Unholy

She stood in front of the rotten white wood fence, staring silently and plainly into what appears to be a soulless pit of zombie-like kids, droning around like bees. The camp instructor called out names while standing in the middle of the supposed hive of girls surrounding her like a queen bee. How inhuman. She droned on and on, the girl phasing out as she did.

“Amano” A dead reply of a “Hi” followed.

“Mimina” Another came.

“Jericho?” That got her attention as she looked at and peered at the instructor. A strong deep voice came out her mouth

“Here” She joined in on the silent hive, standing next to the first girl who spoke, giving her a look of annoyance and uninterest. Whilst the other girl with her brown eyes and long marron bristly hair smiled back at her, gazing into Jericho’s own dead crystal blue irises.

“I’m Amano Chiron! Nice to meet you!” A basic introduction but OK. Jericho groaned at the interaction but went along with it

“I’m Jericho.” She mumbled, blankly and choked slightly as she muttered the last part “It’s nice to meet you too”

Chi grinned happily like everyone else in the swarm of girls swimming around them. Disgusting. They seem almost brainless. Happily so too. Jericho grimaced in horror at how unsettled she felt. She was ripped back into her senses at a faint voice speaking to her again. It was Amano, once again.

“So first time at camp?” She queried curiously, giving Jericho a slight friendly grin.

“Yes.”

“Cool! It’s mine too!”

A conversation has started, how great. What has she gotten herself into. Jericho analysed her whilst the other girl rambled on about how her parents sent her there because it seemed fun and how she’s excited to meet new friends.

She seemed excitable and overzealous about everything. Giddy. Just watching and listening to her was nauseating to a large extent.As she glanced at Amano as she endlessly chattered, the instructor shouted, bringing everything to a halt.

“OK, we’re sorting out cabins!” She began to yell out names as the other girls drift towards each other in their groups silently, the buzz of noise stopping when the leader spoke. Jericho perked up as her name was called along with the others

“Jericho Lawyer, you’re in Camp Genesis with Amano Chiron and...this name is smudged heavily...?”

Jericho’s breath hitched silently. Another girl with them.

A young girl walked from the crowd, texting on her phone. You could tell she had little interest in this camp, let alone her fellow campers.

She peeked a look at Jericho before returning to her phone. Jericho watched the new girl. She was so pretty, so gorgeous you would believe she was from a painting of olden days. It confused her and she didn’t like it. This girl’s demeanor was uncaring and beyond her understanding so she looked away, annoyed that she didn’t learn anything about her.

“S-Saturn? You’re also in Camp Genesis too!” The instructor shouted, her commanding voice stuttering and stumbling on Saturn’s name.

Saturn rolled her eyes and walked to the miniature group, her eyes glued to the screen. The instructor was checking over her list only to release that she missed a name.

“Sato? Is there a Sato” A tall, lanky neat girl stepped out, eyeing the instructor with an aura so standoffish that it threw some of the surrounding girls off.

“Here.”

The instructor nodded before speaking

“You’ll also go with Camp Genesis. That way it’s even” She commanded

Sato looked at the girls, scoffing when she laid eyes on Jericho.

“Fine” She strolled to them, frowning slightly and turning away from Jericho who frowned as well.

The instructor then clapped her hands to draw attention to herself

“You’ll be guided to your cabins for the next summer” She gave an eerie smile, a smile so cold, it could turn you into ice.

“I hope you enjoy your time here!”

Dirty, muddy shoes trekked through the hot, sticky heat as one girl whined continuously. That girl being Sato

“Why the furthest one? So unfair!” She groaned to herself mostly, trying to be discreet. Multiple bugs attack her skin, sinking their inhumane teeth into her and sucking out her blood in an effort to survive. An effort that was cut short as she smashed them under her palm, crushing their weak inferior bodies and killing them instantly.

She snuck a peek at the forest green remains of her victims and became disgusted, swatting her hands and groaning even more

“Ew! Ew! Gross!”

Meanwhile Saturn was staying silent, playing endless amounts of attention to her phone, pushing buttons as she trodden on the slowly decaying blue hydrangeas, uncaring and apathetic to her destruction. She had cut life short and didn’t give a damn. The radio attached to her bag fizzes out and in with every step she made upon a flower. A life extinguished before its true end. It could be considered heartless if the innocent dying flowers were considered life. As breathing. As human. They will never be considered as such. They’ll just be damage control for humanity’s tyranny. The hydrangeas are measly creatures and Saturn is their merciless god. She made a silent cough as she carried on hiking.

As Saturn walked, Jericho followed, staring at every tree in sight as they extended their wooden arms in silent welcomes and unmoving legs deeply rooted into the ground like a forbidden wooden statue. A former person. The knots formed crying faces, weeping solemnly and neverending in pain. A monstrosity. A beautiful creature, a former shell of itself forever frozen in time, forever cursed to have its dead wooden eyes to watch over others, to watch their freedom slip away. A poetic tragedy. But it meant nothing to Jericho.To her, they were just disturbing, creepy trees.

Chiron, on the other hand, was staring at the dark sky as the stars began to diminish away. As if they’re disappearing from existence. Her face showed wonder at this view, surprised at how eerily beautiful it all seemed. The crescent moon’s light reflected off her round face, showing off her excited smile. It amazed her to endless amounts.

The seeming forever-lasting hike came to an end when the small group of girls stood before a miniature wooden cabin, which had been left behind by former inhabitants. Pieces of decaying wood was falling off the cabin as wires sparked away, shocking anyone unfortunate to go too close. The lock was destroyed beyond repair and the cabin sign reading “Genesis” had began to crack and break apart. Jericho went to look through the surprisingly intact windows to see that inside was miraculously well-taken care of. The furniture appeared to be newly cleaned and the bookshelves were stacked with assortments. An old bear rug layed next to the couch. Jericho stepped back, amazed and puzzled.

“Outside looks shit but...inside looks OK.” She gasped, bringing the attention of the others to her.

Chiron began to excitedly surround the cabin, peeking into every window and messing with the decaying splinters, flinching when she touched one. Meanwhile Saturn walked into their temporary accommodation casually as if everything was normal, pushing her overweight bag off her bag and stretching before collapsing into the couch, tired out from their trip. She sank into the settee, her mouth tugging at a smile.

Sato followed, still swatting at bugs in disgust and annoyance. She then accidentally trekked on some poison ivy, causing her to yelp out in irritation before stomping into the cabin.

Jericho was still outside. She was investigating the dormant house, noticing silent invasions of flowers and little leaks of water and an odd red liquid, it was thick and appeared to be slowly dripping into the leaks. It had a pungent smell, like blood and roses. Jericho inched away from it, heavily disturbed.

Chiron then skipped into the cabin, sneaking around the front room like a kid in a candy store, spotting some red spider lilies and hydrangeas growing with the cracks of the walls. She shuffled over to them, poking them curiously. They were a beautiful combination of reds and blues with the occasional purple in there. One of the blue hydrangeas were sadly decaying away, its leaves wilting and browning slowly.

“Hey, the flowers are dying”

At that moment, Jericho strode into the room, moaning and stretching out. She turned her head to Chiron and walked to see why she was so invested in a crack. She then noticed the infestation of flowers. Chiron then repeated what she had said

“The flowers are dying” She then pointed at the wilted hydrangea. Jericho groaned and rolled her eyes

“Amano, that’s going to happen”

“Call me Chi!” That response surprised Jericho as she dug into her messy mop of hair.

“Huh?”

“I said call me Chi! Sounds better!”

Jericho blinked slowly for a second, trying to register what Chi said.

“O-ok” She nodded in agreement. Jericho peered around, desperately trying to find something to do. Saturn remained sitting on the couch, clearly losing the enthusiasm to do anything. Sato was messing with Saturn’s radio, seeing if there was any fault within the old thing.

Jericho ultimately decided to sleep instead. She wandered aimlessly around until she came upon a bedroom. She sat on the small bed. It creaked as she sank into it. The sheets were soft. It was almost like she was drowning happily into the velvety touch. Like soft hands grasped her as she began to drift off. She felt safe. It was fake but good enough for her. Her eyes closed as darkness enveloped her and the sound was drowned out. There was nothing there.

Nothing at all.