[hr][hr] [h3][color=dc143c][b] 7 PM Friday, June 13th 1980 - Lava Lake, BC, Canada[/b][/color][/h3] [hr] [@KazAlkemi][@Achronum][@kittyluna45][@Morose][@Trainerblue192] [hr] By seven o'clock, the summer heat has finally begun to loosen its grip on Camp Lava Lake. The sun hangs low over the mountains to the west, bathing the campground in rich amber light. Long shadows stretch from every cabin, every pine tree, every forgotten stump, turning familiar paths into narrow corridors of darkness. The golden glow catches in the volcanic rock scattered throughout camp, making the black stone shimmer like cooling embers. Most of the day's work has been finished. The afternoon chorus of songbirds has quieted. Their place is slowly taken by the deeper sounds of evening. Crickets begin their rhythmic chorus beneath the brush. Tree frogs call from hidden pools near the shoreline. Somewhere high above, a raven lets out a single harsh croak before disappearing into the trees. The breeze coming off the lake has grown cooler. It carries with it the scent of wet stone and rich earth. The water itself has changed color. What had been brilliant blue an hour ago has become a sheet of polished obsidian, reflecting the orange sky like black glass. Small ripples disturb the surface every so often, though no fish break the water and no boats drift across it. At the big cabin, the old oak tree casts the longest shadow of all. Its branches stretch across the clearing, swallowing the grass beneath them in darkness long before sunset reaches the rest of camp. The bark appears almost black now, its deep grooves catching pockets of shadow. Thick roots snake across the ground, disappearing beneath the cabins foundations and vanishing into the earth as though the tree itself has spread beneath the entire campground. Near the edge of the clearing, the forest has become a wall of silhouettes. The trails that looked inviting during the afternoon now resemble narrow tunnels disappearing into darkness. Even from camp, it's difficult to see more than a dozen yards beneath the canopy. Every fallen log begins to resemble a crouched figure. Every broken branch becomes a reaching arm. Marco had finished dinner, and requested that Demi ring the bell on the porch to summon the others to dinner. A chill passed through Demi as he rang that bell summoning the others. He felt like he was being watched. [hr][hr] [center][h1][color=2B9311]Emily[/color][/h1] [img]https://i.imgur.com/ZcwZwWn.jpeg[/img] [hr] [color=2B9311]Location[/color]: Camp Lava Lake [color=2B9311]Skills[/color]: [/center] [hr][hr] Em has unconsciously shrunk away from her work. She has gone inside and cleaned up, changed into clean clothing that wasn’t sticky with sweat and caked with dirt. She had appreciated Demi’s help, though laughed that he had fled as soon as he had started to sweat. Boys were not as rough and tumble ready to get dirty as she had been once led to believe. Back when words like tomboy were used like blades from the tongues of adults who wanted to meld her into a shape they approved of. [color=2B9311] “Nancy, dinner is ready,”[/color] Em called. Hopefully waking the other girl. Em leaving the group’s cabin squinted up at the sun, gauging how long till sunset. She guessed it would be shortly after 9 pm. Dobbs had said he would leave after dinner. Already his hammering sounds had ceased as he headed to the main cabin for dinner. Soon they’d finally be alone. Just them. Just the criminals that had been chosen to work this summer camp as recompense for their crimes. Em seethed a little. Marco didn’t deserve to be here, but she’d keep him safe from whatever supposed killer there was.