by Rowan Thalia
“Get over here, Purple,” Alex calls when they hurl themselves back on the dock like a bunch of beached whales. With a smirk, I paddle over. Asher and Sterling both grab me by a hand and help me up. There’s some grumbling about the stuff being on the beach. Before an argument starts, Dex dives in and races to the shore. His long, sure strokes say everything about my guy. He’s a dreamboat, and has all the grace to back it up. With quick work, he piles our stuff onto a small raft on the edge of the water and paddles it over.
“I bring drinks and food!” he pounds his chest like a caveman and hands the small cooler over to Alex. Sterling helps strap the raft to the tie on the dock before Dex climbs back on. I grab one towel, spread it out, and sit while Alex hands out the food and beer.
“This is what I’m talking about,” Dex groans as he takes a deep gulp from his bottle.
“Yeah, summers here are better with alcohol and no asshole counselors,” Sterling laughs as they clink their bottles together.
“It’s kind of weird being the adults here, right?” I giggle. I unwrap my sandwich and push as much of it in my mouth as I can. Alex gives me the side eye but I shrug and chew the big bite. Sterling hands me a hard lemonade to wash it down. Thank fuck. Beer is okay, but not my favorite.
“Too bad we can’t remain the only people here,” Ash adds as he looks across the lake. The water is smooth, and the sound of birds chirping fills the air.
“Except we aren’t,” I grumble. “Where are the others, anyway?”
“They were in the kitchen when I was making lunch,” Sterling shrugs. He has his contacts in today and his eyes twinkle in the light. “I think maybe the guys are trying to get the girls to come to an arrangement similar to ours.”
“Wait, what?” Dex laughs. “Three girls and two guys isn’t exactly similar...”
“Well, still. Brian was harassing Wendy and Karen. It seemed like maybe Wendy might have been into it, but I can’t tell about Karen. She just kept looking at me weird,” he wrinkles his nose.
“Gah, Sterling. Karen’s been trying to get your dick, dude. You need to fucking pay attention,” Alex barks.
Everyone looks at Alex, and he holds his hands up in a mock apology. Sterling looks like someone said his grandma died, and Dexter is holding his stomach trying not to laugh. I just sigh and grumble to myself. I’ll fucking cut a bitch. Sterling is so damn smart, but oblivious to social shit. I don’t want have to be an asshole and stake my claim, so he better man the fuck up.
“Shit. I’ll tell her to back off. Sorry Jun. I just assumed everyone knew we’re together,” he squeezes my shoulder.
“Well for some girls, that will never matter. They will assume that you are all free game since I’m the only girl. It’s not your fault,” I smile. Fuck society and their opinions.
“Hey Jun’s getting pink. We should head back,” Dex looks up at the sky. “I’ll load up the raft.”
“I’ll give you a head start Purple. If you race me to the shore and win, I’ll take the bathroom duty you snagged by being last here,” Alex nudges me.
I smile and jump in before he says another word, paddling for all I’ve got. I for damn sure don’t want to clean the toilet. When I look back to see if he’s following, I’m surprised when something cold and hard wraps around my foot and pulls me under. It feels exactly like what Asher described.
Water fills my mouth, and Alex’s form blurs as a wave washes over my face. In a panic, I scream and swallow more of the frothy liquid. My lungs burn and my chest aches as I kick and flail, trying to breach the surface. Please, let go! By some stroke of grace, the grip on my ankle loosens, and I shoot to the surface, gasping. Alex’s voice roars in my ear, and his arms wrap around me. Another set of hands tug me over the top of the raft, and Sterling claps me on the back.
“Juniper?” he rasps.
I gag, spit up water, then cough. “Something fucking grabbed me,” I choke, my voice hoarse.
“Son of a bitch,” Alex curses. Bodies press in on me as the raft is pushed to the shore. “Maybe you just panicked?”
“What the hell is this?” Sterling gasps as he grabs my foot.
I look down and see three long, finger shaped bruises darkening and a bead of blood forming where the nails sunk into my skin.
“Is this really happening… again?” I cry.
“Take her to the infirmary,” Sterling demands as the boat scrapes against the shore. Alex scoops me up, and I lean against his chest. Funny how all I can think about is he’s the one who carried me after Leonard marked me the first time. Alex may be an ass, but when push comes to shove, he always steps up. Why do these entities keep going after my blood?
6
Jun
When we burst into the infirmary, Karen is averting her eyes and her skin is pasty white ... it’s as if my injury is sending her into a panic. There’s nothing we can do but ignore her at this point. Alex gently puts me on the exam table, and Sterling gets to work cleaning and bandaging the wound. Karen keeps hovering nearby and wringing her hands. Seriously? She won’t make a great medical assistant if she can’t stand the sight of blood. I hope none of the kids get hurt when she's on duty.
"Does it hurt?" Sterling asks as he gently tapes the gauze over the deep scratches.
"Not much, maybe some ibuprofen," I say, shrugging. I'm more shaken by the attack than a little blood. A shiver runs down my spine at the reminder of the cold, thin fingers wrapping around my leg. It makes no sense. The demon should be too weak to hurt me, especially after our connection was severed. Before him, all I ever experienced was nightmares and a few scares, nothing ever physically hurt me.
"Here," Sterling whispers, clearly picking up on my tanking mood. I take the cup and pills he's holding out for me, and quickly swallow them down.
"You want to go do something else?" Asher asks, earning another shrug from me.
"Come on, Purple. Don't let it ruin your day," Alex teases. I try to glare at him, but he's right. I can't let the spirits and demons take over my life.
"All right, what's next?" I say, giving them my best attempt at a smile.
"Super believable, babe," Dex quips, helping me up.
"Hey, I'm trying," I counter. Though it sounded whinier than I intended.
"Well, I say we have a camp-out, and tonight might be the perfect night for some fun. Plus, it's far away from the lake of doom," Asher says, giving a shudder at the reminder of his encounter with the same thing. I believed him, but I tried to convince myself it was nothing, refusing to believe the demon I saw in the kitchen was back. The demon is something bigger than Leonard. I could feel its power that day, and I hate to admit it… but I’m scared shitless.
"Camping out sounds fun... but do we even have equipment?" I ask, raising my eyebrow. I'm hardly a girly girl, but I'm not sleeping on the hard ass ground in just a sleeping bag. Though to be honest, I'll probably end up laying on top of the guys, anyway.
"Actually, the camp does in the survival skills cabin, I wanted to test the gear out before we took the kids on a camp out anyway. They're small tents, but they attach to the hiking backpacks, so carrying them will be easy. Which part of the woods?" Dexter asks, his eyes dancing with excitement.
"I'm bringing alcohol, this is nuts," Alex says, looking less sure now that we are talking about staying in the middle of the woods. We've seen too much shit to think this will end without incident. Nevertheless, I’m not going to live cooped up. This fucking demon is not ruining my life.
"I always wanted to go in 'the lost woods', since they forbid it when we were kids. They loved to tell us stories about campers never being found again," Sterling says, shocking the rest of us.
"Really? They told you that?" Asher barks, raising an eyebrow.
"The counselors did, they were only barely out of high school, so it was probably just a scare tactic to keep us in line," Sterling says with a shrug.
"I'm down, I'm just shocked you want to go into the creepy part of the camp," I tease. Sterling
shrugs it off with a smile.
"I didn't say I believed their stories, it's more just so I can say I've been there," he jokes as we wind our way to the survival skills cabin. Dex walks in and pulls out the tents and backpacks, before handing them out. They smell musty and clouds of dust float in the air as we throw them down in a pile.
"Why don't we let these air out while we pack some food and stuff. I'm not worried about clothes, but I can't go without brushing my teeth," I joke, leaving the bags in a pile and walking back to our cabin. We enter quickly, everyone parting ways to grab their necessities. When we are done, we meet back up in the living room. I packed long pants and a hoodie for sleeping. I have a feeling it will get chilly out there.
"I've got the booze, let's do this before it gets too dark to navigate," Alex says, holding up a huge bottle of whiskey and ushering us out of the door.
"He has a point, the woods are always seventy-five percent darker in the thickest areas," Dexter says, pulling out his survival skill knowledge.
"All right, Specs," I tease, and he rolls his eyes.
"Hey! I take offence to that!" Sterling says, giving me an almost convincing pout.
"Don't act like you hate being the smart one, Specs. You love that shit," I say, giving him a knowing look. He puffs up at the compliment, which only makes me laugh harder.
"I thought I was the smart one?" Alex accuses with mock outrage.
"No, you're confused, brother. You're the Smart-Ass one," Asher says, before dodging away from the punch Alex tries to land on his shoulder.
"Come on, children," I say, hurrying ahead of them.
When we get back to our backpacks, they're aired out, and the dust is manageable. After one more good shake, I load up my sleeping bag and supplies, before zipping it up and slipping it on.
"How's your leg, Jun?" Sterling asks, eyeing the bandage. Weird. I'd honestly forgotten all about it.
"It's hasn’t bothered me at all," I say quickly, shrugging it off.
"Well let me take a peek. We've walked around enough now, if it's not bleeding heavily. It wasn't that deep, but deep enough to not heal right away. Alex steps up behind me, and I lean back against his chest while Sterling lifts my leg.
"What the fuck?" he says, before peeling the bandage away.
"What's wrong with it?" I ask, panicking at his shocked expression.
"It's gone, just like last time," he whispers, showing us my now unblemished leg.
Well, I guess we now know there's no doubt that it was the demon, or something similar. Fuck, I don't want to question everything. In fact, I don’t even want to think about this anymore - at all.
"Well I guess I won't have trouble keeping up," I say, trying to brush off the creepy feeling settling in my gut.
"Whose idea was it to walk from here to our cabin, only to come back to grab the gear, and walk all the way back behind our cabin?" Alex jokes, shrugging into his backpack now that I'm upright again.
"I wasn't carrying that smelly thing all over. It needed some time to unstink," I counter, wrinkling my nose.
After a few laughs, we walk in silence . I don’t know about the guys, but I can’t stop trying to figure out what my blood being taken again means. Everything that happened at school was physical, but this feels different. Does this mean we aren't dealing with the same entity? Is it something altogether new?
"I don't see a path," Dexter says, examining the edge of the forest.
"I'm not surprised, it's not really part of the camp. They didn't want to make it easy for campers. Choose a spot that we'll be able to navigate, and we'll hike through like true survival scouts," I say, pulling my socks up as high as they'll go while fixing my baseball cap. Ticks are not my friends.
He shrugs, but chooses a path, leading us into the woods. There was certainly no joking on his part when he said the seventy-five percent darker thing, either. As soon as we get about ten minutes into our hike, the roots and vines at our feet are near impossible to see.
"I brought our Jun survival supplies, here are flashlights," Sterling says, pulling out the rest of the flashlights from our dorm. Smart man.
Now that we have flashlights, all our focus is on navigating the rough terrain. Which is a lot harder than it should be for five adults. An hour later, we finally reach a clearing. It feels weird to step out of the darkness and back into a bit of waning sunlight, but I am not complaining.
"This spot looks perfect," Alex votes, slinging his pack on the ground and taking a seat. Asher does the same, leaning on his brother.
"Agreed," Dexter says, glancing up at the sun. "We should put up the tents now, while we have some light left.” We all grumble, but agree. Since there are five of us and five tents, we each take one and spread out, before trying to figure out the small tents. It takes a few tries, but thankfully they aren't that complicated. When I get mine up, I turn to see the others. Asher and Dexter are both done, Sterling is almost there, and Alex is cursing at his and trying to straighten out a warped pole.
"Someone tell him his tent is broken," I say with a laugh. Dexter finally goes over and they throw it aside. Alex is looking much happier now. I guess I would be too, knowing I didn't suck at putting the tent together.
"Why did we bring so many tents? I'm not sleeping alone," I say, giving the tiny tents an assessing glance.
"I claim Jun," Dexter says, grabbing our bags and throwing them inside of the tent. Nobody protests, so I walk around and gather wood, before bringing it over and starting a pile. The guys all pitch in until we have enough for the evening.
"Did someone bring a lighter?" Alex asks, looking at Dex. He nods, pulling out a red lighter and tossing it over. After spending way longer than necessary perfecting the formation of the logs, Alex lights the fire.
"Did you hear that?" Asher asks, his voice low as he scans the tree line. We all go silent and listen, but I hear nothing.
"Nope, what did it sound like?" I ask, curious if it was just snapping twigs or something else explainable.
"Drums," he answers, making us all pause.
"Drums?" I ask for clarification.
"Yes, not like modern ones, like drums and chanting." He finally turns around to look at us. "You guys don't believe me."
"We believe you. How could we not after that shit back in Dudley?" Dexter says, walking closer to the trees. "We just don't hear it."
"It was probably nothing. Find some good sticks, I've got marshmallows!" Sterling cheers, pulling out a fresh bag. A smile spreads across my face... he knows the way to my heart. Now that we have a new purpose, the tension seems to drain away from everyone. We all manage to find a few twigs long enough, and all take a spot between the fire.
Within minutes, I'm sandwiched between Sterling and Alex, marshmallow cooking and music softly playing from Dexter's phone. Now that we’re all settled into camp, the tension that was riding on my shoulders is gone. It's peaceful here, and I have none of those awful, foreboding feelings I’ve had in spades since Dudley.
"Time for shots!!" Alex calls, taking a swig of whiskey before passing it my way. I take a swig before stuffing the mallow in my mouth to stop the awful taste. Once it's back to Alex, he calls round two, and it circles all over again.
Our conversation stays light, focusing on our jobs and how weird it will be when the campers get here. Being half adults is such a strange thing. I mean, legally we can drive, buy alcohol, or go to war … but we are still not quite in the adult world yet. My heart swells when Sterling comments on how excited he is to buy a house with our family after college. This conversation just became the best we’ve ever had. I can’t wait either. In my mind, I can see us all working and coming home to each other each night. The guys would all have their “thing” in the house, like a computer room for Sterling. And I could have an art room - maybe Ash would want to share one with me. I’d plan amazing vacations and when the time was right, we could adopt - or try for a few kids.
“Juniper? That’s an award winning smile - spill the
beans,” Dexter leans over and kisses my forehead.
“Mm? I was just daydreaming of a big house with an art room … and stuff. Our future, it’s going to be amazing,” I blush.
“You got that right, Purple. When I’m a big time pilot, I’m flying us all to Europe so you and my twin can go apeshit in all the big art museums, and Sterling and Dex can geek out over the historical stuff. Me, I’ll get my jollies just watching you guys enjoy all of it,” Alex says with a shit eating grin. Damn, I love these men. I’m also suddenly tired as hell. Weird.
"Alright, I’m wiped out. See you in bed. Love you guys," I say, standing up and heading toward mine and Dexter's tent. Alex smacks me on the ass and chuckles as I walk away, while Sterling and Asher blow me kisses. The difference in personalities always keeps me on my toes. I blow kisses back before zipping myself in and pulling on my hoodie.
As soon as I lay down, I hear the zipper being opened and closed. Dexter shuffles around before his body presses into my back. He places a soft kiss on my shoulder, whispers a goodnight, and settles into the sleeping bag. His warmth is the clencher that puts me over the edge of tiredness. I'm asleep within moments, safe and warm.
I open my eyes to darkness and the smell of damp earth. The thick black cloud of air around me is cold and foggy, chilling me to the bone. I'm no longer in my tent, and I have no idea how I got here. Where the fuck am I? Scanning the surroundings, I can barely make out the thick treeline around me. There’s a thin strip of moonlight shining down, the only light around. A snap of branches from above makes me lift my head. The fact that I'm expecting it doesn't stop the paralyzing fear that runs through my veins when I spot the demon from the kitchen, stooped in a fork in the tree. The moonlight illuminating him, making him look even creepier than usual, and that’s saying something. He peers out from behind the branches, his glowing red eyes a beacon of pure evil. They appear dimmer than I remember, and his movements seem slow as he creeps toward me. Did we weaken him? The malicious smile that curves up his lips is all the sign I need to know he's getting stronger with every minute that I see him.