The Complicated Life of Emily Jones - Based off of Percy Jackson

Chapter Five - An Unfortunate Turn of Events

The pain was unbearable. The telkhine dropped dead next to me right after its teeth shredded against my left leg. A sword was pulled straight out of its torso by Nick. He cuddled me in his arms, trying to stop the excessive bleeding. Molly came over and hugged me tight in her tiny arms. Ryan came over with a first aid kit with Chiron galloping over on his side. He gasped and was wide-eyed, staring at the gash in my leg.

"Bring her to the big house immediately for severe medical attention." Chiron declared. Ryan, Jake, and Nick all hurled me onto their shoulders and carried me to the big house's porch. Sammy stopped her game of pinochle with Mr. D and ran over to me as soon as she saw the blood dripping from my leg.

"What happened, Ryan?" Sammy asked terrified.

"Telkhine attack." Ryan replied with a panicked tone, as he and the other two brought me past Sammy and into the house. As soon as they lay me down on the couch, I started seeing black spots. Then, everything went black.

***

My dream was weirder than normal, probably because I was unconscious. I was in a room that was painted black with blood stains everywhere. I felt a chill in the air, but it wasn't just a regular, cold chill in the air that you feel in a drafty room during the winter. This was an evil chill. I heard laughter in the distance, although it was a small room. It was probably a recording, because I heard more than one person laughing. The lights were on, but no one was in this small room but me.

"Hello?" I said. Well, more like I mouthed it, because my voice wasn't working.

A small figure emerged from the other side of the wall. It was a chihuahua, but it was translucent. Was it a ghost chihuahua? Or was it just my imagination?

The chihuahua waddled toward me and licked my left leg; the leg that the telkhine bit. Then, the ghost chihuahua bit it like the telkhine. I screamed, but noise came out of my mouth in the dream. I actually felt this pain, so this couldn't possibly be just a regular, normal dream...

***

I woke up inside the big house on the same couch I was unconscious on. Nick, Sammy, Molly, and Chiron were in the room. Molly was asleep at the other end of the couch. Sammy came up to me and hugged me, squeezing me tight.

"Let...go... I...can't...breathe..." I tried to let out. Sammy let go and then rubbed my shoulder.

"Sorry," Sammy apologized.

Chiron trotted toward me and gave me a sad look. "I'm sorry about these unfortunate turn of events..." he told me. I caught Nick staring at my leg, almost petrified. I sat up, and saw what he was staring at, why Chiron apologized, why Sammy hugged me so tight...

My left leg was amputated. It was cut off and bandaged at the knee. I started crying. How could a demigod live their life being disabled like this? I thought as the tears came pouring down my face. Nick became unpetrified as soon as I started crying.

"They had to... because it was bleeding too much... you would've... died... if they didn't cut off your leg..." Nick said, almost in tears himself.

I wiped the tears off of my cheek. "I'm fine, Nick. I know I'll be." I reassured him. I wasn't sure if what I said was a lie or if I really would be fine, but I couldn't stand to see Nick cry again. That would kill me on the inside and out.

Nick leaned over and hugged me gently. He kissed my cheek and then walked away, out of the big house.

"How long have I been unconscious for?" I asked, curious about what happened during my weird Mexican dog ghost dream.

"7 hours, 23 minutes, and 49 seconds." Sammy told me, proud of her calculating skills. I was awed. 7 hours, 23 minutes, and 49 seconds? Wow, I really am lucky to be alive. I thought to myself.

"Well, Emily, dinner starts in 6 minutes. Sammy and Molly can help you get ready. Is that alright with you?" Chiron asked.

"It's... fine, Chiron. I'll try to get the courage to get out there..." I replied. I was uneasy, and to be honest, I was scared. How was I to manage without two legs?

Molly's eyes opened slowly. She came up to me and hugged me the way that little kids hug their mothers when they're scared.

"I'm sorry, Emily. It should've been me who had that mean telkhine bite my leg off. You should've just held onto me--" Molly explained.

"I'll be perfectly fine Molly. Don't worry about me. I'll just have to learn to walk around on one leg, that's all. Now, do you want to help me get ready for dinner?" I asked her. She nodded with a smile on her face. She and Sammy took my hands and helped me up, Sammy helping me on the left side, Molly on my right.

Walking into the mess hall was torture. I was drowned with "Are you okay?"s, "What happened?"s, "How will you manage?"s... "Just leave me be please!" I would tell them. I didn't mean to be rude about it, but you should try losing your leg, and try telling about one hundred people the same thing over and over again. It gets annoying, but you find out how much people care about you. That was the only good thing that came to be of the situation. No other active factor made me feel any better.

Nick came over to help me as I tried to get food from the front and offer some to Apollo. He tried to help me stand upright, but even he could not fully help.

Chiron stomped his hooves on the pavilion. Everyone went silent, like they usually do when he wants attention. "Campers, I have a few announcements for you. The first and foremost is that Miss Emily Jones is perfectly fine from the telkhine attack, but she did unfortunately lose her left leg. Please keep her in your prayers. Although, it is strange that a telkhine would cross the borders of camp." The campers stared at me with sympathetic looks on their faces as Molly hugged me again. "Second, capture the flag will be held in the woods tomorrow at eleven o'clock sharp, so be there with your team at ten fifty-five." Cheers erupted from the crowd of campers. Nick and I exchanged nervous glances, but we gave each other a "thumbs up," symbolizing that we will be okay. Chiron stomped his hooves again to gain the attention of the crowd. "On that note, finish your dinners so that you can make your way into your cabins before the harpies eat you. We haven't fed them in a while, folks, so I suggest you stay in your cabins tonight and get in them early." Chiron winked at us and then returned to his meal.

I finished my dinner and had fun at the sing-along led by our cabin. Singing calmed me down, it took my mind off of my leg. I sang with the rest of camp until we all heard the harpies start ruffling in the woods. We gathered up our musical instruments and made our way back to Cabin #7.

I had help getting into my pajamas by Lucy, my other half-sister. I then climbed into my bunk bed and pulled the covers over myself. I was always cold at night. I grabbed the notebook and a pencil from my nightstand and started writing a haiku poem:

Morning or mourning?

The day that dawn brings new grief.

First light, then shadow.

I'm normally a better poet, but I cannot deal with the excruciating pain of my leg. It's stinging and throbbing worse than a migraine. Oh gods, please help me live better than this. Please. I beg of you. I cannot think like this, I cannot live like this. How will I be able to defend myself in times of danger without being able to either run away or fight back on two feet? Please give me answers. Please.

Just then, a rainbow appeared in front of me. "Please deposit a drachma to receive your calling." it read with magnificent colors shining through the rainbow. I reached into the night table drawer and pulled out a golden coin that must've been a drachma. I held it in the rainbow, and then it dissolved. The rainbow shimmered and transformed into an image of a man wearing a sheet and golden sandals. He had blonde hair and blue eyes like mine.

"Hey, Emily. It's me, Apollo, your father."