The Camp (8 page)

“Then why go back?” he asked, his eyes softening.

“I’m not even sure. It’s like there’s this ridiculous morsel of hope that I hold onto that my mom will suddenly come to her senses and love me.”

“I’m sure she loves you.” His eyes hardened.

“I don’t think so actually, but I keep trying to make her. My dad basically paid them to take me in after he died.”

“What?” A flash of anger flickered
behind Liam’s caramel eyes.

I nodded and pressed my lips together. “Yep.”
Liam walked over to a large boulder and sat down, trying to absorb what I was implying.

“My father was a really dynamic man. Did well with everything he ever touched. When he decided to sell his company
he told me I’d be set for the rest of my life. I never listened to the sums of money he spoke about. He had financial advisers already set in motion to deal with that. I didn’t care. I just wanted him to live. He put the money in a trust for me and on my eighteenth birthday I’m allowed access.” I shrugged my shoulders. “But I’d give it all back just to have another day with him.”

I sat next to Liam and he locked his fingers in between mine.

“Anyway, my mother and stepdad agreed to be my guardians if my father supported them, in a sense. He left them two million dollars when he died.”

Liam’s eyes widened
and he looked away.

“And the worst part is, they complained about the amount. They thought they should’ve gotten more.” My stomach twisted in knots reliving everything. “I’ve never spoken about it to anyone.”

Liam wrapped his arms around me and brought me into his chest. I attempted to hug him back, but my hands ran into the straps holding the gun and I thought better of it.

“They sound truly evil,” he whispered.

I slowly brought my head up and said, “That’s not even the worst of it. So to say that I’m not dying to go back there, even for a short time, is putting it mildly.”

I recognized t
he familiar glint of protectiveness surface in Liam’s eyes and knew my decision had been made. I wanted to stay here — with him. I just couldn’t tell him that yet.

“Maybe I could incorporate a lot of what I was hoping to learn from this trip about forestry and conservation if I stayed? Pretend it’s not like
a juvenile delinquent camp?” I laughed, hiding the feelings of sadness that emerged thinking about my father.

“I’d help in any
way you’d want.” He smiled, pecking me quickly on my forehead.

“Thanks,” I whispered, attempting to recover from the charge his lips produced.

“So does that mean you’re staying?” he questioned, his eyes burning into me.

“I’m not a hundred percent sure, but I’m feeling better about it
with every minute that goes by.”

We continued hiking along the river for hours and only stopped to snack on a couple of protein bars. The terrain was beautiful
, and I couldn’t imagine being lucky enough to live somewhere this beautiful. I hoped someday my degree would allow me to. We were on our way back to the camp when we heard the screams.

“It’s coming from the ca
mp,” he yelled. “Follow me, quick.”

He began running and I followed immediately behind him. He slowed to let me pas
s so nothing snuck up behind me, and I ran as fast as I could, the screams propelling me forward.

We ran into the center of
the camp where a big group had formed. I watched Dan and several of the campers carry Chelsea to the campfire.

I was panting so loudly trying to catch my breath
that I didn’t hear Steph run up behind us until she spoke.

“It do
esn’t look good,” she whispered, making me jump out of my skin.

I
looked over at Chelsea as they laid her on the ground. Steph and I ran over to her. Her right leg was completely twisted. It had to be broken. Chelsea cried softly and I knelt by her head, touching her cheeks softly.

“You’re gonna be okay,
” I told her.

She kept her eyes closed, letting out cries mixed with completely carnal screams
that sent chills through me.

“None of us are going to be okay,” she screamed, flashing her eyes open, revealing the most terrified expression I’d ever seen.

Her eyes were wide with horror as her lips kept trembling. She began shaking her head violently back and forth, arching her back.

She looked like she was possessed.

“We need to get out of here. You don’t understand what’s out there,” she screamed over and over.

“She’s going into shock,” Dan
said from behind. He kneeled next to me with the first aid kit.

He began working on her leg as Steph got the pain medicine ready
. I looked over at Liam who was studying Chelsea with the same curiosity as me.

Steph opened a bottle of water
, but Chelsea sprung into an upright position, knocking the water onto the ground. Her screams startled us all again, and I knew then that those weren’t screams from her pain. She was terrified of something.

“Get me out of here. They’re coming for us.” Chelsea’s eyes danced with a wildnes
s that only insanity could rouse, but what caused it?

“We’re here. You’re okay.” Steph attempted to comfort her.
“We’ll get you out of here on the plane tomorrow.”

“
You think you can stop this?” Chelsea’s screams turned to maniacal laughing, and my blood turned to ice as she turned to stare at me. “None of us will make it out alive.”

C
hapter
N
ine

“What the hell is she talking about?” Liam asked Dan. They were behind some of the tents, but I could still hear them over Chelsea’s screams and cries.

“I think
she’s in shock.”

“Well
, where was she when you found her?” Liam’s voice hushed considerably, and I could hear the tension rising.

“She was righ
t behind the shower tents. A couple of us heard a piercing scream and ran over quickly to find her. Brady saw her first. I expected to come up on a brown bear or something, but there was nothing but Chelsea on the ground screaming. There was no trace that anyone or anything had been around her, but her leg was visibly messed up. I don’t even know what could have happened to it.”

“I wanna go check
the spot out,” Liam said.

I snuck around behind th
e tents where they were talking and stood next to Liam. He slipped his arm around my waist, and I liked how natural it felt.

“I’ll come with you,” I said. “Steph went to
call and find out if the plane can come early to get her.”

“Okay. Yeah. Go for it, Liam. See if you find something because I sure didn’t,” Dan replied, shaking his head.

Liam wrapped his fingers around my hand and squeezed it gently. It was early evening, closing in on dinner, and I didn’t even care. This latest event gave me something to really think about as to whether or not I should stay on the island.

“
If this doesn’t convince you to take off tomorrow I don’t know what would.” He grimaced, watching my reaction. “Just when I was making headway.”

Another blood curdling scream
rang through the air, and I cringed at the thought of what was tormenting her.

“
I don’t think we’ll be able to get much sleep tonight, let alone poor Chelsea. She’s disturbed in a way that I don’t think is normal, even with a broken leg…” I whispered.

“I know. Did you see the look in
her eyes?” he asked, connecting his gaze to mine.

“Yeah. I think
it’ll haunt me for a long time. Do you really think it could be that she’s going into shock and that’s what’s causing everything?”

“It’s the most logical explanation,” his voice was unsure.
“But I have no idea.”

We
walked to the row of shower tents and began searching the ground behind them. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary. There was a large indent in the muddy soil, probably where she was sitting, but the only footprints led to and from the camp. There was nothing leading back into the woods. We looked up into the trees, and it didn’t look like she’d attempted to climb the trees and then fell.

“Dan said she was too far out of it to even tell him what ha
ppened,” he said, checking the tree line before coming back to stand by me.

“This is just so bizarre. Steph said there wasn’t anything in her file that might
give us clues to the mental part of it,” I said.

Chelsea’s cries
had turned to whimpers as we made it back to the campfire, and Steph was sitting next to her, holding her hand.

“I think the pain meds are starting to work,” Steph confirmed.

Brady was sitting on the log bench, holding his head in his hands. I hadn’t really talked with him, or anyone for that matter, since I got here and so I went to sit next to him.

“You okay?” I asked.

Brady looked up at me and shook his head. “No. Not really. Between the guy we’re holding for the police and this, I’m ready to go back home. I was here last year and not one single person even got a scrape. I thought this was an easy way to complete what the judge wanted me to.”

So much for trying to act like we all had the same reasons for being here.

“I’m sure after tomorrow everything will start to get better.” I told him, hoping I’d believe it too.

“I heard you’re
leaving on the flight out,” Brady said.

I shrugged my shoulders,
propping my palms up in the air. “Haven’t decided yet.”

“What’s there to decide?” he asked, his
hazel eyes boring into mine. “If I could leave, I’d be on the next flight out of here.”

“Where do you live?” I asked.

“In Arizona at a Foster home. When I get back I probably won’t even be going back to the one I left. I’ve been in like nine in the last two years. That’s what I get for not being a cute baby,” he mumbled, smiling, trying to play off the pain.

I knew exactly what it was like to feel unwanted
, and no amount of joking or diverting attention from the problem ever made it feel better. I felt Liam’s eyes watching me as I spoke to Brady and a charge ran through me.

“Hey, I’m Parker,” a guy reached out to shake my hand. What a difference a day makes, or Liam makes.
They’re all so civil now. I tried not to laugh.

“Nice to meet you,” I replied.

“Pretty freaky, huh?” He shook his head and whistled. “I didn’t even know legs could do that.”

“They can’t. That’s the problem,” Brady replied, slapping Parker on the back.

“True. So you’re leaving this bit of paradise?” Parker ran his fingers through his blond hair, smiling at me.

“Not sure yet.”

“Can you believe it?” Brady responded, eyeing Parker. “I’d be the first in line to get out of here.”

Pa
rker waved his hands in an indifferent state and looked over at Chelsea.

“So why are you here again if you can leave whenever you want?” Brady questioned, narrowing his eyes at me.

“I’m gonna be eighteen in a few days. It’s not mandated by anyone or anything that I’m here. It’s just a cruel stepparent who sent me here. And, if you don’t remember, I had a couple of you try to jump me so that bought me a pretty quick exit if I wanted.” I furrowed my brow at them and noticed Steph speaking with Liam; yet he was still looking intently at me.

“Don’t lump me in with those
dudes,” Parker complained. “I might not always choose the right path, but I’d never touch someone who didn’t want it. If I had been there, I would’ve done what Liam did, no doubt.”

I had no idea if that was true or not and since several of the guys were there and did nothing, I found it doubtful
, but whatever.

I looked over at
Liam, Dan, Dave, and Caleb as they maneuvered Chelsea on a board to take her to the yurt. I wasn’t sure what they were going to do with the man who was currently stationed in there, but I was sure they’d come up with something until the plane arrived.

“What was all the screaming about?” Justin asked. He was sauntering over with Co
ry, and my pulse quickened as my stomach revolted against the protein bars from earlier. Justin was nice to me earlier, but I knew what he was capable of, or what his fingers were capable of. Liam was still walking toward the yurt with Chelsea so his back was turned to me. If I was still this worried about being alone, maybe I should leave the island tomorrow.

Justin gave me a brief smile and sat next to Parker. Justin looked like he had been sleeping.

“Chelsea broke her leg or something,” Brady replied. He certainly was chatty.

Cory came over an
d stood in front of me. I’d run into him the night before during dinner. He seemed really shy and his character didn’t seem to align with all the others. There wasn’t a false bravado, and it was difficult for me to imagine him doing anything out of line, but looks can be deceiving I suppose. Steph walked over to us and looked mildly relieved.

“
I spoke to the airline, and they’ll be here tomorrow around ten in the morning. They moved it up a few hours to accommodate Chelsea as best they could. They didn’t want to attempt it with the tail end of the storm leaving tonight. I guess thunder and lightning is in the cards for us again.” She smiled at me and widened her eyes in exasperation.

“Great.”
I walked closer to see how she was coping. I gave her a quick hug, and we began walking toward the yurt when I saw Liam escorting the man from the yurt. My heartbeat quickened seeing Liam in such control over someone, and I dropped my gaze. I couldn’t believe some of the thoughts that were popping into mind up here.

“I wonder where he’s taking him?” I asked Steph. Dan was following close
ly behind Liam as the man shuffled to where Liam directed.

“Probably one of the larger tents. Dan has
a pretty big one,” she said. “Things sure have taken a turn for the worse.”

I looked up at her
, and I could tell she was beginning to worry about being up here. The last few days were taking a toll on everyone and here I was contemplating whether or not to stay.

“Are you headed out tomorrow?” she asked.

“I don’t know.” I sighed. “I was telling Liam if I went back it would only be to grab my stuff. But showing up even a couple days before I’m eighteen has me worried.”

“It’s that bad, huh?” she pressed her lips together and shook her head. “I’m sorry you’ve got that junk to deal with.”

“We’ve all got our things and being up here reminds me that my situation could be a lot worse. I hate to admit it.”

“It’s definitely giving me a different perspective about the field of psychology.” Her forehead creased as she watched Liam and Dan put the
intruder in the tent. “I’m surprised at how restrained Liam’s being toward that guy.”

“It’s probably because the police will be up here soon,” I said, laughing.

“You’re getting to know his style pretty quickly.” She smiled. “If you ever need to talk to someone about your situation, you know you can always come to me.”

“Thanks.”

Liam walked over to us and gave me a hug.

“Steph fill you in the plane’s flight time?” his expression saddened.

“She did.” I sighed. “But I’m still not sure.”

“I completely understand
, and it’s not like I wouldn’t see you around campus.”

The casualness of his statement stung, and I’m sure he didn’t mean it to. I didn’t want to just wave at him between classes
.

“You’re flushing,” Steph teased.

“I’m just anxious,” I lied.

I saw Brady, Cory, Justin, and Parker walking over toward us and my stomach tightened. What was with my nerves? This wasn’t healthy.

“We still on for tomorrow’s rock climbing?” Justin asked.

“We are,
” Liam confirmed. “The weather’s supposed to clear up by morning. We’ll shoot for a noon start time after chores are finished and the plane departs. It’s a pretty tame spot so we should have plenty of time.” I felt Liam’s eyes scanning me for a reaction, undoubtedly hoping to secure some sort of clue as to whether or not I might be around to attend.

Marty, one of the CLs, was climbing down
from the tree platform with what looked like dinner and my stomach didn’t respond positively at all. What sounded good was to crawl in my sleeping bag and start over tomorrow.

“Just making
peanut butter and jelly sandwiches tonight,” he yelled to the group. “We’re a little behind with everything we’ve had to take care of.

Steph and the group of guys took off toward Marty
, and Liam softly tugged on my shirt hem.

“I’ve got something to tell you,” he murmured, his eyes connect
ing with mine. There was no denying the attraction we were feeling for one another. Even the slightest touch was filled with a charge I had never experienced before with anyone else. I took a step toward him, and he wrapped his arms around my hips. My breath caught, as I went to answer, and the pull between us continued to grow as he held me.

“I’ve got night-duty tonight.
”

I didn’t respond. The thought terrified me.

I’ve gotta watch Tom,” he repeated. His eyes darkening as he brought his lips close to mine.

“Tom?” I inquired, knowing full well who he was referring to even though I
’d never heard his name. I just wanted time to come up with something to say that didn’t make me sound like a needy lunatic.

“You have been kind of slacking off on guard duty,” I replied, smiling at him.

His lips broke into a grin, obviously relieved by my response.

“Steph will bunk with you tonight, though,” he offered.

“That’ll be cool, probably even better than the alternative.”

He frowned briefly before pulling me in and placing a quick kiss on my hair.

“You’
re a terrible actress,” he said, releasing me.

I took an exaggerated bow and gestured toward the table where all of the sandwiches were being prepared.

After we polished off dinner, I watched Liam glide over
to the tent where he traded shifts with Dan to watch the captive. My mood immediately soured once he left the area.