Two Sides of the Same Coin ( camp camp )

Craving

The first thing he noticed was the dryness. Like sandpaper had replaced the spot where his tongue had once been. Max winced, forcing himself to sit up. He seemed to be in a bed he didn't recognize, inside a cabin? What had happened? Agony shot through his arm as he tried to move it, making him painfully aware of the bandage that that restricted him. Suddenly it began to flood back. The mountain lion, the axe, blood seeping out of a fresh animal corpse, teeth in his skin. Fuck.

The boy straightened his back and felt it crack, whining in protest. His mouth was dry, so he lunged for the water bottle on the bedside table as soon as he was aware of it. In about 20 seconds he'd downed the whole thing and wiped his mouth, content. Now, where the fuck was he? It seemed to be... David's cabin. How'd he get here?

A fuzzy memoir pushed it's way to the surface of his dazed brain, making it's presence quite clear with about a million anxiety-inducing alarm bells. White clothes, pale skin, a sterile, hospital kind of smell. A voice that made him shiver despite the heat. No- no way. It couldn't be, it wasn't. What purpose would Daniel have to carry Max to camp? To help him? The mere idea was ludicrous.

Shaking himself off, Max climbed out of the bed. His hoodie was nowhere to be found, so he grumpily stomped out with just a t-shirt on. David was standing and talking to Gwen, fingers nervously tapping on his hip. Max growled. He was tired, hungry, and disoriented. What he needed was answers.

"Hey David! What the fuck happened?" The redhead spun around, heels burying into the soil with the force of his turn. "Max! You're awake! What are you doing out of bed? You should be resting!" "Well I'm not. So what happened?" The ravenette snapped. There was too deep an exhaustion in his bones for him to get too worked up, but the dry sarcasm was every present.

David fiddled with his hands, looking away nervously. "You were attacked by a mountain lion, remember?" Max rolled his eyes. "Yes of course I fucking remember! I mean, who saved me? What happened after I passed out?" Suddenly the boy was being scooped up. His hisses of protest sounded like a kitten, making the nervous man laugh.

"Please Max, you shouldn't be walking yet! You've lost alot of blood, your body is weak." David set the boy down on a bench, kneeling in front of him. "You ran off into the woods, we couldn't find you. It was lucky that Daniel found you when he did, you were a mess!" Max's thoughts, which had been reaching a dangerous crescendo, suddenly halted. Once his brain rebooted, he could only sputter a weak "Daniel?" before needing to reprogram.

"D-daniel... Daniel saved me?" David nodded, smiling annoyingly bright. "Yes! You should really thank him when you can, it's thanks to him that your arm's still intact!" This didn't make sense, at all! How could Daniel have saved him? What was he even doing at the campsite?! It was all too strange... it didn't bode well.

With a fresh sense of dread bubbling inside him, Max hopped off of the bench. "hey! I said sit down Max, you need to be careful." Insisted David sternly. Shit, Max had to get away. An idea popped into his head. It was, frankly, stupid, but David was soft enough that it might work. Well, worth a shot anyway.

Max launched into David's arms, hugging him tight. The counselor yelped in surprise, but hugged back. The smell of wood and pine filled Max's nose, and he felt himself actually relax. "Thanks David, for everything. I'm gonna get some food!" He rushed off to the mess hall, just barely hearing David start to squeal in childish glee, ugh. However his plan was effective in getting him away from David.

Seeing as it wasn't any sort of mealtime, the mess hall was empty. Max helped himself to a pack of crackers that he stuffed into his hoodie pocket, keeping his hands in them to mask the sound of plastic and the visible bulge it made. Slipping out of the back door, he settled behind the building to enjoy his snack in piece. Getting some food in his stomach quieted the rumbling and eased his hunger, so that was good.

As he was stuffing another cracker in his mouth, a pair of perfectly clean, black boots stood in front of him. Slowly he looked up, the food dropping from his fingers as the color drained from his face. Above him stood Daniel, but he was different. The black boots were a good indicator, being totally out of character for the pure white he usually wore. a pair of nice white pants, tucked into the boots, hung lazily on his hips. A black jacket over a grey tank top, and slicked back hair completed the look.

"Well hello there kiddo! Good to see ya back on your feet Maxie~!" He almost purred the words, like a snake sliding along the grass. Max tensed. "What the fuck do you want?" "Tsk! So rude! I just came to check on you, and find David." That made Max angry as he remembered, this was all Daniel's fault. He ruined David, ruined everything! If it weren't for him he'd still have David, wouldn't have ever run off into the woods!

Max stumbled to his feet, legs still a bit unsteady. "Well I'm not telling you where he is! You've fucked him up enough you fucking freak!" For a moment, Daniel's eyes flashed something dangerous and Max flinched. Just as quickly it was gone, replaced with a smile. Max shuddered. "Now now Max! I haven't fucked him up at all! He's always been this way, and it seems you have too." Max's eyes widened.

"Don't fuck around Daniel! What does that mean?" The blonde chortled at Max's fear and outrage. "Keep the language clean Max. I know what you did in the woods, so it'd be best for you to keep your temper." A sharp inhale, and then agonizing silence. With the world Max held his breath, as if it could somehow stop the seconds from ticking by and let him think.

"H...how do you know that?" He finally stuttered, hearing the grass sigh in collective relief as he broke their spell. "I saw you Maxie. I wasn't there by accident. While you weren't what I was looking for, I did follow you. You're quite the brute aint cha?" He purred. Max spat at his feet. "I'm nothing like you."

Again, Daniel's haunting laugh broke the tension into shards, ones that pierced Max's heart with terror. "But you are. I can see it in your eyes, in the way your hands twitch when someone get's too close. It's there, that dark desire. I know it is. You will too, soon enough. We have more in common than you think"

Max snarled, stepping towards Daniel as the blonde stepped back. Ignoring the boys protests and cries, the cultist turned his back and walked away. Defeated, Max slumped against the wall. His hands... itched? While arguing he'd been too angry to noticed but now... well, Daniel was right. The simmering rage made his fingers twitch. Just like how David's did, or how Daniel's neck cracked.

But he wasn't like them- no- he wasn't like Daniel. He couldn't be! Max was good! It was a killing in self defense! But deep down, Max knew that wasn't true at all. He enjoyed taking that animal's life, and he wanted to do it again.

That scared him. It scared him more than anything else could.