The Experiment

Chapter 9

My first month at camp passed very fast. I spent the days training. It turned out that I was pretty good at sword fighting. And archery. And gardening. I was good at everything. It was great.

I felt like I belonged. Some of the campers were even jealous of me. Jealous of me! No one was ever jealous of me before then.

    But I didn't do it alone. Kacey and Cole were always there with me and for me. We all grew closer closer. They were my best friends.

     I woke up a while into camp and got ready, like always. It started out as a normal day. I went to breakfast, like always and sat alone. Kacey, Cole, and I weren't allowed to sit together, since we weren't from the same cabin.

   They still hadn't been claimed, so they sat together with the Hermes cabin. River was gone on another mission.

    Anyways, it was after breakfast when it started getting crazy. I was walking back from the bathrooms, when a Hispanic son of Dionysus named Alejandro grabbed me. I screamed and ripped myself out of his arms.

I ran, but he was too fast for me. He tackled me from behind. I hit the ground hard and smacked my face.

"Help!" I screamed, just before he wrapped a meaty hand around my mouth. I bit his hand, but it did no good, because he just grimaced and squeezed my face tight.

"You must pick a side. Come to our side, and you will be rewarded. Join Zeus's side, and you will die along with everyone else. Hades will be king!" The demigod whispered triumphantly into my ear.

"Hmm?" I sputtered, his hand on my mouth restricting me from talking. He moved his other hand to my neck, blocking my airways, making me struggle to breath. That, along with his massive body weight crushing my torso, was suffocating me.

My face heated up from lack of oxygen. I felt myself slowly losing consciousness. "Hades, Hades, Hades," Alejandro chanted.

As I dipped out of awareness, he left me, but it was too late. Right before I lost consciousness, I heard Kacey's voice. "Electra!" She screamed. Then I lost the world.

I woke up in a bed. I sat straight up and gulped in a painful breath of air, my lungs burning from being squeezed so much. My hands flew to my neck and chest. I could feel my heart beat hard, trying to bring my overworked system back to normal.

I took in my surroundings, still struggling to breathe. I was back in the infirmary, in one of the generic beds. I looked out a window, it was pitch black out, must have been the middle of the night. In the chair next to me, was Cole. I felt much more comfortable, with him next to me, though I didn't know why.

My noises awoke the, once sleeping, boy. He placed his hand over mine, protectively. "Electra? Thank the gods you're alright. I was so worried," Cole whispered, already whisked into a wide awake state.

He swiftly hugged me, pressing my body into his. I took the sudden warmth as a comfort and buried my face in the nape of his neck. I felt secure and untouchable, right there, wrapped up in his muscular arms.

"Hey Cole. What happened?" I asked. He pulled back enough to see my face. I looked into his beautiful eyes.

"Kacey found you on the ground. She ran and got me. She was screaming and crying. I ran as fast as possible to get to you. You were just sprawled out on the ground, clawing at your neck, unconscious. I picked you up, and you were so cold. I thought you were dead. Bruises were already forming along your neck. You were so pale. It was horrifying. I don't ever want to lose you. Electra, who did this to you? Can you remember?" He grabbed my hands in his.

I gulped, trying to think through the overwhelming feeling of my hands clutched in his. "Alejandro, son of Dionysus," I then told him everything that had happened.

Cole's jaw tightened in anger. He clenched my hand tight and took ragged breaths. "I'm so sorry he hurt you. It won't ever happen again. I'll be right back."

"Where are you going?" I asked, grabbing his wrist to attempt to stop him from leaving. He gently shook me off.

"To tell Chiron, then beat this guy up," he grumbled, failing to control his undeniable anger.

I released Cole, not wanting to stand in his way. The look in his eyes was enough to know that it was not time to argue or try to stop him.

"Don't get hurt. Be careful and thank you!" I called after him. He shot me a forced smile over his shoulder, then ran out, intent on his mission.

I fell back asleep soon after that. I woke up at dawn, to someone stroking my hair. I opened my eyes and rolled over to face that person. Cole sat on the edge of my bed, me pressed against his thigh. I had probably done that subconsciously in my sleep, craving his touch. Kacey sat on the chair Cole had earlier occupied. Her bright blue eyes lit up when she saw me awake. She sent me her cute eight year old smile.

"Morning, sleeping beauty. Did you know that you look adorable in your sleep?" Cole said sweetly. I tried to control the blush seeping into my cheeks.

"Oh thanks, but the countless guys I've slept with have informed me of this fact," I smirked, totally kidding.

"You better be kidding. If not, then I will kill each and everyone of those guys," Cole said.

"I'm totally kidding. I'm still a V."

"A V? What do you mean a V?"

"You know, a V. I don't want to say it near Kacey."

"You mean a virgin? I know what that means, I'm eight years old. It means you haven't had sex yet," Kacey bumped in.

Cole smirked victoriously. "See? She knows her stuff. Anyways, I talked to Chiron. They weren't sure what to about Alejandro, so they just evicted him from camp. After I beat him up, of course. I couldn't let him leave unharmed. He'll be damned if he so much as lays a finger on you again."

"Thanks, Cole," I whispered. With a sudden blip of confidence, I planted a quick kiss on his cheek. His eyes widened, and his cheeks blushed a light, attractive, pink color. He cleared his throat, and his Adam's apple bobbed a smidgen. It was adorable.

"You know, I wonder why Alejandro used his hands to hurt you, when there are so many cool weapons around here," Kacey observed.

"Is that all I get? For everything I did for you, all I get is cheek? I fricking carried you up a hill!" Cole whispered.

I smiled shyly. Cole's eyes flickered to my lips for a split second. Then he started leaning forward. I leaned forward too. We were so close, so so close, but Kacey had to interrupt us.

"I'm still here, you know. Is this the first time this has happened or did I miss something?" She questioned.

Cole sucked in a breath and sat up again. "Well, I should go. I'll see you later," Cole muttered awkwardly, before fleeing the scene.

I flopped back down on to my pillow. "So close, Kacey, so so so so close," I whispered. She muttered an apology.