Heart Pierced - Kayla Knowles (1)

XI. I Get Dragged By My Sister After Her Boyfriend (Or So She Denies)

(A/N: I'm using more of laurellins' "Tales From Camp Half Blood" as a basis for these chapters, though they are somewhat altered to fit the context of the story.)

November 2007
Over four months later..
Colton's POV

Kayla had to go back at the end of the summer, to her father. More fashion shows and archery tournaments, she told me. Words cannot describe how much I miss her. It was for a lack of a better word, depressing.

I still did what I did, but honestly, every monster kill that I took with the Whitworth just felt way more personal now, because I knew full well, there was a chance that she could die out there and her hero would not be around to save her.

I talked to my siblings less, except for Sherman and Clarisse - as well as Annabeth and Thalia. Thalia hadn't taken the news that Luke had turned into a different man than the one she remembered too well, and Annabeth was just different.. not happy at all for some reason that Percy was away in High School while she was here at camp without him.

I think it was for that reason that we all became close friends in the months following Thalia's resurrection. I'm not sure.

Point is, I was like a whole different person without Kayla, and practically everyone at camp knew.

Clarisse had been gone for a couple weeks in November. Chiron had sent her on some sort of mission, for what she didn't say. Chiron wasn't talking either.

I let Sherman be temporary head counselor while she was gone, because without Kayla in my life, I didn't like doing it.

Every time we met up before she went back, after that kiss on the cheek, things just felt.. like.. more personal in a good way. I still don't know why, all I do know is that is because of her.

I've now gotten into the habit of killing as many snakes in camp as I can when it's snake day for the Apollo cabin. Lee appreciates it greatly. But still, nothing could really make up for the lack of Kayla in my life. I felt miserable.

It was after those two weeks were up that Clarisse came back. Instead of reassuming cabin duties, she had grabbed me by the collar, told Sherman that he was still head counselor for a bit longer, and then dragged me out of the cabin, while I was kicking and screaming, and out of Camp Half Blood, until she got tired of me flailing like an idiot and told me to shut up.

Next thing I knew, I'm with my sister in the airport getting on an airplane heading to Phoenix, Arizona. I was so confused. What the hell is even going on here?

"Why did you have to do that?" I asked her as we waited for the plane to depart, albeit in a quiet manner.

"Why did I do what?" she asked back.

"Why did you drag me out of the cabin?" I replied.

"You have been moping around camp like a weenie for the past couple of months since Kayla left so I thought I take you to get some fresh air.." she snapped back. "Besides, you can help me with that task Chiron gave me."

"What task was that?" I asked back.

She sighed. "Something about Luke maybe looking forward a possible invasion route into camp."

I tried my hardest not to start laughing. "That's impossible. Barrier is strong. There's no way that they can get in."

"Not above ground, dummy.." she hissed back at me. "Below ground. Ever heard of the labyrinth?"

I got a feeling of dread in my throat, but I nodded. "It's here in America with us" she added. "Said to be all underneath it. Every place imaginable has an entrance. From Louisville, Kentucky to the middle of the Mojave Desert.. and possibly in Long Island, New York as well."