Page 25 of Ring Around the Rosie

I closed my eyes, and the world fell into absolute darkness, filled only with a deathly silence.

What is happening?

“Stay away from the counselors, Rosie. They’ve been chosen.”

My eyes snapped open as my entire body jolted awake. It took a moment for my eyes to adjust to the darkness and realize where I was. I wasn’t in the woods or tangled with Sabbath. I was in my cabin, tucked safely into my bunk.

A relaxing exhale brushed past my lips.

It was a dream. A weird and extremely psychotic dream.

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 fromthe 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.

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