The Blade ~Book One~

Chapter Eleven: The Aftermath

I stared at the ceiling like I had been for the past hour. Bridger insisted that I should get some more rest in the infirmity. Truth is: I can't get myself to sleep no matter how hard I try. I could here the coughing and other movements of other injured demigods, but I couldn't see them. A curtain wrapped around all the beds to make the place seem more secure, but I didn't feel safe. I felt like blacking out had made me miss something I could've helped. I could've saved Brooks. Only if I hadn't approached Eris by myself.

"Don't beat yourself up about it." It was like he had read my mind. Chandler pulled the curtains apart and took a seat on the side of my bed. "It wasn't your fault." He ran a hand through his dark hair.

"Right." I responded, unconvinced.

He dug something out of his pocket, "I went back to get the rest of our supplies from the truck. I found this." He handed me a small object.

The photo was folded in many directions, torn in every corner, but you could still see what was going on. I looked down at the old picture of my brother and I. I had my arms tightly wrapped around him. He was making a face like "get this thing off", but I knew he had only been joking. I laughed at the old memory, but quickly stopped as a pain went off.

"That's you." Chandler pointed out. "But who's that?"

"My brother."

His face started to pale for no reason, "When I found it, I thought that it was a camper or something because I recognized them."

"What?" I looked up at him.

"Yesterday during the fight I saw him. Or at least I think it's the same guy in the picture." He explained, "You were standing in front of Eris, who had a gun at your head. I was about to fly down and grab you when someone else took care of the problem. That guy- your brother shot her." He hesitated before speaking as if he were unsure himself.

"No." I shook my head, "That's not possible. He's dead. I know he's dead." I remembered looking into Eris' eyes, seeing my brother's reflection. But he couldn't have be there.

"Maybe I'm wrong." Chandler stood up, "I asked someone about him. They said he's a new Ares camper. Her arrived after we left."

"It's not him." I snapped.

He shrugged, "Beth, I've known you for years. You never have had that much hope. Your own brother could be alive. He could be in your cabin right now. So if you want to stay here and pounder life that's fine by me, but I recommend you at least try." With that, he left me alone to figure things out.

Without a second to lose, I hoisted myself up. The pain in my stomach had decreased a lot, but it was still there. For some reason, I felt like it never would go away completely. The pain would remind me of the awful moment my home was attacked. It'd remind me that it was my fault.My leg, on the other hand, was healing quicker. I could almost walk normally again.

I grabbed a clean change of clothes from the corner of the room. It was nice to have a camp shirt back on.

It was the fourth of January. What a great way to start off the new year. I quickly changed and tied my hair up before leaving the infirmity. The first thing I planned to do after this "is that my brother?" mission, was shower.

Instead of blocking the sun out of my eyes, I embraced it. It was so much better than being locked up somewhere. I took in some of the winter air before heading towards my cabin.

The red building stood tall like a soldier. It had a few weapons sitting outside, which is where we would leave them before a capture the flag game. Capture the flag. I missed the game where you'd fight those of your own, but in the end no one died and it was just for fun.