As Long As I Live

Nightmare

Crash!

I whipped my head up toward the source of the sound. A dark figure loomed in the doorway, standing over a broken vase. "Ah." He laughed. "Chaos always makes me feel so... alive."

The tone of his voice was like acid in my head. I shuttered violently. "Wh-who are you?" I managed to rise to my feet, despite the dear racing through my veins.

"I'm afraid you'll have to figure that out on your own, or else, I'll kill you and your friends." He sounded delighted by the idea.

My jaw dropped. "You wha-?" Then, I realized I wasn't in my cabin. The walls were blood-red, no light could be seen.

The only escape visible was through the door.

"It's such a shame, having to cut a young demigod's life short." A menacing chuckle escaped the mysterious man's lips.

"N-no!" I scrambled away from his hand which was slowly outstretching.

"No? You'd rather me torture you first, as I did to your mother?"

My heart dropped. "Y-you killed her?!"

"Of course I did." The man shrugged casually. "Her screams of agony were satisfying."

My face contorted from shock to anger. "How dare you! You had no right to take away her life!" I snarled.

The man gave me an amused look. "Oh really? I guess you don't know who's in charge." Once again, his hand began to stretch outward, reaching for my face. "I'll teach you a lesson." He said. I shut my eyes, knowing I couldn't fight back if I wanted to.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Then, I woke up.

Gasping for air, I tried to calm my racing heart. It was only a dream, yet I could feel tears streaking down my face. It was still dark out, but I decided I needed some fresh air.

With a determined breath, I wiped my tears away, burring my feelings underneath a fake smile. I crept outside, careful not to wake my cabin mates.

The night air was cool and crisp on my skin as I glanced up at the ever growing sea of stars. They twinkled like diamonds on a black canvas, randomly tossed in any direction.

They soon disappeared and a canopy of trees crowded my vision. I was entering the forest.

After a week of staying at Camp Half-Blood, I'd heard the warning many times. "Don't go into the forest at night!" They would say. "It's dangerous!"

Despite common sense urging otherwise, I headed off into the depths of the monster infested woods.

I was surprised no monsters were seen anywhere. To them, any demigod smelled like a good meal, so I was half expecting to be devoured alive.

No, nothing followed me as I went wherever my feet were leading me. Or so I thought.

My pace began to slow as Bunker 9 came into view. Of course I had subconsciously made my way to the hideout! It was my favorite place in the whole camp after all.

I walked up to the door, but stopped suddenly. I wasn't a child of Hephaestus so how was I supposed to get in.

"Crap!" I mumbled as I scanned the place for an extra entrance.

When I found none, I sat down, my back against the rock. "I'm so stupid. I should've realized I couldn't ope-."

As if my words were magical, the entrance opened.

My jaw dropped. "What the... how did I...."

I stopped when I saw an unusually serious Leo standing inside.

"Y/n! What are you doing in the forest at night, by yourself?! You could get killed!" He frowned.

His foreign tone scared me, and I stepped back a little. His eyes softened when he saw this and he beckoned for me to follow him inside.

"I... uh... I'm sorry." I rubbed the back of my head, looking down at the floor.

"I should be the one saying that. I snapped at you." He replied. "It's just... I really don't want you to die. I don't want anyone to die for that matter. Going into the forest is basically a guaranteed death, so... why'd you do it?"

I stared for a moment, not sure of what to say. Finding the right words was rough in this situation. Finally, I spoke.

"This is going to sound really lame, but... I had a nightmare a-and I needed some fresh air. My feet just lead me here." I was afraid that he'd laugh at my pathetic state, but he just smiled sadly.

"It's not lame." He assured. "A nightmare isn't something you should be ashamed of, especially if you're a demigod."

He sat down on a makeshift bench and patted the spot next to him. I sat too, resting my head in my palm.

"Okay, story time!" Leo joked. I snorted at his attempt to be funny, glancing over at the fire boy.

He cocked his head to the side. "It's okay. You don't have to tell me, but if you do, I'll listen. I know it's hard to believe, but I can actually shut my mouth for long enough."

I couldn't help myself. I smiled at his sarcasm, deciding that retelling my dream wouldn't be so bad with McShizzle around.

So I started from the beginning. I described the man and quoted his every word. I relived the feelings that had piled up on me in that moment.

I stopped when my voice began to break. No, I couldn't cry. Not now. He didn't have time to deal with me and neither did I.

Leo saw this and patted my back in a comforting manner. "It's okay to let out your feelings, you know." He said in a hushed tone.

Despite this, I shook my head. I had to be strong. "I can't cry, Leo." I sighed. "I can't be weak."

"People cry, not because they're weak, but because they've been strong for too long." Leo quoted. I stared at him for a second, waiting for my mind to register.

"I didn't make that up, by the way." McShizzle continued. "Some smart guy did. I'm not that poetical."

Through the pain, I cracked a smile. "Johnny Depp?"

"I don't know, if you say so." He replied.

For the first time in a while, I let out a genuine laugh.

Some fluff and funny stuff I guess. ITS FINALLY SUMMER IM SO HAPPY! I'll be sure to update more often. Have a great day guys!