Camp C Sharp

'A place to discover your talent'

Everything one would need for three months when looking to improve or learn about music while getting in touch with nature and their wild side. Our campers will attend three music classes a day while also enjoying friendly competitions and attending nature classes. Campers will be given free time to practice and find inspiration from the peaceful atmosphere around them.

Upon arrival, everyone will participate in an open mic session so the counselors can get a feel for each individual and so fellow campers can better learn about each other. Every Monday and Friday campers will have a Pajama Jam, where they will sing in their sleepwear. The second Saturday of every month will be host to another open mic session to see how much our campers have improved. Free-time activities include mountain climbing, swimming, hiking, arts and crafts, and even movie night. On the final night of camp, we will invite families and friends to participate in our sing-off in which our campers will face-off in a three-song competition. The winner will walk away with a possible recording deal and the camp's Rising Star trophy.

Alyssa sat in the very back of the big garish green bus staring at the pamphlet in her lap. She was seventeen and heading to a camp that her parents thought would be a good experience for her. She had been on the bus for a good five hours and they had left the houses and pavement of home behind a long time ago. She had met a few of her counselors already and found them to be TO cheerful and it got a little on her nerves.

Her wavy, dirt-blond hair reached her shoulders and framed her grey eyes. Her skin was an intriguing shade of "What is the Sun" and she favored the color purple at the moment. Protected in her lap sat a guitar case that held her acoustic. Alyssa just kept her eyes on the pamphlet the whole time, staring at the cheery looking forest with the cheery looking cabins with the cheery happy-go-lucky campers… Oh MAN she wished to die… There was only so much 'cheer' a person could take.

She heaved a sigh as a paper airplane stuck in her hair and she pulled it free and tossed it to the ground. The bus was LOUD and crazy teens moved from seat to seat getting to know each other but she did a good job so far in becoming invisible. The bus took a left and everyone cheered, drawing Alyssa's attention out the window to see that they were approaching the trees. However the bus stopped before it could enter the forest. The counselors then announced for everyone to exit the bus, find their bags and line up.

"All right everyone we are going to pass out slips of paper with the number to a cabin on them… This will be your home for the next three months and those who you room with will be your family… We still have to do a bit of hiking to the campgrounds so bear with us, alright?" A short man by the name of Gomez called and everyone answered in a unanimous 'yes'. Alyssa remained silent and she also took note that he wore one fingerless glove on his left hand while the female counselor next to him wore a light scarf around her neck. Alyssa didn't know the women's name but she knew that councilor wanted to be called 'mom' which made Alyssa uncomfortable. Gomez went along the line with a cap with numbers and everyone drew a number one at a time. But once he reached Alyssa who was at the end of the line the hat was empty… Alyssa stared at the empty hat like this was a joke… She also felt this was some kind of bad plot to a cheap creepy horror story…

"Woops looks like we have an extra camper…" He announced and 'mom' shook her head.

"We can put her up in cabin twenty-three don't worry about it." She spoke in a cheery manner. Gomez looked a little unsure and shivered a little at the mention of cabin number twenty-three. Alyssa heaved a sigh at the thought of being the extra kid in one of the cabins. Then again, sleeping on the floor wouldn't be too bad since she brought her sleeping bag.

With the blow of a whistle from another counselor-that Alyssa had yet to meet-everyone began the hike to the camp. Alyssa again was weighed down by her camping bag, keyboard and guitar. She noticed some other campers would have to make two trips since they were drummers… Idiots…

The hike was… Nice… Long… And actually rather pointless.

Again Alyssa had remained behind the line of people and she was more observant when looking around. Even if she just looked at her feet mostly. While they hiked they passed a sheer rock face that the counselors announced would be where their rock climbing would be done… Another ten minute hike later they passed a very beautiful waterfall and lake where swimming would take place. It wasn't until they reached the camp its self, did they realize just how pointless the half hour hike was… The camp was huge with cabins located to the north and south. The mess hall was in the center and the showers and restrooms were to the west. The 'theatre' was to the east along with the arts and crafts cabin that also doubled as one of the cabins were a few of our many classes were to be held…. The hike was pointless because it turned out that the camp was only a ten minute walk from where the bus had dropped them off… They had been hiking for a whole hour in a circle around the entire camp so they could 'take in the view'. After a lecture of rules (which mostly consisted of 'don't go into the forest alone', 'don't go into the forest at night', and 'best not to leave camp at all if you can help it') the campers received maps and then ran off to locate their assigned cabins.

Alyssa looked at her map as she studied the numbers as she tried to locate her cabin but found that it wasn't anywhere on it. She easily located twenty-four and twenty-two… But were was cabin twenty-three? She approached counselor Gomez and held up her map.

"I can't locate my cabin anywhere on here…" She said and she saw him shiver again before he cleared his throat and pulled out a red pen.

"Yeah sorry… You see, this cabin hasn't been used for many, many years and so it's been taken off the map… it's right abouuuuut…. here." He said as he made a mark and wrote '23' on her map… Her cabin was a little farther away than the others… closer to the trees. "You see, campers would use that cabin for some freaky stuff so it had been closed to them… I will get the key and some cleaning supplies and we will spruce it up a bit alrighty?" Alyssa nodded and took her map back as she headed in the direction the map now indicated her cabin was… She was a little happy that she wasn't going to stay in a cabin full of other teens and young adults.

When she reached the cabin she stood there is complete shock and fear of it… On the outside it looked like people had fun taking knives to the outside of it. On the front door were the words: One, Two, Slender's coming for you.

Below a window: Three, Four, he's gonna kill some more

Around the corner of the wall: Five, Six, you're his next fix

On the back wall, accompanied by a massive carving of a circle with an X in the middle of it: Seven, Eight, Stay up late

Passing some more creepy phrases, Alyssa returned to the front door. She unlocked it with the key she had received from Gomez and accidentally shifted the doormat. Out of the corner of her eye, the blonde noticed more carvings under the said mat.

She kicked it aside and read: Nine, Ten, never breathe again!

Mildly disturbed by her by this, Alyssa shoved the mat back in place and waited for counselor Gomez to show up with the needed cleaning supplies. She noted that it was really pretty here around the mutilated cabin. The trees were large and tall, the leaved lush and green almost lit emeralds. The only thing that really disturbed her was the fact that there was no sound. No life aside from the laughter in distance from the other campers who were already getting into their interments or even harmonizing in song.

With a sigh she sat on the cabins porch and rested her elbows on her knees as she watched the trees as they swayed back and forth in the slight breeze. Soon she was tapping her feet on the steps and patting her lap with her hands in her own rhythm and she began to hum to it. With her eyes closed she bobbed her head a little to the point she didn't even notice Gomez when he walked up to her with his arms full of cleaning supplies. At least until he tripped and dropped everything.

"Sorry! Clumsy me!" He said happily as he collected the cleaning equipment. Alyssa stood and went to help him and as she ascended the stairs she glanced up towards the trees and stopped. Farther back into the shadows it was…. What was it? It looked to be a black tree, or maybe it was a burned tree? She stared at it for a long moment tracing its shape with her eyes. She thought it had to be a tree…

Alyssa jumped when Gomez cleared his throat and she gave a weak smile as she went forward to take a mop and bucket from him.

"What were you looking at?" He asked as he used his now free hand to block the sun from his eyes and squinted as he scanned the trees.

"Oh nothing Counselor Gomez… I was looking at a weird tree…" Was all I said as I went back to the cabin door and opened it. Inside wasn't as bad as the outside. There were a few smaller carvings in the wall on the inside, looking at the ground the polished wood looked worn in places and there were a few odd dark stains, on the window ceil there was a thick stream of dried wax from candles. Looking up at the rafters I saw that one of them had an old rope tied around it, though it had obviously been cut at some point. Gomez came in behind me and looked around the cabin for a moment before he spoke.

"Between the two of us it shouldn't take long and once we are done I will have Jeff and Mark bring up a bed from storage so you will have a bed… Dahhh… Give me a moment and let me find the power box so we can get some power." He said as he turned and almost tripped out the door. Alyssa just continued to stare around the cabin and began to hum a nursery rhyme to herself for comfort. Oddly enough it was Ring around the Rosie and she often wondered why she hummed a child's song about the bubonic plague when she was uncomfortable. She heard footsteps coming back in and she assumed it was Gomez coming back until the person spoke, or rather sang.

'Ring around da Rosie

What do you suppose we

Should do about the darkness

In which we

Drown?'

Spinning around Alyssa saw it was a guy but it wasn't Gomez. He wore a counselors neon yellow shirt that seemed to small around the triceps and a black fedora, he was way taller than Gomez who only stood about half a foot taller than Alyssa's 4'8" frame. He smiled at her and she startled appearance before he spoke.

"Sorry for scaring you… I was looking for Gomez have you seen him around?" He asked as he scanned his eyes around the room. He seemed almost happy to be in the creepy cabin.

"He should be back any second, he went to turn the power back on." She said just as Gomez came up with a few campers following him with more bags.

"Okay! The powers back on and these nice young men have been going back to the bus to grab the rest of the luggage… I believe these are yours." He said as he looked at the new Counselor. "Jeff? What are you doing here?" He said a little off edge. The male campers sat Alyssa's things down when they walked in and looked around in shock.

"Meeting for the counselors…Come on." Jeff said gruffly in a manner that said Gomez didn't have a choice. Gomez looked around before he spoke.

"I need to get going… think you can handle this?" He asked but was gone before Alyssa could answer.

Alyssa stood there in an akward silence with the two male campers just looking each other down before one of them spoke making them jump.

"Always Watching, No Eyes…. What twisted soul wrote this stuff?" A thin boy with cocoa colored skin said with a nervous laugh. Alyssa just shrugged in response. "Good thing I ain't ganna sleep in here." The other boy who was tanned skin and taller than the first just laughed. He went and took the bucket from Alyssa and removed a scraper from it.

"Let's just get this place look'n like a cabin instead of the devils play house…" He then went to the window and started to chip at the wax while Alyssa and the other camper began to sweep the dust and cobwebs away. "Oh by the way… I am Nico… That thing over there trying to beat that spider to death is Caleb… Caleb just hit it!" Alyssa stopped her movements and looked to the tan skinned boy who looked like he was doing some strange voodoo dance while trying to hit a spider… A… Very.. Big… SPIDER! Was that even a spider and not some hairy multy legged rat!

Alyssa screamed at the same time as Nico as Caleb finally hit the thing only to have it still be alive and hanging from the broom by its web. Nico began swinging it around and both Alyssa and Nico screamed as they backed away only to finally have Caleb chuck the broom out the door like a javelin and watched as it disappear into the trees.

"W… Wow… Good throw…" Alyssa panted. "That was a big spider… Oh please don't let there be more…." The others nodded in agreement before they got back to work collecting old papers and sweeping out the dust.

Once done they actually made a game out of scrubbing the floor while Nico beat the side of the bucket and the wall in a rhythm. Alyssa and Caleb tied the scrubbing brushes to their feet and were moving their feet in time to the rhythm. They were alright in Alyssa's book.

"AWWWW! Man you kids started the party without me!" Gomez laughed as he came in dancing a little to the beat the young adults had struck up. Everyone laughed and Alyssa slipped the brushes off her feet and threw them at Gomez who was more than happy to join in.

Alyssa went to a side window and sat down on the ceil and started rapping her knuckles against the glass a little as she watched their counselor and fellow campers goof around. As they did this Jeff and two other male counselors arrived carrying a bed frame, a single mattress, and a couple small tables. Alyssa was confused by the small tables until Jeff explained that since she was the only one in the cabin then they thought it wouldn't hurt to give her a few extra. They even brought her a few chairs, a card table, and two window curtains to cover the windows.

It didn't take long for them to get everything into place and when all the counselors left Alyssa began unpacking her bags. A laptop, a lamp, a few posters, a string of lights, sleeping bag, pillows blanket, and so on aside from her cloths. Soon the whole cabin was decorated and lit up making it easier for her to see in the dimming light as the sun was beginning to go down. She had all her interments lined against a wall (an electric guitar was added thanks to Caleb and Nico for bringing the rest of her things from the bus) and bed made nice and neatly. It ALMOST looked like her room back home…

A knock on her door alerted her and she went and opened it to see Gomez there with his normal smile, though he kept looking to the trees.

"Come on its time for dinner and open mic." He said and Alyssa heaved a sigh and grabbed her electric and her portable speaker that clipped to her pants. As she stepped out she locked the door and stashed the key in her pocket before she followed Gomez. Again his eyes remained on the trees and he almost seemed to be sweating. The small blond next to him noticed this but kept it to herself.

Tonight's dinner was a buffet! There was so much food that Alyssa didn't know where to start. In the end since she herself actually didn't eat much, so she just sat down with a shortbread cookie. Sitting on either side of her was Caleb and Nico who both scarfed down at least two of everything to her shock while they had to listen to kid after kid go up and sing or play some form of interment. Lucky for Alyssa, she was able to put off going up at all. It didn't take long for the time for everyone to go and get cleaned up before curfew and get into their cabins before it was dark.

The small blond was able to shower and slip into her pajamas in record time. As she walked across the camp to head back to her cabin she towled her hair as she looked around at the laughing groups going into their own cabins and in a number she could hear music coming from some. She saw 'Mom', Gomez, Jeff, and a few other counselors standing around the old flag pole speaking in hushed tones. Gomez just happened to look up and what surprised Alyssa was that the tanned skin on his cheeks seemed to turn red and he smiled widely at her and waved. She smiled back and returned it as she continued onward. Once back at the cabin she stood there as she watched a single light post near her cabin flicker on giving minimal light. She guessed that going out to the bathrooms in the middle of the night was out of the question since it was so dark out. The light from inside her cabin that came through the window didn't help at all either. She risked standing there a little longer just so she could catch a glimpse of all the stars once the sun was completely gone but counselor Jeff announced that curfew had begun over some hidden speakers.

With an irritated sigh she flung her towel over her head like a hood and turned to go inside the cabin. When she pulled the door open she froze and listened. It sounded like something moving through the underbrush and a few twigs snapping. Alyssa quickly went through the door without looking back and slammed it shut, locking the door in place and peeking through the window… She saw nothing. Shrugging her shoulders she finished towel drying her hair and turned off the string of lights while leaving her nebula orb light on to keep a faint glow throughout the room. Lying in bed she quickly drifted off to sleep with a sigh… The sounds of the night reaching her through the closed windows.