Genesis

Impossible.

     The sky was dancing with red by the time we reached the edge of the camp. I noticed Dorian spot us before he began to pace in our direction.

     "Quinn? Colt? What's going on here?" he interrogated, glancing from me to Colt, then back at me when I took a breath in to speak--.

     "Grasshead's dead," Colt stated abruptly. Dorian's eyebrows furrowed as he took a step towards Colt, glaring at him.

     "What happened?" he growled in a low voice.

     I heard Colt take another soft breath in, about to speak, before I blurted out, "I killed him."

     They both turned to look at me, a look of surprise becoming their expressions.

     "What do you mean you... killed him?" Dorian questioned me.

     I took a deep breath before I spoke again, "Grasshead must have followed me when I left from camp last night because he just jumped me out of nowhere after I got lost. I was just trying to get him off of me when--... when--," I stopped myself, closing my eyes and picturing the blood-covered kitchen tiles. When I opened my eyes, I felt hot tears rolling down my cheeks. I continued, "I-I didn't mean to. I just pushed him and he fell and his head started bleeding and then he was just--," I was interrupted when Dorian suddenly wrapped his arms around me.

     "I'm so sorry, Quinn... that must've been hard," Dorian said as I felt his voice vibrate his chest against my cheek. When the embrace ended, he looked at me with concern. I released a sigh of quiet relief, as I took what he said to mean that he believed my story. 

     My peace-of-mind was shattered when his eyes were caught by something in Colt's direction. I followed his gaze to the splatters of dried blood on Colt's shirt and neck. Shit.

     "Where's that blood from?" he asked Colt, furrowing his eyebrows once more.

     "A rager," I caught their attention again before Colt could respond, "After Grasshead died... Colt found me and calmed me down," I started, my mind flashing back to the warm feeling of Colt holding me in his arms. The thought made me uncomfortable. 

     I bit my lip before I continued to speak, "I guess a rager must've been nearby and heard us talking because it just came out of nowhere and... it almost killed me... but Colt fought it off."

     I was relieved when Dorian's expression relaxed once more.

     "Alright," he said, nodding, "But we should take care of this before everyone wakes up. I'll go grab Lucius and Emerson. And a few shovels. Then, Colt, you can lead us to the bodies."

     Colt nodded and Dorian continued, "And after we get back, we'll tell everyone that Grasshead was killed by a rager."

     "Thank you," I said to him, hugging my arms to my chest.

     "Don't mention it. Plus, you shouldn't be blamed for this. You were just defending yourself," he said before he started to walk off to find the guys.

     When he was far enough away, I sighed in relief, finding comfort in the silence before Colt spoke.

     "What the hell did you do that for?" he whispered aggravatedly.

     I looked at him in contempt, before whispering, "I think the phrase you're looking for is 'Thank you, Quinn '. What do you think would've happened if you told him you killed Grasshead? Didn't you see the way he was looking at you?!"

     Colt's glare didn't falter. I rolled my eyes.

     "In any way, now we're even. You saved me from that scumbag, I saved you from being killed by Dorian or kicked out of camp. Alright?"

     He continued to look at me in his usual demeaning manner.

     I sighed, "You're impossible, Colt. You know that? Impossible."

     I hid the grimace on my face when I saw Colt's eyes divert away. Dorian, Lucius, and the blonde, tanned guy I presumed to be Emerson, approached us holding shovels in their hands.

     Dorian threw the extra shovel in his hand at Colt, who caught it swiftly. Lucius patted him on the shoulder as he passed by.

     "Come on, freak," Lucius said blandly.

     Colt rolled his eyes before turning around and walking with them. 

     "Why the long face, roomie ? Come on, cheer up, my buttercup," I heard Lucius say as he turned his head towards Colt.

     Despite the strange nickname he had uttered, there was only one word of what he said that stuck in my mind.

     Roomie.

     As in... roommate?

     "How can I cheer up when I'm stuck looking at your ugly mug?" Colt said in reply.

     "Hey, not my fault you can't look away from this ," Lucius joked.

     "Enough, both of you," Dorian commanded, and from there, they walked in complete silence.

     I thought about the fact that Colt and Lucius could have actually been roommates once before I turned around and started to walk towards the dark green tent where I woke up the previous morning.

     Before I could get within ten feet of the tent, I froze, hearing the zipper being pulled down. Suddenly, a messy, brown-haired head emerged, followed by a bare male torso, before two almost bare legs stepped out of the tent. The guy who climbed out of Mayanna's tent was in nothing but his boxers, holding his shoes in one hand and his uniformly grey clothes in the other. Before I could have another thought, another guy climbed out of the tent in the same fashion. When the two guys noticed me, they looked at me with nervous smiles. That's when I noticed a puzzling detail. Their faces, their hair, their height. Everything about them was the same. They were twins.

    "O-Oh... hey there," the first one smiled nervously, rubbing the back of his neck.

     "Don't mind us, we'll just be leaving now," the second one said, grabbing his twin brother by the arm and pulling him away half-jogging before the two of them paced off, trying to suppress their hysterical laughter.

     Somehow, I decided not to go back into the tent to try to get some sleep as I watched the twin boys run the walk of shame all the way back to their own tents.