The Shadows Between Us

Chapter 6

I woke up groggily, blinking as I tried to take in my surroundings. I was lying on sand, and a patch under my arm felt clumpy, slightly sticky. I became aware of a throbbing ache in my head and a stinging pain in my lower arm. I swallowed, my throat dry. My head was pounding.

Sitting up unsteadily, I groaned from the dizziness that assaulted me as I did so. Quickly, I realised there was blood all over the sand around me — my blood — from a deep cut scoring the vulnerable flesh on the underside of my right arm.

Where am I?

It was nighttime. As far as I could see through the gloom, I was lying on a beach, alone. Streetlights shone in the distance, slightly illuminating the horizon over the sandy dunes, but from my angle on the ground, I couldn't see much else.

Pain shot through my head, and I gritted my teeth, trying to ignore it. I need to go home. Get UP, Ava!

Attempting to steady myself was an exercise in futility, but once I had managed to stand — admittedly with a lot of pain — I could get a better look at where I was.

Ocean Beach, I read off of a sign a few metres away. Camp isn't far.

Exhaling in relief, I began to stumble my way towards the road, hoping to find a signpost so I could find my way home. As my head began to hurt in earnest, I rubbed my eyes, hoping I didn't have a concussion from what must have been a fairly large knock on the head.

That would explain why I couldn't remember anything about how I got here, though.

My mind was fuzzy, like there was a blanket wrapped around my consciousness, muffling my thoughts with pain and hiding my most recent memories.

As I reached the road, the change from sand to asphalt made me stifle a curse at the rough surface against my bare feet, but at the same time I was glad that I wouldn't have to focus as much on keeping my balance. Looking up and down it, the street was deserted. The normal colourful houses were dull in the dim light and the rows of windows seemed to follow me like eyes as I slowly walked back towards home. It was undeniably creepy, and I shuddered and walked a bit faster.

I had a retractable spear in my pocket — currently folded up into a metal cylinder the size of my thumb for convenience. The Vulcan kids back at camp had made it for me, and when extended, it turned into a four-foot-long Imperial gold pole with a deadly blade on the end. I got it out of my pocket but didn't extend it. There were no monsters nearby yet, but on a night like this, they were never far. And sometimes they seemed as if they could smell weakness from a mile away.

I kept walking.

✧ ˚ 　· 　.　· 　˚ ✧

"Finally." I gasped, holding my wounded arm, stumbling over yet anotherhill, and spotted the maintenance service tunnel that served as the entrance to Camp Jupiter. Squinting, I spotted Hazel and Ida on sentry duty. Oh, thank the gods. Someone I like.

"Hazel!" I called weakly. She immediately spotted me, turned and said something to Ida, and hurried over.

"Ava? Oh, gods, are you alright?" Hazel gasped as she saw she gash on my arm. I nodded my head firmly, and — with the support of Hazel after another bout of dizziness hit me and I tripped — walked over to where Ida was waiting, concerned. The daughter of the moon titaness' eyes widened when she saw me, but she didn't comment, and instead stepped aside mutely as Hazel supported me through the tunnel to camp.

Once we were through, and out into the open night air again, Hazel turned to me and asked, "What happened?"

I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. I couldn't remember anything, so I had to assume I had just gone out of camp for a day. But the daughter of Pluto was looking at me like she had expected me to bring something, or... someone.

Wracking my mind for what it could be and coming up with an infuriating amount of nothing, I just shrugged at Hazel and said, "Not sure. Woke up on Ocean Beach with my arm hurt. Nothing attacked me on the walk back here, though."

Hazel opened her mouth, then closed it. "I... thought you were undercover on a scouting mission for some really powerful demigod?"

Oh, gods. What? I thought. I looked blankly at her for a few seconds, then said, "I... was?"

She stared at me, alarmed. "Yes! You've been gone from camp for months, undercover at Oakland Academy to eventually help her get to camp — who was it? Her name's... Elizabeth Garcia. Last status report you told us that you were planning on bringing her here within the next few weeks! Don't tell me you — Ava? "

My ears were ringing. Elizabeth Garcia. Elizabeth. Lizzy. Lizzy. LizzylizzylizzyLIZZYLIZZY—

I grabbed my head and cried out as the ache residing in it clarified to a sharp, burning pain. My breaths were short and quick, racing in and out of my lungs as I struggled with my memory. For some reason, her name — the name of the girl I was supposed to be protecting — made my whole body feel warm. 

But, as I clutched my head, trying to remember, the feeling slipped away and the name's familiarity vanished.The piercing pain hadn't dulled, yet I gradually became aware of Hazel shaking me, calling my name.

"Ava, are you alright? Hey, look at me." Hazel grabbed my shoulders and turned me to face her. "Breathe."

But I couldn't answer. I couldn't breathe. All I could do was struggle, silently, as she called for a healer. It was like was drifting through an ocean, snatching at the glimpses of memory like a lifeline, even as l began to sink.

"Ava!" She came running towards me, a grin on he face. Her smile —

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Breeze ruffling my dress, laughter —

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"Do you think the stars are watching us?"

"I like to think so."

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"There's this place — camp. One day,"—

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Sand beneath my feet. I made her face me. "Lizzy, you need to run. Li—"

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The sun setting, painting the sky in shades of orange and pink —

But as quickly as they floated to the top on my consciousness, the memories began to fade. I was trapped inside my own pounding head, frustration rising along with the feeling of longing in my chest, like a space that was once filled.

"Ava?" Hazel said. "You're going to be okay, Ava, hang in there—"

And I lost consciousness.