Earthrumbler

Chapter Seventeen: Removal

When I awoke, a small noise passed my lips, somewhere between a whimper and a groan. Persephone’s last question haunted me; I’d no doubt of her decision. I dared not open my eyes. A soft blanket covered me; it snuggled me just below my chin. It confused me more than it comforted it me. The room around me was silent.

I creaked my eyes open, expecting a cold slab of rock and bars. Shrouded in the darkness of a canvas tent, I was curled on a hammock. When I peered to the floor beside me, my boots were there, waiting for me.

A figure came in from the outside, revealing that it was night. It crept closer and closer, sending my heart into spasms. When it was close enough, I recognized Dill. “Hey, you’re up.” He kissed my cheek. “How are you feeling?”

Confusion picked at my skull; she hadn’t given me up to Triton. “Where am I? Persephone…she…what am I doing here?” I stared up at him, trying to discern his features in the dark.

“After I found you passed out in the woods, I brought you back to the dig site. I’ve been around you for half a day, and you’ve almost successfully sent me to my death three times. My heart won’t stop pounding.”

I sat up, my arm buckling beneath me. “You’ve my apologies.” I studied my weak arm. A row of neat stitches covered the vine etched in my skin. “Did you do this too?”

“No, that was Scarlet. She said skin wasn’t much different than a pair of britches.” We shared a quiet breath of laughter at the thought. His laughter faded quickly. “You never answered my letters.” He frowned, furrowing his brow.

“I couldn’t. Dill, I haven’t been home since I left for the wedding.” When he gave me another questioning look, I sighed. I began to tell him everything that happened since his departure at my father’s wedding.

When my breathing grew erratic, talking about what Poseidon had done, Dill shushed me and glided his thumb over my knuckles. He wiped any tears that crawled down my cheeks and nodded to tell me that he was still listening. “I noticed the scars on your legs while you were sleeping. I’m so sorry,” he whispered as he kissed me gently.

“It’s not your fault.” My voice was weak.

“But I should have been there. I could have stopped him from doing this to you.”

I shook my head. “Not even my mother could stop him. H-he still has her. He’s torturing her. I have to go back. It’s the only thing that’ll stop him.” I swung my legs over the side of the hammock, and Dill gripped my shoulders.

“Jenny, are you crazy? You’re not going back there. You could have died. You’ve been unconscious for hours. You don’t have a weapon. You’re covered in scars. He did this to you, and you want to let him do it all over again!”

I curled my hands into fists. “I don’t want to, but I will. My mother doesn’t deserve torture because I’m a coward.”

“You’re not a coward for being afraid of Poseidon. You’re one girl against… Greek Gods. I don’t like any of this business, not at all.” His voice faltered, and I curled my hand around his. “It…it scares me.”

I nodded. “I’d be surprised if it didn’t.” My stomach tightened, but I smiled for him. “It scares me too. And, I…I can’t change it. It’s part of me, but it doesn’t have to be part of you, not if you didn’t want it to.”

Dill eyed me. “Did what I said mean nothing to you? I told you I loved you. I meant that. I love you, Jenny.” He reached his hand up to my face.

I imagined touching his face as he lay on the ground, dying. I choked up the words like vomit, acidic and raw. “You could learn to love someone else. You’ve only eighteen years, Dill. You’ve an entire life ahead of you.”