Camp Terror

Chapter Eight: SOS

I was stunned into silence. Chills crept my spine. I got the feeling of being watched.

"No way. How is that possible?"

"Ever asked your teacher why he chose this place?" he said, suddenly coming closer to Shawn. Shawn put up his hands to keep some distance between him. He gave him a scared look.

Baron looked behind us and then around himself. "This is not the place to talk." He whispered. "Near the bonfire, now!" There was something in his voice that commanded me to follow him. The three of us followed him towards the bonfire, passing by the tents of sleeping students.

When we reached the bonfire, it was reduced to ashes. What remained were the embers of the wood. "Help me with logs, will you?" he said. I and Shawn help him in lifting the logs, locking eyes with each other occasionally. We put the logs at the centre and Baron started the fire. He sat on the grass and we joined him reluctantly.

"Do you think he can be trusted with what he knows?" Cassy asked me, suddenly. She was quiet the whole time that I forgot that she was with us.

I met her gaze. I was as scared as her. Shawn was staring at Baron who was smoking a cigarette. "There is no one else who can help us." I told her. I was keeping my fingers crossed. If this guy planned to kill us, I would scream. The wind grew stronger, sending gusts of cold wind towards us. I pulled up the zipper till my neck.

"What did you mean about that statement, you made earlier?" I asked him, eyes watching his every move.

He took another inhale of his cigar, sending the smoke in our direction. I waved it away with annoyance. "The truth." He replied.

"What truth?" I asked him.

"Why did your school think of coming here for the camp?" he asked ignoring my question.

"Answer my question first." I demanded.

"Until, I get my answer." He replied. His face contorted into some unknown anger that he was letting out on me.

"I don't know." I replied with a shrug.

"What does that got to do with Mitch and Mr. Kavanaugh?" Cassy whispered towards my right. I told her that I had no clue but it was possible that this guy was mad or he was thief who was too good at stories. I preferred the first option.

"Well, then all of you are already a part of this trap." He said, making me stand up abruptly. My eyes were wide and my feet had turned to ice. "Sit down please." He said, "He's watching you."

"Who?" Shawn asked, looking around.

"You don't know?" he asked, confused.

"We don't know what?" Shawn asked, his patience wearing him. Damn, this guy had a way of twisting words.

What he said next, made me wish I had never registered for this picnic in the first place. Baron' eyes had shone a different colour. The fire was blazing and his words were coals. My head began to throb with each word he said. This was not the time for a panic attack, I said to myself. I didn't want to die. I was too young to die. "There is a legend forged in history, where men cower whenever that name is said," he said scratching his beard. "This legend is a true one and he continues to stalk humans during the night and takes great pleasure in doing so. Once upon a time lived a man who had a terminal illness. He went far and wide for cure but he couldn't find one. For a blood so rare and a man so destined to change the fate which he was meant to meet, he tried everything he could to cheat death. Days past, he kept getting weaker and thinner. He was pale and his eyes were hollow."

"What does this have to with Mitch and ---" he held up a hand.

"So, as I was saying, one found day, he stumbled upon a cave that he found in Greece and found a cave full of bats."