Chapter Text
Don't let it in with no intention to keep it
Jesus Christ, don't be kind to it
Honey, don't feed it, it will come back
- It will come back, Hozier
Chapter 1
He never really planned to run away from home. Like, he’d thought about it, but never truly seriously thought he’d do it. Back at camp he’d only ever really wanted to return to the city, and get the hell away from nature and the blinding optimism of David.
But then his parents had gone from bad to worse, and he’d just… had enough.
He didn’t really have a plan beyond “get the fuck away”, but Camp Campbell had become somewhat of a safe space over the summer, so it seemed pretty natural that that’s where he’d be drawn when he had nowhere else to go.
He’d have called or texted someone, but his phone had been busted for weeks by now, after his dad had thrown it at a wall. The only thing it was really good for now was playing music, and even that ability was fading as the battery lasted less and less with each charge.
He’d nabbed some spare money from his mom’s coat, a small swiss army knife and a lighter from his dad’s office desk, a worn blanket, and mr. honeynuts from his room, shoved it all in his school backpack, and got on a bus heading as close to Sleepy Peak as he could get on his limited budget, and then he just kept walking.
In hindsight it was a bad idea from the get-go. He had no food, no more money, no way to contact anyone, and no way to even earn money, being only 10 years old and all. But he’d not really thought that far ahead when he left.
The town he’d gotten off the bus in was still pretty far away from both Sleepy Peak and camp, and while it was slightly bigger than Sleepy Peak, it wasn’t a big city. He couldn’t easily slip away unnoticed as an unaccompanied child, so he needed to be cautious.
He was a clever kid though. Everyone always said he seemed older than he was, and it probably wasn’t just because of the cursing. He was sure he could get by.
So he slipped into the local grocery store just close enough to some touristy looking people that the employees of the store might assume he was with them, and slipped a few granola bars into his pockets. It wasn’t much, but he knew he couldn’t get away with much more. If he removed his backpack to stuff shit in it he’d be caught for sure. He did, however, make sure to snatch a map as he passed the display near the exit.
“Hey!” one of the cashiers said, and he froze. He considered running, but it would just make him look more guilty. No. Better to stay still, and play it cool. The cashier walked over and bent down to pick something up. She held it out to him with a gentle smile.
“You dropped this,” she said. He looked down at her outstretched hand. Mr. Honeynuts! He quickly grabbed the stuffed toy and held it tight.
“Thanks,” he muttered. The woman looked like she wanted to say more, but a customer at the register cleared her throat loudly, clearly waiting impatiently to be served, and the cashier smiled apologetically and waved a quick goodbye before going back to work.
Max breathed a sigh of relief as he left the store behind.
He ate his granola bar hidden from view just within the forest as he examined the map. It didn’t look like camp Campbell was too far away. He could head around the forest, follow the main road and get to Sleepy Peak, then get to camp from there… But that was definitely the long way around. It would be much quicker, like half the distance, to just go through the forest. It was also far less likely that anyone would spot him and start asking questions that way. And less likely that he’d be run over while following a road with no sidewalks where he knew people drove like fucking idiots.
It was a forest though, it had its own risks… Still, it seemed worth the risk if he could get there faster. He only had a few granola bars and a water bottle. Camp would have food stocked. He could do this. He could!
Mind made up he headed into the forest, just as the sun started to set.
He’d underestimated how dark the woods became at night. And how cold the chill of October was once the sun vanished behind the horizon. And he swore he heard some animal panting as he walked. He swallowed thickly and let his eyes wander around the environment as he stopped walking. There wasn’t too much in the way of shelter around, and he didn’t want to stray too far from the tiny, overgrown path he was following… But he needed to sleep, he could barely see the path anymore with the moonlight too pale to reach the ground through the canopy. Eventually he settled on a spot under a spruce tree with low hanging, fanned out branches. He’d be somewhat sheltered and hidden away there. He made his way over and tried his best to gather the moss and dry leaves around into a rough pillow before pulling out the threadbare blanket he’d shoved into his backpack and curling around mr. Honeynuts to attempt to sleep, convincing himself the golden eyes he’d seen through the branches was his mind playing tricks on him.
He dreamt of soft warm fur and the comfort of someone protecting him that night.