I’ve always been interested in the adventures and aroma of curiosity forests could give me. That’s why I signed up for this camp, to recieve the rollercoaster of emotions as I navigated the journey of camping, meeting people, sitting behind a fire, kayaking, fishing etc etc.
I think I expected a camp that revolved around sense of community and that brought people together to sing silly songs behind a campfire while the stickiness of our s’mores seeped through our t-shirts. This camp was something different.
When I first arrived, the instructor that greeted me gripped my hand with a might. His hands were clammy and his face was scruffy.
“Hello, my name is Kevin. I will be the lead instructor for this summer’s camp.”
Kevin? What a generic name.
I nodded as I peered at his face. He stared down at me, his eyes almost appearing crimson. I scuttled away swiftly. When I turned the first corner, I looked back, only to see his grinning face glaring nosily as I hurried away in distress.
First encounter was rough, but I quickly moved on. Perhaps he was the only weirdo?
Making my way to the dining hall, I spotted three scrawny kids playing with what seemed like a lump of leaves. I watched from behind an oak post as the kids dug and kicked at the lump of leaves. One saw me staring and jumped, urging the others to stop.
I watched their eyes simply glue to mine as I ran away.
Okay, so not the only weirdo.
As I entered the dining hall, I held out my application and the two instructors on duty ordered me to a small table in the back of the hall. Two kids sat at the table. One had long cury orange hair, strands dangling over his thick lensed glasses. The other one had wavy brown hair with freckles splattered randomly across his face.
I sat down with them, confidently introducing myself. They just stared up at me, mouths shut, eyes wide.
I was puzzled. This camp was seemingly weirdo central. I promptly rested my head in my hands wondering if I had already made a huge mistake.
I glanced over at the stage presented at the front of the hall. Kevin was propped up on the stage, his back lurched forward.
“Welcome, fellow cabineers!”
Cabineers? Was that what they were going to use to refer to us?
“I hope you enjoy your stay! You have already been assigned your cabinmates, in fact, they are sitting right in front of you! Make yourselves comfy before we begin actvities.”
The door slammed open. The three kids I saw playing with the lump of leaves ambled in. They pushed past all the tables, eyes fixated on mine. I was confused.
They sat down at our table in a huff, the tallest and broadest one smirking at the three of us.
“You.” He pointed at the curly haired boy. “Your name is Frizzy, got it?”
Frizzy nodded, his adam’s apple rocking violently as he gulped.
“You.” He growled, pointing at the wavy haired boy. “Your name is Milkshake, understood?”
Milkshake slowly nodded his head, his eyes turned away from the three.
“And you, your name is Snoop.” he snarled at me. The other two smiled evily. I figured where that nickname came from.
A bell rung through the hall and the instructors ordered us off our feet and outside.
A tall blonde girl skipped over to the group of us.
“I’ll be your activity manager today, m’kay? Any questions will go to me.” she beamed. Her smile was too wide.
“Your bags have been dropped off at your cabins. You can return to them later tonight.” she stated, leading us through the woods to small waypoint.
“Today we will be doing a bushwalk. This includes hide ‘n’ seek, birdwatching and everything in between.” she began, sitting us down on the small platform that overhung a ledge.
For a few hours we strolled through the woods, mapping out different tree species, animals and plants. This entire time, the group of scrawny kids stared at me. I’m not sure what they were looking for. Changes in my movements, perhaps? Me to screw up? I don’t know.
She stopped us at another waypoint. “Its hide ‘n’ seek time, who volunteers to be in?”
Frizzy shot his hand up instantly, his belly button showing from the roof his shorts. The blonde girl nodded, and he stood upon the platform, his hands covering his eyes.
“One rule. Stay inside the sector.”
“1…2…3…” Frizzy continued.
I dashed off, abandoning the others. While walking, I had encountered the perfect place to hide and had noted in my head its location.
I diverted off the main path and into a small sector of plain grass that cut into the creek. A rock lay neatly behind a tree and I scrambled underneath it. I waited. Seconds turned into minutes and then I remembered.
Stay inside the sector.
Shit. I thought, picking myself up to head back to the main path. As I gathered myself, a hush of leaves bristled behind me. I swivelled around to see a figure in the all-yellow instructor uniform crouched over something. A pile of leaves perhaps?
Drawing nearer, I realised it was Kevin. He twisted his head, his neck crunching as it snapped out of place to greet me with a wicked grin. My stomach churned.
I ran. Through gaps in trees and hedges of ivy. I didn’t look back, afraid of what might greet me.
As I reached the main path, a ball of orange jumped into my view.
“Got ya!” Frizzy yelled, grabbing my shoulders with his slimy hands. I nodded, slowly heading back to the platform. As I turned I saw Kevin appear from the forbbiden sector. I hid behind the tree. He started talking to Frizzy and Frizzy was nodding frantically.
I watched as he strolled away with Frizzy, their hands locked. I didn’t bother saying anything.
Arriving at the platform, I realised something. Did Kevin think the person he saw in the forbidden sector was Frizzy? I gulped.
When I arrived, everyone else was there, wating eagerly for the end result. The blonde lady was calling someone.
“Uh huh. Okay. Got it. Did I…what?” she mumbled. She turned herself away from us, whispering to her phone.
“I don’t think so hold on. You!” she pointed at me. “Which way did you come from?”
“That direction.” I pointed at a random place I hadn’t encountered.
“Ah, okay. No, he didn’t.”
She ended her call and ordered us the other way.
The sun drew close to the horizon, it’s rays bouncing off the edges of the water like tennis balls. I hurriedly walked behind the group. I thought I was last, but spotted Milkshake in the corner of my sight. He was looking at his feet while he walked, ignoring his surroundings.
The blonde girl dropped us off at our cabin. She picked up Frizzy’s items and was about to exit.
“What happened to the other dude?” one of the scrawny boys asked. I wondered the same thing.
“…An emergency. He had to rush off. He won’t be returning.” she left in an instant, leaving a trail of mystery in her path.
Milkshake hopped in to bed, his items already layed out on the top bunk. The other boys strolled into the bathroom, messing around for what felt like hours. I was in my bed, my sleeping bag set out over the mattress. When night fell and darkness seeped through the cracks in the walls, the biggest of the scrawny boys grabbed my shoulder.
“Hey you. Come with us.” I was content on staying, but the look on their faces with pleading us pulled me out of bed to head out with them.
They took me out into the woods, past other cabins and to the near entrance of the camp. Right in the place that I had saw them that morning.
A few stones were stashed under a tree and the boys slowly picked them up. I watched. Then I frowned.
It was a head. A severed head of a person I had never seen before. Blood trickled out of its eyes and the thick blackness of the head’s mouth enveloped me in disgust. I didn’t move. I couldn’t.
The boys chuckled.
“What you scared or something?” the biggest one said, bumping my shoulder. Their faces were drowning in the dullness of the night. One of them grabbed me by the hand and we ambled through the woods.
It seemed…familiar almost. Ah yes, now I remembered. It was where I was hiding.
An old shack in the corner beside the creek lay messily. I could only watch as the boys dragged me in there.
As soon as the door swung open, a putrid smell wafted up my nose. I covered my face, horror coating my eyes with its demonic mask.
It was Frizzy, except it wasn’t. His body was gone, bones remained clean and crusty. Any skin, liver or organs had been removed. His eyes were missing. His hair pulled back.
I glanced over at the boys. Their faces dropped. Tears ran down one of their faces.
“Hello, Cabineers,” a voice rang out from the entrance.
Kevin.
“Its activity time!”
I don’t exactly remember anything after that. Perhaps a foggy memory and throbbing head? I think I awoke some time in the early hours of the morning. I recall waking up smothered in a substance which even today I can’t recognise.
Watch out, cabineers. He’s hiding, he’s waiting and boy is he hungry.
-end-