HOLY BALLS IT'S CHAPTER 20!!
Sorry it took so long!
Song: I'll be with You by Hedley!
Book: Z for Zachariah by Robert C. O'Brien because that is my independant novel study in my English class and DAYUM IT'S SO FREAKIN GOOD!
Special shoutout to my friend Maddie who created a character for this part (And the rest of the story)
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Caden's PoV
When I finally started waking up, I noticed I was not alone.
There was two other people in the little cell with me. One girl and one boy.
The girl had dirty blonde hair tied back in a ponytail with strands of hair falling out. She looked pretty short but she was sitting so I couldn't be too sure. She was wearing plain jeans and a- Hang on... That looks familiar... A Camp Half-Blood shirt? Why would she be wearing that?
The boy's hair was long, like he hadn't had it cut in a while and hung in his eyes. I couldn't quite see but his eyes were definitely a darker color. Brown, maybe? his nose was perfectly straight and his lips were drawn in a frown as the girl spoke.
He was sitting on a plastic crate and would only mutter a few words every now and then when the girl would stop talking. If I had to guess, I'd say he was only 5'1 or 5'2 and maybe fourteen years old, a year younger than me.
"Morning," the boy said to me, cutting off the girls voice. She stopped talking and looked over to me as I tried sitting up.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you," the boy said and started to walk over to me.
I held a hand up to stop him and swung my legs over the edge of the makeshift bed I was laying on.
A wave of dizziness came over me but I waved it off and looked around the small cell.
There was a bucket in one corner (I was afraid to ask what for), a small pile of clothes in another and two makeshift beds of clothes and fabric were pushed against opposite walls with the open bars at the end of the beds.
"How long was I out?" I asked them, my voice hoarse and raspy.
"Couple days?" The boy shrugged and looked back to the girl.
"It's hard to judge time here," she said and pointed to a boarded up window which I hadn't noticed on my first sweep of the room.
"I'm Juliana by the way. And that's Asher," the girl said and pointed to herself then the boy.
I nodded to both of them and said, "My names Caden. Either of you know why they want us?" I saw them exchange a glance before they answered.
"Not a clue," Asher said while Juliana shook her head.
"Are you guys..." I trailed off unsure.
"Half bloods?" Juliana guessed and I nodded.
"Sorta. Well, yes. I mean- uh... Yes. We are. Are you?" she replied.
"Yep," I said lamely and Asher smirked.
"So where are you from?" He asked.
"New York," I said and leaned back against the wall.
"Huh," Asher said.
"What?" I asked suspiciously.
"You talk funny," he shrugged.
"How so?" I queried.
"I don't know. You talk like you haven't spoken for a long time," he said cautiously.
"That's because I haven't."
"What?" They both asked at the same time.
"My step dad was a pretty mean guy," I said sadly. Asher sent me a sad smile.
"I understand. You been claimed yet?" He asked me and came to sit beside me. I nodded and James sent a look to Juliana that I couldn't read.
"By... Who?" Juliana asked me hesitantly.
"Hephaestus..." I trailed off when I saw their looks.
"Cool," Juliana said quickly and sent me a tight smile.
"Uh... How old did you say you were?" Asher asked me and bit his lip. He looked cute when he did that. WAIT! No. I shouldn't be thinking like that when Nico and I-
"Oh my gods are you okay? What happened? It's not so bad here once you get used to it!" Asher tried comforting me. Huh, I never noticed I was crying until his thumb brushed across my cheek, wiping away some tears.
"I'm sorry," I sniffled, "I'm not normally like this."
"It's okay. Juliana cried for a day when she got here," Asher smirked and Juliana punched his shoulder. I smiled a little and Asher rubbed comforting circles on my back.
"Everything will be okay. We won't be here long," Asher whispered to me.
"It's not that! Me and my boyfriend had a fight right before I was kidnapped," I said and sniffled one last time. Asher stiffened when I said boyfriend but relaxed when I said we had a fight.
"So you aren't together anymore?" He asked quietly and I shook my head.
"Why?" I asked him.
"Uhh... it's better this way. Trust me, these people are not nice," he said.
"Oh. Okay," I said quietly and looked down a my hands.
Suddenly the door outside the cage/dungeon thing we were in rattled. In walked...
No.
No he wouldn't. We were friends! He couldn't - wouldn't - do this to me!
In walked Andy.
