Camp Killer {hiatus}

➳ MONDAY

△Liam

     MY HEAD WAKES me up before my alarm can. The pounding is worse than a jackhammer attacking my skull. When did opening my eyes become an Olympic sport?

     Groaning, I do my best to roll over in this tiny twin bed. The alarm clock on my nightstand tells me it's 5:07 AM and— oh god. I make it to the bathroom just in time to shove my head into the toilet, right where it belongs for getting so wasted last night. I am pretty sure I'm still at least a little bit drunk.

     "Woah." Suddenly, Jack is in the doorway, looking pretty green himself. "What the hell happened to you?"

     "I am a horrible person," is all I can manage before the onslaught continues.

When I come up for air, I see Jack retreating with a roll of his eyes. "Whatever, man."

     But he's not gone for long.

     "Did Isaac get in last night?" he asks me, and I shrug as I lean back against the wall, breathing like I just ran a marathon and sweating like it, too.

     "I don't know," I confess. I don't know because I was gone out of my mind last night. Absolutely shit-faced. I was probably asleep the minute I walked through the door.

Walked through the door... How the hell did I get back last night? There's no way I would've found the cabin on my own. Did Jack bring me back?

     The memories come back to me slowly, hazily, like an image shrouded in fog. A fight. A flash. Throwing up in the woods? Alex. Alex brought me back.

     A faint smile curls the edges of my mouth. That bastard. I was supposed to walk her back—

     My stomach lurches and my face is back in the toilet in an instant. Jack doesn't wait till I'm done before continuing.

     "He's not here."

     Something in the tone of his voice pulls my head out of the bowl. Jack's face is starker than bone. The expression on his face — like he just saw a ghost, like it's waiting for him, like if he turns around it'll consume him — stirs something inside of me. Alarm bells are ringing, the lights are flashing red. What's wrong what's wrong—

     But come on. It's just Isaac. He's fine. He's probably passed out under a tree or something. Or sleeping in someone else's bed — Veronica's, maybe? This place is totally safe, anyways. No parent of a BHPS student would send their child to an unsafe place.

     I heave a sigh of relief. Isaac is fine. I tell Jack as much, and he nods slowly, digesting this. But I can tell something's still bothering him.

     "I just... I figured he wasn't here because of our...fight. Last night," Jack confesses when I press him.

     Ah, so that's what's got him all shaken up. I try my best to console him, but even to me it sounds unconvincing. Weak. What's gotten into me? First, I stayed at the bonfire instead of coming to check on them last night. Now, I'm struggling to tell Jack it'll be okay?

You've got to try harder, Liam, I encourage myself. When everything's changing, you can be the rock that stays the same.

     "You guys'll get through it," I say out loud. "You're strong."

     Jack only nods, his mouth pressed into a tight line. The sound of birds chirping loudly and scraping against the roof brings our eyes towards the ceiling at the exact same moment.

     "Those birds better shut the fuck up while I'm trying to sleep," Jack growls, then slips away, back to bed. No longer afraid of the ghost.