G&T Based

Chapter 41- Marie

"What do you think they're gonna do with the dead cat?" I asked Khione. We were back to our apartments after dinner. It turned out that the cat had broken in, ate my dessert, and died immediately later.

"I don't know, maybe bury it?" she answered, "What you should be thinking about is who would be trying to kill you. Aren't you worried about what might happen next?"

"Not really," I answered, "There probably was just something wrong with the ingredients. Things spoil really badly in the summer. Faye and Drew did say that they were going to check on the pantry later today. I should just be grateful that I'm still alive."

"Just be careful," Khione warned.

I didn't really worry that much. After all, this is summer vacation. As my parents said, I shouldn't be worrying about school stuff over the summer.

That night, I watched the news. I started watching it every night since the serial killer started striking and it had become quite a habit. Tonight was different from any other day. I hadn't expected to see anyone I knew on the news, but here I was, staring at Paige, as the reporter announced that she had been run over by a car just a few days ago.

Khione came in. Silently, she sat on the bed and watched. When it was over, she left, just as quiet as before.

The next morning, I woke up to the sound of a horn honking. The noise was very slight, but I have always been a light sleeper. Groggily, I looked out of the window. Outside was Khione and her dad, fully dressed, walking towards their car. I walked into my dad's bedroom and found that he wasn't there either.

"What time is it?" I thought to myself as I got dressed. Glancing at my phone, I saw that it was only 6:30. 6:30? Why was everyone up this early.

After pulling on a light jacket, I opened the door, and entered the warm summer heat. Khione waved me over to the car and handed me a scone and a bottle of water.

"Breakfast," she told me, "We were gonna wake you up, but your dad decided to let you sleep. After all, we're going on a camping trip."

I looked away from Khione and at the rusty pick-up truck, which was now piled up with camping equipment. "Okay," I responded with enthusiasm, "When are we leaving?"

"In a couple of minutes," Khione responded, walking towards the large pile of equipment, "We were just about to get you."

I tried my best to make myself useful by carrying things onto the truck, but it seemed as if nobody needed my help. I ended up just sitting on one of the large rocks until Khione, my dad, and Louie were finished. Once everything was loaded on, Khione hopped into the driver's seat and beckoned me to get into the passenger.

"You can drive?" I asked her quizzically.

"Yeah," Khione responded, "I've been learning for a while. The road's much easier to drive on in Virginia. No traffic."

My dad and Louie said that they would be in the back to make sure everything was secure and that Khione should take it nice and steady.

The ride was mostly quiet until we hit a traffic light. "Red or Green?" Khione suddenly asked me.

At first, my heart started to thump against my chest. Khione was color blind, but she should be able to read traffic lights, right?

"Green," I answered simultaneously, looking at Khione. Her expression looked nervous, and as I looked back onto the road, I saw a beige car suddenly make a left turn onto our lane, heading straight towards us.

"Turn!" I screeched at Khione, pressing my firm hand over Khione's shaking ones, turning the wheel left. The car pivoted to the left and I quickly jerked the wheel back to the right. The two cars just nearly missed each other. I watched in horror and relieve as the beige car drove past us and changed back into its right lane.

Khione, who was shaking, managed to get the car back on the other side of the double yellow lines and was now holding the wheel and trembling. Both of our parents asked us if we were alright or not, telling us that it was okay and that we were almost at the campsite.

Finally, Khione made a right turn into a forest clearing, parked the car ,with difficulty, and hopped out. I pushed open my door and got out to examine the surrounding wilderness.

Trees of all kind grew around the area and wildflowers sprung up from almost everywhere. Certain clearings were marked out for campouts while others had picnic tables and outhouses. The four of us carried things down to a campsite pretty deep into the woods and started setting things up.

Well, I mostly just sat and watched as Khione and her dad, propped up the tent, set up the cookware, and unfolded some chairs. Finally, when the mess of equipment had turned into a pretty nice looking campsite, Khione's dad declared that we should go on a walk.

He told us that even though Virginia didn't have the best architectural structures, it did have many natural wonders to explore.

The four of us took a walk together in the woods while my dad and Louie talked about the car.

"It should be ready by tomorrow morning," Louie said, "You can probably leave at around ten tomorrow and get to your parent's house by noon."

"Thanks," my dad said with a smile, "It's been fun around here."