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Mud splashed from a shallow puddle as the wheels of the limo swerved to avoid a fallen branch. Although the sun peeked through the thick canopy of trees, the leaves dripped water from the recent rain onto the dirt road below, splattering on the limo’s windshield as it made its way through the damp forest. The chauffeur cursed as the vehicle went into a divot, jarring the two passengers and their obscene amount of luggage.
The bigger one, a boy of fifteen or sixteen, was so sucked into his phone that he barely noticed the disruption, even though the backpack blocking him from his companion had fallen onto his feet, but the second boy, small and slim, a year or so younger, was seemingly jolted out of the depths of outer space. He had been staring out the window, looking up at the peaceful, bright green leaves of early summer as death metal blasted from his earbuds for what felt like forever, even though they’d barely travelled two hours from their home in New York City.Shaking his head to clear the fog of whatever daydream he’d been so enthralled in, he glanced over and noticed that the bags he’d placed to separate him and his brother had been dislodged, leaving nothing but empty seat between him and the person he hated most in the world.
Well, maybe second-most.
He clicked his tongue in disgust as he bent over in his seat to retrieve the fallen bags, locking his seatbelt from his sudden motion and causing his long black locks to escape from the loose bun he’d tied them up in before leaving the house. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw his brother turn to look at him, a vague look of distaste flitting across his tanned face before turning back to his phone, undoubtedly texting one of his many friends or female admirers. Normally he would’ve ignored such a look from his brother, but today he wasn’t in the mood for Thor’s constant bullshit. He straightened up in his seat and pulled out his earbuds, relishing the fact that his brother’s nose wrinkled at the sound of drums, guitars and screaming that suddenly filled the limo.“What the fuck was that for?” said Thor, not bothering to turn and look at his brother.
“Because you looked at me like I’m some fucking piece of trash, and I always thought that was Father’s thing, not yours, you asshole,” he replied, his fists unconsciously balling up at the thought of his father.
He had succeeded in getting his brother to look at him; Thor snapped his head up from his phone and glared venomously. “I just don’t see what your problem is, Loki, Why do you have to be such a little bitch all the time? I looked at you because you moved, I saw you moving, and I wanted to see what you were doing. That’s it, no need to throw a fucking tantrum about it.” Although his tone was even, his words were poisonous, hanging in the air. Loki bristled, but pushed down his anger, not wanting to show Thor that his words had affected him.
“Yeah, you say that, but I saw the look on your face. You wrinkled your fucking nose like I’m the one who stinks like a wet dog.”
Thor glared at his little brother, but they both knew it was true. No amount of cologne could cover up the distinctive wet-dog smell that seemingly followed Thor around. Rather than admit it, he snarled back, “Well at least I’m not a little emo bitch with daddy issues who sits in a dark room and cuts instead of being, like, a normal person.”
“I might be fucking depressed, but you’re no better. You act like a fucking pig at school with your asshole friends, but you cry yourself to sleep at night because you hate them but you’re too scared to tell them that they’re even bigger dicks than you are.” Loki spat back.
Seemingly tired of the back-and-forth banter, Thor pointedly ignored his little brother and returned his attention to his phone, opening up Snapchat before realizing that there was no more service on this winding dirt road in the middle of fucking nowhere. Disgusted, he threw his phone down on the seat and yelled, “JAMES!”
The chauffeur opened up the partition as the limo swerved again and replied, “What’s the matter, Master Thor?”
Thor huffed, his voice rising an octave with frustration as he said, “Take us back to the city! This is stupid and I hate him.”
James, a middle-aged British man with salt-and-pepper hair, shook his head in faux sadness. “No can do, Master Thor. I’ve been given my orders to drop you two off at this camp and not to return until the last day of summer.”
Thor groaned in disgust. “I don’t understand! Why does Father want me to go to some weird old camp all summer with him?”
James, ignoring bumpy road and the brothers’ glares at each other, replied, “I don’t know, sir, it’s not my place to ask. And besides, your father wanted you both to do summer school; this was all your mother’s idea.”
“Mother?” said Thor in shock. “But Mother knows I hate summer camps and I hate Lo—” He was cut off by the largest bump yet; the limo lurched dramatically, the luggage flying into the air. James hit his head on the side of the partition, and Thor rolled across the wide leather seat and crushed Loki against the window. James cursed, slamming on the brakes so hard that the squealing tires left deep ruts in the muddy gravel. For a moment, all three of them were silent, even the boys, who were probably closer to each other than they’d been in at least six months. Then James heaved out a heavy sigh.
“I should go make sure everything’s alright with the car,” he said, pushing the door open and stepping out. At the last second, he stuck his head back through the window to say, “You two behave while I’m out there. No hitting.” With that, he disappeared behind the limo.
Immediately, Thor pushed himself away from Loki, who gulped in a huge breath of air and massaged his crushed ribs through his thin black T-shirt. They sat in tense silence for a moment, before Thor said drily, “Maybe this will mean we don’t have to go to camp.”
Loki looked at him with surprising intensity, his voice sharp as he replied, “I don’t particularly want to go back home. A summer without Father sounds quite appealing to me.” Thor grudgingly agreed; although their father treated them very differently, he didn’t treat either of them well. Thor was the firstborn, the golden child, and as a result, the expectations placed upon him were ridiculously high, and he was shamed when he failed to meet them. Loki, on the other hand, was useless, expendable, a “waste of space,” and would be “better off dead” in his father’s eyes.Thor bit his lip at the unpleasant thoughts, his eyes focused on his blinding white Adidas sneakers. He waited a moment before saying, “You know, I don’t cry myself to sleep.”
“Liar,” said Loki with a smirk. “I can hear you every night. You don’t know how thin our fucking walls are. The amount of freaky porn I’ve heard you watching in there… man, get some fucking headphones if you want to watch that shit, or Father’s gonna think you’ve got a girl up there.”
Thor allowed himself a small smile. He’d forgotten how funny his brother could be when he wasn’t being a dick. Loki continued, “In fact, if I’m not mistaken, I’ve also heard you watching Mulan approximately 30 times in the past three months.”
“Hey,” said Thor defensively, “it’s a great movie! Dare I say, a work of art!”
“Yes, well, clearly it isn’t doing it’s job, or Li Shang would’ve made a man out of you by now.”
This time, Thor let himself snort with laughter, and felt almost guilty for his happiness when he heard Loki softly join in, his low chuckle almost unfamiliar to Thor after all this time without hearing it. He risked a look at his little brother, and was struck by the sadness in his face even as he laughed. Poor kid. He really wasn’t that bad, maybe Thor was a little hard on him sometimes. Maybe this summer camp would bring them closer together again, like when they were young. Maybe—
James poked his head through the window again. “Sorry to interrupt you boys.”
Loki’s chuckle died on his lips, and he quickly assumed his typical bored expression. “You weren’t interrupting anything,” he said sharply. “What’s wrong with the car?”
“Well, I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but we broke an axle. I’m going to have to get a tow truck out here,” said James dully, adding under his breath, “A tow truck for the limo… your father is gonna kill me.”
“What do we do now?” asked Loki in concern.
“Can we go back to the city now?” Thor asked, eager in spite of his previous conversation with Loki, who shot him a glare.
James chuckled drily. “No, Master Thor, you can’t go back to the city. Orders are orders, and one busted-up limo isn’t going to change that. I checked Google Maps, and the camp is less than a mile up the road; you boys can walk.”
Thor and Loki groaned in unison, but they both knew there was no fighting with James once he’d been given a direct order, so they shouldered their bags- at least two each- and pulled their suitcases out of the car. James gave Thor a fist bump and ruffled Loki’s hair, then gripped both boys firmly by the shoulders and said, looking them both in the eye, “Be good, boys. Don’t cause any trouble, and remember: this is what your mother wants for you.” He gave them both a light shake before pushing them on their way. As they rounded a curve in the road and James disappeared from view, Thor swore he could hear him yell in his thick British accent, “And don’t forget to watch out for the coven!”
Thor stopped abruptly, swinging out his arm to block Loki’s path. “Did you hear that?”
“Hear what?” asked Loki, disinterested. He already had his earbuds in again, and Thor shook his head in exasperation.
“James, you dumbass! I thought I heard him say something, like “watch out for the coven” or something weird like that.”
“Why would he say that?” said Loki flatly. “It was just in your head, Thor, don’t be weird.” Becoming tired of Thor’s worrying, he brushed past him and continued to walk. Thor hesitated, staring back around the corner, but his anxiety got the better of him and he ran to catch up with Loki.
The two of them walked in silence. Whatever connection had been made back in the car was gone; Loki was drowning out the world again, this time with some screamo, and Thor stared straight ahead, trying to ignore the tinny music seeping from his brother’s earbuds. After a while, though, Thor started to notice that Loki’s music was the only thing he could hear. The birds had stopped singing, water had stopped dripping from the leaves above, and even his feet crunching in the gravel was barely audible. It was as if the entire forest had been draped with a blanket of silence, thick and heavy, stifling the sounds of nature. Thor felt a shiver running up his spine, and cast a glance at Loki walking obliviously beside him, surprised to be battling the sudden urge to take his brother’s hand. Just as he’d managed to repress the urge, Loki stopped abruptly in his tracks, staring slightly upward. Thor tore his eyes from the ground and followed his brother’s gaze.
The road ended about twenty feet ahead of them, and only a small footpath carried on into the woods. At the entrance to the trail, two round columns of rough, weathered wood held up a worn, cracked sign with three words carved in: Camp Half Moon.