The Camp

Chapter Six: Roxie's arrived

Chapter Six

Roxie's arrived

"Nothing can beat the feeling of finding what you have been looking for since forever - the moment you lay your eyes on it, you lose your mind"

It took Roxie longer than expected to finally reach "The Camp". Thanks to her neighbour's car she could cover half the distance but, unfortunately, it broke down only mid-way. She realized that she had no access to her phone, she couldn't even call someone to help her out, not to forget she was deserted in the middle of nowhere to even ask someone to help her.

She waited for some time in a hope that she could get a lift from someone passing by, but with no luck, an hour passed with no sign of any living creature.

Roxie decided there was no more time to waste. She picked up her backpack from the back seat and began to walk on her feet. It was a better alternative to standing helplessly and anticipating for someone to give her a ride-along.

The long narrow concrete roads seemed never-ending as far as it stretched. There was some greenery at every two feet distance, but not enough to make it look alive and for the worse part, even the street lights were very few in number as well as broken.

In a couple of hours, the sun would be down and Roxie wouldn't be able to go much further, and hence she continued to walk as fast as her steps could take her.

It was when she had already walked for an hour with no hope that her legs also decided to give up, she could see a huge banner not so far away. There, led a pathway which was lit with what seemed like remains of torches used during the early times. It seemed pretty ancient. Right there and then, Roxie had a feeling that she was close to the site. It was the only part of her journey that didn't seem sad and brought a smile to her face.

She managed to smile but was already extremely tired from all the walking, she felt oddly weak as if someone had sucked all of her energy out. As she tried to balance herself, she was hit by another headache. Only this time it was slightly lighter than usual.

Luckily, this time she manages not to pass out.

"Just a few feet to go and I'll be able to see my baby sister" Roxie tries to motivate herself.

Somehow, Roxie manages to reach the campsite, but her vision had already started to blur out before she could make it to the entrance. She was as exhausted as one could ever be and the caffeine in her system was also adding up its after-effects.

Her eyelids rolled down, and her body gave up; a couple of steps before entering "the camp".

"I made it", she murmured as she fell down to the ground.

*thudding sound*

____________________

After a couple of hours...

Roxie woke up to a similar voice waking her up. She opens her eyes partially only to realize a familiar set of eyes staring back at her.

They were blue in colour,  just like hers. Her hair fell over her eyes, they were so black that they could blend easily with the dawning night sky. Raven.

"Hey wake up, are you dead??" the voice said.

Roxie could hardly open her eyes, "Ra...Ra..ven is that you?" she stuttered.

"Umm.. yes?" Raven said with a tinge of self-doubt

Roxie proceeds to faint as if her soul has been sucked out and she no longer had life left in her; to speak even.

Raven decided to pick Roxie up and take her to her room, how could she leave someone on the ground? It was already getting late and the temperature was only dropping cold with each passing minute.

Raven proceeds to try to pick Roxie over her shoulders right when she heard someone say something from a distance.

"Raven, run" the voice said.

"Is that you Tim?" Raven questioned.

"Yes, we need to leave right now" he proceeded to walk near Raven and then turned in the direction of the torch-lit pathway.

"But.. what happened?" Raven shuttered.

"Earlier the in-charge said if we stay out during the night, we could get severely punished or fined, or worse even thrown out of the camp for not being disciplined enough", he said as his voice faded into the dawning darkness.

Raven had no time to waste so she picked Roxie up on her back and walked as fast as she could. She wasn't so heavy so it was easy for Raven.

Roxie's feet didn't let her walk straight, it was almost like Raven was dragging Roxie. It was hard to see the path in the dark so Raven did stumble a couple of times while trying to walk faster. Luckily, soon she was in front of the torch-lit pathway, this time it seemed daunting.

The flame wasn't bright blue anymore but purple, it roared in anger going on and off again and again. To be honest at this point Raven was a little bit scared, but she knew she would make it in time, or at least she had to. She didn't want to face any consequences of staying out late, as she wanted to enjoy the break and not suffer. There is a thing about Raven, though she can be mischievous at times, she never liked the taste of punishments and has always made sure to avoid them or not get them in the first place.

Not very far from the cabin-like building she noticed a clock tower to her left, it was a crossroad. The ticking of the second-hand could easily be heard as there was no other sound present at that moment. The whole camp seemed dead, pin-drop silence with only the ticking of the clock, the only sound almost like the beats of a heart creeping in.

There was still one-minute left for the minute hand to hit 12, it would be 6 pm then.

A few steps later, as soon as Raven stepped inside the cabin, the door shut itself close and the bell of the clock could be clearly heard.

It was loud, frightening and echoed throughout the camp.