“Wow, look at that water...That actually looks sort of nice,” said Thomas

“Most likely there’s something horrible waiting beneath the surface,” said Ashley. Her tone dark and just a little despondent.

“Most likely,” said Margot. Agreeing but doing so with a tone of determined resignation, rather than the creeping despondency that had been taking over the minds of many of the less stout-hearted campers.

It was the fifth night of the game, the fifth phase of the competition.

That meant one hundred and twenty-hours of being trapped in a costume, unable to properly eat, bathe, or even use the bathroom as they needed.

It meant one hundred and twenty hours of being stalked, chased, or assaulted by various beasts and horrors within the overly picturesque camp. That was enough to get to anybody.

“Hello, campers! I hope you all had a fantabulous break!” said Fishel. Ending his wards with a trumpet-like laugh and small dance that had the man-fish jumping into the air in a fashion that reminded Margot of a boisterous marionette.

For Margot, the creature known as Fishel was reminiscent of the many strange, colorful, and quietly terrifying creatures, that parents all over the world inexplicably allowed access their children. The parents doing so under the belief that these helpful monsters were going to teach their children letters, numbers, colors, shapes, and the basics of living in polite society.

She immediately pegged him as being a potential hidden challenge. A challenge that she and her team would have to overcome to get out of the camp alive.

Margot gulped. Fishel looked weak in that way that all strongest hidden bosses in movies and video games looked weak, up until they turned into city sized horror. Gazing up into the man-fish’s soul eyes filled her with a tangible existential terror.

“Guess what we’re going to be doing today, campers!... Any guesses? Well?! Okay, I’ll just tell you anyway! We’re gonna be playing Marco-Polo!” said Fishel.

“Woah...this dude either takes all the good drugs every day before he meets us...Or he’s simply made of those same good drugs and we’re all getting innudated with a contact high...Either way, I never want to be that happy about anything. It seems... painful.” said Thomas. Whispering to the rest of the group and getting a chuckle out of Ashley and one or two of their nearest neighbors.

Margot also chuckled, but her laughter quickly died out as she found herself feeling inexplicably homesick.

“The rules for this game will be slightly different. The one who’s it will get to see. It’ll be everyone else who’ll be blinded. So long as you keep your eyes closed you’ll be invisible, but there are things in that darkness that’ll also be looking for you. Things that’ll be able to see you so long as you keep those eyes closed. So everyone who isn’t it will have to decide how much they want to win and whether they’re willing to risk losing another life...possibly their last life.” said Fishel.

The crowd shifted. Each costumed body seeming to buzz with nervous energy and a desire to confirm with their cabin mates before the events got underway.

Speaking of costumes, after the third night, they’d all gotten a change in their costumes. The abruptness of it gave Margot the sense it was something that was forced from above. Likely as a response to the mailman’s massacre.

While the campers still couldn’t use their own powers, the costumes possessed powers as well now. You could tell who came from which cabin, based on the costumes they wore.

The red cabin’s campers were dressed as red wolves. They weren’t very fierce-looking with their rounded fangs and lolling tongues. They looked more like dogs than wolves, but they were fast and capable of causing conflagrations with their howls.

The orange cabin was home to a group of strong but slow orange pigs. The pigs were dressed as reggae performers, and could summon and control mud with the power of song.

The yellow cabin was home to yellow ducks in basketball jerseys with the powers of flight and hydrokinesis, which would likely help them out during this phase of the game.

The blue cabin was home to a set of blue cows in overalls and welders’ masks with the inexplicable ability to summon axes and chainsaws from any out sight place.

The green cabin, Margot’s cabin was made up of cuttlefish with googly eyes. Green cuttlefish with the ability to control electricity, and electromagnetic waves and pulses. An ability that sounded useful but unfortunately was likely to be ill-affected by the abundance of water, since the cuttlefish were only resistant to their own electrical attacks not immune.

Margot hoped to get used to the power enough to get a better handle on what the cuttlefish-costumes were capable of, but the campers weren’t really given much free time to themselves, so she’d been forced to learn on the go as best as she could.

Thomas had fortunately discovered that the cuttlefishes’ control over electromagnetics included those that made up the light spectrum, which resulted in him getting back a somewhat diminished but still useful version of his solid-light constructs.

The Indigo cabin was filled with ninja squirrels, who had throwing-knives, binding chains, and poisonous darts.

The violet cabin was home to a group of angler-fish in sneakers and skirts, who didn’t say anything and hadn’t done anything, but according to the missive she’d received from Monty on the third night, were liable to be incredibly dangerous.

“Alright, campers hop on in the water’s fine!” said Fishel. Jumping into the lake despite being fully clothed. Disappearing beneath the water’s surface and then appearing again, still dry, but now atop a pool-ring, with a decorative, inflated palm-tree, providing him shade.

Rather than immediately following suit, as they might have been inclined to do earlier on when they were stupider and more easily cowed by their fish headed camp-counselor, the teams grouped off. Separating so that each cabin could figure out exactly how to survive the challenge in front of them.

“So...Any thoughts, guys?” said Margot.

“I’ve noticed the moon in this place giving bedroom eyes to a few of the clouds, but I haven’t figured out why some clouds are apparently fuckable and others are not,” said Thomas.

“If this lake were boiling oil and we managed to get our councilor and referee to climb in a vat of batter beforehand would that make him a fish stick man?” said Ashley.

“Guys...I think she meant helpful thoughts.” said Henrietta. Sighing.

“Oh...Then I’ve got nothing.” said Thomas.

“Me neither.” said Ashley.

Margot shook her head. She wanted to get annoyed but couldn’t work up the energy to do so. Besides, she understood why her teammates were feeling helpless. Planning in this game was nearly impossible because any plans they made would be instantly smashed to pieces by the actions of the “players” in the real world.

Experience had taught Margot that as soon as they entered the water, something terrible would happen. She also imagined that being it wasn’t going to be any easier than not being it, so she didn’t bother trying to think of some way to gain the position.

The group of cuttlefish sighed, all lost within their own thoughts, then Margot spoke up.

“Alright, here’s what I think we should do. Just try to stay alive.”

“Uh...I don’t know if you’ve noticed but that’s sort of been the goal this whole time.” said Thomas.

“No...Hold on, I think I know what she’s getting at. You mean don’t bother trying to win the small events?” said Henrietta.

“Yeah. The challenges are just bait to make us actually ‘try’ in this place by offering side profits beyond whatever else we might have all negotiated for before we signed up for this game. This also makes those challenges a great way of tricking people into dying more and taking more risks...Don’t get me wrong, if you can see a challenge-win within reach and can snag it without getting killed, go for it, sure...but honestly, I think the best thing we can do is keep our eyes on the real prize, by aiming to be the team with the most lives left at the end of this shit show. Plus thanks to my partner’s letters we already know various ways we can profit off of this place even if lose all the events.” said Margot.

Ashley nodded. The large plastic discs that floated within her costume’s bulbous eyes slowly drifted in opposite directions as she did so.

“Nh...I guess that makes as much sense as anything else in this crazy place. In which case, let's try to stay grouped-up when we’re not ‘it’, and if we are ‘it’, let’s figure out a signal we can use to avoid tagging a team-member.” said Ashley. Suddenly all business. Her voice taking on a more authoritative tone.

“Sounds like a plan.” said Thomas.

“Or at least the bare bones of a plan anyway…” grumbled Henrietta. Sighing because she knew there really wasn’t anything else they could do, with such little knowledge, and barely resources.

“Good enough…” said Margot. Sighing. Thinking of the hundred or so itemized notes that she’d been sent within the missive.

The green team had started getting messages from Margot’s partner outside the game, after the third night. The messages were predictive but only in a general sense. Giving clear hints and warnings for a variety of scenarios.

In all honesty, if it weren’t for Margot’s interface they’d be nearly useless. Beyond a few paragraphs of motivational text, the message was almost entirely in the form of if/if-not statements, keyed to yet more if/if-not statements. Fortunately, with the interface, it was easy to save the data within the messages in their raw boolean format.

Which made the messages into a powerful tool so long as Margot paid proper attention to those moments where the information they held could be applied. It wasn’t enough for Margot to form a plan with, but it was enough to make it easy for Margot to protect herself and her teammates over the past two days.

“Guys? I said...EVERYBODY GET IN THE WATER!” said Fishel. His tone still playful, but just a tad firmer, as he used his control over the illusory world to make the ground beneath pop campers into the air and into the lake.

Margot grimly noticed that Fishel’s control wasn’t perfect as she watched a handful of campers get sent flying in the wrong direction, or all the way over to the opposite bank of the lake.

Fishel still drew those campers back into the lake as well but when they appeared in the water they appeared as still bodies. Red blood seeping out of the costumes as they floated in the cartoonishly blue water.

“Okie-doke, I can see everyone’s in the water now...So let the games begiiiiinnnnn!” pronounced Fishel. His words accompanied by a great bout of rumbling thunder.

Margot and several others amongst the plush covered crowd looked up and saw an ominous red light gathering the heavens. The light was distant at first but then it was suddenly right above their heads. The clouds were burst apart and the light shot down striking one of the jersey-wearing ducks. The man inside the costume cried out as his body was lifted up out of the water and consumed by the red light. Then with a splash, he fell back into the water. Eerie susurrations emanating from his body, a dark red halo covering his form.

The first thing the red-haloed duck did was to touch one of his fellows. The second unlucky duck exploded, spraying blood, feathers, viscera, and piping hot water vapor all over their surroundings.

“Uh-oh, looks like he’s “it”, guys. Better close your eyes if you don’t want to get tagged.” said Fishel. Cheekily pressing one finger against the side of his scale-covered face.