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SIX

ASTER

“Hey stranger.” Kaila smiled as she walked over to me.

Both of our schedules had us stationed at the woodshop next to the arts and crafts building.

The two cabins weren’t far from the cafeteria and administrative cabin and we were able to see most of Camp Redwood.

The campers were currently focused on creating birdhouses with Solomon.

Kaila and I were more or less just there to keep an eye on things. “How’s your head?” she asked.

“No complaints.”

Kaila blinked and stared at me before busting out into laughter.

“I haven’t heard that one before!” She wiped her eyes behind her glasses.

“That was good, Aster.” Kaila leaned against the cabin wall next to me while we watched the campers.

“I meant your actual head.” She pointed to the tiny, stitched cut on my forehead.

“How are you feeling? I know you ran after Sol last night. Did you guys talk?”

I nodded. “Yeah. We’re good. I know it was an accident.” My head turned, and I showed her a smile. “The whole thing was just all a misunderstanding.”

Kaila made a face. “Yeah. And in the center of it all is your brother.” My stomach twisted, and I remembered my dream. “Why is that?” she asked.

I shook my head and shrugged. “I’ve been asking myself that for a long time.

” We stood there minding our own business when I noticed Tabitha was painting little green dinosaurs across her birdhouse.

She looked around the room until she spotted me and pointed to her little creation.

I smiled and gave her a thumbs up. She beamed and returned to painting.

“Tabitha seems to have become really fond of you.” I looked back at Kaila. “That’s good. You guys have a similar story, you know?”

“What do you mean?”

Kaila sighed and adjusted her glasses. “Tabitha’s a local.

Her parents would spend the summer here and work.

Ten years ago, when Tabitha was born, her mom stayed home whereas her dad showed up to work the summer.

Her parents really loved this camp. They grew up spending their summers here and met down by the lake.

It meant everything to them. It’s a shame how that all ended when her dad died. ”

I looked back at Tabitha. “How did he die?”

Kaila crossed her arms. “Oddly enough, it was like Sol said. He was found on the edge of the campgrounds, bloodied and beaten. It was like some monster had just mauled his body and left him there to die. The strangest thing about it was that when Nurse B went to help him, she said there was no blood in his body. Sandy and I were campers back then and remember the whole thing. It was scary and something you’d see in a horror movie.

” She paused. “Tabitha’s mom was so heartbroken after losing her husband.

It wasn’t even a month later that her mom just stopped functioning, and on the third anniversary of his death, she killed herself.

” I gasped. “Tabitha saw the whole thing. Stopped speaking and completely shut herself off from the world. She went to live with her grandmother, and we didn’t really hear about her after.

That is, until she randomly showed up at camp about two years ago.

You should’ve seen our faces. No one expected her to step foot in these woods.

But she did. Only, she didn’t interact with the other campers.

She was just there. She moved like a zombie throughout the entire summer.

I heard she might be returning this year, but I really didn’t think she would.

I mean, she looked miserable, Aster. None of us thought she’d come back.

But then we saw her get off that bus—” She stopped.

“It felt like a funeral. That is, until she found you.” Kaila smiled.

“You’ve brought her back to life, Aster. ”

My heart ached. That poor little girl. She had experienced so much trauma at such a young age.

Trauma no child should ever have to experience.

And it made me want to rush to that little girl’s side, hug her tight, and never let her go.

I wanted to protect her from this fucked up world and tell her that she’s not alone.

“I—” I looked over at Tabitha. Her face was covered in paint.

The girls next to her had decided to stop painting their birdhouses and paint each other's faces instead. Tabitha had flowers on both her cheeks and was painting a pink dinosaur on another girl’s face.

She was glowing, filled with such joy. “I—I don’t know what to say.

” I waved and smiled at her. Tabitha grabbed a few things and rushed to me. I bent down to talk to her.

“Aster!” she squealed. “Look at my face!” Tabitha pointed to her cheeks.

I laughed and tucked her red hair back. “Oh my! You look so pretty!”

Tabitha giggled. “Can I paint your cheeks?” I opened my mouth but no words came out. “Please!” Tabitha begged.

I looked at Kaila, who was holding back her own laughter. She pretended to look away. “I’m not sure, Tabitha.”

The little girl made a pouty face. “Please?” Damn, she was good.

I sighed. “Okay. But just one cheek!”

Tabitha squealed and immediately started painting my cheek.

Kaila watched and covered her mouth, but I could see her smiling and giggling to herself.

I rolled my eyes and smiled. All I could hear were Tabitha's giggles and little whispers as she painted my cheek.

She was so happy. But my heart just broke to imagine such a lively little girl suffering so much. It was wrong.

If fate does exist, it’s a monster. And Tabitha is proof of that.

Tabitha stepped back. “Ta-da!” Kaila handed me a small compact mirror.

“What do you think?” I opened it and admired her work.

She eagerly jumped up and down as I opened it and admired her work.

Painted across my face was a little green dinosaur, just like my tattoo, only it had a flower on its head that matches the flowers on Tabitha’s cheeks. “Do you like it?” Tabitha asked.

I had to hold back tears as I smiled. “I love it.” Kaila snorted as I handed back her compact.

“But you know.” I leaned in close to Tabitha and whispered in her ear, “I think Miss Kaila over here needs some face paint too.” Tabitha’s eyes lit up.

“Why don’t you get your friends to help?

” Tabitha nodded and squealed before she skipped back to the table.

Kaila eyed me. “What did you say to her?”

I grinned and stood. “You’ll see.” The little group of girls came running back with their hands full of various brushes and paint. They rushed Kaila, and all I could hear was a rupture of laughter.

“Aster!”

I laughed as Kaila tried to hold them back. “Oh, come on, Kaila! Live a little!” She eventually gave in and fell to the floor as the girls began to paint her face.

She looked at me and shook her head. “I’m going to get you back for this!” she teased between laughter. I waved her off and began to walk around the woodshop.

The campers were doing surprisingly well building and decorating their birdhouses. But man, I’d almost forgotten how messy kids were. There was paint, glitter, buttons, and glue everywhere.

“Aster.” I looked over as Sol walked towards me. He seemed to be in a lighter mood today. “Nice face paint.” He smiled and pointed to my cheek.

“Yeah. Tabitha’s a real artist.” I looked over and tried not to laugh as she and the other girls surrounded Kaila. She looked like a real life Picasso painting, as they had painted most of her face and neck.

He smirked. “You’ve really brought that one to life, haven’t you?” I shrugged. “How are you feeling?” Sol asked.

Aside from Kaila asking, I’d basically forgotten about my head injury. “Oh!” I tapped the stitches. “I’m good! Whatever Nurse B gave me yesterday seemed to really do the trick.”

Solomon nodded. “That’s good. I was a bit worried last night.

” I gave him a confused look. “You know, leaving you alone with Sabbath.” Oh.

“And I know he’s your brother and all.” Stepbrother.

“But I’m not sure what it is. There’s just something really off about him.

He makes the hair on my neck stand up, and I just get tense when he’s around.

And don’t get me started on that little brother of his.

” I didn’t speak. Mostly because I felt it too but that was Sabbath.

He’s always been… off. “Anyways. I’m glad to see you doing well.

” He patted my arm. “Hey, I’m about to round up the campers and take them all swimming down at the lake.

I think they could use some time to clean all that mess off themselves. ”

We both looked out at the campers. “Yeah.” I laughed. “I completely agree.”

“And what are we agreeing to?” Solomon busted out laughing as I tried to hold back my own laughter. Kaila was standing next to me and completely covered in paint. Her face, neck, and limbs were smeared in the girl’s art, and despite the smiley face painted on her face, she wasn’t smiling.

Solomon couldn’t control himself and bent over in laughter. “What the hell, Kaila?” He snorted. “Fuck, you could give Dirty Doug a run for his money!”

“Fuck off, Sol.” She crossed her arms as paint rubbed onto her camp t-shirt.

“Aster here thought it would be a good idea to let the kids paint my face.” Her eyes glared at me.

“Only they decided that wasn’t enough. They started painting and filling in my tattoos, and before you know it, I look like a kaleidoscope! A fucking kaleidoscope, Aster!”

I wheezed from laughing so hard as Sol tried to keep his balance. “But a pretty one.” Kaila made a face. “Look, we’re going to take the campers to the lake to wash everything off. You can just hop in and scrub it off then.”

Sol wiped his eyes. “Oh fuck.” He was grinning so hard. “You’re going to need sandpaper to scrub that shit off!”