Three Lefts

[Teagan]

Teagan leaned back in the cold cafe booth, mindlessly fiddling with the phone in her hands. Her eyes darted between it and the street scene in the window beside her. The sunlight, earlier within the day having raged upon the residents of Carson City, had withdrawn behind the foreboding clouds. It wouldn't rain though. The heatwave of the last five days was expected to continue another ten. Her hands followed the now familiar motion of wiping back sweat from her brow. But this time, it wasn't from the heat.

The sound of a horn drove by and Teagan took a deep breath. Her fingers hesitantly pressed the daunting numbers on the keypad.

5-5-5...

The previous doubt that had haunted her mind the past two days washed over her. What the heck was she doing? Out of all the craziest things in the world, what possessed her to pull out the forgotten number and actually try to call it?

...1-2...4...

No, she firmly pushed the thoughts away. If Teagan put this off any longer, the consequences could be worse. Fatal, even. And she couldn't let that happen. Not on her watch. With firm resolve, she pushed the number 9 and waited.

Ring.

Ring.

"The party you called is not available. Please leave message after the beep."

Beep.


"Hi Aiden. It's...um, Teagan."


Good lord, she would give anything in the world not to have to make this call. An image of her last moments in Oregon flashed through her mind, causing her to slightly wince. Aiden had just discovered the switch she had placed within the wires of his car. Nothing completely disruptive or anything that didn't take thirty seconds to fix. She had been lounging on the bed in her room, flipping though notes from Deacon when his loud step rambled up the steps. The door to her room stormed open, revealing an angry teen.


"I realize that you probably don't want to hear from me right now, and I can understand that. Um...I want to apologize for everything that happened back in Portland. Things shouldn't have gone that far."


Angry was an understatement. Pure, unfiltered rage had enveloped him and Teagan found herself the target. Violent words were thrown her way and at the end of it, Aiden shocked both Teagan and Yuki by refusing to let her stay in the faction.

So she had left. Forced to walk down the dusty road that led to the city and take a bus to the camp she should've been attending. Two days passed and found her in Carson City, Nevada, where she was scheduled for training as a counselor to elementary students in the Big Brother Big Sister program. As she learned different techniques to assist kids who needed a positive role model, she strove to repress the memories of Keystone and Portland. Her unsteady emotions regarding the unfair dismissal vanished as if they had never occurred.


"And, trust me, I wouldn't be calling if there was any other way. But I can't get around it, no matter what I've tried."


Unfortunately, they sporadically surfaced. After three days of simulations and learning to interact with the younger generation, Teagan and six other counselors drove through the forests of the Nevada State Park to prepare for the arrival of the campers later that day. As she carried her duffel bag to Cabin 4, the view of the trees had painfully reminded her of the glimpses from her window back in the tavern. She realized later that a look of regret must have caught the attention of the counselors of her neighboring cabins.

Lucas and Scott had both grown to like Teagan's playful personality over the course of training and immediately noticed the distant look in her eyes did not derive from the joy as her smiles. Of course, when they approached her, she shrugged it off with an excuse of an eventful summer, but that didn't mean they completely ignored the moments where she zoned away while not surrounded by her excited campers. Chloe, of which, was the most challenging, even for Teagan. At the moment, they had a mutual understanding that if she dared to try any other dangerous stunt in the cafeteria, she would have no basis for argument when Teagan used her fear of spiders against her.

Still, Scott and Lucas did try to dissuade her thoughts with distracting conversation. During the first day of Arts and Crafts, Lucas told her about how he looked forward to attending college in the fall. To her surprise, the tall brunette had enrolled in WSU, her final destination at the end of summer. In the rec hall, Scott revealed useful tips and tricks to open windows and door without noise. How they had started that conversation, Teagan wasn't sure. Especially since she had only shared her...hobby...with Lucas.

And after three days of bonding over the campfire with new friends and students, Teagan had felt like her usual self again. Pre-hunting. But of course, the moment everything turned normal, everything fell apart.


"I need your help. Some thing's wrong with the kids here. It's not normal. It's not natural. They're falling ill cabin by cabin and...none of them have woken up."


The next morning, a fourth grader named Ryan didn't wake up to the when the bell rang. His cabin mates tried everything from water in the face to loud noises before taking him to the nurse. After a dozen of her own attempts stumped her, she had Keith Hudson, the camp director, call for an ambulance.

Then it was pug-faced Jimmy. Tuesday was don't-pull-my-pigtails Menda. Wednesday argue-about-everything Bryan. The day before, jump-rope Jill.


"I wouldn't have thought anything was wrong, but there's been...signs. Like the ones in that book you had us read."


The days before arriving on-site, flickering lights in her hotel room had nearly driven Teagan insane. After an hour she had unscrewed every bulb in the room, much to her roommate's, a 36 year-old counselor named Mindy, confusion.

She had discovered odd markings around the campsite. Not mentioning them
to anyone, she spent quality time within the "library" of the campsite. Although it only consisted of one shelf of books, they all centered around survival and wildlife. Teagan couldn't find anything that would match what she had discovered.

Other strange things had occurred, but Teagan wasn't sure if they merited attention. Her knowledge of the supernatural was limited, even if she didn't fully hold the faith it existed. Sure, she had seen...questionable things, but she wasn't ready to accept it. Not yet, anyways.


"I did some digging in the Carson City library, and 15 years ago, the same thing happened. Dozens of children at the local camps falling into comas for no apparent reason. Authorities shut down and investigated the area, but nothing was discovered."


Her voice broke for a moment, failing to continue forward.


"Aiden...all the kids died."


She sighed, and took another breathe in an attempt to calm her fear. Her hands wiped away more sweat from her forehead and then proceeded to massage her temple. That morning, one of her girls hadn't woken up. One of her girls. The ones she was supposed to protect. Teagan awoke to Sarai, a fifth-grader, rapidly shaking her shoulders with threatening tears in the corners of her eyes. Shiloh, the second-grade brunette that Teagan had forged a special bond with over the course of the week, hadn't woken up. Teagan pulled out her entire arsenal of remedies before she found herself pleading with the child to simply open her eyes. Lucas and Scott appeared a few minutes later, summoned by Sarai. As the latter took the girl to the infirmary, Lucas stayed to make sure Teagan would be alright.


"I'm not going to let that happen here. I can't. Not to these kids. So...if you could help, or shed some advice, it'd be appreciated. Tonight I plan on searching the forests to see if I can find anything. Give me a call back."


Click.

The phone snapped shut in her hands and she threw it onto the table in front of her, regretting the call. Regretting having to stoop so low to ask for help. Regretting having nothing else she could do to help Shiloh. She clenched her fist tight and gritted her teeth.

"He didn't answer?"

Across from her sat Scott, brown eyes inquiring an answer. Teagan's silence said everything, and she gazed out the window. After Lucas had left, Scott had checked in on her and in the midst of conversation, Teagan had admitted to him that she thought something else was going on. Not that she mentioned the supernatural or anything she had spent the past week forgetting, but enough for Scott to offer to help her out with anything she needed.

So later on, they had both volunteered to drive into the city to restock on perishable items. While Scott picked up the items, he let Teagan search through the library. They had stopped at the cafe for a cooling drink, but she hadn't had the urge to try anything.

"What's next?" Scott asked.

"I doubt Aiden will do anything," Teagan bitterly replied. Why should he? "I need to check the forest out. I found a map earlier-"

"Say no more. I'll go with you to make sure you don't get lost." At Teagan's frown, he continued. "Hey, buddy system, right? I can't let a girl wander about by herself. It's begging for trouble."

Teagan was about to point out that if she was his size, he wouldn't have made that comment, but backed down and accepted the offer. "Fine. But we can't let anyone see us leaving, alright? Wait until after the kids fall asleep and meet me behind the mess hall."

"No problem." Scott looked down at his watch. "Hey, we'd better be getting back soon if we want to make it before the end of free time. You ready to go?"

Her eyes fell to the silent phone. If Aiden did call her back, she wouldn't get the message until the next time she came into town. It looked like she would be giving up her free time tomorrow as well. Anything for Shiloh. The phone returned to her pocket.

"Yeah." She stood from her seat and stretched while Scott threw away his cup.

Teagan prayed to the heavens that she was doing the right thing.

[Aiden]

A relaxing calm had fallen over Portland, aside from the demons and supernatural whatnot. Two weeks ago, Teagan had crossed a serious boundary that caused her to be kicked out of the faction. He'd gone to his car, his Camaro, quite possibly his baby, and messed with the wiring. It was nothing major, just the windshield wipers going off when the radio turned on, and consequently off when the radio was off, but his car....his car was sacred. Not even the demons messed with his car. His car was in top shape, modified for his needs, and for her to cross that line and prank him using his car, that blew it all up.

The following argument had been bad, mostly with Aiden calling her out about all the pranks she had done, how she didn't do what she was told when he was trying to teach her and help her survive. If Yuki didn't know his thoughts before, she surely did now. The argument got so bad, Teagan defending herself by saying the reversal of the wires was easier than actually crossing them, that Aiden couldn't take it any longer, his hsort fuse ran out, and he ordered her to leave. If there was one thing he wanted her to listen to, it was that particular order. And she had. Took her stuff and left Portland, probably for her stupid science camps that would only teach her more pranks.

Good riddance, he thought, and still thought. In the meantime, he had trained Yuki a little more on folklore, preparing weapons, let her shoot some more guns. Took out a witch after some strange news reports came out...it felt almost normal. It was much easier with Teagan gone, and Yuki was much more willing to learn and ask the serious questions. For once, he felt like he could lead a faction, to train others.

Of course, this lightened mood was nearly ruined when his phone started buzzing in his pocket. He pulled it out, glancing at the number--Teagan's. He frowned, and without answering, shoved his phone back into his jeans. It was probably her calling

[/i]to chat[/i], or to complain, blame him for something, prank him. He wasn't going to fall for it, he wasn't that stupid. Instead he resumed eating the meal that was on the table in front of him, and then felt a later vibration that indicated he had a voicemail. He ignored it, left it sitting in his inbox, without another worry. He wasn't going to get wrapped up in all of that again, not now.

However, two days later he received a call from an unknown number. His first thought was some hunter in need, but upon answering the phone, he was mistaken.

"Aiden Saunders? This is the Big Brothers, Big Sisters camp down in Nevada. Teagan has gone missing."

Aiden paused for a moment; that was one of his fake names, how...Teagan must've put it on the emergency card or something. Maybe she wasn't that useless after all. "Missing?"

"Yes, she might be lost in the forest, but we're still looking. It's been two days, and with this on top of the children, we're not sure what's going on. The authorities suggested that you come down to the camp, and then into town. We're near Carson City."

A few minutes later, he was hesitantly dialing his own number, to take him to his voicemail. He entered his code, and then heard Teagan's voice, and the story. His stomach lurched. This was bad; something was up, and thankfully Teagan recognized that...but she went out to do something, he could only guess, or find out what was causing it, and now she was in trouble. He cursed out loud, and then grabbed his keys off the table. "Yuki! We need to go, NOW!" He yelled up the stairs, grabbing his pistol that he'd brought inside, and shoving it into the inside pocket of his jacket.[/blockquote]

[Yuki]

After the fallout between Teagan and Aiden, and Teagan's subsequent leave, things had been relatively calm in Portland. She had been a little shocked at first by Aiden's outburst, but understood his frustration. Teagan was not suited for the life of a hunter. It would be best for her to move on and forget what she had seen. That wouldn't be difficult for her, especially if she refused to believe in any of it in the first place. If the girl decided to continue walking down the path, she would have to find another group to join, because she was most certainly not welcome back to Portland.

Not much had happened after that dispute. A few times, she and Aiden had hunted, but those hunts were uneventful. She had hoped to discover information concerning the whereabouts of her mother, but her attempts were to no avail—her mother was as good at covering her tracks as any other hunter.

When they weren't working a case, Yuki's days were spent reading about the supernatural and practicing her aim with weaponry. The text material was easy enough, but she still needed more field experience with guns. It was on one of these seemingly idle days that she heard Aiden calling her in alarm from downstairs.

"Yuki! We need to go, NOW!"

Without a moment's hesitation, she set down the book she was reading, grabbed her purse and made her way quickly down the stairs. “What happened?” she asked him, following him as he made his way outside.

[Aiden]

He'd played it off, thought nothing of it, and now what? Teagan had taken the books seriously and gone after something, got herself hurt, or worse? He mentally kicked himself--what kind of hunter, no, faction leader was he for brushing off one of his own? Even if he had kicked her out, that was being pushed back. Teagan was in trouble, and it was because of him, because he kicked her out, sent her away with new knowledge that now endangered her life. The camp was looking to avoid legal action while Aiden was looking to kill something. He grabbed a bag and shoved some clothes into it, and slung it over his shoulder while Yuki came to the bottom of the stairs. They needed to move, and fast. He thanked the car dealer once again for giving him that car for saving his life. He'd be to Carson City in half the time he would in any other car, thanks to that engine.

Out the door, and into the car, the key making the engine roar to life. He'd since fixed the wiring in his car, and as he pulled away from the gravel parking, glanced over at Yuki with a sigh. "Teagan...she called me, two days ago, and I ignored it. Left me a voicemail and I ignored it. Thought it was another prank, you know? But it turns out I was wrong. Now she's missing, the camp called me. They don't know where she went. And the kids are basically going comatose by the hour, she doesn't know why. My bet is she had some sense and went to figure out what was causing it, and then got into trouble," he explained, pressing the gas as he drove onto the highway. "Do me a favor, in the book under your seat, go through and see if there is anything about kids...and an illness, or life force, or their soul, anything like that. I can't think of anything off the top of my head," he explained again, the needle for the speed rising as they headed south.

[Yuki]

"No need," Yuki said staring at the scenery that passed by from the passenger window as she recalled everything she had read about mythological creatures that targeted children. "Possibilities include a lamiae, a demon that devours children in order to live, an aswang, a ghoul that hunts children at night, a shtriga, which feeds on the spirit of children, or a kelpie, a shape-shifting water spirit that consumes children near or in water. If what Teagan said is correct, my guess would be a shtriga, seeing as none of the children's bodies have actually disappeared, and the children are comatose."

Whatever the creature was, it disgusted her more so than any other they had faced thus far. To attack a defenseless child was cowardly and vile. Children were small, vulnerable beings that held souls full of good intention. No one, human or not, had any right to harm the innocent. She would finish this being's life for the sake of the children who already had their souls consumed, and for the well-being of those whose souls were still intact, for as long as the creature was alive, every child at that camp was in danger.

They weren't the only one's whose lives were in peril, however. If Teagan had gone missing, the creature must be involved somehow. For all they knew, she could be dead. Yuki knew Aiden must have already considered the possibility. He probably felt guilty over ignoring her voice mail. When he told her that he had ignored it, she almost yelled at him for not checking his voicemail at the very least, especially when it had ended up being so important. But, she quickly realized she would have done the same thing. However, it wouldn't do any good to dwell on that fact, or the circumstances which revealed that Teagan was in grave danger . The sooner they got to the camp and killed that creature, the better.

[Teagan]

A soft breeze drifted through the room, teasing of ponderosa pines and sagebrush. An odd combination to experience at once, but Teagan didn't seem to care. Her mind drifted, not able to attach to any one thought or reason. Except that the air was rather chilly. Shouldn't someone shut the window before they all caught pneumonia?

She shifted to the left uncomfortably. No, that position didn't work either. She tried move her hands and give support to her head, but the girl met resistance as she did so. Her hands, in fact, did not want to move out of their position behind her. What was with the sudden rebellion? Teagan wondered briefly if her entire body was in revolt. Her feet refused to move as well. Go, darn it!

With a sigh, Teagan opened her eyes to figure out the current problem and realized she didn't recognize the room she inhabited. Startled, she frantically rose up. As she did, pain flashed through her head in protest of the fast movement and Teagan spent the next few moments struggling to see past the dark spots.

Everything came flooding back to her.

They had met up precisely as planned behind the mess hall, neither Scott nor Teagan enjoying the foul smell emitting from the trashcans beside them. Both had donned dark clothes, and Teagan carried the sole source of light. Teagan shivered. It was a cold night, and had nothing out of the ordinary occurred, she would have gladly accepted Lucas' previous offer of hot chocolate in the staff lounge.

Shiloh.

Teagan shook off her tiredness and with newfound determination started toward the forest. "We're going this way."

She pushed her way past the overgrown shrubs and onto a hidden trail she had discovered earlier in the day. For a good ten minutes, she carefully check the trees and ground for signs of disturbance. Or the supernatural. Or both. Nothing. Scott followed at a distance behind her. That was a dumb idea. Didn't he know that if he didn't stick close enough, he could get lost?

Teagan stopped and crossed her arms, giving the other counselor a pointed look. "Scott, how are you supposed to find anything if you're way back there? And you didn't bring a light, so there's no way you can see anything either." She flashed the light at him to illuminate his path.

He emerged from the trees eerily. A normal person would have shielded their eyes from the bright stream of light, but he ignored it like it didn't exist. That was curious. "Sorry Teagan," he shrugged uselessly. "I'm here for back up, remember?"

Ah, that was right. She almost asked 'against what?', but the answer might have been a danger she didn't want to believe existed. "Just...stay close, alright?" The teen continued forward, flashlight dancing around in the darkness.

"No problem," Scott replied. He jogged up to her, and from behind placed his hand on the one she had holding the flashlight. Teagan stopped and turned back to glare at him. Dark night in the middle of the forest trying to save camper's lives was not the most appropriate place. And she wasn't interested. At all.

"You're borderline about to get smacked."

"Just doing my job."

She shot him a glare and returned to her inspection of the trees. She almost thanked him for the extra warmth (since she was freezing at this point), but she refrained due to two factors: 1) Scott would have taken it the wrong way and 2) he wasn't really warm at all.

His deep voice suddenly broke the music of the wildlife at night. "You know, I'm probably not the best person to have brought along."

"And why's that?" she asked, half-interested. "You fall asleep without your daily cup of coffee?"

"Nah," she heard him chuckle a bit. "I don't drink coffee."

Teagan lifted an eyebrow. That had caught her attention. "Seriously? But you're so full of energy."

"I'm on...a natural high, you might say."

There was something about the way Scott spoke that made her pause. Normally, any person might say it in jest. But his inflection made her wonder if there was irony behind the line. "You're scaring me, knock it off."

"Good. The little hunter finally shows a realistic emotion."

Teagan froze. Could he know...? No. No way. She hadn't mentioned anything about it! He must've given her a nickname or something. "Ha. Funny Scott." She frowned, not finding the situation humorous at all.

His hand gripped her own tighter, and Teagan almost shrieked at its sudden coldness. "I don't find it very funny, Teagan. Quite pathetic, in fact. You hunters really aren't all you used to be anymore."

Holy crud.

Teagan hadn't even had time to scream before something had slammed into the back of her head. And then she had woken up with a massive headache in an unfamiliar room. She leaned against the nearby wall and let the blood return to its normal pattern. Scott must have bound her hands and feet. It would certainly explain her lack of ability to move.

How long had she been out?

The girl opened her eyes and groaned when she couldn't find a window, nor any indication of the passage of time. And that left her alone with her thoughts. Somehow, Scott had to be behind everything. But how? He wasn't a shape shifter, that was for sure. What would be the motive of going to a kid's camp and being forced to babysit?

A creak slowly grew from the other side of the room, and Teagan hesitantly turned. From a shadowed doorway emerged a cloaked figure. It paused, and seeing she was awake, moved in her direction. As it drew closer, Teagan caught a glimpse of its aged face and gasped. An ashen complexion aligned with wrinkles and hollowed eyes met her stare and instinctively she shrunk back toward the wall. A wiry, tree-like hand lifted and reached out to her.

"No...no...no..." she sputtered, twisting away. She could not allow it to touch her. As much as she hated to admit it, whatever this thing was could be classified as supernatural. And although she had prepared for an emergency like this, she hadn't counted on being restrained while whatever it was came closer...

...and closer...

Teagan let out a shout as one of the hands grabbed her shoulder tightly. It drew itself closer to her, to the point where their faces were inches apart. "Get away from me!" she shrieked and turned her head away. Yeah, brilliant idea Teagan. Like that would change anything. The free hand wrapped its elongated fingers around her neck and gently forced the struggling teen to look at it. She stared fearfully into the darks of the place where the eyes should have been and felt like puking.

Until something changed.

Teagan could feel it reach, grasping, clawing for something embedded so deep within her that she felt like a thousand needles had jammed her side in protest. They screamed out in resistance, but only whimpers made it out. Teagan's face twisted in pain. As she felt the creature rip out a piece of her soul, one last thought tumble through her mind and filled her with despair.

The creature had to be Scott in some way, shape, or form.

And Scott had witnessed her call to Aiden. So, with basic logic, he-it could assume that Aiden was another hunter.

As her vision faded away and all the sounds dimmed, she hoped Aiden and Yuki were still in Portland, blissfully ignoring her call.

[Aiden]

The speedometer in the car's driver's side dash kept rising, soon reaching a peak of most likely an illegal speed as Aiden steered the car southward. This was...he sighed, he couldn't believe that he could be so careless of a hunter and let his feelings mask a life that was in danger. Now Teagan could be dead, and it would technically be his fault.. She called him to ask him for help, she called him to keep her alive. If he failed, if he let her die simply because of a simple prank...well, he wouldn't be pleased with himself. He had hoped that one of the fundamental principles of hunting wouldn't resurface with Teagan's leave, that it would prove it wrong, but he guessed it didn't; once you joined the ranks of the hunters, there was no escaping the supernatural. This could have been coincidence that Teagan ran into something at camp, but the unspoken rule was still holding true.

Listening as Yuki recalled the possibilities from memory, he couldn't help but be impressed. He didn't even recognize the first name, the next two seemed plausible, and the last just seemed like something out of books. He agreed with Yuki, thankfully she knew what she was doing. Still, he had never dealt with a shtirga, so he hoped Yuki could answer his next question. "Great, thanks. Any idea how to kill it?" he asked as he swerved a little to hard into another lane to surpass a car. It was evident by his driving that he was angry, or at the least emotional, but he hoped that Yuki wouldn't say anything. He knew that it was on him, she had nothing to due with it, aside from being there to save her faction mate.

The usual ten hour drive it would take to get there only took four and a half, Aiden knowing some shortcuts around traffic, and having had sped there the whole way. Luckily there were no policemen to stop him, and arriving there, he sped through town, blowing through permitted lights until he reached the edge of town, where the camp was situated. He came to a rather harsh stop, got out of the car, and headed to the trunk, where he grabbed a gun, a pistol, and shoved it in the back of his pants, beneath his shirt. He handed one to Yuki, knowing that they would only be able to do damage when it was feeding. It was going to be hard enough trying to find the thing. He stood where he was, looking around. "Okay, I'm going to go talk to the people that called me. You take a look around, keep an eye out for anything, or any one that looks suspicious. Remember, this thing can look like anyone," he instructed, as he stepped inside the building nearby.

[Yuki]

When Aiden asked her if she knew how to kill a shtriga, she paused to respond. The answer was not pleasant. "...Shtriga's are essentially immortal," she said, looking down at her hands resting in her laps. "The only time one is vulnerable is when it is feeding upon a child, in which case they become as exposed as an ordinary human, so any weapon with sufficient killing force would do."

Even so...immortal. If they ran into the creature at any other point, except for during its feeding time, then there would be no way to stop it.

As these thoughts crossed her mind, she glanced over at the needle on the speed gauge on the car, which was dangerously leaning a little past the 90 degree mark. It would not settle below 80 miles per hour. If one mile was the equivalent of about 1.6 kilometers, that made 80 miles equal to...128 kilometers?!

"Omai wa baka desu ka?!" There was no way he was driving in accordance with the United States speed limit. He typically drove fast, but this was beyond anything she had ever witnessed him drive.

"Kuso! Omai wa kichigai!" she hissed, alarmed by his dangerous speed. "I know you are impatient to arrive at the camp, but at this rate, we shall both be dead before we arrive!"

His worry was painfully obvious. It wasn't that she didn't care--she was just as concerned for the safety of the children as well as of Teagan, but if he let his emotions get the best of him, that would not only endanger them and other people's lives on the streets, but also their own lives on the battlefield. His judgement would be clouded, his decisions irrational. He needed to calm down if he planned to kill this creature swiftly and effectively.

With Aiden's nearly insane driving, they arrived at the camp in practically half the time it would've normally taken. She remained silent for the majority of the trip, ready to grab the wheel in case Aiden made some reckless manuever, but he managed to keep them both alive for the entire trip.

Not used to the speed, Yuki was relieved to be out of the car and back on solid ground. She took the gun Aiden handed her and tucked it in the gun strap she had attached to her left leg, covered by her skirt. She normally carried her weaponry in her purse, but decided against it this time since there was a possibility it would be searched.

Nodding to Aiden's instructions, she headed towards the trees bordering the camp. She would inspect her surroundings first, and then investigate inside once Aiden was done talking to the people who had called him. She didn't want to take too much action until she heard further details about the situation. This was a dangerous creature they were dealing with, and it would be unwise to charge into the situation with a steady plan.

[Teagan]

Keith Hudson rubbed a calloused hand through his dark gray hair. Or, where his hair used to be. The week had not been kind to him. Not that he would let any of the staff or, even worse, the campers, see past his infamous positive attitude. No. The entire camp needed someone who could take control and assure them that everything would be okay. As the five-year director of the camp, he assumed that responsibility.

But he didn't have a clue about what was going on.

With as sigh, he leaned against his oak desk and gazed solemnly out his office window to the right. Seven kids out cold and one counselor missing. The counselor was the lesser of the two problems, really. No hysterical parents to break the hard news to. The police had taken control of the investigation once informed of the situation. Within an hour they had a search team combing the forest and a helicopter searching in the air. Although Keith felt terrible about his missing staff member, it didn't present as big as a problem as the sick campers did.

Protocol required calling a medic from Carson City to inspect the camp and decide if the area needed to be quarantined. A quarantine meant bad publicity for the camp. And poor enrollment for the next year's events. Keith rubbed his eyes and put his Camp Director hat back on his head. He might even lose his job, the people up at corporate had reminded him a day before when he called to ask for directions. No help they turned out to be. Only subtle hints that if anything went wrong, all fault would fall on him. Needless to say, he hadn't called the medic yet. But if another kid fell ill, there would be no excuse. Job or no job, safety came first.

A knock on the door interrupted him from his bothersome thoughts. He quickly masked his concern with a large smile. "Come in!" he cheerfully called.

[Aiden]

Yuki's answer gave him the chills as he thought about the implications. In order to kill this thing, after they rescued Teagan of course, they would have to...they were going to have to. The thought of using a child as bait wasn't pleasing, but in order to prevent more harm from being done, they would have to do it. Anything could do the trick, though, so he wouldn't have to worry about specifics. Otherwise, it was immortal. Would he be able to fend it off by brute strength should it come down to that? He sighed, staring at the road ahead of him. This was bad, he couldn't believe it was happening. Why couldn't it just be a demon that he could spit some Latin at, and be done with it? No, it had to be something that he had never faced before, that would be difficult to kill, and that had Teagan in it's clutches. Great.

He jumped slightly at the random yelling of Japanese, but his hand remained steady on the wheel. He glanced over at her when the lane opened up and he could do so safely. "What the hell is your problem?!" he yelled back as she continued on. He had no idea what she was saying, and until she spoke in English, he gave her a look that said 'you're crazy, and you please translate and calm down.' "I don't know if I've made myself clear, but Teagan is MISSING. That means that she could be dead, or dying! This is a ten hour drive, and if I go that slow, I'm giving that thing ten more hours to either kill her or get rid of the evidence," he responded, voice raised, but not yelling. He was making his point clear. "She called for our help, and I left her in the dark. I owe her this, I owe her her life no matter how badly she pissed us off," he said clearly, looking at Yuki before turning back to the road, and passing another car at his still dangerous speed.

Thankfully that was that, the talking was kept to a minimum in the five hours it took. He knew not to let his emotions get in the way, but he was so angry with himself for being so stupid. He had let his emotions get him into this whole mess, and now look what had happened. His driving was dangerously fast, but not dangerous; he knew how to handle the car, knew its limits, and while he couldn't control the other people on the road, when they saw the speeding black mass of the Camaro, most backed out of the way and let him by with no problem, albeit begrudgingly.

Once at the camp, Aiden headed over to the building that was clearly marked 'Administration' and entered. Nobody was in there, the reception desk was vacant, though he thought he could hear a faint noise in a nearby room, though the door was closed. Taking careful steps over to the room, he knocked lightly on the door before being told to enter. He glanced over the man, he didn't look like he would be of harm, so he let his guard down--slightly, of course. "I'm Aiden Sanders, the emergency contact on Teagan's card. I got here as fast as I could," he said, trying to sound like a worried...relative? Friend? Whatever he was supposed to be. "What happened?"

[Teagan]

The door opened, and a young man entered the room. Perfect age to be a counselor, Keith mused. If the camp doesn't go under next year.

"Ah, right. Mr. Sanders. My name is Keith Hudson, and I'm the director here at the camp," Keith put out his hand. "Why don't you have a seat?" He sat down at his desk and motioned the teen toward one of the two wooden chairs on the other side. Now to explain the, er, situation. Keith absentmindedly scratched at his large belly, earned from one too many sweets from the mess hall. "We're not quite sure what happened, really. Your cousin simply vanished overnight. The girls in her cabin said Teagan went to bed on time with all of them, but she wasn't there in the morning when they got up."

[Yuki]

The area had the appearance of any other camp, nothing visibly supernatural about it. The smell of pine trees was prominent, fitting with the greenery of the surroundings. Despite Nevada's desert topography, the camp was located upon a more mountainous region of the state. Nearing the end of summer, the sun was in full heat as it beat down across the landscape.

Yuki wiped the sweat off her brow. Summer was probably her least favorite season due to the heat. It was the same back in Okinawa, and the sun made it a tiresome task when it came to collecting herbs.

Speaking of which...

She looked at the trees and bushes that were growing in the area. Sagebrush and pine were the two most common forms of plants around her. Sagebrush would be ideal for respiratory problems. Pine...if the children had come down with the flu or a cold, she would've recommended the person in charge of the camp to collect the leaves and form them into a tea for the children. That would've worked miracles.

Unfortunately, Yuki knew no herbal tea would bring those children out of their sickness. They were now comatose, and their only hope was the death of the shtriga that had consumed their life force.

Following a stone path on the ground, she saw across the distance that some of the chidlren were outside, playing on the grass. They were little, probably elementary school students. Yuki felt a sense of comfort spread throughout her being as she neared them. She understood kids and admired their carefree nature. Unlike adults who were always selfish and judgemental, children had the ability to see past the prejudices and societal stereotypes.

A little girl was seated on the ground, near a tree, fiddling with several dandelion stems.

"Hi there," Yuki said, crouching down next to her. "What are you doing?"

"Making a necklace," the girl responded distnatly, concentrated on her work.

"Do you need any help?"

The girl looked up at Yuki with eagerness in her eyes. "You can just pick the flowers from the grass, because I'm using the stems and tying them all together, like this, see?" she said, holding up her half-finished string of stems. The girl continued to tie the next one on. "...Kelsey used to help me pick the flowers, so it's hard to do it all by myself."

Yuki began picking the dandelions from the grass. "Oh? Why isn't Kelsey helping you out? Did you guys get mad at each other?"

"No..." she replied silently, with a solemn look her necklace. "Kelsey's sick right now, that's why she can't come outside and play."

"Has she taken medicine? That usually helps."

The girl looked up at Yuki. "Well, I think she did, 'cause I saw a lot of people going into the house where she is right now, but they weren't doctors, they were just a bunch of group leaders, so I don't know. ....Oh, but the doctor here at the camp has gone in too! And the president guy of the camp. So maybe they did give her medicine." She paused and looked back down. "But if they're giving her medicine, I don't think it's working 'cause she hasn't come to play with me in a long time..." she said sadly, twiddling the necklace between her fingers.

The poor girl. She would be terrified if she knew what had actually happened to her friend. Yuki remained collecting the flowers for her, hoping to provide some form console to girl by staying to play with her, even if it was only for a little while.

When she had mentioned all the people who inhabited the camp, Yuki realized that finding the shtriga would be difficult if it kept itself in disguise. It would most likely not disguise itself as a child. It would have to be someone who had access to all the buildings at all times of the day and night. Someone who, if caught, would be able to slip away easily. A child would not be allowed to mingle with other groups and would be restrained by the camp counselors, a disadvantage to the shtriga. In addition to figuring out it's cover, in order to kill it, they would have to catch it during feeding time.

Yuki knew the most logical method would be to use a child as bait. She shuddered at the thought. Surely whatever child they used would hear the gunfire and wake up, if that was the method they decided to exterminate it with. But...even if they used a knife, the shtriga would put up a struggle, and the child would hear. Either way, he or she would wake up to see a monster being killed. And if they warned the child, told them what they were going to do beforehand, would that child cooperate? And if they did, they would be forever doubting the world around them, conscious of the existence of the supernatural.

No matter which way it went, it would be a catch-22.

[Aiden]

The way that the man, this Keith Hudson, eyed him upon his entrance didn't please Aiden; it was like he was something to be bought, to be used. His face remained hard, straight as he entered the small office, taking in the image of the man: balding, slightly rotund, overall inviting and friendly. Everyone at the camp was a suspect, even if they could be ruled out, like the children who had restrictions on where they went. However, it was more likely that it would be an adult, someone trusted, and this man could be the culprit. Keeping that in mind, Aiden knew that he needed to appear concerned in order not to alarm this man, even though he really was concerned, only his usual demeanor would appear as if he was angry--which he was. It was all one big cycle.

He sat in the rather uncomfortable chair, directly across from the man. His eyes scanned the wall behind him, catching nothing that struck him as out of the ordinary. His cousin...that was something he wasn't used to. After all, before all of this Casey business he worked alone, occasionally with another hunter, but all by his lonesome for the most part. He didn't let the relationship let anything show though, he only listened in earnest, almost scrutinizing him. "Look, while I can agree that Teagan might not have the most common sense, I do know that she is intelligent enough not to simply walk off somewhere alone, especially with woods like these. And here you sit trying to tell me that no one knows a thing. Don't you guys have some sort of watch system, if the kids get out? No one else was gone that night? She wouldn't just go off by herself..." In all actuality, she hadn't, but it appeared that no one knew that, and Aiden was trying to think of how Teagan could just disappear on her own. "Who did she hang out with around here, aside from the kids?" he asked, ruling out the obvious answer.

[Teagan]

Well, the boy's demeanor revealed he didn't take to kindly to Keith's explanation. Although the expected concern was obvious, the hidden anger took Aiden off of the director's list of possible counselors for the next year. As he listened to the boy's sharp words question the safety and security of the camp, a bad taste lingered on the tip of Keith's tongue. No one insulted the camp. Not his camp. For the moment though, the older man bit the inside of his cheek. Couldn't get a bad rep for mouthing off family of the staff. Even if it was a know-it-all teenager.

"To clear this up for you, sir, the Big Brothers Big Sisters camps do have protocol set in place for all emergencies. There are locks on all of the windows and doors that only staff can open. Campers have no need to leave their cabins after lights out. Restrooms are even located within each cabin. On top of that, all of our counselors are light sleepers. It's a requirement." His personal touch to the camp, on top of that! His light blue eyes drifted down to a notepad on the side of his desk and softened. Keith picked it up and examined the names of all of the sick campers. "As for questioning, we did ask all of the staff if they knew anything, but there's been...other issues that have recently appeared for the camp. Most of our attention has shifted to it as we allowed the authorities to take over the search for Teagan."

In other words: Not. His. Problem. Any. More.

Sick kids and losing his job? Definitely a problem.

"What she did in her spare time was, of course, to her discretion-" A few of the counselors engaged in activities like smoking, which wasn't allowed in the presence of the students. The camp did not promote that activity. "-but I do recall her spending quality time with two of the male counselors..." What were their names again? The two were completely different from each other, which had confused the man as to why they'd spent so much of the free periods with each other. Then again, there was only one girl present each time, so he supposed that it really wasn't that hard to figure out their motives. "...ah! That's right! Lucas and Scott."

[Aiden]

No, he wasn't taking kindly to the explanation, because while the head of the camp thought that Teagan was just wandering around the woods, Aiden knew otherwise, that she was probably hurt or dead, and in the clutches of the shtriga. Obviously the camp placed too much trust in the counselors, since they didn't think of having a means of monitoring them. Wouldn't it be protocol to set up some cameras as it was, just for the childrens' sake? He kept most of his thoughts to himself, listening to his words, which were careful. He didn't have time to sit there and dawdle with technicalities. Teagan needed help, and she needed it fast. There had been a reason he'd cut the drive time in half. He wondered if outside Yuki was making more headway than he was. With a slow sigh, he listened to the protocols, not very happy with them, because obviously they didn't work. Some iron, salt, and devil's traps would be nice, he only wondered why Teagan hadn't thought of those.

Even though Teagan wasn't really his cousin, the concern was still there, and now his anger came bubbling up too. "Obviously you're placing too much trust within the counselors if you let them leave at anytime. If they are such light sleepers, then why didn't anyone notice her leaving? And you'd think that you'd place some damn cameras around here, if not to watch the children, then to watch the damn counselors. Your LACK of protocol resulted in the disappearance of my cousin, did it not? And then you have the nerve to say that you have other matters that are more important, rather than the life of an innocent girl?! Then I guess you'll be too busy with your other matters to care about a coming lawsuit, and you'll be too busy with other matters to get your camp up to par while I bring state rangers into play, right?" He was lit now, he was sure that the man would try and argue back, but Aiden wasn't about to play his games.

"You might want to revise your contracts so that what the counselors do in their spare time is of your discretion," he hissed, and then stood. "I want the cabins that these Scott and Lucas guys watch, I'll just go talk to them myself. Enjoy your sick kids," Aiden spat, knowing that the man hadn't said anything about them, though it was possible that someone outside could have told him.