Failed Attempts

Chapter 4: Tate

I hear the blaring sound of a conch shell and stand up from the rock I have been lounging on. My eyes dart North towards the sound and I lick my dry, cracked, lips.

"Supper."

***

When I arrive at the Dining Pavilion, everyone else is already sitting down at his or her designated table. I make my way to my usual eating area, on the floor with my back leaned against one of the pillars holding up the roof, due to the fact that there is no table or cabin assigned to my mother.

A tree nymph sashays towards me, holding a platter of food. Grapes, apples, strawberries, cheese, and fresh bread, I take only a few grapes and a slice of bread since like usual, I'm not that hungry.

Grabbing my plate, I get up to make an offering, as is required with every meal at camp. The loud chatter of campers and the clanking noises of spoons and forks against plates is replaced by silence. They're all staring at me. Looking, at their faces, I can see that they all have the same anxious, terrified looks upon them. Like they thought I was going to hurt them or something...I've been getting a lot of this lately.

I tear a piece off my slice of bread and throw it into the flames of the bronze brazier along with two grapes."Khione," I say in an indistinct, whispered tone " Accept my offering." Like usual, she doesn't and my food just burns to ashes in the fire.

Ever since those "Prophecy of Seven" kids came back from their quest to save Hera, all the other campers do is cower from me. At least before when nobody knew who Khione was, all the other campers just ignored me and didn't talk to me.Last week when those kids came back from their quest, the whole camp starting buzzing. They know everything about my mom now. How she tried to kill the three kids by knocking them out of the sky a bunch of times, how she's an evil, psychopathic, bitch, how she's working for Gaia, etc. etc. The entirety of Camp Half-Blood now thinks I'm doing the same, working for Gaia that is. Which is stupid really because I never would.

I bring myself back to the floor to eat and not until I sit down, does everybody else carry on with his or her meals and socialization.

I dig in. Even just the bread here is better than anything I've ever eaten. The food here has a certain quality about it that just makes it irresistible no matter what it is. You could feed me toilet water and I would probably tell you it tasted like fruit punch. I'm done eating within a matter of seconds.

I stand up and leave my dishes on the ground. The Hall falls dead silent again. I keep the same blank expression on my face and salute them.

"Peace out."

I start towards the Hermes cabin to wash up for the bonfire. As I walk, the slushy, snow that covers the ground, piles up on the bottom of my shoes and makes sloshing sounds when I step.

***

A jet of water streams down from the tap and I cup my hands underneath it. They fill up with water and I throw the water onto my face.

"Refreshing." I think.

With the tap still spewing out water, I place my hand underneath the soap nozzle and with my other hand, I push down on the pump. My palm is filled with a pearly white coloured substance and I lather it in to my dry, brittle, hands. I rinse them and go to turn the tap off. When my fingers touch the warm, metal of the faucet, it frosts over and turns icy cold.

I turn on the hot water to melt the frost away. Just a nervous tick. There's a dirty white towel hanging on the wall beside the foggy, mirror. I grab it and pat my face dry, then use it to rid my hands of dampness.

I go to leave when I meet eyes with a scrawny, white haired, boy staring back at me in the mirror. I can barely make out his image because the glass is filthy and tinted the same light brown dirt colour as everything else in cabin 11. But he looks barely 15, with his hair falling messily into his eyes. His fluorescent, orange camp shirt clashing with the rest of his pearly visage.

Before I exit the bathroom, I leave a message in the layer of dirt on the mirror,

"Tate wuz here"

I walk to the door, turn the knob, and step outside. Other Hermes kids stood anxiously outside waiting for me to leave for them to enter.

"Hey." I say waving to one of them. They jump and back away from me. I could get used to this.

***

The bonfire that night was a major disappointment to everyone. Only Chiron, a few Satyrs, and the Apollo kids sang, the campfire merely a spark and the colour of lint. Nobody roasted marshmallows except for one of the Satyrs in the front row wearing a green "Reduse, Reuse, Recycle" T-Shirt and a rasta cap. I was watching him and I swore I saw him eat at least 12, after a while Chiron just tossed him the whole bag. Grover I think his name was.

After a fourth go at "Down by the Aegean" Chiron finally gets at least half the camp to join in on the sining. The camp fire growing to about 5-feet but staying the same lint colour. After that, he just gives up and whisks us all off to bed.

I start to walk alone back to cabin 11 when I see a faint glow coming from half-blood hill. As I watch I see bodies start to form in the light as it gets closer. New recruits.

The closer they get, the clearer they become. I can see 5 people. No, 3 people, 2 of them are satyrs. One of them tall and bony looking, the other relatively buff and much older. 2 of the others I have seen before here at camp, Lara and Ross, the other one must be the recruit.

I can see now that the other is a girl, 13, 14 maybe. Her hair the colour of cherry wood. Her skin snow pale like mine, also giving off the same pearly aura due to the glowing light that I now see is a torch that the buff satyr is holding. The striped, maroon turtle-neck she is wearing gives her a sort of grungy look. But she is if anything...beautiful.

They approach Chiron who is standing at the humongous fire pit and I see that the girl is limping. He greets them with a smile. The buff satyr steps forwards and ushers towards the girl.

"May I present to you, Elise Von Derve daughter of Hades." I hear him say.

Chiron's face goes blank. "B-Big house...now."

I smirk and continue to walk back to the Hermes cabin.

"This could be interesting."