Crushing Emeralds

Chapter Six

Morning arrives too soon . I’m not even sure how much sleep I got after Evan dropped me off at the cabin last night. On the way to the bathroom to freshen up before breakfast I question Kordie, “Soooo...what were you dreaming about last night?”

“Who me?” She holds her hand to her chest with a clueless innocence. “How about you? Run into anything or anyone last night when you snuck out?” She gives me a sly mischievous smile that I’m all too familiar with.

“You’re hiding something. I can sense it. What did you do?”

“I may have texted Evan. Do you know I only have one little bar that keeps coming and going.”

“I can’t believe you . He scared the crap out of me and to know it was all your fault doesn’t make you look to pleasing right now.” I cross my arms even though I could never be mad at her. She doesn’t have control over Evan’s stupid behavior.

She playfully lunges at me, hanging off my shoulders. “Sorry.”

“Apology accepted. Now I have to retrieve the flashlight that I dropped in a bush last night. I’ll meet you inside.”

“You know there’s bathrooms...right. No need to pee in a bush.” She jokes.

“Ha. Ha.”

We separate as she heads to the common room and I find that bush. I kick at it before plunging my hand inside feeling my way around. My fingers touch slightly cold slippery metal.

Twigs scrap my wrist and hand as I slide my hand out. It’s bad enough sticking my hand into a thick shrub with who knows what hiding out inside. The flashlight slips beneath my fingers and I rub it off as dew that accumulated overnight. But as my hand emerges I find out it's not dew.

Thick, red blood covers the flashlight and the palm of my hand. I instantly lose my grip on it, it disappears within the bush. My vision blurs and I can barely manage to make it to the bathroom with tunnel vision encroaching upon me.

In a manic frenzy I barge into the bathroom starling a girl who’s fixing her hair. She stares at me with wide eyes that go back and forth between my face and hand.

“Cut myself. I’m a bleeder.” I joke trying to make not only her comfortable, but myself as well.

I join the table with Kordie and the guys on it. They’re all eating scrambled eggs and sausage links along with toast. Even from the flashlight issue I still have a growling stomach, but I still have to force the food down. Everything tasted bland and raw as my mind brought up pictures of dead animals. I have to cover up a gag with a cough.

Sooner than I want our to start our day starts with activities that Mrs. Claire has planned out for us. The activity, a treasure hunt. How exciting. I’m fine with not finding treasure. I’ve never been greedy, but there’s no getting out of it. and here I thought we were just going to be relaxing and lounging. Now we actually have to socialize with each other, talk and learn things. This trip is worse than I imagined.

The items on the list are supposedly scattered around from at you feet in the wide-open or a twenty-minute walk in the woods. I try to get the guys to gather the things that are deep in the woods and Kordie and I to gather everything around the cabins, but of course they refuse. As I look down at the list I hear them say ‘see you in a few’ and as I glance up I see them all walk away in separate directions.

“Great.” I mumble to myself before walking in my own direction.

During the hike the first day I kept seeing animals that crept back into shadows as people trampled along the path, but today there are no animals or birds chirping in the trees. I blame it on the weather. A storm may be brewing. If I could the internet out here I would be able to check. After an hour and a half my basket is full with various items including berries, twigs, rocks, and a vial of water from the river.

Then it's off to lunch. we then had lunch followed by free time to sketch. The whole afternoon I keep looking over my shoulder or out the cabin windows. that creeping tingle travels up my back, the feeling of being watched sends shivers down my spine.

Several students including Mrs. Claire notice that Leander Jenkins, a track athlete and Sheila Hellerski a gothic chic have been missing all day. Nobody claims to have seen them in the cabin or wondering around. Everyone just blows it off as them refusing to play nice. Possibly camping in the woods somewhere until it was time to leave. They could have possibly been to the two in the woods that I saw last night, but they weren’t just ‘camping’ out.

When nightfall came, I fell fast asleep, but was abruptly awoken with a jerk, drenched in sweat from a nightmare. I pull the blanket higher around my neck, close my eyes, and try not to think about the lingering dream. The same dream I had been having before I arrived here, but now with growl, and bloody flashlight, my mind is connecting dots it shouldn’t.

It keeps replaying repeatedly in my head as I lay staring at the ceiling of the cabin. In the dream, something’s chasing me and has that same growl from yesterday. It takes longer for me to drift off to sleep once again. The dead silence leaves my ears ringing.

***

The next day drags on and the students easily get bored. It says a lot when they want to return to the hell of high school. I’m one of them. I barely able to drag myself out of bed this morning from the lack of sleep. Kordie just gives an once over and leaves it at that. She knows somethings bothering me, but she knows not to pry.

“You look wonderful this morning.” Jordan says to me with a wide grin across his face. He unlike Kordie doesn’t know what to leave things be.

“I couldn’t sleep that well last night.” ...or any other night, but I don’t divulge that. They are giving me the perfect opportunity to spill, but for some reason I can’t. It’s as if saying the dream aloud will make it come true.

The rest of the day goes by with me in a uninterested hazy fog. I don’t become fully invested into th day until the dreaded lights out is upon us.

A nervous sigh slowly seeps from my lips as I sit romrod straight in bed.

“What is up with you today?” Kordie stares at me, concern in her waiting eyes.

“Nothing...nothing. Just some bad dreams.”

Her eyebrow quirks up. Her telltale sign that she doesn’t buy it. “Bad dreams?”

“Yes. You’ve never had nightmares before?”

“Nope.” She chirps.

“Well, lucky you.”

The lights flick off without warning. One of the other girl’s says into the pitch black room, “Lights out girls.” She gives a little giggle obviously having way too much here.

“See you in morning.” I whisper in Kordie’s direction.

“Wake me if you have another nightmare. We can suffer together.”

A small smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “Thanks.”

A lay there, silently praying for one dreamless sleep.