Chapter Text
“Fuck!” he tripped “FUCK!” he shouted as a heel was dug into the middle of his back. The gravel dug into any exposed skin, tearing at the black shirt he was wearing. His hands were bleeding from trying to push himself off the ground. The heel presses harder into his back, shoving him into the ground. “Please! I’m good for the money! I swear! I can get it to you tomorrow! Oh GOd! PLeASE!” his voice cracked, his eyes welling with tears he knew full well he couldn’t get the money to them, but it would give him the chance to say goodbye to his daughter and wife at home. His back popped violently as their foot was pushed harder into his spine. A cry escaping from the back of his throat. “Please! Give me just one more day! I can get you the money! I swear!” He cried, choking on a sob. The foot was lifted from his back, and he started to push himself up. “Thank you! oh god thank-” his gratitude was suddenly cut off by a snap, the foot having slammed back onto his back, and severing his spine into two. The lights in his eyes dimmed and he fell limp on the gravel, blood pooling from his mouth and nose. Unbeknownst to them, a short turquoise eyed boy watched from behind a tree; eyes widening at the gruesome scene laid before him. He held his hand over his mouth to muffle a gasp, stumbling over his feet in order to get away before he was spotted. He stumbled, tripping over a stray branch, it’s snap echoed through the forest.
The night air was brisk as David made his way through the thicket, limp body pulled over his shoulder. He tugged his overcoat a bit tighter as he waltzed his way through the trees, weaving to avoid branches. David pulled the collar of his coat up to his ears and tucked his hat to hide his eyes from anyone watching nearby. He knew better than to repeat the mistake from a few years back when one of the camper's parents found out who he was and subsequently tried to blackmail him. Let's just say that he was much more stone-hearted back then, not that he isn’t now, and that kid wouldn’t be hearing from his parents anytime soon. David grimaced at the old memory. ‘I could never hurt one of my campers like that now. I’ve changed, haven’t I?’ the man shook his head to rid himself of the thought. He reminisced about when Gwen first joined as a counselor, and how she thought him as suspicious, but after working with each other for a while she brushed it off as ignorant optimism. David was ripped out of the memory when a deafening snap rang through the near-silent forest. He spun around in search of the source of the sound, the body slung over his shoulder momentarily forgotten as it’s head thunked against his back, temporarily knocking him off balance as his emerald eyes searched the surrounding forest. He regained his footing as he looked for the source of the sudden sound. ‘What if someone was following him?” the idea sliced through his empty thoughts and he stood still, shocked. How could he not have noticed someone following him this whole time?
Max whimpered, clasping his hand over his dry mouth as he desperately tried to sneak away quietly. His eyes welled with tears as he scoured for a hiding place. He tripped over a twig, the snap was deafening and Max burst into tears as he fumbled to stand. He scraped his hands against the rough forest floor. He sprinted through the brush, the branches ripping his nightshirt as he shielded his face with his arms. He briefly glanced back his eyes locking with familiar forest green ones. He tripped again. He didn’t even have the chance to stand when a calloused, bloodsoaked hand lifted him from the collar of his pajamas. He let out a strangled cry and covered his face with his bleeding hands.
“P-please- I-I didn’t see anything,” He choked on a sob, hot tears running down his flushed face. “Please-” He hiccuped “Don’t hurt me- please I won’t tell anyone- Please”
He wiped his tear-soaked face with the torn sleeves of his shirt as he was moved to face the perpetrator. The majority of their face was covered by what looked like a bandanna, it was tucked into his trenchcoat. A matching hat was placed on his head, but it barely covered his flame-red hair and piercing green eyes.
“What’s your name,” he said sternly, the voice emitting from behind the white mask was unnaturally deep, like it didn’t fit their figure.
“M-Max, my name is Max.” he stuttered.
They tugged the white bandanna off their face to reveal not only the rest of their face but also a voice distorter. “Hello Max,” He held out a hand. “My name’s David.”
His voice was distinctly different, and his expression softened. Though it sounded like he held no malicious intent toward Max, he still couldn’t erase the image of this man- David- having killed someone in cold blood right in front of him, even if he didn’t know he wasn’t there. He took his hand and shook it with trepidation, still suspended off the ground by the collar of his shirt.
“Hi David,” he said eyes locked with the man before him. He was shivering with fear.
“So what’s a kid like you doing out in the forest in the middle of winter? I imagine you’re cold.” he whipped off his coat and wrapped Max in it underneath he wore an intricate suit. With suspicion, he pulled it tighter around him.
“I get that you aren’t gonna let me go just like that- but is there a space we can talk without me getting frostbite. Also maybe can you not hold me from my collar- I feel like a dog.”
He nodded and adjusted him to sit on his bicep, still holding him so he wouldn’t fall.
“So what’d that guy ever do? Like I get it had something to do with him owing you money but like, why did that warrant you killing him.”
David slung the man’s body over his other shoulder and shrugged. “He was a liar and was bringing bad company to my work. None of my underlings wanted to take action so naturally, as their boss I set things straight and made an example of him. He had plenty of time to convince me otherwise.”
“Odd question… but what are you going to do with…” He gestured toward the body. “Y’know…”
“The usual. Toss him in the well near my cabin and pour like... two whole bottles of draino on him.” he shrugged nonchalantly.
Max let out a quiet ‘oof’ in response.
In the distance, a cabin came into view. “We’re almost there kiddo.” Max wrinkled his nose at the nickname but didn’t comment. David fumbled with his keys to unlock the cabin, dropping the body midway, staining the snow red. “I’ve never seen red snow before…” Max said with an eyebrow quirked. David chuckled and finally pushed the cabin door open. He flipped on the lights and set Max on a nearby couch. David pulled a box of matches from a kitchen cabinet and walked in front of the fireplace. He kneeled as he began to light a fire.
Max watched him with caution. He may not have hurt him but he was still a murderer… but- no. he looked around the small room for something, anything, that could help him escape. That’s when he saw it. A fire poker sat just in David’s blindspot. Maybe, if he could somehow get a hold of it, he could knock him out and run. He stood, letting the large trench coat fall to the ground, and began to tiptoe toward the fireplace. He grabbed the fire poker and held his breath and he held it up in preparation to swing. As soon as he began to swing the weapon when, without even looking up from the newly started fire, David reached and grabbed the fire poker. He plucked it out of his tiny hands and studied it with a mocking manner. “I don’t know if I should pretend to be surprised.” he shrugged and turned back to the fire, now poking it with the fire poker.
“What? Are you just gonna- pretend I didn’t just try to hit you over the head with a fire poker? Like… are you not gonna kill me where I stand.”
“Nah. first off I don’t kill kids. And second off I still haven’t heard why you were in the forest, shoeless none the less, in the middle of winter yet. So go ahead and get cozy because you’re not leaving till you give me a good reason for you to be wandering around without any parental guardians or whatever. Would you like some hot chocolate?”
“Uhh… yeah sure…” he backed up and sat back down on the sofa, pulling the coat up onto his lap. David walked back into the kitchen to start a pot of hot cocoa. “So why’re you out here instead of, y’know, curled up in bed like most people are at this hour?”
Max pulled his knees up to his chest as his eyes began to water. He sniffled and rubbed his eyes with his fist. “I… I uh- I ran away.”
David leaned out of the kitchen and looked at him with a worried expression. “If you don’t mind me asking, why?”
Max shook his head and chuckled bitterly. “Cause my parents don’t care. They never cared about me. All they care about is getting their fix of whatever they decided to shove up their nose that week, even if it means selling everything they own, or not buy food for a week. And when they don’t get it… they blame me.” Max began to bawl. “And what I mean by blame me is beat the shit out of me. Like, What the fuck! I’m seven years old and they blame me for them not being able to afford drugs!” he threw his hands up in the air with frustration.
David walked in with a mug of hot chocolate and held it out to him. Max hesitated to take it. “It’s not poisoned. I swear on my mommas grave.” he gave a two-fingered salute. Max took the drink and held it close to his face, breathing in the sweet scent of chocolate. “I’ll be right back. I’m gonna grab a first aid kit from the bathroom so I can clean up those cuts.” Max nodded and David left to retrieve the first aid kit from the next room.
Max took a chaste sip of the cocoa. Balancing the mug on his knees, still holding it with one of his hands, and leaned so he could try and see down the hallway. One door was ajar with light shining through it, illuminating the rest of the hallway. He could hear David rummaging through something for what he could only assume was the first aid kit. For a murderer, he was a pretty honest guy, even if Max didn’t want to admit it.
When David emerged from the hallway with a large emergency med-kit in one hand and two large bottles of draino in the other. “I’m gonna wait for you to finish your hot chocolate, in the meantime, I’ve gotta dispose of the evidence of any dirty dealings.” He winked, dropping the large med-kit by the sofa and left to dispose of the body he had left outside.
Max sat patiently for David to return, silently sipping his quickly cooling drink. Max didn’t keep track of the time but when he finally returned from disposing of the body, his neat navy suit was tragically soaked in blood. “What a pity. I really liked this suit.” he stripped off the blazer and tossed it over onto one of the nearby bar-stools. His once neat dress shirt now looked like the snow outside, or maybe some sick version of Santa Claus, with the deep reds intermixing with the crisp white of his shirt. All in all, it was not a look. He walked over and sat on the floor in front of Max, opening the first aid kit and pulling out a cloth soaked in hydrogen-peroxide and held his hand out. “Here let me clean up those cuts.” Max held out his small hand for him to clean, jerking away with a yelp. “Shit! That burned! Why did that burn?” He looked at David with tear-filled eyes.
“Sorry buddy, but I’ve got to clean up all the germs, or your cuts can get infected and it’ll hurt a lot worse if you don’t let me clean it.” Max nodded and held his hand back out to him. When he finished cleaning his wounds, he wrapped his palms with bandages and gauze. “Did you scrape your knees too?” Max shook his head. “I have a spare room if you’re tired.” he nodded, his eyes drooping. David picked him up and took him to the spare room and left him on the bed, tucked tightly under the blanket.
That was three years ago. David, cashing in on some favors, pulled some strings in order to gain custody of Max. even if that may have included murdering his parents through a fake overdose on fentanyl. During the summer David still worked a job at a summer camp, his wrongdoings overshadowed by Campbells own. In all honesty, it was the perfect cover-up, no one would suspect the clueless camp counselor to be the leader of a drug cartel, or a gang, or- well- a murderer.
Gwen was still lazy as ever, but with max now attending he kept her on her toes. It was pretty entertaining. But what’s even better, was that they were welcoming, not one, not three, but two new campers today. And hell if David would let anything slip.