The bitter, brisk wind as sharp as Laura sliced her pale cheeks, but she did not move an inch. Her muscles refused to tremble. For the first time in nearly three years she was at peace. She gazed at the orange, autumn sky in amazement, just as she used to as a child. She looked at the basswood trees becoming more naked with every dropping dead leaf. It was so strange yet fitting that such a beautiful scene was based upon something so morbid.

Death. She was still standing silently over his lifeless body, soaking in the ambience of victory. Her favourite dagger, Marie, was still clenched in her blood stained hands. She new the police would find her, but she did not care. There was nothing left for her to do now. The walk to the prison would be her victory march. The court hearing would be her ceremony. Her cell would be her throne room.

Arianne reached into the inner pocket of her jacket and pulled out the list. she crossed out the final name and took a long, deep breath. She sat on the soft grass, looking out at the horizon, waiting for the cops to arrive. She faced the twilight sky, closed her eyes, and whispered, “Checkmate.”

****************************************

FOUR YEARS AGO

The St. Amy’s Summer Camp for Teenaged Girls was an annual, well-known four-week camp for girls across the country, and scores flocked there year after year. Arianne Watson, a sixteen year-old, had never attended anything of this sort before. Having been abandoned by her parents moments after being born, she grew up in a foster home all her life, which was quite devoid of fun opportunities that every child deserved. However, she decided that this year she would put a stop to the nonsense, and convinced her guardians to attend the camp, having saved up enough money to purchase all the necessary gear required for the camp, which was twenty-four hours away. She was brimming with excitement.

“Miss Amy Charles, I am certain you of all people are cognizant of the predicament that your... establishment is currently facing, having been unable to pay the rental fee for four consecutive months. My patience has officially been exhausted.”

“Mr. Fox! Sir, it’s been so difficult lately with the passing of my husband. There is only so much that I can do by myself, and the Camp is about to begin tomorrow! Please have mercy, think of the children!”

“There exists no place for empathy in the world of business I’m afraid, Amy. As the owner of this park, I expect rent to be prompt. As such, you will no longer be permitted to enter this compound, or carry out this camp, until your outstanding fees are paid.”

“But Sir! The camp begins tomorrow! How am I supposed to find the money by then? This is outrageous!”

“Well then, I assume you know what must be done. You have until the end of today to gather your belongings. Oh, and fear not about the camp, my workers will ensure that it runs smoothly in your absence. If I were you, I’d not inform their parents of your exile. It would ruin your image.”

“I... guess so,” muttered Amy. She slowly rose from her chair and exited Norman’s office, defeated. Norman Fox put his feet up on the desk and smiled contently to himself. He wore the face of the devil.

“Checkmate,” he whispered.

#fiction #sci-fi #prose

“Catch you guys in a month!” said Arianne hurriedly as she scampered out the entrance of the foster home. The bus had already arrived and was waiting almost ten minutes for her. Arianne was a very meticulous girl for her age, but it was a quality that always made her tardy. She sprinted as fast as a five foot four slimly built girl with an overstuffed backpack and enormous suitcase in her hands could.

It was a hustle, but Arianne was overjoyed to be finally out of the monotony of her home. She loved it and she loved its people, but she wanted more out of life. Everywhere they ventured together as a foster family, they would be greeted by sympathetic people who took pity on them, and by now, Arianne was sick of it. She did not want to be treated like that anymore, starting with the camp. If need be, she decided that she would concoct a pseudo family and pretend to be normal, just like any other girl she would meet.

And interacting with other people was the aspect of this camp that she felt most excited, albeit nervous, for. After all, everyone she ever met, whether at home or at school, knew of her ‘sad story’ and always treated her as if she had some sort of disability. Now, this group of girls would have no idea of her background, so she wanted to focus on being natural and making new acquaintances in the process.

One such opportunity presented itself the moment she took her seat on the bus. She turned to her left to meet a freckled girl with huge glasses and shoulder length, dark brown hair. “Morning!” squeaked Arianne nervously. “Well it’s about time! We were this close to leaving without you! But I’m just happy that you’re the last person we’re picking up before camp.” The girl’s tone was sharp, but her facial expressions told a different story. “Name’s O’Nella by the way, it’s nice to meet you!” “I’m Arianne.” Arianne wasn’t the best at keeping conversations, so an awkward silence ensued, which was finally broken by O’Nella. “So which house are you looking forward to being in?” she asked. Arianne did no such research into the camp, and didn’t know what to say. “Lemme guess, you don’t know much about Camp Amy do you? Don’t fret, I only know a lot because my sister attended two years ago. I’ll tell you everything you need to know, so we can have the upper hand on the competition!”

Arianne was probably the most competitive person she knew, and was thus very intrigued and felt it was fate that she sat next to O’Nella. They were still a couple hours away from Forres Park, where Camp Amy was held, so O’Nella had ample time to brief Arianne on the ins and outs. She found it easier and easier to talk to O’Nella, and soon realised that they had more in common than any of her school friends or foster family. O’Nella was probably the best friend she’d ever had, and it had only been forty-five minutes.

Before they knew it, the bus had pulled into the Forres Park entrance and they had to cut their conversation short. They were soon driving on a large, flat trail, flanked by green and brown skyscrapers. Although the sun was at its scorching, radiant best, it was no match for the vast canopy of the park, which provided optimum shade throughout the path, keeping the temperature at the ground level much cooler than any of the surrounding areas. The Forres Park Reserve was a marvel in its own right. There wasn’t a fallen leaf in sight, nor were there any dried branches hanging from the hundreds of towering trees. Arianne wondered how the park’s staff got the time and energy to maintain it in such pristine condition.

Upon arriving at numerous wooden buildings painted in a wide array of kaleidoscopic colours, the bus came to a halt. It was on exiting the bus that Arianne saw there were already four identical buses parked and emptied. “Yup, we are the last to arrive,” explained O’Nella, “I wonder why?” A sly smirk crept on her face.

“Hush, at least we made it,” responded Arianne. She peered at her surroundings. The structures were built on an enormous clearing of land, probably the size of a few football fields. The trees surrounding the clearing were arranged in layers, so that they got progressively taller moving away from the camp. It was truly a sight to behold, and made the atmosphere feel more secluded and serene. Again, Arianne was amazed at how the trees grew to the exact height and shape that was necessary to maintain the scenery. It was no surprise that this was one of the most praised natural landmarks in the world, and the staff deserved all the praise and credit, she thought.

“Alright! Hustle up girls! Let’s get inside quickly! The others are already sorted into their houses and teams! exclaimed a broad, stern looking (and sounding) woman, who was built like a general in the army. “I have no idea why you bunch are late! I have zero tolerance for tardiness! Ensure it doesn’t happen again for the duration of this camp, or the punishments will be dire!” Arianne exchanged surreptitious grimaces with the other girls. This was not what she was expecting, it was supposed to be fun.

“That’s enough trauma for the girls on their first day, Jennifer,” said a calm, deep voice behind the stern woman. “A pleasant morning to you all, I’m glad that everyone’s finally here, so Camp Amy can finally commence!” Norman Fox spoke slowly, but his tone was much more welcoming to the girls. “My name is Norman Fox, and I’m the owner of this very park that you stand in! It is my pride and joy, and in the coming weeks you will come to know exactly why.” His last words sounded as chilly as a prime winter day, and Arianne’s thoughts about him soon capsised.

“Thank you for the introduction Mr. Fox,” continued Jennifer. “To save time, I’m going to put you all in the same house, which is Hummingbird, and also on the same team, Ixora. Now, normally there are a dozen members per team, but since Miss Amy decided to include one extra girl... Ah yes, Jochelle, our thirteenth member.” Jochelle was donned in embarrassment. “I suppose that makes you all a Baker’s dozen!”

#fiction #scifi #prose

Team Ixora was hurriedly ushered inside one of the many buildings in the area. It appeared similar to all the others on the outside, but Arianne could tell that this one was reserved for the staff and used for large gatherings, as there was a sizeable hall with a stage area, and arena-fashioned seating at the back. The full works. They took their seats around a wide circular table, and were met with many silent eyes from the other participants, who were already seated and waiting. The hall was impressively decorated with numerous paintings of nature, probably of Forres Park, Arianne deduced. There were paintings of clumps of rare trees, streams, clearings of land like this one they were in, and a myriad of animals that made the Park their home. Atop the backboard of the stage, their was a sign in gold lettering: 'Forres Park - Mahogany Hollow'. O'Nella followed Arianne's eyes. "Yup, this is Mahogany Hollow, and there are three more just like it, named after the trees forming the pretty borders. Isn't it perfection?" O'Nella gawked. Arianne agreed.

The head table on the stage was populated with five very important-looking people, including Mr. Fox. He rose from his seat and approached the podium in his usual slowness. "Welcome all, to the St. Amy's Summer Camp for Girls! Every year, I am most thrilled to have Forres Park be the venue of choice for this truly one-of-a-kind camp. Sadly, this year Amy Charles herself could not be here to host the camp, as she has an extremely important matter to attend to. She extends her sincerest apologies, and is most saddened since she probably enjoys the camp more than anyone else." Confusion erupted across the room by the participants.

"How could Amy not be here? It's her camp!"

"We signed up because Miss Amy would be leading us!"

"She's been doing this for the past fifteen years!"

"Now," Norman Fox stressed even longer than usual on that word, silencing the chaos. "I understand your concerns and frustrations, but I have appointed extremely capable substitutes for her, who will ensure that you all have fun and make the most out of your time here. Let me introduce the members of the head table. You will be seeing, interacting and learning from them through the duration of your stay. From my right, Mr. Kenneth Stoll, the Head Park Ranger, Dr. Susan Hardy, the one responsibile for all the beautiful designs using nature around the Park, Miss Jennifer and Janet McCullum, who will lead the operations of the Camp."

He invited the members of the head table one by one to say a few words, and by then Arianne was already bored, and she could see that most of her companions were as well. "How old do you think she is?" Questioned O'Nella. She was referring to Dr. Hardy, who had a hunched back, a head of silver and large wrinkles on every inch of her brown skin. It sounded as if she was competing with Mr. Fox to see who could speak more slowly. "She has to be more than seventy," remarked Arianne. "It's a wonder she's able to do her job so well."

"This Park is full of wonders," replied O'Nella.

"Yeah, too much."

Finally, Norman Fox was back on the microphone to brief them on the day's proceedings. The rest of the afternoon would allow for all the participants to intermingle and become more familiar with each other, while an organised ice-breaker session would begin by late evening going into the night. Team Ixora gathered soon after to acquaint themselves. In just a few minutes, Arianne and O'Nella knew they had a lot in common with Ashli, who actually looked like O'Nella's twin. She had the same freckles, large glasses and shoulder length hair. Arianne thought she was seeing double.

Since they were allowed to roam around Mahogany Hollow, Ashli suggested that they head outdoors. As soon as they opened the door, Arianne bumped into two other girls. "Watch it!" A slim dark-skinned girl with long braids exclaimed with disgust. "Hey, I recognise you all!" said the second girl, dressed in a yellow and black dress with matching sandals to boot. She was of Chinese descent, with silky straight hair and a face full of all the sass in the world. "You're the bus that arrived late and kept everyone waiting!"

"At least we're not dressed like a school bus," retaliated Ashli, glancing up and down at the girl's garment. The girls' confident looks vaporised into embarrassment. Arianne liked her even more now. Ashli had three older brothers with whom she always got into verbal arguments and would always win, so she always had a witty comeback at the tip of tongue. Coupled with a flaming passion to win at every little thing no matter how petty it may be, she would be a tough customer for anyone up to no good to deal with. The girls brushed Ashli aside and bustled inside with their heads facing the floor and their tail between their legs. Ashli chuckled. "I'd love to learn their names so I could take more cracks at them."

"That's the kinda spirit we all need to come out on top," said Arianne, "but keep it for the actual events!"