Back to camp! First chapter of 2019! Sorry this took so long.

With summer approaching, Max, Nikki, and David prepared to return to Camp Campbell. This year, without Neil, there was going to be slightly more pressure on the three remaining counselors. Especially since Campbell had decided that he was going to be in charge of hiring Neil's replacement. Max had insisted that he, Tabii, and Nikki were enough to deal with the ten campers who had chosen to return, but Cameron Campbell knew best. And there were going to be twelve campers, apparently—not ten. Two new campers had signed up through Campbell directly rather than through Max or the website.

"Why the fuck would they sign up through Campbell?" Max asked Nikki as they drove towards the camp. He'd just read the message from Campbell regarding the new campers (which had arrived the night before; he had been too busy packing to read it then) and he was pissed.

"I don't know. Maybe their mom knew him before he was a criminal?" Nikki suggested.

"Doubtful. I'm ninety-nine percent sure that Campbell's been a thief since he was a teenager."

"Hey, Dad?" piped up David.

"Yeah, David?" Max glanced in the rearview mirror at his adopted son. "What's up?"

"Do you think Jaspar and Gwen will be back this year?"

"They'll be there," Nikki replied. "I saw them on the signup list. And they'll be there when everyone else arrives."

"Yes!" David fist-pumped and accidentally punched the roof of the car. "Oops. Sorry, Mom."

"It's fine, kiddo. You're too skinny to do much damage to this car."

"The Camp-Mobile, on the other hand…" Max chuckled. Nikki lightly punched him in the arm, careful due to the fact that he was driving.

"Look, I told you—we can try to replace it. We just need to convince Campbell to shell out the funds to do it."

"Yeah, like he's going to do that." Max rolled his eyes. "The richer rich people get, the less money they want to spend. Hence why our camp is in such shitty shape."

After a couple more hours of driving, they made it to the camp. Nikki was the first one out of the car, and she took a deep breath to smell that nature. David did the same, and Max rolled his eyes good-naturedly.

"You two are some of the weirdest people I've ever met," he laughed. "Mind helping me with our luggage?"

David ran to the trunk and pulled out his guitar and suitcase, running back towards the mess hall. Once he'd deposited those items, he came back out and found Max setting up in the camp office. Nikki was in the counselor's cabin doing the same. Quartermaster was somewhere around, but David wasn't sure where. He didn't really care, though, because a few minutes later, Max and Nikki came out to start setting up the tents. David got first dibs because he was the first camper there. Which, come on, is fair. Even if two of the counselors were his parents. He'd be sharing with Jaspar again, which made him happy. Another summer of stupid campfire stories and staying up late… yes, please.

To their shock, however, Campbell himself showed up that evening with two girls in tow. One had long, dark brown hair and the other was a blonde with her hair in pigtails. They were the new campers, and even more shocking was the fact that Campbell introduced them as his daughters. Rosemary and Annabelle. The girls were shown to a tent by David while Campbell handed their paperwork to Max.

"I expect that they'll be treated the same as any other camper. Rosemary is here for Horror Camp, and Annabelle is in Art Camp with that weird kid."

"Yes, sir." Max still looked confused.

"Now, if you'll excuse me…" Campbell disappeared into the mess hall and Max blinked.

"Okay. What the fuck? Since when does Campbell have kids?"

"Since our mothers signed us up," Rosemary sighed, rolling her eyes. Annabelle nodded. "He recognized their names and long story short, we now both know who our father is."

"You aren't… sisters?"

"I'm half Hispanic. Annabelle is a full-blooded white girl."

"Okay, then… I guess you girls get to pick your tent first."

"Thanks, Max!" Annabelle touched the tips of her fingers against her chin and moved her hand as if blowing a kiss. "Annabelle says thank you, too."

"Is she deaf?" Annabelle shook her head, making a fist so that her fingers faced her chin and the back of her hand faced Max, her thumb on the side. She moved the fist in front of her mouth.

"She's mute. She can't speak and I know how to speak sign language."

"Okay, well, we're gonna need you around, because otherwise I won't be able to understand her."

"That's how it works most of the time—she needs a translator because not many people can interpret sign language."

The two girls headed off and Max sighed.

"I feel bad for Annabelle," David commented. "Imagine not being able to speak…"

"I think some people would appreciate that when it comes to me," Max joked. "But in all honesty, I might need to pick up some sign language so I can understand her better."

"Aw, aren't you just the sweetest?" cooed Nikki, hugging her boyfriend and making him blush.

"I'm gonna help Rosemary and Annabelle get settled," David told his adoptive parents, heading off before they started kissing in front of him. When he reached the tents, he discovered Annabelle had already claimed one of the camp beds inside and was unpacking her stuff.

"Hi!" Rosemary greeted him. "You're one of the other campers, right?"

"Yeah. My name's David Acharya."

"I'm Rosemary Baker and this is Annabelle Form." Annabelle signed something. "She says it's nice to meet you."

"It's nice to meet you both, too. So you guys are Mr. Campbell's daughters?"

"Yep. I have a twin brother, too. Although… I've actually met you before. I was a Flower Scout last year."

"Oh! Really?"

"I'm surprised you don't remember. I was there when you guys tried to get Max and Nikki together." Annabelle narrowed her eyes and moved her hands. "Annabelle, I will play matchmaker whenever I damn well please."

Annabelle's next gesture needed no translation.

"They say deep in the woods, so far that it's called the Unknown, lurks the Beast. He seeks those who are far from home, never wanting to let them go back where they came from. And you'd best keep your spirits up there, for once you start to lose your will to fight, he begins to claim you. You turn to a tree of oil and his woodsman will chop you to pieces to burn in the Beast's dark lantern."

David shook as Rosemary told her story, clinging to Gwen and Jaspar.

"But the woodsman doesn't know of the lantern's purpose. He believes it's his daughter's spirit within the lantern rather than the Beast's. Then, one day, two brothers came to the Unknown, lost on Halloween night, and the Beast set his sights on them to turn into the horrible oil trees. He watched and waited, waiting for either of the boys to lose their will. And eventually, the elder brother lost hope of ever finding their way home. But the younger brother made a deal with the Beast… and what that deal is, nobody knows. Know this: the Beast will always collect his due."

Rosemary cackled evilly, frightening her fellow campers.

"Mom, can I sleep in the counselors' cabin tonight?" squeaked David, clearly terrified.

"Sure. That was a pretty good story." Nikki shrugged.

"Thank you, Nikki!" Rosemary giggled. "It's one of my favorites."

"Yeah, now David's gonna have nightmares," grumbled Max. "But it's time to go to sleep. We have our first camp activities tomorrow and you all know how much fun that shit is when you don't get enough sleep. So fuck off."

Everybody headed off to the tents except for David. He went with Nikki and Tabii to the counselors' cabin.

"There's no such thing as the Beast, right, Mom?" David asked.

"Right. If there was, I'm sure that I would've found it and taken over as whatever the hell its job is by now." She hugged him. "Sleep tight, kiddo."

David sighed.

It's gonna be a long summer…

OH MY FUCKING GOD I'M SO SORRY

It has been FOREVER since I updated this! Again, I am so fucking sorry!

I've been busy with shit. I have school (college) and I just leapt headfirst back into the Stranger Things fandom in preparation for season 3 in July. I am well aware that Camp Camp is coming back with season 4 on June 1. And that's why I'm jumping back into this!

As a side-note, the format for this story is now going to change and this may help me with update speed.

I am now accepting prompts! The rules for said prompts are relatively simple.

First, they must take place in THIS AU. Secondly, they do not have to take place in chronological order because THAT would be a pain in the ass. Finally, please keep this PG-13.

If you follow those guidelines and come up with a good idea, I will use it and credit you—so try to leave a name for me to credit!

So long and thanks for all the fish!