Lies

Chapter 36

**Bianca**

By the time Michael finally left Zoë alone it was dinner. Zoë was acting real fidgety at the pavilion and kept shooting glances at the border. I noticed she had her fingers crossed behind her back. She knew something. I was sure of it. I stupidly ignored it for the rest of dinner though. I studied the border and frowned. Only trees. As soon as dinner was finished Zoë was off like a rocket towards the border. The campers stared after her, surprised. She came back at about midnight. She had her poker face on, but her eyes were a raging storm, filled with fear, hate and fierceness. Zoë didn't sleep that night, nor the night after. She just sat on the edge of her bed, grasping the hilt of her dagger. Strangely though, she never seemed tired. Artemis approached her one night, telling her to go to sleep. Zoë replied by turning to face the door. Artemis sighed and pushed Zoë down, making her lie flat. She draped the blanket over Zoë, who wasn't trying that hard to sit up. Zoë's expression hadn't changed at all. Now that I thought about it though, I realised I hadn't seen her face set in a different expression for a week.

"If Tart-"

Zoë clamped a hand a Artemis's mouth and looked out the window intently. A shadowy figure was running between cabins, dropping something in the doorstep of each one.

"Ah. The Stolls," Zoë mumbled to herself, relaxing slightly. 

Artemis rolled her eyes and sat down on Zoë's bed.

"You're not leaving until I go to sleep, are you?" Zoë said.

Artemis grinned. "Nope."

Zoë rolled over, her back facing Artemis and squeezed her eyes shut, tensing. After roughly an hour Zoë drifted between the real world and the realm of dreams and nightmares. Her arm shot out, palm facing Artemis's face. Artemis caught Zoë's wrist and pulled her upright. Zoë curled into ball muttering incoherently. Artemis murmured soothing words into Zoë's ear until at last Zoë calmed. Artemis laid Zoë under the blankets and climbed into her own bed.