Chapter 2
Monday morning rolled around, and everybody was ready. The final list of attendees was as follows: Brady Black, Philip Kiriakis, Shawn-Douglas Brady, Belle Brady, Melanie Layton, Max Brady, Chelsea Brady, Stephanie Johnson, Mia McCormick, Will Horton, Mimi Lockhart, Cassie Brady, Rex Brady, Morgan Hollingsworth, and Abby Deveraux. Brady was, of course, the leader/organizer of the whole event. As there was such a large number of attendees, they bought four tents. Three of which would house four people. The fourth housed three. Once they had all finished setting up, it was only 7:00 in the evening, much to early for anybody to go to bed. So, they all set up a campfire and roasted hot dogs by the fire, while talking of the things they had done lately. Shawn-D, Belle, Mimi, Cassie, Rex, Morgan, and Abby caught everyone up to speed on how their lives were going outside of Salem. All of the kids had a wonderful time laughing, joking, and talking. Then, as it got dark out, they went from roasting weenies to roasting marshmallows. After a while, they got tired of telling their life stories and wanted to tell some other stories.
REX: Anybody got any ghost stories?
CHELSEA: I do.
ABBY: Ooh! Let's hear it!
CHELSEA: Okay, so one night, there was a man driving home. He was new to town and, after driving a while, he began to feel a bit lost. As he was driving down the road, he saw a girl, about age sixteen or so. She was hitchhiking. So, he pulled over and asked if she wanted a ride. The girl climbed in and told him where she wanted to go. She said she hadn't been home in a long time. The driver assumed she was a runaway and that he was doing a good deed by returning her home. But, he noticed something strange about this girl. She was pale, and the air around her felt cold. So, they got to the house, the girl thanked him, and got out. The driver turned away for a minute, and when he looked back, the girl was gone. She had left her scarf on the passenger seat. So, the man went up to the house to return it. He was greeted at the door by a polite-looking gentleman. The driver explained that he drove the man's daughter home and that she left her scarf on the seat of his car. The man's wife was sitting in the same room, and reacted with shock. So, the man invited the driver in the house. “That scarf,” he said, “belonged to our daughter. She died.” The man went on to explain that, five years ago, their daughter had been killed in a hit-and-run accident along the same road the driver had picked her up. She was buried with the scarf. Our driver's young passenger was a ghost.
STEPHANIE: Whoa!
CASSIE: Creepy!
REX: Do you know if there's any truth behind that story, Chels?
PHILIP: Of course there isn't! There's no such thing as ghosts!
REX: You probably said the same thing about aliens until you met me and Cassie.
PHILIP: That's different. You guys turned out to not really be aliens.
Then, around 9:30-ish, as the kids were debating the existence of ghosts, it started to rain. It started as just a few droplets, but by 10, it was getting heavy. Then came the thunder and the lightening.
BRADY: Well, let's call it a night. Everybody, get into your tents so you don't get too wet.
So, they all ran into their separate tents. Will, Mia, Philip, and Stephanie were sharing one of the tents. They all ran in and closed the zipper-door on the tent.
STEPHANIE: Whoa! Some storm out there!
PHILIP: I can't remember the last time it rained like this!
Then, after a minute or two, Will noticed that Mia was shaking.
WILL: Hey. You okay?
MIA: I'm kinda scared.
PHILIP: Of what? It's a little bit of rain. There's nothing scary about that!
MIA: It's not the rain I'm scared of. It's the thunder and the lightening.
PHILIP: You're scared of a thunderstorm? Seriously! Wow!
STEPHANIE: Philip!
PHILIP: I don't see what's so scary about it. What's the big deal? It's just thunder and lightening!
STEPHANIE: Lots of people get scared of thunderstorms, Philip.
PHILIP: Yeah, like five-year-old.
STEPHANIE: Philip, that's enough!
PHILIP: I'm just sayin'...
WILL: Dude, lay off of her, all right! She's scared.
PHILIP: Okay. Sorry I was being rude, Mia.
MIA: It's okay.
Will put his arms around Mia, who put her head on his shoulder.
WILL: It's okay. You're safe. I'm not gonna let anything hurt you.
Mia sniffled.
WILL: Hey, you wanna lie down for a little while and try to get some sleep?
Mia nodded
WILL: Okay. Let's lie down.
Mia and Will laid down in their sleeping bags, and Will kept his arms around Mia. He turned on his portable radio, and this is the song that played:
Mia felt safe lying in Will's arms. And, soon enough, everyone in the tent was asleep.
