The Book of History (Discontinued)

Beth II: My friend Almost Dies (I'm Going to Have to Get Used to That)

Have you ever heard of an anxiety attack? It's basically when a person starts freaking out. That's what I had. Seeing my friend unmoving on the ground pumped new adrenaline through my veins. My eyesight sharpened, my breath quickened. I saw sweat breaking out on Hailey's hairline. Her chest rose shakily and collapsed, over and over again. Besides that, she wasn't moving.

My adrenaline may have spiked, but my brain didn't. All I did was look down at her, eyes wide. "Hailey?" I stammered.

Cornelius finally kicked into action and crouched down by her head. He put a light hand on her chest and sighed. "Did she really faint from a scratch on her face?" I came over and stood by him as he brushed hair out of her face so he could see. A line of red traveled from her cheek, across her nose and on her forehead, merely missing her eyes. Her glasses were shattered. Pieces of glass were littered on her face, and some burrowed into her skin, making many bloody scratches. It didn't look great but it wouldn't kill her.

"You gotta remember, Corny (great nickname, I know), she didn't grow up in a ghetto like us," I told him.

Morgana stood behind us and sighed in exasperation. "Do you two know Greek mythology?" She questioned with a frown. She looked at us expectantly like she was waiting for us to do something. I didn't see how that would heal Hailey or help us whatsoever.

"And that helps us because . . . ?" I prompted.

Morgana shook her head with contempt. "That was a manticore," Morgana said slowly as if teaching a toddler that a stove was hot. "It hit her with one of its spikes. Those spikes can paralyze and kill its prey."

I took a moment to process this information. I focused my eyes on Hailey again and saw that her breath got even shallower and slower. More adrenaline flooded me. I jumped up and faced the goddess. "Then what are you waiting for? Pull some magic like how you summoned the gun and heal her!" I yelled.

Instead of getting mad like I expected, I saw a flash of remorse. "I'm sorry. I can't help you," Morgana said.

Anger boiled inside me. Are you kidding me? She can shoot a musket at a monster, but she can't heal a wound? What kind of goddess was she? Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the water speed up from where the tidal waved ripped through and trickle toward Morgana.

Morgana noticed. "Beth, listen to me, I can't directly interfere with demigod affairs. It's the gods' rule," she explained.

"Then why'd you try to help us escape the manticore?" I screamed. The water built up into a stream and ran faster toward our feet.

She winced. "It would have attacked me, too. And if you ask why I'm helping you to safety, I was assigned the mission," Morgana told me. "Come on, let's get you guys to Camp." She glanced down at Hailey with doubt then tried to mask it with hope, but I caught it.

Cornelius wrapped his arms under Hailey and lifted her up and turned to us. "We better hurry," he said, his lips a thin line. I nodded, and Morgana led us away.

As we were walking, I stayed in my thoughts. I thought about how much has changed in less than thirty minutes. We were attacked by a Greek monster that is slowly killing off my friend that I haven't spoken to in two weeks. My other friend apparently moved to New York, too, and now we were following the goddess of muskets.

I pondered on this camp that Morgana was taking us. I guessed that this was a summer camp given the time of year and that it was a camp. I remembered looking out the window of our hotel room with my mom and siblings, Christine, Sebastian, and Jimmy, and seeing a huge statue. I first thought it was the Statue of Liberty, but the statue wasn't green and wasn't holding a torch. It also wasn't on an island, it was on a stretch of land with a lake that poured out into the Sound, Long Island. I also saw what looked like cabins and a farmhouse. I found this arrangement quite weird, but now that I knew about a camp, I was wondering if that was it. . . .