HOLLIS MCCALISTER SUMMER CAMP

by Keith McCloud

  “No, she never liked Cody. She said he was a little on the hard-headed side. She wasn’t attracted to him. She is the one who introduced him to Sandy. She said they would be perfect together, but she kept warning him the whole time about not getting lovestruck and getting caught by the Wasioux. He never listened to her, so she would always say he is such a hard head and that it was going to come back and bite him in the butt.

  Then he just kept getting closer and closer to them and ended up getting caught. She said I told you this would happen, she says now when we get him freed I am going to say, ‘I told you so, but you just wouldn’t listen.’ Right now, though, she will not show interest in you because she wants us focused on the task at hand. She does not want to mess this rescue up at all. She also does not want anything to happen to you. That’s why I know she likes you. She told Anita Kay and me that we had to do whatever it takes to protect Hollis. She said he is a good guy and he needs us to protect him. She never said that about Cody. We will see how this plays out once we rescue Cody. Again she is going to want you to stay focused on what we are doing. She would really be pissed if she were the one who got you caught, or even if you got caught at all. We would never hear the end of this. She would probably go crazy and start killing Wasioux until they released you,” Trevor says.

  “Got it, if I am attracted to her, don’t let her know. Plus again it shouldn’t be a problem, because I do not see her looking at me in an attractive way: most of the time I see her as someone who is barking out orders at me, but for some strange reason that attracts me more to her. That’s sounds crazy, doesn’t it?” I say.

  “Nope, doesn’t sound crazy, but again right now she cannot know that because she will be distracted by you liking her, and if she likes you she will be even more distracted because she will be wanting to be with you. So for all of us, including Cody, we need to keep your feelings under wrap. So we can’t tell anyone yet. Now, you ready for breakfast? Sandy should be coming shortly. She hasn’t had breakfast with us since you showed up. She used to eat with us almost every morning,” Trevor says.

  “I am ready to go eat and can’t wait to meet this Sandy person. I have got to see why Cody fell head over heels about her. And he wasn’t here that long, so she must be special,” I reply.

  “Yes, she is a good person and yes, she is very attractive. You will like her. Now we should go eat breakfast and Sandy will be right over. She is probably on her way now: she is always on time,” Trevor says.

  We then leave the room and walk to the kitchen. Max runs by and almost knocks us over. She must be hungry. We then enter the kitchen and again there is a lot of food. As soon as we sit down, there is a knock on the door. Stella gets up and goes to the door and opens it and there stands a very attractive female girl. This has to be Sandy. I see what Cody sees in her. She has a beautiful Pocahontas look about her.

  “Hey, come in. Are you hungry?” Stella says. They hug each other.

  “Hey, and of course I want some breakfast. Your mom makes the greatest breakfast. Who in their right mind would ever turn that down?” Sandy replies. She then comes in and she and Stella walk towards the table. They all say hi to Sandy.

  “Hollis, this is our friend Sandy. She is going to eat breakfast with us and then she is going to take us to her village and introduce you to some people,” Stella says.

  “It’s nice to meet you, Sandy. I also agree with you when you say Stella’s mom makes the greatest breakfast. She does and she makes a great lunch and dinner also. I can’t wait to go to your village and meet your family and friends. Stella has told me all about your village. Over there by the food bowl is Max: she also loves the breakfast along with lunch and dinner,” I say.

  “It’s very nice to meet you and Max. Also, don’t get very excited about visiting my village: my family is on the crazy side and you will agree with me once you meet them. I always say

  I was born with the wrong family because they are crazy and they act crazy. I continually look at them like they are crazy and most of the time I walk away from them, because they get on my nerves. They are childish at times. Then sometimes they get very serious and you can’t even speak to them. I also feel they are hiding something from me. I have not heard anything from Cody since he left. When I bring up his name they all get hush hush with me. We think Anita Kay, Stella, Trevor and myself know they have him locked up somewhere so that I can’t get to him. The reasons we think that is because when I mention his name to anyone they all get silent and start looking at each other. Then one of them will say, ‘Why do you keep asking about him? He left you: you should be mad at him?’ Well, normally they are always telling me not to be mad at anyone. So I feel they are lying. My brother is a killer and I know he killed our parents, but he lies straight to my face. He acts so nice, but he lies to me every day. He tells me everything he does is to protect me. I have asked him several times where Cody is and he continues to say he left me and to just let him go. I have been watching everyone every day to see who disappears and where are they going. From what I can see, they never have the same person go away during the day. So far all of them seem to go away and then come back. It is hard to keep up with everyone and then you have to add in the wereboons and it’s just too much for me to try and keep up with. The wereboons are capable of feeding Cody and making sure no one gets to him. They are very smart and they are very loyal to my brother and will do whatever he says. If he has them standing guard and making sure Cody is kept alive, then they will do whatever it takes to do this. I have followed some of them around also. They can smell me so it’s hard to follow them. My brother has one who is the lead of all the wereboons and he calls him the master. The master does everything for my brother. He is very mean also. Even when I get by him, he growls at me. My brother tells him to stop, but he tells my brother that he doesn’t trust me, that I am not like them and I need to go away. My brother gets mad at him and says, ‘Do not ever touch her, or I will kill you.’ The master gets very mad and looks at me and just lets out a big growl and then walks away. I wish we could get rid of all the wereboons. It will be very hard to get close to my brother because of the wereboons. So now you see why I say my family is crazy. We have our tradition of being very nice and to love everyone, and then we have the pets get mad and suck the blood out of and kill you. My parents would have never allowed this to ever happen. I wished they were here with me now. I honestly could not get through life without Anita Kay, Stella and Trevor. They are my family. Each one of them reminds me of my parents. It’s like when my parents died a piece of them entered into their bodies. Also Stella’s mom has become like another mother to me. If it weren’t for them, I would have ended my life a long time ago. I love them and thank them always. So that’s my life: it has its good and then it has its bad, but we manage. It’s great to have another family member of Stella’s here to help us find Cody and who knows maybe fight some of the wereboons,” Sandy says.

  “Thank you for telling me all of that. It helps me get to know you. I will tell you I am no savior, but I can help come up with a plan to find Cody and to rescue him. The wereboons I have met, and I am a little scared of them. They are big and nasty and I can see they have no problem wanting to kill something or someone. As far as your family and your brother, do not apologize for them. I will see how they are once I get to meet them today. I will observe them as I meet them. I am very good at reading personalities and behaviors of people. I will be on guard the whole time,” I reply.

  “That’s what we will need. Since we are around them all the time it will be better from someone on the outside who has not been around anyone. You will have a different perception than we do. Well, since you are new around here, my brother will be right in your face questioning you a lot. He will be trying to read you just like you are trying to read him. Do not let him smell fear on you. Just be normal and don’t act worried. Just follow Trevor’s lead, they love them some Trevor. He beats them all the time in cards and they respect that,” Sandy says.


  “Yes, Trevor has told me all about them. I plan to stick as close to Trevor as I can and I will make sure I follow his lead,” I reply.

  “Hey, Hollis, don’t forget to take your medicine if you have not,” Stella says.

  At first I look at her with an expression like ‘What are you talking about?’, but then I remember I need to take the pill that I have been given that will mask my blood type.

  “I already took it once I got up this morning. We are good with that,” I reply.

  “Medicine: are you alright?” Sandy asks.

  “Yes, I am good. I just need it for allergies. It helps me not swell up and it helps me breathe daily,” I reply.

  “Oh good, then, because you are going to need to be a hundred percent when you meet my family and some non-family members. Plus they get crazy when they think someone is sick since they never hardly even have a sneeze,” Sandy says.

  “He will be fine: like he said, it is for allergies that he gets. So, Sandy, what was everyone doing when you left?” Stella asks.

  “Somewhere out in the farm area and the usuals were in the community area playing cards already and then the rest are still asleep. Some of them do exactly the same thing everything. Then they disappear and then reappear. This goes on all day. They also try and make conversation with me and that tells me they are hiding something from me, because they used to never give a crap about me and what I am doing,” Sandy says.

  “Okay, well, let’s finish eating and help clean up and then we will go over to Sandy’s village and let Hollis meet the family,” Stella says. We then finished eating this great big breakfast and then we did the dishes.

  “Okay, are we ready finally to go over to Sandy’s?” Trevor asks.

  “I think we are, Trevor. So let’s go,” Stella says. Then we all walked outside and Max was right next to me. She looks like she is ready to go for a big fight. I am not sure what to expect when we get over there, but we will see. Now is the time: I can’t let them see how scared I am. I am about to meet a village full of vampires. I know they are not vampires right now, but soon they will change and they will be full-on vampires. It’s good that I get to meet them now so I can’t adjust to them mentally before I have to deal with them being monsters. I have to focus on the now, and think about the future later. If I think about the future I will just drive myself.

  “Okay, we are getting close to our village. Now again we are bringing your cousin over to meet everyone and to hang out for a while with me today. I know once they see Trevor they will all be happy and forget about the rest of us. As a matter of fact they have been asking me for the last few days: ‘Where is Trevor at?’ and ‘Why hasn’t he come over?’ I told them you had been busy showing your cousin around and hanging out with him. So they have all been curious to meet your cousin. Again, once they see Trevor they are going to be like, ‘Stella and Anita Kay who?’ Then we can start looking around and observing without them even knowing. Don’t let the wereboons scare you either. They will try to at first, so just act like they are not even there,” Sandy says.

  “Okay, we are here now, remember we are here to try and find Cody. We know he is here somewhere in the village. Remember our plan is to get to know what everyone is doing at all times. That includes the wereboons: they, I am sure, are a big part of his capture and they know exactly where he is,” Stella says.

  Right at the gate to the village are a few wereboons. I forget how large they are and how scary they are. I can see how they could rip a human apart. They have huge claws and they also have huge teeth. I can’t believe that they didn’t kill us when they had us trapped. Thanks to Max turning into one of those creatures, we were able to survive.

  “Hollis, they are not going to attack you. I know you are thinking about the last time you saw them, but we are with Sandy and you are with us,” Trevor says.

  “How did you know I was thinking that?” I say.

  “I could see the fear that just came over your face. I could tell you were getting scared. Remember we cannot let them see us sweat. It will be okay. We should have spent some time talking about the wereboons. Again it’s all good, so stop worrying,” Trevor says.

  “Okay, I am good. Yes, seeing the wereboons brought back them chasing us and how close we were to being killed. So yes, I was scared there for a moment, but I am okay now,” I say.

  “Just stick with us and we will get you through this. If you feel like that again just say, dude, and I will talk you through it. They are scary, trust me, I would like to rip all of their heads off one by one, but I can’t,” Trevor says.

  “Remember we can’t have any weak moments,” Stella says.

  “Again I am good. Just seeing them close up again for a moment, they scared me. It will not happen again,” I say. We then walk past the first set of wereboons and walk through the big concrete walls and through the big metal gates.

  “Yes, I know we are in here very securely: not sure why we are on such lockdown,” Sandy says. As we walk closer to the community door there are a couple more wereboons and several just walking around the village. There also are two guys standing at the door. They are dressed in Indian outfits, meaning the same type of pants along with a vest and what look like moccasin shoes. Just like you would see an Indian in our history textbooks. I have never seen a real-life Indian before. They are staring at us really hard.

  “Hey, Kris and Allen, you know my friends,” Sandy says.

  “Hey, Trevor, what’s up? Where have you been? Who is this guy who’s with you, guys?” Kris says as he points at me.

  “This is my cousin and his name is Hollis. He is here for a couple months. He’s cool, you will like him,” Trevor says.

  This Kris guy got right in my face and started smelling me and then he looked me up and down. “Okay then, go on in. Hollis, it is nice to meet you. Trevor, get your money ready because you know we are going to take your money since you haven’t played cards in a little while,” Kris says.

  “Nice to meet you also,” I say. We walk in.

  “‘Nice to meet you also’? Dude, what did we say? You need to be a little tough, you should have said, ‘Cool, dude’, and walked away,” Stella says.

  “Alright, you know I am new to this stuff. Plus I was just trying to be polite,” I say.

  “No being polite: I know that’s who you are, but for now lose it. Plus you will, I am sure, get to know Kris, because the way he smelled you means he will probably be the one who tries to be your friend. You will meet more, of course, but since Kris met you first he will say you are his friend. It’s just a matter of time now for him to be pulled from the door to be inside and becoming your friend,” Stella says.

  “She is right, he will be your friend now and that is the way it works in our village. And she is right when she says you will meet others. So get ready,” Sandy says.

  We then walk into a big community room. It looks so much like the one in Stella’s community room. It’s a big room and it has a kitchen area and then pool tables and looks like a couple of dartboards and a place for cards and of course a bathroom. There are a lot of dudes in this place and they are all staring at us. More so they are staring at Stella and Anita Kay. I guess they haven’t sent them in a while, so they are just staring.

  “Hey, what are you guys staring at? You all know everyone except for Hollis. Hollis is Stella and Trevor’s cousin. He is here for the summer. He was sent to stay here because he just needed to go somewhere and cool down. You know how it is when you need a break and need to get away from stuff - well, that’s why Hollis is here,” Sandy says.

  Everybody is kind of shaking their heads like, ‘Yes, we know how that is when you need to get away from people’. Then I look over and this other guy comes in and everyone starts moving out of his way, and alongside him is a huge wereboon. His protector, this must be Sandy’s brother and the head of the Wasioux along with the head of the wereboons and the vampires. Here he comes. He stops right in my face and says, ‘New blood’
to the village. He continues to try and smell me along with his wereboon; they both smell me. I am standing very still and not moving. Then I hear the wereboon speak and say, “This is the boy we chased into the caves. I am sure of it. I still haven’t found the wereboon that took up for him.” I am in shock that the wereboon is talking, but I remember my training and them telling me do not let them see you scared.

  “My name is Danny and I am the head of the Wasioux. So you were in the caves?” Danny asks.

  “Yes, I got lost and I heard these animals chasing me and my dog and we ran into the caves. We ended up getting surrounded by the wereboons, but then it went foggy for me after that: somehow I had hit my head and next I was at my aunt’s house.”

  “Trevor, is that true?” Danny asks.

  “Yes, we pulled him out because we heard the wereboons and we knew Hollis was supposed to be coming, and we knew the wereboons would kill him because they do not know who he is. We headed to the caves and got him before the wereboons started attacking him. As for any wereboons protecting him I am not sure: we did not see any,” Trevor says.

  “Okay, sorry, Hollis, you had to go through that and glad to see you survived. My wereboons would have killed you,” Danny says.

  “That’s nice to know that they would have killed me, but I figured that out when one of them was right in my face ready to maul me. They didn’t, so it’s all good. I see why you have them: they seem to make great pets and I am sure would do anything for you,” I say.

  “You know what? You are going to fit in just fine here. So make yourself at home. Are you as good at cards as Trevor is? Let’s hope not: I need to win some money. You do have some money, don’t you?” Danny asks.

  “I have some, but I won’t need much before I start making some,” I say.

  “Confident, even: makes it better when you lose. Hey, Sandy, why don’t you guys show Hollis around? We will play later,” Danny says.