Decimate

Chapter Twenty Four--Dan--Where's Phil?

I closed the steel door of the Ares cabin behind me and walked next door to the Demeter cabin.

I opened the door quietly and peeked in, not seeing Phil. I did see Katie though, and I walked over to her.

"Hey Katie, have you seen Phil?"

She shook her head. "Haven't seen him all day actually."

Wrinkling my brow, I left.

"Let me know if you find him," Katie called after me.

I nodded in response and left.

"Phil?" I called as I walked about. Maybe he was visiting Mark?

I opened the door to the Aphrodite cabin and peeked in. Mark was sitting on his bed, holding a pencil and staring at a blank notebook.

"Hey Mark," I whispered. "Have you seen Phil?"

He put down his notebook and joined me outside. "He came to see me earlier. He was really sad. I tried to talk to him, but he said he wanted to be alone and left."

"I can't find him anywhere," I said, pursing my lips. "What if he's missing?"

"Let's get Sean," Mark said. "Maybe he—"

"Why are you getting me?" Sean asked, coming up behind us.

"We can't find Phil," Mark explained. "Have you seen him?"

Sean nodded. "Just a little bit ago. He was running really fast, like his life depended on it. I tried to stop him but he completely ignored me."

I bit my lip. "Where was he going?"

"Into the forest."

I paled. "Phil hates the forest. He'd never go in there unless he had to."

Sean frowned. "We should look for him."

Mark shook his head. "No, we should go tell Chiron. Then we can get a bunch of people looking for him"

"How about this," Sean spoke up. "I'm the fastest. I'll go tell Chiron while you and Dan keep looking for Phil."

We nodded, and all ran in different directions.

"I'm sorry," Chiron said, shaking his head. Almost everyone in camp had spent the entire day looking for Phil, and we hadn't found him, or any sign of him.

"What do you mean you're sorry?" I asked Chiron. We were at a meeting with all the head campers, plus me Sean and Mark.

"We need to find him!" I exclaimed, desperation creeping into my voice.

Chiron shook his head. He seemed genuinely sorry. "As you know, Phil has been getting bullied. He most likely has run away. And if he doesn't want us to find him, we won't. Children of Demeter are very good hiders."

"Even weak ones?" Clarisse snickered.

Chiron put one hand on his forehead, as if he had a headache. He ignored Clarisse.

"I'm sorry Daniel."

I stared at him with anger and disbelief for a moment more, then stood and stormed out, with Mark and Sean at my heels.

"Come on guys," I told them, fuming. "Let's pack."

Sean caught up to me. "Where are we going?"

"We're going to find Phil."

|A/N: Yay actual plot! Anyway, I'm actually writing on my computer before publishing it, and it should end between chapter 30-40. Or less or more, idk. Don't worry though, there will be a sequel! Or a few... NYEH HEH HEH|