The Ghosts of Melbrew [1/12]

Chapter 8) A Bloody Sacrifice

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        By the time the sun had started to peak its head over the horizon, Me, Cameron, Kimi, and Kai were all already getting dressed in our old dirty clothes to go explore. Dominik, however, was still fast asleep, unmoving under the covers despite our loud commotion.
 
        When we were all ready, Cameron went and began pushing him around, "Get up you lazy coward!" He said. "We let you sleep in!"
 
        "Ugggh... what time is it?" Dominik whined sleepily.
 
        "I dunno, like, eight or something."
 
        "Well, Jesus, why the hell are you up so early? You're a bunch of psychopaths, that's what you are. We have the whole entire day to do stuff." He said, annoyed.
 
        "It ain't even early, you weirdo sleep-freak. If you're not gonna get up and get ready we're gonna leave you here."
 
        "Good! Y'all are demon crazy. I'll stick to my books and descriptions, thanks. I don't need to see it. You have a camera, go and use it. That's all I need." He said as he pulled the covers over himself even more.

        "Nope! You're coming with us, man, no exceptions!" Cameron said, "You have an hour! Watch, I'll be you alarm clock! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEE-"

          "OH, SHUT UP!!" Dominik yelled. "Fine, good Lord, I'm awake! I'm gonna be a minute to get ready, go eat breakfast or something, I don't know." He said, sitting up as he reached for his glasses. His long-ish curly hair was a mess.
 
        We did what he said, and ate breakfast while we waited for him to get ready. Cameron's mom was a pretty good cook, and I thanked her for the food. Me and Cameron chatted with her while Kimi and Kai remained mostly silent. Dominik came slowly out of the room around nine, dressed up in dirt with his bag around his shoulder. He had a bite to eat real quick, and we all headed out just about five minutes later.
 
        "So what exactly are we looking for?" I asked as we left the building. Sounds of the outside forest filled the air, on the bright chilly autumn's day.
 
        Cameron shrugged, "I dunno. Anything?"
 
        "How do we even know if there's anything to look for in the first place?"
 
        "Look Emmy, it's all in the fun of exploration. If there isn't anything to look for, or if we don't find anything, it's still a thrill to be in the woods searching for things that we shouldn't see. It's especially fun for me cuz even if we don't find anything, I'll still get some cool ass photos and videos to make into creepy VHSs. Y'all know I live for those shits."
 
        "You're the very definition of a weird, emo, tumblr kid. Plus wanting to look edgy as an aesthetic. You fit the stereotype to a T. But I mean that in a nice way. At least I suppose I do."
 
        "I've never heard a more accurate description of Cameron in my entire time of knowing him." Dominik said. "And I've known him my whole life! I'm amazed."
 
        "I live for my tumblr gifs, thank you very much." Cameron said, taking out his camera to film us, "I picked the name Cameron for myself because of cameras, y'know."
 
        "Wow, I never would've guessed." I said, sarcastically. "You're whole personality is just that camera, isn't it?"

       "No, I have a personality! It's just a really dumb one! You know, I started calling myself Cameron ironically when I was trying to pick out a new name. I thought, hey, wouldn't it be funny if my name was Cameron? After a while it just kinda stopped being ironic and just became my name."
 
        "For the love of my sanity, stop talking about cameras." Kimi said, "I'm tired of listening to you talk about cameras. It's always cameras, and aliens, and ghosts, and Marcie this, Marcie that!"
 
        Cameron didn't respond, and just rolled his eyes at her. We continued down the path until it came time for us to stay from it. From there we stepped out into the woods on our own. I turned to Kai, "You better remember the way back this time."
 
        Kai gave a small smile, the first one I've seen from him, and said, "No promises."
 
        We continued to follow him in silence as we all took in the scenery. Along the way we walked through vegetation, crossed many streams, and climbed many rocks. Kimi broke our comfortable silence when she spotted something.
 
        "Well that's strange," She said, pointing, "look at that tree."
 
        "What about it?" I asked. The only thing that I thought was weird was its size. It was relatively tall.
 
        "I dunno. It's just...it feels odd." She seemed fixated on a certain part of the tree, and then all of a sudden, without saying a word, took Kai's bat out of his hand, and threw it at something in the tree. Down came his bat, along with something else.
 
       We went over to look at what fell, and it was an old, dirty, ripped up cat doll. It didn't even look like a cat, it was just patches of beige cloth stitched together in the vauge form of a cat. Its eyes were grey buttons, and it was very dirty. I wouldn't be surprised if it were originally white.
 
        Kimi picked it up, "That's so creepy! It's mine now."
 
        "Weirdo." Cameron said.
 
        "Says you!"
 
        "That's fair." He said, and walked ahead of us a bit as he peered through the trees.