Infatuation

Chapter 1

Wind howled through the cold, barren forests surrounding a lone summer camp. Usually, this camp was bustling with the excitement of children who got to spend six weeks adventuring the forest, but winter had come along, and that buzzing excitement was taken over by the thin layer of snow that called Camp Redwood its home.

Not many people ventured out to Redwood during this time of year, although on the rare occasion that someone did visit the camp, they were usually only there to call out the names and visit those who had been lost long ago. The camp had faced its fair share of accidents, such as children getting sick or being hurt as they ventured the woods, but the two most famous incidents were the massacres of 1974 and 1984. The true perpetrator behind these two massacres, Margaret Booth, was found trying to flee the country not long after the wrongly accused Brooke Thompson faced her execution.

"Why are you telling me this?"
"P... Pardon me, Sir?"
"I said, why are you telling me this?"
Sat in the back seat of a small, black car was a blonde-haired man. He met the eyes of his driver in the rear-view mirror, his beady black eyes stricken with fear as they darted to face the road once again. The blonde-haired man shifted his weight and threw the file he was holding onto the seat beside him.
"I already know all this." He leaned back, eyes now watching the trees as they passed by.
"I... I was just trying to make conversation, Mr. Langdon. "
"Small talk is clearly not your forte." He let out a deep sigh, eyes darting back to meet the driver's, "Besides, I didn't hire you to drive me all the way out here for some friendly chat, I have business to attend to."
"I know, Sir." The driver gripped the wheel firmly, "It just felt awkward."
Langdon didn't respond, lacing his fingers together on his lap as he closed his eyes.
Soon after, the car slowed to a stop and the driver hurried to open his client's door, his anxious breath becoming a soft, white mist in front of his face.

"W..Would you like me to get your, erm, luggage, Sir?" Langdon replied with a simple nod, the driver quickly opening the boot of the car and grabbing the man's things. One would wonder why such a man would be getting ready to stay at such a cold place, although he seemed rather determined to finish whatever business he had to attend to, no matter the temperature.
With the car's engine still running, the two men walked into the camp, one trailing behind like a loyal dog. Langdon was a rather tall man, his hair cascading down his shoulders. He was wearing a cozy leather trench coat with a faux fur trim, a black button up and vest, a lavish red cravat, and knee-high boots.
"H..how does the main hall sound, Sir?" The driver suggested, "It could get us away from this cold if we turn on the p..power."
Langdon let out a soft chuckle, "Us? You were only driving me here. Once I am done getting... as comfortable as I can, then you can drive yourself back to Los Angeles." He paused, "But yes. The main hall does sound nice." The driver nodded, heading towards the largest building on the campsite.
The two entered, the room only slightly warmer than the outside world. The driver placed the bags he was holding onto the long table sitting in the middle of the room, leaving quietly to find a generator to turn on the power. Langdon rifled through one of the bags, pulling out a folder and flicked through it, muttering to himself. He closed the folder and turned around, only to spot another man leaning against a wall. He was as tall as him, maybe even taller. He had brushed back bleached hair, a small silver earring dangling from his right ear, and two different coloured eyes - the left was a deep green and the right was a calm blue. He stood there, arms crossed. Langdon stared at him for a moment before going back to the folder, opening it once again, looking through the various pieces of paper. He heard the stranger let out a chuckle, "Not gonna say hello?"

Langdon didn't look up from the papers he was holding, "I'd rather not speak unless absolutely necessary." He used his finger to scan down a page. The stranger pushed himself off the wall, walking towards Langdon, who quickly closed the folder.
"Christ, I wasn't gonna look!" He exclaimed, Langdon rolled his eyes.
"This information is classified."
"Oh-ho-ho! Classified? Now I want to see." Langdon didn't reply, putting the folder back in his bag, the stranger continued to hover next to him.
"I would prefer it if you left me alone." He said, "I have no business with you, and I'm not here for fun."
"Well no shit, you don't look like a kid getting ready for a summer camp. It's not even summer!"
"Did you not hear me say that I want you to leave me alone."
"You don't know this place. You might need help finding stuff."
Langdon paused, "I do need help finding a place to stay. I doubt I'll be finished with everything in one day."
"Great! So I'll help you find the nicest cabin. Maybe it could have a four poster bed, a fireplace, ooh.. maybe one of those fancy bear rugs!"
"Ha-ha. Funny."
"I'm hilarious. Grab your shit and follow me."
Langdon took the bags and followed the mystery man outside. The sleek black car was gone, he assumed his driver found the generator and left. Or perhaps he just left, Langdon didn't trust him that much anyways. He followed his self appointed guide to a group of cabins, they weren't that far away from the main hall, but since the camp had been laid to rest for a little over 3 decades, the forest was so overgrown it appeared as though the cabins were in a distant part of the camp. Once he stopped he turned to face Langdon.
"Here we are!" He beamed. Langdon looked at the group of cabins, plants hugged the walls and wooden railings of the mini porches, the wood seemed as if it would fall off at the slightest breeze, and the faded remnants of probably crude grafiti coated the walls.
"I know they aren't nice, but it's quite literally all we have... and sadly, you're going to be sharing with a few people." Langdon raised a brow in response, "I'll tell them not to bother you if you look like you're doing something! Or... not to bother you at all. The girls stay in that cabin-" He pointed to the left, "and the guys stay in the other."
"I suppose I should be with the men." He said, walking towards the cabin on the right, but the stranger stopped him.
"Wait- Hold on, stay there." He rushed into the cabin. Langdon heard voices, although he couldn't make out anything that was said. After a minute or two, he came back out. "Sorry, I just had to make sure they wouldn't bother you. Come in, make yourself at home!"
Langdon hesitated, taking one last look at the awful conditions of his new home for the next few days before he walked up the steps, passing by the stranger and entering the cabin.
The cabin was empty, despite sounding full of people just a few seconds before. Langdon took his surroundings in, the cabin's insides reflected the outside, but the flora barely creeped in. He put his bags down, cautiously stepping over the clothes strewn across the floor. Empty beer cans lay crushed in almost every corner of the room, and Langdon couldn't quite place his finger on what was making the place smell slightly off. He looked back at the doorway, hoping to ask the stranger for help clearing things up, but he seemed to have vanished. Frowning, he gently picked up clothes off of one of the bottom bunks and sat down. His Father had told him to come here, to help those who were lost, but despite coming in with the knowledge of the many souls at this camp, he never felt more alone.

The stranger walked back to the main hall, kicking small rocks and twigs he found along the way.
"You look down, man! What's up?" He looked around, only to find a blond-haired girl wearing a leopard print tube top, short hot pink skirt, and bright blue faux-leather jacket staring directly at him, he continued walking,
"I'm fine, Montana." He assured her.
"You look like you died. Again."
"You bring that up too much."
"What else are we gonna talk about, dude? We're stuck here, so it's not like I can see what the world is up to."
He shrugged. "There's a new guy here. He's all formal, he says he's here on 'business'."
"Oh God, Xavier, you didn't let a yuppie in here did you?"
Xavier half-laughed, "I hope not." Montana grabbed onto his arm both hands, her hot pink acrylic press on nails digging ever so slightly into his skin, Xavier stopped and Montana leaned in close, locking eyes with him.
After a moment of silence, she asked, "Where is he?"
"I'm not telling you, Tana.""
Lame." She dug her nails deeper into his arm, "I guess I'll just go find him."
"Montana-" Xavier yanked his arm from her grip, "I don't know if that's the best idea." He rubbed his arm, her nails leaving tiny indents in his skin.
"Why not? Maybe he's looking to bang."
"What." He furrowed his brow, "Look, he was, like, super dead serious about being left alone. Wouldn't even tell me his name. He had these apparently classified files with him."
"You think he's with the government or something?" Montana raised a brow, crossing her arms.
"I dunno, maybe." Xavier hovered on the idea, "Maybe they found out we existed and wanna, like, do some weird shit with us, like testing our bodies and shit, see how we function."
Montana let out a low hum, "Sounds mental."
"Hah, yeah."The two sat in silence as they continued to walk to the main hall, a soft breeze flowing around the two. As they got close, they could hear laughter erupting from inside. With a quick glance at each other, the two entered and saw 4 people gathered around an old, water damaged, on-its-last-thread copy of the Monopoly board. Being out of touch with the outside world meant anything that could provide fun usually did, and neither of the two had any clue as to how the board games have survived this long. One of the players looked up and smiled, waving the two over.
"Chet, is this really how you plan to spend time while you're kicked out of the cabin?" Xavier asked, sitting down on one side of the table, Montana sat on the other side, playing with the tassels on her sleeves.
"No, Bertie was actually the one who suggested we play."
"Why're ya kicked out?" She asked, riffling through the monopoly money in her hands.
"Xavier told us that there's this new guy here, says he's here for 'business' - whatever that means - and that we gotta stay out of his way."
"He seems pretty sketchy to me." Another one of the guys spoke up. "He just showed up out of nowhere and took our cabin!"
"Well I figured unless the 'business' involved us he would've told me, and he didn't." Xavier shrugged, "He seemed really mad at me for not leaving him alone, too, so I wouldn't take my chances. He seemed different from all the other people that come here."
"Different how?" Chet raised a brow. The monopoly game had stopped at this point, everyone clearly now interested in the idea of someone new.
"You remember that photographer that came here a few years ago? He seemed normal. He just wanted to take some photos, explore a little." Xavier paused, mulling over the memory. "I know this sounds mental but this guy seemed completely different, like, totally different vibes."
The group stared at Xavier in an uncomfortable silence, but before anyone could say anything the door opened, letting the outside air flow through.