In Eyes So Blue | Part 1/3

[redkislington]

Adam let out a long, contented sigh, his muscles relaxing as the water lapped at his sides. The melody of the waves added with the cool caress cleared his mind like nothing else could. He was at peace in the water, whereas he could never find peace anywhere else.

“Adam!”

His eyes opened, a frown forming on his face as Lea called for him. Just like that the peace was shattered. The water became too hot, and the sand seared his backside. He groaned and sat up, turning around to see her walking up to him. He could tell tonight would be bad.

“You were supposed to come straight home after school.” She scolded, her leather-like face sneering. She grabbed him around the arm a little too hard and pulled him up to his feet. “You still have chores from yesterday to do.” The sneer turned into a half smile, a sinister edge belying any good intentions she tried to convey. “I suppose I’ll just have to double your work, then.”

He wanted to argue, to say that she was being unfair to him, but he just shoved the thought down, replacing it of dreams of moving out when his eighteenth birthday came in nine months. “Yes, ma’am.” She nodded curtly, then brought him to the car waiting in the parking lot, carrying his sneakers in the other hand.

When they got to the cramped apartment in downtown L.A., he was dragged back up the stairs by Lea again and quickly put to work. He had managed to finish most everything in the apartment when Lea’s husband, Cody, got back from the bar, belligerent and doing a number on Adam’s gag reflex as always.

After drunken verbal abuse and getting horrible rug burns on his knees and elbows he was sent to bed. He took a quick shower, taking as much time as possible under the soothing jets until he heard Lea’s yelling. He crawled into bed in his pajama pants and sat staring at the ceiling in his broom-closet of a room.

He went to sleep dreaming of getting to someday meet his real parents, and spending the entire day in the ocean without having to worry about his foster parents. Or anything else, for that matter.

School wasn’t any better.

They’d gotten a sub in his Gym class, and he really seemed to be set on killing him through the most ridiculous endurance training drills. He’d gotten a detention for ‘not working’ when he was just getting side-tracked by a jock attempting to run him into the wall during one of the laps. Matt was gone today, kept in Mr. Desai’s class doing god knows what.

That, Adam thought, was the worst. Matt was always there for him, keeping him somewhat sane in his horrid life, and reminding him that things would get better soon. Matt was his crutch.

Adam chuckled as he thought that, pausing in the doodle on the desk in the detention hall as he thought fondly of his friend; curly hair, fedora, and crutches. Though, he would never say what happened to get him that way, it seemed like his friend had been using them for a while. Especially considering he could maneuver the crowded hallways the way he did, always dodging people, moving through the huge school well in bounds of the three minute break period.

He groaned as the bell rang, signaling the end of the day. He dumped his pen into his pocket, slung his back pack over his shoulder and practically ran to the buses.

When he saw Matt, he tried to get his attention. But instead all he got in response was a grave look and then Matt was hopping onto the bus to take him home, in the opposite direction of Adam’s stop. He sighed and climbed onto his bus and settled in to the thirty minute ride, where he would get off a stop early near the beach and settle into the caress of the ocean waves until Lea came to get him. And life would start over on the cycle that he’s known for all seventeen years of his life.

The next day started off different. There wasn’t the yelling and screaming of Lea and Cody, instead a gentle hum was echoing in to his room from the kitchen. He blinked awake, slowly pulled himself out of the bed and padded out. He gaped as he saw Lea was in front of the stove, cooking.

She turned to him and smiled. “Oh, good morning, Adam.” She nodded her head back to the table, which, instead of the usual scattering of alcohol bottles and stains that would never make you imagine wanting to eat over it, was spotless and draped with a flawless white cloth. “Sit down, dear. Breakfast will be done in a few minutes.”

He blindly made his way to the table and slumped into the chair, still staring. He must’ve still been dreaming, there was no way this was actually happening. He squeezed his eyes shut, pinched his arms a few times, but it was no use. He swallowed as she walked away from the oven with a plate in one hand, spatula in the other, and wearing a hot pink apron. He distinctly remembered Lea saying she’d never be caught dead in it before.

“Here you are, dear.” She flashed him a sunny smile, setting the plate in front of him then sitting across from him. He wasn’t sure he liked how she was watching him.

“Er…” He stared down at the plate; everything looked good, sure, but something was off. “I-I’m not hungry.” He tried to get up and winced as a hand squeezing just a little too tight on his shoulder slammed him back down.

“Now Adam.” She started, the deceiving smile back. “You need to keep up your strength, dear.” He swallowed at the spark in her eyes, and shivered when she licked her lips.

He was just about to argue when a series of knocks sounded on the door. He glanced over, seeing Lea’s lips twitch before she stood up to answer. He sagged in relief when he saw Matt in the doorway.

“Hey, Misses L.” He glanced nervously at Adam. “Would you mind-” He paused, staring at Adam for a long while. Adam took the opportunity to try and convey all he could in his features, though he wasn’t sure how much good it would do. Matt couldn’t exactly do anything.

Matt’s eyes flicked back to Lea, and what happened next…well, Adam’s not entirely sure it was possible or if he was crazy or what.

He stared as Matt leaned back on his crutches, kicking Lea across the room, and she hit the wall with a metallic bang. He thought for sure that he heard the sound of hooves clicking when Matt’s feet touched back to the ground. “Come on, Adam. We need to go!”

He nodded automatically and got up to rush out the door, but was stopped when Lea stepped in front of him. Only it wasn’t Lea. Her skin was practically pure ivory, lips ruby-red with long fangs bared behind them. His eyes trailed a little further to see a bronze, human-like left leg, and her right furry and cloven-hoofed, like that of a goat. He tried to dash past her but was stopped and instead flung to the floor with enough force to knock the breath out of him.

He heard yelling, and something clattered to the floor next to his head. He looked up enough to see Matt using his crutches to beat her away. He turned to Adam for long enough to motion to the object by his head. “Use it, Adam! I can only hold her down for a little longer.”

Adam nodded and turned to see…a pen. “Uh Matt…?”

“Take off the cap, man! Come on!”

He didn’t really see what he could possibly do to Not-Lea with a pen. Maybe squirt ink her eyes long enough for them to run away. He pulled the cap off and stared with wide eyes as the steel nub expanded, turning into a wavy blade of a sword, the pen body expanding enough to fit snug in his fist. “What the hell…” He gawped, the sword was a welcoming weight in his palm, and he somehow felt a lot safer with it.

He looked up to see Matt holding her back with both crutches; she still had the face of Lea, and though he didn’t like her he couldn’t just kill her. But…she wasn’t really Lea, wasn’t human. He was still convinced this was all a dream, anyway. Maybe he’d finally wake up if did this? He took a deep breath and swung, then cussed as she caught the blade with a smile. She was fully focused on him now, and she tried lunging at him. His mind reeled as his body moved on its own, sending him dodging into the side of the fridge to stop from getting chomped. The arm holding the sword swung again and caught her shoulder. He took a few seconds to stare as she hissed in pain, the cut bleeding red but the bits showing under the torn skin looking like embers. He swung the blade and squeezed his eyes shut at the squelching sound that followed the blade connecting with her neck, and the thud after that. He heaved a few deep breaths, trying everything he could to calm down. He dropped the sword onto the ground and slumped against the cool surface of the fridge.

“Hey, Adam, you okay?” Matt. He opened his eyes, looking everywhere but at the corpse a few feet away. He swallowed and nodded then sighed as Matt lifted him onto his feet. “I’ll go get the car ready, you pack everything you need in two minutes and we’ll leave.” With that Matt was gone. He had a million questions for Matt at the moment, but he was happy he was leaving. This dream - that seemed all the more real by the minute - might be getting better now that he was leaving. Or not. Whether they did, the thought still helped him keep from tearing his hair out a screaming as he packed his clothes, iPod and some notebooks with lyrics.

He was surprised to see Mr. Desai in the car, along with a woman he didn’t recognize with dark brown hair in the driver’s seat. He slid in beside Matt, putting his duffel in between his knees. “So, what’s going on?”

Matt huffed. “You’re very special, Adam. We’ve been trying to keep you under the veil for a while, Lea and Cody helped with that significantly.” He noticed how the woman’s hands tightened on the wheel at the mention of their names, and he was so busy trying to figure out why that he almost missed the next thing Matt said. “They smell so repulsively human it hides who you really are.”

“Wait, what?” He turned to Matt. “Are you saying that… You're not human?”

Matt nodded. “Yeah, I’ll show you sometime later.” He turned to the woman driving. “All three of us have been keeping an eye on you, and Leila has always been there for you.”

“Leila?” She glanced back in the rear view mirror with a smile directed to him.

“Yes, sweetheart.” He couldn’t help smiling a little at the heartwarming voice. He saw Matt grinning out of his peripheral. “I wish I could’ve been there for you more. I did manage to get you something every few years.” His mind automatically brought up the many music notebooks and iPod he got for his birthday. Supposedly they were always from Lea and Cody, but he doubted it. This seemed to prove it.

He was grinning stupidly, and he could feel it, but knowing that he had someone that actually cared about him like that was more than enough to warrant it. “Thank you.” He honestly couldn’t mind how his voice cracked. He felt Matt’s hand squeeze at his arm and, though he was afraid of what would be coming, he found himself free to relax for the moment. He leaned back into the seat and closed his eyes, falling asleep to the rocking motion of the car over the interstate.

When he woke up, they were far from the shimmering shores of LA. He could see the east coast in the distance, green pines in every direction. He shifted in the seat a little, wincing slightly. “Where are we?”

Professor Desai turned in the seat slightly. “We’re near New York.” He chuckled as Adam felt his eyes felt like they were going to pop out of his head. “You needed some time to recover from your encounter with the empousai.”

Adam shook his head slightly. “The…what?”

Matt spoke up now, and Adam gawped as he bit through a soda can and started chewing on it while he spoke. “The empousai. They’re nasty things. Part of ‘myths’.” He didn’t like what those air-quotes that Matt made around the can meant. “I guess you could think of them kinda like vampires, but, like, just from the waist up. They change shape, which means the one you killed back there is likely not Misses L.”

He nodded along, not really sure how to answer to that - or anything that’d happened really - and turned to look back out the window. The water looked like such a great place to be at the moment.

Leila pulled the car over to the side of the road in the middle of nowhere. They were on an old, beaten-up dirt road, with trees on every side. He blinked as Professor Desai started unbuckling, and actually stepped out of the car. Last he knew the geology professor was bound to a wheel chair. He peered out the window and gawped as he saw the professor’s upper body mounted on a horse’s lower half. “He’s…”

“A centaur.” Matt replied cheerfully. “He’s scouting ahead to make sure the way to camp is safe for you.”

He watched as Mr. Desai galloped off into a grouping of trees where he could just barely see a path winding through. He blinked as his vision was cut off by Matt. “We’ll have to be leaving soon.” He helped Adam up and out of the car and Adam noticed he didn’t have his crutches. Hell, he didn’t have pants. Or human legs, for that matter. Instead his lower half was furry, and he had hooves instead of toes.

“This is officially the weirdest day ever.” Adam knew he sounded so lame, and usually he would care if he wasn’t so mind-fucked at the moment. He pulled his bag onto his shoulder and turned as a hand fell onto his shoulder. He smiled as he saw Leila. “Thank you for everything.”

She beamed. “You’re welcome, dear.” She pulled him into a tight hug, peppering kisses on his cheek. “I’ll write to you as much as I can. Have fun at camp and don’t get into trouble.”

He gripped on her hand for a little longer, not really wanting to let go. She gave him one last smile before getting into the car and driving off, leaving him alone with his half goat friend and a pen-that-was-actually-a-sword.

After a while a horn sounded in the distance. Matt smiled and grabbed Adam by the elbow. “Kay, man. That was the signal.” Adam shivered as he stepped into the forest. It was dank and chilly, the smell of moss and wet bark churning his stomach. He exhaled slowly and continued following Matt for what felt like hours.

Finally, there was a glow of fire light breaking through the cover of trees. Adam sighed in relief and fixed his duffel on his shoulder, moving forward past Matt to get to the camp so he could sleep for a week.

He stopped as he heard something odd, a low, hissing growl. He looked up, mouth falling open as he saw a tall, snarling lion, a scorpion's tail flickering behind him. Adam reached into his jeans to take hold of the capped pen in his pocket, before looking over to Matt, who seemed to be having a panic attack. “Uh, huge lion thing, Matty.” Adam nudged him, bringing him out of his panic. “What do we do?”

Matt visibly swallowed then his eyes grew to the size of saucers as the tail rose. “Run!”

Matt pushed him to the side, flinging his own body off somewhere back in the brush. Something whizzed by him and just barely missed his flailing arms and when he turned he saw a large, black barb stuck into the ground where he once stood. He scrambled up onto his feet and made a mad dash past the monster. He thought he was safe when a large archway came into view, the words above at first glance seeming to be some other language, like Greek, maybe, and then reading out as ‘Camp Half-Blood’. He just had a few more feet to go when a sharp pain spiked through his shoulder and the force of whatever struck him sent him sprawling on the ground.

A harsh burn consumed his shoulder and the upper part of his arm in a matter of seconds. He winced and slowly stood up, shuddering as he saw a barb stuck into the area. Something a bit more alarming was just behind it though; he turned fully to see the lion-thing stalking toward him, tail up in the air and directed for him.

He stumbled back a few steps, and braced himself when he saw the lion position itself like it was ready to pounce. He really didn’t think it would end this way, being killed by a giant lion-scorpion thing trying to get to some camp that he didn’t know anything about.

“Hey! Over here!” Adam opened his eyes as he heard another voice somewhere behind him, followed by another barb squealing through the air. He turned to see a tiny, scruffy, brown haired boy waving his arms in the air and dodging when it shot the barbs. He smiled at Adam for a split second before dodging and yelling some more.

Adam stared for a few moments before someone started pushing him toward the archway. “Come on, Adam, let’s go!” came Matt’s trembling voice.

“B-but…” He glanced at the boy, who had now resorted to tossing an arm full of rocks. He was slowly inching closer to the gate, and when he glanced at Adam he shot a quick smirk. He ran for the gate, and for a moment he panicked when he heard the lion stop shooting barbs and the boy started yelling again.

“Watch out!”

Adam gasped as another barb hit him, striking his left calf and making him fall onto the ground again. His vision was blurring a little, and his mind was starting to drift from the pain. He could barely feel two pairs of hands around him and he heard the lion roaring in the distance before he passed out.



He opened his eyes to see the boy leaning over him, giving him an infectious smile. “Good, you’re awake.” He lifted a cup to Adam’s lips, tilting it back enough for him to take a small swallow. It tasted like French Silk ice cream. “I guess with all the stress and everything combined with the Manticore’s poison knocked you out.” He brushed Adam’s bangs back and it took everything he had not to purr and lean into it.

“What happened to that thing?”

The boy shrugged. “I guess once we got past the barrier, he left.” The boy drew his hand back and lifted up Adam’s duffel that he dropped in the clearing. “We went back and grabbed your things. Didn’t really know when you’d be awake. We’ll let you move your things in your cabin once you’re well enough.”

Adam nodded and managed to sit up a little, taking a few deep breaths. They were in what looked like a military infirmary, more than anything else, but it was different. There was a different feel to everything. There was no smell of antiseptics and sickness, like he'd expect. This smelled like the inside of a candy store almost, the smell getting stronger when the boy brought the cup that tasted like ice cream to his lips. For another, each bunk seemed to be an individual bed, soft and cushiony and better than anything he’d ever slept on. There was a fireplace against the wall opposite the door, a small girl stoking the flames inside with a tiny, peaceful smile.

He looked back to the boy; he had to laugh when he thought of the tiny guy next to him and Matt dragging his dead weight through the woods. The boy grinned and stretched a little, leaning back in his seat. “So…” He dropped his legs from where he propped them up against the bed frame for a moment, the chair legs clicking against the floor. “Are you well enough for a bit of a tour? You could probably use the fresh air after being cooped up in here for three days.”

He just barely stopped himself from freaking out about being unconscious for that long. He nodded his head slightly, wincing as his stiff legs cracked when he stepped out. The boy chuckled as he wobbled and moved up so Adam could brace himself as he got used to walking again. He decided to ignore how perfectly the boy fit against his side for now, he had enough going on without having to add boys to the mix.

They walked out - the boy walked, Adam hobbled - out the infirmary cabin and out into a huge clearing. There were several cabins in every direction, and kids running around with swords and shields fighting each other. He could see an archery range in the distance, and by a small lake another group of kids - mostly girls with a few boys like Matt laughing. Now that he noticed, there was laughter all over, and when he actually concentrated on the faces pretty much everyone was smiling from ear to ear. It made him feel a lot better about staying here.

“Oh. I never really found out your name and all.” Adam blinked and looked down at the boy, who was now walking beside him since Adam had managed to getting his legs working on their own. “My name’s Kris, with a K.” He held out his hand with a crooked smile, making Adam smile back.

“Adam.” He grabbed Kris’s hand and blinked as the boy didn’t shake, but instead laced their fingers and dropped their hands between them with a grin. “Oh…uh…” He looked up from their joined hands after noticing they really fit well together despite the size differences - back to Kris’ face. “Thanks for helping me back there.”

Kris shrugged. “It’s cool.” He stopped in front of a cabin; it looked a lot older and abused than the others, and above the entryway was a symbol he recognized. Just as he was about to ask, Kris started explaining. “It’s Hermes staff, a Caduceus.” He winked at Adam. “My cabin, and where you’ll be staying until we find out where you’re supposed to go.”

After a small tour of the cabin, which overflowed with kids, and knowing that he’d be rooming with the first person he knew at camp, he would be glad when he was moved. They came in front of two, completely empty cabins. “And these?”

Kris looked up then chuckled. “Poseidon and Zeus’ cabins.” He gestured to the one to the right first. Adam looked them both over; the one to the right must’ve been Zeus’, grand and all white marble, and there were lightning bolts decorating the pillars outside. The left was significantly smaller, made of gray stone and pieces of seashell. He stepped a little closer to Poseidon’s cabin as Kris went on. “There aren’t really that many people who live in these, seeing as they aren’t really allowed to have children and all.” That made Adam’s hand still on the cool stone.

“Wait…” He turned to Kris. “Children?” He paused, for a moment. “You mean, everyone here, and all the cabins and shit…” He trailed off, swallowing as he heard Kris chuckle.

“Yeah, some gods like to have flings with humans.” He gestured between the two of them. “We’re the result of that. We‘re demigods.” Adam’s legs suddenly didn’t feel so steady, and everything seemed to be spinning. He groaned and felt Kris beside him all the sudden, leaning him back onto the steps leading up to the cabin. “I know. It’s a quite a bit to take in.”

Adam shook his head; that was seriously understated. He couldn’t be son of a god, it was impossible. He was just a normal, ordinary, human kid. He was not a damn demigod.

After a few minutes passed, Kris let out a sigh. “’Kay man.” He eased Adam onto his feet and they started head back toward the infirmary. “I’ll come see you sometime later today. You should probably rest for now.”

Adam wanted to argue. He didn’t want to rest, nor did he want any of this. He wanted to go back to when things were simple, when he had a routine. It might’ve been painful and horrible, but at least then he had an idea of what was going to happen. He knew what was happening in his life, but now, he was absolutely clueless.

He huffed out a sigh and glanced over to the lake longingly; what he wouldn’t give for a few minutes in the ocean right now.

The water in the lake was colder, and there was no hypnotic lapping of the waves on the shore, but it was an acceptable substitute. Adam let out a deep sigh as he finally stepped into the water, smiling as it slipped between his toes and an instant calm came over him. He rolled his jeans up a little more and peeled off his shirt, tossing it onto the dock with his shoes, and moved the rest of the way into the lake.

When the water got up to his chest he dove in. He kept his eyes closed until he managed to swim to the very bottom of the lake, his hand digging into sand as he did. He opened his eyes, staring up through the surface several feet above and grinned as he saw Kris’ blurry form. He’d have to come up for air soon, anyway.

He pushed off of the lake floor and broke through the surface, sucking in a mouthful of oxygen and beaming at Kris. He was now sitting on the dock, wearing a tank top and shorts - a lot different compared to the leather and metal plates from before. He held a towel out to Adam as he climbed up onto the dock beside him. “How’d the lake treat you?” Kris grinned. “I hope the naiads didn’t bother you. You look like you’d be just their type.”

Adam rolled his eyes as he dried his hair, sighing and flopping back onto the walkway. “I’m thinking I should’ve taken that mythology course when I had the chance.”

Kris laughed and fell beside him, his arms curling around his head. “Yeah, probably.” He hesitated for a moment. “You know, you’re going to be safer here. All those monsters outside can’t get into the camp.”

“That’s good, I don’t want to get killed or anything but…” He trailed off when Kris sat up again, giving him this odd look. Adam sighed. “I had a plan, you know. I was finally going to get out and have my own life.” He smiled slightly. “I mean, I always planned on going to New York sometime but…this wasn’t exactly how I thought it’d go.”

Kris nodded. “I know what you mean.” He faced back to the lake, staring unseeingly at the water. “I always thought that someday I would be some huge rock star, write songs and share them with the world. Then a Minotaur rampaged through the school yard when I was thirteen and I found out from my best friend what you found out today.” He looked over at Adam, frowning a little. “I don’t know what you went through to get here, but there have been so many kids that died on their way. With that, numerous others who weren’t demigods that have died because of us…” He sighed, falling back onto the boards with a thud. “There are ways that things can be so much worse.”

Adam stared at him, watching as he played with the pendant of his necklace - the same symbol as the one on his cabin - then moved a little closer, looping his arm around him. “It’s not your fault, you know.”

Kris nodded. “Yeah, I know.” After a few minutes passed he sighed and shrugged out from under Adam, standing up on the dock. “Your orientation is in a few minutes. I’ll take you there and then we have to turn in for the night.” Adam looked up at him as Kris held his hand out for him. He sighed and took the proffered hand, letting Kris lead him to the infirmary again.

Now that he was getting a good look at it, it seemed to be more than just an infirmary. He stared at the deep blue, four story building - it looked more like a seaside resort than anything else - until Kris pulled him in. They walked down the path between beds, a few kids inside the sheets and a few walking around tending for them. Kris kept leading him through until they made it to the back, where they exited onto a deck. He saw Matt there, along with Mr. Desai and another man. He was short, with dark hair and eyes, and wearing a tiger-pattern Hawaiian shirt. The old Geology professor was back in a wheelchair, and if Matt wasn’t there with his furry lower half Adam would’ve thought that this was all just a crazy dream.

“Adam!” He kept his eyes up as Matt trotted over to him and pulled him into a hug. “Good to see you up and walking around, man.” He pulled away and looked at Kris. “Thanks for taking care of him, Kris.”

Adam felt a pang of anger at that. He figured that Matt would be there to care for him most of the time, seeing as Matt was his friend, or at least he thought he was. He felt a squeeze on his hand and looked to see Kris giving him a small smile before releasing his hand. “I’m going to get Adam’s cot set up so I’ll leave him to you guys.” He waved grinning at the two older men playing cards at the small table. “See ya around, Anoop, Mr. D.”

The other man, whom he assumed to be Mr. D, rolled his eyes at Kris, waving his hand in the air for a moment before a goblet appeared out of thin air, settling on the table before filling with red wine. Adam gawped as he started to lift the goblet up then looked over to Mr. Desai, who was giving him a warning look. The man sighed and set the glass down, waved his hand Adam could feel his eyes bugging out when it turned into a can of Diet Coke.

He heard Mr. Desai chuckle, and when he looked back at his old teacher he saw the wheelchair was again replaced with a horse’s body. “Come, Adam.” He looked to Mr. D. “We’ll continue our game later.”

The man nodded and waved him off and then they were moving down a hall in the house. “So…” Adam crossed his arms over his chest as he walked along with the…centaur. “How did he do that? With the…wine and the can and stuff.”

Mr. Desai chuckled. “I think you know, Adam.”

He thought for a few moments, thinking over how much mythology he actually knew. The wine, and how he was able to make things appear out of thin air like that. “He’s a god…”

Mr. Desai nodded. “He’s on probation for pursuing after an off-limits wood nymph. He’s the camp director here.” He grinned. “He doesn’t like heroes that much.”

Adam’s mind was still caught on the fact that he just met a god when they walked into another room, looking almost like an apartment. He blinked when he heard Mr. Desai calling him and saw the centaur motioning for him to sit on the couch there. When he was settled, Mr. Desai handed him a mug of tea then started speaking again. “How much do you know about Greek mythology, Adam?”

He took a small sip then settled the mug on the coffee table in front of him, then shrugged. “Not very much, I know all the well-known…stuff. Like a few names, like Zeus and Poseidon.”

He heard the boom of thunder in the distance and looked out the window, seeing a group of dark gray clouds in the distance. “You should be careful about how you throw around names, Adam.” He looked back to Mr. Desai to see him looking a bit wearily at him. “Kris actually has something that should help you with the monsters and all the gods myths. He didn’t tell you about claiming, did he?” When Adam shook his head, Mr. Desai went on. “A god has to claim their child before they’re housed officially, while they’re unclaimed they stay in Hermes cabin.”

Adam nodded slowly. “And how do you know when you’re claimed?”

Mr. Desai grinned. “You’ll know. Now, I’m sure you’re wondering what you’re here for other than protection.” Adam nodded enthusiastically, quickly setting down the mug he was raising up again. Mr. Desai chuckled. “We’re here to train you, make sure you know about everything out there and how to kill it, if you can.”

Adam smiled slightly. “When I know everything, I can go back to L.A. and live a normal life, right?” His heart dropped as he saw Mr. Desai flinch. “Um…I won’t have to spend the rest of my life here, will I?”

Mr. Desai huffed and tucked in his two front legs before sitting onto a plush carpet beside the couch. “I can’t say for sure. It usually depends on whichever god you’re born under.”

Adam didn’t like the sound of that. He sighed and slumped back into the cushions, the rest of Mr. Desai’s words disappearing behind the thought of never even having the chance to try for his dreams, of never getting to go home to L.A.

Kris was waiting for him when he got out about an hour later. He smiled brightly at Adam, turning on his heel and holding his hand out for him. Despite how very much Adam wanted to scream and throw an impressive tantrum, he reached out for him. He didn’t know Kris, but knowing he was going through the same thing made him feel more comfortable.

He sighed as they made their way to the cabin, the diminishing fire pit in the center of the campsite being their only source of light. Kris squeezed his hand a little and looked up at him curiously. “How’d it go?”

Adam flinched slightly. “It was fine.” He looked back ahead. “Mr. Desai said you had something to show me.”

Kris nodded. “Yeah, I’ll show you when we get to the cabin.” He grinned, bouncing his steps a little. “Put your bunk next to mine.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at Kris’s enthusiasm. Kris giggled and pulled them into the cabin, leading Adam clear to the back. It was actually not as crowded bunk wise there, which was a relief. He saw his duffel on the top of the very back bunk and chuckled as he saw Kris climbing into the bottom part. He emerged a short time later from under the covers with his hair mussed up and a huge book in his hand. “Here it is.” Adam took it in his hands and stared at the cover. It looked like it was a text book, and when he opened to the front page, he saw it was a stamp telling him it was from Conway Public School District. “I was taking the class for extra credits when I had to come here. I figured it’d be useful at some point. A lot of it’s pretty accurate, too.”

He closed the book, keeping his eyes on the cover as he settled in beside Kris on his bunk. “Thanks.” He tightened his grip on the book slightly as Kris moved closer and pulled an arm around his back. “You’re a really nice guy.” He huffed. “I haven’t really had too many good people in my life.” He wasn’t really sure if he trusted the people he had in his life before. Matt and Mr. Desai said they were watching him, trying to keep him safe, and considering he was treated like dirt by Cody all the time he didn’t think they were doing that great a job. He looked over at Kris, remembering the look on his face after he told Adam what happened when he came here. He looked so dejected and guilty, and Adam’s hands tightened on the book even more when he thought about how they’d let that happen, too. The boom of thunder rattled the building, and the wind started battering the walls outside, as if the weather were trying to imitate his emotions.

“I’ll always be here.” He focused back on Kris, then back to the book as he felt one of his hands being pried off. He stared as Kris laced their fingers together, and managed a smile, which nearly doubled as he was pulled into an awkward hug. “I’m going to bed now, but if you need me I’ll be right here.” He offered a huge, beaming smile and released Adam.

He tucked the book into the top of his bunk, pulled off his t-shirt and climbed up into the bunk. He peeked over the edge a few minutes later to see most everyone was asleep, there were a few lights coming from I-Pods or games, but most of the room was dark. He leaned over the edge of his cot a little and grinned when he saw that Kris was already sleeping, clutching his pillow to his chest with a tiny smile. He pulled himself back up and resettled into the bed with a grin before he drifted off.

Adam woke up the next morning - was it morning? It was still dark outside. Kris shook him awake and yelled something at him. Everyone else was throwing on armor and grabbing swords then running out of the cabin with panicked expressions. This couldn’t be good.

He leapt out of the bunk and gazed at Kris. Thankfully there was an explanation as Kris hauled him into the back corner for the same armor everyone else was putting on. “Something got through the barrier. I don’t know what yet but it nearly killed about fifteen people already.”

Adam stared as Kris tried to force a sword into his hand. It didn’t feel right, felt too heavy and it didn’t grip right in his hand. He looked to the duffel bag still packed on his bunk and propped the sword up against the wall. He heard Kris following him. “Adam, I know you don’t want to do any of this fighting stuff. I don’t really want to either, but someone could get seriously hurt or die.” He dug around for a few seconds before his hand curled around the pen. He grinned and pulled it out then uncapped it and watched it unfold. Kris, who was still going on up until that point, stopped and stared, then looked back up at him, shoulders slumping a little. “Alright then, let’s go.”

He grimaced as he walked out and the sound of screaming and fighting multiplied. He searched for the source for all of two seconds before his eyes landed on a mass of other kids in armor, and… “Oh shit.”

He looked over to Kris, seeing his eyes wide and he heard the sword clatter to the ground. He looked back up to the monster; it had the head of a bull and fur all over, some muscles visible underneath, and stood at least six feet above everyone. Adam looked down at his sword for a few seconds then back up at the monster. He took two seconds to tell himself how crazy this was before he rushed in, the sound of Kris’ warnings following after him.

When he was about fifteen feet from it the beast looked up, and at that point it seemed to find him a lot more interesting than the others since it kicked a majority of them away with one hoof while striding towards him. Not exactly what he was expecting, and that made this idea of killing it seem rather idiotic.

He skidded to a stop, backing up a few steps before cussing and rushing back. He glanced around the campsite for anything to kill it or at least disable it for the others to take care of it. He looked over to the lake, then blinked as he saw the water shuddering, lapping against the stone shore angrily.

‘Just concentrate, Adam.’ He almost tripped as a low voice echoed in his head, glancing back as he corrected his stride. He looked back at the water, gaping as a pillar started to rise from the surface.

Without anymore thought of how impossible this was, he squeezed his eyes shut and just concentrated on the water. A few seconds more and he heard a few gasps break out around the camp and the monsters rumbling steps stopped. He turned and stared; the monster was caught in a pillar of water, thrashing around, until it’s movements got more sluggish and it went limp. After a few minutes passed the spire melted away, rushing back toward the lake. The hulking creature wobbled for a moment before toppling over, making the earth rattle below his feet.

Adam gulped down breaths of air, feeling lightheaded and his legs trembling underneath him, before he felt himself tumbling down, someone yelling as everything around him went dark.