The Miscreants of Xiphoid Camp [NOT UPDATING CURRENTLY]

» 2130 « Chapter 12 - A night at the campfire

Bradley tossed another bit of wood into the fire, laughing and jumping back when a shower of sparks burst out of it. He returned to his place on the bench he shared with James and rubbed his hands together.

The late September night was nothing short of freezing compared to the warm humidity of August, which Avior had loathed at the time, but now missed dearly. It was far too cold for a campfire, but it had seemed like a nice way to celebrate Tertius moving from third to second place in the rankings, and when the sun was still out it was easy to pretend it was still summer.

This had been a stupid idea. Avior had better things to do than stare at fire and listen to Bradley babble on about the most inane topics.

As if to prove Avior's point, Bradley leaned forward and said, "sometimes I feel like I hardly know you guys!"

James picked up on his meaning immediately. "Should I..." he began.

"RETRIVE THE BALL!" Todd exclaimed. James hopped off the bench and ran back to the cabin. He returned a moment later, holding a battered ball that looked like it might have been a soccer ball at one point. Someone had scraped off the black parts and written all over it in black marker.

Bradley was now holding the ball and saying something, but Avior was focused entirely on the words. Oh no. He could see where this was going. Would anyone notice if he pitched himself headfirst into the fire?

"...so since James are I are the old-timers here, we'll toss the ball back and forth, and, for instance, when I catch it, I read aloud the question underneath my right thumb and everyone answers it. Sound good?"

Avior breathed a sigh of relief. He was safe from both touching that filthy ball and becoming a laughingstock. For once in his life, Bradley had done something right.

Bradley tossed the ball to James, who caught it and lifted his right thumb, tilting his head at an angle to read the question.

"How many siblings do you have? Right then, let's go clockwise around the circle... Nicolas, you're up,"

Nicolas's head snapped up, and Avior suspected he may have been asleep. "Up for what?" he asked, alarmed. His eyes landed on the ball in James's hands and he relaxed. "Oh, you guys are playing that dumb game. What's the question?"

"How many siblings—" James began. Nicolas interrupted him.

"One younger sister in Octavo," he said.

"Oh yeah, that's right, I remember Grace," Todd said.

"Yeah, she's a brat," Nicolas said bluntly. "Moving on. Avior?"

"Two older brothers," Avior said disinterestedly.

"When you say 'older', how much older do you mean?" Bradley said curiously.

Avior glared at him. "I answered the question. What more do you want from me?"

"The whole point of the ball is to spark conversation," Marcus said as though he were an expert on meaningless icebreakers.

"Fine," Avior muttered. "They're six and eight years older than me. I don't like either of them." Well. He didn't like Archer and he hadn't seen Francis in years.

"Were you an accident?" Marcus asked.

What? Even Avior himself would never ask such a rude question. "Shut it, you crusty garbage disposal," he snapped.

"At least my parents wanted me," Marcus fired back.

Avior leapt off his bench, fully intent on strangling him, but Nicolas snatched his arm and pulled him back. Marcus stood as well, but Todd wrapped his arms around his middle and restrained him.

"Don't fight, guys. This isn't worth fighting over," Bradley pleaded.

Avior twisted, trying to break out of Nicolas's firm grasp. Marcus pushed at Todd's arms to no avail.

"You bootlicking coward!" Avior yelled, wrenching his right arm out of Nicolas's grasp and making a very rude gesture at marcus. "Your parents only kept you because the sorry excuse for a son store has a no return policy!"

Todd let out an astonished laugh, accidentally releasing Marcus, who launched himself at Avior immediately. Nicolas darted out of the way, shielding his face with his arms. Avior and Marcus fell to the ground in a flurry of fists and elbows, spitting insults and profanities at each other.

"Not around the fire!" Bradley cried. "STOP FIGHTING NOW!"

Avior rolled on top of Marcus and jabbed his knee into his stomach. Marcus shoved him back and got to his feet. Nicolas was supremely unhelpful, calling out useless advice. "Nice left hook! That's gotta hurt. Twist his arm! Twist it, I say!" James put a hand over Nicolas's mouth.

Avior and Marcus ended up on opposite sides of one of the benches, breathing heavily and glaring at each other. Avior ran forward and shoved the bench over—it toppled with surprising ease. Marcus jumped out of the way, grabbed it, and pushed it down the hill, where it hit a rock and split in two with a deafening crack.

"LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" Avior screamed.

"LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!"

"Look what both of you did!" Bradley cut in, choosing that moment to intervene. He pushed his way between them. "I am astonished and disappointed in the way you two are behaving. Marcus, I expected better of you. Avior, for Christ's sake, you've hardly been here a month and you're already getting into violent fights!"

James appeared behind Bradley, arms folded. "What do you two have to say for yourselves?" In the light of the fire, the scar across his face looked even more severe, cutting into the intimidating hard-set lines of his face.

"'M sorry," Marcus mumbled, looking at his feet. A bit of blood dripped from his nose. Avior felt an odd sense of pride. He did that. He hit Marcus hard enough to make him bleed.

Bradley looked at him expectantly. Oh. He was supposed to apologize.

"He started it," Avior said defiantly, lifting his chin.

Bradley rubbed his forehead. "You two, go get the bench you broke,"

Marcus set off immediately down the hill.

"N—" Avior began, but a sharp look from James silenced him instantly. "Fine," he grumbled, stomping down the hill after Marcus.

"I don't like them going off alone in the dark," James said, and he set off down the hill after them. Avior grabbed one half of the bench. Marcus was already long gone with the other. He was about to drag his half up the hill when James put a hand on his shoulder.

"Don't move," he whispered.

A strange sound was coming from the forest. There was a sort of rhythm to it. First there was a sound like two cymbals crashing together, then a dull screeching noise paired with the sound of something dragging along the ground. James watched the forest intently, eyes narrowed and unblinking.

The minutes dragged by, and the clank-screech-slithering got quieter and quieter until it faded away entirely. James picked up the other end of Avior's half of the bench and wordlessly helped him carry it up the hill, where the other four boys were standing, still watching the forest like it would disappear if they looked away.

They all followed James back into the cabin, where he closed and locked the door and ordered them to go to bed.

And if Bradley, Todd, and James all slipped out of the cabin in the middle of the night, well, it wasn't like anyone was going to stop them.