Ch.14

*not edited*

Despite my fainting episodes, I've still managed to stay under the radar for the past month. The day after it happened, no one questioned me about it, oddly enough, and Liam stopped acting worried for my sake, never asking what had even originally caused them. Even if he did and I wanted to tell him, I'm still not sure why. I'd only been at school for not even a day, so it could not have been stress, and I didn't sense any monsters or feel sleepy. I constantly am thinking back to the images and visions I saw that day: my father's murder and Kyle transforming into Jackson. I know it isn't healthy or safe to dwell on them, but I can't seem to help it. The nightmares come more frequently as well, more so then ever before. Why did I see my father's death? I was not actually there for the event. But that does not bother me half as much as the nightmares about Jackson. Sure, he's an ass for flirting with other girls while we were together, but that doesn't make him evil, which seems to be the image my nightmares come up with for him. Maybe the shock is still there, even with all the time passed. The Jackson I knew, the one I crushed on, and even the one I started to date, was always kind and would never had even considered doing something like that. Plus, telling all the boys to stay away even before he learned about his father? Liam might know something, being that he was approached by Jackson. Either way, I can't seem to focus on anything, but thankfully my grades aren't showing it.

After one of the longest speeches about the importance of the refrigerator in the 1950s, the bell finally rings, signaling the students to go to lunch, and the hall is quickly filled with hundreds of talking, running, and hungry teenagers. Teachers yell out commands like "in an orderly fashion!" and "quietly please!" but the screams and pounding steps of the students overpowers their voices and the noises only get louder. Liam shrugs and smiles behind me, we have the same history class, and pushes me through the crowd. Suddenly Erica, his girlfriend, comes bounding up next to me out of nowhere.

Yeah, after the dance, which was fun, Liam officially asked me out. Although I was attracted to him, I had enough of relationships for this year and kindly told him that I had just been through a tough relationship, etc, etc. We are just friends naturally and I ended up introducing him to Erica, a girl in my P.E. class who readily admitted to liking Liam after learning we were in fact not going out. She was a tall, pale, brown-eyed sweetheart who was so shy, she needed my help with saying her name...to me. In the end, though, she warmed up and they ended up getting together. Along with Sadie, Liam, and Erica, my friend group has gotten bigger since I've returned. Sadie's new friends turned into mine, as well as Liam's and Erica's. In the end though, Sadie is still like my sister and I'm closest to Adam and Erica. Life is all around amazing, with no monsters, no training, and partying and hanging out with my friends like a normal girl. Still, I can't shake the feeling that something is going to happen.

I smile at Erica, who we soon learned is actually someone full of energy and life, once you get to know her really well of course. "Hey, Erica. How was AP art?"

She grins wildly, a little hop in her step and we enter the cafeteria. "Great! I got nominated to be one of three in the class to get their art work the chance to be in the Regionals. If I win, I would go to Nationals and then meet the president!" A squeal escapes and she blushes as a portion of the crowd looks at her with questioning stares. Sadie also comes out of the crowd, but her expression is sad. Understandable, since she just got an essay back. The girl can surprise you by being a math genius and a fashionista and a wiz in Astronomy, but gods help her when it comes to essays. It is her honest to gods one weakness and I hope that Athena will bless her one of these days and give her a good grade. "Hey," she says sadly.

"Mrs. Grande? Essay?" I know the answer, but I can tell she wants to be asked.

With one quick nod, she runs into my arms like a child and I laugh as she nuzzles her nose into my shoulder. "Sadie, my how one essay grade has changed you from 16 years to 6."

Sadie looks up and glares at me, but her expression quickly changed when she notices the odd looks she is getting. She slowly backs away from me and smiles, tears falling from her sad eyes. "Sorry! I also got dumped today, so I really needed a hug."

I blink and shake my head, trying to soak in the shock. "Dumped? You were dating someone?!"

"Yes, I'm sorry for not telling you. He's in collage and I thought you wouldn't approve. I knew you dated an older guy, but being you...you didn't know how much older he was. Anyway...he told me today that he was only using me to get another girl in his university." She bursts into a sob and I tell the others to go ahead. I take Sadie by the shoulder and into the bathroom. The door creaks as I open it. Our footsteps echo in the empty room, each chipped paint stall open. The tiles beneath our feet are covered in puddles of sink water and soap. Two small windows sit half opened above our heads and the light from them create a diamond from the tears on her face.

"What really happened Sadie? What's really wrong," I ask, knowing full well that she would never date anyone more than two years older than her. She may act all cool and hip, but her parents are as old fashioned as an average grandparent. But I also know that someone close to her has hurt her. She'd never cry in school unless it was something really tragic.

"Nothing. I was telling you the truth. I just..thought he loved me, that's all.  Have you ever loved someone, like he's the one kinda love, and it turns out they never even cared about you? That essay grade was simply the last straw ya know?" She continues to cry and my heart can't help but reach out to her, despite her lying to me for this long. I thought, and to be honest still do, that Kyle was the one. I can understand some of her pain, but she did nothing wrong. I broke it off without giving him a reason or even officially doing it. I've been ignoring my problems and running away from them instead of facing them. My father would be so disappointed. I'm so deep in thought, again, that I don't notice a buzzing and vibration comes from the back pocket of my jeans, needed for the cool October air, and I grab it. I look at the glowing screen and watch as a notification pops up. AUNT HAZEL: MISSED (1). I tap on her name and call her back.

"Hello...yes I know about...no I'm fine...what? But I just got here. It's only been a month."

Sadie tilts her head in confusion. I shrug and then my eyes widen. "What happened Aunt Hazel?"

"Some previous Half Camp Blood kids were found dead in their homes this morning. We don't know who or what was behind it, but now Frank is telling me Ares just told him 'oops. Um, well, haha, it looks like I was wrong about it being safer outside of camp. Keep her undercover for a bit more, I have to go ask Father a few questions'. So you have to be more careful about your identity and don't trust anyone. Gah, here's Frank now, I have to go. Be good, love you." She hangs up and I am left standing in the empty bathroom, shocked silent. 

"Hey," Sadie sniffles, "everything alright?" I blankly stare out at the tiles and puddles, watching as an ant struggles to swim through.  What if it was Adam that was killed? What if they are hunting me and killed these people just to make a point? That yes, they can find us and can kill us. That we are not as safe as we thought we were. My heartbeat picks up and grows faster and faster. I look all over the bathroom, trying to find signs of someone bugging the room or video tapping me. 

"Previous Camp Half-Blood people were killed...some kids. I think I'm being hunted down. I have to lay low." Sadie receives the words I am saying, but I am not sure who they are for. Me, maybe? To confirm what I've just heard? It's not unheard of, for people to be killed when they leave. But a large amount at around the same time? I don't have all the details, but I'm pretty sure one person is behind these murders and is probably someone from the camp. That is the only place they could have obtained the children's information of those who were not year rounders. Camp Half-Blood kept basic information like home address and school, so that the satyrs could go get them when necessary. Unfortunately, despite everything that had happened with Luke, the security guarding such valuable information has not gotten much better. It would have been easy to go in and get the information...but only if you were working there or if you were a camper. Otherwise, it would have been near impossible.  

Sadie smiled. Odd, for that to have brought up her mood. "Well, we both have our issues don't we? Don't worry! I'll keep you safe," she promises with a smile. The sun from the window above her made her glow and it reminded me of those movies scenes where the person seems happier and makes everything more hopeful simply with just one smile. "Let's head back to lunch. My mom packed me extra chicken-less nuggets." 

I smirk and glance at her. "And a bagel?" 

She laughs as we leave the bathroom, our sad lives nothing but a memory. "Yes, and a bagel." 

______________________________________________________________

I have to break things off officially. That's what I told myself as I stormed into my house, grabbed my laptop, and plopped myself on the bed. Now, as the Skype call symbol glows on my screen, I am thinking No, I don't want to do this, I don't want to see his reaction. I can't hurt him. But I know in the end it is the right thing to do. I just hope he picks up and is alone. 

He did...but he wasn't alone. A large group of my former friends with terrified expressions on their faces crowded the screen, Kyle sitting in the middle of all the commotion. 

Voices scream at me, all worried and anxious. 

 "Oh my God, Kyrssa," a small, young male voice says. Relief pours into me; Adam is alright. He wasn't one of the children killed. I could tell from the tone of his voice and the look on his face that he missed me a lot.

"You scared the shit out of all of us," yell Cathleen and Carmine, tears streaming down their faces. My gods, today has been full of a lot of drama and tears.  

"We thought you died or moved or something drastic happened," Angela tells me calmly. Leave it up to her to be the voice of peace and reason. Kyle says nothing, which scares me most of all. 

"Hey, sorry guys for not calling or answering. It's just been hectic on my end, that's all. I've had to lay low this whole time. Look guys, I've missed you all but..." I bite my lip, afraid of what's coming. 

"You want to talk to Kyle right," asks Carmine, a giggle following. "Yeah, totally. We'll talk to you later." They all walk away, Adam's complaints and refusals fading away.  

Kyle looks at me blankly, and a pang of pain hits my chest. "Look...Kyle..."

"A month, Kyrssa. A month with no word from you or Chiron or anybody." One small tear slowly falls down. " I-I thought you died," his voice cracks with emotion. " You leaving was bad enough. And then to suddenly stop talking to us?  Then, to top it off, kids from the camp got killed on the outside near where you live." I see now that Kyle isn't being quiet or giving me blank stares out of anger or hurt. He is simply broken. I suddenly feel unsure about breaking up with him. I don't want to break him anymore than he already is.  But I have to if I am ever going to have a clear conscience and fully separate myself from this life, I have to. 

Inhale and exhale and...say it! "Kyle, it's over," I say, the words tumbling out of my mouth and renewing my confidence. Behind these words are my goodbyes, not just to him but to everyone I cared about there. It is my goodbye to my godly side, to the world that killed my father. I don't want people's deaths on my shoulders and this won't make the problem go away completely, but a part of it will be gone. 

Nothing. He says nothing at all. He just blinks, nods once, and then finally whispers "goodbye". The screen goes from his emotionless, heartbreaking face back to my homepage, where my background is a picture of my father and mother, my mother holding me as a baby and the both of them smiling on our private beach. I close the laptop, but then quickly reopen it to check my school's website to see what the homework is. 

I sigh as grab my notebook and open my math textbook, beginning my fully normal life as a teenager in high school who is doing her homework in her bed. Normal. Nothing but normal. Rain begins to pour outside and my Aunt Hazel comes home, her faint voice complaining about being wet from downstairs. My Uncle Frank laughs and turns on the television, screams of actresses echoing the halls along with comments from Aunt Hazel about the scene. The smell of dinner, meatloaf and mashed potatoes, fills the house and the loud cluttering of dishes as someone begins to cook. 

I close my eyes and soak in the feeling of a normal night, the feeling of what ilife is supposed to be like for average families. I reopen my eyes and then read the first problem. "Solve the following problem: cos x + 1= sin x in interval [0,2 pi] ...." 

Hey sorry this took me forever and that i said id take it down...i just noticed a HUGE drop in reads so i kinda wasn't sure about the way my story was going. oh and sorry it's so short!

to my twin BelleSnowflake: haha you get the food jokes i made in there ;D 

and you guys are amazing to get me up to almost 2.1K! i kinda have a lot of plans for this book and there'll be a ton of twists so i hope u stick around.