Stockholm Syndrome

fifteen

- Louis -

The sky slowly lit as we drove closer and closer to the location. As we passed trees and the older buildings, I knew we were nearing Camp Halananza. So many good memories and so many bad. I remember the fire. I remember the situation. I remember who did it and how it happened.

The guilt nipped at my stomach once I saw the big green sign reading Camp Halananza Next Left. It made me want to vomit. I hadn't thought of or remembered the place since that night. It took me so long to forget about it, I had too. For my sake and the sake of Dexter's.

"Alright, guys, so the sun has now gone down which means it's time to close the night." Camp Director Peter finished our campfire. It was the last night of camp for the summer. I was a little saddened at heart. I wasn't going to be able to come back as a camper next year. So technically, it's not just the last night of the summer, it's the last night I'll ever be a camper.

We closed with our goodnight song, humming the little tune. Dexter, sitting next to me, leans over on the bench and whispered in my ear, "Hey, I heard that Ben found some drugs in the medic cabin." He nudged my shoulder as if it meant something to me.

I looked at him, cocking an eyebrow. "What kind of drugs?"

"Not sure," he said, playing with the little dirt pile at his feet. "But I heard it can cause a pretty good high." His grin looked a little too smug on his face.

"Dex, that's not such a good idea." I said, shaking it off.

"C'mon, Lou, it's the last night of camp. What's a little getting high gonna do?" He winked at me and my stomach twisted nastily.

We rounded the corner, the long dirt road crumbling under the tires. We parked the SUV, and I had immediately jumped straight from my seat. Stepping out onto the ground, I jogged into the center of the upper field just feet away from the parking lot.

My head spun around in all different directions. I couldn't even begin to imagine where they could possibly be. This camp ground isn't exactly a small one. I've spent summer after summer at this camp, I know just how much ground we would have to cover until we could even get a clue as to where they could be. This could take hours.

"Holy shit." I heard Liam say behind me. "When you said it burned down, I just expected a little fire, but damn, Lou, this is insane."

It finally took me a second to notice all the burned structure around me. Cabins, the lodge, trees were just destroyed. It looks like no one really came to help clean it up. It made a shiver shoot through my spine so the hairs on the back of my neck stood up.

"Were you here when it burned down?" Niall finally piped up. He had been quiet the entire drive here. I'm pretty sure he was sleeping in the back. I don't know how he could but he was.

I nodded my head slowly. "Yeah, I was."

I didn't like it. I didn't want to think about it but I couldn't help it.

After night-watch left for bed around midnight, I heard Dexter's bunk creak above me. I counted to three in my head and his feet appeared on the ladder in front of my face. He stepped on the floor, shaking Ben awake the next bunk over.

I stood to my feet, slipping a black hoodie over my head. The three of us grabbed our flashlights and snuck out as quietly as possible. As soon as we were a good couple of feet away from the cabin, Ben spoke. "I couldn't get the drugs from the nurse so we're gonna have to sneak in the cabin."

"What? Ben, that wasn't part of the plan." I said, lightly smacking his arm.

"Dude, chill," Dexter called me out. "Louis, you're getting them."