Recaptured

Chapter 1

Chapter 1: Close Call

Sam

SNAP.

The familiar rush overwhelmed me: fire and ice, hot and cold. Then, strength never experienced by a regular human. My ears buzzed. My eyes honed in way beyond my normal 20/20 vision. The air became a combination of scents.

I felt... alive. As if I'd been asleep most of my life.

I flared. My eyes were no longer brown, their natural color; they were gold, glowing with an almost evil-looking light.

Normally, I would need shades to keep others from seeing my irises, but not here. Here, in the woods at Camp Half-Blood, I could burn my flare without a care. Hey, that rhymes!

It was a good idea to exercise caution though: I'd had several run-ins with Leo and Natalie. Both of them had a reputation for following me around.

"Stay on track, Sam." I muttered. "You're out here for a reason, and it's not to rant."

Last July, my half-brother Percy and I had combined our flare powers and our ability to control water to create a hurricane. It hadn't lasted for long, and I passed out afterwards. We decided not to control water while flaring, but it got me thinking: what if I tried to control a small amount of water while flaring? Would it work?

Any ideas? I asked in my head. To most people, this would sound weird. But not to me.

You're on your own. The voice wasn't mine.

I sighed. I should've known the voice would say something like that. Well, fine.

Concentrating, I held out my hand. Water swirled into my palm, a sphere no larger than a baseball. Reluctantly, I tried to make the sphere grow.

Pain.

More pain.

Nothing but pain.

I had to rope one arm around a tree to keep from falling on my face. But I kept concentrating, never wavering.

SNUP.

My flare died, leaving me momentarily weak. As I stood up, shaking my head, I heard Leo's voice: "Sam? Are you out there?"

I called out, "I'm here."

Leo and Natalie rushed into the clearing. "We heard screaming," Natalie explained. "Both of us knew you liked to go off into the woods."

There was no point in asking how they knew. Stalkers.

"Something rushed past me," I lied. "I have no idea what it was. Scared the heck out of me."

I could tell Leo didn't believe a word I was saying. Thankfully, Natalie spoke first. "Really? Well, I hope you're okay."

I nodded. "Yeah. Either the thing wasn't after me, or it just wanted to scare me."

I'm glad you're not hurt," Natalie said, relieved.

As the three of us walked together, I thought about what had happened. You knew what would happen. I mentally accused. You could've told me.

Where's the fun in that? The voice questioned.

That reminded me of something that had bothered me for a while. What should I call you? I thought. Do you have a name?

Call me whatever you want, just don't call me late to dinner.

Was that supposed to be funny, Jeff? I asked. 'Cause it wasn't.

Jeff? The voice sounded annoyed. My name isn't Jeff!

Well, I explained, you're not revealing your name, so I'll make one up.

Jeff. He sighed. (Was that even possible?) Why Jeff?