Page 25 of Freak Camp
Dad didn’t answer for a long moment, until Jake thought he wouldn’t.“It’s not pretty,” he said at last.“It’s where hunters find out what they need to know.”
Jake stared at him.“You mean—torture?”
Dad sighed, resettling his hands on the steering wheel.“No, not torture.It always has a point.And they’re monsters, Jake, like the ones that killed your mom.”His voice hardened.“Don’t forget that.Don’t go feeling sorry for them.”
Jake would never forget, he couldn’t believe Dad would think that, but—Toby’s mom hadn’t killed Mom.But then again, shehadbeen a witch.She had hurt people.
But Tobias hadn’t.He couldn’t even remember what made him a monster.Jake couldn’t imagine Tobias hurting anyone.
He scuffed his shoes on the floor mat, trying to ignore the sick, twisted feeling in his stomach.He didn’t want to think about how Tobias would feel if he knew his mom was tortured before they killed her.“Do all monsters go to Special Research?”he asked, a little desperately.
“I don’t know, Jake.”
He swallowed.He had never been carsick before—having the flu or shaking off the nausea of a near-miss curse wasn’t the same thing—but he was starting to think it might happen soon.“Not all monsters are the same, though.Some of them get caught when they’re babies, before they do anything.Why should they—”
“Jake.”Dad’s voice held a warning.“I know you’ve been talking to that freak kid, and I would never have brought you to Freak Camp if I hadn’t thought you’d learned what I taught you and got your head straight.Monsters are monsters.”
Tobias is a monster.Jake slumped back.He would not cry or puke.He would not think of Toby going to Special Research.Monster or not, he would never let Toby go there.He had no idea how he could stop it.But hewould.
“Yes, sir.”
Chapter Four
Summer 1993
July 5, 1993, Tobias wrote neatly in the top right-hand corner of the page.He paused before opening the crumbling, leather-bound book to where he had left off yesterday, combing through the later sections of the sixteenth-century grimoire for any mention of djinn and their relation to aconite, also known as monkshood or wolfsbane.
Six months ago today had been Jake’s thirteenth birthday, and he had last come to see Tobias sixteen days ago.
This was the worst part of summer.Tobias knew deep down that wasn’t true, that August was still ahead, but Becca had taught him this years ago.Each morning he thought,Today will be the worst day—whether that meant the hottest, the hungriest, or the unluckiest, where he’d be in the wrong spot at the wrong time when the guards were looking for some fun, or the full-grown monsters decided he was an easy target.That way, he was ready.He never let his hopes rise for tomorrow either.When winter came, he would wish for this heat, heat that suffocated him or made the world spin when he was required to stand outside.In each season of Freak Camp, something was always the worst.
Except for one thing.One thing that didn’t count because it wasn’t part of Freak Camp; it came from the outside, and it was always just for Tobias.He kept it close and hidden deep inside himself all the time, knowing better than to even think about it around certain guards or when certain things were happening around him.That was another of Becca’s lessons: the more you cared about something, the more important it was to never, ever let anyone else find out.She hadn’t even let Tobias tell her what mattered to him.And this secret was far, far too important to risk.
So Tobias didn’t let himself think about it, didn’t let himself consider the possibility that today might not be theworstday, but thebestday if Jake strolled in to see him.
He knew Jake would be back to see him, because Jake always came back, and each time he promised to return again.It was better, though, for Tobias to hold off that promise, to think that maybe next week Jake would show up again, so he had to get through the next days.He could manage knowing that today was the worst, and if he made it through, he would be rewarded, because Jake would come to see him again, but only if he made it through.
