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Approximately 76 Hours Remaining↞

One Day Later

The rule was this: Counselors at the ever-popular Camp Crescent Moon were required to be 17 or older. This meant that Johnny Bennings, at a mere 16 years of age, was technically only a camper. Despite what one might think, Johnny himself was perfectly content with this arrangement. Camp counselors had a great amount of responsibility placed onto them that Johnny really had no interest in. And they didn't even get any particularly enticing benefits. Seriously, a special R-rated movie night hosted by Cass, master of all things horror, the night before all the campers left, with little-to-no adult supervision--?

Okay, well, maybe, that sounded pretty cool, but still. Not worth it at all. Johnny was more than alright with holding onto his youth.

However, it seemed that good ol' Mr. Christopher Addison had different plans. He'd been giving Johnny lists of "preliminary" counselor work all summer. And absolutely none of the benefits. It was even worse than being an actual counselor. Johnny was mostly stuck on various cleaning duties which he abhorred, while the real counselors at least got to manage fun or beneficial camp activities--like Calvin with archery, or Benny in the canteen. 

He had already convinced Cass to let him sneak into the movie, ("Fuck yeah! You can handle Trick 'r Treat, can't you?") but Mr. Addison hadn't even offered.

All in all, this was a pretty convoluted way of saying that Johnny was 0% surprised when Mr. Addison called him into his office.

The main hall... Johnny was far from an architect, but this place always made him feel small--the wide open building with a staircase on either side leading up to a small second story. There was a grand hearth in the center, currently unlit, and a historic portrait painting of... some dude named James Addison. An Addison family ancestor, to be sure, but Johnny had never paid any real attention to the camp history.

Johnny made his way up the staircase on the left, approaching Mr. Addison's office.

"--And you're sure that the van be fixed by Thursday morning?"

Huh?

It sounded like Mr. Addison was on the phone--probably the emergency-only landline that Johnny had seen in there the few times he had been permitted to enter. There wasn't a wireless cell tower for miles. No regular service at all. 

Johnny cared little for the privacy of middle-aged men, though, so he listened through the door.

"You're going to be here on time? You swear it? Dammit, Nicole, I can't believe this." A pause. "Okay, okay, I'm sorry. You just have to understand the situation. It... It can't happen again. So I need you to promise me that it won't. Promise me."

Mr. Addison hung up.

Johnny blinked. He hesitated for a moment, then shook that strange conversation out of his head. The door was usually locked, even when Mr. Addison was inside... Johnny knocked.

There was an audible scramble on the other side of the door, and the jingle of a messy keyring approaching.

Mr. Addison opened the door. "Jonathan! I just needed to have a little chat with you, so there's no need to come in."

"Of course, Mr. Addison," Johnny put on a bit of a fake voice. "What is it? Bedsheets need washing again?"

Mr. Addison laughed. "No, no. I just... wanted to offer you a special treat here since you've been working so hard this summer. You're familiar with the Camp Crescent Moon parking lot?"

The one that could hardly be considered the Camp Crescent Moon parking lot at all? 3 hours away, and basically a glorified bus stop where all the kids got picked up and dropped off from? Yeah, Johnny was familiar. At least it was indoors and the gate was kept locked...

"Yeah, I... am...?"

"Well... I know you only just turned sixteen so you don't have a license yet, but I was curious if you were interested in staying an extra day. Like the real counselors, huh?"

Johnny completely failed to understand how that was a special treat. It sounded like more work. He was pretty sure the counselors did nothing but finish cleaning and storing the equipment for the winter until next year. And then, not to mention the 3 hour drive back to the parking lot in Mr. Addison's minivan... He'd rather take the school bus with the campers. Bigger seats.

He wanted to say no. And yet... Mr. Addison was looking at him so hopefully for some reason...

"Yeah, I... sure. I guess I could stay another day. You'll make sure my mom won't worry?"

"Yes, yes. Of course I will. You have absolutely nothing to worry about."

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Monday meant archery. Right after finishing lunch, all campers were expected to report to the archery grounds to practice their shooting.

"Alright, campers!" Calvin chirped. He was in charge here due to his remarkable talent, but the other counselors were around to assist him. "Today may be the final day of shooting, but it is not a day to be lazy...especially when it comes to bow safety! I'd like to take a moment to refresh you all on the rules--Now, now, now, don't grumble. Last week, someone broke one of the two left-handed bows by not being safe, and now all the lefties have to share only one bow. So this is important.

"Rule number one! Never ever pull back the string and release it without an arrow. This is called dry-firing, and it can damage the bow or cause injury. The force of that string has to go somewhere, and it might just go into you.

"Rule number two! Never ever point a bow at something you don't intend to shoot. This includes the ground, animals, fellows campers, counselors, Mr. Addison, trees--really just-- really just anything that isn't the target. If I see you kids waving bows around at each other I will put you in time out, and I think that'll be embarrassing for everyone.

"Rule number... four, was it? Whatever. Remember how to fire a bow safely! Push your elbow out, hold the arrow between your fingers, make sure the arrow is nocked properly and in the correct place, use the sight, all that. It's been a while of this, kids, I hope you remember how by this point.

"And lastly, rule number five! Have fun! Enjoy your final day at archery... before I gotta put all these bows away. Remember... 10 points is the center, not the outside."

Calvin arranged the children into lines. The targets were already set up, and so it was mostly just his job to supervise and encourage safety. By the end of the afternoon, he actually only had to confiscate one bow today, so he considered it a success! He always had to take way more...

"Alright! Everyone please put the bows down and listen up! You all did very well today, unless you didn't--you know who you are--so congrats! I'm very proud of you for putting in good work, and I hope you've enjoyed your time here and are happy to come back next year! Now... go on and get out of here, kids. Except--Kiara, could you come talk to me?"

The children started to disperse (most of them starting to make their way to the canteen for dinner), and Kiara stayed put. Calvin made his way over to her.

"Did I... do something wrong?"

"No, not at all! Actually the opposite... I waned to congratulate you on your archery. Where'd you learn to shoot like that? That was... seriously impressive girl, I don't know if I could even nail 5 bull-eyes in a row like that. Geez."

Kiara beamed bright, knowing perfectly well that her affinity for archery had not come from a single year at summer camp, but rather, the Hunger Games phase she'd gone through recently where she had insisted on getting archery lessons. Her parents had begrudgingly agreed, but look at where it at gotten her now!

"Well... I've had a lot of practice... Thank you."

"Yeah, I've seen. You've been impressing me all summer long, and I got you a gift to celebrate. You sure talk about those Nancy Drew books a whole lot, so..." Calvin pulled out from behind his back exactly what he'd just spoken about--Nancy Drew: The Wedding Day Mystery. 

"How--How did you get this...? You've been out here all summer, haven't you?"

"Well... There's that big bookshelf in the main hall, y'know? Kids read books from there all the time, but this one was shoved back behind a dictionary that I don't think anyone had touched in years. I asked Mr. Addison if I could keep it, and he said yeah."

Kiara folded the book over and over in her hands. It was clearly worn. The pages were yellowed and it smelled dusty, even though she could tell that Calvin had tried to dust it off. It looked loved. Admittedly, she... had already read this one. But, to have a copy of it herself instead of just borrowing from the library back home... and such an old copy, too?

"Calvin... Thank you. This is really nice."

"Yeah. Anytime, kiddo. Now get to dinner, huh?"

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"Kiara? I received a phone call message for you... When you've finished eating dinner, can you come speak to me outside?"

"Of course, Mr. Addison. I'm almost finished."

"Take your time."

Millie tilted her head after Mr. Addison had walked away. "What do you think he wants?"

"I don't know... it's probably a message from my parents. I don't know what they have to say though. Or maybe it's my grandma."

Kiara was eager to know, so she finished up the last of her dinner quick, and met Mr. Addison outside.

"I'm... I'm sorry to be the one to tell you this, but... your family got into an accident."

Millie's heart dropped. "What? Are--Are they--?"

"No, Kiara, all your family are perfectly okay. They all got out with only minor injuries. But... your father called me and told me that they're not going to be able to pick you up on Wednesday. They asked if you would be able to stay until Thursday, with the counselors, and then they could pick you up then."

"Oh... that's all? I... I was worried."

"I'm sorry to scare you, Kiara. I promise, you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

Approximately 72 Hours Remaining↞

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A/n: sorry if your character hasn't been featured very much yet (cough cough Jackson) i'm very much so still setting up all the plot stuff so some characters are getting a lot more screen time at the moment!! and of course not everyone is going to be among the most primary characters...

but still. Jackson has gotten a handful of dialogue and a throwaway mention of putting Calvin into a headlock and that doesn't feel particularly fair lmao

~ iMeowmeow654

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