Opposites: The Staff of Light [Book One]

29. Why We Don't Jump Into Wells for No Reason

Annabeth

The bloody guy had nearly depantsed me if I hadn't moved fast enough. (Gee, that would be mortifying.) In the first place, I still couldn't believe I ended up in an inn in some far away kingdom. After plummeting into the magic well, everything went... wrong—well, at least, wrong as in not going as I presumed it would be.

In the well, as I dove in, I felt like every vein in my body exploding. My skin burned and my insides felt like they were being punched over and over again. As stupid as I was, I thought the well was filled of enchanted oil of some sort since it didn't go frozen like any liquid on earth, but no, it was water—annoying, a hell of a female dog, suffocating water. It just had to be water. I was fire. Great, now you're dying, I thought to myself as excruciating pain seared into my ribs. Mom and Dad should be very ashamed of you. I felt every bone of mine—snapping, breaking, shattering—and my heart, slowly, weakening.

I closed my eyes. The world fell pitch black. Darkness cradled me like a child... cold, cold darkness...

When I opened my eyes, I was flat on the ground. The water was gone. I seemed to be transported somewhere else, somewhere ever so far from society or civilization. To my side was a four-foot wide path of dry bare ground that led to both directions, seemingly endless so I assumed I was upon a hill with pathways that led downward. I willed myself up, only to see I still wore the same clothes as I was dressed in before I plummeted into the well—a medieval vest over a long-sleeved shirt (the camp directors tended to keep the connection between the old and modern times), a black skirt with a pair of black shorts underneath, my metal lace-designed bracelet (I was required to during classes) and my Texan boots—the same ones I used when we were delivered to Camp.

A leather hip belt was around my waist—a fashion style I've only discovered at Camp. At the left portion of it, there hung my sheath with my black dagger grip showing off. I tended to stay safe as much as possible, and ready for any attack. Yet, there I was—standing in the middle of a faraway kingdom, an utterly strange place I knew I never was supposed to exist in. Whatever the case, I decided to stay there for the rest of my life. I had no intentions to come back to a world where everyone judged me around.

A branch snapped from behind me. I turned. Nothing—no one was there. A shadow stirred from the opposite direction I casted my gaze upon. Once again, I faced that side, and failed to find my mysterious prowling hunter. I felt nothing was safe. I felt eyes burning circles into me. I began looking around, my eyes looking at one thing, then another. I couldn't feel so secure in my situation.

A bush then rustled. My heart began hammering inside my chest, eagerly trying to pound its way out. I took a deep breath as I approached the shrub. My two shivering pale hands reached out to separate the two parts of the plant. Nothing was there. My eyes widened, realizing what just happened. Oh no, I thought. It was a trap. I tumbled and tried to back away. I was so engaged in fear that I no longer thought of using my powers. The moment I turned my head, exactly on cue, a dark figure grasped me by the neck, lifting me until I couldn't feel the ground beneath my feet in where they began dangling in the air, choking me until I barely could make a sound—literally.

"Shh," he hushed as the ghastly figure solidified into human form to a man in a black cloak. I couldn't focus on what he looked like. My vision began to blur by the moment. All I could feel was the blood coursing through my veins and pulses that pounded in nearly every part. He was suffocating me, but I knew a mischievous grin started to tug at his lips, the long hair that concealed his eyes. I knew he was looking at me. I was all he could smile at. My misery was great humor to him. I grasped his wrist to let go of me, but he only smiled wider and choked me stronger. "Oh, what fun this will be, young one! I expect you to bring me the Staff of Light as soon as possible, just as you were destined to do. Sadly, you and your friends might as well die in the same comical death—oh dear, I don't think you were supposed to know that part."