Winterbranch Camp

[Rye]

The trees thinned out and they could get a view of the surrounding area. Looking down the castle was clear as where a few of the cabins , but they were indeed high up and got a good view of the surrounding forest with a light mist hanging over the areas further away. The place really did seem isolated with the mountains and trees everywhere. Even the road vanished into the greenery if you tried to follow it.

"This is more like any fantasy movie though ,the sweeping hills , the forests and rivers and the castle. Although I don't think the castle was ever a real one. Looks like one of those newer build ones with all the old styling to make it look older." he commented "but yea. We should look out some movies to watch. Hopefully they have a dvd player or something ancient like that." he suggested "Singing , that's unusual , although I'm guessing you too shy to go on karaoke then" he said looking back as they seemed to start the decent back into the forest. They were going pretty slow but he kept the group in sight as they pulled ahead "Least favourite thing to do? Well I hate being cold , hungry or tired. But my dislikes are more petty. Don't like spicy food , being out of control and being belittled and patronised , being idle and being overworked. How about you , what do you hate? I'll know then to avoid it" he said as they walked , now ignoring their surroundings as they walked and talked. After a while he heart a slight melody in the trees. He dismissed it for just random ambient sounds but it did have a captivating tune to it , sounding like the faint clink of wind chimes.

"Hold up , you hear that. Sounds like a tune or melody or something" he said , shivering. Looking around he now saw he had lost the group since they were walking so slow. He started to panic , thinking about the wild animals that might be prowling around. Looking down he saw only dead leaves and nothing that looked like a pathway. There wasn't even any posts he could see , they would have just blended right into the trunks around them. He drew in his breath , acutely aware he was noticing the drifting song more and more as the forest seemed to quieten and become still and cold.

[Sundial]

Justin looked out as the trees cleared, enjoying the view from where they were walking. There were so many small details to notice, people walking around as small specks of dust beside the castle. It looked like a children's play set from up here. He almost stopped to enjoy the view, but felt Luke continuing on, pulling him by the hand.

"Hey! That exactly what I thought!" Justin laughed, hearing Luke's comment on the fantasy movie. "I thought it looked like Lord of the Rings but then the castle looked like a vampire's lair. I don't get why they'd make it super old though." He and Luke had more similarities than he formerly thought. He nodded along when Luke talked about the karaoke, blushing a little. "No... I could never do something like that. You know how when... when you talk sometimes and your voice goes really high..." He didn't finish the thought, shuddering just thinking at the idea of having a voice break while singing.

He raised his eyebrow as Luke explained all the things he disliked. It was amusing hearing how fickle the other boy was about things. "I'll be sure to remember those." He said, before thinking to himself. "My least favourite thing is being treated like a little kid. It's so frustrating. I hate germs and gross stuff as well. I hate being scared. Oh! I really hate when people don't listen to me. And being sick!" He said. It was really funny listing all the things he hated, but he he could just think of so many things. "Ummm..." He started, before looking around. He'd been caught up in the conversation. Where were they? "Hey... Where are the others?" He asked.

"Stop playing around Luke." He whined, before his face went pale hearing the music himself. "This has to be a joke right?" He whispered, squeezing Luke's hand tighter. "This isn't funny you know!" He called out, panic evident in his voice. The only reply was silence, the two boy's left entirely alone. The eerie music continued onwards, growing louder and louder. It was coming closer. Whatever 'it' was. Justin swallowed hard, before turning back to Luke. "We've gotta get out of here." He whispered, quickly going in the direction he thought the path continued, pulling Luke with him.

[Rye]

"Oh like a voice crack , we haven't done that in sex ed. It's gross though. How can they stand up there and tell us all that stuff." he said with a shiver as he thought back.

"You think I'm doing it?!" he replied , his face looking creased and worried with the ghostly situation. He looked around , his hair whipping around his face as he looked for some direction on where to go. "We should go in the opposite direction" he suggested "every horror film they go towards the freak horror stuff. We should just leave" he said tugging on him a little and looked around , pausing , realising that he was in the middle of no where with every direction looking the same. Like he was stuck in a never ending snow globe of tall trees and amber leaves. He whimpered , unsure of where to go. He sided back up to his friend "I-I-I don't where to go. Danny and the guy at the start said it was real dangerous to get lost out here. The more we walk the further we could be walking away from the castle and we could die out here.....Maybe it's someone friendly and we can ask...or maybe it's something else" he said , nervously taking some baby steps towards the singing voice.

He slowly followed until he was on a ridge overlooking the burn. A different angel that before. The light was fading into a deep red so it had a dark hue to the place. The singing was clearer now , more crisp. Her singing like clear bells now. Looking down at the stream and saw a figure , her clothes torn and stained but under it it looked to be a dull cream colour. She was washing her hair in the water , the same glistening gold hair described by the story. Luke froze up and hunched down to try and not be seen , not believing what he saw down there. Everything felt cold and he felt his feeling run out of his limbs and numbness take over as he watched the scene.

[Sundial]

Justin meanwhile was desperately turning around, trying to find any way that looked familiar, any sound that could give them a clue. All he found was frustration. None of the directions looked right and all he could hear was that horrifying singing. How could of they gotten so distracted?! He wanted to break down crying from the stress of it all. Still, he stayed strong, stubbornly refusing to cry in front of Luke and also taking comfort in the light grip they had on each other's hand.

He felt Luke beginning to pull on his hand. Much to his horror, he realised it was in the direction of the singing. "Luke... You heard what Danny said..." He pleaded, leaving the sentence hanging. He had no idea whether what Danny had said was true, but he had no idea what to believe. But as much as he hated it, Luke had a point. Like it or not, they were lost and this place was dangerous enough to warrant a rifle. They had to do something. It didn't occur to him that they could just stay put, come up with a better plan. "Yeah... M-maybe..." He said, not trusting himself enough to speak louder than a whisper. He allowed himself to be led by Luke, holding his breath as the sound of singing became clearer and clearer.

He held back a gasp, as he too saw the figure standing there in the river, looking exactly as Danny described it. It was every bit as haunting as well. Still, there was a part of Justin that still felt this all had to be some joke. Ghosts weren't real, ghosts couldn't be real. It was all just a dumb story and soon Danny would jump out, tell them it was a joke and lead them back to camp. So Justin waited, completely still, breath held, waiting for anything to interrupt the singing. He could feel all his frustrations growing as he waited. Frustration with his Mom for sending him to camp again, with the camp for making him hang around with a bunch of little kids, with Danny for telling all these scary stories and with himself for getting lost. He'd had enough.

He snatched his hand away from Luke, standing up from the ridge. "This isn't funny anymore." He screamed, tears forming in the corners of his eyes. He immediately realised his mistake, his footing coming out from underneath him as he stood up, the ground slick from the rain. He felt his weight lurch forward, throwing his hands out to break his fall, as he began roughly tumbling down the slope towards the bridge.

[Rye]

Luke strained , trying to grab him and top him from falling , but he watched him tumble down the slick mud down towards the bottom. The woman gasped and stopped , taking her hair from the river one last time the water dripped down freely and she stood to her full hight. Luke could only see at a distance , just like the girl from the ring , but less creepy and more scary , like seeing the power of something beautiful she wasn't grim or dark , just shining and terrible. He trembled up at the top trying to think of something to do but was stuck up there , his limbs not moving and more concerned for his safety , to see what would happen next. The figure had her face covered by her hair but didn't seem happy as she advanced on the two and gave a blood-curdling scream with some real force behind it. Luke toppled down onto the ground The blond could only stand a few seconds of it before bursting out into tears. Satisfied with her work she moved back to the bridge , up to the centre and threw herself off. But no splash was heard. The air was silent , the ghost gone but both boys were left scared and cold. There was the sound of scrunching leaves Danny appeared on the other side of the bridge , alone and presumably searching for he boys.

"There you two are!" he shouted as he spotted them. Luke used a nearby tree to drag himself up, his jeans were soaked , and not from the damp ground. He tried to move down the slope to his saviour but fell and rolled down beside Justin. Now both of them dirty and scared. Danny sighed and walked over and offered a hand "come on , lets get you cleaned up and changed. Thankfully nothing happened to you. Should have realised sooner , hope you weren't lost long." he said with a warm smile, thankful he found his lost little campers.

[Sundial]

Justin landed with a heavy thud at the bottom of the hill, the wind knocked out of lungs. He gasped for air, scrambling as he climbed to his feet, tears still stinging at his eyes. He tripped and stumbled as he tried to get up, beginning to cry as he could feel the ghost coming closer and closer. The cold aura made the hairs on his neck stand up and feel sick to his stomach. He threw desperate looks over his shoulder as he tried to run away. He kept on stumbling and tripping. As hard as he tried he, couldn’t get away, like some sort of nightmare. He let out a long, terrified cry as he heard the ghost scream, feeling himself getting hysterical. He could swear it was close enough to grab him, putting an end to his brief life right there and then. His breathing was getting out of control and his flailing was getting wild. He had lost all logical thought, only trying to escape from what he thought was certain doom. In the panic of it all, his bladder had let go, though his mind didn’t register yet.

And then it was over. The ghost disappeared, the cold aura and haunting melody along with it. Everything silent, not mentioning Justin’s breathing and quiet sobbing. He didn’t hear as Danny approached, and cried out in fear again as he heard a voice. He realised what was going on, seeing Luke fall down next to him and Danny coming toward them. He became acutely aware of how exhausted, afraid and bruised he was. He became aware of his clothes now covered in mud and the unpleasantly warm and wet feeling between his legs. His heart sank with the realisation. He had wet himself, in front of both Danny and Luke, the only two people he had any chance of friendship with.

But that realisation paled to the knowledge, that he had just encountered a ghost. Not an image or a trick. An honest to god, undead spirit. Shaking, he took Danny’s hand and let himself be pulled up, tears still in his eyes. His mind was running too wild to spare a thought for his friend or what would happen when they got back to camp.

[Rye]

"Oh dear look at the state both of you are in" he said helping Danny up "Come on lets get the two of you back to the house and get you washed up for your later activities" he said as he saw the wet patch "Oh , I see. Have a bit of an accident did you" he said going past to fetch the blond. "Seems both of you did" he said , noting the soaked trousers he had on "Well don't worry , first time is a warning so you've got nothing to worry about if it's a one off thing." he said. He looked down at saw the tears welling up in Justin's eyes "Aww , shhh , there there" he soothed , kneeling down and giving him a hug "It's okay , I've got you" he said sweeping him off his feet and straddling him to his waist the same way you would a toddler and let him lean into him "You okay on your feet Luke?" he asked , unable to carry both of them. Getting a nod from him he started off , walking back towards the main camp. Crossing the bridge Luke looked up at the trees and gave halfway between a yelp and a whimper. Seeing what he thought was another figure up at the grove he was standing at. A tall thin figure , at least two metres in hight , it was coloured a soft bluish grey and he caught the look of a very scornful and stone face. He cringed and turned his head back down towards the ground, his trousers getting wet again and leaving a fresh liquid trail behind him as he stuck close to Danny. This one seemed so different that the one that jumped. Whimpering he peeked a look back up and saw nothing. Maybe it was just a trick of the vanishing light.

They soon got back to the main house and Danny put Justin down "Okay now , you two go clean up , get changed and head downstairs. It's arts and crafts so you don't need anything hard wearing. Just come down and join the little ones when you're ready" he said leaving them in front of the house. Thankfully everyone was away on actives and wouldn't see the pair of pathetic boys standing in their soaked undies. Light was fading fast and it would be night time soon enough, a cold breeze blowing through the air to let them know it was going to be cold tonight.

Luke sniffled and hiccuped a little "l-lets get inside" he said , wanting to curl up in bed and just cry after what he had just endured.

[Sundial]

Justin blushed profusely as Danny casually mentioned his accident. The casual attitude made it seem that Danny expected them to wet themselves, like the little kids back at camp. He was surprised as he heard and saw that Luke had also wet himself, unable to help himself from looking at the large wet patch around Luke's crotch. In a strange way it made him feel better, even though he was taking comfort in Luke's misfortune. He went to protest as Danny lifted him onto his hip, but he found himself too exhausted to even struggle. He was so conflicted by it. He hated being treated so much like an infant. He definitely felt like on right now. But being carried was very comforting. Danny was warm and gentle, and Justin was so emotionally drained. So despite his embarrassment, Justin let himself be carried like a toddler, hanging his head over Danny's shoulder, letting out any last sobs or sniffles. He was too distracted to notice what Luke saw, having shut his eyes.

As they approached the house now, Justin squirmed in Danny's arms, wanting to be let down.He didn't want anyone to see him like this. Getting into a fresh pair of clothes so nobody, especially none of the little kids, saw his accident, was priority 1. He let out a shiver as he was let down. "Thank you..." He said softly to Danny, before turning to Luke. "Yeah..." He said in agreement, sticking close to the other boy as they ascended the stairs of the house. His wet pants were getting uncomfortable at this point and he could smell the salty smell of urine.

He stayed silent as they walked, until they reached their room. He just had to talk to Luke about everything that had happened, to get everything off his chest. "That was real right? That was an actual ghost." He said, his voice wavering a little. His mind suddenly turned to that of concern. He had been so caught up in his own fear, he didn't even know what happened to Luke. "Are you okay?" You had an... an accident too?" He asked quietly. He sniffed the air again, crinkling his nose. "We need showers..." He said, grabbing a towel for himself and Luke

[Rye]

Luke sighed and shivered , the cold getting to him a little. He looked around but didn't see anyone else so trudged towards the house and up the steps. Taking a quick look around and seeing the stair deserted he headed towards them. Once back in the shared room the blond stripped down and threw his soiled clothes into the wash basket "Y-yea , that was a ghost , or spirit , or something....it ...it just can't be anything else. You saw her right. Just like the way Danny described her. Long gold hair , singing and throwing herself off the bridge" he said , getting soap and other things he needed from his bag. "Yea , I think so , got real shook up though at seeing her , or it. But right now I want to be clean and in dry clothes."

He took the towel wrapped his towel around himself and headed towards the showers. Once inside he hung it up , turned on the hot water and stepped in ,equipped with a bar of soap. The water came onto him with a fair bit of pressure and was a little too hot to be called comfortable but it functioned , he wasn't expecting a fantastic shower anyway , he was really just thankful it was warm "That was scary though. But ghosts can't be real , they're just not" he said , shaking his head. Putting what he saw and what he had been taught side by side and both could not be true. Either it had been a very well crafted trick of the light or a combined hallucination or it really was the ghost of that dead girl and they just stumbled onto her. He bit down on his lip and shook his head , sending water outwards the same way a wet dog does when it dries itself. "It has to be real. It was!" he stated , coming to his conclusion of trusting his eyes over what he had been told.

He only now took notice of the bathroom , it was a communal shower , so there wasn't much in the way of privacy. He looked around to see if Justin followed him in at all.

[Sundial]

"It was exactly the same..." He said, nodding slowly. It couldn't just be a coincidence. Did that mean they were doomed now? He shuddered to think. It sure felt like it, with how they'd wet themselves. He looked over at Luke sympathetically. "Well... That goes for both of us... It just happened..." He said glumly, pointing at his wet pants. "There's nothing wrong with us, right? I mean, we saw a ghost..." He said, half asking the question, half trying to convince himself. He too wrapped the towel around his waist, peeling this wet pants and undies off and throwing them into the hamper, before walking off to the bathroom with Luke. He made sure to grab a wash cloth and a pair of flip flops, not wanting to stand on a grimy bathroom floor.

Once in the bathroom, he blushed seeing the wide shower area, not a shower curtain in sight. He blushed even further, seeing Luke drop his towel standing nude now, beginning to run the hot water. He contemplated just not showering, but the faint smell of urine reminded him that it wasn't an option. Besides, Luke had already seen his wet pants. Could he really get that much more embarrassed? He dropped his towel and turned on his own shower, leaving a respectable one shower gap between him and Luke. He listened carefully to Luke, finding it terribly awkward where to look. It was polite to look at the person you were having a conversation with, but they were both naked! Although... Justin couldn't deny he was a tiny bit... curious...
He quickly shook the thoughts. There were more important things at hand here.

"I think you're right..." Justin said with a sigh. He would never believe it if he hadn't seen it. But that feeling of fear, that awful cold aura of dread. This was not a simple trick. Something supernatural was happening here. It was just his luck to end up at a haunted summer camp. "So what do we do? We have to tell someone right? We can't stay here if it's haunted. Somebody could get seriously hurt." A sudden horrible realisation came over Justin. "You remember what Danny said right? There's gonna be more ghost stories tonight. What if those ones are true as well? What about the painting?" He said, voice getting slightly panicked, breaking a little.