☾☾☾

A/N: so so sorry for the long wait on this one guys!! i am in fact a high school senior myself and college applications have been eating up all my free time lately :/ 

mostly finished with them for now at least! and this is a pretty long chapter (for my usual at least) so hopefully that makes you guys feel a little better about the wait!

~ iMeowmeow654

☾☾☾

"Tell us another one!"

"Okay, okay. But after this, you young'ns have to get to bed, alright? We're probably leaving early tomorrow."

The van had never arrived. Obviously.

Cass' face was faintly illuminated by the golden glow of the campfire they had started. Everyone gazed at him expectantly.

"Well... This one isn't like my usual scary stories, 'cus this one is actually true."

Michael rolled his eyes. Cass told this one every year.

"They say there's a witch in these woods. She's centuries old... does some dark evil magic to keep herself alive. Her skin is pale and spotted with age, and her hair is long and white and frazzled. Her face is covered in wrinkles but you won't notice any smile lines. She's short and stout, and... they say she wears dresses made out of human skin."

Millie's skin crawled.

The fire crackled.

"Back in 1978, when Camp Crescent Moon very first opened... she was furious. The Addison family had encroached on her territory. So, she summoned up all of her horrible horrible spell ingredients--her human tongues, and her puppy-dog ears, and her baby tears... and she put a curse on the camp. Now, every full moon, a horde of dark, vicious monsters descend on the camp... With a thirst for human blood, and her on the front lines."

"How come I've never seen any of these monsters?" Kiara asked, pursing her lips with doubt.

"Why do you think Mr. Addison wanted to get us out of here so badly?"

Cass slowly pointed a single finger up towards the dark night sky, where, among the scattered stars, the full moon was glowing bright.

Samuel laughed, nudging Kiara in the shoulder. "Yeah, Kiara. You'd better watch out. There might be monsters around."

Cass stuck out his tongue. "You guys are no fun."

Indigo noticed that Lucy seemed to be deep in thought, eyebrows stitched together. Indigo considered for a moment scaring her (it seemed like the perfect time), but then decided against it.

"Lucy? What'cha thinking about?"

Lucy blinked, shaking her head. "Oh, just... It's not really important, but I was just thinking about... last full moon, a month ago, I tried to find Mr. Addison to ask him some question... I don't even remember what it was anymore, but... I couldn't find him anywhere."

"He must've been real busy fighting off all the monsters."

A group chuckle.

"Well... Millie, Kiara, you two heard Cass. Bed time."

Millie knew curfew was coming, and even if she technically wasn't supposed to be at camp anymore, she still wanted to follow the rules. She was perfectly content to head to bed.

Kiara, on the other hand... "Why do you all get to violate curfew, but I don't?"

"Because you're still young. You need your sleep to grow." Benny said. "Don't you wanna grow up big and strong?"

"I'm not six. That kind of stuff doesn't work on me anymore."

"Damn, okay," Benny hissed under his breath. "Well. You still need to get some sleep."

"You get grumpy when you haven't slept enough, Kiara," Samuel tsked. "You know that."

Kiara frowned. "Fine..."

"Let me bring you two back to--"

"No!" Indigo interrupted. "Uh--I mean. Sorry, Samuel. I mean... I'll bring them back. You can stay here. Lucy, will you come with me?"

Lucy tilted her head, not entirely sure why Indigo needed help with guiding two children back to the cabins. "...okay?"

Benny was just glad they were leaving, if his suspicions about their future PDA were correct.

Indigo, Lucy, Millie, and Kiara disappeared back into the trees.

"...I don't think Indigo and Lucy are coming back."

"Definitely not."

☾☾☾

The group split after that. Michael had suggested to Cass that they go stargazing (no one else was invited), and off they went. Then, after a while without Indigo and Lucy's return, Samuel had gotten worried about his kiddos. He had gone off to check on them, hoping to find them safe in bed. 

That left Benny, Calvin, Jackson, Tory, and Johnny.

Benny didn't know Tory or Johnny that well. Which made it particularly interesting when Tory spoke directly to him.

"So... tell me about that girlfriend of yours, Benny. Cass says he doesn't believe she's real--"

"Nobody does!" Benny felt his frustration boil over. "She's real. She's so real, and we go on dates and hold hands and we--we kiss. All the time."

Tory blinked. "...Of course. What's her name?"

"Olivia. She's got the biggest brown eyes, and she dyed her hair hot pink right before I left. If I had my phone, I could show you pictures. And she's been sending me letters all summer. I keep them in a box under my bunk. I could show you those, too, if Millie and Kiara weren't asleep in there."

"Sure..." Johnny mused, shaking his head. "That's exactly why no one has seen any of these pictures all summer. Because of Millie and Kiara."

Benny's face went red. "I-I'm serious, you guys...! I c-can't believe that none of you believe me. Really, come on, Cal, Jackson, you two have to believe me...?"

Calvin and Jackson averted their eyes.

☾☾☾

"I almost forgot I even had it, actually."

"Weird. That doesn't sound like you at all."

"Ha. Ha. Very funny, Mickey. That's what I like about you. And you're lucky that I do, or else I wouldn't be sharing."

Cass pulled out a lighter from one of the many, many pockets on his jacket. Then, from another (after fumbling around for a while), he pulled out the mighty, holy grail: his final blunt of the summer.

After Johnny and Tory had distracted them, and after he had blatantly lied to their faces, he truly had forgotten about it. If the van had been here on time, he would've taken it home with him and missed out on one final bangin' smoke sesh on the cafeteria roof with his Mickey. It was devastating just to think about.

Cass gently tossed the lighter over to Michael, then slid the unlit joint in between their lips. "Hey, lit me up, would you?"

Michael's heart jumped up into his throat, pounding around his brain with a thump-thump, thump-thump. God, how did Cass do that? So effortlessly, without a care or thought... and yet Michael could swear on his life that Cass was easily the coolest and hottest person on the entire face of the planet. He radiated a statistically improbably aura of cool.

His hands were shaking. He struggled to get the lighter to spark. Cass didn't say anything, but Michael would've gotten impatient if their roles were swapped--not that their roles ever would be swapped. Cass would never get so nervous about something as simple as lighting a joint.

The lighter lit. Carefully, Michael held it out, gently illuminating Cass' cute face as he lit the joint.

"So... can I ask you a personal question?" Michael asked, passing the lighter back to Cass.

Cass didn't respond right away, breathing in deep. Michael watched the smoke drift up out of their mouth into the night sky as they exhaled. "Sure thing."

"What's that date on your arm? Like, what does it mean...?" Currently, said date was currently covered up by Cass' jacket. But Michael could picture in his brain like it was the back of his hand. A sort of scraggly stick-and-poke tattoo, almost right in the crook of Cass' left elbow, written upside down so that it was only right side up when Cass looked down at it--"8/27/18."

August 27, 2018... what could that date possibly mean to Cass?

"Been waiting all summer to ask me that one, haven't you?"

"Uh, w-well, I--"

Cas interrupted him with a laugh, holding the joint out to Michael. "Here, take it. I think you need to chill out a little bit right now, hm?"

Michael obliged.

"Well... it's a secret, actually. Oh, I know, I know. Please don't make that face at me, Mickey. You've been unlocking my backstory all summer, and now you're stuck on the last roadblock. I've just..." Cass hesitated, his eyes fluttering to avoid looking at Michael--a faint shimmer in the cool aura. Just a little ripple, like a pebble disturbing the flat surface of a pond. "I've never told anyone before. How's this...? I'll make you a deal.  Tomorrow. Yeah, tomorrow morning..."

Cass closed his eyes for a second, "...I'll tell you what it means."

☾☾☾

Samuel trudged through the woods alone. He should've brought a flashlight. Dry twigs and branches cracked under his feet, and a light breeze rustled the leaves. It was getting cold. He rubbed at his arms to keep warm. God, summer really was over.

The cold air entering his lungs forced out a cough, and pain shot through his ribs. Ow.

The thought finally occurred to him that he might've been wearing his binder for too long... How long had it been? Fuck. What time was it, even? He glanced up at the sky. The full moon was high up above him.

He'd been wearing it for too long for the past few days now--if not longer. He wasn't stupid, of course. He knew it was bad for him. 

But he had to. 

No one could know.

He just considered himself lucky that his brother hadn't screwed it up all summer. All summer long without deadnaming him or misgendering him. It was the bare minimum, but... it was more than his parents could manage, so it seemed.

Samuel shook his head. He hated it when he felt like this. Hated how... bitter he could get. Benny had never, not once, done anything to upset Samuel in any way. Seriously. And yet...Samuel couldn't help but feel a twisting in his heart whenever things just came so fucking easily to his perfect brother. Everything from school to athletics to social life to being cis and it--it wasn't fucking fair. Benny didn't even realize it.

"Oh my God, is Benny your brother?"

"...yeah. He's my brother."

"Wow... Ugh, he's so hot."

Samuel shook his head for a second time. He was sure the camp was close now.

Before he could make it though...

A scream tore through the trees.

☾☾☾

"...did you hear that?"

Lucy tilted her head. "Uh... no. I didn't hear anything."

Indigo shuddered. "God... I think I'm just getting a little paranoid being out here in the dark."

"Oh... Well, we can head back to the cabin if you want to...?"

"N-No!" Indigo coughed. "I... I mean... I like being out here with you... We should stay a little bit longer... I-I think--I think you'll just have to... hold me. To keep me warm."

Lucy snorted. "Did you really say that just to set me up? You're so manipulative! Well... I guess I have to now."

Lucy patted the bench next to where she was seated, encouraging Indigo to scoot closer. Then, she wrapped her arms quickly around Indigo, and Indigo nuzzled into her. Indigo grabbed at Lucy's hands--cold as always. The perfect match for Indigo's hot. Together, they maintained perfect hand-holding equilibrium. Never got sweaty palms.

They snuggled together for a bit, and then Indigo cleared her throat. "Uh... Lucy? Can I--Can I tell you something?"

"Of course, Indy... you can tell me anything. Is something wrong?"

"No, nothing's wrong! Promise... just. God, it's hard to say... I... I've wanted to tell you for a little while... I just--"

"Wait," Lucy interrupted. "Sh sh sh sh. Listen."

Indigo's face fell. "Oh... uhm. Okay."

They both went quiet.

The leaves rustled around them. Indigo didn't hear anything.

Lucy pulled away from Indigo, looking around them wildly.

"Lucy, are you pranking m--?

A branch snapped behind them.

Lucy's face went pale as she twisted around to look. She stared and stared into the darkness looming between the trees, but she couldn't see anything. "I-Indy, I think we should go to bed..."

Indigo couldn't agree more. They both stood up quickly, locked hands together, and started along the dirt path to the cabins.

They hardly made it ten steps.

That was when something lurched from the trees.

It was big, and... that was all that either of them could really tell about it. Big, and angry. It was too dark to see anything else.

Lucy found herself glued into the dirt. The fear had stricken her heart still, and she found that she couldn't move. Her shoes felt like they were covered in cement, and her breath wouldn't leave her lungs.

And, in that moment, Indigo made a mistake.

Indigo tore her hand free of Lucy's and ran.

She ran and ran and she ran.

Her foot caught on an exposed tree root, and she collapsed to the ground. She wheezed as the air was forced out of her lungs. Pain shot up through her ankle.

Indigo scrambled the best that she could, nursing her ankle and trying to gasp for breath, into the nearby bushes to hide. She looked around.

Lucy was no where to be seen.

Indigo had left her.

Indigo covered her mouth to try and hide the fact that she was wheezing for breath, but she wished that she had covered her ears instead.

She could not see Lucy, lying low in the dirt, mostly behind a tree. But she sure could hear.

There was a wet, slashing sound, like a water balloon being sliced open. Lucy cried out in pain, and tears started to stream down Indigo's face. Her sobs stole what little breath she had managed to regain.

Growling and groaning and snarling and pleading...

Lucy called out for Indigo.

"I-I-Indy...! Ack--! In-ndy, plea--he-help...! Help me!"

Indigo wanted to call back, to let Lucy know that she was still nearby. She clamped her hands over her mouth tighter.

Indigo heard the beginning of what was probably a scream, but it was cut short by... crunching. That was the only way Indigo could think to describe it. Crunching and... tearing. Ripping. Like paper.

And then it all stopped.

Silence.

Indigo didn't dare crawl out right away. She waited, even as her heart was screaming for her to go and find Lucy.

As Indigo waited, the silence was slowly replaced by... crying. Quiet at first, but then louder.

Indigo shimmied out from hiding. Still nursing her injured ankle, she slowly crept back along the path.

Nothing could have ever prepared her for what she would see.

Lucy was collapsed in a pile of blood in the dirt. Her blood. Her stomach was cut open, with 3 distinct slashes. Her neck was in a bad way, bleeding bad. She was crying, her shoulders shaking with every heavy gasp for breath--Still alive, but--

Indigo gagged hard, then sobbed harder. She raced to Lucy's side. It looked even worse up close. She collapsed onto her knees, smearing them with blood.

"L-Lucy...?" 

Lucy's forced her eyes open. She tried to raise one of her blood-stained hands, and with a great show of effort, she cupped Indigo's cheek. Indigo quickly took it off of her face, and instead held it tight.

"Lucy, I--I... I'm s-so sorry...! I... c-can't believe I--"

Lucy let out a weak, pained noise. Blood gushed from her neck even more at the disturbance. Her eyes fluttered shut, and she squeezed Indigo's hand.

"W-Wait wait wait Lucy, please--please--!" Indigo choked. Sobs punched their way out of her chest, leaving her gasping for breath. "Pl... please don't go.... I... I didn't even get to tell you... that... that I... I love you..."

Lucy's hand went limp.

Indigo screamed.

☾☾☾

A/N: sorry guys '-'

2[500 words!! hopefully that and all the "excitement" ;) make up for the lack of updates!!

~ iMeowmeow654

☾☾☾