Two Sides of the Same Coin ( camp camp )

Pulling Back the Curtains

Gwen was getting really frustrated. What started as a nagging feeling was quickly becoming a serious issue. This hole in her memory seemed to be getting bigger and bigger, with no relief in sight. But what had she forgotten, and why was it so urgent? She started to pace back and forth. Sometimes people could get their memories back by going to the place where the memories came from. The only issue was, she didn't know where to go, exactly. This gap was starting to drive Gwen nuts. Whatever, she'd focus on that once she had those little nightmares called children busy with an activity. As she stepped outside, Gwen saw David's car pulling up. David and Max stepped out, but something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes, going closer.

Max looked deeply shaken up, trembling and holding his hands close to his chest. David had one hand on his back, and was murmuring softly to him, telling him that everything was alright and that he was safe. At least, that's what Gwen could read from David's moving lips. "Yo. What happened?" Gwen asked, going up to the two. "Nothing!" Max snapped, but his scared expression dulled the anger. "Just David's stupid driving." The redhead shrugged sheepishly. "The other driver came really fast. But we didn't crash!" "I see that." Replied Gwen, looking deadpan. The two hastily shuffled off. Somehow, Gwen didn't believe a word either of them said. Something wasn't adding up, and the both of them had been acting incredibly strange as of late. This was only piling up more questions than there were answers, and Gwen was sick of it. She was going to figure out the truth, no matter what.

What were they hiding? It wasn't like Max or David would lie about getting ice cream, or something stupid like that. If those two were working together, something was wrong. And Gwen could bet it was related to that huge gap in her memory. Knowing was one thing, actually proving it was another. For as bird-brained as David presented himself as, he was actually very good at avoiding things when he wanted to. He could easily disappear and Gwen wouldn't see him the whole day, even though campers insisted he'd just been there. It was annoying as hell. Cornering him was damn near impossible, and Gwen hated when things required effort. After a week of this, Gwen realized she didn't have a choice. She had to go to Max. Great, just fantastic. That little shit hated her for sure, and he wasn't Gwen's favorite camper, per say. Though all the kids gave her a headache, so that wasn't saying much. With a sigh of deep reluctance, Gwen headed towards Max's tent.

The boy seemed to jolt when Gwen pushed aside the tent flap, hastily shoving something underneath his pillow. Mr. Honeynuts maybe? Gwen only felt a little guilty for making fun of him for it. "Hey Max." "What do you want?" Snapped Max, sounding hasty. That was... odd, to say the least. "I'm gonna regret saying this, but I'm worried about David. You and him have been acting super fucking weird ever since Daniel found you in the woods. And it's been getting even weirder every day. Did something happen?" Max seemed to mull this over, fiddling with the bedsheets and sighing. "Gwen, how long ago was that?" Okay, unexpected but not super odd. "Uhm like... four days ago?" Max began to fiddle even more with the sheets, deeply conflicted. A cold shiver of worry slid down Gwen's back. "Gwen that was five days ago." "Huh? No way, I remember it being four." "Daniel found me on Tuesday, right? What happened Monday?" He was looking at Gwen intensely, anxiously. Deft fingers had torn a hole in the sheets, and it was widening steadily. "I... I..." The harder Gwen thought about it, the more her head ached. Everything was fuzzy, blurry like a painting in water. "I don't know." It was like an egg had been cracked on her head, sending freezing chills down her whole body despite the sticky heat. Max seemed almost hopeful, in a way.

"I have to go, right now." Gwen felt a deep sense of dread, and she didn't know why. But she had to get out of here, now. Two tiny hands grabbed her wrists. Max, of course. "No! You can't! Listen, think about it. You can't remember Monday, nobody in camp can! Now why would that be? Someone messed with our minds Gwen!" The words made perfect sense, but they felt so wrong. As if accepting this notion would make her sick. "You're fucking nuts Max. Whatever happened to you made you even crazier than before." Gwen roughly tugged her wrists free and hurried away. Max didn't try to stop her. She could hear a small thud as she walked away. That was the least of her concerns though. Her feet carried her into the counselor's office and straight to the coffee machine, with a steaming cup already waiting for her. As she drank it, her headache seemed to fade, so she drank more and more until her mug was empty and then she refilled. Her brain felt pleasantly fuzzy, and she decided to take a nap.

Max kneeled on the floor, watching his last hope go. Whatever Daniel had done to Gwen, it was serious. At even the idea of the truth, she completely flipped out. She'd been his last hope and now- well, now he had nothing. Nothing but David who was completely until Daniel's thumb and the blond Devil himself. Of all the thoughts to have, Max had to admit it he was a bit impressed. Daniel had managed to put everything under his control. He broke through their ceiling and then convinced them they'd never had one to begin with. Max gently lifted his pillow, pulling out the bloody knife from under it. The same knife Daniel made him kill someone with. Granted, he'd been a horrible person, but a person nonetheless. There was no forgetting that squelch, or the give of squishy fat and stringy muscle. What's worse is that Max didn't hate it, and hated himself for not hating it. What a funny paradox that was.

There really was no way out, was there? Max could feel a darkness creeping, just in the corner of his vision. He'd resisted for so long, fought for so long. For what? Daniel had already won the second he laid eyes on David again. What could Max really have done? And as much as he wanted to hate Daniel, or blame him, he couldn't. Those urges were always there, to tear apart and maim and hate, Daniel just added gasoline to the fire. Max was burning, there was no denying that anymore. Slowly green eyes fluttered shut, and Max let the darkness burn behind his eyelids.