The Unclaimed

Chapter 12: Caught in a net, in his boxers, with a poem

Just a quick heads up, this chapter is in a different point of view than normal. I wanted to do a little something different for this chapter. I hope you enjoy.
   As Jessica and the other hunters ran West, they left a chaotic and confused scene at camp behind them. Ever since Jessica had ran out of the infirmary the night before, search parties had been looking for her. Very few demigods took it seriously though, after all they all felt that she was weird and an outsider compared to all of them. Even fewer demigods were willing to go into the forest to look for her, especially since it was dark out. Chiron tried to find her, Nico did everything he could to help (but this was especially hard for him since he was so distraught), and even Dionysus helped out but no one could find her.
   As the sun started to rise, the attitude of the campers began to crash. The search parties had switched out hours ago, but even with taking shifts few campers got much sleep that night. While Chiron and most of the demigods were out searching for Jessica, Will stayed at the infirmary with Michael. While Michael wasn't sure who the girl that had run out was or how he knew her, he was worried for her. Even though he had been visited by all of his siblings who he could remember, something felt wrong. Will  could tell that Michael was confused and felt lost but all he could do was reassure him that everything would be ok. He hated seeing Michael be in such pain but there was nothing he could do without making it worse. All he could was plaster a fake smile on his face and try to comfort the young boy; on the inside he was panicked and worried about Jessica.
   Chiron thought he knew the feeling of guilt, the sensation of concern, and the concept of misery but nothing compared to how he felt now. The centaur was very fond of Jessica, even though he knew that he had not been the best at showing her. He sensed much power in her and much resentment as well. The combination was so extreme that it scared him. He had spent the past two years trying to help her but with each day that passed and she remained unclaimed, the harder it was for him to bond with her. Michael was the only one who seemed to keep her sane and he was afraid that she would reach her breaking point with Michaels memory lost, Chiron felt defeat as he exited the forest, he had been unable to find her. All he could hope for was that she would return when she was ready. He heard a loud noise come from the direction of the cabin and hurriedly began to gallop in that direction; praying to all the gods that it was Jessica.
   As he got closer to the cabins, he found a large crowd of campers right outside the Ares cabin. Most of them appeared to be laughing at something, others appeared concerned. Gently pushing his way to the front of the group, Chiron did not find Jessica as he had hoped he would. What he did find though was almost more interesting. Trapped in a net, suspended from the roof, wearing nothing but boxers, and all that was in the net with him was a piece of paper was James. All around him campers were trying to cut him loose but no blade could harm the net. The Hephaestus campers were debating what type of trap it was but they came up with nothing. When James made eye contact with Chiron he shouted down to him,
   "Would you help me out here." Chiron stared blankly. In all his years of working at Camp Half Blood nothing like this had ever happened.
   "Do you remember how you got up there?" Chiron asked James. "And what does that piece of paper say?" James's face turned cheery red when e heard Chiron's questions.
   "If I remembered how I got up here don't you think I would have said something about it?" He snarled at the centaur. Everyone became quiet; not only were they curious about how James would get down but also they were nervous about how Chiron would react to James's attitude. 
   "And the paper," Chiron reiterated his question. James picked it up and looked tempted to tear it in half.
   "It says that I have to read it's message word for word in order to get down." James spat. "But I ain't reading this with all these campers around. It makes me sound like a fool." All the demigods looked from side to side, none of them (not even James's siblings) planned to leave this site until he read the note. Chiron shrugged,
   "Suit yourself," he began to gallop away. Realizing that Chiron wasn't going to help him and being as desperate as he was to get out of the net, James began to read.
   "Roses are red, violets are blue, if you ever go near Jessica or Michael again, then we'll kill you. Sincerely, the HoA. P.S. Jessica is safe and with us. We will be undoing all the damage that you did onto her." The moment he finished speaking, James was released from the net and fell right on his butt. Realizing me that everyone was laughing at him, a very red faced James rushed back into his cabin. In hushed voices all the demigods tried to figure out who the HoA was. Chiron mulled it over in his mind for a few moments and then came to a realization.
   "She joined the Hunt," he said under his breath. None of the campers heard him speak but they all saw him gallop away. Still quite confused and also very amused, the campers continued on with their day.