RYAN

I finally threw open the door to the cabin, listening to the wood creak from the force. The cabin was small, with bunks on either side of the walls, and one lonely window in between. The circular rug sitting on the floor looked like it had been there for ages, and I honestly couldn’t tell if it had once been a vibrant red, or if it was always a gross faded brown. The carpet was covered in lint, and emitted a musty smell that seeped into the entire cabin. It clashed with the light wood making up the walls and ceiling, and paled under the harsh yellow light of the room.

Unfortunately for me, I was greeted by my wonderful cabin mates—the annoying jock and weird goth kid. Together, we formed the dream team. Apparently, Tyrin and I qualified as “problem kids” since I never stop talking, and Tyrin just never talks. Therefore, we have to be “supervised” by Mr. Jr. Camp Counselor over there. Which was stupid. I hated every second of it.

Especially when it was the annoying jock who wouldn’t stop talking this time. I mean, everyone has a thing. Josh has sports, popularity, good looks—I have talking. And I do it so much better. He never got out of “let’s talk about the Hall kid because we have nothing better to do” mode. I thought that if I trailed behind and entered the cabin later, he would have gotten bored of reciting the same five opinions over and over to a guy who wasn’t going to carry any kind of conversation.

But no.

It would probably be best to just ignore him. I walked over to the bunk I shared with Tyrin and just…Thought happy thoughts. Josh was perched on the top bunk of the bed he had to himself (since there were three of us and four beds) idly throwing a football in the air like the walking cliché he was.

As much as Tyrin made my skin crawl, he was kind of the perfect bunk mate. He basically just stayed silently in one place and stared out the window brooding or something. At the very least, he was better than Josh, and really, that was the only thing I cared about.

“And it’s like—what’s even the deal with the whole parade thing? Is there nothing people won’t do for a little time on TV?” Josh’s annoying voice drifted through the cabin, and I bit my tongue.

Even if I did agree with him, it was…frustrating. Frustrating to have my past thrown in my face again and again—in the one place I never expected it would happen, the middle of the mountains. Where were headphones when you needed them? I opened up my suitcase and started rummaging through it in an attempt to get my mind off of everything.

“The media is like vultures, man, I swear! Pickin’ off the remains of a dead story for the views.” Josh continued to throw his football into the air, not even making eye contact with either of us. Honestly, I was pretty convinced he was just talking to himself. “I mean, wasn’t the kid, like a total problem child? I heard the kid got in fights, like all the time. Always covered in bruises ‘n shit.”

I slammed my suitcase shut and shot up. “What?” The word had left my lips faster than I could have processed what I was even doing—but it wasn’t like I could help it! My vision had blurred to red the second those words left his mouth.

I had gone through too much to ever let anyone else tell me the bruises were my fault.

Josh raised an eyebrow at me. “What? Getting offended on the Hall kid’s behalf?”

I scoffed and crossed my arms over my chest. Too late to back down. “I just think you’re real hypocritical. I mean, do you even hear yourself? The Hall ship sailed a million years ago! Who’s the vulture picking off the remains of a dead story now, huh?”

I saw the corner of Josh’s mouth pull into a slight smirk as his eyes filled with a mischievous twinkle. Great. He just loved getting under my skin, didn’t he? And I gave him an opening, too.

Way to go, Ryan.

“Hey, I’m just saying. Aren’t I allowed to have an opinion?” Josh caught his football and sat up, hanging his feet over the edge of the top bunk so they dangled in front of the ladder.

I clicked my tongue and rolled my eyes. “An opinion about the delinquency of a seven-year-old? That’s not an opinion, it’s just annoying. Besides, it’s been ten years. If you ask me, the kid is probably lying in a ditch somewhere. You really want to speak ill of the dead? That’s a sure-fire way to get haunted.”

“Right—if ghosts were real, which they aren’t.” Josh rested his arms on his legs and leaned forward. “Didn’t know you cared so much.”

I shook my head and turned my attention back to my suitcase. God, I wish I had the luxury of not caring. As much as I want to leave that life behind, it had a way of sneaking up and biting me in the ass. “I don’t. I literally could not give less of a fuck.”

“Seriously? You’re trying to convince me you don’t care? When you’re doing that thing you do when you’re upset? You literally cannot fool me, dude.” He rested his head in his free hand.

My blood boiled. “Like you know what I’m like when I’m upset.”

He lifted his head and raised an eyebrow, his deep brown eyes looking right through me. “Are you kidding me? You act like we don’t know each other at all, when are you going to admit—”

“Admit what, that you’re a big popular boy and I’m just a stupid little nobody?” I taunted.

Josh slammed his hand on the edge of his bunk. “Lay off, dude! You know I don’t think that about you.”

“Can you two fight like a married couple somewhere else? I’d like to sleep.” Tyrin’s monotonous drawl cut through the tension between me and Josh like a knife.

“Whatever.” I turned and tried to escape into the bathroom, hoping the conversation would just die. Besides, I needed to cool my head, and the bathroom well, it wasn’t exactly ideal, but at least it would give me a place where I could just...be alone and take a deep breath.

“I’m just saying, you seem upset! That’s not normal for someone who supposedly doesn’t care. Did it ever occur to you that I might be worried about you?” Typical Josh, couldn’t take a hint. He even raised his voice to make sure I heard him.

I clenched my fist. “Whatever, man. This is stupid. I’m not going to encourage your stupidity.” I walked out of the bathroom and kneeled back down at my suitcase, opening the lid again and rummaging around to try and find some sweatpants. I deserved some goddamn sweatpants.

“Hey! Don’t just insult me because you decided the conversation is finished! God, you always do that! Maybe if you just listened to other people instead of yourself for a change, you might have a meaningful conversation.”

“What ‘meaningful conversation’? This was just you being a dick over something you clearly don’t understand.”

“Oh, and you do?”

I bit down on my tongue to stop myself from saying anything stupid. I just needed to quiet the buzzing in my head—maybe think rationally for a change. Deep breath in, then out, now grab those damn sweats and get out. I slammed my suitcase shut, letting it skid across the rotting wood floor. “I’m done talking.” I spat, walking over to the bathroom and slamming the door behind me so I could change in peace.

“Whatever. Do whatever you want.” Josh’s voice was barely a mumble through the wood door, but it still set my blood on fire.

In, out. In, out.

I really need to stop starting things. In the end, I was the one who would end up upset over it. I leaned my head back on the door and squeezed my eyes shut as I just breathed.

Josh could think whatever the hell he wanted about the case. It didn’t make any difference to me, anyway. He was just one person.

See if I care.

***

I managed to squeeze in about an hour of sleep before I found myself in serious need of stretching out my wings. Thankfully, everyone was asleep. Well, Josh was asleep. He was snoring up a storm, but Tyrin had snuck off at some point during my hour-long nap, probably to do something, you know…Gothic.

Not that it was any of my business.

The only thing I had time to care about was how little energy I had left. It was only a matter of time before my wings forced their way through my shirt—and that was one phenomenon I was not ready to explain to others. Plus, it was a really nice shirt.

I slid out of my bunk and slipped my feet into the sneakers I had prepared ahead of time. Tiptoeing across the room was the easy part—Josh sleeps like a rock. Besides, nothing could possibly be louder than his snoring.

I crashed right into something hard, laying right in the middle of the floor. I was ready to scream at someone about being a slob and not picking up after themselves, when I looked down at the familiar, blue plastic.

It was my suitcase.

I scurried to my feet and stood on my tip-toes. My heart was in my throat, punching and tearing at my insides as I waited to see if I had been caught.

His snoring stopped, and my blood ran cold. If he caught me sneaking out, he would try to talk to me about feelings or give me a lecture about the importance of honesty or—

He sneezed, rolled over, and started snoring again.

I had never thought of myself as lucky, but damn that was something. Before I had the chance to actually make an ass out of myself, I slipped out of the cabin and made my way into the woods in my pajamas and sneakers. If it was any other situation, I wouldn’t be caught dead in such a stupid outfit.

Thankfully, there was no way I was going to be caught.

The woods were like walking into a maze that was also the void. It was so dark; I could only see about a foot in front of my face. But it was fine. I had already scoped out the perfect hideout during free time the other day. Only fifteen minutes from the camp, and right off one of the many trails we weren’t going to explore at any point in the summer.

Downside: it was creepy. The ghosts were bad enough, with their rotting bodies and unwanted memories, but the dark made all the trees feel like they were suffocating me. It was eerily silent—there was nothing but the cries of the wind as it pushed through the trees. From somewhere, there was a howl, but I couldn’t tell which direction it had come from.

The trees seemed to grow larger the further I walked into the forest. My feet crunched on the old, less traveled dirt path, and I nearly tripped several times on random stones embedded in the forest floor. What started as a small scattering of trees became a dense wall of pine, the uncomfortable feeling settling deeper into my bones the more I realized just how alone I was out here.

By the time I had made it to the clearing, it felt like I had walked for hours. The clearing was everything I needed it to be: it was open, so I didn’t feel like the forest was closing in on me, and it was surrounded by trees which made it nice and hidden. It was about a three-minute walk to the lake so if I was caught, I could pretend I was trying to sneak in a swim or something. Looking in the distance there was a nice, soft, blanket of grass and those little white flowers that were cute but were actually weeds.

The best part? It was all mine.

I took in a deep breath of fresh air. Mostly, it was just nice to not be around anyone. No pretending. Still, I couldn’t help feeling like I was being followed. I glanced around as much as I could, and it looked clear, so it was probably fine.

I unbuttoned my silk pajama shirt and slowly slid it off, the soft fabric cascading off my skin. Then, I struggled out of my binder in a way that was much less fashionable. All it took was a deep breath to break the blanket of energy that kept my wings pressed into my body. They fell out of my back, the brisk night air rushing through my feathers. My eyes glistened as I turned my attention to the stars. All the energy I had spent keeping them hidden rushed back into my body, all at once. What began as a tingling in my fingertips slowly overtook my entire body.

I stretched my wings out as far as they could go before flopping down on the ground to stare at the moon as the grass tickled my skin. It was worth the terrifying walk over just to be alone. For once, I could exist and forget about everything in the world.

No worries, no annoying people, no noise other than the breathing of nature.

A rustle came from the bushes.

Fear shot through me and I sat up quick enough to make myself dizzy. My wings fell limply behind me. “Who’s there?” I called out into the darkness as if I expected it to call back. Which was stupid. I was being stupid. There was nothing to do but laugh at myself. “Way to be paranoid, Ryan,” I grumbled before laying down again.

Another deep breath, just to calm myself. But something still felt off. It no longer felt like your typical “middle of the night venture into the woods all alone” deal. I felt watched—you know, by something other than the dead things. I could feel it in my gut as it swirled and slithered in my stomach.

I just needed to focus on being comfortable. The soft ground, the low light of the full moon, the wind brushing over me like a cool blanket. Just me, the night, and the woods. Perfect harmony.

Snap.