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Post by Max on Nov 3, 2013 14:44:38 GMT -5
A man by the name of Bernard Joseph Saurin once said, "How long the night seems to one kept awake by pain." I thought I understood what this man meant years ago; however, now I see it means so much more.
Years before I figured out who I was, who I am, I was happy. I was naive. Innocent. I believe I could change the world for the better by fighting for the little guy. Now it's clear to me, I have a million more problems than him.
Camp Half Blood helped me in many ways. It helped me control my abilities, which basically had controlled my life from the beginning. I was fourteen when I found it.
At first, Camp Half Blood was going to be my temporary safe haven, but then it became my home. Nothing could have brought me down until I started wanting to know more about my mother.
My mother, the goddess called Nyx, was born of Chaos and ruled over the shadows. It was said that she could only be caught in a glimpse. To this day I have never been so "fortunate." Nyx, my mom, was feared by the other gods; however, there aren't many accounts of her acting against any of them.
No one at camp, no one who knows my mother, bothered me. They were all pretty nice actually. Until I met a son of Zeus named Duke Tracy.
When I met Duke it was my third year in Camp Half Blood. Although it was his first, he believed he owned the place.
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Post by Max on Nov 3, 2013 15:28:58 GMT -5
After maybe a week of knowing Duke, I could see he had it out for me. I would say before Duke I was pretty well known around camp, well in a good way. Duke made it his personal job to make me an outcast to my kind, the demigods.
At this time, my mother still had yet to claim me. I didn't know why she didn't just up and claim me. Maybe she just didn't want to acknowledge me. It was fine until Duke pointed it out.
After weeks of being taunted by Duke and his friends about my mother and her desertion of me, I had just about had enough. During dinner, Duke strode past me and nudged my arm making the food in my hand slip and stain my clothes.
"Oh sorry man." He slapped my arm lightly as if we had been friends for years. I told him it was fine and tried to walk away. "Though it doesn't matter because you have no parent to give it to." He said with a chuckle. I looked Duke in the eye and the next thing I knew was black.
I opened my eyes. My chest heaved as I tried to regain my breath. I unclenched my hands and noticed a body on the ground. It was Duke, knocked out cold. The campfire crackled and burst outward, making the crowds of people around it back away in fear. It turned from a orange color to a cool blue. My name echoed across the camp.
I felt the back of my eyes burn and a sharp pain grow on my upper back. The fire continued to burn brighter and bigger until the wood that had been stacked together to make it was totally singed into dark ash. On the ground where the fire had been was a symbol that was lit up by the moonlight.
My mother's name echoed around the camp, but this time it was the campers who said it. Over and over. After I nearly beat Duke to death, my mother had claimed me. How sick was that? It's like she was saying "That's my boy!" after I nearly murdered him.
From then on I was feared because of my mother's control over me. To this day I still hear about that night and how I broke Duke's arm and fractured his ribs, and how my eyes turned dark, and how the little ones still have nightmares about me. I would never be accepted at Camp Half Blood the same way again and I have two ways of remembering this: the constant talk about me and the huge scar on my back my mother graciously gave to me.
After a week had passed I asked Chiron what the symbol meant.
"It's your mother's symbol." He said showing me a picture of a circle connected to two crescent moons that looked just like my scar.
"Of course it is." I said with a sarcastic smile.
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Post by Max on Nov 4, 2013 22:01:19 GMT -5
I then was outcasted by the other campers because of their fear for my mother. They knew she would never act, but wanted to make sure I would never have the courage to act myself.
There weren't many other times I would black out and go into total killing machine mode in the camp. Out in the world is another story for another day.
Duke and his gang would corner me on certain days, maybe if I accidentally looked a Duke or said hello to his crush Jenna, and they would beat me or tie me to a tree in a random part of the forest. Thanks to them my skin became tougher and I had a great sense of direction. After awhile I knew the forest like the back of my hand. Duke and his losers would leave me stranded, but I would be back on campus in no more than thirty minutes. Unknowingly, I was becoming a bigger threat to Duke and his crush Jenna was falling for me.
I never really knew why Jenna liked me. She was pretty, smart, and could make anything of herself. She was good. A daughter of Athena. I was a son of Nyx. I was bad. Why did she want to stoop to my level?
Jenna wasn't playing me. She really did care and did her best to convince myself I was good too. I couldn't believe it especially after what happened.
Duke told me to meet him outback behind the Hermes cabin one day. I didn't trust him so I brought a dagger from the training field. I carefully made my way there and found Duke beating a kid and making his crying sister watch.
Before I could say anything, I blacked out.
When I woke I saw blood stained dirt on the ground around me. Duke was feet away from me, cowering back into a tree. The girl who was crying earlier was yelling at me to stop. I looked around trying to figure out what happened. Where did the blood come from? Who's blood was it? Then I knew. Some of it was Duke's, but the majority of it was my own.
"I didn't... I didn't..." Duke started saying. I got light headed and struggled to my knees. The gash in my side bled through my orange camp tshirt.
The next time I saw Duke was at a trial Chiron led to see what would happen to Duke and I. He stared forward not looking up at me and gave his statement claiming that my wounds were self inflicted and he had found me like that.
I did my best to object, but Chiron stopped me and asked the only witness that would be fair. The crying girl from earlier. She stood and agreed with Duke's claim. I shook my head.
Chiron let Duke and the girl leave. He asked for my account and persuaded me to attend weekly therapy. I agreed though I knew I didn't need a therapist.
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Post by Max on Nov 5, 2013 20:10:55 GMT -5
After my short trial, I thought Jenna would never speak to me again. I avoided her for about three days until she saw me at the training field.
"Hey." She said as I threw a dagger against a target. I hit above the middle of the target.
"Hi." I said keeping my focus in my work. My aim worsened the longer se stood near me.
"So I was wondering... We're friends right?" Jenna asked.
I nodded throwing another dagger, this time it was too low.
"You're really sweet Jagger. I was thinking since we're good friends maybe we should hang out more. Like alone?" She rambled.
"Sounds good, Jenna." I said oblivious to her real intention.
She coughed and pushed some of her blonde bangs out of her face. "I mean on a date, Jagger. I'm trying to ask you out."
I threw another dagger, but it only made it halfway.
"Uh."
"Well?"
"You sure you want to go out with me? What about Duke?"
"Duke is a jerk."
I nodded in agreement. "Alright." I finally said with a little grin.
She smiled back. "Great. I'll see you around."
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Post by Max on Nov 10, 2013 20:12:06 GMT -5
Jenna and I were just like any teenage couple. We were always together and people envied us. At times I would even skip training sessions to see her.
This angered my mother and she sent me little messages every night through my dreams. She threatened to take me from the camp but I laughed her off which only angered her more. Then one night she threatened Jenna, and I told her she could do what she wanted and that I didn't care, but I didn't think she would take me literally.
That night, we demigods were wakened by a sudden scream in the night. It was blood curdling and I knew at that moment, it was Jenna.
I scrambled up from my bed and out of the cabin. My mind was racing with thoughts of what happened to Jenna to make her scream like that. Sadly, my mind moved faster than my sluggish body, still stuck in sleep mode.
"You're too late." Nyx said with a laugh.
I look at the woods near Jenna's cabin and see her lying awkwardly on the ground.
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