The Darkness That Hunts
Chapter 8

The room I wake inside is notFirestarter. Instead I lie in complete darkness and silence. Panic settles inhot and fast and I realize I never escaped Ater, that I am back in that placeof decay and malice--

“She’s coming to. Hit the light.”

I’ve never been so relieved to hearanother voice in my life. My head throbs ferociously and my eyes pulsate intime with my elevated heart rate.

“Don’t sit up, it’ll make you dizzy.”This time it’s a different voice. Zakk.

My vision adjusts as he switches on adim desk lamp at my side. I replace myself in a small, windowless room. It smellssterile, but the sage tint of the walls gives the room the feel of a well-wornsweater.

“Where--?

“The infirmary,” answers the firstvoice. Hamilton. I locate them sharing a small bench with deep butterscotchcushions. My head throbs again as more memories rush me. I desperately want afew moments to sort them out, but their jumbled flashes do nothing but makefocusing on them worse.

I glance at Hamilton to see if he’sreading my thoughts. He doesn’t quite meet my gaze, but by the pale cast to hisotherwise dark skin, I get the feeling the answer is yes.

“I’ll let the others know you’re awake,”he volunteers. The door clicks shut with his departure.

“I’ve scared him,” I murmur, surprisedat how much the realization hurts. Zakk rises and leans over me, pressing coolfingers to my forehead.

“I’ll keep the lights dim. Feels likeyou’ve got a bit of a migraine. A nurse is going to come in and give you somepainkillers soon.” Warmth blankets me, smoothing away the edges of pain.

But it doesn’t deter from the fact Zakkhasn’t corrected me.

“What happened?”

“You had a seizure at the bonfire. Werushed you to the infirmary after you fainted.”

“Then they know I don’t belong here.” Igrip the white sheets with cold fingers. The loony bin will be just around thecorner.

The bed dips with Zakk’s weight. “Thereare dozens of kids at Camp Genki. I work here--I know how difficult it is tokeep track of them all, and it seems your file has been misplaced.”

My brow ruffles. “But I don’t--”

He pats my leg. “Dace is hackingcomputers as we speak. He’ll fabricate your documentation and I will ‘replace’ itat a more convenient time.”

I relax into the pillows and stare atthe dappled white ceiling. “Thanks, Z. I’m sorry I put everyone through so muchtrouble.”

Zakk hazel eyes examine me closely.“It’s no trouble at all. Now, what happened to you?”

I fidget guiltily at the change intopic. I want to tell him--to tell them--aboutmy regained memories, but if his reaction is anything like Hamilton’s . . .

The door clicks open and a black-hairedhead pokes through. Kamiron spots me and gives a sheepish grin. “Ham said youwere awake.” He, Melissa, and Sandra pile inside my room and camp out on anyavailable surface. Zakk turns on a second lamp.

“How do you feel?” Sandra crosses hershapely legs and relaxes beside Kamiron on the wooden arm of the bench. I tryto keep my expression as neutral as possible while I envision her ripping thehead off my only friend. How am I going to live in a cabin with her? And moreimportantly, why is Andhakar’s Steel Fang in a camp for kids with ESP?

“Feels like I got hit by a bus.”

“Nurse says you’re dehydrated andmalnourished,” Melissa continues, genuine concern in her voice. “Like you’vebeen starved, and your calf . . .”

Kamiron and Zakk tense but I meetMelissa’s gaze. There is no malice in her and I feel her kindness blossoming upfrom her very soul. “Life was rough where I came from.”

She blushes faintly. “I didn’t mean topry.”

“It’s alright.”

“Were you nervous about coming here?”

“Very.”

“It’s not so bad. Tomorrow I’ll takeyou around, get you used to Gen’s layout. Dace has gone to get your schedule.”

From the shared glances between Zakk,Sandra and Kamiron, I gather Melissa’s the only one who doesn’t know that I’mnot supposed to be here. I also make a mental note to caution Kamiron about hisgirlfriend, but for now it’s best to play dumb until I can figure out what’sgoing on and whom to trust.

The nurse peeks in, a chart in herhand. Seeing I’m awake, she shoos everyone out and immediately grills me aboutmy poor health, my family background, the scars and bruises, my calf. I hidebehind my disorientation until she gives up, passes me a cup of water andpainkillers, and returns to her other duties.

“So looks like they’re keeping youovernight,” Dace informs, strolling in with a stack of papers still warm fromthe printer. The others follow close behind. “Must be taking extra precautions.Chameleon, remember that pyro who accidently set himself on fire? He didn’t even stay overnight. Thenagain, the fire didn’t exactly hurt him,but the poor bastards who were--”

“Dace,” Melissa frowns. “I don’t thinkthis is the appropriate time.”

He shrugs as I flip through the papers,marveling at my fabricated medical history, fake application, false preliminarypsychic assessments results, and forged payment invoices. I’m impressed byDace’s attention to detail and how official the phony file appears, but I’malso unnerved that he was able to easily retrieve my personal information andeven my correct home address. I want to ask how he found all this, but decideagainst it--especially with Sandra and Melissa within earshot.

“Thanks for your help, Dace.”

He waves me off. “Anything to stick itto the Man, sister.”

“All you did was print her schedule.Even I can do that,” Melissa snorts.“And considering your father works for ‘the Man’. . .”

Dace looks wounded. “Don’t compare meto my old man. I can’t help it he works at the Pentagon, and I’m really hurtyou doubt my technological prowess.”

Mel only rolls her eyes shoves Dacetowards the door. “It’s late. I’m sure Shari would like to rest.”

“I couldn’t agree more.” Sweeping up myfile, but leaving my schedule, Zakk helps usher everyone out of my room. Icatch Kamiron’s eye and he hesitates by the door.

“Aren’t you coming?”

“Just a min, babe.” He plants aplacating kiss on Sandra’s cheek and, ignoring her delicate frown, shuts thedoor.

I motion for him to sit beside me. Heeases onto the bed as if afraid to jostle me. His pale eyes take me in, worrydarkening them. “What’s up?”

“Tomorrow, will you have some freetime?”

He looks over at the wall incontemplation. “Not until around lunch, why?”

“I’d like to talk to you.”

“I’m free now.”

I shake my head. “No, I need to rest.”The lie passes smoothly between my lips. There are some things I need to sortout first. And I need to retrieve Gjinna’s necklace from my ruined jeans.

“Alright. Tomorrow outside the dininghall.” He rises and I watch him walk out, hoping I’m making the right decision.

“So I know it’s all confusing at first,but you have a map and you’ll get Gen’s layout in no time.”

I trudge alongside Melissa’s chubby,short frame as she gives me a tour of the campgrounds. I try my best to payattention but I’m continually distracted by memories of the start to my secondday at Camp Genki. Waking up at six in the morning to a stern-looking doctorwho insists I begin a regiment of supplements and vitamins. Breakfast with Meland Zakk at the infirmary cafeteria. Dodging questions. Ignoring memories thatI want to forget but which threaten to drown me.

And wondering: How do I tell the guywho saved my life that his girlfriend is a centuries-old general in a demon’sarmy?

“Recognize where we are now?”

I blink against the angry morning sunand it takes me a minute to realize Melissa expects an answer. I gaze acrossthe trail of pale stone footpaths, some with phoenixes etched onto theirsurfaces, and replace squat cabins of rustic cherry wood and paneled doors. VeryJapanese. A theme here.

“The cabins where you stay.”

“Westay,” she corrected, flashing me her brightest smile.

“What’s your ability, Melissa?”

She guides me off the stone path andpast a bronze statue of a raccoon dog. We follow a curved dirt trail throughmanicured cherry blossoms until we stand before Starjungle.

“Home sweet home.” Mel slides open thepanel and shades of green jump out at me. Forest green, mint green, huntergreen. In the shared living space, a mural of nebulas and exploding galaxies,their gases expanding like rainbows, dominates an entire wall.

Mel ushers me down a hallway and leftinto a room that is the mirror of Hamilton, Dace, and Zakk’s room, exceptinstead of four beds, there are three sets of bunk beds. A clutter of shoes andpersonal effects litter the moss-colored tile floor. Feminineembellishments--decorative mirrors, gauzy white curtains bedecked in plasticbeads, and sconces of aromatic candles line the neutral toned walls.

“Psychometry.”

“Excuse me?”

Mel chuckles and plops down on a lowerbunk with standard white sheets and a thin brown comforter. She taps theidentical bed above her.

“That’s yours.” She then points to asuitcase nestled against a cedar trunk. “Your bag. You must be glad the airlinefound it, huh? You can use the last two drawers of that dresser for yourclothes.” She motions to the window, one of three, where a white dresserbombarded with old stickers squats.

“Psychometry means if I touch anobject, I can tell you details about it or information about the person it’sconnected to. Usually past images--retropsychometry--but occasionally thefuture.”

That ability could come in handy, if Itrust her. “Anything you touch?”

“Nah, some things. I can usually tasteit beforehand.”

“Taste?”

“Not like put it in my mouth kindataste.” Her grin brightens her already spunky demeanor. “It’s just a sort ofpsychic taste I get. If something leaves a funny taste in my mouth, I knowsomething’s up. Sounds crazy, huh?”

Notas crazy as what I’ve been through. “Not really.”

Mel pops the kink in her neck. “I get agood taste about you. Light, almost citrusy.”

“What about Sandra?” I’m careful tokeep my gaze lowered, but I feel Melissa’s eyes settle on me hesitantly.

“I’ll let you shower and get dressedbefore I take you to your first activity.” Mel waves and scampers off.

Alone in the room, I rummage throughthe suitcase Mel claims is mine though I’ve never seen it. Inside are assortedgarments, all of them my size in bright, girly colors more befitting ofMelissa. I replace my plastic bag with my soiled clothes inside, and digging intothe back pocket, my fingers brush against a necklace and I exhale slowly, gladit’s still there, and marveling how I hadn’t noticed it before. I pull it outand study it. Rust-colored stains clog the copper links, but the eye-droppendant, a shield trapped in amber, remains pristine.

Looping Gjinna’s necklace around mythroat, I shower and change into fresh clothes. I tuck Divine’s note in mypants and follow Melissa to my first activity at Camp Genki.

“How was your morning?”

“Good, though I haven’t done much. I’msupposed to assess what my first and secondary talents are.” I sigh,reminiscing on my two-hour long ordeal attempting to perform one of threedifferent psychic feats. “Apparently telekinesis isn’t one. Neither ispyrokinesis or cryokinesis. I can’t decide whether I’m a failure because Ican’t crush, flay, or freeze people with my mind, or whether I’m lucky that Idon’t need to worry about accidently blowing up my cabinmates.”

Kamiron grins and plops next to me onthe concrete bench. I can feel the warmth radiating from his thigh as it restsjust inches from mine. His coal-black hair swallows the early afternoonsunlight. “You’ll figure it out, I’m sure. So what’s on your mind?”

The dining hall looms before us incurled eaves of aspen and large plate glass windows that open up to thegrounds. Inside I watch people finish their lunches and smell the pleasantaroma of chicken, spices, and sautéed peppers. I lick my lips. The chickenfajitas were delicious and the sweettea had just the right amount of sugar.

“Shari?”

I take a deep breath and wonder howthis will play out.

“I want to tell you something--aboutthe things I remember. But first . . .” My hands tremble as I reach into thepocket of my new jeans--Calvin Klein, something I would never have owned in mylife--and pass him the letter from the druid. Kamiron scans it.

“Who gave this to you?”

I choose my words carefully. “The onewho helped me escape.”

“From the place you call Ater.”

I nod.

There is a pause. Kamiron scans thenote again.

“He or she--”

“He.”

“He wants you to contact him, why?”

My teeth capture my bottom lip. “I haveto stop The Darkness-That-Hunts . . . Andhakar.”

Another pause.

“Dace put you up to this?”

My brow furrows. “No, of course not.”

Kamiron returns the note. I can readnothing from his expression. “So let me get this straight, you escaped from ahellish realm called Ater with the help of the man who left you that note.”

“Yes.”

“And after hearing Dace’s ghost storyabout Andhakar Lake, you’ve miraculously ‘remembered’ that the one after you isAndhakar.”

I hesitate, feeling like I’m being ledinto a trap. “Yes, but you make it seem like--”

“Like what? Like it’s a coincidence, orlike you’re making it up?”

“I would never make something like this up!” Appalled, adrenaline rushesthrough me, electric and searing. Too late I realize my miscalculation.

“You know, I thought if I was patientand supportive, I’d get to the bottom of what really happened--maybe even replacea way to help you . . .” Kamiron trails off and shakes his head, disgusted. “Iget that Gen is weird, I get that we’reweird, but we aren’t crazy, and I wasn’t born last night.”

“Kam--”

“Shari, honestly. You can’t go onliving in some alternate reality, or wherever it is you exist. Andhakar,monsters, other dimensions--they don’texist. Dace’s story is just that: a story.” Kamiron rubs his neck and takesa deep breath. “Look, I’m not denying something bad happened to you. Obviouslyyou’re traumatized, but you need to deal with that. Get professional help.”

He leaps to his feet, shoving his handsin his pockets. “I gotta go.”

“Wait!” Sprinting after him, I grab hiselbow. “Think what you will of me, but I’m not lying. Please--just be careful,especially around Sandra.”

Kamiron stills and his eyes settle onme like granite weights. “What did you just say?”

I want to cower away from the angerrippling from him but instead I straighten, thrusting up my chin up andscraping together every ounce of courage that I possess. “Please be careful.”

He smiles, but it lacks warmth. “Youmean my girlfriend is a part of your demon conspiracy?”

Door die, Shari. He deserves to know. “She’s Andhakar’s second-in-command, the one who enforceshis will.” Gjinna’s chain chaffs the healing bruises around my neck. “Shekilled my friend.”

Kamiron steps dangerously close to me.His hands ball into fists so tight his knuckles turn white. When he speaks hisvoice is deadly soft. “Never say thatagain. Sandra’s the sweetest girl I know and has done nothing but go out of herway for you. She even had her parents overnight a suitcase of clothes for you.”

“I’m grateful”--Not!--“But it doesn’t change the fact that Sandra--”

“Sure as hell isn’t a murderer and shedoesn’t ‘take orders’ from Andhakar, or The Darkness-That-Hunts, or whateverthe hell you call him. He doesn’t exist.”

“I can prove it. If you just lookfor--”

Kamiron says something harsh andgrating in Japanese. “No, just--stay away from me. You see me coming, you gothe other way, got it?”

The wind whips between us as he putshis back to me and storms towards the dining hall. Tears choke my eyes but Iblink them back.

Whatwere you expecting?A cynical voice chastises. Did you thinkhe’d run open-armed to you if you confessed the truth? No. You’ll need proof,little girl.

Until I get that proof, I’m on my own.

I stare down at Divine’s note, studyinghis neat script. Yes, I have to locate the medium and replace the three, but fornow my main priority is the Steel Fang. I need to figure out why she’s at CampGen and what she’s up to.

Somehow, I doubt she’s here tomake friends.