Slash Her

Chapter 2

Walking into the cabin I see a group of people huddled in a seating area talking. Two of which look about my age while the other two looked to be in their late forties. As my mother and I walked closer, a floorboard creaks announcing we are here. The group of people look up, a few with smiles on their faces.

"Hey y'all! Welcome to camp Ashwood." Says a girl about my age. She looked to be average height and slim, with a blonde pixie cut, and the most beautiful golden brown skin I have ever seen.

"Don't be so cheery now Zara, these people look to be in an emotional distress." Said a man about my age.

Although he was blunt, he was right. Coming back here after everything that has happened is hard. So many thoughts are going through my head and I can say the same for my mom. She reaches out for my hand and I can feel the sweat on her palm. We feel the same.

I look over at the man who said this. He has a full figure, long black hair, and pale pasty skin. Although he fits the stereotypical loner trope I can tell he cares. What he said seemed to be an outreach of help in his own way.

"Calm down Alex, I'm just trying to be friendly." Zara replied.

I looked at her and smiled, letting her know it was not an issue. I then looked at Alex but by then he was looking away. Before I could say anything my mother started speaking.

"Hello everyone! Pleasure to be here. I'm Martha the new head cook this summer and this is my daughter, Naomi, one of the counselors!" The others, besides Alex, were looking at her smiling.

"Well you two have met Zara and Alex so let me introduce myself! I'm Priscilla, the camp owner." Said the woman in her late forties. Priscilla was absolutely gorgeous. Although she was at a summer camp, she still looked classy. She was slim and angular, with her hair pulled into a neat bun, her tan skin was perfectly clear, and she had a warm welcoming smile on her face.

"And I'm Arnold, the athletics director." Said the man opposite of her. He looked to be in his late forties, had huge muscles from years of working out, dark peppery hair, and light neutral skin.

"Come sit by me." Zara said patting a seat beside her and looking at me, abiding by her request, I walked over and sat down. Looking around I noticed the man from outside was not here.

"Are there anymore people going to be here?" I asked looking at Priscilla.

"Yes, there are two more counselors who I sent to pick up some firewood for tonight, our groundsman, Cullen, and our camp nurse, Priya, who should be arriving soon.

Hearing this took the uneasiness I felt away. The strange man I saw must have been the groundsman. Although it took away some of the worry, I still felt a strange feeling being here.

Priscilla then looked at her watch seemingly stressed out.

"Naomi, Zara, and Alex, can you three go check on Jesiah and George. They have been gone looking for that wood for a while." She said while rubbing her temple. "Arnold will show Martha to the cafeteria while I wait here for Priya." She looked back down at her watch again, this time the stress showing on her face.

Everyone nodded while Alex let out a heavy sigh. We all left the cabin and began walking down a path, eventually we split off from my mom and Arnold as they walked to the cafeteria.

"So how long have you lived in this town." Zara asked looking at me breaking the silence.

"I've lived here since I was born, how about you." I said looking at her trying to be friendly.

"I just moved here for the summer actually." She replied. Now her cheeriness makes sense. She doesn't know of everything that happened here. Rather than rain on her parade I smiled in her direction. I could tell she was a kind soul and I wanted to keep it that way.

"How about you Alex, how long have you lived here." I asked looking at him.

Rather than give a direct response he let out a gruff and muttered "Since I was five."

Although the act he put on was tough and loner like, I could see a kindness in him. I could easily tell the three of us would be great friends this summer.

As we continued trekking down the path, more cabins came into focus. These cabins were much smaller than the main cabin we were just in. I could tell that these were where we'd be staying for the next few weeks. With just five counselors, there were four cabins in total. This meant one of the cabins would have two counselors rather than one. Walking up to one of the cabins, I could see it was rough around the edges.

The porch of the cabin felt on a slant and messily put together. Walking inside, there was an empty middle section with bunk beds lined on the walls. In the back there was a foyer on a platform and two bathrooms with a small shower in the back. Although it wasn't the neatest, it still looked cozy.

We then walked to the front of the cabin, noting that George and Jesiah were not in this cabin. As we began walking out of the cabin, we heard strange scratching noises from another of the cabins. This put the fear I had seeing the strange man back into me. Alex stepped in front of us grabbing, a small flag post from the front of the cabin as an attempt to create a makeshift weapon. He shooed Zara and I away but we followed. He let out another grunt but continued walking. As he got to the door he busted it open and we heard a loud scream come from inside the cabin.