Chapter 2

Ava threw up her hand to protect her eyes from the piercing brightness. Evidently, she went to bed without having closed the bedroom curtains. She pulled the covers over her head and rolled over to try to go back to sleep.

“Campers! "Go outside!"

Campers?

It took a while for her memories to come back to her, but once they did, she was able to piece together the entire sequence of events: her mother leaving her at camp, her week in hiding, the horrible dinner, discovering the girls looking through her belongings, and her subsequent flight into the forest.

Also, the attack.

She gasped and sat up. In the loft, Ava was lying on her little cot, but she had no clue how she had gotten there or how she had managed to survive the beast. 

"How is that...?"

She did a quick self-examination. Both of her limbs were healthy. There were no scars on her stomach or chest (which made her wonder why she had such vivid memories of chest agony). She felt her entire face with her fingers but could find nothing. The window next to her bed was open to let in the fresh morning air.

Was the whole experience in the woods a nightmare? Everything about it, from the bright eyes to the soft fur of the Lunacrest's body to the thick trees and the deep blackness of night, seemed very genuine.

Then how could she have returned? Ava was completely lost.

She looked beneath the cot for her backpack but saw nothing. She must have dropped it in the woods, along with her other belongings, including her notebook and mobile phone.

“Stupid, stupid, dumb,” Ava mumbled.

One by one, the other females sprang from bed and headed for the bathrooms. Tia glanced up toward the ceiling of the attic. Such a weirdo, she said to Kim.

Ava was too distraught to take offence at the remark. Her companions left, each carrying a bag containing a set of toothbrushes, a towel, and a bottle of shampoo, and she sat on her cot, as confused as she had been the night before.

Annabelle stuck her head through the cabin door. "You just cannot spend every waking hour locked indoors. If you are feeling well enough to sneak out of the house in the middle of the night, then you are feeling well enough to take a shower."

“But...”

“Yes?”

'I can't locate any of my stuff,' Ava cried out. "My bag. My clothes."

Annabelle stood firmly with her arms at her sides. You packed them up and left camp with them yesterday night. "What happened to them on the trail?"

"I have no idea."

"Let me know where you went, and I'll go look for you."

"I'm not sure," Ava said again. Astonished at the counsellor's reaction, she said, "It was dark. How I returned home, though, is a mystery to me."

"I will notify the other counsellors to keep an eye out for your bag. While you wait, I'll go get some clothing and a towel so you can take a shower."

She went to Annabelle's office with her. Around camp, the woods seemed considerably livelier than they had the day before. 

Singing birds flitted among the treetops, constructing nests and diving for insects. Chimpanzees scurried up the trees, while bunnies hopped around in the bushes. Her nose was flooded with the earthy, woodsy fragrance of soil and cinnamon bark.

Annabelle found Ava some clothes and a towel. "These are things from last year's lost and found that nobody claimed," she said. "You may keep them for the time being. "Get going."

Ava flipped the clothing over in her hands, attempting to hide her disgust at the used items. She was going to seem tiny and out of place in the baggy camp t-shirt and the oversized shorts provided. The other girls would not accept her attempt at fitting in with them if she continued like this.

Cold, stream water was pumped for use in the showers. She climbed out of the shower, shivering, wrapped herself in the worn out towel. 

Ava confronted her image in the mirror. Her blond hair hung loosely about her face and shoulders, and her eyes were wide and vulnerable, as if she were a prey animal.

While looking in the mirror, she saw everyone go. When they passed, a group of teenage females muttered and pointed. By this time, the news of her departure had spread throughout the whole camp.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw four parallel, glittering scratch marks over her chest. Past wounds. Yet, Ava showed no signs of scarring.

She twisted her body till the lines were clearly visible on her skin in the light. In appearance, they resembled claws. 

"It's not logical," she mumbled. Ava felt her face getting heated as she heard someone behind her giggling. Obviously, she hadn't intended for her words to be heard.

She hastily changed her clothes in an attempt to conceal the scars, and then she proceeded to the dining room by herself. There had to be some kind of pancake or toast option for vegetarians or vegans for breakfast.

Daytime in the forest was very different from nighttime in the forest. A little rain fell in the wee hours of the morning, resulting in a glistening dew and rich moss on the plants. Shadows danced down the path as golden light seeped through the trees.

Ava was looking at all the different plants and animals that she didn't even see her companion until he walked in front of her. That was the boy from the canoe.

"Hey, wait a minute!" He said.

Unlike what she had anticipated, his voice was rather deep. Closer inspection revealed that he was also very handsome in addition to dark complexion and big shoulders. An arch of straightened hair across one eye balanced off his prominent nose. His left ear was pierced, and a fang dangled from the hole.

"Hello," she murmured, her cheeks blushing. "Are you from the boy's camp?"

He stared at her for what seemed like an eternity, from head to toe. “Yeah. Hello, I'm Lucas.

"I'm Ava. You are probably not meant to be in this place at this time."

There was a shrug from Lucas. He rummaged in his pocket and brought out a thin book, in which he had hidden a pen. "Is it yours?"

She yanked it from his hands. "This is my diary! Where did you get that?"

Ava feared something was missing and quickly glanced over the pages, but it appeared complete. There was some dirt in the corners, and the cover had a large tear in the middle, but other than that, it was in good condition.

Over his shoulder, Lucas flicked his thumb. I came across it while on a long hike beyond the boys' camp.

"Was there something else? An inhaler? And you're asking, "A backpack?" She asked.

"Sadly, I didn't see anything." His inky stare pierced her to the core. 

Ava hoped she could somehow disappear so that he wouldn't notice that she was wearing clothing from the lost and found. 

"Are you all right?" He asked.

Ava was taken aback by the question and thus gave an open and honest response. “No.”

“Why?” he probed.

"I'm not sure." Ava had intended to end the conversation there, but once she got started, she found herself unable to stop. 

Everything poured out at once. "I despise this place. It seemed like my folks just dropped me here for the summer. I don't know why I'm singled out for ridicule by the other female students. Nothing is where it should be, and I'm starting to wonder if I'm going mad. Additionally, I despise being outside."

His mouth twitched slightly at the edges. “Sorry.”

Her face turned red. "But at least I have my notebook to get me through it."

"I'm happy about that." He replied.

The sounds of approaching people could be heard. One of the other groups seemed to have just gotten out of the shower and was making its way to breakfast. 

"I really should leave. I'll catch up with you later."

"Thank you for my diary," she replied, but he was gone.

A grassy area near the water served as the archery range. Annabelle insisted that Ava come along despite her protests about having an upset stomach, but she didn't force her to choose a bow. 

Ava found a seat and sat down with her back to the lake, staring across at the boys' camp. Annabelle shook her head, but she did not bother Ava.

"That's a bull's eye!" Tia said. All of her close pals cheered and gave her a round of high-fives. Ava gave her an ominous glance before shifting her focus back to the sea.

Today there were no canoes. There was absolutely no trace of Lucas. Despite the fact that just thinking about him caused her to blush, she longed for another encounter. 

And how did he figure out that the diary was hers to begin with? In order to ask him, Ava needed to meet him again.

Ava took her diary out of her pocket and stared out over the lake. She gnawed on the pen cap while she pondered her next words. 

She had no idea how she got the strange new wounds, and her recollections of the previous night were so fuzzy that she couldn't even begin to describe them. And it was all overshadowed by the need to put down on paper how incredibly beautiful Lucas's eyes were.

Ava started to write but before she could put pen to paper she froze. The open page included more than just her most recent entry. A line had been scribbled at the bottom of the page in crisp, slanted handwriting that was not hers. 

Ava was humiliated at the prospect of Lucas reading her notebook until she read what he had written:

 'Be careful. You're in danger now.'