The next morning, after everyone had gathered at the pond for attendance, Hank led the group through the woods over to the Fern’s farm that bordered the edge of the neighborhood. Aside from the pumpkin patch, Jesse had only ever visited the farm on Halloween for the corn maze, so he took this as an opportunity to see a new part of Gravewood.

  The farm itself looked like something ripped straight out of a story book, its picturesque fields of colorful fruit and veggies situated around a cozy-looking house where the family of plant monsters resided. There was a barn painted a vibrant shade of red alongside a nice open area for animals to roam freely. It looked like pumpkins weren’t the only out of season crops that the Fern’s grew year-round, because on closer inspection, Jesse noticed grapes and rhubarbs growing amongst the strawberries and celery. But despite being out of season, the plants looked like they were thriving, turning the fields into a collage of colorful crops with deep green leaves and shiny skins, all just waiting to be harvested.

  In front of the house, Hank explained what the campers were going to do that day. They would split up; older kids going with Hank and Tyra to the orchard for an apple picking excursion while the little kids followed Evelyn and Ricky to the barn where they would teach them all about the various farm animals. Both activities kept the campers out of direct exposure to the sun, which Jesse was grateful for. He might not have been a real vampire, but it was still hot out in the middle of summer.

  They were each given a wooden bucket with their names written on them and free reign of the orchard to gather as many apples as they could, with the promise of a special prize for whoever brought back the most.

  So of course, when Jesse’s friends heard that, they turned it into a competition between themselves.

  “That’s not fair, your giant arms can reach way farther than mine,” Siobhan complained to Noah when they were about half an hour in.

  “You could try asking nicely, maybe I’ll grab one or two for you if I’m feeling generous.”

  “Could you pretty please hand over all your apples before I use my magic to turn you into a toad?” she said in a threateningly sweet tone.

  He scowled. “Now who’s not fair?”

  “And while you two are busy flirting, I’ll be taking all the apples in the orchard!” Alicia said as she swung down from a nearby tree with graceful ease. She was somehow already way ahead of the rest of them, with her bucket halfway full.

  “Tch, look at that. We need to put aside our differences and combine our powers against her.” Siobhan turned back to Jesse. “How are you doing over there?”

  “Uh, pretty good.” He quickly withdrew his hand from her bucket, trying to act as nonchalant as possible. Fortunately, she didn’t seem to notice.

  Unfortunately, someone else did.

  “He’s been stealing your apples when you’re not looking,” Kyle Harwood informed her, appearing from seemingly nowhere.

  She gasped dramatically and clutched her hand over her heart. “The betrayal!”

  “Snitch,” Jesse muttered.

  “Aren’t you guys supposed to be setting a good example for us?” he asked skeptically as his sister, Samantha, joined him.

  “Who told you that?”

  “Tyra.”

  “Yeah, Jesse,” Siobhan said. “Set a good example for the children.”

  “Alright, fine.” He returned all of the apples he had taken from her bucket, which wasn’t that many if he was being honest. He had only started taking them just to see if she would notice. Which she didn’t, he might point out.

  “How have you two been doing?” Alicia asked.

  “Not great,” Samantha admitted. “It’s a lot harder than I thought.”

  Kyle nodded in agreement. “Some of these apples are stuck tight on their branches. I can’t pull them off no matter what.”

  Noah smirked. “Want me to show you a secret?”

  Curiosity piqued, both of the werewolves’ attention was fixed solely on him as he reached towards the nearest apple.

  “Lift it up and then twist.” As he twisted the stem, the apple released from the branch with no resistance. He handed the shiny red fruit to Kyle, who looked at it reverently.

  “Woah, let me try!” Samantha immediately reached for another apple on the tree, only for Noah to stop her.

  “Not that one. You can tell by its color it’s not ripe yet.” He gently guided her hand to an apple that was farther along the branch. “When they’re not ripe, they’re harder to pick.”

  “Ohhhhh, that explains it. I might have been picking a bunch of unripe ones.”

  “What about me?” Kyle asked. “Are my apples okay?”

  He held up his bucket for Noah to look through, and he took his time examining each fruit.

  “Yeah, looks like you did a good job.” Noah tousled his hair and he flushed with a mixture of pride and embarrassment.

  “Aw, those are some nice words of praise from big bro Noah,” Alicia teased. “Why don’t you two stick with us and he can keep giving you some expert tips.”

  Noah rolled his eyes, but didn’t object when the werewolves joined them for the remainder of their apple picking. Time flew by with all six of them making their way through the orchard and by the end, all of their buckets were full to the brim with fresh fruit.

  Samantha let her bucket drop to the grass with a soft thump. “Oof, might have picked too many.”

  “Do you need a hand there?” Noah asked.

  “No, no, I got it, I-” she attempted to once more pick it up, only to drop it again. “I don’t got it.”

  He grabbed her bucket by the handle and lifted it effortlessly, which was impressive considering he was already carrying his own.

  “Cool...” Samantha marveled at his strength.

  Siobhan batted her eyes at him. “Oh great and strong Mr. Noah, do you think you could carry mine as well?”

  You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

  “Now you’re just being lazy,” he said, but still let her balance her bucket on top of his own in his arms. He glanced over and caught Jesse staring at him. “Do you want me to carry yours, too?”

  “No, I just-” he hesitated. “I mean- can you?”

  “Yeah, this is nothing.” Noah repositioned all the buckets so that he was carrying everything in his arms. Now it was Jesse’s turn to marvel. While not particularly athletic, he wouldn’t consider himself weak by any means, but Noah was on another level entirely.

  “Got room for one more?” Alicia asked.

  He shrugged. “Why not? How about you, Kyle?”

  Kyle flushed. “Uh, no thanks, I can carry mine.”

  “How did you get so strong?” Samantha asked him.

  “Natural talent. Plus, I eat my veggies.”

  As they walked back to the farm, Jesse felt like he was seeing his friend in a whole new light. Noah had always been scary intimidating to him, even after getting to know him better over the past few months, but right now, he felt like a different person. He looked totally relaxed and at ease, like he was in his element.

  Waiting for them at the entrance to the orchard was Hank and the other counselors, along with the younger kids who went to the barn. They were also joined by one of the Ferns, who Jesse thought could be Audrey based on the fact that AJ was hovering close by them.

  Kaitlyn was there too, standing next to a bucket that had a whopping total of four apples in it. Hank hadn’t necessarily given them a time limit, just a time to be back by, and it looked like she did the bare minimum of the activity then turned right back around to end early.

  Evelyn grinned when she saw all the apples that Noah was carrying. “Wow, looks like you guys were successful.”

  “Here, let me help you there, son.” Hank moved to take some of the buckets from him and let out a soft whistle when he felt the weight of them. “Did you carry all of these back here yourself? That’s impressive, kid.”

  “Oh, uh, thanks.” Jesse couldn’t tell because of the ghoul makeup he was wearing, but it looked like Noah blushed at the compliment.

  “It’s a good thing we made you label your buckets,” Tyra remarked. “Otherwise, they’d get all mixed up. Give us a couple of minutes while we tally up the apples.”

  While they did that, Jesse’s gaze wandered over to the contraption they had set up on the grass. It looked like a wooden barrel sitting in a frame, with a rectangular funnel at the top and a large spout out the side. From its presence, he guessed their prize had something to do with it.

  After a minute, Hank announced, “It looks like our winner for today is Alicia!”

  That wasn’t surprising. Despite Noah’s apparent expertise, he got sidetracked along the way helping the Harwoods, letting her take the lead in their little competition.

  “And for your special prize,” he continued. “You get the first taste of the apple cider we’re about to make.”

  “Oooooh.” Alica clasped her hands together. She looked genuinely excited, but Jesse noticed Kaitlyn rolling her eyes in the background, unimpressed at the prize.

  “Before we get started, do any of you know what this here machine is called?”

  “It’s an apple press,” Noah answered.

  Hank nodded. “That’s right. And our friend here, Audrey Fern, is going to demonstrate for us how to use it.” He started tipping the apple buckets into the press, letting them fall with a clunk, clunk, clunk.

  Siobhan raised her hand. “Hold on, don’t we need to clean them first?”

  “Maybe for any other farm, but the Ferns use their special connection with nature to keep all the plants they grow here clean and safe. No need for fertilizers or pesticides or anything of the sort.”

  When they got all the apples they wanted into the press, Audrey took up position behind it while Hank narrated their actions.

  “Once the apples are ready, we turn this handle to lower the press. It’s important not to fill the barrel up too much, or else it’ll be harder to press.”

  As they twisted the handle on top, orange liquid started flowing out of the spout and into a clean metal bucket underneath.

  “The press squeezes the juice out of the fruit, leaving behind the mashed-up pulp.”

  “The stems, the leaves, all of the yucky stuff stays up here,” Evelyn chimed in, pointing to the top. “While the good stuff, the cider, seeps through the cracks at the bottom.”

  Once all of the apples they had gathered were turned into cider, Hank used a ladle to scoop some out of the bucket and into a cup, handing it to Alicia.

  “And don’t worry,” he assured her. “It’s completely safe to drink.”

  She downed the cup without hesitation, beaming. “It’s so good!”

  Hank chuckled. “That’s freshly made cider for ya. Come on kids, help yourselves.”

  As everyone lined up to get their cider, sprawling out on the grass to enjoy their drinks, Hank let them know that that was the end of the day’s activities and once they had finished their cider they were free to head home.

  Jesse and Noah managed to get their cider before Siobhan did, and Alicia was preoccupied helping Ashton get his, so they grabbed their spots in a shaded area and waited for the girls to join them.

  An awkward silence fell over them and Jesse became distinctly aware of just how little the two of them hung out by themselves. They were always joined by both Siobhan and Alicia.

  “So...” Jesse started. “You seem to know a lot about this farm stuff.”

  Noah didn’t say anything immediately, and Jesse fully expected him to shut the conversation down, just like the other times he’s gotten too close to asking about his past, but then he let out a heavy sigh.

  “Yeah, I... well, you know I’m in the foster system. Before I landed with the parents I have now, I bounced around homes a lot. My favorite was this farm up north. It was kinda like this one. I was there for a few years ‘til I was forced out.”

  “Oh,” was all Jesse could think to say in response to that. “Well, maybe the Ferns would let you hang out here sometimes?”

  “Maybe.” He took a drink from his cider as he seemed to seriously consider the suggestion.

  Jesse bit his lip, weighing how much he was willing to press his luck in asking why Noah was forced out of the farm, until he heard soft footsteps in the grass. He expected to see the girls and Ashton, but was surprised to find Ricky hesitantly approaching them.

  Noah hefted himself up, taking the opportunity to avoid any further questions. “I’m gonna go see if there’s any more cider left.”

  Ricky nodded at him as he walked past, before crouching down next to Jesse.

  “Hey, just came to check in. Are you doing alright?”

  “I’m fine. Why?”

  “Uh, no reason,” he said, a little too quickly. “It’s just hot out today, so I thought maybe you might need some more sunscreen, or a mouse to drink, or-”

  Jesse raised an eyebrow. “Do you have a mouse on you right now?”

  “No, but I can go catch you one real quick.” He started to get up, but Jesse held out a hand to stop him.

  “No, I’m fine. Are you okay? You’re acting kind of weird.”

  “Sorry.” They fidgeted before taking a deep breath and continuing, “The truth is, when Damien found out that you were doing the day camp this year, he asked me to keep an eye on you. Watch out for you and stuff.”

  He blinked. Damien really did that? He knew that the vampire was trying to be friendly with him, but it looked like what Trace had told him was right and he really did want to take him under his wing. He wasn’t sure how to feel about that. It was both flattering and unnerving to have a monster like Damien watch over him.

  “You don’t have to do that,” Jesse told them. “I’m sure Damien didn’t mean for you to hover over me the whole week. You have better things to do.”

  Ricky shook their head. “No, trust me, this is actually the compromise. At first, he wanted to sign up to be a counselor himself, but Trace and I managed to talk him down.”

  “Thanks.” He’d have to remember to thank Trace later as well.

  “I know he may seem overprotective, and he is, but...” he hesitated. “We all just remember how hard it was after we turned. So seriously, if you ever need anything, even after the camp, you can come to us.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Jesse said, but he couldn’t bring himself to look Ricky in the eye as they got up to return to the other counselors.

  He had been thinking about it ever since the illusion at the last house on River Street, but he was going to have to start putting some distance between himself and the vampires. He was always the one warning his friends about being careful around monsters to not reveal their identities as humans, but the more time he spent with Damien and the others, the closer they could get to the truth.

  And he didn’t like lying to them. He genuinely liked spending time with them, with Damien at his mom’s clinic, and now with Ricky at the camp. The vampires were all so eager to help him, to teach him about being one of them, that he couldn’t help but feel guilty. At best he was a waste of their time, as all their advice was useless on him, and at worst he was deceiving them. Who knew how they would react when they found out.

  Jesse resolved to try to limit his interactions with the vampires, no matter how much it pained him to do so.