Chapter 34

He gave me a bottle of water and instructed everyone to stay hydrated. I sat on the space left on the ground and ate silently. The chicken tasted real good but I didn't like the chips. They didn't taste as good as mom's. All the while I ate, I felt Uncle Robinson's gaze on me. I knew he was looking at me even though my head was buried in my plate, and I wasn't looking at him, and there, immediately I looked up, he looked away.

After eating, we were all instructed to wake up as soon as we heard the bell. We saw the bell; it was a local bed that made a sound that was so eerie that you'd think some ghosts were swishing by. The competition/Award night was going to begin the next day , there'd be one in the morning, and the final one where the results would be announced and awards/prizes would be given in the evening.

We were shown the food house(as they called it), where we'd have breakfast, lunch and dinner everyday. It was the young man with an eye who coached us. Even though we did not see what he pointed at, we all nodded. All I wanted to do was sleep but they were still talking until half past 9. After he was sure everyone heard him, our counselors led us into our rooms, carefully making sure everyone got a space to sleep. We all fitted in our beds and then, they went out, shutting our doors when everything fell quiet.

I was turning around in the bed because I was uncomfortable. It was so hot and besides that, I didn't like the person sleeping above my bed. It was Vicky. She was a nutcase, and a grade higher than mine. She had eyes that were supposed to be pretty except that it looked bloody instead. Red-blue pupils over whites. I could swear she was a vampire, but don't judge a book by its cover, huh?

She was so tall that her legs stretched down her bed and I could see them. They would look scary if the lights were turned off for sure, so I was uncomfortable. I was also uncomfortable with the eerie silence. And also the fact that I was close to a window. How did people even fall asleep in these situations? I imagined the stalker figure appearing there and frightening me again, but I was not alone, would he still come?

All these thoughts were in my head when I felt the door open with a creak. I quickly lay in a position and shut my eyes. I wonder who it was. It would be one of our counselors because they were still outside, guarding the night but I couldn't be so sure. There was some security at the end of the campground too. It seemed that it was a place known for its notoriety in maybe crimes or paranormal maiming and stuff.

The environment bred some fearful imaginations already. It looked like I was stuck in a place where I was the only human present. I actually felt like everyone else there wasn't human. Because how could anyone be comfortable with so much silence and heat, and sleeping by the window with a door shut from outside in a strange land?

Would I actually live here for the next seven days? I thought.

I thought about my mom. She'd probably be cuddling up in Jack's bed, and he whispering into her ears how much he loved her, and the twin babies would be somewhere in their cots playing with their feet and laughing or probably sleeping. Or probably in my room back there in Kangaroo Estate, staying awake with two babies to watch over. Whichever way, I just hoped she was fine. I touched my pockets and felt it. My phone was still there.

' I should call her' i thought but I was scared to hear my own voice in that silent night. Besides, she might probably be fast asleep. It was already past 10pm.

Like I said, someone opened the door and walked in.

"Your mom is fine, stop worrying and go to sleep" i heard someone say. It was his voice- Uncle Robinson. He was here again. How did he know I was just thinking about her?

I didn't say a word. I just moved and listened. He was moving closer now, I heard his feet. No one woke up. I was the only one awake in this room. I stiffened when I felt his breath on my neck. He was by my bedside so quick? I wondered how. The door was far from the beds and uncle Robinson didn't walk quickly when he walked. So I was stupefied

"Don't worry, I'm here. Nobody will frighten you" he said, touching my hair. I quitened down immediately.

After a while, he got up, carried Vicky from the upper bunk bed and dumped her beside me. Still she didn't wake up

He then asked me to climb the upper bed instead and sleep there. I was grateful. I wouldn't see the windows and besides, it felt a little warm there. It was so soothing and I was grateful to him.

Still, I wondered how he heard me because I didn't even speak about my grievances.

That night, I slept so peacefully well not until midnight that i had a very disturbing dream which in fact if you ask me, made no sense. It was disorganized and preoccupied your thoughts, your whole senses. I saw vampires fighting against werewolves in this same camp and killing them. Some vampires turned some humans to vampires but others killed them. I saw it happening from my window side. I was awake and yawning and stretching my limbs because I had slept in a fetal position, and my thighs and joints were hurting as hell now. I looked down at the other beds but none of my camp roomies were there. I thought they had all gone out to maybe have a bath or look at the morning sun or just look around the cabins or around the whole of Meteors Contention Camp, as the place was called, weird name but who cares? People named their children Rock, and Rice. The house where I lived actually was called Kangaroo Estate. I said to myself. I actually saw the reflection of the name of the signpost outside the cabin. We all hadn't noticed it because it was dark when we arrived the camp. And maybe we were told about this camp in school and it probably skipped my mind, I couldn't tell.

I looked through the window which was now open again, and saw strange huge creatures in a hot battle. In fact, the whole campground was shaking with their bouts of anger. Werewolves, vampires and strange creatures and few that looked normal.

I screamed.

I jumped down my bed to search for others or at least go out of the cabin to see what the fight was all about. Maybe it was not what I thought. Maybe it was just a show of battle between some animals that my camp counselors and other students watched. Maybe they weren't the ones who turned into these beasts themselves. I had to go confirm or I'd be encompassed by too much fear. So I jumped down, I had only the top of my pajamas on--someone had taken off my trousers in the midnight for sure. I had been really hot and sweaty but I didn't want to take off my clothes or wear the lingeries mom got me. (They showed too much skin and I didn't want anyone to even see my skin that much). I didn't know what exactly I felt, but I feared being touched on my naked bare skin. Even if someone touched me, let me be touched on my clothes; I'd endure it better, wake up and slap such person hard on the face. Ever since what happened to me at Mike's, I've always slept with one eye open, or with two eyes closed and my body clasped in many clothing.

Whoever took off my trousers in the middle of the night must have done it to make me feel warm instead of steaming hot. It actually helped because I could remember I slept peacefully well, but still, the thought of having my trousers yanked off my body, or maybe let me put it gently(of course the person must have been kind and gentle with it), having my trousers carefully pulled off my body without me knowing unnerved the hell out of me. I had slept too much. That means I had fallen asleep even before I got cooler, even in the steaming heat.

What came over me? I hated heat and couldn't close my eyes if I felt hot. Couldn't even do anything properly. It was why I had multiple baths at home, maybe three to six times a day if it was hot, and sometimes I even stayed in the tub with cold water for several hours, just to cool off. Mom once said I already had the skin of a fish because of my incessant cold water baths . Very cold and smooth skin.. I went to the door of the cabin to open it but before I got there, it opened on its own accord. I didn't want to believe that there was some kind of magic in the camp. Therefore, I tried to make myself believe that it was maybe controlled by a remote, or maybe someone noticed I was coming out or opened it from outside. Either ways, It didn't make me feel better about the door opening without me touching it because when I got out, no one was there. I was left to wonder who took off my skirt, and left it beside my bed, and where everybody had gone to. No one was outside the cabins, not even the beasts I saw in the window fighting one another. Not even the night guards. Not even the one-eyed young man. Not a soul.

The morning sun shone brightly and I shielded my face from it.

What's going on? Where's everyone? I thought. I walked towards the tents on the ground which we had all taken supper the previous night but nobody was there either.

Wasn't it supposed to be the Competition day? Where did everyone go without telling me? I thought. Several thoughts were already crawling around my mind. They possibly couldn't leave me here in the camp since I was to represent my school in the competition, or had someone else been chosen? Why was that?

I was alone. I didn't know anybody or anywhere around the camp and in every room of every cabin I went to check, I saw emptiness. Nobody was there but I saw backpacks and items that other students brought to the camp. So , that means they were still very much around, but why would they leave the camp without me?

Why would they do this to me? Fine, I knew they didn't like me but at least one or two teachers did. At least they liked me enough to choose me to represent the school. One of them could at least have waited behind so we could walk together to wherever others went to. At least. Or they could have thrown water on my face to wake me up since I was still sleeping. But they all left me alone!

I looked around the campground and saw the signpost clearly. It read "Meteors Contention Camp" What did the hell did that mean? As if Kangaroo, the name Cameron's estate bore, back at home was not weird enough. What the hell was Meteors Contention.

So much for thinking this camp was going to make me feel better. No! It was creeping me out! And what was even more disturbing was, nobody thought so! They all were acting normal, as if the camp didn't scare the beejeebies out of them.

Nothing has to happen before you believe that this camp looked haunted. No one was talking about it, or maybe they knew , and maybe that was why Uncle Robinson asked us to go to bed last night before power was restored. They might have known this place was haunted after all.

What could have happened to warrant me being left alone? Was I too small to be noticed? Possibly not. My whole body leveled up my bed, and I was wearing only a top of my pajamas plus a panty, while my trouser laid beside me. So, at least my smooth skin or big body at least should have called for attention.

I didn't see anyone outside and everywhere looked peaceful. It was oddly calm, so that was unsettling. Since nobody was around to explain what was going on, I had to call my mom to ask her to come fetch me immediately. I was tempted to call her immediately.

So, I made to go back into the cabin to fetch my phone which was most probably in the pockets of my pajamas that had been taken off my body at midnight but as I moved closer to the cabin, I saw other students surrounding the cabin, playing chess and eating frankfurters which was baking on a grill near the fire they had made. Who made a big fire in summer? Whatever, that didn't bother me much. What bothered me was the fact that everyone was now here. Didn't I not see them when I jumped out of my cabin?

I tried to talk to one of them at least, but it seemed they didn't see me or maybe they were ignoring me as usual. Well, I still had to call my mom to come pick me up immediately then. I ran towards the front of my cabin but, just then, I saw fire coming over the whole camp, the cabins were on fire but nobody seemed to care..The fire overpowered everyone but no one was burning...when I looked down at my dress, the top of my pajamas that I had on, it had caught fire and was burning but other people walked freely or avoided the places where the fire was intense , but nobody made an attempt to quench it.

The fire on my dress began to burn so much and I tried to scream at the other people so they could help me but I found that when I opened my mouth, nothing came out of it, nothing except a little hissing sound that could not even be heard if there was total silence. I ran all over the place trying to get help, and maybe some water to quench the fire as it was starting to get scary. But all through this time, I didn't get water or help. Every container was dry, every person was quiet or maybe they were just ignoring me, including Uncle Robinson. I saw everyone of them but they were not looking my way. My phone! I needed to call Mom urgently! She said to call her if I couldn't talk to my counselors.

But the cabin was burning! My phone was in ruins! All my stuff! I screamed but no sound came out. I ran around, holding my hair and wondering how my hair hadn't caught fire. Only my dress did.

When I grew tired of trying to scream and seeking water , I sat on the floor and took off my dress. I watched it on the floor burn to ashes. I checked my skin; it was not affected in any way, only my dress was.

And at that moment, I looked around me to see if other people noticed my despair and situation but nobody was around me. I didn't know how they disappeared so quickly. I looked around and all I saw was fire and cabins. All the cabins were empty. I ran around everywhere, searching for everyone of them but it was futile. Still, I kept running until I got to a spot where there was water. Ocean water.

I bent down to have a drink since my throat was very dry; I had already got myself dehydrated from all the sniffling smoke and running around the campground.

I bent down to drink water but I couldn't because a person popped up its head from underwater and scared the hell out of me. It seemed to me that the person was either dead or dying because when I looked around the rest of the water, it was starting to darken. With blood. Not red blood but dark blood. It was starting to turn the water to a sea of blood. And not so appealing--dark thick blood.

Her head popped up again and I watched the expression on her face closely. Dying, not dead.

It was a girl, and when I did look at her closely, it was then I realized that she was not trying to scare me but that she was trying to stay alive, and maybe call for help.

"Are you okay?" I suddenly realized that I had found my voice. Despite myself, I was still concerned for the dying girl who looked like a helpless teenager. A damsel in distress because of course, she was very beautiful. She looked surreal even.

She stretched out her hands and seemed to ask that I lift her out of the water. "He's eating me up" she said.

"You can hear me?" I asked. Because no one at the campground heard my plea for help, I thought maybe I was a woosh of air. But this girl heard and saw me. I wonder what she was talking about. Maybe a sea creature was eating her up from her feet underwater. It was scary and I began to wonder how I was going to pull someone older and maybe bigger than I was, out of the water, without falling into it.

"C'mon, you can do it" she said, as if reading my mind. "You got the power. Please pull me out, my leg is stuck in its teeth. Please help me" she winced in pain.

Apart from the blood splatters on the water, everything else around the water side looked pretty normal to me but I was skeptical about helping her. I screamed around for Uncle Robinson's name and other students but the area was as quiet as the grave. Maybe if I helped this girl, we could find every other person together. At least, I wouldn't be alone out there, freaked out by the ominous silence and strange fire.

What did she mean by "i can do it", I was heavy myself and couldn't do much of anything pulling. She stretched her hands towards me and pleaded. I was naked, except for the panty I had on. I'd be fresh meat for the sea creatures if I fell into the water.

Suddenly, I heard rush of waters and waves come above the water. After a while, the noise died down and I realized that the girl was gone. The water was now very black. I started to feel bad for not helping her up. I started to feel alone again. I was stuck in that area since there was nobody around and I couldn't call Mom. Suddenly, as if she heard my thoughts, her head popped up again. She was gasping for air , as water rushed into her mouth. Her hair was black and very long.

"Now please" she pleaded. I hurriedly went to the middle of the water and pulled her up. Before I knew it, she was onshore and safe. I didn't know how I was able to pull her up; I didn't even feel any pain or pressure pulling her, and she was about twice my size. And behold when I turned back to look at her, I realized...

Wait, what? She didn't have legs. Where her legs were supposed to be, there was a fish's tail. She was a real life mermaid! No she wasn't wearing a costume because I saw how her half human body connected to the tail underneath. Skin of a fish underneath and skin of human upwards. And she was so huge I felt so small near her. Her tail was badly severed. That was what the sea creature had been eating when she cried, "He's eating me up". I was sure scared but she looked harmless and beautiful. She didn't have to try; she wasn't scary. She looked like she needed help. She looked like she was crying and she just stared at me. She looked innocent. Still I ran

I ran and ran not knowing where I was going to. She didn't follow me but I kept running. I ran until my legs began to hurt. I ran and screamed. Into reality.

I slowly opened my eyes expecting to find myself in a deserted site, running but I was on my bed. No, not at home but in the same cabin I slept last night. So, it had been another nightmare. The panic terrors again. That was what Dr Brown called them. They have followed me to the camp again, and this time, it was even more intense. I started to think staying back at home could have been much better.

At least the nightmares weren't as long and scary at home.

Beads of sweat broke out on my face and I stiffened before slowly sitting up. I could hear some noise around the cabin. I could hear water splashing. The other students were definitely around thanks Goodness. Maybe they were having their baths already. It was still so dark outside, but it looked like the day was starting to break already. I sat up slowly and felt my forehead. It was burning up, and when I looked up, I saw the tall girl towering above me. The girl whose bed I had taken, well, whose bed I was given.

She cupped her hands under her breasts and stared at me with a expression I couldn't read. She was the only one in my room. I didn't like her but still I was glad I was not alone.

"Are you okay?" She asked and it sounded sarcastic. Maybe she hadn't expected it to sound that way anyway

"Yes thank you" I managed to say even though I was burning up. And for some reason, when I looked at her face, I found it familiar. Eerily familiar.