A New Kind Of Religion (a Camp Camp fanfiction)

Chapter 1

      Camp Campbell. The one camp that literally had every camp you could think of. Also the one camp that Daniel Niskanen's downfall took place in.

      It had started out as a rather petty competition between the ghostly pale cultist and the enthusiastic red haired counselor. Daniel simply needed to prove why he was a great, or even better, camp counselor than David. Due to Daniel's rather egotistical nature, he admittedly got a little out of hand towards the end, ingesting the poisoned Koolaid before even finishing the song. This landed him a trip to the hospital. 

      The events that happened during his physical breakdown were still very murky to Daniel, he just remembered feeling as though his stomach was turning in on itself along with bleeding gums, feeling of fatigue and his short supply of breath as he clung to David's shoulder, the cheery man now sounding panicked on the emergency hotline. That was it. Everything else during that time period was gone. At least he knew why he was sitting in a hospital bed. 

      Wait... 

      Hospital bed! He felt his pulse quicken realizing the dilemma he was in. Daniel Niskanen was a wanted criminal. He was wanted for the murder of his cult's followers. The hospital staff would surely recognize him, in fact, they must've recognized him by now! He was in the papers, he was everywhere! 

      The click of his hospital room's door opened as a young woman with dirty blonde hair stepped in wearing a pair of scrubs. Daniel could feel a wave of panic wash over his body, wondering if he should try to escape or just let himself be caught. 

      "Good morning Mr. McCarthy!", she said brightly opening the shades in his room. "Glad to see you're awake! How are you feeling?" 

      Daniel frowned, giving her a perplexed look. 

      "Who?"

      The nurse returned his frown. 

      "C'mon David, it's me Anna! I'm the nurse who took care of you when you got hit by that bus, when you were beaten to a pulp by one of your kids at that silly camp two years ago, and just now when you accidentally drank some bad Koolaid. We're hospital buddies just like you said! Remember?", her brows furrowed. "You don't have amnesia do you?" 

      Suddenly it made sense to Daniel. The hospital must have thought he was David due to the uncanny resemblance he had with the red head. He was absolutely delighted by how oblivious this town was. 

      Sensing the personality of the woman by his bedside, checking his catheter, Daniel quickly puts on his charm along with the personality of the camp counselor.

      "Oh Anna! I am so sorry, I'm still just a tiny bit foggy from that Koolaid. So glad to see you're still taking care of me, friend!", he chirped. 

      Anna gave him a bright and relieved smile. 

      "You had me worried there for a second, buddy!", she hummed while adjusting the tubes attached to his arm. "You know, you shouldn't have died your hair blonde. I hear there's a weird cult leader psycho out there and he kinda looks like you." 

      Daniel gritted his teeth at the way she described him. He might be part of a cult, but he wasn't the leader, just the son of a two amazing cult leader parents who wanted the best for everyone and was willing to go to any extent to help people achieve ultimate nirvana. If that was considered weird or psychopathic, then the world's definition of those words really needed to change in his humble opinion. 

      He snapped his neck to the side before turning his head to a very preoccupied Anna. 

      "Oh really? I haven't heard of him! What coincidental bad timing. I'll have to return to my natural color then..", Daniel said, fake sadness in his voice. 

      "What? No, I don't think you have to, I'm sure they'll find the real nutcase before anyone falsely suspects he's you.", she stopped for a second, her eyes showing sudden humor, "Hah! Imagine you a cult leader!"

      "Ahah, what a hilarious thought, Anna!", Daniel said, joining in with her light laughter. 

      The laughter died down and she sniffed, gazing down at her clipboard scribbling down a few things. 

      "Well then Mr. McCarthy! It seems as though you've made a speedy recovery, the rat poison is almost completely drained from your system and you'll be able to return to your beloved camp in no time.", Anna said positively. 

      Daniel was so very pleased to hear this as his lips curved into his unnerving, toothy smile. 

      "I can't wait."