The Invisible Demigod

Claire - XXV

Time to add "Cars" to my list of fears.

I stood there, knees shaking. Nico's eyebrows knit together. Marry and Sam were staring at me in confusion. I squeezed my eyes closed, fighting back the nausea gripping my stomach. My hands were shaking now.

"Claire?" I felt a hand on my upper arm. I slowly opened my eyes to see Nico standing there, his red face full of concern. I felt the familiar stab of guilt whenever I looked at him. I blamed myself for him falling into the cyclops' pot. If I had kept my mouth shut and let Marry and Sam try and save us, Sump might not have cut Nico down. "What's wrong?"

"I-I-" My lower lip trembled along with my voice. "Th-the c-crash." I stuttered. I remembered the spinning, the noises, the screams, they echoed in my head. Nico's face cleared of confusion.

"Oh," he said, finally realizing why I couldn't get into the car. I squeezed my eyes closed again, a single tear running down my cheek. I felt Nico rub it away with his thumb, cupping my face. I felt the blisters on his hand and I felt another stab of guilt. "Claire, that's not going to happen again." He tucked a loose strand of hair behind my ear. "I promise."

I slowly nodded, then opened my eyes. Nico slipped his hand into mine and lead me into the car. My heart started to hammer and my palms were slick with sweat. I was now trembling. Nico gave my hand a reassuring squeeze and I sucked in a quick breath before entering the Blueberry.

I sat stiffly down and pulled the door closed. I flinched at the sound. Nico didn't release my hand, so I sat in the middle seat. I buckled with shaky hands and tried to breath as normally as possible. When Marry turned the key over, I groaned and closed my eyes.

Nico wrapped an arm around me and I pressed my face into his neck. I felt him tense slightly and I remembered his burns. I pulled away.

"Sorry," I said in a worried tone. "Are you okay? Does it hurt-?" Nico cut me off me pressing me closer to him.

"I'm fine," he said. "It you I'm worried about." I let out a breath as we turned onto the road.

"I'm fine too." I whispered. I could practically feel him smile.

"Good," he murmured. "You should rest." I nodded and closed my eyes, trying to forget what the rumbling of the car was. Nico rubbed soothing circles on my back and I drifted into sleep.

When I opened my eyes, I was in the hallway that had haunted me for the entire trip. No, no, no, no! I thought as I started to walk towards the door at the end of it. Stop! Stop! Turn around! Run away! But I couldn't, no matter how much I internally screamed.

When me and Nico had kissed, I hadn't dreamt at all that night, but the next night I had a different dream. I had this new dream every night since then.

I entered the throne room to see the man sitting there. Long ago I had started to refer to him as Sky, because of his eyes. He looked at me, his eyes big and watery. He looked so sad and broken, I wanted to run up and hug him. To make him smile and laugh. I knew what it felt like to be broken, I'm a broken girl with a broken past.

"Why?" he asked in a grief stricken voice. "Why would you let him kiss you?" I watched a tear slide down his cheek. "I love you, I thought you loved me too." He turned away, like he couldn't bare to look at me. "I guess I was wrong."

I was so torn, two sides of me were fighting. Half of me wanted to hug him, to kiss him, to make him happy and tell him I love him. The other half of me wanted to run, to leave, to never look back and forget about Sky. He suddenly rose and walked towards me, anger and sadness clear on his face.

"I think you still love me," Sky said, pulling me into a tight embrace. "I know you do." He leaned down and peppered my jaw with kisses. I tried to push him away, I tried to struggle, but I couldn't. He brushed his nose along me throat and I shivered, I felt horrified that I was sort of enjoying this. He pressed his lips to my ear. "I love you, Claire." he whispered, trailing kisses across my cheek and then kissed my nose. "You love me too." Before he pressed his lips against mine, I jerked away with a strangled scream.

"Whoa!" I heard someone yell. "Claire, calm down! You're safe!" I felt a pair of strong hands grip my wrist, I instantly remembered Sky.

"No!" I yelled. "No! Let me go! I don't! I don't!" I needed to tell Sky I didn't love him, I struggled and tried to punch him.

"Claire!" I heard him said. "You're awake! It was just a dream! It wasn't real!" I froze and looked up to see Nico's confused and concerned face.

"I-it wasn't?" I asked in a small voice.

"Yes," Nico said. "It was all just a dream, you're safe."

I let out a sob and pressed my face into Nico's chest. He put his arms around me and squeezed gently. I was trying to breath, but it was really hard. All I could think of was Sky and his kisses. I sobbed harder.

"Just let it all out," Nico murmured, stroking my hair lovingly. "It's okay, I have nightmares too. I understand." I nodded into his shirt, clutching it tightly. I finally calmed down and wiped away my tears and took a deep breath. I pushed all my feelings down and tried to lock them up, not letting them out. I put on my best pokerface.

"I'm fine now," I said. "Thanks." I looked up and saw that night had fallen. Sam was sleep and Marry was sending me concerned looks. "Keep your eyes on the road." I told her. She gave me a small smile and turned back to the road. A shudder passed threw me.

"Do you want to talk about your dream?" Nico asked gently. I looked up into his dark eyes, they were quite amazing actually. Much better than Sky's. Another shudder passed threw me.

"N-no." I said. "I'm fine, really." Nico nodded before pulling me closer. He rested his head on mine and soon he was asleep. I felt incredibly guilty, he was so tired and weak after landing in Ma Gasket's pot. I shivered at the memory of thinking I'd lost him, I'd been so scared.

The truth was, I'm not really fine. I've had that same dream every night. Sky being so sad, me wanting to run away and hug him at the same time, then him kissing me over and over. I had stopped bitting my fingers, fortunately, but that meant I would now wake up screaming.

I tried to fall back asleep, but my dream and the feeling of the car rumbling kept me awake. I tried to think about anything except for the fact that we were moving at sixty miles per hour and could crash at any moment. I also tried to not dwell to much on my dream, so instead I thought about what I'd do once I got back to camp.

I smiled slightly. I'd immediately take a three day nap. Then I'd ask Nico out on a real date to make us official. Then I'd throw a party, a really long one that went on until three am. I wrinkled my nose, I remembered the first time I went to the camp fire and how I promised myself that I'd sing a solo if I survived. I was not looking forward to that. Soon, I was asleep again. Luckily, I did not dream of Sky.