The decision keeps me up all night. The top layer of my bed has turned into a sheet of ice. My nerves messing with my powers, just what I need. My thoughts quickly stray back. Do I stay here, right for something I don't believe in? Or do I go, and get honored and treated like I exist? Sure, this place is my 'home.' But is it a home for everyone? Is it a home for those unclaimed demigods sleeping in the floor like dogs in the Hermes cabin? No, it's not a home. It's not a haven. It's a hell. A hell of being trained to fight against monsters just because your godly parent couldn't keep it in their pants.
They've condemned us to a certain early death. I'm gonna die young, let's make the most of it.
So I get up from my frozen bed and grab a duffle bag. I shove in drawers full of clothes and personal items, along with some weapons. I look at my two sleeping sisters, Kit and Crystal, and hold back a sigh. I pick up a picture of the three of us. It was from a campfire from a few months ago, we were all smiling and laughing. I stuff it in my bag and in ready to go. One thing left, though. I walk over a spot on the white wooden walls where we all carved our names. They're still there clearly. "Kit, Elsa, and Crystal." I take out a key and scratch off Elsa, leaving my new name. Effy.
I smile at the newly keyed wall and head out the door. But I stop in my tracks. Did I make the right decision? Or did I just sign a death wish? I pull the framed picture from my bag and ponder on it for a moment. Then I slam the picture to the ground, stomping of the shards of glass and ripping my smile in half. I take off running into the woods until I reach the gates. "Aníto." I mutter under my breath, the Greek word for 'goodbye.'
I readjust the duffle bag around my shoulders and keep walking. The cold doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when people show up out of the blue. Two figures hop down from a tree. A skinny boy and a girl with curly blonde hair.
"You made the right decision." The girl says and steps forward, as I remember her as a fellow camper from a few months ago. Ass, daughter of Dionysus. No wonder she smells like wine.
The boy also steps forward into moonlight to reveal himself as Gabe, son of Apollo. He was the first of the traitors.
I have to trust them, they're all I got now. I can't speak because if adrenaline, so I nod and start to walk forward. They pick up their speed to walk in front of me, and I follow like an obedient pet. They don't bother to look behind once. We walk until sunlight and I'm exhausted, my legs feel numb. Ass turns around and gestures to a secluded building, it's fairly big. "Welcome to your new home, Elsa." She says with a wicked grin.
"It's Effy." I correct her and she nods. We all rush inside and I'm greeted by a few bunk beds and people waking up. I immediately feel self-conscious with many pairs of eyes on me, so I speed walk to the bunk bed at the end of the room. I don't see another person's stuff on it, so I assume I can take top bunk. And I do. I get a better view of the base, it's kinda fancy. The mattress feels like memory foam and there's a TV on the wall in the center. I watch fellow traitors go to the bathrooms to get ready, and I assume once again that it probably has stalls and showers. They probably have daily jobs they set out to do, and Ass comes to me once again and says flatly, "It's your first day, relax. You'll get settled into the routine tomorrow. Actually, we'll be making a hit tomorrow."
She smirks and walks away, leaving me alone in the cabin.
Me, all alone. What should I do? Maybe do something to impress my new family, like clean up or make plans?
I did the only rational thing.
I watched an entire season of 'Supernatural', ate a whole box of white cheddar cheese-its, and cried twice because of that damn Kanas song and a very, very profound bond. And then I jammed out to My Chemical Romance in my undies.
I thought I was alone, so I cried loudly and laughed loudly and pretty much did everything loudly. Turns out, we have a guard. Who would have thought?
So you can imagine my surprise as a slender and brunette girl walked in right as I was screaming mama into a hairbrush.
"Hi, you're the newbie. I'm Juli-" She paused as I dropped the hair brush and stood there, petrified.
It was a moment of silence if you don't count the blaring music in the background.
She nodded and went to the bathroom, so of course I pulled on some regular clothes and picked up the fallen hair brush to run it through my tangled hair. I heard footsteps so I shut off the TV and threw the empty, but crumby, box of cheese its in the trash can right as she walked out.
"Let's try this again. Hi, I'm Julie." The girl, apparently Julie, said as she offered her hand.
"Effy." I replied, giving her hand a quick shake.
"You seemed like you were having fun, but I heard you wailing a few hours ago." She muttered.
I laughed nervously and shook it off.
"Just fictional gay couples. That's all." I tried to smile but she looked at me like I was a mental hospital patient.
Oh, gods. I haven't even been with the traitors for one day and I've fucked everything up.
She nodded and walked back outside awkwardly and I silently prayed to gods she wouldn't tell. Wait, why the hell would I pray to the gods? Old habits die hard.
The traitors returned around twenty minutes later in a leisurely fashion and paid nearly no attention to me, so I'm guessing Julie didn't spill any embarrassing moments. I make a note in my head to thank her.
Lights go out abruptly and Gabe's voice called, "ALL OF YOU GO TO SLEEP."
So I climbed into my bed and kicked the blankets off, and didn't sleep. I was still nervous. I didn't know what to expect. New place, new people, new everything. I didn't know their routine and I knew everyday wouldn't be relaxation. Ass said we would be making a hit tomorrow.
I hear a creak in the floor and squint in the darkness to see Julie. She smiles and whispers to me, "Have trouble sleeping?"
I yawn a almost inaudible "Yeah," and her smile spreads wider.
"Daughter of Hypos, at your service."
She gives my forehead a tap and I fall into a deep, dreamless sleep.
