Divided (camp camp) {danvid }

Chapter 8

Daniel's POV___

He and his co-workers sat together under the night sky as they ate dinner. The campers were altogether in one big table and were talking loudly amongst themselves. Daniel chose the spot across from David. He's starting to tolerate his existence and he realized his company wasn't all that bad. He smiled at him when he caught his eye. Something poked his chest when he saw the red head smile abashedly back.

Oh. Someone did poke him.

"You were right. Gwen might be a tough one to crack," Jen said nonchalantly.

"Hm? How so?" Daniel looked down at his plate, avoiding eye contact with anyone until he finished his food.

"She seemed a little.. uninterested when I slipped into the topic of religion." She said uncomfortably. Daniel nodded his head slowly. His friend told him how Gwen sounded bored out of her mind when Jen was trying to lecture her. He frowned in dismay. The tone in Jen's voice sounded a lot like whining.

"Conceal, don't feel, Jen." He interrupted.

"Excuse me?" She blanched. He shook his head.

"If they won't join us, we'll sacrifice them to the Ancient Ones. It's easy as that,"

"But won't it be better if we expanded our circle? Danny, the cult's dying. When was the last time you heard from brother Michael or brother Nik? You told me stories about them yet, I fear you might be lying. You say your cult has been spreading to try and recruit new members. We haven't heard from them, news or otherwise," she was speaking in hushed tones over the rowdy yells of the campers. No one from their table paid any attention to the blonde duo.

"Didn't it ever occur to you that maybe... something happened?" she asked hesitantly. Daniel had been wondering the same. But he had faith in them. He knew his dear brothers were out there doing their jobs the way he was sent out to do. Invade a camp, persuade, then kill. Of course, their deaths aren't put to waste. They were taught to sacrifice campers for the greater good.

"Jen, we never talk about doubts. They only invoke negative emotions. You have quite the imagination for our fellow cultists. But trust me, they're out there." He whispered back to her. "We pledge to this and we are bound to do so. Failure to comply will result in a grave punishment," his voice rasped in her ears.

"And so that is why I believe they're out there doing what's good for them, what's good for us, and what's good for everybody." He smiled. Jen slowly nodded along. Their conversation had come to a close when David decided to slide in the seat next to him.

"Hey hey! What's everyone talking about?" He looked from Daniel to Jen. The poor naïve thing.

"We were thinking of a new activity for the campers. It's kind of on the spot but it sounds exciting!" Jen leaned over the table to tell David. She nudged Daniel discreetly.

"We were wondering if you had any plans for tonight's events. We'd be rude to assume without consulting you first," Daniel apologized with a bow of his head. The brunette laughed and clapped him on the back.

"Nonsense, my friend! We're open to new ideas! Camp is about having fun and experiencing new things. To be honest, I kind of lucked out for tonight. It's great to hear you guys have something planned out," David motioned Gwen over to tell of their plan. She shrugged and went away to put the plates in the kitchen. The camp counselor waited patiently for them to elaborate. Daniel turned to Jen.

"It's a treasure hunting game. Everyone is paired up and we're all given clues to where we'll find certain pieces of the treasure. Gwen and I are excluded though 'cause she helped me set it up. And of course, I'll be the game master! Anyways, the game is timed. There will be five pieces to look for, and there will be six pairs. The pair that ends up empty-handed shall... receive a consequence," She smiled. Daniel nodded and calculated her end game motive for this.

"Sounds great! I'll help and-"

"Oh, you and Daniel are joining too," she grinned. Daniel swore she was giving him a mischievous sideways glance but he refused to meet her eye. Instead, he watched David's reaction. The brunette's eyes widened and he had the biggest smile on his face.

"That's awesome! Gosh, it's been so long since I've played camp activities. Usually, I'm the one handling it and the smiles on the campers' faces after a game satisfies me already. But this is cool! Daniel, can we be partners?" He pleaded the blonde. From the side, he saw Jen give him a curious look.

"Why, of course, David! It'd be a pleasure," he smiled.

Right after dinner and helping Gwen with the dishes, they set up the tables for the game. Jen and Gwen sat behind a large table and called out campers' names as they paired them up randomly. Jen, being the game master, explained the rules and instructions to the game. It seemed to excite them as the campers started jumping on their feet. Some were shivering in cowardice in their place. Daniel could hear mutters of "the dark isn't something to be afraid of" among the crowd. That made him chuckle.

"All you gotta do is be one with the dark. And the dark shall not scare you any longer," he muttered.

As Gwen organized them, Daniel could see who was with who. Of course, he was stuck with the overly-excited camp counselor. Max was with the theater boy, Preston. Nikki was paired up with Space Kid. Neil was paired with Harrison, the magician. The others, he didn't quite know. The girl with the highlights was with the girl with the weird hat. The kid who looked like Hitler was with the big guy.

Jen provided them flashlights to navigate through the dark. Each pair had one flashlight to share. They were only supposed to find one treasure and bring it back to their base once they found it. The team who fails to find any of the pieces and becomes the last to come back to the base will be given consequences.

"What if someone wanted to sabotage the other team and hid the treasure for themselves?" Max raised his hand.

"Then they'll be disqualified and receive dire consequences as well. I'm sure no one would think of cheating. That's an awful habit to have," Jen frowned. "We'll know when you do. Liars go to hell, am I right?" and she laughed.

"Excuse me, how exactly are you sure that you'll know when someone sabotages the game?" Neil interrupted.

She turns her head to him and tilts it the same way Daniel does when he gets irritated. "I have eyes around, kid. Plus, I can easily tell when someone's lying! I've been taught how to decipher eye twitches and movements when someone acts in a certain way. I'm sure Daniel would too," she nods at his direction.

"Is that something they teach you when you sign up for camp counseling?" Nikki asked her friends. They shrugged.

"One more question," one of the campers asked. The one who looked like Hitler. "You mentioned five treasure pieces. There are six pairs. How can this be?"

"Huh, I forgot to mention that on one piece of paper, you are given riddles to find all the five pieces. You must only choose one and cross it out of your list once you find it. As I said, this is a game of quick wit and strength. You must get there before anyone else. We'll have an alarm go off once you have 10 minutes left. Then another alarm for 5 minutes. Then twice the alarm when time's up." Jen elaborated.

"Alright, if there are no more questions, please approach the table for the papers. Once you get them, open them when I tell you so. You'll have 40 minutes to finish the hunt. Everybody have their papers?" Everyone nodded. Daniel held the slip of paper in his hand while David held the flashlight. He checked his watch and estimated the time. 8:20 PM. The game ends at 9 PM sharp.

"Then the game shall begin," with a wave of her hand, everyone opened up the paper and they went their separate ways. His eyes scanned the paper as they prepared to leave. David pointed at the second one on the list and said he thinks he knew where that place was. The brunette was a few steps ahead of him and that's when Daniel looked back.

"What exactly are we hunting for?" he asked Jen when David's back was turned.

"You should know, Danny. We've played this game before," Jen gave him a smile and said nothing more. He knew. The blonde bid farewell as he entered the woods with David, his partner, to find the pieces of an animal. I always knew she'd put that expertise to good use, he thought.

"You think we'll find it before time runs out?" asked the worried boy next to him.

"Don't worry, Davey. As long as you're with me, we'll be unstoppable. It's just like capture the flag," Daniel grinned