The Untold Story of Annabeth Chase

Chapter 45

For the next week, I had nightmares of the same fiery pit I had dreamed up when I was seven. I hadn't had the dream in years, but suddenly it had returned, more terrifying and torturous than ever before.

While I watched the monster crawl away with more and more members of my family in its grasp, there was also that voice. It was the same voice from before, but it was talking to Luke now. It said that if Luke joined its side, he would be rewarded when the gods fell from power. It said it could make Luke the most powerful demigod in the world. He would be a king. A feared ruler. No one could stand up to him.

It made such huge and inviting promises that I could see the temptation on Luke's face, even in dream form. He believed what the voice was telling him.

I always tried to stop it, screaming at Luke that the voice was lying, and for him not to listen. But every night, it got more and more persuasive, pulling out new tactics and delicious promises to lure Luke to the other side.

I didn't stop trying, though, eventually even giving up on trying to help my family. I just focused on overpowering the voice with my own desperate pleas for Luke to listen to me. He never did, though, and I eventually gave up on everything I was juggling in the crazy, awful dreams and just curled into a ball on the cave floor, waiting to wake up.

On the first day of the summer, fresh from the most horrifying dream yet, I woke up to voices in my cabin. I sat up groggily and saw my siblings chatting and hugging and putting their clothes away in their drawers. I got out of bed and got dressed, wondering how I could have forgotten. I left my cabin to see half-bloods pouring into the camp, giving warm greetings to each other and to the cozy, familiar collection of buildings.

I ran into Astrid on her way to the cabin, and she pulled me into a hug the second she saw me. "How was school?" I asked, smiling wider than I had in a long time.

"It was actually really great!" She said, pushing her hair out of her eyes. It was longer now, and she walked and talked with more confidence about her. "Everyone was really nice, and my classes were great," she rambled.

"That's amazing!" I said, genuinely happy for her.

"I know!" she breathed, exhilarated and happy. "And how are things with... you know, Luke?" she asked, raising her eyebrows pointedly.

I squirmed a little under her expectant stare. "Fine, I guess," I said slowly.

Astrid nodded like she knew exactly what my response meant. "I see," she said suggestively, then picked up her suitcase and walked away.

I stared after her, not believing what had just happened. How much could a person change in one year? The girl I had just talked to did not resemble my shy, quiet sister Astrid at all.

By the time I got back to my cabin later that morning, I had waved to, acknowledged, or otherwise greeted almost every camper who had arrived. I flopped on my bed, covering my face with my arm, but I only had a moment to rest before the noise started up again. My siblings seemed even louder and more obnoxious than they had last summer. I had known this would happen. Every year, I got used to the peace and quiet, and then was greeted with annoyance and headaches as soon as everyone came back for the summer.

I tried to ignore it for a while and read, but eventually I huffed loudly, closed my book, and left the cabin.

Everywhere I looked, I saw people. There wasn't a single private spot in the whole camp. There were only about a hundred campers, but today it felt like at least three times more. I wandered around for an hour, checking the strawberry fields, the beach, the sword arena, even the stables for a quiet place to sit. I found absolutely nothing.

I gave up after a while and headed back to my cabin. At least there I would be with my friends.

On my way back, I passed the other cabins. Many of them had their doors wide open for gods know what reason, and I caught glimpses of life in the other cabins. The Aphrodite cabin was chatting excitedly while they sprayed designer perfume everywhere. It got so strong that I could smell it all the way from the Dionysus cabin, while I watched the twins conjure up some drinks to celebrate. I briefly marveled at their stupidity for leaving their door wide open for all to see, but then I realized that their father, the god of wine, ran the camp. They had nothing to be afraid of.

The Ares cabin was already into the arm-wrestling semi-finals from what I could tell, and Clarisse seemed to be winning. When I passed the Apollo cabin I saw the campers being introduced to their newest brother, and Will shot me a grin as he was welcomed into his new family.

The Hermes cabin was by far the loudest, which was no surprise. Their door was closed, but I could still hear the shouts and laughs and weird catchphrases being yelled out, most of them involving Connor Stoll and shaving cream. I shook my head and chuckled to myself as I opened the door to my cabin, briefly appreciating the almost-quiet. At least it wasn't Hermes.

That night, we played another game of Trivial Pursuit, like we did almost every year. Astrid, Malcolm and Skye were on my team, and we got one point in the first round and stayed ahead for most of the game. Isaac and his friends briefly passed us at one point, but then we got a question about architectural design and his whole team groaned as I answered in record time.

"That's completely unfair," Isaac whined as I added another triangle to our game piece.

"Sorry, Isaac,' Skye taunted. "I guess the game likes us better."

"The game is an inanimate object," Isaac retorted. "It can't like anyone better."

"Shhh! It'll hear you!" I whispered, and Skye burst out laughing.

"All hail the mighty trivia game!" Malcolm declared, bowing down to the board.

Isaac reached across the board to give Malcolm a brotherly shove before grabbing the dice and rolling again.