Prologue Pt. 1 (Dreams of Summer)

--- Jon ---

Camp Bet was his home.

It helped him through all of the rough times in his life.

From his parents’ divorce, to his mother throwing herself into her work as they moved city to city.

Every summer was an eight week break from the stress in his life.

Which is why he cried when he found out he was losing it.

---

After a moment another blanket of silence began to fall over them, and he began to notice the almost solemn look on Ying’s face.

“Are you sure you’re doing alright?” He asked, taking a seat next to her.

“Yeah, it’s just…” Ying sighed. “You know how it is, all of our friends from camp have moved on. In fact, I think you and I are the only ones from our year and the year after, who are still coming to camp.”

“Yeah… It’s not a nice feeling is it…?”

Ying gave a bitter laugh. “No, it’s not.”

“Well… even if we are the last of the old guard, at least we’ve had fun here.” He told her. “And now… we’re making sure that other kids can have that same kind of fun… That they, that they can enjoy their summer with their friends. Enjoy their childhoods while they can…”

Ying stared at him for a moment, before smiling. “That’s a sweet idea Jon.”

---

He took a charm from Miss Edna’s box, one that seemed to call out to him more than the other dozen or so trinkets in the box.

“Interesting…” Miss Edna murmured just loud enough for him to hear.

“What is?”

“Nothing.” The old witch told him before giving him a softer look. “You’re a good boy Jon, whatever the world throws at you… don’t let it take that from you.”

---

He stabbed his blade into the beast’s throat as it struggled beneath him, its hateful eyes glaring back at him.

---

He drew his arrow, but he didn’t release it.

This was a choice that there was no coming back from.

Save the girl, damn the man.

His heart pounded in his ears, as the choice, one question, encircled his head, one that he knew there was only one answer to.

After all, could he truly abandon an innocent child?

And so, he let the arrow fly.

---

The light was dimming, the poor little creature hurting from whatever had attacked it.

He’d done a lot of things he regretted, but something in him told him that if he turned his back on this he’d regret it far more.

---

The quartermaster laughed as he took another swig of his flask. “Kid you have no idea what kind of monsters really go bump in the night around these parts.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

The quartermaster gave him a smirk as the campfire light caused shadows to dance all around them. “Hope you don’t find out kid.”

---

“You’ve done me a great service today Whitaker.” De Sade admitted as he poured himself a glass of bourbon. “That means I’m in your debt.” The man some would equate to the devil gave him a piercing look. “I don’t enjoy being in someone’s debt.”

---

In front of him stood a man in a worn black suit, a solid white half mask covering the top of the man’s face as he reached forward with a gloved hand, his smile far wider than any human should be capable of.

“Hello, hello, and who might you be lost little lamb?”

---

The quartermaster stepped into the clearing, blood spatter covering the man from head to toe and reminding him once more that everyone feared the man in front of him.

---

“No, I’m doing fine ma.” He lied to his mother.

“I know, it’s just quiet with you gone.” She told him; her voice faded enough from the old phone that he wasn’t quite sure what she meant by that.

“Yeah…”

He heard his mother sigh through the phone. “Just promise me you’ll stay safe.”

“Hmm,” He smiled softly. “Yeah, I’ll stay safe.”

---

He pulled the venomous fang out of his leg before it could inject anymore of its toxins into him. Unfortunately, this also meant he now had a gaping hole in his leg from which a fair stream of blood was swiftly exiting his body.

Pix trilled sadly.

“Don’t worry, it’s going to take more than this to keep me down.” He lied.

Shaking her head, the little fairy began flying in quick circles just above the hole in his leg, pink and golden dust gently falling off her wings and onto his leg.

Slowly, the bleeding began to stop as the hole slowly sealed itself shut.

---

“Magic is this beautiful thing.” Miss Edna told him as she began to pass through her cabin. “It’s life, growth, creation, it’s all magic even if people don’t believe.”

“I thought everyone knows about magic?”

Miss Edna scoffed. “Yeah, everyone knows about magic, but no one actually believes in it. Which is just ten different kinds of idiocy, I mean you know there’s more out there than what you can see, and yet you still limit yourself to what you can understand? Why?!”

---

“So, you’re the Witch of Blackwell’s apprentice?” De Sade asked as he paced the room.

“Miss Edna ‘s teaching me magic.” He admitted, knowing it’d do him no good to lie.

“And I’m sure she’s taught you all about the whimsical wonderful wishful things she believes about it.” De Sade told him, derision dripping from his tongue as he adjusted the cuffs of his suit.

He didn’t say anything. He knew it’d only make things worse.

“Let me tell you a truth your dear ‘Miss Edna’ doesn’t want you to realize. Magic is just as cruel as she is beautiful, and at the end of the day she doesn’t care whether you live or die.” De Sade gave his words a bitter chuckle. “In fact, she’s hoping for it.”

---

Thunder and lightning crashed all around him, but still he trudged on through the muck, hoping to fix the mess he was responsible for. To save one of the few people he could consider a friend.

“Ying!” He cried as he neared the young woman.

“Jon.” She smiled sadly as turned to face him, tears trailing from her eyes visible even in the rain.

“Ying we have to get inside its-”

Lightning struck her down before he could finish.

---

Blade met wood as he continued carving out the emblem from his book, trying as hard as he could to match the complex drawing on the page, while fitting in the details the author dare not add to the unfinished image.

He didn’t like what he was doing but it needed to be done if he wanted to protect the camp and all of the kids staying there.

---

The man in the mask watched him with that unwavering smile.

---

“You know most people would know not to piss off the gods.”

---

He vomited as his eyes began to bleed.

---

“You know what, I think I’m beginning to like you.”

---

Everything hurt.

---

“So brash, so brave. Ah, I can just taste the madness in the air.”

---

Life liked to kick people in the teeth like that.

---

“If you accept this deal, for better or for worse, you will be responsible for your own fate.”

---

He still got back up again.

---

“If it protects them then damn my fate.”

---

Ten thousand mad eyes stared into him, seeing beyond everything he is, was, and will be.

He met its gaze without hesitation.

And the entity smiled with a hundred hungering mouths.