Albert Killer In The Woods

A Visit from a Stranger

It was a very warm evening just like always in the Deep South. But besides that,

there was something different going on this time around at what seemed to be a normal

hospital at first glance. However that was far from the case, if you looked closer, you

could tell it was an insane asylum, and that asylum held a very unfortunate patient,

Bobby Sikes.

He’s been in this place for fifteen years of his young life; he is now thirty-one

years of age. His is a very strange story indeed; he was arrested at the age of sixteen
for supposedly murdering six adults and over thirty young kids and teens. And no

matter how much he told his side of the story, no one would believe him, not the cops

nor the parents of the kids that died. What’s really sad is the fact that not even his own

parents believed him. What’s weird is that a few of his friends that he had made over

the years that he went to camp with had survived. Now why in the world would a teen

killer let anyone survive even if they’re friends? It doesn’t make any sense whatsoever;

these were some brutal murders or so they say.

And what was even weirder was when his so-called friends were questioned, they

claimed they couldn’t remember a damn thing at all, and that sure didn’t make any

sense now, does it? But it didn’t matter they had found a suspect, and that was all they

wanted was for someone to take the fall and who better than a sixteen-year-old kid

covered in blood and in shock. They cleaned him up and kept him in the hospital for a

few days before putting him in juvenile hall and then tried him for the murders.

However, Bobby was lucky; at his hearing he was found not guilty by cause of

insufficient evidence. Even though they couldn’t put him in prison, the judge made a

call to have him put in an asylum for the criminally insane until he was deemed fit for

society.

So here he’d been since the incident; he’d seen many psychologists, some deem

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him suitable to go back in society, and some believe he’s a danger to himself and

others. He’d even talked to people that just wanted to know what exactly happened at

the camp grounds, only to leave and never come back to talk to him again. Asked why,

they replied, “The details he gives are just too gruesome and unbelievable.” Even

after all of that, there were a few times that he had been released from the asylum

only to do something that would land him back in; it was almost like he didn’t want

to leave.

What really happened out there in the woods that year? Only Bobby knows the

real truth, and nowadays he sits in his padded room and rarely talks to anyone. But

what’s the point? Nobody ever listened to him or believed him—that is, until now.

Things are about to change on this day as a stranger makes his way into the insane

asylum, he’s there to find Bobby, and he had no intention of explaining himself either.

He’s just there to find and talk to Bobby, and the staff can’t stop him or ask this man

any questions; he had all the credentials he needed to talk Bobby and made it

confidential. The man made his way up to a nurse.

“Can we help you sir?” one of the nurses asked.

“Of course, you can, ma’am,” the man replied.

“Well?” This time the nurse asked with a slight attitude.

The man just smiled before answering, “Point me to the room of Bobby Sikes,

and no questions asked, it’s none of your concern to do so.”

Those words really upset the nurse, but she had no choice but to do as the man

had asked of her. “This way, please,” she said as she walked ahead of him. The man

followed her down a narrow hallway. There’s rooms to each side of them. He would

look at each door hearing screams coming from the rooms, some were men, and some

were women. But no matter what, the screams still sent chills down his spin. As they

came to the end of the hallway, the nurse took a right and came to a room off to its self.

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“Here we are, sir.” She pointed to a room.

“This is Bobby’s room?” he asked.

“Yes, it is, sir,” she replied.

“Why’s it on a hall to its self?” he asked.

“You’ll have to ask him that, sir, if he will see you, that is,” she replied again to

him. She turned and knocked on the door then looked back at the man. “Good luck,

sir,” she said to him before walking off.

He stood there and watched her walk off before he began to focus on the door

in front him; it took him some time to think about what his next move would be, but

it was clear to him he had only one choice but to knock on his door, and that’s exactly

what he done. “Bobby Sikes. Are you in there, Bobby?” the man called out as he

knocked on the door. He stood there and waited a few minutes before he started to

knock again. “Bobby. I’m not going away unless you answer the door.” he yelled out

as he kept knocking at the door.

Bobby finally had answered the door, seemed like the man had annoyed him

enough into doing so. “Who are you?” this person had asked.

“I’m not inclined to tell you my name, and honestly I refuse to do so. All I want

to know is, are you Bobby Sikes?” the man had said back.

“Yeah, I’m Bobby. What do you want? Since you’re not going to tell me your

name.”

The man wondered if this was the Bobby Sikes he had been looking for, so

instead of answering the question, he decided to ask another. “Are you the same Bobby

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Sikes that lived through what is now known as the Camp Hell incident? About fifteen

years ago?”

Bobby then stared at the man for a bit before responding, “One and the same.

What’s it to you?” Bobby replied.

The man was amazed that this was the man he was looking for. He was

expecting a frail man that was out of his mind; instead, he found a man that was

somewhat in complete control at least on the outside. He would hope to get a chance

to dig deeper into this man’s calm demeanor, but that wasn’t up to him; it would be up

to Bobby. “Well, Bobby, I’m here to listen to your story and help you out anyway that

I can. And I won’t run away, that’s if you still wish for someone to hear you out?”

Bobby turned around and headed back into his padded cell, leaving the door

open behind him. “You have three hours today, and I’ll think about whether or not I

will allow you to come back and talk to me tomorrow.” The man walked into the

room and pulled up a chair.

“Agreed,” the man says as he sits down. “Are you going to take a seat, Bobby?”

the man asked.

“No, I think I’ll stand this time,” Bobby replied back to him.

The man smiled before saying, “Suit yourself, and you can start anytime you’re

ready, Bobby.” Bobby begins to pace back and forth nervously, you could tell he

wasn’t exactly used to visitors anymore, and he definitely wasn’t used to talking about

that god-awful event either. “Are you all right, Bobby?” the man asks.

Bobby looks over at him. “I’m fine. I’m just not sure where to start from.”

“Start from anywhere you like. It can be at the beginning of that week, or you

can start from the first day of camp. It’s up to you,” the man calmly says back.

PAGE 5 ALBERT

Bobby paces for a bit longer not saying another word until he stops and leans

back against the wall; with his head down Bobby finally talks again. “I’ll start from

the beginning of the week. It holds some importance as well that I think you should

hear about, if that’s all right with you?”

The man smiles once again and answers, “That’s fine with me. If that’s what you

want, then please start from there.”

Bobby nodded and began to tell his tale. “Well, it started like this,” he said as he

got further into his story. “I was just your normal teenager who had just turned sixteen

at the time, lost in my own little world, or maybe I wasn’t normal at all. Teens my age

had girlfriends and also had their permit to drive, but that just wasn’t me. I didn’t have

a girlfriend, and I didn’t know how to drive either. I wasn’t athletic, and I didn’t play

sports; however, I did take karate for reasons, and that kept me in decent shape, plus I

liked to walk. That week I was on top of the world, school was out for the summer,

and that meant no more homework and no more dealing with the rest of the ignorant

teens either. I remember how the next day started for me. It wasn’t near as good as

the last.

It started off normal, I had my breakfast, and I was ready to read my comic book,

and that’s exactly what I did, and I was lost in my own little world, and that’s what I

had been waiting for. While sitting on the couch reading my comic book, I could hear

my mom and dad talking in the kitchen, but I paid them no mind. Then I heard those

two words that I thought I would never hear again: summer camp. And that snapped

me out of that world. Shit! I thought to myself. Another year of summer camp. Really.

I mean, come on, I was to old for that shit now. I can tell by the look on your face

what you’re thinking,” Bobby said to him. “Summer camp is fun for most kids.

Right?”

The man just smirked at Bobby. “Never been, so I wouldn’t know,” he said back

to Bobby.

 

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“Lucky you,” Bobby said to him before rambling on. “Well, summer camp sure

as hell has never been fun for me; every year it’s always the same. I get picked on and

beat up on by the bullies; they’re a year older than me and have always been bigger

than me. I just downright hate it. And on top of that, there’s no TV, and you can’t even

use your cell phone, and if caught with one, they will take it away from you. All I

usually end up with are my comic books, which is fine with me when I get a chance

to read them, and nine times out of ten some asshole steals them from me, and the

counselors could care less. They’re either to busy having sex or to be busy picking

on the nerds, which usually includes me.

I can’t help I’m considered a nerd because of my love for comic books. Which

in my eyes makes the counselors a complete and utter joke! And believe me, I paid

for being who I am, and so did many of the other kids through out the years. If you

were a jock, you were loved by the counselors and could get away with anything. If

you were a nerd, you were guaranteed a long and harsh summer. “Honestly, just the

thought of going back to that place made me sick to my stomach. So I asked myself,

’Why would my parents do this to me? What have I done wrong?’ I couldn’t come up

with any answers to my questions. I knew if this happened it was going to ruin my

summer yet again for another year of my life. But what was I suppose to do in this

situation?

I decided to calmly wait and listen in on some more of my parents’ conversation

before doing anything else, so I just sat on the couch and just listened to them talk

about me. I was shocked when I heard everything. My mom thought it would be a

good idea for me to go one more time, while my dad made it sound like it would be

the last time they could get rid of me for another summer. I know they wanted to be

alone and all, but why I do I have to go through hell so they can achieve it?”

“Hold on a second, you knew your parents were going to send you to camp

again, and you didn’t do anything about it?” the man interrupted Bobby’s story to

ask him that question out of curiosity.

Bobby just kind of glared at him before he answered the man’s question, “I was

PAGE 7 ALBERT

getting to that; if you would give me a damn chance to finish, you would know.”

Bobby was a bit snappy with his answer, but who could blame him?

“Sorry, Bobby, please continue,” the man apologetically says to him.

“All right, but don’t interrupt me again. Or this conversation is over. Are we

clear?” Bobby said to him. The man shook his head in agreement but didn’t say

another word; it was clear he just wanted Bobby to continue on with his story. “As I

was saying, I was listening to my parents talk in the kitchen about sending me back

to summer camp one last time. “I started to get upset, so on that day I decided since

I was close to being a man, I would tell my parents how I felt.”

“Mom, Dad,” I said with a very stern voice, “I don’t want to go back to that

place.” I said to them with a hint of anger in my voice. “It sucks and I refuse to go,

and you can’t make me.” And I just kept on running my mouth without thinking.

“I’m a man now. I can do what I want.” If only I had used my head, what came next

would have been avoided, if I had done so. Before I knew it, I felt my dad’s hand

land flush on my check as he slapped the taste right out of my mouth. It hurt like

hell. It’s been a while since the last time my dad hit me. Now I was upset, and my

face was hurting like hell, I was still in shock that my dad slapped my face, I was

just telling my parents how felt, and I paid for it. Yes, I could have handled things

differently, but I was young and rambunctious. It happens, right? Still, I don’t feel like

I deserved it, but whatever. And I sure as hell didn’t deserve what happened next

either, because they both started screaming at me. First, it was my mom.

“What in the hell is your problem?” she asked loudly, and then she continued

on screaming at me not giving me a chance to answer. “You know what? After that

stunt, you’re going whether you like it or not!” I knew not to say another word, I

wasn’t about to get slapped again, and I could tell by the look on my mom’s face

that she wasn’t done with me yet. “Your father busts his ass to send you to summer

camp so you can get out there and have some fun! And on top of that, it’s not cheap;

these things cost money. And it keeps you out of trouble, young man! And if it wasn’t

for summer camp, your lazy ass would be at home all day with your nose in those

PAGE 8 ALLEN STANFILL

damn comic books, all summer long.”

Before my mom could even get another word in, my dad interrupted her, “Son, we

just want what’s best for you, that’s all. And if that means you having to get out of

the house and going to summer camp, then so be it.” And he was being calm about

it at first, I could tell by the look on his face he felt bad about slapping me, but I

didn’t care. At that moment I was going to win the argument this time around.

“But, dad. I’m an adult now, don’t I get a say in this?”

He was still trying his best to be calm with me as he said, “No buts this time,

son, it’s been decided. And no, you don’t have a say in this, you may be a teenager

now, but you’re still a child, and you will do what you’re told. No ifs, ands, or buts

about it, young man. Are we clear?”

I just looked at my dad with an angry look on my face. To me, it wasn’t fair I

deserved a summer to myself, and that’s why I kept fighting against them both.

“Dad, it’s not fair. You know how much I hate that place. And yet you still send me

there, and on top of that, you and Mom both find excuses to send me back there

every year. Think about how I feel for once.” I wasn’t backing down, but in the end

it didn’t do me a bit of good.

My dad was starting to get upset with me. Man, did his face start to get red.

That’s when I decided it was time to ease up a bit, but I knew I was too late. He
turned away from me and did his best to calm himself down. It wasn’t good; I could
see his facial expression change. The more that he tried to calm down, the angrier

he was getting, and now he was really pissed off, and it didn’t take long for him to

show it either. “Our word is final, young man.” he said angrily to me. But he didn’t

stop there, and believe me, it was far from over. Dad was letting me know he was

the boss in this house very quickly. “You’re going whether you like it or not, and

that is that. And don’t say another word, young man, or you’ll be in serious trouble.”

I looked at my dad and gave him the biggest “go to hell” look that you could

give anyone, I was upset, and now I was fighting back my tears because everyone

knows men don’t cry. Feeling my anger boiling over inside of me, I yelled to the

top of my lungs at my dad and mom, “I hate you both!” I tried, and I tried and tried

to fight back my tears with all my might, and I finally broke down. With tears in my

eyes, I stormed off to my room not saying a word to my parents as I went that way,

and I slammed the door behind me. I didn’t say another word to my parents the rest

of the night, and my parents never came to my room to apologize or try to console

me. I didn’t have any brothers or sisters. I was the only child, so I didn’t have to

worry about anyone else trying to bother me either.

PAGE 9 ALBERT

So I pretty much laid in bed staring up at the ceiling thinking about the day

after tomorrow; that was really the only thing on my mind. Yeah, I felt bad about the

argument I had with my parents that night, but at that moment I didn’t care; all I

know is that I felt like they had betrayed me again. After a while I knew it wasn’t

going to do me any good to be angry or to fight with my parents. I had officially

given up and accepted my fate. I now realized I had to figure out what I was going

to do for fun on my last day of freedom before I have to go back to that damn place.

That’s when it hit me, tomorrow I was going to wake up early, eat some breakfast,

grab my favorite comic book that I had been reading, and go to my favorite hiding

spot.

Before long my thoughts went from thinking about tomorrow, to thinking

about summer camp. And the more I thought about it, the more I started to feel uneasy

about it all. I just had a very bad feeling about camp this year, it was like a warning

coming deep from inside my soul, and it scared me. I had a million things running

through my head at the moment; however, my eyes were starting to get heavy, and

before I knew it, I had fallen asleep. That night I had one of the most horrible

nightmares you could ever imagine, something was chasing me, I couldn’t exactly

see what it was, but all I knew is that it was after me. It wasn’t long before I realized

that I was running around in circles, so for a reason I decided to stop and look

around, and there wasn’t anything there. And then there was nothing but silence. I

stood there in the darkness all alone and waited for whatever was after me to jump

out and show itself.

I couldn’t take it anymore, so I yelled out into the darkness, “Hello! is anyone

out there? If so, please stop. It’s not funny anymore.” Then it began; screams started

coming from all around me. It wasn’t just normal screams either, it was some of the

most blood curdling screams you could ever imagine, and I was paralyzed with fear.

I could also see something in the dark; all of a sudden it leaped out at me. At first I

couldn’t make out what it was; however I could hear a creepy laughter as whatever

this thing was had a hold of me. I screamed out into the darkness fighting against

PAGE 10 ALLEN STANFILL

whatever had me; then I heard a faint voice. I really couldn’t make out what it was

saying, and I was honestly too scared to pay attention anyways, but I do remember

the constant laughing, before I knew it, I woke up screaming bloody murder.

It was horrible, and I had a cold sweat all over my body. I jumped out of my

bed and started looking around my room as if I was looking for what had me in my

nightmare. I guess I was making sure that I was really safe in my own room; it

didn’t take me long to decide that it was time for me to jump back in my bed and hide

under my covers. Yeah, it was childish of me; however at that time I didn’t care. After

the nightmare I had barely gotten any sleep the rest of that night. For me it was

definitely a sign of things to come, and it wasn’t long before the sun started coming

up and little rays of light shined through my curtains. I lay in bed still partially under

my covers, and to be honest I didn’t want to get out of my bed because I knew this

would be my last day of freedom. But at last, I knew it was time for me to get up

and get myself ready because I could hear faint sounds of footsteps and the sound

of dishes clanging together, which let me know that my mom was up and more than

likely cooking breakfast for my dad before he goes to work and for me also. And I

was sure that they were both still mad at me, so yeah, I was somewhat scared to

make my way downstairs.

Before long I didn’t have a choice as my dad yelled for me, “Bobby! It’s time

to get out of bed and eat! You have a long day ahead of you!”

Damn, I thought to myself. I really didn’t want to get yelled at again, so I did

the smart thing. “Okay, Dad!” I answered back nicely. I got out of bed and got

myself dressed. “I’m on my way down now, Dad!” And I ran downstairs. But I

stopped right at the kitchen entrance as I had an idea. I decided I was going to try

and pout my way out of this whole summer camp thing. So I slowly walked into the

kitchen with my head held low, with a sad look my on my face. Nobody can resist

my sad face. Or so I had thought anyways, but clearly it didn’t work because my

mom and dad completely ignored me. Oh well, I thought to myself. It’s not like I

could do anything about it, so I took a seat down at the table even after trying to

PAGE 11 ALBERT

suck up by giving my mom and dad a kiss on the cheek and that too had failed. I

decided to just give up and start eating the food that was on the table in front of me,

at least the breakfast was good though. I even tried to talk to my mom and dad, but

they kept on ignoring me and talked among themselves as they ate like I wasn’t

even there. All I could do was sit there and listen in on what they were talking

about.

My mom looked over at me, “How do you like your breakfast?” she asked.

I looked up at her not knowing what to say at first; then I gave a faint smile

and said, “It’s really good, Mom, like always.” We pretty much just sat there eating
and talking. I still didn’t say a whole lot though. I tried to think of things to say,

but my mind had gone blank; afterward I helped clear the table and then started my

chores without so much saying a word. It took me longer to finish my chores this day

than most, my mind was elsewhere, and I figured, what’s the point? Like I said

before, it took me a while to finish my chores, and before I knew it, I was finally done.
I decided to make my way to the living room and catch up on some reading before my

journey into hell tomorrow. Just as I was about to take a seat on the couch, my dad

told me to go outside, that my mom and him had some things to do and discuss.

Bullshit, I thought to myself. As I turned around and proceeded to walk out the

front door, I knew they just wanted me out of their way. Their excuse was that I

needed to be outside more and get used to being more active, because I would soon

be outside more than usual. I wanted to yell and scream as I walked out on the porch,

but all I could muster was a, “Yes, sir.” And I quietly closed the door behind me.

The way I looked at things was, why start another argument? I was still angry though.

This sucks, I’m sixteen years old, and I’m still being treated like a child. I thought to

myself as I stomped down the porch steps and down the sidewalk. But then I

remembered I had plans for today, and I already had my comic book in hand, so I

was ready to go.

What seemed to start off as another bad day started to look up just a bit, but for

PAGE 12 ALLEN STANFILL

some reason my anger boiled over inside of me, and I couldn’t seem to shake the

feeling of rage, so I started muttering obscenities to myself at first. Before I knew it,

I was yelling at the top of my lungs, “How much longer do I have to take this shit.”

And I kicked at the sidewalk. I kept on walking with a pissed-off look on my face,

hoping that when I got to my favorite spot, I would have calmed down some. I was

still a few blocks away from my destination, and the sun was beating down on me. It

was hot as hell that day, and I was sweating bullets, but all I could think about was

going to that hellhole tomorrow, and that spurred on my anger. Then out of nowhere

I heard a noise, it sounded like someone was following me, so I stopped walking and

quickly turned around, but there wasn’t a single soul around. So I just chalked it up

to my imagination and blamed the heat and my anger as well, and I kept walking on.

My thoughts then turned back on having to go to that wretched place in the

morning. I snickered as I thought to myself, Guess I could run away. Then I wouldn’t

have to go. It wouldn’t do me any good at all though because my parents would just

call the cops, and I know they would find me, and then my parents would kill me.

Or I would just chicken out even if I tried; either way I’m not sure I’m willing to

take the risk and find out. I walked a little farther down the sidewalk and noticed a

huge tree in the distance. I was finally there. I breathed a sigh of relief and made my

way toward the tree. Finally, I thought to myself. I needed a break from the sun and

the heat; I smiled as I sat under the tree. It was definitely my favorite spot in the

world to sit and read my comic books. The tree was an amazing one, it was big and

beautiful, the leaves were full and green, and the limbs hung over you as if trying to

cradle you from the sun. And the grass was soft to the touch and nice to sit upon; it

felt good to sit down and relax and forget about the things to come.

I leaned back against the tree and stretched my legs out to get as comfortable

as I possibly could be. I opened my comic book and started to read, but I found

myself somewhat distracted by my own thoughts. I couldn’t help but to think about

tomorrow. Believe me when I say that I tried to forget and read, but I couldn’t; the

only happy thought that came from it was the thought of seeing my friends again.

Yes, I missed them, that part I couldn’t help. I just hoped they would be there. I knew

PAGE 13 ALBERT

I couldn’t get through it alone. And another happy thought was the fact that after this

year, my parents could no longer force me to go back to that damn place. But still

yet I hated that place and wish I could have came up with a way for me not to go,

before I knew it I could feel my eyes start to get heavy. I fought it the best I could,

but with the cool breeze and my body being tired from my restless night, my eyes

started to close, and before I knew it, had fallen asleep. That was when I had my

second nightmare, my dream started off decent at first, it was my friends and

myself at camp actually having a good time. Then that dream turned into a horrible

nightmare; one by one my friends started to disappear into a darkness that suddenly

surrounded me. It wasn’t long that I found myself all alone. I ran around in the

darkness frantically searching for my friends, or any other sign of human life. Then

I realized that there wasn’t another soul around, and the more I searched, the more

I found myself engulfed in the darkness. All of a sudden the hairs on my arm stood

up straight, and a cold chill slowly ran up my spine. The air around me became thick

and ice like, and I found that it had gotten a lot harder to breathe. There was nothing

but pure malice and hatred everywhere I turned, and I knew I wasn’t alone.

Out of the darkness came a creepy and sinister laugh that shook me to my core.

I tried to scream out. Hell, I even tried to run, but I was paralyzed with fear and

could not find the strength to do either. After a brief few seconds, the laughter ceased,

and shadows in the distance could be seen along with sounds of footsteps. It was too

dark to see exactly what was going on, or what these shadows were. I myself was

still too scared to even think about moving, and then it happened: the laughter was

back, but it was different, somehow playful. I swear it seemed like there were little

children playing a game with me, or perhaps even picking on me. I remember feeling

absolute terror running through my body as the shadows came closer and closer to

me. And the laughter got louder and louder, then all became silent. It was so quite

you could hear a pin drop. That’s when I gained the courage to check my

surroundings. I turned my head quickly in every direction. I took a sigh of relief

thinking that it was finally over.

But I was just kidding myself, because at that moment I heard someone or

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something walking up behind me. I turned around quickly to confront whatever was

behind me, but nothing was there! Right then I could feel something breathing on

the back of my neck! I tried to turn to see what it was, but again I couldn’t move! It

wasn’t like it was before where I was struck with fear, this time I had no control

over my body, and I couldn’t move a muscle no matter how hard I tried. The worst

part, my nightmare was about to happen. I actually started to see what was in front

of me, and I wished I hadn’t; there were children in front of me poking their small

bony fingers into my skin making me bleed as they did so. That wasn’t even the

worst part of it all. I think what got me the most was how these kids looked. Their

faces and bodies were burned and mangled, and some were even missing their

arms or hands. It was horrible. I couldn’t get away. The pain was getting

unbearable as they jammed their fingers further and further into my skin. Then out

of nowhere this hideous face rushed at me, laughing that bloodcurdling laugh! And

that’s when I woke up screaming as loud as I possibly could and sweating like no

other. It was just like last night. I wiped the sweat from my brow and calmed myself

down. I leaned my head back against the tree and closed my eyes for a brief second;

that’s when I heard a faint chuckle. I quickly rose up and opened my eyes; there was

a boy standing over me.

I couldn’t make out what the boy looked like at first, that is, until my eyes

adjusted. Just looking at him I could tell he was about my age, or maybe even a year

younger or so. His face was pale, or I guess you could say he was as white as a

ghost, his eyes were black as coal, and they were sunken deep in his sockets. His

lips were blood red, which I figured was very odd for his complexion, he had on a

dirty and ripped pair of jeans and an old, worn-out and torn shirt. He seemed to be

slightly taller than me, and his build was that of someone that was malnourished;

his skin was leathery, almost inhuman looking. His facial expression was very odd

to me; it was hard to tell if he was crying or laughing. I jumped up frightened from

the sight of the boy; now on my feet with my back to him, I did a quick spin around

to meet this stranger face-to-face. However, he was nowhere to be found.

After gathering myself, I decided to have one more glance around the place;

PAGE 15 ALBERT

still there wasn’t a soul around. So I shrugged and chalked it up to nothing more than

a bad dream like last night; to my surprise I happened to notice that I had stayed out

too late. Damn. I thought to myself. I knew that if I didn’t get home soon, my ass

would be in more trouble than what it already has; without even thinking about

anything else, I grabbed my comic book and made a run for it back home. I ran and

ran as fast as I could, but let’s face it, I knew I was a dead man; there was home right

in front of me. I didn’t even stop or slow down. I bolted straight on in the front door, apologizing as I ran in the house like a madman expecting to get yelled at for being

that late, but there wasn’t anyone in the living room. I then heard voices coming

from in the kitchen. That’s when I decided I would try and pout my way out of

trouble. So I slumped over and slowly walked into the kitchen, but instead of getting

yelled at, I was completely ignored. No shouting, no yelling, no nothing. I walked

further into the kitchen, and still they treated me like I wasn’t even there. The hell

with it, I thought to myself and just walked on to my room. I figured this would be

the perfect chance to sneak away and not have to deal with my parents.

But as I made my way upstairs and was just about to shut my bedroom door, a

voice called out to me. “Bobby. You’re grounded. There won’t be any supper for you.

So clean up and go to bed!” It was my dad.

“Shit.” And here I was thinking my mom and dad had completely ignored me;

guess I was wrong. I answered the best way I knew how. “All right, Dad. Sorry

about being late.”

My dad answered me back calmly, “It’s fine. You just need to get your rest.

You have a very long day tomorrow, and it starts very early.” Well, at least on the
bright side, I didn’t get yelled at. Don’t get me wrong, though, I still wasn’t a happy

camper, but I also knew not to start a fight with my dad. I didn’t answer back. I

went to the bathroom and cleaned myself up and got ready for bed. As I lay in my

bed I could hear my parents talking, usually they’re pretty quite when I’m trying to

sleep. However, this time they seemed like they didn’t care, and I was the topic of

their conversation; they talked about the things they were going to do while I was

PAGE 16 ALLEN STANFILL

gone. You could hear the excitement in their voices, and to be honest, that pissed me

off badly. I grabbed my covers and pulled them over my head; that way I couldn’t

hear what they were saying about me anymore.

Then this idea came to my mind. All I had to do was stay up for the rest of the

night. It was a stupid idea, I know, but at that time it seemed perfect to me. In my

mind I was going to show them who was the boss, but that plan soon fell to pieces

as my eyes began to shut, and sleep won my body over. I swear, though, before I

fell asleep, I heard a faint voice that said, “See you soon.” It was followed by a

chuckle. Then off to sleep I went. That night I got a good-night’s sleep, I didn’t have

not one nightmare, and I can say that I really needed that. Before I knew it, the night

was over, and the rays of daylight made way through my curtains, and I could also

hear faint sounds of footsteps moving around downstairs, which let me know my

parents were also awake. If I had to take a guess, I would say my mom was making

breakfast, and my dad was more than likely getting my bag packed up and ready to

go. As for myself, I did my best to stay under my covers, and that didn’t last either.

It wasn’t long before my mom yelled out to me, “Bobby. Wake up. It’s time to

eat and get ready to go now.” And of course as bad as I hated to, I got myself out of

bed, got dressed, and proceeded to make my way downstairs and into the kitchen.

My mom acted like she was in a huge hurry; she had everyone’s spot set at the table

and hurried me down onto my chair. My dad also rushed into the room and took his

place at the table; then my mom took her seat too.

I took one last chance to try and beg them not to make me go. “Mom? Dad?”

They stopped eating for a brief second to look up at me and ask, “What?”

I knew this wasn’t going to end well, but I had to at least try. “Please, don’t

make me go. I have—”

PAGE 17 ALBERT

Before I could say another word, I was cut off by my dad, “You’re going. End

of. Now eat your food. We have to leave here in a minute or two.”

I just lowered my head and started eating, there wasn’t a point in saying

another word, I didn’t want to start another fight, and I would lose the battle

anyways. Before I knew it, my mom and dad had finished their food, and I had

barely taken a bite. What came next was unexpected. My parents pretty much rushed

me out the door—hell, I didn’t even get to finish my food. It wasn’t like we were late

or anything like that, but that didn’t stop them from pushing me out the door and into

our SUV. “Is his bag in the back?” my mom asked him.

“Yes, dear. He’s all ready to go,” my dad responded.

“Hey! What about me? Why are we in such a hurry?” And of course it was the

same as it was last night: they had ignored me. And again they talked among

themselves and left me out of the conversation, and off we went toward the meeting

place so my happy ass could be sent off to summer camp, or hell, however you want

to look at it. As we made are way down the road, I couldn’t help but think about the

place I was going, I just couldn’t shake this bad feeling, and I knew something bad

was going to happen. And then my mind shifted, and I started thinking about the

nightmares I had been having; they have been intense and scary. And I then I

wondered about the boy I had seen standing over me yesterday. Was he real? Or just

part of my nightmares? And why me? Why was this happening to me? I have never

had nightmares in my life until now. I didn’t have a whole lot of time to think about

everything as I was already there, and I could see three buses in line waiting to take

me to my destination.

The vehicle stopped, and my dad looked at me and said, “We’re here, son, grab

your bag like a man, and walk over to the buses.”

“Yes, sir,” I said as I reached over and grabbed my bag. My parents got out of

PAGE 18 ALLEN STANFILL

the vehicle to bid me farewell, and I put my arms around my mom and gave her a

hug, and then I turned toward my dad and did the same to him. I also told them both

that I loved them. You could see the surprised look on their faces. I was even

surprised myself. I, for some reason, felt like that would be the last time I would see

them again.

“Have fun, and we will see you in a few months, dear,” my mom said to me.

I stood there and didn’t say a word back. I watched as they both got back in

the vehicle and drove off. I so badly wanted to run after them, but I didn’t. I did as

my dad said, and I turned around and made my way to the buses. I had a lot of bad

feelings as I walked closer, but those feelings went away when I heard and all too

familiar voice.

“Hey, dumbass!” I turned around to see Tommy walking my way.

“Hey, Tommy.” I was happy to see at least one of my friends there.

“Glad to see a familiar face,” he said.

“Yeah, I know the feeling, Tommy.” We both paused for a second and then

busted out laughing. We started talking again after we caught our breath. “Hey,

Tommy. Have you seen any of the other guys around yet?”

“Nope, just got here myself. You?”

“Same here,” I replied. Now let me tell you a little bit about Tommy, because

I’m sure you’re curious. First and foremost, he’s a hard ass, and what I mean by that

is that he’s been through a lot of shit, and had to earn his status as a jock. He’s

athletic and on the smart side and actually the first black friend I’ve ever had.

We talked for a while before another familiar voice interrupted the conversation.

PAGE 19 ALBERT

“Hey, look who it is, Bobby and Tommy. What’s up, losers?” We couldn’t help but to

start cracking up, because we knew exactly who it was.

“How’s it going, Chubs?” Tommy yelled out first.

“Chubs, my friend. What’s happening?” I shouted. We walked up to him and

both gave him a high five.

“It’s going good, guys.” he smiled. “Nice to see you guys here as well. Who

knows, maybe this year we can take on the bullies.” he laughed. It was nice to have

almost the whole gang here, still there was one of us that was missing; But still

seeing friendly faces put my mixed emotions at ease, yet curiosity had gained the

upper hand in me. I looked around.

“Has anyone seen, John Boy?” I asked. Tommy and Chubs just looked at me

and gave a faint smile. “What’s wrong, guys?” I could tell something wasn’t right.

“Let’s talk about it later.” Tommy replied.

“Yeah, I agree with Tommy.” Chubs then lowered his head and looked down

at the ground; he gave a fake laugh before looking back up at me and saying, “Looks

like we will be the three amigos this time around.” Just like Chubs to make a remark

like that, always the jokester. Ah, Chubs, one friend I will always remember. His real

name is Billy McNown; he was a heavyset young man and always the camp clown.

He played more pranks on more people than I could count, trouble always seemed to

find that kid. I swear he pissed off the bullies just for the hell of it whenever he

needed a good laugh. That would probably explain why Tommy, John Boy, and

myself became really good friends with him; we all had two things that brought us

together as friends: our hatred for summer camp and the camp bullies. And “Chubs”

just seemed like a good nickname for Billy, and it stuck with him through all the

years at camp. As for John Boy, he was my very first friend that I made at camp so

many years ago. He was like me: shy and not very social, and s he had a love for

PAGE 20 ALLEN STANFILL

comic books like I had. The funny thing is, we started off hating each other at first,

but later on we had earned each others respect and trust at the end of are first year

of camp.

And Tommy? Well, he became mine and John Boy’s good friend the second

year of camp, and then Chubs, and so on and so forth. Looks like John Boy won’t be

around this year though, and I have a feeling either Tommy or Chubs know why, or

perhaps they both knew something and didn’t want to say. I just had a feeling both

of them were hiding something, and I was going to find out, it was just a matter of

time. And me being me, of course I had to ask, “Hey, guys, do you know something

about John Boy that you’re not telling me?” Tommy and Chubs both gave me that

“shut the hell up” look. Right then and there, I knew I had better not push my luck

with them on this subject, so I backed off and started talking about something else. I

look back on that now and wished I hadn’t backed off at all; things might have

ended differently if I had pushed them into telling me everything at the time.

But you can’t change the past, can you? Sorry, I keep getting off the subject, I

do apologize. Where was I? Oh yes, I remember. We talked for what seemed to be

hours about how our winters went and about school and how we were all dreading

the bus ride to camp. Hell, we even talked about how hot some of them women

counselors were; before we knew it, the parking lot had filled up with all the other

teens and kids that were also heading for camp.

And then out of nowhere, “Well, well, well. If it isn’t the geek squad.”

Followed by laughter. Then we heard another voice, “Hey, guys. Looks like we get

another year with the crybabies.” Then more laughter ensued afterward.

“Who said that?” Tommy yelled out as loud as he could, while Chubs and

myself looked around in the crowd of kids to find out who was saying that to us.

“Up here, dweebs.” and then we heard banging noises coming from one of the

buses, and that got our attention. “Looking for someone, nerds?” And there to our

PAGE 21 ALBERT

demise, right in front of us, on the bus hanging out the windows was the bullies. To

the left was Jimmy—we don’t really know his last name, but he prefers to be called

Spike because it sounds cool. To the right was big Tony Parks, and in the center like

always was Johnny Goodman, the leader himself of the bullies. All were star football

players, and all were big-time assholes, and every teen and kid in camp wanted to

hang out with them. Which, in turn, all it did was make all of them Johnny’s pawns.

It didn’t take much longer for Bobby to decide he was done talking to the

stranger for the day. “I think I’ve said enough for now, sir. If you don’t mind, I’m

tired and would like some time alone to rest. Come back tomorrow if you really want

to know more.”

The stranger stood and reached out to shake Bobby’s hand and said, “See you

tomorrow then, Bobby.” Bobby stepped back and stared at the man’s hand; the

stranger just smiled at him before lowering his hand back down. He turned his back

to Bobby, and without saying another word, he walked out the door.

Bobby laughed and then muttered under his breath, “He won’t be coming back.

They never do; he will be just like all the others and think I’m crazy too.” He looked

around his room to make sure there wasn’t anyone else around before lying down on

his bed and pulling out a notebook from in between his mattress and box spring. He

had been writing a few things down in a journal, just in case something bad happens

to him; he wants to at least let someone know the truth. A strange man came by to

visit with me today. He wanted to know all about the incident that happened at my

camp so many years ago. I’m not sure I can trust that man yet, but I have a feeling

I will know soon enough. Never believe in what you hear, and your eyes can always

deceive you. Trust no one. Hours later after Bobby had fallen asleep, his door

opened; it was the stranger again that was there earlier.