The Legend of the Hill | Book I of the Meribah Trilogy

× Chapter One

"Bold of you to assume she's the right one for the job."
~

The early morning sunlight flickered through the window just above my head. The trees danced and swayed in the cool summer-like breeze, making a soft, rustling sound that could lull anyone back to sleep. It reminded me of my first morning of summer camp, and how innocent I was to the future events ahead of that day, and how it would change my (soon-to-be) never-ending life.

Of course, I never thought camp would end up this way.

Syd's alarm went off at seven-thirty, not that everyone was already awake. The lights flickered on as everyone got up out of their beds, looking sleepy and upset.

Everyone always looks upset. That's normal.

AK, my closest friend, jumped off the top bunk and onto the concrete floor. "Ready for another day filled with boring-ness?" she asked, half-smiling.

"Oh yeah," I responded, sarcastically. I picked out a pair of white jeans and a lavender-colored blouse to wear for the day. "It's gonna be the best."

We started out every day like this. I mean, every day.

At seven-forty-five, AK and I grab our "bathhouse bags" and head for, well, the bathhouse. Some girls were taking a morning shower, others prepping for the day (like us), or taking a number two, of you know what I mean.

I brushed out my brown-blonde hair and put it into a high ponytail, as AK did the same. Our other good friend, Karen, walked into the bathhouse as well, apologizing for being a little behind.

"Don't worry, you're fine!" I said, while brushing my teeth. "No worries!"

Seven-fifty, me, AK, and Karen all walked back to the cabin to put our bathhouse bags up.

Seven-fifty-two, we met up with our friend Layla, who was also a little behind.

Seven-fifty-five, we all walked up to the Curve, which was a sidewalk that curves (hence the name) slightly just in-front of the Hall and the old staff cabin. A small light pole separated where the girls and the boys all stood in the mornings, where Lucius makes the annoucements.

Oh, I almost forgot. Lucius is the guy we all hate.

Just about seventy-five years ago, a curse was inflicted on Meribah Hill, a summer camp for teenagers. The curse kept us all unable to escape, caused us to stop growing when we turned twenty-one (if not already), and keeps us immortal.

At least we never run out of food

Twenty-ish years later, Willam, the "guy in charge", mysteriously disappeared.

Another seven years later, Dotson, the "other guy in charge", mysteriously disappeared as well.

And then Lucius, who assumed to be the next leader, revealed he was the person who caused the curse on Meribah Hill, just so he could one day control the world.

I really don't know why he thought it could help him "control the world", since even he can't escape the hill, so he really messed up.

Thus, we're stuck. On a large hill. In a summer camp.

Forever.

Yikes, you're probably thinking. That's probably not that bad, considering he can't kill you and all.

Sorry to say, but you're wrong.

We do the same things every day. We get pushed around by the same guy every day. At the same time, we literally don't what will happen next.

Seven-fifty-seven. Pretty much everyone is at the Curve now, everyone else on their way up. Lucius was already there, constantly looking at the time on his half-broken watch and looking to see who was already there.

Then, one of the weirdest things happened. Lucius made eye contact with me.

Instantly, as a habit, I looked away and started a conversation with Layla about her new dishes she cooked up the other day. I couldn't risk the awkward moment that could possibly happen. But at the same time, unwanted thoughts and feelings rushed through my head.

Why was he looking at me?

He's never even considered acknowledging me before.

Did I do something wrong?

Am I going to disappear, too?

I pushed the thoughts away. Calm down Cassandra, I thought to myself. You're overreacting. Again.

The bells above Mac-Dox Honorary ringed eight times, signifying eight o'clock. Without delay, Lucius began the morning announcements.

"Looks like everyone is here!" he announced right away. Maybe that's the reason he noticed me. Yeah, that's it.

"Nothing is different for today," Lucius continued. "Except for the anniversary council. We have a meeting today regarding next week's seventy-fifth anniversary of our wonderful community here on Meribah Hill."

Empty words, I thought.

"Also, today I will be interviewing eligible bachelorettes for the marriage ceremony on the anniversary date as well."

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that.

Our crazy self-made leader wants a wife to be his "queen".

I know, it's insane. I mean, no one wants to marry Lucius. No one.

And the bachelorettes could be anyone. Nobody really knows who they are, just ten girls. Of course, we all have a slight chance we could be one of the ten.

"I feel sorry for all the girls, including me," AK whispered in my ear. "I just hope it's not one of us fi- I mean, four."

We used to be five. Hail, our other friend, disappeared. Just like Willam and Dotson. A total of seven people have disappeared in the last seventy-five years. The other four are Harpton, Bob, Harrison, and Ash.

Harpton was another girl who was in the upstairs cabin. Bob was my brother. Harrison was actually second-in-command; he disappeared along with Willam. Ash was Lucius' ex-girlfriend, but that's another story for another time.

Anyways, by this time, Lucius had dismissed us for breakfast. It was waffles and french toast, which always leaves a smile on my face. AK, on the other hand, gets tired of waffles, but personally, I enjoy it.

Enough about waffles, there's a story to tell.