Skeleton Beats the Clock

Chapter 2: Camp Hypnos

Dead Particle Bunnies was playing in the town square near the sundry store in the peak of the evening in the city of Qualina. They were a heavy metal-rock, electronica pop band who liked to mix dark comedy in their sets. They were her favorite. It'd be the last live musical performance eighteen year old, Pricilla "Pricki" Letting would ever see in her home city. This was her freshmen year at university. She didn't want to live on campus. She had her own flat not too far from the school.

Pricilla had several health issues. She's bipolar with borderline personality disorder. She has two sleep disorders-sporadic fatal insomnia; a rare neurological condition deteriorating cognitive skills and causes ataxia; a degenerative disease of the nervous system causing slurred speech, stumbling, falling and other incoordination such as a drunken walk and diplopia-double vision.

Due to this type of insomnia, her life expectancy was only a few months to a few years at minimum. At most, maybe another year or two. Secondly, she suffered from severe sleep paralysis where her body would freeze and not be able to move, communicate or open her eyes.

Her duffel bag was sitting at her feet as she jammed out to the music sitting on the steps at the sundry behind the crowd. Shortly after the concert was over, the bus stopped right in front of the store. She picked up her duffel bag and boarded the bus, heading to Camp Hypnos, a summer holistic sleep camp for teen to young adults suffering from sleep disorders.

The city of Qualina had a population of 33.48 million. It wasn't only a very large city but a whole world; a paranormal one.

The bus stopped at a big, lake house. A sign out front said, "Camp Hypnos." The lake surrounding it made Pricilla think of a large pool of sunshine. The two-story lakehouse was a deep red color with a chimney, white double doors and panoramic windows.

A summer breeze fluttered through the bangs of her dyed magenta-colored, wavy shoulder-length bob as she walked across the short, wooden bridge towards the house. She was half-Brazilian-Caucasian(from The Caucasus region between Europe and Asia),  with big, green eyes and high cheekbones, a triangular shaped nose with a bit of a bulbous slightly upturned tip and a well-defined bridge and square-shaped face. She had full lips with a defined heart shape at the top and the corners naturally curved. She wore a yellow, cotton robe jacket over a white tank top pulled down over a pair of blue jeans and flat-heeled shoes.

Once she entered the house through one of the double doors, she sat her duffel bag on the floor in front of the secretarial center.

"Checking in?" one of the secretaries asked who was available and not busy checking in other people.

"Yes."

"Your name?" he asked holding the clipboard in his hand.

"Pricilla Letting."

He looked up and down the list of alphabetically listed names. Camp Hypnos admitted up to thirty people per summer since it only had about that many rooms for boarding. "Yes. You're here on the registrar." He handed her the clipboard and a pen. "Put your first and last initials next to your full name. There, in the box," he stood up and briefly pointed to where her typed name was on the list. Next to her name read, RM. No. 24-Pasithea. The box next to that she signed her initials. She handed him back the clipboard and pen.

"Your room number, current age and the current year is the electronic combination to your room. Upstairs, second floor, fifth door to your left," he told her pointing towards the stairs. Pricilla picked up her bag and went up the stairs. She walked up the left side of the hallway, glanced at each door until she found hers. The room number and the name-Pasithea were etched on the door in rose gold plating. She dropped her bag to the floor and pressed the buttons on the door right above the doorknob. She put in the numbers 2...4, her room number, her age, 1...8 and the current year, 1...9...9...6. The door clicked. She picked up her duffel bag and turned the knob with her free hand. As she stepped on the threshold, blue vertical beams blocked her avenue. She was startled at first and froze. She leaned forward cautiously, the beams sounded like a heartbeat, each one a little louder and faster than the next.