Flames {Book One: The Deadly Dream}

Part Four: Things Really Heat Up

The mess hall was grand, with lots of long tables. The architecture was modern yet also a Ancient Greek style. Giant white pillars held the ceiling up above our heads, and golden plates and cups lay in front of us. A large fire in a pit burned warmly.

Ethan went to go sit at the Ares table. That left me to sit at the Hermes table. There was a table for each cabin.

The Hermes table seemed to have the most kids at the table. The Hera and Artemis tables were empty (of course) and at the Zeus, Hades, Poseidon and Apollo tables only had one camper.

At the Zeus table was Maddie, the girl who saved me from being dunked in the toilet. She looked nervous, probably about capture the flag. She and Jack smiled at each other every now and then.

At the Poseidon table, there was a girl with sea green eyes, long blonde hair, and wore a blue shirt and green shorts. She was having a conversation with a tree nymph that was standing nearby. She wore just the right amount of makeup, not too much like the Aphrodite campers.

At the Apollo table was Thάvma, the girl who was cute yet terrifying. She scowled at the floor, and she looked deep in thought. She occasionally glanced over at other people to glare at them, her shoulders hunched forward.

At the Hades table was a boy with shaggy hair that was as black as death, except for the turquoise half of it. He wore a flaming skull design t-shirt and black jeans. I noticed he was staring at Thάvma.

I realized that the boy at the Hades table was the one that helped me out with Epiales. The hair mostly gave it away. What was his name? I felt like Cindy had mentioned it earlier.

I nudged Cindy, the unclaimed redhead. "Hey," I said. She looked at me. "Who's that guy?" I asked pointing at the Hades boy.

Cindy scowled. "Fernando Pérez. The son of Hades. He came here about two years ago. He doesn't have many friends, and rumors say that he's cursed."

"Cursed by who?" I asked.

"Nobody knows for sure." Cindy shrugged. "I wasn't here when he showed up at Camp, but some say he caused a lot of trouble. The only one that knows what happened is her." she pointed at Thάvma. "But she won't tell anyone. Not even Chiron."

I glanced over at Fernando. He looked about thirteen, but his eyes looked so sad he might have been older. What happened to shake the kid up?

Then Chiron stomped his hoof and everyone fell silent. He raised his glass and said, "To the gods!"

Everyone raised their glass and said "To the gods!" I did the same, but more awkwardly.

Nymphs, which were spirits of the trees, started handing out plates of food. I was about to dig in when Cindy nudged me. "C'mon," she said getting up with her plate.

I followed her. I noticed that people were doing the same. We all walked to the fire.

Cindy tossed her biggest dinner roll into the fire. "To the gods," she murmured.

I noticed that other kids were saying their godly parents. I heard Thάvma say Apollo, a boy next to me said Iris, and a girl say Hecate.

Then I realized why Cindy didn't say a specific god. She wasn't claimed, like me.

"To the gods," I said tossing my biggest bunch of grapes into the fire.

Dinner was pretty good. They had hot dogs and stuff. But no bacon. When I asked a nymph they just said it was only for breakfast. To me, bacon is for any time of the day.

Thinking of bacon made me think about my mom. She must have been worried sick. She might have called the police or something. Worst of all, my mom had worked hard to get enough money to take our trip to the Caribbean. Now all that work meant nothing. It wasn't fair.