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When Pearl first left to go camping in an old, abandoned town, she hadn’t expected to see anyone there. Yet alone twelve other campers, seemingly all arriving at the same time. Most had laughed about the coincidence, but Pearl could see they felt the same unease that sunk to the pits of her stomach.
As the sun set, most tents had been set up, apart from the three people who had arrived with nothing at all. Scott hadn’t bothered to explain himself, Avid rambled on about a monster in the woods while Owen made a vague comment about ‘the wolves moving eastward.’ All three of them were…interesting characters to say the least.
Shelby, Drift and M had volunteered to share their tents with Scott, Avid and Owen, respectively. Legundo, the doctor kept a careful eye on the three, and the campsite in general, always rushing in to help whenever possible. Apo and Pyro on the other hand were more reclusive, choosing to stay away from the main group.
Pearl was startled out of her thoughts by someone cursing beside her. Cleo was holding their phone out, looking down at the screen in frustration. Pearl leaned in, curiously while they ranted. “No reception!” They exclaimed, furiously tapping the phone.
“It’s alright, at least we got each other!” Pearl wrapped her arm around Cleo, stifling a laugh as they looked down at her, bewildered. It wasn’t long before dinner, and Abolish was calling everyone around the campfire, where Ren and Martyn sat, one holding a flashlight and the other a lit lantern.
As the other campers settled down on the logs around the fire, Ren raised the flashlight to his face. “There be strange happenings ‘round these parts, don’tcha know?” He leaned in as he spoke for dramatic effect. The few who were still giggling about his strange accent quickly quieted down, intrigued.
“They say there are monsters deep in the night that roam around…killing any living being on sight!” Martyn exclaimed, holding his lantern to his face, casting an eerie orange glow. Ren nodded along. “Creatures of the night roam Oakhurst, don’tcha know.”
“Vampires!” Avid whisper-squealed, leaning in closer to Drift, holding up that piece of wood he’d been carrying around with him defensively. Scott and Owen exchanged a glance while M furiously scribbled down notes onto his page.
Legundo on the other hand, rolled his eyes. “Vampires aren’t real. It is a scientifically proven fact that most ‘vampires’ were simply those with rabies or some other dangerous disease at the time.” He declared. Scott spat out his drink, shooting a bewildered glance at Legundo. “Rabies!?” He squawked; his face contorted to some strange mixture of amusement and anger.
Owen squared up, tense as he looked at Legundo. Avid looked anxiously between Scott and Owen. “Wh-why are you so offended!” He shouted. “You must be vampires!”
Drift covered Avid’s mouth with her hand and lead him away, an apologetic look on her face. By now, Owen was standing up, fuming.
Martyn looked at him, eyebrow raised. “Why are you so offended Owen?” He asked, and squawked in surprise when Owen whipped around and narrowed his eyes at him. “I’m not accusing you of being a vampire or anything!” He quickly added.
Owen’s face scrunched up as he spat. “None of your business.” He stormed away, into the woods. After a few moments Legundo followed him, muttering something along the lines of ‘I need to go make sure he’s ok.’
“Why was he so offended?” Pearl wondered aloud. Scott looked at her, before sighing. “He was deathly sick before…and someone he cared about was accused of being a vampire.” He took a sip of cocoa. “They died shortly after.”
The campsite held their breath. “I thought witch hunts weren’t a thing anymore. It’s 2006 for goodness sake!” Cleo exclaimed, narrowing her eyes at him. Scott just simply gave a tight-lipped smile and spoke. “Well, they certainly do exist. All sorts of cults and crazy stuff. Just look at Avid!”
“I suppose you do have a point.” Martyn looked down at his feet. The campsite fell quiet for a few moments. “We should probably apologise when he gets back.” Apo said, speaking up for the first time in the conversation. Everyone else nodded along, with numerous ‘yeahs’ and ‘mhms.’
“And maybe tell Avid to back off while you’re at it.” Scott suggested, smiling as the rest nodded. “After all, vampires don’t exist.”