Jason walked out of the camp, on his way to look for Mike. Suddenly, he heard a familiar call.
“Jason! Jason, my boy,” the old lady called
“Mama,” he replied. It was Mike's grandmother. She had bandaged his wounds and had given him gifts when Mike and his gang bullied him. She had done so much to help him. For that reason, Jason loved her like his own mother.
“Come here, my child,” she said, showing her outstretched hands for a hug, which Jason reluctantly accepted.
“Good morning mama!”
“Good morning, my child. How are you doing?” she asked.
“I'm doing great mama!”
“Have you, by chance, seen Mike? I've been looking for him for forty-five minutes now.” She said, looking worried.
“NO, I haven't mama!”
“Oh! I've told the management, but they have said nothing about his whereabouts. That problem child, I hope he isn't in any serious trouble…” she paused, noticing no reaction in Jason. He should have at least tried to comfort her, but he just stood coldly beside her.
“Jason my boy, a_are you alright? Did he hurt you again?” She asked with concern.
“No, ma! He hasn't”
“He must have. You're not behaving like yourself dear, what's wrong?”
“It's nothing, forgive me mama I gotta go,” He said walking away.
“Ja…” she tried to call, surprised at his reaction. He had never sunglasses before, only on special occasions.
“Hey May!” Stacey called,
“You're coming with me,” she said
“No, I’m not. We're going to hike now. I've been looking for you everywhere,” she replied, but May just pulled her by the arm.
“I guess I don’t have a choice,” Stacey said, giggling, walking with her towards the girl's lodge.
“Have you seen Mike? His grandma has been looking for him all morning.” Stacey asked. May took her into her room and locked the door.
She walked silently towards to window. Stacey curiously waited patiently for her to speak. Then, she suddenly turned and said: “Mike is dead”
“WHAT!?” Stacey responded sharply
“He is dead Stacey!!” She replied, bursting into tears.
“Come here,here, May,” she said, outstretching her arms. “Tell your bestie everything.” She sat on the bed and took her in her arms. Relaxed, May told her everything.
For a moment, Stacey kept quiet after May finished her story and kept sobbing in her arms.
“So… your saying that; Jason is possessed by moving sand, that there’s sand moving through our walls and that Jason killed Mike, and you saw him fading into thin air?"
"Yeah!... Well almost"
Suddenly, Stacey stood up and laughed.
"I don't get it, what's so funny?" May asked, perplexed.
"Your incredible, May, and I almost thought you were serious"
"W_what are you saying? I am serious,"
"How do you expect me to believe all of that? Your so good at these things" Stacey said, raising her voice.
"At which things"
"At_at acting"
"What do you mean acting? Stacey! You don't trust me."
"Of courseyou? I do, but for how long,? Like the other day, I knew something was wrong, but you just pretended that it was nothing. How will I believe you now?"
"You want me to prove it to you?" May asked, raising her voice back disheartened.
"Yes!! Prove it May!!" Stacey shouted
Angry, May smashed a huge hole on the side of her wall and screamed "See!!" Which made Stacey gasp in shock.
"What is wrong with you?" She asked, irritated.
May looked at the wall in dismay. There were no moving sands at all.
"But..." she tried to say
"That is enough, May! We've played unbelievable pranks on our classmates before. You've even pranked me before that I almost cried. It no longer works on me, May!”
They kept silent for a few seconds.
"Look May, I don't wanna have this conversation, especially not with you. I'm going on a hike with the others. Will you join me?" She asked calmly.
"But it's not safe"
"Are you coming or not?"
"I... Am" May finally replied, then Stacey left the room.
May sighed and left with her.
"Hey, I packed your things for you," Stacey said, handing her a bag.
"Thanks"
"Let's hurry, they won't be too far," she said, and they took to their heels, chasing after them.
"Where have you guys been?" Jess asked
"Long story" Stacey replied
"Well, you guys can join us. Here..." she said, handing them pictures.
"We're on a hunt, help us find these"
"Hi, Ava, Oliva and girl I don't know" Stacey greeted, referring to a blonde-haired girl.
"Hi, so what do we get for hunting for plants?" Ava asked.
"I'm not sure, but Miss Claire said that there's a gift for anyone that managed to find all of them," Jess replied
"Cool, but it's like thirty minutes now and we have found nothing," Oliva complained.
They walked for a few minutes later, keeping their eyes peeled for any plant that was listed.
"Did our entire class agree to come here?" May asked Stacey.
"I've seen almost all of us, just Jordan and Mia. "
"Mia said that she would come later"
**I hope she doesn't**
"No way!! Guys, come check this out," the student from the different class called. In answer, they went towards her.
"Hey girl, what's up?" Jess asked.
"It's Linda"
"Sorry"
"This plant, it's a_ an Asterian flame Lily or blood flower"
"I don't see it on the list"
"Legend has it that it was one’s bright yellow before, but it absorbed so much blood that it turned red"
"Whoa!" Stacey exclaimed in amazement.
"Stacey!! Will you believe anything? " May said, not buying it.
"It was said that the place where witches were murdered at that time blossomed with flame lilies."
"But it's just one flower," Ava said
Linda stood up and walked by a tree that was at the edge of a hill.
"No way!! Guys, you may want to see this," Linda said, shaking in astonishment.
They all went to her towards the hill's edge. There was a valley there that was filled with flame lilies, in a golden field, and a river that crosses between it and the other hill that was with a dense forest.
"Wow"
"Wo...hoa!!!! It's so pretty"
They were all gasping in wonder. It felt like they were in a fantasy land.
"Galganoak!! That's_that's, galganoak!!" Stacey exclaimed.
"What's galganoak?" May asked.
"The place where witches were killed, it's filled with flame lilies that absorbed too much blood. For centuries, they've been like this." Linda said, filled with awe. "The legends are true"
"There," Ava pointed "that river must be where the old woman's daughter manages to cross and escape the guards"
"Yes," Linda agreed.
"Ugh!! Ava! Don't tell me you believe in that Asterian legend stuff too." Olivia said, leaning on the tree uninterested.
"It is true, can't you see? It also states that there was a dense forest on the other side. There! There's the dense forest." Linda argues.
"Did Miss Claire tell you the story too?" Jess asked,
"No! I'm a fanatic about Asterian history. Can you imagine an entire kingdom disappearing without a trace, without a single bloodline? An entire generation of people wiped out of the face of the earth by an unknown curse"
"The witch’s curse," Ava said.
"Ugh!! Come on, let's cross over to the other side. We could find those plants in that forest."
"There's no way I'm crossing there," Linda said
"Definitely not," Jess said
"Uh_uh"
"No way," the other girls concurred. May just kept quiet.
Oliva gave a sly smile and pushed Ava, which sparked a chain reaction. Eventually, all the girls rolled down the hill Oliva followed suit.
"What have you done? What have you done? What have you done? We're cursed!!" Linda exclaimed, jumping about.
"But I don't wanna be cursed," Stacey said, screaming.
"Me neither" Ava joined
"Stacey, Ava, pull yourselves together. No one is cursed," May said, shaking them vigorously. Jess picked up a flower, ignoring them.
"But they are cursed," Oliva suddenly said
"Huh??" the three girls exclaimed
"They're cursed by me," Oliva said, imitating a lion's roar and chasing them. They ran about the valley screaming and giggling.
"Stop playing. Let's get back to hunting," Jess called them.
"Come on!! We have found nothing yet, remember?" She persuaded.
Eventually, Oliva caught Linda by the waist to which she screamed and held his hair. They both laughed looking into each other's eyes for a moment.
May, Stacey, and Ava collapsed on the grass.
"Uh_oh! Looks like we have two love birds in our midst," May whispered, making Stacey laugh.
"Yeah! It's almost like they'll..." Ava said.
"What!!!" Linda interrupted.
"No, we weren't, we wouldn't... uh!" they stammered, breaking free of themselves.
"Come on! Let's go, there's a shallow part of the river that we could cross by foot," Jess said.
Jason walked on his own in the woods, unaware of the hike. The school set off.
"Hey!! Student!" A girl called.
"Hi," he answered
A team of five students came towards him.
"I'm Helen"
"Jason"
"Are you paired with a team?"
"A team? Why?" He asked.
"For the scavenger hunt," a boy in the team replied.
"That means you haven't. You could join us. We need an extra hand"
"Okay," Jason replied, walking with them but keeping a safe distance as well.
"Hey, I've found something," one of the girls called.
"We're looking for live plants, not dead ones, Angela!"
"Oh! I thought it was alive." She sighed.
"Over here!" Came another call from one of the team, this time a boy.
"What is it?"
"What the...?" It was alive, just now!!" He exclaimed. He touched the withering stem.
"Wait!! It's not just those plants, even the grasses are dead," Helen noticed.
"I'm noticing a radius... No, a circle, it's like a circle of death, all the plants and grasses in the circle are withering. Look!"
"It's as if the circle was moving"
"Wait!!! Everyone... Where is that boy?"
"You mean Jason?" They looked around but could not find him.
"It's like he disappeared,"
"That's creepy"
"Miss Claire" Mr Matt called
"Yes"
"Please remind me how many students attended the camp"
"Forty students"
"And how many joined the scavenger hunt?"
"Thirty-five students"
"But why did they refuse to join?"
"Oh, I forgot, Jordan hasn't arrived yet. He was ill and Mia is on her way. Hm! I haven't seen Mike, May and Jason yet."
"What!!! But I checked the lounges well, no student was there"
"Well, I guess that we will ask them. It's almost five o'clock. Let's get back to camp. The scavenger hunt will soon be over."
"I wonder why we didn't make tents instead"
"We wanted to, but the parents insisted on buildings so... What could you do"
At the end of the hunt, May's team got half of the list and the team of five (Helen's team) won the competition by completing the list. They were rewarded with badges and a gold cup filled with cheese.
Miss Claire was about to walk away when something caught her eyes.
"E_escuse me... Eh, Jess" she called Jess, who was with her team.
"Yes, ma!"
"Let me see that flower"
"Flo... Oh, here" she handed over the flame lily she forgot in her pocket.
"It can't be! " Miss Claire exclaimed in shock.
"What's wrong... Are we cursed?" Linda asked with a worried face.
"No, of course not," she replied. "can I keep this for a while? I'll return it to u later, promise."
"Sure thing"
"Thanks," she said,
To herself she said; "I've spent my life looking for this flower for so long now."
"What? But we've found so many of them," Ava exclaimed.
"Where?"
"In this woods, in a valley, they were like trillions of them, with golden fields surrounding them."
"Yeah" they concurred
"That's impossible. I've been in these woods for twenty years, I know every part and I've never found a single one of them"
"Whoa!! We're cursed" Stacey whimpered.
"No... No, it's not a curse. Maybe I didn't look for it very well" she said nervously and walked away.
"Girls, relax, we're not cursed," Oliva
"That's it, I'm going to sleep, I'm tired," Jess said,
"You won't eat?" Ava asked, following her.
"Goodbye everyone, today was splendid," Linda said leaving.
"Wait up" Oliva called, following her.
"I guess it's just you and me now, matie," Stacey said giggling.
"So you'd rather believe that you're cursed than to believe that I'm saying the truth," May said as they walked towards the dining hall.
"Why are you bringing up this topic again? Of course, I don't believe that we're cursed"
"You're being so mean to me," May moaned
"Aw!! Well, it's because you are teasing me about someone's death. I'm sorry I was mean." she held her friend's arms and put on her apologetic face.
"Forgive me bestie! Please!!"
May smiled and said: " I forgive you" hugging her.
Stacey continued her usual blabbing about everything as they walked towards the dining hall.
"Hmmm!! I smell rice" she exclaimed, running inside.
"Hey!!! Don't abandon me for your favourite food." May replied, chasing after her.