I’m so depressed I could cry but I stop myself and I look at Amelia’s golden aura, which seems to calm me. Amelia is still looking out the window, her brown hair pulled up neatly into a ponytail. I smile at her but all of a sudden, we hit a bumpy dirt road. We should be approaching Camp Crystal Lake soon. By the time the bus stops, my brain is stuck to the top of my skull.

“Come on out!” The counselor who doesn’t remember me says. Me, Amelia, Jake, Olivia, and Jana are the last ones out. Once I get out, I sigh at the beauty of the place, it really is pretty. The lake is so still and clear it looks like solid crystal and the trees hug the lake as if they are keeping the lake a secret from the world.

“Go to the dining hall! Go to the dining hall!” The counselors shout through loudspeakers. I turn my head away from the lake and go to the dining hall, leading my friends to it. I immediately spot the dining hall, which is a plain wood building with a brightly colored sign that appears to be painted by children. I walk over there and sit down at a round table in front of the stage. My friends sit down in the other chairs.

“What are we doing here?” Jake asks.

“Joe will just tell us about the rules and which cabins we’re in. It’s just basic stuff and then we’ll go to our cabins and dump our stuff there,” I answer.

“Are you some sort of expert on this camp?” Olivia asks.

“No, I’ve just been coming here since I was eight, so I know the routine,” I say.

“Ah, I get it,” Jana says. We just sit around talking until an old man with white hair appears on the stage.

“Attention everyone!” He shouts out. All eyes in the room turn to the old man. “Thank you. My name is Joe and I run this fine camp. I will assure that you will all have a great time here and these people-“ Joe points to the counselors. “Will ensure that your camp experience is nothing short of spectacular,” the counselors cheer at this. “However, I have a few big rules to go over with you. Your counselors will go over some more rules with you but these are the rules that are strictly enforced. The first rule is to have fun!” Everyone in the room cheers. “The second rule is to always have a buddy with you in the lake. And the third rule is to never go into the Black Forest. This rule I will strictly enforce. If you break any of these rules, you will be sent home,” Joe says gravely. “The boys’ cabins are on the right and the girls’ cabins are on the left. You have about two hours to get settled before the bonfire tonight. Now get lost!” The old man waves us off and disappears behind the stage.

Me and Jake go to cabin number three and we dump our bags on the top bunk.

“We can’t both have the top bunk,” Jake says.

“Fine, you can have the top bunk, I’ll take the bottom,” I volunteer.

“Cool,” Jake says as our counselor walks in. He’s a tall, skinny guy with black hair and olive skin. I’m scared now, we have a counselor with a black aura.

“Hey guys, quick group meeting,” he rounds us up into the center of the cabin. “My name is Gus and my rules are simple. Don’t break the rules or bother me and you won’t get your butts kicked. Understand?” Gus says bluntly.

“Yeah,” I say.

“Good,” Gus says as he turns his head towards me. His eyes widen and his nose wrinkles at the sight of me. “Now get away from me,” Jake and I head over to our bunks to talk for a while.

“Do I have BO or something?” Jake asks.

“No, I don’t think so,” I answer honestly.

“Huh. I wonder why Gus acted like something smelled,” Jake says as he unpacked his suitcase.

“Don’t know,” I say. I have a theory though, I think the people with the black auras just don’t like the people with the white and gray auras. They try to stay away from them. I don’t know what my aura is but I have a feeling it’s white or gray because the people with the black auras hate me for some reason. I remember when I was ten, I had this mean counselor, yeah, I remember Houston.



“Alright guys, get settled and then we’ll go to the bonfire,” Houston said. I was already unpacked so I decided I wanted to go to the lake.

“Houston?” I asked.

“Yes?” Houston said.

“May I go to the lake?”

“No, you have to stay here, the others will be done unpacking soon.”

“I’ll be back in five minutes, I swear,” I promised. Houston leaned forward towards me and his nose wrinkled up. “So can I?”

“No,” he said sternly. “You stay here, or you’re not allowed to go to the bonfire!” He yelled at me so loudly, I hid behind the bunk bed for protection. I could tell by the look on his face that he wanted to hurt me.

“Ye- ye-yes sir,” I stuttered. His brown eyes were full of hate and his brown hair was all messed up. He looked like a lunatic. When we left for the bonfire I remained quiet, not wanting to make Houston even more angry. When the bonfire was over, we went back to the cabin and we got ready for bed. I wasn’t tired though so I stayed up to read. I was curled in my covers, using a book light to see the pages. After a while Houston got up and told me to get out of bed. I closed my book and I got out of bed. “Yes?”

“I don’t have time for your incompetence,” Houston said, clearly mad. “I don’t have time for your whining or even your nighttime reading habits. If you disobey me again, there will be consequences.”

“Look, I’m sorry about earlier, I just wanted to see the lake.”

“Don’t say sorry to me.”

“Ok then,” I shrugged and I went back to bed. The next morning I heard a crash. It startled me out of bed and I saw that a lamp had fallen from a dresser. I didn’t know who did this so I just went back to bed, it wasn’t my problem.

“Who did this?” Houston yelled. A small blonde boy with a black aura walked over to Houston. “Did you do this?” Houston asked.

“No,” the boy said innocently. “He did,” the boy said, pointing at me.

“No- no, it’s a lie! He’s lying!” I tell Houston.

“I’m not lying,” the blonde boy said.

“Come here Todd,” Houston said cooly. “I warned you that there would be consequences,” Houston said as he raised his hand. I was frozen in terror, I couldn’t even move I was so afraid. He swung his hand and hit me so hard on the cheek I fell backwards. I could taste blood inside my mouth. Tears started to form and my throat closed up. “Don’t even think about crying.” So I stopped myself, not wanting to risk another punch in the face from Houston. “Good,” Houston said, going out the door. I looked over at the blonde kid, who was now smiling smugly. I just crawled in bed, sobbing quietly until I fell asleep. It was then that I realized that the people with the black auras hated me. No, they didn’t just hate me, I was their mortal enemy.

When I’m remembering what happened with Houston I get the shivers, I hope that doesn’t happen with Gus.

“Todd. Todd,” Jake says, waving his hand in front of my face. “Are you okay? You kind of spaced out.”

“Yeah, I’m fine, I was just thinking,” I say.

“I think the others are leaving for the bonfire, let’s go.”

“Okay, let’s go,” I say and we walk over to the bonfire, where the girls are waiting for us.

“Hey guys!” Olivia says when she sees us. “How’s your cabin?”

“Eh, it’s ok. Our counselor’s a little gloomy. How’s yours?” Jake replied.

“Ugh! Don’t ask!” Jana says.

“Our counselor, Andrea, is Dora the Explorer. Hey everybody! Let’s all be best friends!” Olivia imitated her. “Excruciating.”

“It really is, she’s terrible!” Jana says.

“You wouldn’t believe what Jana said to Andrea! She has some sort of death wish!” Olivia says.

“What did you say?” Jake asks Jana, obviously excited.

“I called her Barbie.” Jana answered.

“You didn’t! What did Andrea say?” Jake asks.

“Nothing, I don’t think she even heard me.” Jana replied.

“You are so lucky!” Jake says.

“Yeah, she is. Andrea deserves it though, she’s terrible.” Amelia says and shakes her head.

“Sorry,” I say.

“It’s not your fault,” Amelia says, smiling at me. I look over at her and think about how pretty she looks with her golden aura glowing even more in the firelight. I smile back at her and I open my mouth to say something but I’m interrupted.

“Okay everybody! Eyes up here!” Joe shouted over the roar of the flames. “Welcome to the bonfire! Before we start, let’s have dinner. Behind you there’s a table with hot dogs, skewers, and buns. Help yourself!” Everybody gets up to go to the table but I just sit down on my log, I would wait until the line gets a little shorter.

“Are you hungry?” Someone beside me asks. I turn around and see Amelia, looking at me with her warm, brown eyes that remind me so much of Autumn’s.

“I am, I just want to wait until the line’s a bit shorter. You?” I ask.

“I’m hungry too but I think I’ll just wait with you.”

“Cool.”

“So how long have you been coming to this camp?”

“I’ve been coming here since I was eight.”

“Wow, and how old are you now?”

“Fifteen, so I’ve been coming here seven years. Is this your first year?”

“Yeah, it’s my first year.”

“How old are you?”

“The same age you are, fifteen.”

“Awesome.”

“Not really, I’ll be sixteen in July.”

“Me too. Why are you not happy?”

“I don’t want to grow up, call me Peter Pan but I don’t.”

“I do, I can’t wait to go to college and to get out of the house.”

“I guess we’re exact opposites then. The line’s shorter, do you want to go now?” Amelia asks me.

“Yeah, let’s go,” I say, heading over to the table with the hot dogs. I roasted my hot dog so much, it turned black, just the way I like it. I look over at Amelia and she’s slowly roasting her hot dog, I don’t have the patience to do that, to just wave food in front of my face when I’m starving. I eat my hot dog quickly and soon, Joe calls for our attention.

“Attention everyone!” Joe calls. Everyone stops talking and pays attention to him. “Thank you. Now, you know that every good bonfire has to have a ghost story right?” Everybody murmurs yes and then everyone quiets down, eager to see what ghost story Joe has to tell. “The story I’m going to tell is true and it occurred right here at Camp Crystal Lake. This was back in 1985 and the kids and their counselors were around the bonfire, singing songs and eating hot dogs, just like us. That night though, a thick mist came from the Black Forest, enveloping the entire camp in a thick, white blanket. That mist was so thick, you could cut a hole in it with a butter knife. First, everyone was confused, they never saw the mist hovering over the mountains, it formed quickly. Then, the screaming started. The cries of the campers and counselors pierced the night but it didn’t do any good. After that, silence. You might have thought you were deaf it was so quiet. Once the mist went away though, the camp was covered in pools of blood but no bodies were ever found to match them. Some people think they’re still alive, they think they live in the Black Forest but they are like animals. However, we will never know the answer to what happened back in 1985. But, if you listen carefully, you can sometimes hear the screams of the campers, trying to run away from some kind of evil force. That is why you must never go into the Black Forest children, something evil lurks in there, something so evil it could take the lives of over one hundred people. So please, heed my words. The end,” and Joe finished his story. No one spoke, I could even hear the crickets chirping.

“Wow,” Jake says. “That’s creepy.”

“Now,” Joe says. “I will explain the challenge. Every year at Camp Crystal Lake, we have a competition between cabins to find eleven crystal triangles. The crystal triangles are all scattered around camp and they’re fairly hard to find. However, one crystal triangle has never been found. Maybe this will be the year someone finally discovers it. On each crystal triangle, there will be a word such as responsibility, love, and honesty. The winning cabin wins a dance party with all sorts of surprises,” Joe says. Everyone murmurs at this. “Good night and good luck, may the odds ever be in your favor,” Joe says as he walks away. Once he gets farther away, his black aura is hardly even noticeable.

“Hey guys,” Jake says. “I have a plan but let’s meet somewhere more private.”

“Okay,” Olivia says. “Let’s go. You lead the way.”

“ Okay, let’s go to the supply shed, no one will be there at this time,” Jake says. We all follow him and I think about the challenge. I hope I win this year, I’ve been here for seven years and I have never won the challenge. I came close to winning when I was eleven but I never did win.



“Okay guys! We’re going to win the challenge right?” Doug, my overly competitive counselor said.

“Yes!” Everyone said in unison. I was actually excited about this, maybe I actually stood a chance this time. I looked everywhere for those crystal triangles but I never found one. I looked and looked until it came to the last week. Nine crystal triangles were found and the high school boys cabin and my cabin were in the lead. Each of us had three, the high school girls had two, and the elementary boys had one. I was looking everywhere for that last crystal triangle, I really wanted to win.

I decided to look in the boathouse for the crystal triangle but I was sure that wasn’t the place to look. I looked anyway and I scoured that boathouse. It was hard to see in there, it only had one window but I kept looking. Just when I was about to give up, I saw a glint of light from a shelf in the boathouse. I looked at the beam of light coming from the window and I followed it’s path to the shelf. That’s when I saw it, the crystal triangle. I was so excited but the triangle was too far up so I needed a ladder to get to the shelf.

I looked around for one and I saw a step ladder that would go just high enough to get the crystal triangle. I got it and I brought it over to the shelf to climb up on it. Once I got it down, I stared at it for a while. I did it! We won the challenge! I ran my fingers over the engraved letters that spelled out integrity. I was just giddy so I ran out of the boathouse to give it to my counselor but I ran straight into rock hard abs. Seriously, the boy’s stomach was rock hard so it hurt my head a bit.

“Excuse me,” I said, trying to get around him. The boy wouldn’t let me get around him. He was tall, lean, and muscular and I would guess that he was about sixteen years old. He scared me a little because his aura was black, he could be mean. “Please, I need to get around you,” I told him, trying not to get him mad.

“Sure, little man, I’ll let you get through, if you give me your triangle,” The boy said

“What? I’m not going to give you the triangle! Let me go!”

“I certainly will if you give me it.”

“In your dreams!”

“No, I’m afraid this is reality,” the boy said as he yanked the crystal triangle from my hands.

“No! Give that back! I’m going to tell my counselor!” I hollered at him.

“Kid, if you were smart, you wouldn’t do that. Because if you do, I’ll make your life a living hell,” and he walked away. I just stood there shocked and tears welled up in my eyes. For a long time I just stood there, crying silently in front of the boat house. Why? Why? I was so close, so close…

“Someone turn the light on!” Jake says.

“Where is it?” Olivia asks.

“Here it is!” Jana says and turns the light on.

“Much better!” Jake says. “Have a seat everyone,” and we all find a spot on the dusty floor.

“Why are we here?” Olivia asks.

“Yeah Jake, why are we here?” Jana inquired.

“We are here because I really want to win the challenge and I really want to find the eleventh crystal triangle,” Jake says.

“That will be hard,” I say.

“Yeah, no one has found it before,” Olivia says.

“I know that but I have an idea as to where it will be,” Jake tells everyone.

“Pray tell,” Amelia says.

“In the Black Forest,” Jake reveals.

“The Black Forest? But we can’t go in there, it’s against the rules,” Amelia says.

“Oh please Amelia! You actually believe the story the old man told us?” Jake asked me.

“No, I don’t but he obviously doesn’t want us to go in there,” Amelia responds.

“ Yeah, if Joe tells us not to go in there, we shouldn’t go in there,” I say.

“Todd, that ghost story was just to scare kids into not going into the forest so they wouldn’t get lost and in turn, the parents won’t sue Joe,” Olivia tells me.

“Yeah but the dangers are still very real, we could get lost, hurt, or even killed!” Amelia warned everyone.

“I agree,” I say.

“Whose side are you on Todd?” Olivia asked.

“No one’s. I want to win the challenge but I don’t want to get hurt,” I say.

“We won’t Todd, I have very good outdoor skills, I was a girl scout,” Jana tells me.

“And we’ll have a map, supplies, and food,” Jake says.

“Okay then, maybe it won’t be so bad,” I say.

“No, it won’t. However, we should wait for a while until all ten triangles are found before we go on our little hike,” Jake suggests.

“Little?” Amelia says.

“Does it sound like a plan?” Jake asks everyone.

“Yep,” Olivia says.

“Same here,” Jana says.

“Yes,” I say, surprising myself.

“Fine. I don’t agree but I’ll do it,” Amelia laments.

“But who gets the credit of the triangle?” Olivia asks.

“Yeah!” Amelia exclaims. “Who gets the credit? We’re in different cabins.”

“Simple, we split it in half,” Jake says

“Okay, that’s settled. See you guys later?” Olivia asks.

“Yeah, see you later!” Jake says. After that, everyone piles out of the stuffy shed and I turn off the light. Amelia shuts the door and she heads for the shore of the lake.

“Todd!” She shouts over to me. “Do you want to walk?” I think about it for a while but I finally come over to join her. “What’s up Todd?” Amelia asks me.

“The stars,” I say, pointing up at the sky.

“Ha ha, very funny.”

“Okay, don’t laugh,” I say but I hear a soft chuckle come from her.

“Why do you want to go to the Black Forest?”

“I’ve always wanted to win the challenge,” I say, kicking a rock on the shore of the lake.

“No, that’s not it,” Amelia says, reading my mind.

“Yeah, that’s just part of the bigger reason I guess.”

“What’s the bigger reason?”

“I’ve just always felt like a failure. I fail my family, I fail myself, and someday, I’ll probably fail the whole world.”

“You never were a failure Todd, at least not until now,” Amelia says strangely.

“What do you mean?” I ask her.

“Have you ever tried to go into the Black Forest?”

“Yeah, I was about nine or something and I wanted to get sticks for a fort and Joe caught me. He gave me quite a talking to.”

“Exactly what I mean. If Joe wants to keep us out, he’ll keep us out,” Amelia says. After that she started to walk to her cabin and I just watched her walk there, I loved looking at her golden aura. After Amelia went in her cabin, I just walked some more around the lake. It’s a full moon tonight and the pale light is shining on the surface of the lake. It’s peaceful, watching the tiny waves that are illuminated with the moonlight lap the shore. If there is one thing that I missed about this place, it was this. I think back to my conversation with Amelia and I remember how angry Joe got at me.



I was always a quiet kid, I never had a lot of friends, and I never even made an effort to make some. I was perfectly content with the lake. I didn’t need to do scavenger hunts and food fights to keep myself entertained just like the other kids do, the lake was all I needed to be happy and busy. The other kids didn’t really like me though, they hated me even. Especially the kids with the black auras. Sometimes the kids with gray or white auras hated me too.

They would chase me and call me names so I usually just steered clear from them. When I got up in the morning, I would eat breakfast and I would go to my own little place by the lake. There were plenty of boulders and logs to keep me out of sight. I would skip rocks, go swimming, catch minnows, make boats, and a whole bunch of other activities. And I was happy. One day, I wanted to build a fort so I was looking for good sticks to bring back to my spot for the fort.

I was walking near the campgrounds but I wasn’t paying attention to who might be near me. I was just looking for my sticks so I went into the forest but not far into it, to look for sticks. I came out carrying an armful of handsome looking sticks so I proudly started to carry my load back to my side of the lake.

“You broke the rules,” a voice says behind me. I winced and turned around, I was in trouble. I dropped my sticks and I faced Joe.

“Sorry sir, I was just looking for sticks,” I said innocently.

“It doesn’t matter, er, what’s your name?” Joe asked.

“Todd.”

“It doesn’t matter Todd, you knew what the rules were but you chose to ignore them.”

“I’m sorry Joe, really, I was just looking for sticks.”

“I could have you kicked out of camp for this!” Joe yelled. I cowered in fear, hoping Joe wouldn’t hurt me.

“Todd, stop being a coward, sooner or later, you’re going to have to learn how to face your enemies and how to face your punishment.”

“O-okay sir, I’m sorry,” I stuttered.

“Stop saying sorry Todd, sorry never means anything,” Joe said coldly.

“Then what do I say?”

“You don’t say anything,” Joe told me. “It’s up to the other person as to whether they should forgive you or not.”

“Do you forgive me?”

“I’m thinking about it but you won’t get by unpunished. All actions have consequences and too few kids ever learn that these days.”

“What’s my punishment?”

“Your cabin will have a crystal triangle taken away. Because Todd, your actions influence others so your consequences will influence others too,” Joe said.

”But everyone will hate me!” I whined.

“Exactly my point,” Joe said as he walked away. I watched him, shocked, afraid, and suspicious. That’s how I knew that Joe was guarding something, guarding something that he didn’t want me to know about.

I’m walking through the Black Forest and it’s around twilight. It’s peaceful just walking around, weaving through the trees. The birds are warbling and getting ready to go to sleep, the pine needles crunch beneath my feet. I’m not afraid of getting lost, somehow, I know where I’m going. I know I’m going somewhere important but I don’t know what the important thing is.

I probably still have miles to go but I’m not in a hurry, I have time and I’m perfectly content meandering through the maze of trees. Then, I see a fox run across my path. It pauses to look at me and then it runs away. All of a sudden, I get worried for some reason but I quickly push the thoughts away, there is no reason to worry at all. Then, I reach a clearing.

Amelia is on the other side of the clearing, watching me with cold, empty eyes. She was so devoid of life, hollow even. Her golden aura is dim and it no longer draws me in, it makes me feel afraid. She’s in this ripped white dress and she’s curled up in a ball like she wants to make herself as small as possible.

“What are you doing here Amelia?” I ask her but no sound comes out. After I say this she looks away from me and towards the trees on her right. I’m confused so I look over to where she’s looking at. Joe emerges from the trees and he walks over to Amelia, his black aura almost blending in with the approaching nightfall. He stops right next to her and crouches down her level.

“Wonderful,” Joe says, lifting up her wrist and bringing it towards his mouth.

“What are you doing?” I say, still no sound coming out. Once he brings her wrist to his nose, his face scrunches up.

“Disgusting,” he says throwing her wrist down and grabbing ahold of her head. All of a sudden, I know what Joe is going to do to her, he’s going to kill Amelia.

“No!” I try to shout. It’s no use though so I try to move my feet but they don’t budge. Joe is turning her head, getting ready to snap her neck. I keep trying to make useless rescue efforts but then I feel a tapping on my shoulder. Is someone going to kill me too? I freeze, hoping the person behind me won’t kill me. The tapping keeps on going, I wonder why but eventually, I wake up and I’m in my bed in the cabin. I’m soaked with sweat and I’m panting hard.

“Bad dream?” A girl’s voice asks me.

“Yes, a horrible dream,” I answer. I turn my head towards the voice and I see a shining, gold aura. Amelia. “Amelia? What are you doing here?”

“I want to show you something. Come on, put your shoes on,” Amelia tells me.

“What could you possibly want to show me at this time of night?”

“Something. Come on, put your shoes on.”

“Fine,” I give in and I put on my shoes. “What’s up?”

“The moon,” Amelia says.

“Very funny. Really, what’s going on?” I ask her.

“You’ll see,” Amelia says mysteriously. Once I’m done putting on my shoes I look up at Amelia.

“I’m ready.”

“Good. Let’s go,” she says as she heads for the door. She opens the door and lets us both out. It is pretty cool out and I wonder what time it is. Amelia closes the door behind us and she goes ahead of me. I follow her across the campground and she goes to the dining hall. The lights are on and I wonder why. Amelia opens the door as quietly as she can and she beckons me inside. Once I get in, I see all of our counselors and Joe is up on the stage telling everyone something. I notice that there are some kids there too and I get it, all of the people with the black auras are here.

“Come on Todd,” Amelia whispers and waves me over to her hiding spot, a bunch of chairs that were stacked against the wall after dinner. I walk over to her and I peer through the holes in the chairs to see what’s going on.

“Who is going to be our guard this year?” Joe asks everyone.

“Do we even need a guard this year?” A girl says.

“Yeah do we need one? No kid has ever found it,” A guys says.

“Every kid here is too afraid to go into the black forest,” another girl says. Except for us I think.

“True but do we really want to risk that?” Joe asks.

“There is no risk Jax, no one has ever found it,” a guy assures Jax. Hang on Jax? Does he mean Joe? I must be hearing things.

“Okay, maybe we don’t need a guard this year but make sure to keep a sharp eye out for kids that might be going into the forest,” Joe says. “Meeting closed, go back to your cabins.”

“Strange,” I say, getting up.

“Get down Todd!” Amelia snaps. I get back down but a little too fast, I lose my balance and I knock over a tower of chairs. I freeze and all of the people in the room look around the room to see where the crash came from.

“It was the chairs,” some guy says, pointing over towards the towers of chairs.

“Well check it out!” Joe yells at the guy. The guy starts to walk towards the chairs and I curl into a ball, hoping that I’m so small, he won’t even see me.

“Todd! Run!” Amelia tells me. I get up and I run for the door. I’m guessing that they saw me because I hear a lot of people stampeding towards me and Amelia. “Todd! Run to your cabin!”

“Okay, you go to yours!” I tell Amelia. I run to my cabin and Amelia runs to her’s. I get into my cabin and hop into bed shoes and all. Soon, I hear Gus come back into the cabin and crawl into his own bed. Phew, that was close. I remind myself never to go on late night outings with Amelia again, next time she will surely get me killed! It was just like that time in third grade when me and my friend were listening in on the principle.



“Hey Todd, do you want to play spies after school?” My friend asked me. All boys in the third grade like to play police and spies so I said yes. “Awesome. I’ll meet you in the bathroom at approximately fifteen hundred hours,” my friend Josh said.

“What?” I asked him, I didn’t understand at all.

“Three o’ clock.”

“Okay,” I said to him and the bell rang. Recess was over. After school though, I met Josh in the bathroom at three like he told me to. “What are we going to spy on?”

“Not what, who,” Josh said mischievously.

“Okay, who are we going to spy on?” I asked.

“We’re going to spy on Miss Armstrong.”

“The principle? I don’t want to get in trouble!”

“We won’t.”

“How do you know?”

“Because her secretary is practically blind and I’m an expert on spying,” Josh assured me. He was right though, the secretary had these thick glasses and she still couldn’t see well in them. Josh was a pretty good spy too.

“Okay, if you say so.”

“Awesome! Let’s go,” Josh said. We went into the school building and we checked every hallway for teachers and students, every single hallway was empty. Soon we reached the office and the blind secretary was still there.

“Crawl,” Josh whispered and he got down on his knees to crawl past the secretary. I did the same and we crawled to the door of the principle’s office. Josh held out his hand to me. This meant stop so I did. We were behind this fern or was it a ficus? We were well hidden, no one would see us. Soon, this lady came into the office and she spoke to the blind secretary.

“Is principal Armstrong here?” The lady asked.

“Yes, she is,” the secretary said in her shaky, old voice. “Go in if you like.”

“Thanks,” the lady said. She was a pretty blonde woman but her eyes looked sad. Josh held out a thumbs up and he pointed his finger to his olive colored ear. This meant great, now let’s listen.

“Principal Armstrong?” The lady said.

“Yes?” The principal said.

“I’m here to talk about my daughter, Gabrielle.”

“Last name?”

“Ocha,” the lady said. A grin spread across Josh’s freckled face. Gabrielle Ocha was in our class.

“What do you need?” The principle asked.

“Well, Gabrielle has been having some problems.”

“What kind of problems?”

“Her brother just died and she says that she’s been seeing him.”

“She’s hallucinating?”

“Yeah, she’s seeing things that aren’t there,” the lady said. Josh smirked and raised his eyebrows up and down. This meant jackpot. “I know losing someone close to you is hard on kids but I don’t think this is normal.”

“I’m so sorry for your loss Mrs. Ocha, what can we do for Gabrielle?”

“We have her in private counseling sessions but my husband and I were wondering if she could see the counselor here as well.”

“Sure, I will arrange that with the social worker here and I will call you with more information later.”

“Great. Goodbye.”

“Goodbye and again, I’m so sorry for your loss.”

“Thanks. Talk to you later,” the lady said as she left the room. Josh and I watched her go out the building before we went back to the bathroom. I really felt sorry for Gabrielle, that was so sad.

“Cool, now we have a ton of information!” Josh exclaimed.

“Yeah Josh,” I said sadly. “I need to go back home. See you later,” and I walked out of the bathroom, leaving my friend behind. I walked back home, thinking about Gabrielle and what I heard about her. I never got any sleep that night so when I went back to school the next day, I was tired. In class I saw Josh whispering to some of the kids but I assumed it was nothing, he always did that. At recess, I saw Gabrielle being bullied by some kids.

“Go away! I’m not crazy!” She told the boys. I went over to see what was going on and I heard what the boys were saying to her. They were all chanting crazy and nutcase and they were asking her if she saw her brother right now. This was cruel. How could Josh do this? When we went back to class I saw Gabrielle crying in the back of the classroom. I went over to her and sat next to her.

“Why are you crying?” I asked her.

“You know why Todd,” Gabrielle said, her voice cracking. “I saw you come over to the group and you didn’t even try to stop them. Go away!”

“I’m- I’m sorry,” I said, even though I knew she wouldn’t forgive me.

“Just go away Todd. Go away,” and she buried her head into her knees, crying. So I went away. I told Josh that he wasn’t my friend anymore that day. I didn’t know that he would ever do that, that he was capable of such cruelty. Gabrielle transferred to another school before the week was even over. If there was anything that I learned from this incident, it was that some things, no matter how interesting they are, aren’t meant to be heard.

When I get out of bed, my memory of the events of last night is so foggy they seem like a dream. For a while I actually believe it until I see my feet that still have my tennis shoes on. That’s how I know it wasn’t a dream. Ever since I got into bed last night at around one in the morning it was a quiet, dreamless sleep, like I was dead. Oh! What I’d give to be dead right now! My achy breaky back and arms and tailbone and everything else that’s attached to my body that you can think of! I force myself to get up and take a shower, get dressed, and to brush my teeth.

“Morning Todd,” Jake says sleepily once he wakes up. “How’d you sleep?” I didn’t want to tell him about my dream and about how me and Amelia almost got creamed by the people with the black auras last night.

“Like a rock,” I say, partly telling the truth. “You?”

“Same here.”

“Good,” I say. Once everyone gets dressed for the day, all of us head to the dining hall for breakfast. Jake and me get our breakfast and look around for the girls. Soon, we see Olivia and Jana and we head over to their table. However, I don’t see Amelia anywhere and I panic. What if she never made it back to her cabin? What if she got caught? Terrible thoughts creep into my mind.

“Are you okay Todd?” Olivia asks me.

“Yeah, you look like you’ve seen a ghost,” Jana says.

“Where’s Amelia?” I ask the girls.

“She’s in the bathroom right over there,” Jana says as she points over to the west wall of the dining hall. I see Amelia go out the door of the bathroom and I sigh in relief.

“Thanks,” I say.

“Good morning,” Amelia says, sounding exhausted. I can even see dark circles under her eyes.

“Good morning sunshine!” Olivia says cheerfully. “Did you sleep much?”

“No, I couldn’t go to sleep,” Amelia says.

“That sucks,” Jana says sympathetically.

“Yeah,” Amelia responded. I see her look at me briefly and then she looks down at her eggs, that she’s playing with more than eating. I’m not really hungry either so I just turn my tray in at the window.

“Okay guys!” Jake says, sounding like he’s about to announce something. “Make sure to keep your eye out for crystal triangles. Question every glint in a tree, look in every flower pot, and turn over every stone,” we all laugh at this. “I mean it!”

“I’m sure you do Jake,” Olivia tells him as she lifts her tray to carry to the window too. I think about how every guy here must be falling head over heels in love with Olivia, she’s beautiful with her long legs, short blonde hair, and milky white skin. Sure I think she is pretty but she’s just a friend and I have never been close to falling in love with a girl before, except for Autumn.

“Eyes up here everyone!” Joe says. All the eyes in the room turn to Joe, who’s silver hair looks like Elvis’s. Everyone tries hard not to snicker but a few giggles are heard in the room. “Thank you, thank you very much everyone,” Joe says. Everybody just bursts out laughing after that. “Why are you laughing? Hush up everyone!” The room falls silent but everyone is smiling. “Okay, today you will be doing water sports for most of the day from nine to three. I must remind you to stay with a buddy in the lake at all times, we don’t want to send you home in a body bag. Outside your counselors will be waiting for you. Have fun. Now get out of the building!” Joe says. Everybody laughs at that. “What is with you this morning?” Joe asks. Everybody just laughs even more as they pile out of the building to the lake. I’m standing by the shore of the lake when Amelia comes up beside me.

“Do you want to be buddies?” Amelia asks.

“Sure, why not?” I whisper.

“What?”

“Sure, let’s go,” I say more loudly. I go to a bench and I take off my shirt, revealing my pale, white belly. I feel so vulnerable now, with my belly exposed to the sun. I look dead even. I take off my glasses and I dig around in my pocket for my goggles. I find them and they’re clear with a spongy, black rim.

“Are you ready?” Amelia says.

“Yeah,” I reply and look at her. She’s like me, only a lot prettier. She has a yellow polka dot tankini on but she’s as white as a sheet.

“Then what are you waiting for?” Amelia asks.

“I don’t know. Come on,” I say as I run to the water. The water is cold when it hits my skin but that’s okay, I love cold water, it makes you see things so much clearer. Just like Amelia’s golden aura, the beauty of it is magnified a thousand times over. Once I get neck deep, I look around for the others. Olivia, Jake, and Jana are splashing each other, their white auras glittering in the sun.

“Let’s go farther out,” Amelia says, swimming freestyle ahead of me.

“Okay,” I say, still standing in my spot.

“Are you coming?”

“Yes, I’ll be there in a second,” I say but I stay frozen in that spot for a little bit, I’m afraid. However, I find the courage to swim over to Amelia but I’m still terrified.

“Let’s go over to the buoys,” Amelia says, pointing to the white things that float on the water, marking the end of the swimming area. I start to sweat, even though I’m in ice-cold water but I somehow find the courage to go on some more. However, it uses up every ounce I have. I hope she doesn’t make me go under the buoys, I’ll just die! Once I get to the buoys I look over at the kids, me and Amelia are the farthest ones out.

“You like it out here?” I ask Amelia.

“Yeah, I love going way out into the water, it kind of separates me from the world for a little bit,” Amelia answers. “Do you?”

“Yeah,” I blurt out but I know that I’m lying through my teeth.

“Good,” Amelia says as she pushes off her buoy, beginning to tread water. It’s quiet for a few minutes and it’s torture for me, I’m shaking I’m so scared. Amelia seems to sense this so she begins to speak again.

“Does that buoy seem odd to you?” Amelia asks me, pointing to another white buoy about ten yards away. I study it for a while and I shake my head.

“No. Do you think it’s odd?”

“Yeah, it’s a little lower than the rest of the buoys,” Amelia observes. “Let’s go check it out,” and she begins to swim there, leaving me behind. I don’t want to be left alone so I swim out there with her to the buoy. She stops in front of the buoy and I see what she’s talking about, that buoy does sink a little lower than the others. Amelia looks around it for a little while before she sticks her arm down the hole on top of the buoy.

“Ah- ha!” Amelia says, sounding like she’s discovered something. “I know what it is.”

“What is it?” I ask, dying to know what is in there. She pulls out a clear thing that sparkles in the sun.

“A crystal triangle. It says…” she pauses a second to read the word engraved on it. “Responsibility.”

“Cool, congrats,” I say. “Do you want to take it to your cabin?” I ask, hoping she’ll say yes so I don’t have to be out here in the deep water anymore.

“Nah, let’s stay out here and talk for a while,” she says. I scream in my mind.

“Okay,” is all I come out with.

“Should I give the crystal triangle to the boys or should the girls keep it?” Amelia asks me.

“I’m not sure, ask Jake.”

“I’m asking you Todd, not Jake,” Amelia says, shocking me. No one’s ever cared that much about my opinion.

“Um, you keep it,” I say.

“Okay, I will,” Amelia says. Right at that moment I feel cold fingers brush my thigh.

“Aah! Amelia, let’s go to shore!” I scream out but then I look around and see that Amelia isn’t there. I start to shake, I’m taking short, rapid breaths, and panic starts to set in. What happened to Amelia? I think. I imagine horrible things, the person who brushed me with their fingers dragged her under, drowning her. Is she screaming underwater? Screaming for me? Is she already dead? These thoughts overwhelm me and I dive under, hoping to find her. I scan the lake, hoping to find her but I can’t. I start thinking of leaving her here and fleeing to the shore, where it’s safe. I push these horrible thoughts away and I focus on the image of her golden aura. How could I leave the girl with the golden aura? I can’t, not after what happened with Autumn. Just when I’m starting to see black circles from lack of oxygen, I feel a tap on my shoulder. I rise to the surface of the lake and I scream.

“Todd! Calm down! What are you screaming about?” I hear a voice behind me say. I turn around and I see Amelia’s perplexed face. She’s probably wondering why I’m making an idiot out of myself. I think.

“Don’t do that Amelia, don’t do that to me ever again,” I say to her, with terror in my voice. Amelia’s eyes widen when I say this.

“I won’t Todd, I swear,” she says seriously, as if she understands my fears. My heart is pounding hard, this is too much like last year. I start to cry but Amelia never notices, the lake hides the tears.



Last year, this kid with a black aura named Corey was my lake buddy but he wasn’t so bad, I actually kind of liked him but he had his quirks.

“Do you play any sports Ted?” He asked me, getting my name wrong for the third time.

“It’s Todd and no, I just have P.E.” I told Corey. We were out on the shore of the lake in our bathing suits, waiting for the counselors to tell us when we could go in.

“I used to play football but now I don’t really do much of anything, I just play with my friends and do what they want to play,” Corey said.

“That’s cool,” I said, not wanting to make conversation with him. The counselors announced that we could go in and we were the first ones to jump in.

“Hey Ted, let’s go far out,” he said.

“Todd,” I whispered to myself, annoyed by this. Corey was already swimming way out there so I have to swim fast to catch up with him. Once he got to the line of buoys, he ducked under it and I debated with myself whether I should or shouldn’t go under but eventually I go under with him, I didn’t want to lose a possible friend, even if he never got my name right. I ducked under the buoys and I swam towards Corey, who was treading water.

“You like it out here Troy?” Corey asked me. I gave up on telling him my name so I just answered him.

“Yeah, It’s cool,” I said.

“You’re not much of a talker.”

“No, I’m not,” I answered succinctly.

“Do you want to dive with me? Sometimes I see fish and stuff down there.”

“No, you go ahead,” I said. I liked to keep my head above the water, I just didn’t like looking down the lake and seeing black. It made me feel small and scared, like the lake could swallow me whole.

“Suit yourself,” Corey said as he dove down. I just treaded water right there for about a minute, then two minutes, then five minutes. Where was Corey? I started to get worried about him so I looked around in the water for him but there was no sign of him. I decided to wait around a little for him but I guessed that he went to shore without me. After a while, I felt cold fingers brush my calf. I thought it was Corey so I looked down there and it was Corey, only he looked different.

I pulled him out of the water and my fingers started to get numb he was so cold. His eyes were glassed over, there wasn’t a pulse, and he wasn’t breathing. After I realized this, my heart stopped. He was dead, I’m holding a dead person! I immediately pushed him back in the water and I swam back to shore, even though I knew I should have brought his body back. I told a counselor that he was dead and I sulked off on my own for the rest of the day.

I was sad, angry, and confused. How did he die? Why did I do that to him? A million other questions raced through my mind. I was the first one back in the cabin, I wanted to go to bed early. I turned on the light and I gasped, Corey was standing right in front of me.

After my almost being scared to death, Amelia agrees to go out of the lake for the day with me. I am eternally grateful to her, I really did not want to stay any longer in the lake. I shudder at the thought.

“So what now?” Amelia asks. I think for a little bit and then I remember one place I haven’t been to, my secret place.

“I’ll show you my secret place,” I answer.

“Okay, lead the way.” So I do. We walk slowly, enjoying the green forest that looks so mysterious and the lake that seems to harbor a secret in it’s depths. Soon though, we get to my secret place. When I first see it I relax, it’s the only place that feels like home here. I step in the tide pools and sit down behind the log in the water. “What is this place?” Amelia inquires.

“It’s my secret place. When I feel scared or I want to be alone, I come here and no one bothers me here,” I tell her.

“It’s really pretty. Did you build that dam over there?” Amelia points to the lousy dam I made.

“Yeah I did. It’s not really good but it was something to do besides being tormented by the other kids.”

“Let’s improve it then!” Amelia suggests. “Let’s go into the forest to gather sticks for your dam.” I remember getting scolded by Joe for doing that but I doubt he’ll see us from here.

“Okay,” I say reluctantly. “Let’s go.” I get out of my tide pool and I go with Amelia to go stick hunting. It’s peaceful to be in here and frankly, I’m shocked. If there’s anything I learned from being here, peacefulness comes with a price. “It’s actually pretty nice in here.”

Amelia laughs. “Did you think there was going to be lions and tigers and bears?”

I laugh softly at that. “No but I thought something would happen. Something always happens.”

“Don’t jinx it Todd. If you keep talking like that something will happen.” That’s when I hear it. First I could hear barely a whisper but eventually it turns into a loud laugh. I jump at the sound, it’s not a normal, happy laugh, something about it is malignant, evil even. “Todd, get out of here,” Amelia orders me. I remember what happened with Autumn and I can’t let it happen again. I don’t want history to repeat itself.

“No, you come with me,” I say. I cringe since the laugh seems to be getting closer.

“Todd, leave!” She screams at me.

“No! You come with me!”

Amelia ponders this for a second before she decided. “Okay, let’s go.” I grab Amelia’s arm to make sure she comes with me and then we sprint out of the forest, as far away as we can get from the laugh.

“I’m never going in that forest again!” I shout, in shock.

“We’re going to have to Todd, remember we’re going to try to find the eleventh crystal triangle with the others,” she says. I don’t want to be called a coward by my new friends so I give in.

“Fine, I’ll go but if I hear laughing, I’m out of there!”

“That’s understandable, I’ll probably leave too.”

“Good! I’m glad you’re seeing reason now!” I say. Amelia laughs at me. I have no idea how she could laugh after that frightening incident but she did. The last time I heard a laugh like that was when I was eight.



I was in the living room watching the news with my mom. A prisoner had just escaped from prison and was loose in our region of West Virginia. I was really bored though and I wanted to play outside.

“Mom, can I go to the creek?” I asked.

“Sure but make sure you watch out for anything strange. Remember, if a stranger comes to you, ride your bike home okay?”

“Okay mom.” I went outside and I got my red bike. Soon I was riding my bike through the neighborhood to get to the creek, my favorite place in town. Eventually I came to my entrance to the stream and I pushed my bike between the two tree trunks to get to my fort. Really my fort was just a big hole with a rope that I could swing across the creek.

I got on my rope and I swung to the other side to get a coke that I stored in another hole. I loved it there, I loved hearing the rush of the water and just relaxing in my hole drinking a coke. I was just watching the water rush by me when I saw a shadow move. It was a big shadow, bigger than mine. However, I shrugged it off, thinking it was a tree.

Then the laughing started. First it started softly and then it rose to a deep laugh that sent chills down your spine. I panicked so I dropped my coke and I swung to the other side to get my bike. I swear I heard footsteps behind me. I got out through my tree door and I pedaled as fast as I could back to my house. I could hear someone running after me, I could sense the presence of someone evil but I never looked back to see the person.

Soon I got to my red- brick house and I dropped my bike on the porch and I ran in the house screaming. I shut the screen door and locked it. However, when I looked out through the screen, no one was there.