Haunted || Leo Valdez

37 - The Walls Come Crashing Down

Rebecca plunged into the woods, not really paying attention to where she was headed.

Just get to the Tree, she decided.

The Tree was where she often met up with Nico if it was too loud and busy near their cabin. It was deep enough in the woods that no one would immediately find them and bother them, but not so deep that it would take forever to get back to camp.

She climbed up as quickly as she could to the branch that was shaped like a seat. She leaned against the trunk and sighed. She would need to get back to Cabin 13 so she could pack a few essentials and get out of there, but first she needed to throw everyone off her scent by hiding in the woods.

It was starting to get dark. The sun had almost finished setting, which meant Rebecca hadn't been out long. Rebecca knew the cleaning harpies would be out soon, but she wasn't worried about them. She would be fine, as long as she got out of there.

Suddenly, Leo's head appeared from beneath her. Rebecca internally cursed. Of course, now she remembered, he knew about the Tree. She'd taken him here a few times. She knew she should've picked a different tree.

"Mind if I sit?" Leo asked.

Rebecca shrugged, making room on the branch.

"I hurt you, didn't I?" Rebecca asked, staring at Leo's bandaged arm.

"Ah, just a broken wrist," Leo reassured her. "Will set it in about five seconds. Said it should finish healing in a few days."

Rebecca brought her knees up to her chest and buried her face in them. Now she wasn't just hurting the bad guys. Now she was hurting her friends. How long would it be before one of her friends ended up with more than a broken wrist?

"Hey, don't worry about it," Leo said gently. "You'll get the hang of it. Look, if it matters, I'd rather have a broken wrist than be ripped apart by some crazy Dionysus stans."

Rebecca didn't respond. She'd rather Leo not have a broken wrist at all. She wanted to be dead and not have an evil spirit possessing her. Was that too much to ask?

"Really, it's fine--"

"It's not fine, Leo." Rebecca couldn't bring herself to yell at him, but she couldn't prevent herself from speaking in a frustrated tone. "I can't control it. And when I was being possessed, I wanted to hurt those Maenads. I wanted to tear them to pieces like they tried to do with us and scatter their remains in Tartarus. If Anne hadn't stopped me, that's probably what I would've done, and I wouldn't have stopped there." She looked Leo in the eye. "Leo, this Malignant Spirit... It wants to watch the world burn. It wants to destroy. How long will it be before I give in completely and let it destroy the world?"

"It won't happen," Leo said firmly. "I know you won't let it."

"How do you know?"

"Because I trust you," Leo said. He meant it, Rebecca could tell, or at least he thought he meant it. "You're a good person, Rebecca. And you're strong. If you don't want the Malignant Spirit to destroy the world, I know you won't let it. And besides," he added with a smirk. "You'd have to beat me to it. I'm a dangerous guy, remember?"

"I thought you were a special boy," Rebecca muttered, allowing herself a small smile. Leo grinned and shrugged, scooting himself closer to her. At least he wasn't running away, though Rebecca believed that was what he should've been doing, while he still had the chance. She frowned at the bandage on his arm. He moved it gingerly, so it still had to hurt, which only made Rebecca feel worse.

For some reason, Leo kept scooting closer and closer, so close that Rebecca felt slightly uncomfortable. "Uh... what are you doing?"

"Trying to hug you. You have hug deficiency."