2. Josephine

After Berry had been checked in by the extremely over-friendly "Tamela—call me Tammy", she was told that she was allowed to "explore the campus". Although Berry found this idea immensely unappealing, she found that she had literally nothing else to do.

It was time to meet her temporary prison.

She dropped off her luggage where she was told, and, after discovering that the nametag she had been given read “Barry”, threw it in the nearest trashcan. Tammy had said everyone had to wear one, but considering they hadn’t spelled her name right, Berry didn’t really care. Usually, Berry tried to follow rules, but she was feeling rather reckless here, possibly because she felt more like a caged animal than a free-willed human being.

Her exploration of the Reserves yielded interesting results. First, Highwater Reserves was, indeed, as large as people said it was. The townsfolk talked about how the land stretched on, seemingly forever, so that no one could ever escape. In every direction there were trees, trees, and more pine trees. There were a couple of cabins, and then, of course, Inversion Lake.

The “Welcome Cabin”, conveniently labeled, had been where Berry’s mom had dropped her off, and then the gravel road stretched on for a while until it connected to the highway. No one was going that way unless they were planning on hitchhiking a ride out of here. It would seem like a more appealing idea if any cars ever drove on the highway around here.

In the opposite direction: forest. Berry found the other cabins nearby to be, after a quick inspection, locked. She peered in the windows to find bunks and trunks: real summer camp material. But, they were all empty.

Were there even other people here?

Past these cabins was when things got interesting. First, Berry found a pinata, hanging abandoned in a tree. It was unbroken, and swung limply in the breeze.

Berry made a face at the llama, or horse, or donkey (she really couldn’t tell what animal it was) and continued on.

She found a path, one not made on purpose, but more of a wearing-in of the ground. Following it, she found a series of coolers, all of which were heavily stocked with orange soda, and nothing else.

At the end of the path was a pier, and Berry stopped and looked out over the lake. If she wasn’t so upset that she was here, she would’ve really appreciated the view. The early-evening sun was casting orange light over the lake, and the water sparkled.

Then, she spotted the first sign of life (not including Tammy) that she’d seen at Highwater. And, man, what a sight.

Barry hadn’t known what kinds of people to expect at Highwater. Of course, anyone who looked weird or different, like her, ended up there. But people who acted weird and different came here too. People with mental issues, social issues, various physical deformities and abnormalities… so, in short, she expected a circus.

She found the circus.

Across the water she could see the lakeside, the beachier portion. This was, apparently, the hang out spot. At first glance it would seem like it was just a group of seven normal teens, enjoying a day at the beach.

But, squinting at them, Berry began to see things that weren’t quite right.

There were kids like she expected: one in a wheelchair, one squawking at a couple of birds, and one sitting away from the others, twitching every once and a while.

But others were weirder. One kid was building a sandcastle—like a full on, six-foot castle. Berry hoped she was just miss-seeing what was going on, but it seemed like the kid was able to pack the sand without touching it.

Another kid, this one in the water, was going under, and not coming back up for way too many minutes at a time. Berry hoped they were just an excellent swimmer, but their skin shimmered strangely.

“Josephine?”

Berry nearly jumped out of her skin (and into the lake) when she heard the voice behind her.

She whirled around. The girl behind her was, and there was no easy way to put this, a triops. As in three eyes.

The rest of her was fairly normal; fair-skinned, blonde hair knotted on her head, long lashes, and a thin pink sweater that must be keeping her far too warm in this weather. She was, however, notably short and holding an orange soda.

All three of the eyes blinked at Berry. “Josephine,” the girl repeated, but in a more dejected way. She scrunched her nose at Berry and turned around.

“I’m actually Berry,” Berry said lamely to the girl’s back. It didn’t matter, the girl didn’t look back, just muttered “Josephine” again.

Berry looked back at the kids on the beach, then up at the setting sun. “Please get me out of here,” was her silent prayer to the heavens.