Chapter Text
After I was fully packed and had revisited Father Jeffrey, I sat in the recreation area that was filled with couches and a small flat screen TV. I had said my goodbye's to a few of the patients here. Not that I was emotionally attached to them, I just felt obligated to since I had spent so much time with them. I felt bad that they were going to still be stuck here while I was able to leave finally. Besides, they were fairly normal while on their medication. Well, maybe not right after since they kinda drooled a bit, but once they were able to have fully functional motor skills again, they were fine.
I listened to them while I waited. They were talking animatedly about boys that they thought were cute. One even mentioned the new doctor with bright blue eyes and a sharp jaw line. I rolled my eyes as I knew exactly who they were talking about. They were going to be so disappointed when they find out that Rael isn't exactly a doctor here.
The room seemed to buzz with excitement since visiting hour was going to start soon. Everyone was getting excited to see a family member. I didn't think that I was going to see my family until tomorrow so I just allowed myself to relax a bit. Besides I don't think my mom or dad wants to have a repeat of the last time they came to visit. I just kept screaming at them as I had an "attack." I literally had to be held back by security as I screamed at them, saying that they weren't my parents. The doctors and nurses had assumed that I was seeing monsters instead of my parents, so they hadn't visited me since.
They probably thought that they would trigger another attack from me if they came again.
Not that I minded at the time. They were the ones who put me in here. And from what I read, dad knew that I wasn't crazy. Now that I knew the truth, I didn't blame him, but still; it hurt to find out the truth.
I sighed as I watched the broken people who share my fate here enjoying time with their families. I smiled. They were just like me. They have lives, jobs, families. They're just people who need help. Who needed a break from whatever was ailing them. They needed help to fix the part of them that they couldn't fix on their own. I may not be one of them, but I could understand them.
I may have spent years here, but that didn't mean that all of them will. Some may only been here for a couple weeks, or a month or two. Hell, maybe even a year if they need too. But they always got to go home eventually. Meaning, after all this, I could too.
And I finally felt something I haven’t felt in years - hope. I could feel a smile growing on my lips.
The technicians walked in to start open the doors for our families. There was already a few people waiting for the doors to be opened for them. I sit down and get settled in for a long hour with no one to visit me. My smile faded at that thought. I think I'll spend this time to think about what I'm going to do about this Rael guy.
I mean, I still am not sure if he's a good guy or not. And the file didn't really say if he was or not. But Father Jeffrey wouldn't have a file on someone who he deemed dangerous, would he? I mean, he did have a file on me and I’m not dangerous. But then again, why wouldn’t he have a file of those who are dangerous so that he could provide information if needs be?
And what about the Holy Hunters? What are they? What do they know about me? What do they know about Rael? Should I contact them and find out more about him? I was getting a headache the more that I thought about it.
I worried my lip again.
What if Rael and this... Augur are something dangerous and needs to be stopped. And if I'm this Augur, what does that mean for me?
I rubbed my temples as I heard my name being called out. The voice sounded familiar so I looked around the room and they fell one and saw a very familiar face. It was my dad. He was smiling as soon as our eyes met. His eyes were the same color as mine and held the light that they always had. His hair was graying more than the last time that I saw him.
He was also growing stubble on his strong jaw and chin. His nose seemed broader. Looks like he broke it again. Probably from playing football with his guy friends that he's been friends with since they were in high school football together. His hairline was the same, so the only way that you could tell his age was the gray hairs and the amount of laugh and stress lines that he had. His mouth was thing, but the laugh lines made up for it and gave him more of a personality.
I stood in a rush and ran to him. I threw my arms around him and buried my face in his broad chest. "Dad," I breathed.
He hugged me back, squeezing tightly. "Hey baby girl," He said into my hair. I clung to his bomber jacket, eyes brimming with tears. I hadn't seen him in so long. I thought that I would be indifferent when he got here, but now I was on the verge of crying like a baby.
I didn't think that it would affect me this strongly, especially since the last time, I freaked out on him and mom.
"Dad, I'm so sorry," I said. He patted my hair and kissed the top of my head.
"It's okay sweetie," He said. "It was all my fault. I should have told you sooner. But I couldn't. The Holy Hunters said not to. It's why you were in here for so long. They were watching you. They were the ones paying for your medical bills. They even switched out the medication that was prescribed to you with placebos." Placebos?
I pulled away from him. "Seriously?" I asked. "Why?"
He pursed his lips. I could tell he didn't want to say. He always has the same look when he doesn't want to tell someone something. He purses his lips and his eyes crinkle with worry.
"Dad?" I asked. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair. "Dad, what is it?" I demanded.
It doesn't take much to make him cave. He gave me a look. I knew in that moment that I wouldn't like the answer. And I was right, because the next words that left his mouth confused me beyond all belief. "Several reasons, really. I don’t know them all but the main one was because they wanted to protect you."
~◇~
I looked out the window of the silver Civic my dad owned. The trees surrounded us on both sides. We were the furthest upstate that I have ever been since moving to New York with my family 15 years ago. I don't think I have ever seen so many trees at one time, even when going to Central Park with Chichi.
I gnawed on my lip with worry. I wondered what Rael would do when he sees I'm not at the hospital waiting for him. Will he still know where I am? And what about Father Jeffery? He was following is in his little Ford Hybrid. What else does he know about this? And why did dad come and get me a day early? What did Father Jeffery tell him over the phone?
This was stressing me out just thinking about. The seriousness of this was pressing down on me like the world on Atlas' shoulders. I had no idea how my life was turned upside down in the course of a couple hours.
I knew that monsters existed, sure, but all I knew about that world was that if I left it alone, it would leave me alone. Sure the Rogue came and I ended up in the hospital for two years, but I figured it was a fluke with the Blood Moon.
My dad and I drove in silence as I didn't have anything to say to him. I played our last conversation in my head.
"Several reasons, really. I don't know them all but the main one was because they wanted to protect you."
"What?" I asked.
He signed again. "I can't explain here," He said. "I'll tell you with Father Jeffery." Father Jeffery? I knew he knew about monsters. Fae's at least. And this Augur thing. He had to have been the one to tell my father. How else would my father know him?
"What does he have to do with this?" I asked. He ran his hand through his salt and pepper hair. His face had worry lines etched deep, like the same beast that attacked me had clawed stress into every inch of his forehead. It started to worry me just looking at him.
My father smacked the steering wheel, causing me to jump. "Fuck," Hearing the word on his lips was so strange. Almost as strange as Father Jeffrey cussing. "We need to get you out of the city. I know a place that the Fae prince hopefully can't find you," He said as he started to head out of the city.
I sighed as I pulled myself out of my memories. Dad never said a word of where we would be heading. Only that I'd be safer there than at home. Soon though, he turned down a gravel road and deeper into the trees. I shot my father a confused look but he just tightened his hands on the steering wheel, turning his knuckles white.
We passed a wooden sign and I tried to read it quickly.
Camp Haven Falls.
Strange.
"Dad? Is that where you're taking me?" I asked. He nodded once. "What's there? I don't have big spray or sunblock or enough clothes," I continued.
"Everything is already there. I had it sent there before I came to get you," He said. But I had a lot of stuff? How was he able to get it there is such a short amount of time.
He stopped the car just outside a shirt wooden gate. A brunette man stood, leaning on one of the posts. His arms were crossed and he wore a black muscle shirt and jeans. He wore hiking boots and aviator sunglasses. He looked about mid twenties and had a whistle around his neck. A camp director maybe? He smiled at my father as he saw us pull up.
"Stay for just a moment, sweetheart." Dad stepped out of the car and greeted the man.
They shook hands and started talking. The man looked at me and lowered his glasses a bit. His eyes were fucking pink!
He winked at me and went back to talking to my father.
Five minutes passed and my father finally came and got me. I walked over to the man stiffly and played with the hem of my shirt.
"You must be Abbigale Peirce, right?" He asked. I felt the air shift. He wasn't human, but I'd never crossed his kind before. I would have now known if he was a Fae or any other monster or creature I had come across in my short 19 years.
"Yeah." He nodded. "And you are?" I raised an eyebrow. He smacked his forehead.
"Shit, where are my manners. I'm Quinn Taylor. Or QT for short," He said, holding out his hand. I saw a tiny crossbow tattooed to the inside of his wrist. I gave him a once over.
"What are you?" I asked. He smirked and took his sunglasses off. He tucked them to the top of his head. His pink eyes were a bit unnerving. I have seen creatures with red eyes, with silver eyes and even with neon green eyes. But never have I seen anything with pink eyes before. It was strange to look at.
Quinn looked at me with amusement for a while. He chuckled once and showed me his wrist, his tattoo glinted in the light filtering through the leaves. "This is known as the bow of Cupid. It was given to me at birth. My father used a bit of his own essence to power it and to give me the power that he has," Quinn explained. "I, in a way, am a cupid. Do you know what that means?" He asked. I rolled my eyes.
"That you like flying around in diapers?" I asked, sarcasm heavy in my voice. He didn't look offended. In fact, he was laughing. Nearly doubling over as he did so.
He clapped me on my shoulder and lead me towards the gate. "I think you'll do just fine here at Haven Falls," He said. "C'mon, I'll show you around. Now, before we go in, this is a camp for the strange, paranormal and mythical." I listened as he explained. He told me that this camp was hidden from normal humans. It was only for those of supernatural interest. Such as those with abilities or that are born from mythical creatures. I clung to every word that he said. I didn't even register that my father was following a few paces behind, my bag slung over his shoulder.
"So, since I have been able to sense monsters since I was a young child, I am included in this group?" I asked. He nodded. "I just thought... that I was strange... I didn't know that there were other humans like me. I knew about the zombie in my school, and the ghost girl that follows me. Her name is Eliza. She... doesn't like to be silent for very long. Honestly, since this whole thing started, she has been weirdly silent. Rael must have spooked her something fierce if she isn't even talking to me right now," I said.
Now that I think about it, I didn't really see her in the car either.
Where is that Victorian brat?
I shook her from my head at the moment before ducking below a low hanging branch. Then I saw it. I gasped. It didn't look like any summer camp I had ever been forced to go to. The place had the nicest cabins that I had ever seen. If you could even call them that. They were all different. One looked like a fucking Hobbit hole being built into the side of a hill, one looked like a plantation home. It was three stories tall, white paint with pale yellow shutters on either side of the windows and a wraparound porch. It even had a rocking chair out front. There was one that looked like a fucking blue tulip. There was a bunch of girls around it that looked like... fairies? Or are they Fae? No they would have to be Fae since fairies are small.
There was one that looked like a mausoleum made from white marble that shone in the light shining through this meadow.
There were so many more that I couldn't take in all at once. And that was only the cabins. There was a full on archery range, lake that shone dark blue in the evening sun, a small hill that was covered in tiny little structures that I didn't understand the use for. There was two pavilions. One looked like it was used for dining, whereas the other looked like it was used for karaoke? Flowers growing covered the tops of both of them. Light filtered into it, giving the fucking restaurant style tables a green hue to them and the karaoke machine the same treatment.
"This is just the main camp. There is also a waterfall that helps give us our name. I'll show you sometime," He said with a wink. I wanted to elbow him in the ribs, but I thought better of it. He was probably wicked good at archery and I really didn't want to find out if his aim lived up to his heritage suggests.
"Come on, I'll show you to our camp director," He said. "She's a bit... of a pain in the ass, but she's great. You'll like her I hope," He said, leading me towards the plantation house. He opened the inside and instantly I was welcomed with the smell of cookies that must be in the oven or just taken out of it. A plump women came from where I'm assuming the kitchen is. She wore a floral apron which she was wiping her flour covered hands on. Her graying hair was tied up into a bun with a few wisps falling out, framing her round, heart shaped face. She smiled warmly at the both of us.
"Hello sweetheart, you must be Abbigale," She said in a sweet voice. I smiled back, reminded of how my grandmother used to greet me when I'd go to visit.
"Hello Ma'am," I said politely. "Are you the camp director?" I asked. She laughed lightly, which was strange for a heavier set women. Not that she was fat, just plump and full figured.
"No, I am just here for emotional support. I'm the camp counselor. You can just call me Nanna" She said. "And you, Quinn, you need to take a step back. We talked about you needing to calm down with the flirting and personal space," She said, pointing a finger to the boy barely a step behind me. I heard him back up, but he didn't say anything. "Good boy," She praised. Normally I would have found that weird, but it was sweet hearing it from her. It had no creepiness in it at all in fact. It was just like a Grandmother scolding and praising her grandchild.
"Thank you, Nanna. And are you baking chocolate chip cookies?" He asked, hope clear in his voice, and probably on his face too, but I didn't turn to confirm my theory.
She smiled and nodded. She motioned us to follow her and she lead us to the biggest kitchen I have ever been into. It looked like it deserve a place in a five star restaurant, not a plantation home. There was chrome everywhere I looked. And it looked like it should be talking up most of the first floor.
I didn't say anything; I just gaped at the magnitude of the kitchen. I heard Nanna giggle before she took two cookies off of cooling racks, again, that looked like they belonged in a restaurant. They had several shelves and were rollaways. She handed us each one of the still warm cookies. My mouth watered at the thought and smell of fresh home-baked cookies. I took a bit and found that they were soft, not the crunchy ones my mom always made. I moaned at the flavor. I could tell that she used a bit of vanilla and brown sugar in her dough. I smiled contently and finished off the cookie.
I licked the excess chocolate off my fingers and was handed a half a glass of milk. I sipped it slowly as to not upset my stomach. I found that if I drink too fast, I will hurt my stomach.
"Thank you so much!" I said. She smiled.
"You're very welcome, but I do believe that someone else would like a bit of your time." She motioned behind me. I turned and saw a young girl standing there with a silver bow slung over her shoulder. She has such a serious face for a child. I instantly knew who she was.
"You're... Artemis, aren't you?" I asked in awe. I knew that the Greek deities are not truly Gods, but were just simply worshiped as such for thousand of years. The girl nodded and motioned me to follow. She shot a look to Quinn that told him to stay away from the two of us.
I followed her up one flight of stairs and into an office of sorts. It had two dogs inside. They both looked like hounds possibly. She motioned for me to sit.
"Abbigale right?" She asked. I nodded. She chewed the inside of her cheek. "I can give you sanctuary if that is what you desire, but it does come with a list of rules. First of all you will not interact with any of the fae here. If they go home and tell the monarchy there that I have given the potential Augur sanctuary, I may be looking at war. War is not my specialty, that's my brother's. My specialty is working with girls like yourself. But this camp isn't just for girls you see. I am also the "Goddess of the wild beasts." My domain includes the woods, so I have given this camp to those who are in need of relief from the humans and hunter's," She said.
"The rules says that you cannot leave the campground without an escort. They are labeled in a way that they are easily spotted. You also cannot tell anyone about this camp. You are to keep any information of this camp confidential. I do not want to deal with hunter's, Holy or otherwise. I just want to keep my hunter's safe. You are to stay in your cabin after dark and for any reason we tell you too. Especially if here is a Blood Moon out. Some of the campers can become... volatile." I nodded.
I rubbed my arms at the thought of being trapped here during a Blood Moon. I didn't know what other beings are affected by the Blood Moon.
"Also no sex. With anyone," She said. I gave her a funny look. "Just looking after the integrity of those in this camp," She added. I nodded. "Alright, I believe that is all for now, you can head back and Mr. Taylor can show you to your living quarters for the next foreseeable future," I stood and nodded. I turned and headed back the way i came.
"Wait, Artemis?" I asked. "What happens if Rael still finds me?" I asked. She sighed.
"We will cross that bridge if we come to it.”