ᴛʜᴇ ᴘʀᴏᴛᴇᴄᴛᴏʀ || Zig-Zag

Chapter 1| Camp Green Lake

Tara's P.O.V

          I began being escorted from the court house, my hands cuffed behind my back. They started to bring me out the side doors, when my mother cried out.

"Please, can't I at least hug my baby goodbye?" I sighed in exasperation, looking at the cop with a dull questionable look. He shrugged carelessly, looking at the judge who nodded in annoyance before slamming his gavel on the stand.
"Court dismissed!" His voice still echoed throughout the room, even after he made his exit. I watched as my mother and father, along with my grandparents rushed from the benches and towards me. My mother's tearful eyes examine me before clomping me in a hug. I blinked at my father, telling him silently how much I thought she was overreacting. He sighed with a curt side nod.
"Just.. don't get into much trouble, okay?" He asked with slight exhaustion, as if he had already gotten a complaint call. I smiled and nodded my head.
"Aw, honey. I'm gonna miss you. But, I guess this is for the best, maybe it will teach you not to get into fights with random strangers!" My mother was quick to scold me. I raised a brow at her, but had already given up in trying to fight my case as I turned to my grandparents, giving them a quick hug... If you could call it that. I mean my hands are cuffed behind my back. I nodded to them before following after the cop. I could still hear my mother's sadness, but continued to follow. I walked in front of the cop while he stayed behind pointing me which direction to go in. I heard him sigh to himself.
"You know you're too young to be getting in trouble like this." He begins to lecture. I looked back at him, giving him a quick glare before turning back forward.
"I mean there's a lot of kids your age getting in trouble nowadays. Kinda sad, really. I don't know if I should blame their parents, or if the kids are just born troubled. Either way, lots of kids get in trouble now, some of them are doing life in prison. Just sayin' watch what you do, got that? Don't wanna end up with the big dogs, they'd chew you right up." The cop finished just as we got outside, where a big yellow bus was parked and waiting. I looked back at the cop who made a gesture towards the bus. He walked me to the bus, pointing for me to sit before telling the bus driver something while handing him a key. Wait...he's not going to uncuff me before he goes?!?! I quickly stood up from my seat in the back of the bus, while he took his leave. Quickly may I add, a sarcastic smile as he waved me off. I grunted taking my seat again. I slumped a bit, watching the cop from the window of the bus. Weird, this huge bus.. and I'm the only one on it. Let the boring drive begin..

          I yawned, feeling myself finally about to fall asleep, since I haven't slept in a while, the bus ride seemed like the perfect time to catch up on my sleep. Problem was, I can't sleep in a moving vehicle. I don't know why, never been able to. So when I finally found myself drifting off, only to feel the bus come to a stop, I was extremely disappointed. Dread filling my entire being. I could hear people talking from outside the bus but ignored them and kept my eyes closed. I ignored the fact the bus stopped and made it look like I was sleeping, though I basically was, so I didn't really need to pretend all that hard. I don't know what I was hoping for, I was hoping maybe he would just drive away and not say or do anything. But nope.

"Hey! Hey, time to wake up." I heard the bus driver say. I gave an exaggerated groan, wallowing in my seat before forcing myself to get up from my seat with great reluctance. I looked outside to see that there was still some decent amount of light outside. I sighed, regularly this time, before walking to the front of the bus. There I noticed the door was open and there stood two men waiting, one with a smile and the other with a scowl. I looked at the bus driver slowly, before walking down the bus stairs stopping in front of the two men. I looked back seeing the bus driver get up, walking down the stairs as well.
"Give us a minute." The bus driver ordered. I sucked my teeth, walking away from them a bit. I rolled my head side to side kicking the dirt with my shoe in boredom. I heard a muffled voice in the distance that caught my attention over the other voices the murmured around me, causing me to look up. I stared at them, trying to see if I could get a good look at the group, but I couldn't due to how far they were and because the sun was blaring right in my eyes. I shrugged them off, continuing to do what I was doing, which was kicking dirt with my shoe.
"Alrighty, Miss Diem. Come on over." I heard one of the men say.

           The two men. One was short, had a short stubble beard and mustache. He was scrawny looking in all honesty, funny thing was he was probably my height. But alas, he was still a bit taller than me. Haha but not by much anyways. The second man was actually kind of creepy looking. Looked like he might snap at any moment. He was taller than the other guy by at least a good foot or two. He had a belly on him, but not entirely fat either. Maybe a formal alcoholic.. Or current, you never know.

"First, let's get you uncuffed." The scrawnier one suggest. He took the keys from the bus driver and motioned me to turn around. I turned around, still noticing the boys from earlier shuffling about in the sun's blinding rays, my eyes averting to the others that were scattered all around, eager to see the fresh meat that had just showed up on their territory. I heard the jingle of the keys, before I felt the cuffs loosen from around my wrists. I rushed my arms forward, rubbing my wrists before stretching out my arms. I turned back around as the bus driver nodded to them before getting back on the bus and speeding off. I looked at the other two, the fatigue only increasing as I stood there disinterested.
"Will, it's nice to finally meet you Krystara. Welcome to Camp Green Lake. " The shorter one started. I raised a brow disinterestedly.

"I am your counselor while you're here. My name is Dr Pendanski and this is Mr Sir." He introduces, gesturing towards the other guy. I nod slowly.
"I'm tired. It's been a long day.. Is it too easy to sleep?" I asked, looking around once more. They stood there unsure for a moment, sharing a look before Mr Pendanski nodded with wavering confidence.
"But, uh, first. How about some of the basic rules? For starters, you should know that you're the only girl here. They mentioned this, correct?" Pendanski smiled, almost innocently. I narrowed my eyes at him but nodded. Mr Sir grunted from the sidelines before walking away. Mr Pendanski followed after, causing me to march along after too. 

          We entered an office and Mr Sir walked behind a desk before sitting down. His movements were slow as he reached down for the folder on his desk, mine I could easily assume. I hummed impatiently and started rocking back and forth on my feet. Mr Sir looked up from his work and gave me a look. I stopped and started clicking my tongue instead, fidgeting with my hands as the room grew too silent and still.
"Are you trying to be wise?" He snapped at me, grabbing a handful of sunflower seeds and shoved them in his mouth. I flinched back at his sudden outburst but recovered quickly. I shook my head and tried to refrain myself from making any sounds or movements. He notices the failing efforts to contain myself, shaking his head to himself as he looks down at the papers in front of him.

"ADHD, huh? Well, that explains a lot. Looks like this will be good for ya. Give you some purpose while you're here. Now, this isn't a girls scout camp, so don't go thinking that it is. You won't be treated any better than the boys here. You want to fight like one so badly then, you'll be treated as such." Mr Sir states harshly, spitting some seed shells into a jar. I heard the door open and turned back, noticing Mr Pendanski walking back into the room. I eyed the papers in his hands as he gave them to Mr Sir. He then got up, expecting me to follow him.