into my mouth and I start coughing and practically choking.
“Hey, breathe and take it slowly. Just breathe in slowly: you don’t need to take in a lot at one time. This is not a competition, you just need to be able to sit there with the Wasioux and be able to handle the effects that it causes. That’s when they will start trying to get information out of you. You will not even know that they are playing with your mind. You don’t want to smoke a lot of this stuff: it will make you different,” Trevor says.
“Wait, what do you mean, make you different? What is it going to do to me?” I ask.
“You will see very soon,” Trevor says.
I have had a few puffs on it and the room is starting to go crazy on me. Very strange and they are talking and they are starting to get louder to me.
“Hollis, can you hear me?” Anita Kay asks. I can hear her, but I am not sure my lips work to answer her: she has like two heads, and so do Stella and Trevor, and Stella is beautiful even with two heads. Oh I hope she can’t hear me. Am I even saying anything? What is wrong with me? It must be that peace pipe thing making me feel like this. I am losing it.
“What is your name?” Anita Kay asks.
That’s a stupid question: she knows my name.
“Hello, can you hear me? Why aren’t you answering? Are you okay? Speak to us,” Anita Kay asks.
I can hear her and I am speaking to her. “Hello, my name is Hollis. Hello, my name is Hollis. Can you hear me?” I ask.
“Yes, we can hear you. You don’t have to yell at us, we can hear you loud and clear,” Anita Kay says.
“Good, I thought you couldn’t hear me. This stuff is wild. Who are you? My name is Hollis, hello my name is Hollis. Where am I? Where is my doggy? I don’t see her. Max, where are you, Max? I need some more of that peace pipe. It’s giving me peace,” I say.
“Okay, you are having a great time right now. We know you are Hollis, and again we can hear you very well. We need you to be able to smoke the peace pipe and keep yourself under control. When you are with the Wasioux you need to make sure you are not breathing it in. You need to fake it with the Wasioux. Just relax now and breathe slowly. We need to get you to come down on this,” Anita Kay says.
“I think I might be sick. The room is spinning with me and I need to sit down and hold on. When will it stop?” I ask.
“We will get you a wet rag to put on your neck. You need to breathe slowly like Anita Kay said. It’s just because you have never tried this before and your body is reacting to something foreign in you. It will pass shortly. I need to teach you quickly how to act like you are breathing it in, but not really breathing it in. We can’t teach that to you right now because we need to help you feel better. We had to breathe it in this time so you can see and we could see how it would affect you if you did breathe it in. Max is right there sitting. Max, come over here and see Hollis,” Trevor says.
Max comes over and sits by me and licks me on the face. At this time I am lying on the floor and can’t move.
“Hollis, how are you feeling now?” Stella asks.
“I am starting to feel a little better. The room is not spinning as much as it was a little bit ago. I still would rather just lie here for a few more minutes before I try and sit up. That was the worst feeling ever. If that’s the way it is to be drunk or on any kind of drugs, then I never want to take any drugs or drink any alcohol. If I had to smoke that peace pipe I am glad that we did it now, so I would know what I am getting myself into and how to plan not to ever get myself in that situation again. I got to fake that I am smoking if they offer it to me and not really smoke it. I promise I will not ever inhale it. That was rough,” I say.
“That is exactly why we did the exercise now so that you could see how it would affect you. It affects all of us like that. It affects even the Wasioux. The difference is some of them will not smoke it so that they can see what reaction the newcomers have and they try their best to get information out of you,” Anita Kay says.
“Sorry, once again we had to do something to you that you did not like. Again we have to make sure you are aware of everything before it actually happens and can plan for it, or at least plan for the reaction that will occur. I know we keep repeating ourselves, but you just do not realize how mean and crazy the Wasioux become once the full moon hits. They are so strong that they can actually snap our necks in just a second and pick us up and throw us against the wall and break all of our bones. They just toy with us village people. They need our blood. It is so tough living in fear that we can be killed at any moment when they are vampires,” Tre
vor says.
“I know you’re not doing this to me because you are enjoying it, I know it has to be done for our safety. Do I like it? No, I do not, but I know it has to be done and I do not blame you guys. I actually appreciate you guys helping me because I would never be able to help free Cody by myself. When he was calling out my name I never expected I would be going against wereboons and vampires. So thank you for helping,” I say.
“Hollis, we need to help you sit up now. You need to drink some water so that you will start feeling better. We have a couple more things to go over with you. One of them is about Max and the other one is about you. So when you feel better please move over to the couch so that we can go over them with you,” Anita Kay says.
I finally get up and move over to the coach. Trevor brings me some more water to drink. Water is always just what the doctor ordered.
“Okay, I feel better now. I am not feeling like I need to throw up anymore,” I say.
“Alright then, let’s talk about Max for a few minutes. Do you remember when you told us that, when you were dealing with that large snake, you could have sworn that another snake showed up and was fighting the big snake? Also when you were cornered by the wereboons, and you said another wereboon was right next to you ready to fight the wereboons, and was protecting you, and each time Max was not around? Do you remember all that?” Anita Kay asks.
“Yes,” I reply.
“Well, have you ever heard of a shape-shifter? That’s what Max is. She can turn into any animal or reptile she wants to,” Anita Kay says.
“Wait, what? What? Do you mean a dog can change into any animal they want to, or any reptile? Is this another prank thing you guys are playing on me? You know, you guys do like to not tell me the truth sometimes. I have a hard time believing this. My little Max can turn into something else. If that was true, then why isn’t she doing that all the time?” I ask.
“It is true: she can switch and the reason she doesn’t do it all the time is simply because she doesn’t need to. She only switches when she needs to, or if you ask her to. Max, we need to show Hollis how you can switch to a different animal. What animal would you like to see Max change into?” Anita Kay says.
“Okay then, I will play along. Max, I want you to turn into a pony,” I say. Then right before my eyes, Max starts changing and I can’t believe she changes into a pony.
“What? How did you guys do that? Is there some kind of trick magic you guys are playing on me? Where did Max go? Max come here, here, Max!” I yell.
“Hey, we are not tricking you, nor is it magic. Max, just like you saw, changed into this pony. That is not a lie. If you look closely at Max you will see she has a birthmark on the inside of her right leg: it’s the little white patch of hair. If you look at the pony you can see it,” Trevor says.
“Max, turn back into Max,” I say. Then again the animal in front of me starts changing. Then Max appears back with us. I look at her leg and yes, she does have a patch of white hair on her leg.
“Max will be able to help us rescue Cody. She will be able to turn into a wereboon and she will not be noticed,” Stella says.
“Wow, I just can’t believe an animal can turn into another animal, or actually anything else. I just don’t understand how that can even be possible. It’s just strange, but why have I not seen wereboons and there are vampires, so why not animals that switch into something else?” I say.
“Yes, we do have a different village, don’t we? Well, we also need to tell you that you are a transporter,” Anita Kay says.
“Wait, what?” I ask.
“Yes, you are a transporter. That means you can think about where you want to go and you can make yourself go there. If you remember when the snake was about to attack you, you were able to think about a different location and then you ended up there. You transported to that location. You made that happen. You made yourself get away from that snake and end up by that tree. So we need to work with you on learning how to master your power,” Stella says.
“Wow, you guys just keep throwing things at me. So now I have a special power and I can think about where I want to go and I can make myself go there. Is that what I am hearing?”
“Yes, that’s what you are hearing. You can will your body where you mind wants you to go. So let’s try this now. Okay, we are sitting on the couch and I want you to think hard about going to the door. You need to think hard about it and just concentrate and see if you cannot make yourself go over to the door without walking over there,” Anita Kay says.
So I decide to play along. I look at all of them and then decide to look over at the door. I keep looking at the door and nothing is happening. “Okay, I am looking at the door and nothing is happening. Just like I thought,” I say.
“You can’t just look at the door: you need to want to go to the door. You just need to concentrate on where you want to go,” Anita Kay says.
So I sit there and look at the door, but in my mind I keep saying I want to be by the door. I keep concentrating, saying I want to be by the door. Then all of a sudden I hit the door and it knocks me down. “Holy cow, it worked - I am at the door. I don’t know how I got here at all, but I am at the door. Why can’t I just concentrate and want to be where Cody is and get him? Why are we going through all this training? I could just go rescue him right now,” I say.
“It doesn’t work like that. First you need to learn how to land correctly. Plus we do not even know where he is located in that village. They have lots of rooms and caves and you name it. Also let’s say you find him, how would you get him out? You might know how to transport to where he is at, but do you have any idea how to transport someone with you?” Trevor asks.
“Well, no, I do not know how to transport someone with me since I just learned how to transport myself and I am still learning. I was just getting excited. I have never transported before and wasn’t thinking about anything else. You are correct, I do need more training.”
“Okay then, you need to focus on a spot and then go to it, but visualize how you land. We will use you to get in the room with Cody after we find out where he is and then we need to find out how many people are with him keeping him prisoner. That’s some of the things that you and Trevor will find out once you go over and meet and hang out with the Wasioux. Anita Kay and I will come over there also and we will hang out with Sandy. The more eyes we have the better. So let’s try a couple more times of you transporting so you can do it with perfection. We can use your skills along with Max’s skill along with our skills, and we will be able to get Cody free and maybe destroy some vampires on the way. So try and transport in this room a couple more times and then I want you to try and transport into a room outside of here. Like transport into the room you and Trevor have. Also you have to concentrate on landing,” Stella says.
“Okay, we will do another transport and I will concentrate on landing. I am not sure about transporting into another room: that means transporting through a wall. I just think I might hit the wall, but of course I will try it,” I say. So I start thinking that I want to be at the door area and before I know it I am at the door and hit the door.
“Man, that hurt, I need to learn the landing, wow. I hit that door pretty good,” I painfully say.
“Just take your time and visualize yourself landing on your feet. You really have to use your mind through this exercise. You have to think about where you want to go and then you have to think about how you want to land. Since you are a nerd and nerds are brainy, then you should be able to master this exercise in no time. This should be right up your alley,” Anita Kay says.
“I agree this should be very easy for you to master. So far, all the ones that we thought you would struggle with you mastered. You will master this one also,” Trevor says.
“Right now, I am struggling with this. I can transport, I just can’t get the landing and can’t judge the distance yet. I will keep trying, though. I know this can be a great advantage for us if I can master this,” I say.
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“Just keep doing what you’re doing. Keep thinking about it and doing it. You will master it before you know it. This is the last thing we need to master. Hopefully you will master it today and then tomorrow we can go over to the Wasioux village and introduce you. We need to have Sandy come over here first, though. This way she will not be surprised and then tip off the Wasioux in any way. She needs to know our story so, if asked, she can make sure she tells the correct story. She will be cool with everything and she will be able to help,” Stella says.
“Why hasn’t she come over before tomorrow, and now does she want to?” I ask.
“We asked her not to come until we had you trained. We wanted to keep it as low-profile as we could and not make a big fuss over the training. With Sandy coming over here doing lots of training, they would have started questioning why she is coming here so much and they would start following her. That would not be good because they might figure out what we are planning. One thing they are not and that is stupid: they will figure us out really quick. That’s why we have asked Sandy not to come by, but again she will soon.”
“Okay, let me keep trying this. We don’t want to mess anything up. Especially since I have been doing all this training.” So I look at the target area and next thing you know it is like I flew through the air and am standing at the target.
“Wow, you did it, you landed on your feet and you landed normal. What did you do differently that time?” Trevor asks.
“This time, I did not think so much about it, I just did it. I think the reason before I was thinking way too much about it.” I thought about it and ended up in the room that Trevor and I have.
HOLLIS MCCALISTER SUMMER CAMP Page 18