Story 5: Camp Darkness
In Camp Darkness, you are cursed. The curse only lifts on Halloween but you can never leave your territory. A group of campers arrive and you decide to
have a little fun. What happens when your tricks reveal the ultimate treat in the form of Ellis. Do you send him running or running straight into your arms?
Come and pitch your tent at Camp Darkness if you dare!
Camp Darkness
Every Halloween it has been the same, I walk these grounds as a cat while I watch teenagers drink and fuck around a campfire. This has been my life for many centuries. I have spent the majority of my time in the water as a special type of cat though. The only time my curse alleviates my suffering is on Halloween. On this day, I am allowed to leave the water’s embrace. So I climb trees, steal camper’s food, and scare them from the shadows. Usually, though, it is me watching humans do what my curse would never allow…truly living.
Long ago, I was the daughter of a Shaman in my Native American tribe. The elders were meeting to decide who I would be betrothed to. My curiosity and anxiety got the better of me, so I snuck out to try and spy on the secret, sacred meeting. It was expressly forbidden for anyone uninvolved to spy, but I didn't give a damn. It was my life being decided for me. I wasn't going to allow any man to use me, especially my father. Plus, shouldn't we get to decide who we are bound to for the rest of our lives?
Anyway, I overheard my fate at that meeting. The elders were going to give me to Tao Ravenhawk. He was a smug and arrogant bastard. He was what you would call a womanizer. I refused to be bound to him, so I stood up from under my animal pelts. That was my undoing, because the elders including my own father began to chant. I tried to counter, but they were too quick and powerful. Suddenly I was transformed into a Mishipeshu and plunged into the lake.
A Mishipeshu is a great Lynx. It has the head and paws of a giant cat but is covered in scales and has dagger-like spikes running along its back and tail. Mishipeahu have control over all water creatures within their domain, but my life as a human on land was over. Now I am the last black Mishipeahu left here and maybe the last of my kind in existence.
So I have been trapped here on this property for a very long time. I have seen it change as my people were driven out and this area transformed. I have walked to the edge of this area and seen housing communities develop. My once-tribal lands have been turned into monstrosities of capitalistic endeavors. The only nature that remains is this park which has become known as Camp Darkness because of me and the few spirits left of my tribe.
Late yesterday a group of campers came. Today is officially Halloween and I intend to send them running away screaming starting at the stroke of midnight, which is only an hour away.
——-Ellis’s POV——
Why I am still here is beyond me. Larry, my best friend since I was a teenager, always has some hair-brained scheme. This year it is camping at Camp Darkness. I enjoy camping, but not on once-sacred ground, at least not how Larry does camping.
Betty, my current girlfriend, seems to hate everything. I don't plan to date her much longer either. She's like all of the others, good for the short term but toxic for anything past a few months.
“Ugh, we should have brought the air mattress,” she whines for the millionth time as I down yet another beer in an effort to make her voice less annoying.
“Babe it's only for a few nights, just rough it,” I say. She just rolls her eyes as she tries to adjust the blankets and pillows in our tent.
Once everything is situated we all gather around the campfire. It's nearly midnight, and I can feel this odd energy building. Something is going to happen. Larry and his girlfriend Bianca are oblivious as they continue to make out.
“Ellis, aren’t you going to kiss me too?” Betty asks.
I lean in to kiss her so that she will shut up but she pulls me on top of her. It just feels wrong. I hear a growl and I swear the word “mine.”
I push Betty off of me, “Did you say something?”
“No, now kiss me again and then fuck me,” she commands.
As she said that our tent collapsed behind us and then Larry’s did too.
“What the fuck!” we all yelled in unison.
“Guys, I tried to tell you that this was a bad idea. We aren't welcome here,” I say.
“Horsehit, it is just a park. We can camp anywhere here. I will fix our tents, we probably just didn't have them secured right,” Larry tells us.
As he went towards his tent and I went to mine, the fire went out. I snapped my head around, and I swear I saw the shadowy shape of a giant cat with these huge glowing green eyes. We aren't alone, and it looks like the legend is true!
—-End POV—-
I can't help but giggle at how spooked they looked when I snuffed out their fire. My day of freedom has begun, and I will make the most of it by torturing these campers until they run away screaming. However, there’s something about the one they call Ellis. I actually called him mine, but why?
And when we locked eyes, I felt something odd. Does he have magic within him? In a few hours, I will test that theory when I can walk in human form. While I am waiting for sunrise, I climb a tree so that I can spy on them from above.
It didn't take the men long to fix their tents. Larry and Bianca went inside their tent and it wasn't long before I heard their moaning. Do I miss carnal pleasure? Yes, but I am not like these people. I could never give myself to someone that wasn't going to be mine.
I watch Betty go into the tent but Ellis doesn't immediately follow. He's looking around. Is he looking for me? Can he sense me? Over the centuries, I have run into a few perceptive humans, but most just assume that I was a hallucination.
“Darkness, I know that you are out there. Coming here like this wasn't my idea. I hope you know that I mean no harm and won't tarnish your lands,” Ellis says before he goes into the tent.
He's different. I need to talk to him. Before sunrise, I made my way to my secret place where I stash souvenirs that frightened campers left. I grab a dress in my teeth and a bar of soap. I sling the dress over my back and head for my lake. As I begin to shift, I lay my dress over a stump and then make my way into the water with my soap. As I was myself, I shift into my human form. It feels good to be me again!
I am just pulling my dress over my body when I hear a throat clear, “Sorry, I wasn’t aware that there were other campers here,” Ellis said.
I turn with a smile, “Here you're never alone.”
Just as he reaches out his hand to introduce himself, Betty comes running up and puts her paws all over him. “There you are! Come on, after breakfast, we are all playing a game,” Betty shrilly told him.
I hold in a growl as I mentally picture ripping her to shreds. Ellis is mine! Not yours, but mine!
“Ellis, come on! Enough chatting with this…and you are?” Betty asks in a condescending tone.
“Oh, it doesn't matter who I am because you’ll be leaving soon,” I say to her as I turn and give Ellis a wink. I whisper to him as I pass by, “But I hope you won't.”
I go into the woods as they go the opposite direction. I see Ellis keep looking back. Does he want to explore this as I do? Could he be the one to lift my curse?
I watch them play their game. They were playing Truth or Dare. To my elation, it leads to them skinny dipping in my lake. I decided to have some fun with this. I make my way to their blindside and shift. I slip into the water completely unnoticed.
“What was that?” Bianca asks.
“Was what?” Larry asks her.
“I felt something hit my leg,” she tells him.
“You all are in a lake. What did you expect?” Ellis asks them.
“My boyfriend to come join me,” Betty says.
“I'm not in the mood,” Ellis tells her.
“You weren't last night either. What gives?” Betty says as she walks from the lake towards him with her hands on her hips.
“Bringing you here was a bad idea,” Ellis tells Betty.
“I hate camping, but I came for you babe,” Betty says.
“I didn't ask you to,” Ellis says.
“Guys, don't fight. This was supposed to be a fun trip full of naughtiness and nature,” Bianca pleads.
“You all can have that, I'm done,” Ellis says as he turns to walk back to their campsite.
This is my chance to send them scurrying while I rush to Ellis. Betty is waist-deep in the water and the others are nearly shoulder-deep. I swim up to Betty and use my razor-sharp claws to scratch a nasty gash in her right thigh. She screams and I laugh internally. I swim faster than I have ever before. I race to my dress and throw it on as I'm shifting.
I can use my speed even in human form. I make it to the campsite. I see Ellis packing up his things.
“Leaving so soon?” I ask.
He jumps as he spins around, “It's you.”
“Me who?” I say with a sly smile.
The pull between us is almost too much to bear. He takes huge strides before I can blink. His lips meet mine and that's when the passion builds.
He pulls back aroused and confused, “I don't know why I did that.”
I smile, “I do, because you’re mine.”
“The cat, it was you!” he says as recognition dawns on him.
“Yes, I'm Raven Darkshadow and your group is trespassing on my home,” I admit to him.
“It wasn't my idea,” Ellis tells me.
I put my finger to his lips, “I know. You're different.”
“Why am I not afraid and want to kiss you again so badly?” he pants.
“Because you're mine,” I barely have time to say before he wraps me in an embrace and kisses me senselessly. The pull is building as the bond flares. He's my mate!
“Are you mine? I need to hear you say it,” I say as I allow my teeth to graze his neck.
“Yes, Raven, I'm yours,” Ellis says.
My teeth sink into his neck. All of his memories play in my mind as mine do in his. Light and electricity cocoon us in an immortal embrace.
“What’s happening?” he asks as fur and scales start to coat his skin.
“You’re shifting. Just let it happen. I won't leave you,” I say as I stroke his cheek.
I shift with him just as his group returns carrying Betty. I give Ellis a toothy grin as I pounce. He joins me and they run off screaming. We purr with satisfaction as we hear their car doors slam shut.
We shift back and stand before each other naked. “You’re beautiful,” Ellis tells me.
I grin, “You are too, my mate.”
“I like the sound of that,” he said as his lips crashed to mine.
———Author’s Note——-
I hope you enjoyed this twist on a Native American myth. If you would like to see this made into a full story, you can send me a message.
Purrfectly Yours,
Lynn aka Lady Darkness