5:30AM.
Jude awoke to the sound of his alarm blaring. It took him a moment to realize why his alarm was blaring this early in the morning. Today he is being shipped off to Komodo Hall. With a sigh, he abandoned the thought of going back to sleep and skipping this dreaded day and got out of bed.
Trying to fall asleep again would be impossible and should he manage to fall asleep, it would only result in getting startled awake by his parents or brother. He heard another alarm being turned off, saw a light flicker on in the hallway, and with it the option of running away was crossed off of the ‘list of things I could do to avoid going to this stupid place.’ That’s fine, though. He still had ‘fake an illness’ and ‘play dead’ available to him. But even he knew that neither would get him out of this mess.
He noticed Spice was curled up on the pillow next to him, still asleep somehow. At least she would be there when he left on the bus to nowhere town. When he finally decided it was time to get up and face the music and freezing air, he was painfully reminded of the events that happened the previous night. It felt like someone had… well… thrown him into a cheap dining table. The image of the floating cloak crystalized in his mind but he had to push it away. He couldn’t cloud his thinking with all of that now.
He got dressed in the clothes he’d set out the previous evening: a turquoise hoodie, red shirt, and a pair of grey sweatpants. His arms ached as he got dressed, he noticed a bruise forming on the right side of his back and his right ankle screamed with every step he took. He hoped it wasn’t serious, but how would he explain it to his parents anyway?
A knock sounded at the door.
“Come in,” He said, hoping he sounded as careless as he intended. His Dad walked into the room, dressed in his neon green work jacket. “Hurry up the pace Jude,” He said, “The bus will arrive in twenty minutes. Roger, your mother, and I will be waiting for you downstairs. Please make sure you make it down for breakfast so we can at least have a peaceful meal before you go.”
Jude sighed, nodding, “Yeah. Just gonna,” He gestured lazily at his shoes. Before his Dad left the room, he stood in the doorway, staring intently at the cat. Jude waited for him to say something, but he never did. He just nodded, whispered, “Right” and walked away.
Jude put on his shoes, ignoring the strange disappointment he felt as his Dad left. His ankle twinged a bit as he pulled on his right shoe, which was not as easy to ignore. Before he left the room, he looked around to see if he needed to hide any incriminating evidence. It was then that reality set in. A whole month. A whole month of getting yelled at by adults who he does not know. Worse, adults that have no idea who Jude is. Who had an artificial picture painted of Jude by people, he believed, genuinely did not like him.
No, the optimistic part of his mind said, you’ve never cared about what others think in the past, why start now? You could just cause more trouble there, let them see how useless this entire endeavor is.
But Jude shook the thought away before it could take a hold of him. If he did that, this “deal” his parents had made would be no more. They would have to involve law enforcement and show them the false, but to be honest, incredibly incriminating video. So, acting up would be as useful as an inflatable submarine.
As he got closer to the kitchen, he could hear arguing between Roger and their parents. Nothing new though, it’s been an almost daily affair for the last two weeks. While he appreciated his brother standing up for him, it was honestly becoming almost as annoying as the stares and whispers from his classmates. Somehow news had gotten out about Jude’s predicament. Jude suspected Mrs. Botha had something to do with it.
He walked into the kitchen, and the argument stopped. Another annoying habit they’d picked up. Jude ignored the awkward silence his presence had brought, “What’s for breakfast?” He asked.
“Berry flapjacks,” His mother replied, her voice cheery all of a sudden, “Your favorite.” I know my favorite food, Mom, Jude’s mind so helpfully supplied.
Jude sat down and his brother passed him a cup of tea. Jude took the plate of flapjacks from his mother and ate in silence. Jude fidgeted with the handle of his cup, thinking back to the night before. His thoughts were interrupted by a chair scraping against the tile floor, and Jude winced. Too loud, too early. Alan was making his way to the washbasin, “Jude, you need to go brush your teeth and get your things. It’s almost time.”
He got up, brushed his teeth, and returned to the living room where Spice stared at him from her spot on the coffee table. She wasn’t really allowed to lie there, but Jude pretended not to notice. His eyes kept returning to his watch, but he didn’t really read the time. His mind was buzzing with all sorts of thoughts – about the angler-gecko, the cloak, the camp, his family’s behavior. It was all becoming just a little too much for him to deal with. Finally, he decided to reach for the remote and watch an episode of something before he went. But that’s when he heard it. A loud honking noise from outside.
He got up and looked out the window. A green, what he could only describe as an army bus, stood out in front of the driveway. The words, ‘Komodo Hall for Troubled Kids’, painted across the side. Spice pushed her head past his arm holding the curtain open, amber eyes gleaming in curiosity. Just then he saw a man step out of the bus dressed in official-looking green attire. Jude immediately let go of the curtain and stepped away from the window.
“They’re here!” Jude called, hating the butterflies that all of sudden seemed to fill his entire stomach.
Roger was still snoozing on the couch but Jude smacked him with a pillow on his way out, “I said they’re here”. His parents came out from the kitchen, and Roger got up from the couch, everyone making their way to the front door.
Jude picked up his two backpacks full of clothing, reading material, and stationary and made his way outside. It was still dark outside, but the sun had slowly started to reach out its rays to the garden. As Jude made his way down the walkway to the front gate it felt like time was standing still. It felt as if time itself was taunting him. Time liked doing that.
“Good morning,” The man at the gate said as soon as they were in earshot, his arms crossed on his chest. Even though it was cold out, the man seemed completely okay wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Jude also noticed the white ‘K’ stitched on the pocket of the shirt.
“You must be the Blake family?”
“Yes,” Alan answered, opening the gate and stepping out.
“Alright,” The man replied, looking through a list on a clipboard. He found what he was looking for and wrote something down. He lowered the clipboard and his dark eyes landed on Roger, “I can already tell you’re a difficult one.”
It didn’t take long for the misunderstanding to register in Jude’s head. He barely held back a snort. Roger – a troublemaker? Please!
“Uuuhhh, sir… I’m not-I’m not the-the one you’re looking for,” Roger stammered, “I’m Roger Blake. Jude’s brother.”
The man raised a skeptical eyebrow and looked at Alan and Hannah. “Oh no, this is him,” Alan grabbed Jude and nudged him over, “This is Jude Blake.” The man turned his gaze to Jude, a scowl forming on his face. Jude glared right back.
“My apologies Mr. Blake. I’m Xavier Davies, counselor for Camp Two. I’ll be accompanying Jude and the others to their sign-up and then the island.” He handed the clipboard and pen to Alan, “Just sign this form and we are good to go. The kid can grab a seat on the bus.”
Jude didn’t like the way he was talking. Davies said “the kid” with the same tone of voice one would use to say “the dead rat”.
“Of course,” Hannah said and looked over at Jude, “Please take care of yourself.” She walked over to pull him into her arms in a tight hug, “And don’t cause trouble, alright? Just… try to be better.” Jude nodded, not hugging back. Thankfully she let go after that pep talk. Jude looked up at his Dad and brother, “Uh, I guess this is goodbye.”
Alan gave a curt nod, his expression blank. Roger gave him a small smile and a thumbs up. Jude looked around for Spice and saw her asleep on the porch. He wanted to go in and say goodbye to her too but instead made his way to the bus, resisting the urge to look back.
The passageway was narrow, the dark green seats packed with kids of all ages. The chattering died down a bit when Jude entered the bus. The word “awkward” comes to mind and so he focused on finding an empty seat. He saw one at the back of the bus. He lowered his head and made a beeline for it. This is not going to be so bad, he told himself. It was just four weeks. Just four weeks of his life that he would probably forget about in a couple of years. Komodo could not be that bad.
His foot caught on someone’s backpack and he felt himself fall forward. He tried to stop himself, landing on his right foot which sent a fresh new wave of pain up his ankle. He ended up falling anyway, his ribs making contact with something hard and he felt something cold spill onto his hair. He heard laughter erupt from around him, slipped trying to get up, and found himself back on the floor. Looking up he found the face of a very annoyed brown-skinned girl dripping with the water she had spilled all over herself and him. Her dark eyes were trained on Jude as he stood up.
“Can you please refrain from trying to drown me before we get to the camp?” She hissed, untying her now wet curly black hair, “I had my hair done this morning, you idiot.”
Jude’s ankle ached as he tried to pick up his fallen backpack, “Sorry, the hallway is… very narrow. Anyway, isn’t it against the rules or something to have snacks on this bus?”
“Oh yeah, I’m sure you’ve never broken the rules, have you?” She retorted, “Look, buddy, I’ve had a rough day. I’m not in the mood to deal with your stupid “apologies”. If you care about the rules so much, then why are you here?”
Jude glared at her, “You don’t have to take it out on me.”
“I said I don’t want to deal with you!”
“Technically, you said you didn’t wanna deal with my stupid apologies. I’m not apologizing, am I?” Jude knew he should’ve just let it go. Taking out his anger on her was probably hypocritical or whatever, but he found that he didn’t care all too much. The girl was about to stand up when Jude heard another voice and was reminded that they had an audience.
“Up-bup-bup-bup!” A tall, muscular teenager with very pale skin shouted as he walked closer, “Can we discuss this like mature hummus instead?”
Jude glared at him, “I was trying too!”
“Okay, fair, but you didn’t walk away, which is something you gotta remind yourself of in the future.” The teen said, still smiling. “Anyway, dude, your parents are watching. You’re like right in front of the window.”
Jude felt himself flush red at that. The girl sat back down, her arms crossed. Before any of them could speak again, Davies entered the bus.
“Blake, why aren’t you sitting do- oh.” He was glaring at the older teen now, “Preston Springs, what are you doing out of your seat?”
“Nothing,” Preston said, running a hand casually through his black hair, “other than what you asked me to do Xavier. You know, being “taking charge” in your absence.”
“It is Mr. Davies to you, boy. Now both of you take your seats. We need to be at the airport in two hours!”
“On it, Mr. Davies!” Preston saluted him before grabbing Jude’s arm, “Come on. There’s a place next to me.” Jude wanted to resist but instead, let himself be pulled over toward a window seat in the middle of the bus. The window faced the neighbors’ house, so he couldn’t see his parents which was a small blessing.
“Do you need help putting your stuff in the compartment?” Preston asked, holding out a hand. Jude hesitated before nodding.
“Sure,” He said, giving one the backpacks to Preston, keeping the lighter one to himself.
Preston easily shoved it into the compartment above them. That’s when Jude really noticed the teen’s skin was weirdly pale – almost sickly. His curly black hair made it stand out more, but Jude decided not to comment on it. It was probably nothing and would be rude anyway. As Preston took his seat the bus started moving. Jude watched the rows of familiar houses race by the window. He sat there in silence for what felt like a very long time, the chattering picking up and dying down as Davies shouted at them to ‘stay quiet’.
The surroundings became less and less familiar as they passed the street sign that would’ve led them down to his uncle’s farm. Soon after that, every stretch of grassland, farm or house was completely alien to him. Preston had engaged in a quiet conversation with another teenager on the opposite row of seats, Jude picking up bits and pieces of the conversation.
“I’m telling you it’s the truth! You weren’t there – you wouldn’t believe me!”
“Yeeeah, I’m sure you’re not here because of that. I follow science blogs and there was nothing about an alien invasion “gone wrong” or whatever. Why are you really here?”
“Nah dude, that reason is way less fun!” Preston laughed.
All that talk about aliens had reminded Jude of a book he had brought with him. He picked up the backpack at his feet, dug out the book and opened it to the first page.
“Whoa, I have read that series before,” Preston commented before Jude could read a word.
“Oh, huh. Ok, cool.”, Jude replied.
“One of the characters reminds me of Carwen – the camp director at Komodo.” Jude turned to Preston.
“Wait, you’ve been at Komodo Hall before?”
Preston let out a laugh, “Too many times. Carwen said one more term and I break the record.”
Now Jude was also curious about Preston and why he’s been to Komodo so many times but settled on a different question. “What’s it like there?” He asked.
“It’s pretty cool,” Preston shrugged, “Weird place. I mean, it’s on an island so that is already unique. The way it works is weird too, definitely not like your average camp. I don’t wanna give away too much, but there’s a forest. You can’t ever go in there without a guide, though. I’m sort of a junior counselor so I can show kids around and all but even I can’t do that every day.”
“Is it really that dangerous?”
Preston seemed to consider it for a while, looking out the window for a while before he spoke again, “I would not say dangerous per se, but it’s very easy to get lost. Should that happen, well then all bets are off.”
“What about the guy who died there?” Jude asked before he could think.
“Oh, yeah. That. It’s been about sixteen years. Safety and security have improved a lot since then. It’s nothing like that anymore. Don’t worry about it.” Preston leaned forward and reached for his own backpack, “I’ll leave you to your book then.” Preston took out a notebook and pen and started scribbling.
Jude hesitantly started on his book again. He had so many more questions, but he didn’t want to seem nosy. Also, Mr. Davies would notice them talking again and the last thing Jude had energy for was an annoying teacher.
He decided to instead lose himself in his book and forget that the world out there even existed.