Chapter Text
Luz didn’t want to go to camp.
Not one little, itty, bit of her. It felt like a violent attempt to tear apart everything that made her Luz, and that hurt because every single night before bed, her mom would tell her that she loved her.
It all felt like a lie, now.
She understood that she made a mistake. Multiple of them, in retrospect. But she tried, and wasn’t that what mattered? Never did Luz ever try to do anything with malicious intent in her heart, all she wanted was to go above and beyond, to make her mom proud.
Mom didn’t get it. It really felt like nobody would ever get it.
Especially in the cold morning breeze, as it nipped and bit at her skin while Luz waited for the bus to camp to arrive.
She hated waiting.
But, you’ll probably hate camp more,
Luz reminded herself,
so how bad could a little waiting be?
Her phone chirped in her hand, the familiar contact of her mom lighting up the screen. Lots of hearts, and a quick little message about letting her know when she got to camp.
Once she looked up from the device, wind bristled by at a faster pace, announcing the bus’s arrival and the end of Luz’s wait. The bus looked kind of weird, but she figured that questioning it would only get her in more trouble. Trouble that she was not in the mood to deal with.
Luz stepped into the open doorway, sucking in a deep breath for an extra pep in her step as she said goodbye to familiarity, and hello to–
–a cell?
Luz furrowed her eyebrows, rubbing the back of her head, checking for any bumps. Did she hit her head? Or fall asleep? Sure, camp sounded like prison, but she didn’t actually think it would be!
Once she verified that there were no weird lumps anywhere on her head, she emptied her pocket’s contents, verifying she still had everything that she needed. Her heart caught in her chest as she noticed a number very blatantly tattooed onto her hand!
At this point, Luz had a very big bone to pick with this so-called camp. Putting kids in cells, and tattooing them in their sleep? That can’t be legal. What did two-hundred and fourteen even mean?
She shoved her belongings back into her pockets, dragging herself onto her feet, and trudging towards the bars of her cell.
This place was weird, not in the way she liked. Wanted posters littered the ground as hundreds of cells spiraled around what appeared to be a tower.
Luz expected this from Ohio , not Connecticut.
The heavy silence of her prison was abruptly shattered as a set of heavy doors burst open from just down the hall, and out came sprinting a boy. He looked to be just a bit older than her, with messy blonde hair, skin littered with scars, and a hoodie way too big for his lanky frame.
He was coming towards her direction, so she took her chance.
“Hey! Hey you, blonde boy! Help!” she waved her hand through the bars, desperately trying to catch his attention. He looked at her, eyebrows creased with a scowl on his face, but as his eyes moved towards her hand, the look softened.
The boy slowed down, smoothly sliding just in front of her cell.
“Can you please help me out? I’m really confused,” Luz pleaded, pulling her arm back behind the bars. “Do you know how to open these things?”
“You have a real number,” the boy replied instead. It was Luz’s turn to frown, sparing another glance at the number on her hand. “You’re a passenger.”
“...what?” Luz asked bluntly, looking the boy over for any sign of a number on him. He wore gloves, so she couldn’t really tell. “So is that a yes..?”
“Shut up , you’re gonna get us caught,” he suddenly hissed, using a gloved hand to cover her mouth. He was whispering now, eyeing the door he had just burst in from. “I’ll let you out, but you gotta come with me, and stay quiet. He’ll find us.”
Luz nodded, and he pulled his hand away.
“He..?” Luz parroted, matching the level of his voice.
“The Warden,” the boy said, as if it were obvious. He moved to the side, just out of her sight, and pulled on a lever she hadn’t been able to see before. The bars slid open, providing Luz an exit.
Before she could properly appreciate her freedom, the boy grabbed her hand, and pulled, breaking back into a sprint and forcing her to follow along.
She felt like she really should have tried a little harder in P.E. because woof she was not doing so great at the moment.
As soon as they arrived at another door, one with heavy oak and metal supports, one just down the corridor exploded inwards, crumbling the wall it knocked into. Luz felt her knees try to turn into jelly as fear set in.
From the archway, some thing – with some kind of plague doctor getup and arms like tentacles – barrelled into the hall. With a squeak, Luz commanded her legs to work faster while the blonde boy pushed the door open.
He grabbed her arm, once again (basically) dragging her down yet another twisting corridor.
“What the heck was that thing?!?” she screeched once she could no longer see it, turning to the boy. The longer she was here, the more and more questions arose, and she had yet to get a single answer!
“The Warden,” he deadpanned, somehow not out of breath as they ran. “We’re almost there, so just don’t look back and keep going.”
“Almost where?!? This camp makes no sense!” Luz yelled in frustration, letting the boy stay in the lead. A large set of double doors were propped open, leading into a huge room that was completely empty barring a strange pillar of light in the center of it.
“I’ll explain after, just go into the light!” he shouted this time, pushing her into the room.
“Oh my god, am I dying?” Luz yelped in response. The boy whacked her shoulder, dragging her further into the room.
“No, you idiot!” he growled. “Take my hand, and go!”
The Warden was in the doorway now, and Luz really didn’t want to figure out that guy’s deal, so she gripped the boy’s gloved hand, and rushed into the pillar of light.
To her genuine, guttural, surprise, there was a red door with a golden symbol, nearly resembling infinity. She looked at the boy, unsure of what to do.
He let go of her hand, and reached for the symbol, twisting it.
It opened up, and instead of another room or hallway, Luz instead saw,
“A train?! We’re on a train?!” she gestured wildly towards the large wheels, and the bridge connecting them to the next car. The boy didn’t look surprised at all, he only rolled her eyes, and pulled her through the door. It closed behind them. “What the heck?”
“I knew kids were stupid, but not this stupid,” the boy grumbled.
“I am not a kid, and I am not stupid!” Luz crossed her arms, offended by his statement. He looked at her, an immovable expression upon his features. “Look, I think you owe me a few answers, okay? You clearly know what’s going on here!”
“You get three questions,” he said, already turning on his heel to walk towards the next car.
“Slow down!” Luz groaned, jogging to catch up. Thankfully, he paused in front of the next door, his posture very obviously uninterested in their conversation. Which, rude, but fair. “One, what’s your name? I’m Luz. Luz Noceda. Two, what’s with the numbers? And three, where the heck are we?”
“My name is Hunter,” he said curtly, reaching for the door handle. “The numbers are glowing, green and on your hand, and we’re on a train.”
“You suck,” Luz buried her face in her hands.
“And you assumed I knew shit, welcome to the club.”
With that, he twisted the door handle, stepping into the next room.
Luz followed, because what else did she have to do at this point? She clearly wasn’t going to learn how to be normal, that was for sure.