“Just me and you?” His head is still bowed down and his hair covers most of his face.
“Yeah. We think someone there might be responsible for what happened to Adrien. My friend is there, looking into it a bit right now. We’ll leave tomorrow after she sends me an update.”
He nods. “Okay.”
“Then, I’m going to head back to the cabin now. You coming?”
“Oh, uh, no. I’ll stay here until the funeral.”
I look at my watch. About half an hour left.
“Okay.” I take my gloves from his knee and get up.
I dust my legs off a bit and leave Hunter there.
Back in the cabin, Ana Maria reveals to me that the only things she brought with her in her backpack are her stuffed sea slugs, a sewing kit and some fabric and cotton stuffing for her next plushie. She shows me how to cut the fabric and then she shows me some basic stitches. I’m not particularly interested, but she’s so excited about it and I don’t have anything better to do so I just watch in silence as she chatters about hand sewing and sea slugs.
A bit later, Hunter comes back into the cabin and we all go to the pavilion for Adrien’s funeral. I make sure to put my gloves back on before heading out and Hunter frowns at me but doesn’t say anything.
Like Li said, the funeral is a short ceremony lasting just half an hour or so. Li talks about him for a bit and then some of his friends and the supervisor of his cabin—that bald man whose name is James apparently—also say some words about him. Then we have a moment of silence and leave.
There’s no casket. I don’t know what they did with Adrien’s body.
In the cabin again, I read some of the meditation book up on my bed as Ana Maria continues working on her plushie, Remington draws something at his desk, and Hunter listens to music with large black headphones while laying down in his bed.
Then, we go to dinner, where Hunter and I talk about going into town tomorrow. Remington snatches some board games from the storage room and makes us all play them in the cabin after dinner. At first, no one really wants to play, but somehow, we end up sitting on that burgundy rug on the floor playing well past midnight.
It isn’t until Remington spots Ana Maria yawning every two seconds that he finally suggests going to bed. We leave the game of Monopoly on the floor as it is, vowing to come back and finish it tomorrow morning.
We all climb up to our beds. I fall asleep quickly.
Chapter 20
Screaming.
I bolt upright in my bed, looking around wildly and then at my watch, but I can’t see anything in the darkness.
“What is that?” Ana Maria says, distraught.
“It sounds close,” Hunter says, sounding oddly alert.
“Hold on, I’ll turn on the light,” Remington says, yawning.
Remington’s bunk creaks as he climbs down the ladder. His footsteps are slow and heavy across the floor.
The light comes on.
I blink away tears from the brightness, and head down the ladder.
“I think it’s coming from Cabin 9,” Hunter says as he climbs down his ladder too.
Remington opens the door and goes out, the two of us a bit behind, having to step around the board game on the floor.
“Wait for me!” Ana Maria says.
“Stay here,” I say as I go out the door.
Rain beats down on me, warm and unexpected. I see the shapes of others heading over, blurred by the rain. The lights are on in Cabin 9, and some of the other cabins too.
Soon after, Ana Maria runs up to me and Hunter.
“I told you to stay,” I say.
She just holds onto my arm and sticks herself to my side. I sigh and continue going to Cabin 9.
The screaming stops for a second and then pierces through the night again.
Remington has already gone inside, leaving the door wide open.
We jog up the steps and go through the door, stopping as soon as we get inside, our breaths caught in our throats.
Valeria is kneeling on the floor near the door, next to what is probably her bunk. Her hands are over her eyes, covered in blood. It drips through her fingers, joining a large pool of blood on the floor. She’s sobbing loudly, a choking and shrill sound.
Jayden and Tam—those boys who knocked me out and brought me to that clearing in the forest a couple days ago—are standing behind Valeria, the tips of their toes in her blood. They’re hyperventilating loudly, mouths dropped open and eyes fixed on Valeria. An older girl with hair dyed pink, who I’ve seen around but never spoken to, is sitting up in the bunk bed across from Valeria’s. She’s looking down, screaming and screaming.
Remington took off his white T-shirt and is now ripping it into strips with quick hands as he kneels on the floor next to Valeria, his knees red and sticky.
Ana Maria lets go of my arm and takes a couple hesitant steps forward.
“I-I can heal you,” she says.
“No!” Valeria shouts.
The pink-haired girl finally stops screaming, but her mouth is still wide open and tears stream through closed eyes.
Ana Maria stops where she is. “Just… let me heal you, and the pain will go away.”
“No,” Valeria says with a shaky voice. “I don’t want to see it anymore.”
Ana Maria looks back at me. “What should I do?”
In that moment, the smart-ass, mature Ana Maria is gone. She looks at me with wide, child-like eyes, searching my face for guidance.
“I don’t know,” I say. “If you heal her, then you’ll be in pain.”
“Yes but I can heal that in a couple hours. Who knows how long she’ll be in pain before that heals naturally.”
“Regardless, she doesn’t want you to, so I don’t think you should,” I say.
“Chrys, is that you?” Valeria says.
I step forward. “Yes, it’s me.”
Remington has finished preparing the strips
