Chapter Text
The first time was an accident.
Okay, wait, that makes it sound like all of the rest were something he sought out, so scratch that.
The first time it happened, the real mistake had been destroying the evidence.
Aw, heck. That doesn’t sound much better, but it’s the best it’s going to get here.
Anyway, the real mistake was destroying the evidence. It was a clear-cut case of self defense, even if there were no witnesses. There shouldn’t have been a need for a cover-up, at all, but… Well, let’s start a bit further back.
David hadn’t been a counselor at Camp Campbell for very long, but he’d camped there in his youth, and he knew his way around kids. Due to this, he’d been expecting an easy year, and for the most part, he got it. His co-counselor, Adam, never seemed very enthused, but he always pulled his weight! David could respect that, even if he wished the guy would lighten up a little, at the time.
Turned out that pessimism might have saved two lives if he’d listened a little earlier.
See, the summer was grand, everyone had fun, the kids were fast friends, but when it got towards the end of the year, things started to seem a bit off. The swim instructor, Georgio, never wanted to stick around for the staff bonfires anymore.
“A man’s gotta keep in shape,” he’d say, patting a bicep and throwing a wink to his fellow staff, and he’d be off to swim in the lake. David would wish him luck and remind him to stay in shallow waters if he didn’t have anyone to spot him. He didn’t think much of it – of course a swim instructor loved to swim! If he didn’t, it’d be like a camp counselor that didn’t love to camp! Preposterous. And sure, maybe he liked to dunk the kids a little more than David thought was fair, but he always quoted them a nice, inspiring bit of scripture from a variety of religions at the end of each lesson, so it must all be in good fun.
Besides, there was a disturbance among the campers to attend to. For some time, it seemed like Sally’s clique had begun closing ranks. They wouldn’t hang out with the other kids they used to adore. Sally (who would have been David’s best camper if he could bring himself to play favorites) had wilted, like she was so saddened by the end of camp approaching, she just couldn’t bring herself to enjoy anything.
Or so David had thought. It all came to a head when Sally didn’t show up at the big camp farewell bonfire. David knew she’d been looking forward to it! She told him, herself!
“Adam,” he’d told his co-counselor firmly, “I think something may be wrong with Sally.”
“No duh,” his faithful compatriot replied with urgency, “I’ve only been trying to talk about that with you for the last week!”
“There’s no time to waste on arguing when a camper might be sick, or worse,” David shuddered, “Taken by a case of the downsies. We’ve got to see what she needs!” He strode off towards Sally’s tent, Adam at his heels as the other instructors kept an eye on the kids. Ignoring Adam’s mutterings about downsies and not real and why are you like this, David ducked under the half open flap and found nothing in Sally’s tent.
Well.
“Adam, she’s not here – “
“No… really?”
“- so I’ll need you to check the kitchen and the bathrooms while I check the storage shed and the beach, then we’ll sweep out from the archery range along the trails. If you get there before me, go south and I’ll go west, alright?” Looking down at his slightly shorter co-counselor, David found a blank mask of confusion.
“…Did you just gain five levels of competence in the last minute and a half?” Adam asked finally in an awed tone of voice which David took as an affirmative.
“Head out, trooper, we’ve a sad Sally to find,” he declared, and set off himself. Now that it was clear she wasn’t just sick in her tent, there was a chill creeping into David’s blood that told him it could be something more serious. …He’d just really prefer to find her moping on the dock, or something.
“I’m going to grab Janette to check the bathrooms,” Adam called before he was out of sight.
Right, David had forgotten about the whole man-in-a-girl’s-bathroom issue. Always good to know Adam was on top of things, though, when they were searching for a missing camper. His first stop at the storage shed yielded nothing, but as he ran along the beach, he could see Georgio out in the water, holding a small figure in his arms.
“Georgio!” He waved as he shouted, making the swim instructor jump a little and look at him, “Is that Sally? Is she okay?” He just knew they should have signs up on the beach. Look what happened if there weren’t any signs around to warn kids against swimming without a chaperone! Good thing Georgio had passed by!
“She’ll be fine,” Georgio called back, but when he didn’t start making his way back in, David realized he must be in shock. Well, he’d have to prompt him.
“Come back in, we need to get her dry and warm!”
“Good idea,” Georgio replied, “You can go back to the campfire and I’ll take care of it!”
Now, that sounded nice, but… not nice at the same time. David couldn’t quite put his finger on it. After all, his coworker was trying to do the right thing without inconveniencing anyone, right? But then, why was he still out there? Was he still in shock that a camper had almost died on his watch?
It was then Sally woke up. And she woke up frightened. Clearly unprepared for the sudden kicking and scratching, Georgio let her drop and she surfaced, sputtering and wide-eyed, black hair spilling over the water as she swam frantically for shore.
“David!” she exclaimed on seeing him, “Help!”
Well, that was more Georgio’s job, but since he’d been sort of off… David waded in after her just as Georgio started in her direction.
“It’s fine,” David soothed them both, reaching out for the girl and waving back Georgio at the same time, “I got this.” Georgio was in no state to deal with saving her again. That was obvious from how he was agitatedly fidgeting even now.
Of course, then Georgio made an inarticulate noise of rage and grabbed Sally’s leg. He yanked her under, pulling her out into the lake as he ranted, “Oh for the love of everything, David, can’t you tell there’s something wrong with her? She needs to be saved! I’ve been trying and trying but I just can’t get a cleansing to stick! Her soul won’t scrub clean and we’re running out of time!”
“What are you talking about? She’s under the water! Let her go!” David cried, splashing after them and grabbing just inches into the trail left by Sally’s hand. His fists clenched in frustration, “Georgio!” The swim instructor was rambling now, more of the same, and David could tell he wasn’t listening. Diving forward and swimming, he sacrificed a clear line of sight for speed. They stopped up ahead, on the shores of Spooky Island, and Georgio pulled Sally out of the water, above his head, as if to offer her to something. David’s heart jumped into his throat and pounded the inside.
“Put that kid down!” He lunged, tackling Georgio sideways into the water so Sally wouldn’t hit the ground, and scrambled over him to her. “Sally, there’s a house straight that way,” he said when she stopped coughing, and he pushed the sand-encrusted wet hair out of her face to meet her wide eyes, “Run right down that path and don’t stop, do you understand? Go into the house and scream for the Quartermaster but don’t- don’t look for him. He will come right out and make sure you’re safe-“ Georgio was wading towards them now, and David pulled Sally to her feet, pushing her maybe a little forcefully towards the path, “GO!”
She ran, and David put himself in Georgio’s way.
“You’re not getting her unless you go through- sugar cookies!” His back hit the rocky shoreline as Georgio shoved him down, but he scrabbled wildly, clawing his way up, and caught ahold of Georgio’s hair and collar. When the other man tried to get up, David turned his body, grabbing on with both hands to the shirt as he twisted, and threw him off balance.
There was no way he’d let Georgio go after Sally now. His blood was burning in his veins, combatting the cold fear of what could happen if he didn’t stop Georgio’s breakdown now. He couldn’t quite get on top of him in time, but he did manage to grip Georgio’s ear and tear down. It came bloodily, raggedly off and David tucked it into a pocket on impulse. Like taking a hostage. Maybe he’d listen now. When Georgio paused in shock at actually losing an ear, David took the moment to appeal to the swim instructor’s better nature. “Now, Georgio, I don’t know what’s gotten into you, but I know we can – oh, golly – Georgio, we could make it though this!” While he was speaking, the other man had tried to shove David away, but David wasn’t physically weak, even if he had a low tolerance for pain or insults. Thus, Georgio couldn’t completely pull away and he turned his attention more fully onto David.
“Get off me, David,” he growled, “Sally can’t be saved now. You’ve run out the time.”
“So you’ll leave her alone?” David sighed with relief, grip on the other man loosening, “Look, we really need to talk about-“
“She has to die before she lets them in,” Georgio concluded grimly, “It’s the only way, David.”
With Georgio’s words, the panic spiked right back up from its previous lull. “Oh, for heaven’s sake!” David grabbed the back of Georgio’s shirt before he could fully get away, but the abused fabric finally tore. “No, no, no!” A failed grab for the man’s shoulder and then David caught his arm, yanking him back with a full-body pull as the panic turned darker, gained teeth, “You’re not hurting my campers!” His pull had been stronger than either of them were expecting and they both went down. David recovered first this time. A bit of luck. Without thinking, he slammed Georgio’s head down when he tried to rise, glancing off a rock, in the process. “Don’t move!” Georgio’s eyes glanced at him, devoid of the laughter they used to hold, and for a moment they held eye contact. David didn’t see anything he recognized. It was like looking at a stranger. Then a new rock was smashing into the side of his head, and David swore, but clung to Georgio like an octopus, turning and pushing with the roll until he was on top again. He smacked Georgio’s head down again, harder, and the other man seemed a bit dazed, now, but there was still a chance he’d get up. Lost in the fury and the panic, David slammed his full weight onto Georgio’s throat, again and again.
Finally, the struggle stopped. Georgio was still breathing, barely. Not easily. Not… right. It stopped, too. For a moment, David just sat there panting, one knee still pressing into a corpse’s stomach, hunched over with his hands to either side of a heavily purpling neck.
“Shit.”
His phone went off.
“Shit!” Fumbling the device, he almost dropped it back in the water. He honestly had no idea how it was still working but he doubted it’d survive another drop in the drink.
“H- hello?” He kept the phone just barely in hand with shaking fingers, “Who-“
“David, I’m just calling to see how the end of year bonfire is going!” Cameron Campbell’s voice echoed down the line.
If he’d had time to think about it, he might have been too frightened of what Cameron would think of him to say anything and just called the cops. However…
“Mr. Campbell, Georgio attacked a camper and I tried to stop him but he kept going and I didn’t mean to but I killed him!” His voice hit an octave that sent static crackling through the phone on Campbell’s end, “I’m so sorry, I know you’ll want me to-“ resign, turn myself in, he’d been about to say, but Campbell cut him off, sounding uncharacteristically serious.
“David, you can’t let the parents know about this.”
David lifted his head, no longer looking into Georgio’s blank eyes, “…What do you mean?”
“I can’t have them know there was another death on the grounds! We’d lose business in droves!” His voice lowered conspiratorially, “I know I can trust you to take care of it. You did the right thing keeping that kid’s parents from filing a lawsuit –“
“I just kept her alive –“
“- Saving her life, whatever. The point is, you gotta keep this on the down-low, okay? I’d be… incredibly grateful.”
“I…”
“And I’ll be incredibly disappointed if this gets out, Davey.”
“Yes, sir,” David responded on automatic, looking back down at the dead body he was kneeling on with an edge of calculation to the general panic. It wasn’t… impossible. And it’d be for the good of the camp.
“Don’t let me down.” David nodded though he couldn’t see him, taking the phone from his ear even as Campbell continued, “No, seriously. There are terrible consequences to letting me down-“
David ended the call, tapping in the Quartermaster’s number instead.
“Yeah, it’s me,” he said, pulling the body over his shoulder as quietly as he could, “Is Sally okay? Yes, I know you’d prefer to keep your time off in the house kid-free.” Trudging off into the woods at an angle from the house, he hoisted Georgio up a little further, “I’ve just got to figure out where Georgio ran off to, so stay on alert. He might be heading your way, or he might have made a run for it. It’s hard to know. But he seemed like he… he might need help, you know?” The Quartermaster didn’t sound very sympathetic, but with his private time interrupted and a probably crying girl on his hands, that was reasonable. “If you could escort Sally back to the bonfire and let Janette and Adam know what happened…? Thanks, I really appreciate you-“ David pulled the phone away from his face with a disgruntled expression, “I can’t believe he hung up on me again. Man needs to learn to take a compliment.” The glazed, open eyes that met his glance to the side quieted him. There was work to be done.
Spooky Island had all the clichés. A bear den, a small wolf pack, bats galore, large and easy-to-trip-over roots, quicksand, sudden drops off hidden cliffs… and just beyond it, the volcano of Sleepy Peak. There was a boat on the far side of the island just for people who swam out too far. The Quartermaster would be taking Sally back to camp in his own.
So, David just had to dump… Put Georgio in the lava and let the heat take care of it.
It was simple.
Which was why his hands felt weak as he rowed across. The sheer simplicity of it, right.
“Stop looking at me like that,” he murmured to Georgio, “You’re already dead. A little lava won’t hurt.”
The hike up was horrible, but at least when he reached the top, the sluggish lava was still red and hot. Not a great sign in terms of the volcano’s supposed “dormancy” but the camp had survived an eruption when he was a camper… It’d be fine.
David dropped Georgio off his shoulder and into the lava lake. It didn’t really sink like he thought. He’d been far enough up that the momentum of the fall smashed Georgio through the surface to submerge and burn, but he had the feeling the body would have just sat on top and burst into flame if he’d been a bit further down. And the smell was horrendous. But there’d be time enough for it to burn to ash – this wasn’t exactly a prime hiking spot, and it was on private land, to boot. Campbell owned this peak as well as Camp Campbell and bits of Spooky Island. A whole strip of land across the lake.
David clasped his hands in front of him as Georgio burned, and cleared his throat, eyes stinging from the noxious smoke, “Georgio was a good swim instructor. He might’ve hit his head a bit too hard or ate something strange… Well, he wasn’t always violent.” The flames and lava spurts roiling over Georgio’s body threw tails of ominous light over the scene, and David sighed, “Poor guy.” He doubted there’d be anything left worth fishing out, so Campbell’s request had been mostly fulfilled.
Later that night, he had to tell the others how Georgio had escaped.
“I was trying to keep him from following Sally, but…” David shook his head, not having to feign worry, with how nervous he was, “You know he worked hard to stay fit. He could still be out there. Maybe we should have a night watch in case he tries for Sally again, or comes to his senses.” Though there was no chance of that, now, was there? It made David want to cringe, curl away from the sensation but… But Campbell clearly believed he did the right thing, and Sally was safe… and she hadn’t been while Georgio was alive.
Abruptly, Adam was leaning in and pointing at David’s neck, “Is that blood?”
“Is what…?” David put a hand to the side of his neck where Adam was pointing and abruptly recalled that he’d scrubbed the blood from Georgio’s ear off his hands but not anywhere else. The man had been on top of him, of course it dripped. Well, at least that part was easy enough to explain. “Oh, I did manage to delay Georgio a little; speaking of which, do you think we should have a self defense course next year because I took one in San Delias and it really helped me keep Georgio from just killing me to get to Sally – before he decided to cut his losses.”
“Are you hurt?” Janette grabbed his face in her large hands, tilting his head this way and that, before her probing fingers found where Georgio had smacked him with a rock. David winced, hissing a breath in through his teeth. “David! You’ve got a head wound and you’re just wandering around?”
Well, that was insulting. He was fairly sure he’d recognize the signs of a strong concussion and he was just barely on the scale. Not a big deal. He’d had the same first aid training as they did, after all. “I’m not wandering around; I’m attending a staff meeting as a new staff member should!”
“He walloped you bad,” Janette muttered, ignoring him in favour of his wound, “I’m surprised it hasn’t swollen visibly yet.”
“Thank you for your concern, Janette, but it’s fine. I don’t have a” bad “concussion so if that’s all you need, I’d like to retire to the counselors’ cabin, now,” David replied, not unkindly, but not smiling, either.
She shared a look with Adam, who shrugged in acquiescence to some unspoken question, and Janette sighed, “Sure. We’ll have to call the police…”
“Mr. Campbell is taking care of that,” David replied, not entirely sure he was, but knowing if Campbell didn’t want this getting out, he likely had some plan in mind, right?
“You’ve spoken with him?” Her tone was surprised, and a little sharp, “I haven’t heard from him in weeks.” Janette was the senior staff member beyond the Quartermaster, so she was right to be surprised, but… David felt his heart warm at the idea that Campbell called him. He knew they had a connection stronger than the average employer/employee relationship. Almost like family, really. That’s why he’d scribbled his number down in Mr. Campbell’s address book in the first place.
“Yes, he called me not long after Georgio got away,” David reported dutifully, “When I told him what was happening, he said he didn’t want a scandal.”
“I see.” Janette’s gaze was a little cooler now, and she just stared at him for a few moments, as if sizing him up. It sent an uneasy feeling curling through his toes, but she shook it off soon enough with a sigh. “Can you give me the number he called from? It’s likely we can reach him there for a while and I’d like to talk to him about handling the legalities of the situation in more depth.”
“Of course,” David replied, and he pulled out his phone, handing it over to Janette, who copied the number into her own phone and gave it back. He turned to the group, “Good night, everyone. Stay safe. Think about that night watch!”
Softening around the eyes, Janette gave her farewells with the rest of them, but added, “I want you to report to the first aid station as soon as you wake up, okay, David?”
He smiled then, eyes creasing shut as he paused at the door, “Yes, ma’am.”
If he’d just reported what had happened, yes, the camp may have suffered, but he wouldn’t have gone to prison or anything, and the camp wouldn’t have been destroyed. After all, Campbell still couldn’t suppress all the rumors of an attack at Camp Campbell, even with the waivers and non-disclosures Campbell had either sneakily included in the initial stack of paperwork or finagled later. Perhaps the public knowing the perpetrator was dead would have helped.
As it was, David had to make a second trip up Sleepy Peak Peak to dispose of the ear he found later in his pants pocket, and he wasn’t exactly thrilled about it.
Thankfully the summer ended without further scandal, but most of the staff and the usual kids had been spooked. New faces came pouring in next year, but it was a little thinner than it had been.
Still, this had David up to practically middle management, since Adam had gone. Janette was still around, which was nice. Always good to see a friendly face. Despite the shadow of Georgio, and the lack of a proper swim instructor, the summer went well.
Mostly. David volunteered to take over supervising any swimming since he did have training in water-rescue, and that was fine, but…
The midsummer hike had a little hitch.
The kids were having fun, and Sammy had come along to lend a hand in supervision. She typically dealt with archery, but if the majority of the kids were trooping around the forest, it was more important to have enough adults around to corral them than to have those staying back for medical reasons be able to ask for archery tips. He left her to watch the kids while he checked ahead and around for any illegal traps left by hunters. Campbell had a habit of inviting groups of friends over to hunt in the fall. He’d marked off a pitfall trap and collected two bear traps within the first ten minutes, and was ready to turn back and tell Sammy what he’d found.
So, when David ran into a woman of short stature with pale skin and red hair, he first raised a hand, ready to call Sammy’s name and ask why she’d left the kids. But the woman who turned around was older than Sammy, not to mention holding a knife.
“Sh- Cheese wheels,” David hissed, ducking behind a tree trunk. Alright. Okay. He’d just disarm her, and ask what she was doing out here. In the woods. Alone. Wearing… He glanced around the trunk again to make sure he wasn’t hallucinating. No, she was still there wearing a modest dress and cooking apron, even if both were somewhat ragged.
“This is the last time those brats egg my Flower Scouts,” she growled, brandishing the knife in a wide gesture, “They’ll never do something like that again.”
Oh, gosh. He’d heard a few of the boys had gotten in trouble with Janette for sneaking out. Could it be…? But it didn’t warrant murder! David edged quietly around the trunk as she passed, keeping out of her sightline. As soon as he was behind her, he leapt forward, wrapping one arm around her middle, over her arms, and grabbed her knife arm with his free hand.
“You don’t have to- oomph!” She’d elbowed him in the gut, stepping on his instep in the next moment and ducking out of his hold.
Pushing her hair out of her face, she waved the knife at him, “You won’t get me that easy! Just back off!”
David was shaking his head, though, “I can’t let you-“ She pushed forward with perfect fencing form, and if she’d had something the length of a foil, it’d probably have skewered him. He stumbled back, hands held up placatingly, “I just want to talk! You don’t have to do this!”
A snort, “Right,” and the woman slashed at him, making him jump back again, “I know exactly what kind of violent shitheads roam these woods.” Interesting that she seemed to be referring to herself in the kind of self-awareness David had never expected from criminals of this sort.
“I can’t just let you go,” David said slowly, hands still up in the hope she would change her mind. She knew what she was doing wasn't rational, though, and had gone on towards it, so his muscles were still tense, ready to move.
“I didn’t think so,” she said mockingly, and dashed at him. If David could do anything, though, it was dodge. It wasn’t long before David could grab her knife arm again and pull her into a restraining – oh shit – she tried to stab him this time, at close quarters.
David still had a good hold on that arm, though.
He’d felt it tense.
“You fucking rapist,” the woman gasped after the knife sunk into her gut, hastily guided by David’s hand. “Now what good’s catching me?”
“What?” David still had her in his arms; it wasn’t like she was dead yet, after all. “You were the one planning to kill my campers!”
“I was going to scare… them… You dick,” she managed, and David paled.
“Fu- with a knife in the woods?” He hissed, already applying pressure to the wound instead of keeping her restrained, but she was past responding. “Oh, come on.” There was no way he’d get her anywhere in time to save her. There was no way. She was going to die. He was covered in the blood of a woman who he’d killed. A woman who was… Who might have lied. She might have lied. Since when would a potential murderer conveniently stick to their guns when in need of medical assistance? A distraught giggle bubbled up and spilled over. It didn’t matter because he’d killed her. No, he… he had to get himself together. The kids would be traumatized forever if they came across this – not even taking into account what would happen to David if they found out. This wasn’t such a clear-cut case of self defense this time. And he’d already been involved in one mysterious disappearance, one which Campbell had known about. It wasn’t just his own life on the line if he wanted to turn himself in. And the camp would suffer, and the children would never feel safe, even when they left…
“If anyone’s up there,” he whispered, slowly, reluctantly picking the woman up, “Please forgive me.”
Once he’d pulled himself together, the work was quicker than he’d thought. He couldn’t afford to skip out on the hike for much longer, but the body couldn’t be dragged back into civilization by a hungry animal before he could get it to Sleepy Peak Peak. Nor could it be stumbled over by a hiker. This was far too close to the usual trails to just leave the body where it fell. He was rarely underprepared, however, and he had enough rope to hoist her up into the canopy, climbing the tree to tie the rope out of the average off-track escaped camper’s line of sight.
But there wasn’t exactly a handy stream to wash up in. Most of the blood was on his hands and sleeves, and he really didn’t want to cause any more death today, but… Well, it wasn’t hard to find one of the young deer that the Quartermaster frequently fed and practically had trained. After all, they came at a whistle. He tried not to think of why the Quartermaster wanted deer that arrived at a whistle, and just focus on now. His luck held, and a deer barely out of foalhood soon bounded out of the foliage, clearly looking for food. David held his hand out, as if offering feed, and the deer cautiously approached. Which was not nearly cautious enough, since David had doubled back to the pitfall trap.
It fell, it was wounded, it was gruesome. David lowered himself in carefully and ended the poor thing’s suffering with a clean stab in and to the heart. He could just barely drag the carcass out after him.
When he arrived back at camp, no one questioned the blood with a deer over his shoulders and a smile on his lips as he reeled off how he’d found it dying in the trap and thought it’d be better if it didn’t go to waste – so who wanted to learn field dressing?
He had, however, underestimated the effect a dead deer would have on the mostly city-grown children. Sammy berated him until even the kids started telling her it was alright. They just wanted to head back to their cabins to cut the hike short.
When he’d tried to help escort them back, Sammy had stopped him with a slightly disgusted look, an arm hovering in front of him, but not touching his chest, despite the lack of blood there. “Why don’t you go wash up,” she suggested, then gestured at the deer with a wince, “And take care of that? I can take the kids back. I haven’t lost any yet.”
David smiled. That was very thoughtful and would serve the double purpose of letting him slip off to deal with the real problem. “Well, thank you, Sammy; that’s awfully kind of you. I am sorry, again. I won’t just spring field dressing on any city kids in the future.” Unless someone forced his hand again where he couldn’t quickly reach water, but that had to be unlikely or David might start to chip off little bits of his mind and bury them with the next who died.
Not that he could give them proper burials.
Not that there would be more.
There were.
David didn’t know what it was about the next two years, but his hands practically dripped with blood. People came after the campers like clockwork, and while their motivations were varied, every so often, one of them would tell him something odd. Always variations on the same phrase.
“They’re going to let them in.”
“Who?” David demanded of the spindly man, “Who could some innocent little kids possibly ‘let in?’” But the light had faded, the man was gone like all the rest, and David had to clean up. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair, then pulled the bloody hand down and stared at it in realization, “Oh, snickerdoodles. I might as well swim.”
He hadn’t killed anyone he wasn’t sure was a threat, since… Since the woman he’d tried very hard to learn nothing about. The Flower Scouts had made a whole to-do over her disappearance, but her love of narcotics – a common vice for the Flower Scout leaders – had kept the police from looking too hard into it. As for David, he had very carefully expressed sympathy without letting himself be drawn into any conversations that would force him to learn something like her name or if she had a family.
He still wasn’t sure if she’d been a would-be killer or not. Who knew what had been in her system that night?
For the most part, he’d put it behind him.
The camp, however, had suffered from the publicity of that disappearance, and the subsequent random missing persons from the surrounding area, which trailed off as the attackers began to come from further abroad. No one seemed to be looking for those here. The Quartermaster and Janette were the last remaining staff members other than David, and Campbell had hired in another counsellor, a nice girl named Gwen, but… All those instructors and elective teachers had faded off. Either from lack of funding from Campbell or lack of confidence from them.
Honestly, it was a shame. David still tried his best to give the campers the best Camp Campbell experience they could have, but it had been getting harder, between the progressive lack of help, the loss of enthusiasm from his fellow staff, and the increasing number of attacks on the campers. Some of them the campers had even known about! One or two had gotten close enough to scare the kids before David noticed them, and he’d had to send the campers running before they got grabbed, so he could “scare off” their assailants.
As time went on, the people at fault looked increasingly ragged and run down, as if they’d been wandering through the forest in this direction for months. And the licences he’d taken to checking before disposal only supported his theory. They kept coming, from further and further away.
Thankfully, fighting for his and the campers’ lives on a regular basis made it all physically much easier. Plus, the time off between summers could be spent on part time jobs and physical conditioning. He couldn’t really afford lessons in fighting, either in terms of time or money, but he figured experience would have to be enough.
It was hard enough admitting to himself that he needed to prepare for unfortunate events such as these, much less making himself any more dangerous than he was. Better he remained someone the police or a trained professional could easily outmaneuver if he ever snapped under the strain of… Protecting the campers.
Or so David’s reasoning went.
Brute force, desperation, and homefield advantage would have to do.
Sometimes, he wished he could tell his coworkers how much danger the kids were in, but then that damn woman would float back into his head. He couldn’t confess without including his mistake. His potential mistake. And there was no guarantee they’d believe him, anyway.
He hardly believed this was his life, either.
Still, he loved the camp. He loved the campers. He couldn’t let them suffer and he wouldn’t bring them down. So he smiled, and he told ghost stories, and sang songs, and taught the kids about the woods around them. He wiped runny noses and stabbed frenzied young women. He hugged homesick kids and drowned raving bald men. He kept the dream alive and had nightmares all night.
But the nightmares were easing off.
His father had been a Mountie, and his mother had served in the US military. He knew it was a bad sign when killing got easier, but… It wasn’t as if he’d ever felt towards a camper that rage that took him through the motions to kill; that faded when the body was burned and the threat temporarily eliminated.
A kid in a blue hoodie, with fluffy black hair trudged off the bus.