“You can choose your own bed.” Nellie winked at them. “The bathroom is over here.” She walked toward a lonely door at the end of the cabin. “There’s a shower, toilet, basically everything you need. So you boys can unpack and choose a bed, and I’ll come back in half an hour.”
As soon as Nellie had left, Peter fell down on one of the beds and crossed his arms under his head. “I pick this one.”
Nolan and Sam looked at each other. Sam shrugged, and then dropped his suitcase on the bed closest to Peter.
“Hey, Leo, what bed would you like?” Nolan asked, trying to be friendly.
“Huh? Oh.” Leo looked back and forth between the two remaining beds. “Sorry, my mind isn’t really all here. It doesn’t matter to me, you can pick first.”
Nolan picked the bed next to Sam’s and sat down on the mattress. “Is this your first time here?” he asked Leo.
“Yeah.” Leo tilted his head to the side, as if listening for something. “Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?” Sam looked around, trying to pick up a sound.
“It’s probably nothing. It sounded like singing.” Leo shrugged. “Maybe some of the other camp members.” He got up and dusted off his pants. “I’ll go freshen up.”
As soon as Leo disappeared into the bathroom, Peter started whispering about him. “He seems a little off. I mean, I’m sure he’s nice. Some kids act like that the first day—disoriented, at a loss. Still... did any of you hear singing?”
“Nope. Maybe he has better ears than we have.” Sam bent down to tie his shoelaces.
“Or he hears things that aren’t really there.” Peter glanced behind his shoulder at the bathroom door, as if Leo would burst through any moment.
“Don’t be ridiculous,” Nolan blurted out before he could stop himself. “I mean....” He paused, looked at the two other boys, and felt a blush creeping ups his cheeks. “He heard singing, and we didn’t. That doesn’t mean he’s crazy. You’re just trying to scare us.”
For a moment, the silence in the cabin felt so heavy it pressed on Nolan’s chest. Then Peter cracked a smile and the heaviness vanished.
“You’re right. I tried to rally you up. You’re smarter than you look.” The older boy slapped his shoulder as if they were best friends instead of strangers.
The bathroom door crept open and Leo appeared, his eyes wide, his skin the color of snow—as if he’d seen a ghost.
Nolan jumped up. “Everything all right?”
“Um... yeah.” Leo shook his head. “I just thought I saw something. Probably because I moved too fast.”
“Or maybe you’re hungry.” Peter patted the smaller boy’s shoulders. “I for one am starving.”
As if on cue, Nellie opened the front door and peeked inside. “Hey, guys, I’m back! Did you have time to unpack?”
“Yep,” Sam said.
“Well, we’re going to ‘The Shack’ now.” Nellie made a gesture with her hands of two quotation marks when she said ‘The Shack’. “That’s where we meet for all our indoor group activities, and whenever it’s time for food. I hope you’re all hungry.”
“I feel like I haven’t eaten in days.” To demonstrate how hungry he was, Sam rubbed his belly.
Nellie smiled. “That’s good. Come on, I’ll tell you tonight’s schedule while we walk over there.”
Nellie guided them toward The Shack. “So tonight we’re going on a walk through the woods. We’ll leave after dinner, and we’ll get back at nine. I want you all in bed by ten. If I catch anyone out of bed after that... well, I won’t be happy.” She arched her eyebrows, as if challenging them to try anything like that. Even trying to look angry, with her lips in a tight line and her eyes narrowed, she still didn’t look very threatening.
The five of them reached The Shack. From up close, the cabin appeared double the size of the sleeping cabins, with two floors and three windows peeking out from the top floor.
“Downstairs is for group activities, and upstairs are the rooms of the camp leaders. If there’s any problem—and I do mean a real problem, not a made up one—you run straight toward me for help, okay? I don’t care if it’s in the middle of the night.”
She waited until each of them nodded in understanding.
“Good. That reminds me....” She handed Peter a small piece of paper. “That’s my cell phone number. If anything goes wrong, you can reach me there. I take it all of you have cell phones?”
Another round of nodding.
“Then let’s go have dinner.” Nellie opened up the door for them, and the boys rushed inside.
“Let’s sit together,” Peter suggested.
Nolan smiled. Maybe camp wouldn’t be so bad after all. Maybe he’d even make some friends.
Chapter 4
After dinner, the kids gathered for the promised walk in the woods. The sun had vanished behind the horizon, a small pale moon illuminated the sky, and a cold breeze danced through the trees.
Sam and Peter talked about football as Nolan walked next to them, rubbing up and down his arms in an effort to stay warm. He knew next to nothing about football, so he tried to come up with a topic to talk to Leo about instead.
Leo walked with his head down, hair hanging in front of his eyes like a curtain, lost in thought.
Nolan coughed. “Um... do you have any brothers or sisters?”
Leo didn’t reply. He kept his gaze on the ground, as if the rocky path looked infinitely more interesting than Nolan.
“Hello?”
“Oh... sorry. What did you say?” Even Leo’s voice sounded far off, so light the wind might carry it away.
“I asked if you have any brothers or sisters.”
“Oh.” Leo scratched his forehead as if Nolan had asked a difficult question. “I have a foster sister, Elena.”
Nolan looked away. Great job. Now even talking about siblings has turned awkward. “So... you’re adopted?”
“Yep.” Leo shrugged. “My foster parents are great though. And my sister... well, she’s okay most of the time.”
“What happened to your real parents?” He looked up at his new friend.
Leo kicked against a rock. “They’re dead. I think. At least, that’s what my foster parents told me.”
Nolan frowned. Leo acted a little weird, but maybe anyone would act weird if he had no idea if his parents were alive or not. Thinking about it made his stomach turn inside out.
“That’s why I came to this camp,” Leo whispered, so silent Nolan didn’t know if he wanted to be heard or not. “My parents used to live in Weirdville, near the lake. Maybe someone here has heard about them, or knows them.”
“I hope you find out more about them.” He patted Leo on the back. “It must be tough, growing up, not knowing your parents.”
It seemed like the right thing to say, but at the same time, it didn’t sound right at all.
“Thanks.”
They walked in awkward silence for a while, and Nolan picked his mind trying to come up with a new topic. Maybe video games? Before he could ask, they reached the end of the woods, and he choked on the words.
In front of them lay a large black lake, illuminated only by the moonlight. It stretched as far as he could see, a mass of darkness, perhaps even thick as blood. An eerie, golden light burned at the other side of the lake.
Almost like in his dream.
He shook his head to get rid of his absurd thoughts. No house stood opposite the lake, and even if one did, it wouldn’t look anything like the house from his nightmare. That would be impossible.
The head camp leader, Jane, gestured for them to stop walking. She spread her arms out wide. “And this, kids, is Lake Weird. During the day, it’s an awesome place where we can swim, row, dive, and just have plain old fun. At night... let’s just say it’s more dangerous than it looks.”
Some kids snorted as if they didn’t believe her, but Nolan had no problem doing so. An evil vibe lingered above the lake—he felt it in his bones—and the water smelle
d damp and ancient.
“The lake is deep enough that you could drown in it, if you went in on your own, especially at night.” Jane crossed her arms in front of her chest like a drill sergeant in the army. “You could get stuck, and in the dark, no one would notice you. It’s strictly forbidden to go into the lake after dark. If I catch you in or near the lake at night, you’ll be sent home faster than you can come up with an excuse.”
She paused and put her hands to her hips, showing she meant business. “Is that clear for everyone?”
“Yes,” the kids answered.
“Good. Now, let’s turn around and head back to camp.” She began walking back.
Nolan shot a last glance at the lake and the eerie light glowing in the distance, so reminiscent of his dream. He imagined a black figure dancing in the light, reaching for him, running toward him. Then the figure pulled him into the dark lake below, and he drowned swallowing the ink-black, thick water.
A hand grabbed his shoulder, and he yelped and jumped up in the air.
“It’s me!” Peter held up his hands. “Don’t freak out.”
“I’m sorry.” Nolan felt the heat of a blush creeping up his cheeks. “I just got a little freaked out.”
“It’s okay.” The older boy put a hand on his shoulder. “But you’ve been standing here for a few minutes, and we need to join the others.”
Nolan blinked as if waking up from a dream, and looked around. Everyone else had disappeared back into the woods.
“Come on.” Peter grabbed his arm and pulled him forward. He walked a little too fast for Nolan’s small legs, but they caught up with the others in no time.
Nellie noticed them first, and walked toward them. “There you are. I was about to go back and find you. You shouldn’t linger behind.”
“It’s my fault,” Nolan blurted out. “The lake, it looked....”
“Don’t look so scared.” Nellie laughed and ruffled through his hair. “I’m not mad. I was worried, that’s all. Just stick with the group now, because if you don’t....” She paused, her eyes shining in the dark. “Well, then you might meet angry Nellie.” She winked at them and walked back to the front of the group.
“Hey....” Nolan looked up at Peter. “Thanks for sticking with me back there.”
The older boy shrugged. “No big deal. What happened though? You looked like you were in a different world.”
Nolan bit his lip, wondering if he should tell the truth or not, but before he could say anything, Sam appeared.
“Sorry I didn’t stay. Peter told me to go get Nellie, in case something happened to you. Glad you’re all right though.”
“Yeah.” Nolan smiled, but inside he felt hollow, a ghost instead of a person, as if the lake had stolen something from him.
Chapter 5
When they reached the cabin, Nolan dragged his feet inside and yawned out loud. “I want to crawl into bed and sleep all night.”
“Right there with you.” Sam stretched his arms above his head.
“Well, you have an hour left before it’s bedtime.” Nellie leaned in the doorway, her trademark smile plastered on her face. “I’ll come back at ten, and I expect all of you to be in bed by then. See you later.” She turned around and closed the door behind her.
Peter snorted and waved his hand. “Don’t worry about curfew. Camp leaders act all tough about it, but they’re pretty lenient. Last year, we sneaked into one of the girls’ cabins and told them ghost stories. Next day they looked like skeletons, with big bags under their eyes from being too scared to sleep.” He grinned.
“We shouldn’t sneak out on the first night though.” Sam fished up his pajamas from his bag. “They’re always wary the first night.”
“Hmm.” Peter pulled his shirt over his head and began searching for his pajamas. “You’re right. We should stay inside tonight, but that doesn’t mean we can’t have some fun.”
A feeling of dread nested into Nolan’s chest. He ignored it and put his pajamas on. Thank God Mom packed my green-striped pajamas instead of the Toy Story ones.
The boys talked about their lives at home, their parents, their favorite movies, what school they went to, and Nolan barely realized an hour had passed by the time Nellie knocked on the door and walked in.
“Great! You’re all ready for bed.” She clapped her hands as if they’d done something extraordinary. “Everyone ready to get a good night’s sleep?”
Peter grumbled a response.
“All right, I’ll turn the lights off now. Have a good night, boys.” She flipped the lights off and disappeared outside.
Nolan yawned and snuggled under the covers, trying to find a good position to fall asleep.
A few minutes later, Peter kicked the blankets off his feet and crawled out of his bed. “Time to have some fun.”
Nolan pushed himself up on his elbows. “What are you talking about?”
“You’re not about to sleep, are you?” The older boy arched an eyebrow, as if going to sleep might be the stupidest idea ever. “Let’s play truth or dare.” He put a blanket on the floor and dropped a flashlight in the middle of the blanket. “Too much light will have her running right back, so we’ll stick with the flashlight for now.”
Sam and Leo nodded, apparently willing to make Peter their supreme leader.
Nolan groaned, but he got up anyway.
“I’ll get started.” Peter sat down in Indian pose. “Sam, truth or dare?”
“Hmm.” He scratched the top of his head. “Dare.”
“Well, then, I dare you to call Nellie’s phone number.”
“Are you kidding?” Sam’s eyes shot wide. “She’ll burst in right away.”
“We got her phone number,” Peter said in a low voice, “but she doesn’t have ours. She’ll have no idea who’s calling her.”
“Won’t she suspect it’s one of us?” Nolan bit his tongue. Can’t he see what a stupid idea this is? I don’t want to make Nellie mad at us on our first night here.
“Just call her and then say ‘wrong number’ in a girly voice.” Peter rolled his eyes. “Come on, it’s not hard. You’re just making up excuses because you’re scared.”
Sam slumped into himself, but reached for his cell phone, grabbed the paper Peter held out for him, and dialed Nellie’s number.
“Speaker,” Peter whispered.
Sam sighed, but he did put speaker phone on. The phone rang a few times, until Nellie picked up.
“Hello? Who is this?”
Sam licked his lips. “Wrong number.” His voice sounded high-pitched and squeaky. He slammed the phone shut, and the four of them burst out laughing.
“You sounded just like a girl!” Peter pointed at him and held his belly from laughing. “Dude, that was hilarious.”
Sam snickered. “That wasn’t too hard. All right, Nolan, truth or dare.”
“Truth.”
“All right.” Sam put his fingers on his chin and cheek, lost in thought. “What did you dread the most about coming to camp?”
The question shoved all the memories of the nightmares, drowning in the lake, and his irrational fear of swimming back to the surface. His hands shook, and he tried to hide them under his elbows. “Um... well....” He looked up at his three new friends. Should I be honest or not? They’ve been awesome so far. Maybe I should tell them the truth. “The lake,” he blurted out. “I’m... I’m afraid of swimming.”
It took a while before any of them reacted.
Tears prickled in Nolan’s eyes. This will be school all over again. They’ll never look at me the same way. They’ll think I’m a freak.
Sam put a hand on his arm. “Hey, it’s okay. I promised you that I’ll stick around when we go to the lake, and help you out.”
Nolan smiled, but inside he felt broken. His Dad always thought something was wrong with him. His friends at school—the few he’d made over the years—all thought the same thing. He was messed up because something as easy as swimming scared him. Now, despite Sam’s
kind words, his new friends would think the same way.
Peter cleared his throat. “Your turn.” He smiled at Nolan, as if wanting to show his support as well.
“Okay.” His voice trembled. “Leo, truth or dare?”
“Huh?” Once again, Leo appeared to come from another planet. He looked left and right after Nolan mentioned his name. “Oh. Truth.”
“Hmm.” He looked at Leo, wondering what kind of question he could ask him. After his fiasco with the question about siblings, he didn’t want to ask anything else that could upset him. “Okay. Well, do you believe in ghosts?”
It took forever before Leo replied. “Yes.” His voice sounded serious, matching the look on his face, as if he were taking an oath in court.
“Are you for real?” Peter whistled between his teeth. “Why? Seen any?”
“Yes, I have.”
“And? Come on, tell us about it!” Peter practically jumped up and down on the spot.
“I don’t really want to talk about it.” Leo looked like a turtle crawling back into his shell. He wrapped his arms around himself.
“Is it me or did it just go colder?” Sam shivered as a blue cloud of air escaped his lips. “Dude, it’s freezing.”
“Just ignore it,” Leo snapped.
Nolan’s eyes grew wide as he looked at the blonde boy. Leo is the last person on Earth I thought would snap at anyone.
The boy’s lower lip trembled, and he kept on glancing at a spot behind them, near the left wall.
“Leo.” Nolan’s voice barely reached above a whisper. “Is... is there something over there?”
He didn’t reply.
Sam and Peter turned around, following Nolan’s gaze to the corner of the room.
Dark shadows lingered in the corner, darker than the rest of the room, as if a solid mass stood there, watching them.
“Make it stop.” Sam moved closer to Nolan, as if hoping he’d protect him.
“She’ll go away,” Leo whispered. “She always does.”
Weirdville: Drowning in Fear (Lower Grade Spooky Fun Adventure) Page 2
