Waves of Destiny (Twisted Wonderland)

Chapter 12

Chapter 12

I had a strange dream the night after the Spelldrive tournament. The mirror in my room glowed, and I saw a strange shadow. I examined it in the morning, but nothing appeared amiss. Maybe I had been hit in the head too hard.

Two weeks passed with no excitement, fortunately. Then Crowley showed up at my doorstep, asking Grim and me to be log keepers and photographers for something called "Camp Vargas." Apparently, all the sports clubs were going camping and having some sort of competition. We did not have a choice in the matter, of course. I did not mind too much though. I enjoyed camping in Hawaii.

I made sure to pack warm clothing, realizing it would probably get a lot colder here at night than I was used to. Coach Vargas had us arrive at the campsite very early to get set up with him. To both Grim and my surprise, we were camping at the Dwarfs' Mine. The place still gave me the creeps. At least this time there was an adult with us in case something went wrong.

Grim and made a beeline for the huge group of students as soon as they appeared in the forest. "Heeey!" Grim shouted, waving his arms. We stopped in front of Ace, Deuce, and Floyd, slightly out of breath. "Took you all long enough! I've been waitin' here for ages!"

"Grim?!" Ace and Deuce exclaimed.

"Morning, all!" I said.

"And Ona too!" said Ace.

"Hey, Little Shrimpy!" Floyd said happily.

I smiled at him. "Hi, Floyd. I didn't know you would be here."

"I'm in the basketball with your friend Crabby."

"He means me," said Ace.

"Hey, would you be willing to go mountain climbing with Jade?"

I blinked. "Jade? Oh, your brother." I shrugged. "Sure, sounds like fun."

Floyd grinned while Ace and Deuce shook their heads in disapproval. "Great!" he said. "He'll be so excited. No one ever wants to join him."

"You can count me out on that," Grim said.

"What are you two doing here anyway?" Deuce asked.

"We're the record keepers, DUH."

"The what?" said Ace and Deuce.

"They're here at my behest," said Crowley as he walked up to us. "I've tasked them with log keeping and capturing your efforts with their Ghost Camera for posterity."

"You're talkin' to Master Photographer Grim an' his assistant, Ona," said Grim. "And you can bet I'll capture every last one of your embarrassing moments!"

"Ugh. Smug as ever, I see..." Ace said.

"Additionally, at Coach Vargas's request, I've spoken with the local denizens," said Crowley. "The ghosts in the mine will assist you for the duration of the camp!"

"Heya! Happy to help!" said the ghosts that suddenly popped up out of nowhere.

"Thanks for your support, Headmage," said Vargas.

"Think nothing of it!" said Crowley. "It's the least I could do, what with my infinite generosity!"

"Those ghosts look awful familiar..." said Grim.

"All right," said Vargas. "Everyone's here and rarin' to go. Camp Vargas is officially in session! But before we get to the challenges, I've got a job for you guys... Pitching tents!"

"Man, we gotta set up our own tents?" Ace grumbled. "What a lousy way to kick off our trip. Oh well, we'll just bang 'em out with a little magic and call it a day. Let's get this over with..."