Day 7, the last and final day of this excursion. All enthusiasm had fizzled out by now. Everyone was exhausted and craving the comfort of a home cooked meal and their beds. Most of the days here followed routine, but there were a few outliers. At least everything turned out alright in the end.
One lesson to take away from this situation. Never go on a camping trip unprompted or without good reason. At the end you might end up getting drowned and have to spend a whole day looking for your supervisor. At least it didn't rain, that would have made everything even worse.
Everyone was up bright and early, despite the lingering fatigue. No one wasted time, like clockwork tents went down and baggage was packed. This was the most synchrony they had ever moved with. The utter commitment they showed to the task trumphed any other group activity.
Just like promised a police vehicle pulled up to escort us back to camp. Delan and Ms Rita tried to organise us for one final address. It did not go as planned, the mood and ugly faces the students showed at the mention of an unwanted speech shut it down before it even began. Times like these I pitied Ms Rita, the poor woman was soft spoken. Just staring at her too long caused her shrink.
The luggage was loaded under the seats and we shuffed in silently. A large contrast to the load conversations that went on when we first departed for this place. One of the police officers took the drivers seat, substituting for the currently absent Mr Fixx.
"Alright kids time to head home. I know you haven't had the best excursion but I'll assure you that your safe." He paused trying to find his words, "Don't let what happened to your teacher put you down. He will be alright and back to teaching you soon enough. He's recieving the best medical care we have to offer." The officers words did not dispel the somber mood, but at least we had assurance that Mr Fixx was alright.
"You heard him, Fixx will be fine. Take your mind off the disastrous end and think of the fun activities you had prior. I'm sure some of us made happy memories, let's focus on those." Ms Rita chimed in once the officer created the opportunity. Some people actually considered her words. Those with happy memories though back to them and a little smile broke out on their crestfallen faces. Suddenly the mood was no longer as somber.
"This was a memorable trip. Do think we should do it again?" I asked Tobias the question hoping to get a laugh out of him. His response was a sidelong glance and a tightened jaw. Poor timing, but that wasn't going to stop me. The trip back home was putting me in a good mood and I wanted to make small talk.
"I never asked you how you were able to find us." He stilled. His head was bent over and his back heavy with exhaustion. He needed some rest and I didn't feel like giving him any. "I should ask you the same question. He turned up a substantial distance outside the marked search perimeter." I chuckled, I realised that I never came up with any real explanation on how I found him.
"I just used my intuition and a bit of luck. Honestly it was a coincidence, I was just about to turn around when I spotted him." Tobias nodded his head. "Sure. It was the same for me. I just picked a random direction and wandered over to him." There was a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but he wasn't lying. Odd, something told me that this was going to end very poorly.
"If you say so. Maybe the stars aligned last night and the druids pitied us." Tobias smiled. "Uh-huh, just maybe. The universe does work in unexplained ways. Maybe they sent two of us as assurance." He chuckled at his own words and I joined in. Before we knew it, the silent chuckles had turned into a full outburst of unrestrained laughter.
I felt everyone turn to look at us, even the officer at the wheel glanced back. Tobias and I didn't stop though. The laughter kept going till tears filled our eyes. It pitched down eventually, but the stares grew more intense. "Hahaha. Ohh don't mind us. Just a little inside joke that went too far. Hahahaha" Tobias composed himself and I leaned back on my seat. The attention on us faded gradually. I smiled and met Jess' eyes, she was the only one still staring.
She turned back when she noticed. I felt like going into another fit of laughter. "I was hoping you could answer some questions. You've kept me in the dark long enough." Tobias was suddenly very serious, his face was a sharp contrast to the mad fit of laughter from just a minute ago. "Yeah, you are right. So what do you want to know?" I clearly wasn't taking this as seriously as he was. And honestly I didn't think I needed to, there was nothing important going on.
"I want you to me very honest me. Why are you and Jonathan on shaky ground." Went straight for the kill, admirable effort Tobias. "You wouldn't believe me if I told you." "Really, try me. Lay it on, no filters, just the plain truth."
"Okay, if you say so." I cleared my throat "To put it simply, Jonathan is trying to invade my mind. And also trying to rope me into some sick game of his.
But not to worry, I've been doing a fantastic job keeping him out and my psychic abilities have undergone significant growth in the past couple months.". What else was I missing, "Oh and think he might be a serial killer or some kind of crime boss. I'm sure yet, I don't have much to go on except for that one meeting at his estate."
"*Sigh* Lukehiem it's alright, you don't have to force yourself to tell me. If it is really personal then I won't intrude. I just want you to know that I'm always here for you." He sounded tired and sympathetic. "I'm not lying though. I told you the entire truth, I even told you about my psychic powers. And just so you know you are the first person I've ever told." His brows arched as he studied my face. When the realisation dawned that I was being serious devastation coated his features.
"He's actually being serious. It is worse than I thought. Maybe the allegations aren't as unfounded as I thought." He was speaking to himself and looking at me with concern. Tobias didn't understand just how difficult this was for me. I never ever told my talents in the decade I had them. I finally open up in the seats of an old bus and he assumes I'm crazy.
'Maybe I was expecting too much thinking he would believe me on the so quickly. At least I told the truth.' "Okay fine, let's put that behind us. Just tell me what happened at the lake the other day." "The truth?" I asked him again. "Yes the truth."
"Well he pushed me in after giving a mildly infuriating speech about protecting me and my mind. I dragged him down with me and we had a good tussle in the water. Until his lackies forcefully dragged me out."
Tobias buried his face in his palm and sighed deeply. The trip proceeded in silence until we finally pulled into the school's parking lot. Everyone shuffled out of the bus, carting off thier luggage.
The other bus was already parked, the students from the other camp stood waiting for us. They probably just arrived as well. Both groups met in the middle, with friends reuniting and couples hugging.
Tobias was no exception. As soon as he and Rebecca spotted each other, he took wide step towards her. Rebecca hugged him for a bit then pulled back to study his face. She gently pulled his head and buried it in her chest, slowly stroking his pin straight brown hair. Our eyes met briefly, I saw the worry in them. The usually embarrassed Tobias was too tired to care today. On the other hand he enjoyed his current position and cozied up, hugging her through the oversized hoodie she wore.
I stood beside the bus, waiting for Tobias to wrap up so we could go home. It looked like they would take a while. Jess came up behind me and stood silently at my side. "Are you free next weekend?" "I should be." She smirked. "Then you wouldn't mind taking me out for some ice cream, would you?" It was a pleasant idea, I wasn't particularly craving ice cream but a day outside would be nice. "Sure, we can go over the details later. You should head home, you look tired."
"We all are, though you seem fine, despite being the one who found him." Jess left and I resumed the long wait.