LABYRINTH, j.grace (2)

ONE

There is a familiarity in bleeding, in the warmth of the crimson red that rushes down her face. Familiarity in the metallic taste of copper that creeps past the defenses of her tightly shut mouth. On instinct the Maddox girl licks her lips, cringing at the taste that invades her tongue as she quickly clamps a hand over her nose.

It does little to help - the murky crimson stains her hand as it drips through her fingers and down the palm she's holding up to try and stop the flow. A few traitorous drops dare to splash against the collar of her T-shirt, clashing horrifically against the bright orange of the Camp Half-Blood fabric.

"It's okay," Klein is already assuring the young girl before she can even utter the words "I'm sorry.", shaking her head despite the sound of the crack! of the shattering bone still echoing in her ears.

The blood continued to drip.

"Kayla!" It's Austin who yells, an incredulous look on his face. "You broke her nose!"

The red distress of Kayla's face was of stark contrast to the green of her hair, and it was far brighter than the crimson leaking from Klein's face. "I didn't mean to!"

"I didn't say it was on purpose!"

"Then why are you yelling at me?"

"Because you just swung your bow like a freaking baseball bat and broke her nose!"

"It was an accident!" Kayla shrieked.

Austin glared, "You were an acc-"

"Both of you stop yelling." Klein's voice was nasally as she pinched her nose, almost making her difficult to take seriously if it weren't for the forever annoyed look in her eyes. "I'm fine, really. It barely even hurt.
And Austin, we were all accidents. It's part of our charm."

If he looked incredulous before, Austin Lake certainly looked as though he'd physically been electrocuted now. "That is not-"

Klein had stopped listening once Austin and Kayla began to bicker once more (gods, just once she thought she deserved some peace). She held her other hand up to her nose as well, and soon the familiar tingling feeling she experienced when healing someone began to dance down her fingers.

The Maddox girl had been doing better at actually healing herself rather than just letting her injuries fester, letting them get worse. It was not something she had really been aware of before, how much she was disregarding herself. For so long something would happen and Klein would wait and wait and wait until Will Solace all but jumped her in order to heal her.

It was beginning to be different now. Something would happen - a slip, a break, a cut, a burn - and instead of just letting it simmer, all the girl could think about was her conversation at Midas's mansion with the camp's newest resident golden boy.

"Why haven't you healed yourself?"

"That's not really how it works."

"Have you tried?"

She hadn't given him an answer then, but Jason hadn't needed to hear it to know what it was - no. Klein had not tried, because after Kieran died there seemed to be no point in anything at all.

She was doing better - trying to do better.

Klein was even improving at healing, too. Being good just didn't erase the blood that dried against her skin or the collar of her shirt, the sight of which almost had Jason Grace breaking his neck from a double take when the girl came walking through the mess of cabins.

"Oh my - Klein! What happened?" He was in her face, eyes bright with confusion because he had just seen her maybe two hours ago and she was fully intact.