The Harmony Saga

~ 1 ~-2

Her ears were perked up and she was staring intently at something behind Owen. Now, since this was the dog"s normal reaction to another person on the path, Owen stepped to the side and looked to let them pass. But there was nobody there. Owen couldn’t even hear any telltale footsteps. He looked nervously at the dog, who hadn’t moved from her alert position in the middle of the trail. Owen had barely opened his mouth to say to the dog, “Poppy? What do you see?” when she turned and kept walking, like nothing had happened.

Owen walked faster on the way home, rattled. Poppy only stopped one more time, but Owen urged her on, glancing behind him as he went. He couldn’t shake the feeling that he was being watched, although there was no one there.

When he reached his house, all Owen wanted to do was retreat into the basement, play some video games, and forget about his strange experience on the walk. But no sooner did he try to make his escape than his dad appeared, thrusting a booklet into Owen’s face and taking the leash from his hands.

“What’s this?” Owen asked suspiciously.

Sam called back over his shoulder. “I scheduled a tour of camp for you today.” He put the leash away and came back to Owen. “Come on, it’s about an hour away.” He clapped Owen on the back and went to the garage, humming something that sounded strangely like “O Canada” for no apparent reason.

Owen, knowing better than to question his father’s odd behavior, sighed and glanced down at what he was holding. Across the front, giant flowery letters spelled out “Find Yourself at Camp Harmony”. Owen rolled his eyes but followed his father out to the car anyway.

Once he was settled in the passenger seat, Owen opened the brochure. Inside, there were a lot of words he didn’t bother reading straight away, and a bunch of standard summer camp photos. Owen decided to focus on those. There was a group of boys grinning around a campfire, an intensely focused girl in a canoe paddling across a lake, the silhouettes of some backpacked hikers on their way up a forest trail, and a seemingly incongruous group shot of four people jumping High-School-Musical-style against the blue sky. “What’s with these pictures?” Owen asked, pointing them out to Sam.

Sam glanced over and laughed. “Oh yeah, I should mention this is the brochure we give to non-balancer parents when they find out their kid has abilities. I thought you’d like it.”

Owen gave his dad a look. “Gee, thanks.” At least it was more interesting than the endless fields of cows that awaited him on their drive. He flipped the brochure over. On the back cover, a friendly-looking man with a neatly trimmed grey beard and kaleidoscopic eyes stared up at Owen. Intrigued by the eyes, which seemed to bore into him even from a still image, Owen bent his head closer to the page and tried to discern their color. Eventually, he turned his attention to the blurb beneath the picture.

Owen stopped reading and turned to glare at his father. “Dad?” he said slowly.

“Hmm?”

“You’re sending me to a camp for ‘gifted youngsters’? What is this, X-Men?” Owen asked incredulously. He couldn’t believe this is what his father wanted.

“No, we’re only visiting a camp for gifted youngsters,” he joked. “I know, isn’t it a riot?”

“This is ridiculous,” Owen said, flipping through the slick pages. “I’m starting to think you made it all up and you’re trying to sell me to the mafia or something.”

“Oh, please, you know I don’t have this much of an imagination.” Sam glanced over and saw Owen’s nervous expression. “Don’t worry, I promise I’m not selling you to the mafia. This is going to be fun!”

Owen tried to take deep breaths to settle his racing heart. He wasn’t sure he was ready to meet a camp full of people who had all been in this world longer than he had. The goofy pamphlet only made him anxious, like a he was little kid being patronized. He desperately wanted to fit in, and he hoped that he wouldn’t be too old. A lot of the kids in the pictures looked pretty young. Owen tried to reassure himself that his father had been his age when he first went to camp, and he had a great time. But the doubts still lingered.

He continued to look through the brochure with sweaty palms and half-heartedly make fun of it with his dad, but it did little to make him feel more confident. Soon they were pulling off of the highway and trundling down a dirt road. Sam had leaned forwards and was squinting at something in the road ahead of them. When they pulled up to it, Owen saw a small faded wooden arrow hammered into the ground. It said “Camp Harmony” in sloppily painted blue letters. Owen was growing increasingly apprehensive, but he kept his mouth shut as Sam turned the car into the narrow, partially hidden drive.

Branches slapped the front of the car and skidded across the windows. The car swayed back and forth on the increasingly uneven drive. Owen leaned back in his seat and closed his eyes. He felt like they were driving through a tunnel of death to a serial killer’s cabin that awaited them.

We made a wrong turn, we’re both going to be murdered, Owen thought, his mind racing. He didn’t even notice the car had stopped until Sam got out and shut the door loudly. Owen jumped, his eyes flying open.

A soft “wow” escaped his lips at the first sight of the camp. The first thing he noticed was the giant sign across the road. Both sides had thick wooden pillars with strange, triangular symbols carved into them, and across the top of the arch was “CAMP HARMONY” in blocky wooden letters hanging down from the horizontal bar. There was a path winding up the hill behind the arch, and Owen thought he could see cabins and a few people milling around. To the left, right inside the arch, a large brown and white house stood, camouflaged by the trees. That was the next thing Owen noticed. The entire area was surrounded by a forest extending for miles. Owen finally stepped out of the car and breathed in the crisp mountain air. He felt different up here. More, somehow.

Owen was pulled from his gawking when a man approached him and his father, coming out of the house. Owen thought he recognized him from the pamphlet. A strange boy also followed the man out of the house. Owen was very curious about the welcoming committee, and he sidled closer to Sam.

When the pair was close enough, the man said, “Welcome, Owen. My name is Brian Percival, and I am the director of this lovely establishment.” He grinned down at Owen.

The only thing that Owen could think to say was, “You’re bigger than I thought you would be.” Brian Percival was very tall and muscular, at odds with his kindly face. Owen wasn’t sure why he had felt the need to comment on it.

The strange boy snickered. Brian Percival simply grinned serenely. “He’s a fiery one, isn’t he, Logan?” Brian Percival said to the boy.

Logan smirked. It seemed to be a very natural expression on his pale face. Owen began to size the other boy up. Logan was slightly taller than Owen, though he was willowy, where Owen was stockier. Logan had very large, dark eyes that gave his face a look of almost feminine beauty, a trait that was accentuated by his thick, wavy blond hair falling slightly lower than his ears. Overall, he had a very polished appearance and the air of someone who expected the world to follow him. Owen disliked him straight away.

Still, when Logan extended his hand, Owen accepted the cool, firm handshake. Logan’s eyes lit up when their hands touched, and Owen wasn’t sure why. “Owen, I’m going to show you around today.” Logan sounded more excited than he had been a moment before, and when he turned to Brian Percival he had a look of approval on his face.

The director enigmatically smiled even wider. “Indeed. I am going to talk with this young man’s father in the house.”

Sam gave Owen a thumbs-up and followed Brian Percival as he walked back to the house. They immediately started conversing in low voices, like they had something serious to discuss. Owen felt very vulnerable being suddenly alone with Logan. Logan smiled at Owen, though it looked more menacing than friendly. “Come on, newbie. Go on up through the arch,” Logan said.

Owen looked back at Logan uncertainly as he began to walk up to the arch. As soon as he stepped under it, everything slowed. He tried to keep walking at normal speed, but it felt like he was wading through waist-deep water. He looked back at Logan again, concerned that something had gone wrong. Logan, who had been staring at him expectantly, frowned and started up the hill to Owen. Owen turned back around and kept pushing forwards until–

Boom. Time went back to normal, Owen wasn’t moving in slow motion anymore, and Logan had appeared next to him, acting like nothing was wrong. The only thing that betrayed Logan’s calm as a façade was when he muttered, “Okay. He made it through.”

Owen squinted at Logan when he heard that. Does he think I can’t hear him? Owen thought. They were only standing about two feet apart.

Apparently Logan did think he was being covert, because he went back to acting disinterested, saying, “Well, let’s go. I’ll show you the cabins first.” And he started up the hill, leaving Owen to follow.