Sydney Jules López

"Emily?" I cried when I heard her shouting my name over and over again. Where was I?

"Who's there?" I said.

It was dark. The only light flickering through the dark forest was my cigarette. Something passed from behind me. I turned around and for a moment I saw her.

Her brown hair was just like mine but a little longer. She wore a white flower crown. Her pale fingers held onto a cigarette. Her eyes were blue unlike mine. She had the most beautiful face. Gentle and delicate. Her white gown swayed in the wind as she stood there staring at me. Her feet were naked, covered in scars. White flowers covered her ankles and her toes. They were almost in blood.

"Mama?" I said as the cigarette fell from my hands. Till the time I got to see her for the first time she was almost in her 30s. But right now she looked younger. Like she was a teenager. She took my hand into her cold hand and I shivered. Her eyes spoke to me. And I could hear her crystal clear when she said, "You need to leave, Jules." Calm and comforting.

She looked around her at the trees that swayed as if they didn't want me to leave. And then, we ran. It was as if she didn't know where we were running. For a second, she'd stop and then start running again. After a few minutes I saw a light. Was it the end of the forest?

She looked at me as if she was saying she wouldn't be able to go beyond that but I should. I looked at her but I didn't move so she pointed at the light. I didn't move. And she kept on telling me to go. But I didn't move.

"Why did you leave me?" I asked, my voice broke and tears streamed down my cheeks.

She didn't say anything. And then in a minute I saw these women. They were running towards us.

"Who are they?" I asked when I recognized Ms. Warren.

My mother kept on telling me to leave. What was happening? Then all of a sudden she pushed into the light. I fell on the ground, my knees covered in blood. I turned around to see nothing. My mother wasn't there. Did she leave? And where did the women go?

"Mama?" I whispered.

Someone put their hand on my shoulder from behind and I turned around to see Miles. He was covered in dirt and was all sweaty and tired. It looked like he'd been running for a long time.

"We need to leave," he said.

Why did everyone keep saying that?

We went back to our cabin and I saw Emily lying on a bed while everyone else was sitting there quietly. She looked scared. Her body was trembling. They all looked at me when I entered.

"Sydney! Thank God you're fine!" Regina said, getting up and hugging me tightly.

"What happened?" I asked and they told me everything. Everything that I should've known. I hated myself for everything. Was I the reason everyone had to go through all this? Was everything my fault?

I wished Emily had told me everything. We could've figured out something together. We could've worked it out. I could've worked extra hours.

"Sydney?" I heard Emily's voice. She had woken up. And I ran to hug her. We stayed like that for a couple of minutes scared of what could've happened. Scared of losing each other.

"Is everything going to be okay now?" Kai asked.

"I don't know. The forest had the deal with Ms. Warren and those other women. It must've swallowed them by now. It can't hurt us now. It's almost morning." He looked at me assuringly. "I'll call your parents and tell them to take you home as soon as possible." He said getting up.

"But if everything's fine, maybe we can stay for a little longer?" Miles said.

"So you love the camp all of a sudden?" Kai asked, shocked.

"I mean, I don't think my parents are gonna come for me. They wanted to get rid of me for at least a month. And we've only been here for 10 days." He explained.

"Camp's over kid, sorry." Miguel said and walked out of the cabin.

The kids sat in the cafeteria. I could hear some of them whispering about how strange last night was. The trees seemed monstrous and everything felt like a horror movie.

"Eat!" Regina said. And I realized I had been staring at my plate for too long. The day was hotter than ever. Maybe the cold winds were the consequence of the ritual.

We were all together. Me, Miles, Kai, Regina, Emily and Miguel. None of us spoke about the things that happened last night. It was our little secret. They were the best family I could ask for. They cared. They fought. They ate together. What else did I need?

After lunch, a lot of parents started coming and taking their kids home with them. I watched Miles watch all of them with a hint of jealousy in his eyes. He was sitting on a bench at the entrance of Camp Lakesville. And I felt something.

"Maybe we can hang out sometime." I said sitting next to him as looked at me. "Emily wouldn't mind having two people to annoy her and I think I can pull off a few friends."

"I would love that." He laughed. He had laughed after a long time.

We had been through so much in the past few days. I never really knew what I was made for? Who was I meant to be in this world? But those things were going to be figured out someday. I knew I had people to help me find myself. And they would help me at any moment. They would love me and look after me. And I would do anything for them.

We talked for hours. This time we talked about our hobbies, not our lives. Our hopes not our failures. Our dreams, not our nightmares. I had never known a boy this much before. And it hit me like an epiphany, I loved him. I loved everything about him. Everything he said and did. The way he cared for everyone around him, the way he stood up for his friends, the way he was not ready to let go of life. And he taught me not to let go of mine.

Sinking. Feeling. And losing myself to my thoughts that grew on me like a garden.

There are times when I know I'm feeling the urge to ruin myself, to light another cigarette and let it hurt me because I deserve it. Times when I know that it ruined my mother and it will ruin me but I don't fight back. I call off my troops.

But this time, it was different. This time I knew I was willing to fall in love. And I also knew I wasn't the only one.