Human

Chapter 4

     Lilith was surrounded by devastation.  Every pair of eyes in her huddled group were scrunched in pain.  Everyone held their arms away from their body, afraid to touch the redness that found it's way onto each of their bodies.  No one was untouched by the flames.  A robed witch fell to her knees, and Lilith noticed that her shoulders had been badly burned.  
   Small red blotches encompassed her forearms like small sunburns. Organic shapes lit up her delicate skin.  She scrutinized her hairless forearms, and her gaze fell to ground.  The hem of her pants were still emitting a lone smoke trail, twirling up toward her nostrils, making her sneeze.
    It was like a deadly form of hazing the new kids, but Lilith believed, naively, that things couldn't get much worst. 
    Aurabelle, the Fairy Camp Chair, was untouched by their anguish.  She stated the names of the deceased, as if they weren't just living, breathing, actual, REAL people. Lilith closed her eyes on the scene before her.  Camp was nothing like how she envisioned.  Her expectations were ruined like someone treading mud all over a freshly mopped kitchen floor.  She hadn't read the part of her application that held the mission statement for the camp. 

To mold our future leaders through trials and tribulations.  To make sure every person to come into power is truly worthy, and forged through fire.

Literal fire.

     The fairy was speaking to the group again.  Her white gown was angelic compared to her blatantly fake concern for the terrorized young adults.   She raised her head toward the sky, and her parted lips glittered in the approaching sunlight.  The sun arose through the top of the trees, and a new day had officially started.
   A grunt came from beside her, and Lilith looked cautiously at Lynn.  The little ball of sunshine from the night before was replaced with a dull ball of apathy.  She looked like she hurt right down into her bones.  The burns on her hand were terrifying to behold.  She looked away quickly, fearing that she might hurt her more the harder she looked at her.  

    Lilith half listened to the Camp Chair explain that today wouldn't be the last trial.  Neither would it be their last hard ship.

    "The world is full of hard-ship, trials, tribulations.  Do not go running home now," Aurabelle leaned closer to the group, her microphone ear-piece dangling from her ear.  "If you go home now, not only will you shame your family, but you will be the laughing stock of the world." Her loaded words washed over the crowd.  The admission did exactly what it was meant to.  No one asked to leave, and no one cried.  No one let out a single word, and the crowd was silent.  It was as if everyone was holding their breath at the same time.  Aurebelle continued, "Have no fear.  The greatest among you will rise for greatness." A collective breath was taken.  Inhaling her words; inhaling their future.  

    She was freaking out, and at a loss for words.  Why didn't she know better. How could a human survive situations that were meant for people with powers?  Why would they let humans in, in the first place?  Her stomach was in knots.  Writhing, like it was already dying.  Or was that just the hunger she felt?  They hadn't even had breakfast yet.  

    "You are dismissed," Aurabelle said curtly.  Everyone dispersed like they were just let out from a concert.  A race of sorts, to get out of there faster.  Lilith kept her eyes on the Camp Chair.  She was gathering up all the injured. She made her way to Lynn, her hips swaying in her white gown.  It flowed behind her.  She conceded that at the very least, Faeries had a very good fashion sense.  

   "I'll see you later," she promised Lynn.  Her wide eyes met hers, but she nodded.  "S-see you later," she tried to chirp, and that made Lilith scurry away.  She had met this girl less than 24 hours ago, and she was so afraid she might not see her again. The injured mermaid, her fins still smoking, helped steady Lynn with her webbed hands on her back.  

    Lilith had to shake this off.  This was her situation after all, something she had gone out of her way to get.  Now she wasn't sure whether she was lucky, or just very very unlucky. She followed the crowd to a small building near the entrance.  It had large sliding glass doors, that threw glitter and light onto the pavement, and stood unassuming in front of the crowd of hungry supernaturals.   She spotted the blonde cabin-mate that she had met the night before.  She hadn't been particularly friendly, but she hadn't been unfriendly either.  

    "What are we doing, " Lilith asked her, and she surveyed her fellow human.  Layla had so few burns, and seemed completely unaffected by their trial that morning. 

  Layla looked back at her, and said softly, "Breakfast."  Lilith felt stupid.  Rich kids always got breakfast, and this camp of death was no different.  She saw a group of werewolves gawking at the girls who passed, like old-school fraternity guys.  They all had masculine beards, but they seemed to mesh with their chest hair.  Every single one of them had their shirts buttoned down low.  They whistled, and made obscene hand gestures at Layla. 

   "Creeps," she said simply, and shrugged.  Her thin frame walked tall, and although she looked like the wind could snap her in half, she held some sort of power, and the Werewolves started in on the other girls.  They got inside, and sat at a table by a window.  She looked outside at the forest.  They were enclosed on all sides by trees and foliage; green and brown. 

   They received their breakfast from a human waiter, his brown hair shaved close to his skull. His uniform was just like theirs.  A simple t-shirt and jeans.  She supposed looks didn't matter as long as the food was five stars, and the food was divine.  The fried egg she received melted in her mouth like butter, and the bread was ever so slightly toasted. She had just put her fork down when the girls were approached by a group of Vampires with Eli at the helm.  His long-sleeved white button up had two buttons down, and was still pressed and pristine.  This was not his first time at Camp Ouachita.  He flashed his teeth at Layla, and she eased down in her chair.  He threw a glare as hot as the fire they had just escaped at Lilith.

   "Nice to see you made it," he said sarcastically.  "I'm hungry."