Not Quite Mortal • HoO

XII Savannah Bell

Sorry for the long wait! Should update more often from this point, as I want to get this finished before I start the sequel to my story Daisies in February or March. 

~Savannah Bell~

"You alright?" Piper asked me as I slumped into a fold-out chair.

I shrugged. "I'll be fine. Won't be running during this trip though."

"I know. It's too bad. We could have played volleyball or something later."

"You can still play." I look up at the sky. There's still enough light out. "I'll just sit and watch. Keep score. Do whatever."

"Maybe."

Piper sat down next to me, and we looked over at the rest of our friends. Annabeth, Lara and Percy had just come back up from the beach, Miri walking slightly behind them looking slightly miffed.

"So what's the big deal about keeping the camp secret?" I asked bluntly. I had only known Piper for less than a day, but I already felt that asking outright might get the best answer from her. Not a full one. She wouldn't break the rules any more than her friends, but maybe she'd say something less cryptic.

"Safety," she said. She went silent for a moment, pulling her fingers through a knot in her hair. "Safety for both the campers and for non-campers. It's better if no one knows."

"Why?"

"Why does your dad carry that... unusual... dagger? Was it a gift? What does he do with it."

I stiffened. "I don't think you'd believe me."

"And I don't think you'd believe me about camp. I get the feeling that I'll be seeing more of you soon, Savannah." Piper stood. "Do you want a hotdog?"

I look over at the others who are now gathered around a blazing fire.

"That was fast," I said.

Piper laughed. "What do you want? I'll get it for you."

I gave Piper my order and watched her walk off. I did get more information from her than I ever had from Annabeth, but it wasn't the kind that I thought I should share with Andrew and Miri. I didn't want to lie to them, either. But sometimes, secrets had to be kept.

I winced when I realized how much I sounded like Annabeth. Maybe their secret was really something I shouldn't meddle with.

0o0o0o0

"I'll take the corner," Annabeth and Piper said at the same time. They split up and set up their sleeping bags on either side of the doors to the 6-person tent.

Miri, much to quickly, took a place next to Piper, and I found myself swallowing disappointment I didn't know would be there.

I ended up getting the spot between Annabeth, and Lara, who was in the center.

"Anyone want to hear some scary stories?" Lara said into the dark.

"Scary stories are overrated," Annabeth muttered. "Someone tell a happy one."

"Something that ends in happily ever after," Piper agreed.

Lara laughed. "You guys are weird." But she told a story anyway. It was suspiciously similar to the plot of Mamma Mia combined with Cinderella, but I held back my judgement in favor of finishing the story sooner.

I never did hear the ending of the story. I woke up to sounds out in the trees, and voices.

"I've got it!" I heard Percy yell.

A roar sounded, and I reached for the knife tucked at my side.

"Just wait," I heard from in front of me. Lara was awake too.

"Just wait for what?" another voice asked. Mira was awake too. "Whoever that is to hurt our friend?"

What, I wanted to say. Not who.

Whooshing noises and the sounds of objects hitting each other continued for a few more minutes, and then the tent door unzipped.

Lara and I got ready to defend ourselves, but it was only Piper and Annabeth. I hadn't noticed in the darkness that they weren't in the tent with us anymore.

Before I could open my mouth to speak, Lara covered it with a hand. The message was clear enough to me: don't let them know that we were awake. Miri must have caught on as well, as she only shuffled slightly in her sleeping bag, but didn't say a word.

"I knew that all of us coming would be a bad idea," Annabeth whispered, "but I didn't think it would be this bad."

"Neither did I. You'd think there were more of us than just four," Piper responded.

"Leo told me what happened on the hike," Annabeth continued.

"Are you thinking what we are?"

"It's unlikely that they would have survived into adulthood alone like that, but I don't see another explanation."

"What should we do? We have to say something."

"No," Annabeth said. "We can't risk it when we're not sure. We have to talk to Chiron first."

"Alright."

The two girls climbed back into their bags. For a while, I was quite sure that no one in our tent was asleep, and I wondered how many of the boys were awake as well.

0o0o0o0o0

"What's the plan for today," my dad asked the next morning. He looked calm and refreshed, enough so that I doubted he had woken up in the middle of the night as we had.

"Er," Piper began, " Mr Bell."

"You can call me Ben."

"Ben. I got a call this morning from camp. They need all counselors there ASAP"

"And you're a counselor?" Ben guessed.

"All four of us are," Percy agreed.

"I'm so sorry to have to cut the trip short," Annabeth added. "But it really seemed like an emergency."

Lara and I shared a look. Strange fights in the middle of the night, and a supposed emergency, huh?

"It's okay, Anna," Lara said. "We'll have to try again sometime."

Everyone agreed that there wasn't much point in staying any longer, so everything was packed away into the vehicles. The four campers piled into Piper's car and left first.

Andrew got into my dad's van and looked like he expected Miri and I to follow. I didn't want to be unfriendly, but I did want to have some time to talk to my sister. Preferably, alone.

"Why don't I take Savannah with me," Lara requested. "We could use some time together."

"That sounds like a fine idea," Ben agreed.

"But -"

"Miri, just let it go," Andrew told her. "Besides, we can watch a movie or something to pass time. There's a tv in here."

Lara let our dad leave first, and when we got out onto the highway, it was clear why.

"Where did you set the GPS to?" I asked as we turned in a direction our dad certainly hadn't.

"A while ago I acquired a GPS tracker. The expensive one that we were going to put on Marlo's collar, remember?"

"Yeah." I did remember. Our old dog had gone missing so many times that Lara had invested in a collar that would track his live position and send it to her phone. Unfortunately, Marlo hadn't lived long enough for the collar to be of use.

Lara cleared her throat and took another turn. "I might have turned it on and put it in Annabeth's bag."