Kingdom of Darkness (Kingdom Journals Book 2) Read online

  Each camper had fifteen minutes with Dr. Antos, and I read on my cot till my time came.

  “Camille, how are you?” He stood as I entered his tent. Unlike ours with the six cots, his held only one bed, a heater, a table holding a computer, a lamp, and several camp chairs.

  “I’m good.” I sat as he did.

  “Glad to hear. How are you feeling?”

  “Fine. No buzzing, no hallucinations. Although I did think of Ivy when they asked if I ever had a nickname.”

  “But how do you feel about being here?”

  “Are you kidding? Like I won the lottery.”

  “And you feel comfortable with the other campers?”

  “I’m getting to know them. There’s such a range of issues.”

  “It’s good to have a mixed group. You can help each other.”

  “What about my meds for tonight?”

  “I want to keep you on half dose until morning. Tomorrow we’ll do a trial with none. Does that sound okay?”

  “Yes.”

  “Moving forward, we’ll talk about your hallucinations in detail so maybe we can root out the trigger.”

  “Okay, thanks.”

  I left the tent, wondering if I really cared about what triggered the visions. I couldn’t pinpoint anything different in my life. But who knew, I wasn’t the expert. I guessed knowing a cause might help me in the future.

  Exhausted, I fell asleep and woke to a clanging bell. A lantern lit our tent, and I pulled on my socks and jacket while still in my sleeping bag. I slapped my watch on my wrist and noted the time. Six thirty, the green numbers read. The sun wouldn’t come up till nearly eleven, and while I’d gotten used to it in Reykjavik, the darkness outside the tent was unsettling. Braiding my hair, I fit it under my hat and headed out. The cold air engulfed me, and I shivered despite my warm layers.

  “I don’t think we’re supposed to go anywhere alone.” Asa’s voice reached me within a few feet.

  “Oh, yeah, I forgot, thanks.”

  “How long have you been in Iceland?”

  “That obvious?”

  “You have an American accent.”

  “A little over a year.”

  “I want to go to college in the States. Get away from this dreadful darkness.”

  “It does wear on you.”

  We freshened up and headed to the mess tent, waiting for our jobs as servers.

  “Well, we can see who the overachievers are.” Frida’s voice broke the silence.

  George and Jude followed her in and joined us at the table.

  “The food smells good,” Jude noted.

  “I hope they don’t have any serial killers on cook duty. I really don’t want to be poisoned. Hey”—Frida turned to face me—“will you do my hair?”

  I sat behind her and braided her hair and then Asa’s. They both had dark coarse hair, and I predicted the style would last a week. Mine, on the other hand, would be sliding out within the hour.

  “I’m good,” George said as I fit an elastic band on the end of Asa’s braid.

  “Yeah, me too.” Jude slid his cap off and ran his fingers through his short dark hair.

  “Nice muscles,” Frida half-whispered.

  I cleared my throat and headed for the food prep area to get an idea of when they needed us. Even though relationships between campers were forbidden, I hadn’t read Frida as the follow-the-rules type. I planned to stay far away from her antics. Noting the fresh fruits, cheeses, and warm rolls, I realized breakfast prep looked a lot easier than our evening meal duty. It was too bad. With the rotation, we’d be cooking dinners every night for a week. Of course, the evening cleanup would tend to be the worst too, so I figured we dodged that bullet.

  “You don’t like Frida, do you?” Jude’s hot breath on my neck made me shiver.

  “I’m here to get off my meds and clear my head. Frida’s mojo is counter-productive for me.”

  “You read people well.”

  “Not sure it would’ve taken a rocket scientist.”

  “What of Asa?”

  “She seems nice.”

  “Stay away from George.” His blue eyes pierced mine. “He seems like a quiet meek fellow. But he has something brewing up top, if you know what I mean.”

  “Thanks for the warning.” I grabbed a serving spoon and handed him one as the cooking crew set trays of mixed fruit in front of us.

  After breakfast, we were given a few minutes to freshen up and receive meds. Dr. Antos stood at the front of a long line, dispensing everyone’s dose.

  “How was your night?” he asked as I stepped up to the table.

  “Good. Slept like the dead.”

  “Wonderful. No meds for you today. If you have any symptoms, come find me immediately. We’ll have a one on one every afternoon at four.”

  “Great, thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  I walked away feeling confident. In my tent, I recorded the events of the past evening and morning in a journal Mom got for me. I liked the cover, as it was an image of Michelangelo’s creation of Adam painting. It seemed she’d meant to remind me that someone was looking out for me.

  This had been the other major difference between Mom and Dad. While she was a devout Christian, Dad tended to be more of a spiritualist. He believed in the power of nature, tides, and celestial events to shape our feelings, motivations, and ultimately one’s destiny.

  “You’re not writing about me, are you?” Frida plopped down beside me.

  I studied her for a second. Holding my book up, I pretended to read. “Frida is a curious girl with dark hair and dark eyes. She insists on knowing everything about everyone and is horribly paranoid.” I let the journal drop to the bed. “No, I’m not.” I rolled my eyes.

  “Fine.” She stuck her tongue out at me. “But you like me better than Asa, right?”

  “I like you the same.”

  The other girls filed into the tent, and Hilda called a group meeting. We sat in a circle and introduced ourselves. Janna and Inga were also from Reykjavik. Janna seemed young, with a thin face and fingers. Every time I’d seen her, she’d been shivering and still was, even with the heat from the stove. She described dealing with anxieties by over exercising and restricting her food intake.

  “Well, I’m the officially crazy one,” Inga started when Janna finished her turn. “I have these panic attacks, and I can’t get out of bed for days.

  “Sweetie, you got nothing on this broad.” Frida pointed at me. “Psychology 101, schizophrenia trumps everything else.”

  “Frida.” Hilda scolded.

  “Well, I’m just saying.”

  When the group broke, Janna and Inga flanked me as we walked to the first all-camp activity.

  “So, you really have multiple personalities?” Janna started.

  “No, that’s different. I see and hear things that aren’t there, hallucinations, sort of like dreams, but I’m awake and they seem real.”

  “What do you see?” Inga asked.

  “Just people.”

  “But you’re not dangerous, right?”

  “No.”

  “Of course, a crazy person would say that.” Inga quickened her step and pulled ahead of us. She turned back after a couple of steps. “It’s not you, Camille. I’m just trying to get a spot by Jude.”

  Frida jumped on my back, and I nearly fell to the ground before I caught her legs and steadied myself.

  “A little warning would have been nice.”

  “Hey, Inga!” Frida yelled.

  “Yeah.” Inga turned back to us.

  “You notice that Jude and schizo here wear the same type of bracelet?”

  “What?”

  “Yep, he’s just as crazy. Might want to stay away from him too.” Frida slid down my back to the ground. “You can thank me for that later.” She planted a kiss on my cheek.

  “I don’t care about Jude.”

  “But you were thinking of it.” She lifted her eyebrows.

  “No
, you were, along with every other girl here.”

  “Not the girls that like girls.”

  “I guess. Did Jude warn you about George?”

  “No, what did he say.”

  “Just to stay clear of him.”

  “I’d already gotten that vibe.” Her shoulders shook. “Creepy. See, you do like me.”

  With the whole group gathered and the breaking dawn, we were divided into various teams for different bonding activities. Most kids in the group seemed nice, with only a few like George being more on the antisocial side.

  At noon, we broke for lunch. Our work duty team realized that meal was the easiest to clean up after as they served sandwiches, salad, and fruit. Frida found me on my bed writing during rest time.

  “You going to do that all the time?”

  “Not sure what else there is to do.”

  “I brought cards.”

  “Okay.” I sat up, and we gathered the rest of our tent mates for a game of rummy.

  In the afternoon, we played more games, including ultimate Frisbee, and soccer till the sun set just before four. After adding another layer of clothes, I met Dr. Antos at his tent.

  “Come in.” He motioned for me to sit in a camp chair across from his makeshift desk. Asking about how I was adjusting and my view on the event so far, he then began to probe into more serious topics such as my visions.

  “I have your document. Can you go through it from the beginning with me?”

  “Sure.” I started to tell about how I’d seen Alena and her mother at the library with Hunter and how Alena went back to find him the next day. Thirty minutes in, he stopped me.

  “We’ll go through this a little each day. I’m taking notes, and I’ll ask questions when I have them. You haven’t had any symptoms today?”

  “No.”

  “Have you thought about Ivy, or Alena, or Hunter?”

  “Not unless someone mentions my condition.”

  “Do you miss seeing them?”

  “Not really.” I wondered if I might be lying a bit with that answer. They were certainly a known in the sea of unknowns at the camp.

  “And no further visions or migraine symptoms today?”

  “No.”

  “Great, okay, I want to do a test. Take off your bracelet.”

  Unsure of what he expected the outcome to be, I slid the jewelry from my wrist and set it on the table. As I let it go, the low hum started. It intensified at an alarming pace, and I grabbed my temples. The room started to spin, and I doubled over. This can’t be happening, I thought. My palms started to sweat as Dr. Antos’s hands gripped my shoulders.

  “What’s going on?”

  “The migraine.” A huge pulse shot through my brain, and everything went dark.

  I woke to silence. A cool cloth lay on my head, and the nurse sat beside me. I tried to sit up.

  “There, there, you just rest,” the woman said, patting my arm.

  Dr. Antos’s face appeared above hers. “How are you feeling?”

  “Better.” I noted the heaviness on my wrist and lifted my arm to see the bracelet there. “Guess this thing really works.”

  Dr. Antos took the nurse’s place. “What did you experience?”

  “Just the hum and then an intense burst, like energy surging through my brain.”

  “Nothing else, no visions, no dreams?”

  “How long have I been out?”

  “Half an hour.”

  “What?” I shot up. “I have kitchen duty.”

  “It’s okay, your team leader has been notified.”

  God, I was the biggest freak ever. Why couldn’t I be normal? “I want to participate with the rest of the campers.”

  “Okay.” He scooted the stool back. “At least drink some orange juice. We order it fresh squeezed.”

  “Thanks.” I handed him the towel and took the cup from him.

  Slipping on my coat, gloves, and hat, I made my way to the mess tent.

  “What happened to you?” Frida asked right off.

  “I got a migraine.”

  “After your session with Dr. Antos?”

  “Yes.” I cut my eyes to the floor, feeling the weight of the group’s gaze on me. “What’s the menu?”

  Jude handed me an apron. “You can help me make the pasta.”

  “We’re making pasta? Like from scratch.”

  “That’s what the directions say.” Asa held up a sheet of paper. “There’s fresh venison, tomatoes for sauce, and tons of vegetables.”

  “Deer? Wonderful.” I shuddered.

  “What’s your deal with meat?” George spoke to me for the first time.

  “I’m kind of an animal person. My mom’s a vet, and I want to be one too.”

  “Everything’s got to eat. It’s the food chain.” George let his cleaver fall on the slab of deer.

  I cringed, wondering if he looked at us as potential food chain material. Deciding Jude to be the safest of the crowd, I joined him at the pasta table as he started to roll out the dough.

  “Have you done this before?” I asked him.

  “You haven’t? It’s fun. I’ll show you.”

  “Guess not,” I told him, feeling like a total social Neanderthal.

  He instructed me on rolling out the dough thin and feeding it through the slicer. As Frida readied the boiling water, we transferred the thin strips to the pot.

  “Here, try it.” Jude held a cooked piece up above my head and lowered it into my mouth.

  “That may be the best pasta I’ve ever had.”

  “The secret is the fine flower.”

  “Very cool.”

  “I’m thinking we’re going to be ready for chef school after this. We could call the restaurant The Crazy Trio,” Frida said.

  “What about me and George?” Asa’s hand went to her hip.

  “Oh, you can come eat there.” Frida snorted.

  I rolled my eyes and set to cleaning up the workstation.

  “You don’t have to do that. The cleanup crew will.” Jude appeared behind me.

  “I need to keep busy.”

  “Want to talk about it?”

  “Not really.”

  “Okay, well, if you do, you know where to find me.”

  Finishing wiping down the prep table, I joined the group at a table.

  “You see what we’re doing tomorrow?” Frida asked. “All day hike. They’re waking us at six, eat breakfast, make sandwiches, and head out.”

  “That sounds awesome,” I told her.

  “You like hiking in the dark?”

  “I think it will be cool. We should make the summit by sunrise, right?”

  “I guess. I wish I had your cheery attitude. Or maybe I don’t.”

  “I haven’t lived here all my life.”

  As the trays of food were set out, we made our way to the line. If I didn’t think about the meat it’d been cooked in being deer, the sauce tasted better than any I’d ever had. At least I was getting my money’s worth with the food. I’d started to doubt the therapy part. Would I need to wear this heavy bracelet for the rest of my life? I stopped my mental spiral by reminding myself that it beat the haze the anti-psychotic meds caused.

  There were lots of mumbled complaints the next morning as we were roused at six and ate a quick breakfast of bagels, cheese, and fruit.

  “Man, I can’t believe we don’t get coffee,” Frida complained.

  “Coffee is an addictive substance.” Dr. Antos leaned over her shoulder.

  “That half the world consumes.” She made bug eyes at him.

  We made our sandwiches, packed our day bags, fitted lamps on our heads, and headed up the trail single file. It seemed Frida, Jude, and I had formed a small pack, and I walked behind them, wondering if the bonds would last when we were switched to other teams. Frida and I shared a tent, so at least that offered some consistency.

  Only the lead hiker used his headlight, and as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could make out the landforms in fron
t of us. Thinking I could be the luckiest person in the world to get to come on this trip, I lifted one foot after the other as we ascended, following only Frida in front of me.

  If the point of the hike were to cause sensory desensitization, I would’ve thought it a success as the tiny spots of light in the sky brightened as we climbed. The smell of damp earth surrounded me, and the repeated motion of my legs on the ground had my mind clearing like no other time I’d known.

  What was important to me? What did I want to achieve? Why was it so crucial for me to come on this trip? The answers came in quick succession. I needed to do well in school to get into a good program in the States. I wanted to be happy, healthy, and present for all of life’s moments, not only for myself, but for Mom and Tyler.

  Nearing the top of the ridge, the sky began to lighten. As we crested the summit the sun rose from the ocean, like an orange ball of fire. Wishing Tyler and Mom were there, a tear escaped my eye. We can come back here in the spring, I told myself. Perched on the rocks, we watched as the star rose from the water, shining white in the sky. The group was silent, until George cut in.

  “Well, that was da bomb. Can we go back now?”

  “George.” A chorus of complaints went up.

  Dr. Antos gave us instructions on not straying too far. We were given two hours of exploration time before meeting back for the descent.

  “So, is it you, me, and Jude?” Frida asked as the group broke.

  “We should ask Asa and George,” I told her.

  “Really?” Frida set her hand on her hip. But she got her wish, as Asa joined our tent group and George his. “What are the three guys?” Frida asked as we set off around a lake.

  “Dumas’s three musketeers?” Jude put in.

  “Dumas?”

  “He originally wrote the book.”

  She spun to face him. “So, what are you, like some kind of literature genius?”

  “No, I have a photographic memory.”

  Frida’s smile spread from ear to ear. “I’d like to photograph you in my memory.”

  “Come on, guys.” I tugged at Frida. “I want to get around the lake.”

  “And she’s little miss overachiever.”

  “If you don’t like us, why do you keep hanging around?”

  “Got to keep you from breaking any rules.”

  “Right.” I rolled my eyes, thinking she would be the first one to pucker up to Jude. With little other discussion, we reached the opposite side of the lake and parked on a boulder to eat our lunch. By some miracle, we’d nabbed one of the ten sunny days in the month for our outing, and I wasn’t going to waste a second. Shedding my coat and long-sleeved shirt, I lay on the rock, soaking up the sun.