Truth or Dare

Something Wrong and Someone Lost

                                                                                                                                         Wes

I knew something was wrong when we saw the lights and heard the silence. The Seniors and JAVs were running around like crazy, doing their best to whisper into their walkie talkies and trying to herd everyone to their sections. But over six hundred kids against a hundred or so consolers who didn’t know what was going on themselves, some stuff was going to be leaked out.

"Wes, can you heads help us out here and get everyone back to the Burrow?" Mark asked.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"A camper ran into the director's office hysterical asking to call the cops. Apparently someone died." He whispered. "Don't tell anyone yet. The director will have a camp meeting tonight."

"Wes," Jack yelled and pointed toward the path down to the beach. Dani was running across the beach followed by paramedics and cops. "She's leading them into the woods."

"I don't understand," then it clicked. "Where's Dominic?"

"Everyone's accounted for," Keith came running up. "Accept Domidick." Jack and I didn’t have to look at each other before we began to run down the path to Backwood. Mark didn’t even yell after us, which scared me more and made me run fast.

"Stop," Jack pulled me aside and behind a grouping of trees. We could see Dani's long red braids flash through the trees. Paramedics were running after her. "They're headed to the old cabin."

"Come on, we have to go to the Palace before we do anything else." I said and pulled Jack up. We were silent as we ran, and I couldn’t help but hope it was Dominic or Natalie. That either of them did something stupid and it was their body they were moving out of there. I knew it was horrible to wish someone dead, especially my ex girlfriend, but it was the only thing to calm my fears.

The girls were sitting in their tent when we arrived. None of them spoke, just sat silently. Even Casey and Janie were silent. One bed sat empty.

"Where is she?" I asked. Hayley looked at us, then back at the path. They knew what was happened just as well as we did.

"We were hoping she was with you." She whispered. "They said it was one of the older kids. Natalie is in her tent, the only ones missing is Dani and Lydia."

"Girls," their Senior, Molly, came into the tent. She had been crying. "We have to go down to the beach now. Camp meeting." Her voice was shaky and she was trying to hold back tears. She didn’t say anything about Jack or me being there, which all but confirmed my fear.

"Wes, don't." Jack said, like he'd been reading my mind. I had to know though, so I went back. They were bringing out the stretchers, the body was covered by a white sheet.

I was still holding on to the hope of the body belonging to Dominic, but my would crashed down when two cops left him and Dani from the cabin in handcuffs.

It was Lydia under the white sheet.

"No."

The sky felt like it was falling around me and crushing my world into pieces. Lydia was dead. But she couldn’t be dead, she was Lydia. She survived everything, car crashes, abusive boyfriends, her own self destructive thoughts. She was a survivor, she couldn’t be dead.

"Wes," Alexi was at my side. I hadn't even heard him walk up. "Wes, they want us at the beach."

"We know."

"They killed her." I looked at him. "She's dead."

"Wes, we have to go." Alexi grabbed my arm and pulled me up, only now had I realized I had sunken to my knees. "They’re going to do a head count at the beach. We need to be down there, or another panic is going to happen. The girls needs us right now, and you need them."