| “ | Night Night | „ |
| ~ Crimson Moon |
Hey, reader! Before you start, there's something you should know; things aren't always what they seem to be...
Chapter 1: Camp Waterloo[]
The bus skids to a halt as a flood of students came bustling out, eager to start their camping trip. There were teachers left and right, escorting the students of Bay View High to a gate that stood before them that was enormous, most likely to keep various wildlife away from the campgrounds. It stretched upwards into the sky, coated in both rust and uneven silver paint that was brittle to the touch. It's painful creaking only added to how long they’ve been on the site without maintenance. There was a sign above the gate that read "Waterloo" which was rusting away much like the gate itself. Despite this, the gate's hinges were still in decent condition as the staff slowly opened them.
Among these students lies one very strange girl. She was the typical angsty teen you would find in the teenage horror movies; light brown hair and turquoise eyes hidden by the shade of her black, oversized hoodie. Ripped jeans revealed pale skin and a few scratches, while her worn-out sneakers barely managed to stop themselves from ripping apart. The girl shuffles along the dirt road, hardly catching up with her fellow schoolmates as she drags a fairly heavy bag with her; what's inside, no one knows. But from what the rumors say is that her name is Luna and she's going to cause some trouble...
"Welcome to Camp Waterloo where everyone can connect with nature!" The person in charge exclaims, a smile wide across her face. She then continues to show the students around, Luna only partially listening, and by the end of the tour, only knew the name of the instructor, which was Cindy. Cindy showed everyone their cabins and before you know it, Luna is walking up to Cabin 11, waiting for her cabin mates to arrive. Cabin eleven was the last cabin of the campsite; the one closest to the woods. Luna is surprised about the number of students attending camp; but then again, she goes to a small school with only 500 students attending so it shouldn't be a surprise.
The cabin looked more like a small house than the typical cabins made from logs and covered with bugs. Instead, it was made with long lengths of timber and painted a bright yellow color. Oh, how Luna cringed at the sight of Camp Waterloo, but she was here for a special reason.
When she entered, the others were already inside, along with the chaperone, Mrs. Winters, who was more warm than cold. The girls and boys were obviously separated into different cabins, girls on their side, and boys on theirs.
"Oh great. It's the popular girls." Luna thinks to herself as she spots Kaylee Richardson and Sierra Cane talking to the Nymph twins, Coral and Aqua. Looking around for anyone else who wasn't a popular freak, Luna spots two nerds preparing their bunks already.
"Nope, not gonna be with them." Luna thinks to herself again before slipping into the top bunk above the chaperone. A white pillow and blanket are already provided by the camp and Luna let out a sigh of relief before placing a stuffed toy, a battered teddy bear, that once belonged to her youngest sister near her pillow, to keep the memory of her alive.
"Oh look. It's the angsty teen! What do you have there?" Kaylee smirks from behind Luna, almost startling her.
"Nothing," Luna grumbles before a bell signals them to their first activity.
Chapter 2: Hanging With The Popular Kids[]
Luna yawns as she comes back from all her activities, drenched and covered in mud, not to mention sore from hanging on to the obstacle too much. She grabs some spare clothes in her bag and heads to the showers. They were much cleaner than expected and Luna comes out feeling refreshed. Just then, the mean girls come in once Luna finishes drying her hair.
"Oh, first time Little Emo here has finally revealed her hair color to be an ugly shade of brown. No wonder why she hides that mess with an even uglier hoodie!" Sierra laughs and the others laugh with her.
"Your insults sound like compliments compared to what I've heard," Luna says, pretending to yawn to clearly show her unfazed mood.
"Okay girls, time to sleep!" Mrs. Winters says cheerily. Luna gets in bed along with the rest of her cabin mates and slowly drifts off.
Nighttime has always been one of Luna's fears. Like who wouldn't hate the sounds of people lurking around long before dark? But she'll have to contain her fear for what's about to happen...
Luna wakes up to the sound of footsteps on the floor as she witnesses the popular girls exit the front door and set off into the night. Luna checks her bed for the teddy bear that she was sleeping with only to notice that it's missing. Hesitating, Luna gathers all her willpower and follows them until they reach a small patch of land far away from the campsite. A fire has already started and the group of popular kids has gathered around it, talking, chatting, and having fun. Luna tries to get closer without them noticing to check for the teddy bear before confronting the group but fails and trips over a tree branch.
"What was that?" A popular student says.
"I-I don't know." Sierra chimes in.
"Probably a wild animal." Jones, the captain of Bay View High's baseball team suggests. Luna holds her breath as Jones inches closer to her hiding spot before pulling back the bushes to reveal her little place.
"Woah, hey guys, I found the emo snooping on us!" He laughs.
"Let her stay. That way, she won't tell anyone on us." Sierra chuckles and the others agree. Luna, anxious and worried, sits amongst the crowd of about seven popular kids, well-known for the way they stand out in different areas of events, unlike her, shy emo who would run away from anyone who gets past a meter from her. She notices that Kaylee has her little sister's battered teddy bear.
"So, what'cha doing here?" Jones asks.
Luna says nothing at first but eventually looks at Josh and replies, "I came for the teddy bear that belonged to my little sister."
Kaylee dangles the teddy bear above the flames, "This old thing?"
Luna looks at Kaylee afraid for the teddy bear's safety, "Yes."
Luna tries to grab the teddy bear from Kaylee but she pulls it away before she can grab it.
"You stay here and don't tell the teachers about this and you get to have it later. Deal?" Kaylee says now knowing that she has Luna cornered with the teddy bear.
Luna doesn't hesitate this time because she wants to keep the teddy bear safe, "Fine, deal"
Kaylee pulls the teddy bear out of the flames Coral Nymph changes the subject to better fit Luna's personality.
"Why don't we tell some spooky stories?" she says and the popular kids agree with her. One by one, they each start off with a terrifying tale of their own but kept leaving Luna out. Frustrated, Luna finally says in a stern manner,
"I. Have. A. Story."
The kids look at her, surprised she had that tone in her but didn't complain.
"Scare us... freak," says Sierra but the others didn't laugh along with her. They know that Luna has never openly shared a story before because she's always been shy and awkward as well as staying away from them to stay out of trouble, so they're curious about what her story is.
"I will. It started with..."
Chapter 3: Luna's Story[]
"This is a story I heard from a local who doesn't live far from here. The story is called When the Moon Shines. It starts like this;
It was simple. I was born and my family loved me. Mum and Dad would always find time to play with me or entertain me. The three of us were all I needed. Until he came and ruined my life.
Josh was born a few years after me. Don't get me wrong, I was excited to finally have a baby brother. All our attention turned to Josh and not one of us could spend a day without looking out for him-"
"Question. Is this going to be long?" Kaylee yawns in sheer boredom.
"Shut up and let her continue. I'm actually intrigued." Sierra scolds. Kaylee parts her lips as if to say something but immediately discards the thought.
"Okay, let's start again," Luna says,
"But every single day for four years, Josh always got what he wanted. Everything! If he didn't get something, he would throw a fit for hours on end. I didn't mind all the screaming and the howling every night if our parents actually did something to not encourage his behavior...
I regret forgetting to turn off the TV while Tales From The Crypt was playing. It was one of my favorites, I've always admired the details put into creating the characters and scaring the audience. One night, I forgot to turn the TV off and Josh went downstairs because I was up late and he probably thought that I was still downstairs. He caught a glimpse of the Crypt Keeper then ran upstairs to our parent's room and woke them up because he was scared. I remember him crying all night, mum and dad were tired but trying their hardest to find the source of the problem. That's when he blamed it all on me. I've been the blame for some things but never the entire thing before. My parents grounded me; no TV for a month. I tried to explain the situation to them and how it was an accident, but they didn't care. All they saw was that I purposely left the TV on to scare him not that I forgot to turn it off before going to be. So for the next six years, he blamed everything on me, even when it wasn't me. He kept whining and crying, saying 'It was May-belle's fault this, it was May-belle's fault that', oh how much I HATED that spoiled brat! He took away the two people most dear to me and used them as his little minions-"
"Wow, I would hate it if I had a brother like that." Sierra chuckles.
"Yeah, me too. I have a sister who currently absorbs my parents' attention." Kaylee agrees. She turns to Luna,
"Do you also have any annoying siblings?"
"Yeah, but I've dealt with them. Now anyways," Luna hesitates, as if to say more but doesn't indulge further and instead, continues with the story.
"Josh took over my life. Mum and Dad couldn't trust me anymore because of the TV incident, something about putting things in his naïve mind. It's like Josh is now the center of their circle and I'm the outcast. Just when I thought things couldn't get worse, Ellie was born. I didn't mind Ellie, she was a nice baby and grew up to be a nice girl but she had a problem; she had a condition; muscular dystrophy. I didn't understand what it meant but mum said that she required a lot of care and special needs. Ellie grew up to be an amazing sister. We would play together for hours and I would often help mum take care of her. It was like she brought the three of us together after years. But she didn't last long. Josh not only wanted dad's attention, but he also wanted mum's. It was like sibling dynamics taken to the next level-"
"What do you mean next level?" Sierra cuts in.
"Well if you were listening, you would have known. Continue." scolds Kaylee.
"One day while I was at art club, Josh asked to go outside to play with Ellie and our parents agreed to it, but he came home without her. He was mumbling about an accident; none of us knew what happened. I asked him where Ellie was and all he said was 'she's hurt'. I didn't believe him so I went looking to find her-" Luna bursts into tears.
"Woah, you okay?" Jones says, patting her back as she violently shakes in sobs.
"I-I'm fine."
"We can stop if you want," says Kaylee sympathetically.
"No, no. It's okay," Luna takes a deep breath,
"He was wrong. She was hurt enough to need to be hospitalized because she went down a steep ditch. As a result her arms were at strange angles, her legs had compound fractures and some blood from them. The police and ambulance were already there, the sirens illuminating my face. They said it was an accident however no one was around when she was found. But I knew that Josh accidentally hurt Ellie by playing too rough with her... But all I could do was walk home and give my parents the bad news."
Chapter 4: The Crimson Moon[]
"When I got home, my mother was already in tears. I guess that they got the news. Mum didn't look like she had any sleep at all, and dad points the blame my way. Then there was Josh, he looked at me like I did it... When, in reality, I was staying after school for the art club a few kids established last year because I had an art project to work on for my painting class at the time. Mum and Dad never bought me the art supplies that I needed so to keep up with my classmates I joined so I could work on it for 2 hours after school.
We went to the hospital and Ellie was there, she was unconscious because of the fall. So I got to stay by her side after school while mum took care of her while I was at school or at home. The next few days were like a game of cat and mouse. Everywhere I went, Josh did too. If I did something he didn't like I'd be blamed for it. Eventually, Ellie succumbed to her injuries but when they told Josh he was smirking and grinning like he won, in which, he did... for now. With Ellie out of the way, it meant that he's coming for me next. And I can't let that happen to me, I just can't... So-"
"Dang. Did she die?" Jones asks.
"Jeez, I don't know. Maybe if you didn't interrupt, we would know how it ends." Sierra says sarcastically and everyone but Jones burst into laughter. Even Luna manages to crack a smile until she notices that Sierra, Jones and Kaylee are the only ones remaining.
"Where did everyone go?" Luna asks.
"Probably got bored. Such rude people to interrupt a cool story." There are a lot of things that Luna would never think she would hear and a popular kid like Sierra complimenting her is one of them.
"Y-you really t-think... so?" Luna stutters.
"Sure. Now continue before I change my mind." Although Sierra tries to keep her popular girl attitude, Luna couldn't help but notice Sierra's interest in her story.
"Okay. Let's begin where we left off...
"So two months later, I joined the gardening club which helped a bit with keeping my mind off the incident, but I still thought Josh was after me like I thought he was after we told him about Ellie's death. While doing the garden club I would babysit Josh because mum and dad went back to working full time. I was old enough to care for both of us at 14 anyway. One day, I was helping clear weeds while Josh and a couple of boys in the gardening club played baseball nearby. One of the girls was looking for ideas for easier weed removal and I suggested the scythe that was in the gardening shed because of the tall, thick weeds in the garden so I went to get it. Josh followed me despite me telling him to keep playing with the boys and I thought he was going to kill me because he had the metal baseball bat that they were using so I grabbed the scythe and SLICE! The scythe went right through his neck!" Luna concludes, earning some screams from her remaining audience.
"I-is that the end?" Jones whimpers.
"You kidding? No way! This is the fun part!
Josh's body thumped to the floor and I had to roll sideways so I wouldn't get crushed under his dead body. I couldn't believe it. He's dead. My brother. Dead. Something about it made me happy, but I dare not say why. It's just so pleasing to see someone who's blamed you for years finally gone in a blink of an eye. Like a weight that finally came off your chest. I look down at the bloody scythe still wedged in Josh's neck. No point in taking it out now, it's jammed. Welp, let the police find the corpse, it's not like the public is going to believe that a 14-year-old is capable of murder anyways.
Walking out of the school with a wide grin on my face suddenly disappears as I realize what I've done. I've killed someone and ... enjoyed it. That's first-degree murder right there! Am I becoming insane? What would my parents think if they found out the truth? What would happen if the public actually believed I've killed someone?
[Work in Progress]