~ { Shadow and Beauty } ~

The Skywalk

"Man," Leo said. "That's pretty wicked."

Kiara wasn't really impressed. In the back of her head, something told her she'd seen things far more impressive than that. But she followed the group outside, nevertheless. The canyon was bigger and wider than you could appreciate from a picture. They were up so high that birds circled below their feet. Five hundred feet down, a river snaked along the canyon floor. Banks of storm clouds had moved overhead while they'd been inside, casting shadows like angry faces across the cliffs.

As far as Kiara could see in any direction, red and gray ravines cut through the desert like some crazy god had taken a knife to it. She got a piercing pain behind his eyes. Crazy gods... Where had she come up with that idea? She felt like he'd gotten close to something important—something she should know about. She also got the unexplainable feeling she was in danger.

Kiara felt her legs give up from underneath her and she caught the wall behind her for support, putting her forehead on the bricks and steadying her breath. She felt feverish, as if she had remembered something she wasn't supposed to and she was being punished. But at least the pain behind her eyes had subsided.

She felt a presence next to her. "Hey, kiddo, you okay?"

Kiara turned to face the owner of the voice, leaning her back against the wall, but her eyes were shut as she tried to concentrate. "Yeah, it's just a headache." She opened her eyes and saw Coach Hedge standing in front of her.

"You're not supposed to be here," he muttered, his hand going to his bat. "Who are you?"

Kiara looked at the storm brewing above them. "Believe me, I don't know. I have no idea what I'm doing here, who that Jason kid is—" she pointed a finger at Jason "—or who I am. I just woke up on the bus, no memories, no nothing."

Hedge eyed the girl in front of him. "You're telling the truth, but you smell like a demigod." A strong gust of wind blew across the skywalk and thunder rumbled, causing Coach Hedge to eye the storm that was still brewing above them.

"All right, cupcakes!" Coach Hedge yelled. He frowned at the storm like it bothered him too. "We may have to cut this short, so get to work! Remember, complete sentences!"

Kiara's hand went to her rings on instinct. She started twisting one particular silver ring with a quartz skull emblem on it. She felt as if there was something more to the jewelry rather than it being just a ring, but she couldn't quite place it.

"Hey, partner!" a male voice said, which Kiara barely heard over the sound of the strong wind. "I've been looking for you."

Kiara looked at the boy. He was a few inches taller than her, with bright red hair and emerald green eyes. Freckles decorated his fair-skinned face. He had on a pair of baggy, ripped jeans and a sweatshirt. He seemed like an artistic type. Kiara didn't understand what he could've possibly done to get sent to this Wilderness School.

"Do you have your paper?" he asked.

Kiara looked into her bag. There wasn't much in it; a few purple t-shirts, a couple of jeans and a pen. "Nope." She fished out the pen. "But I have a pen."

"Oh, good," said the red head. "I have my paper but I forgot my pen at the dorms." He took out his paper and held it in front of him and started speaking, but Kiara had tuned him out. She was looking at Jason and Coach Hedge. They seemed to have started talking together. She looked around some more.

Their school group had the place to themselves. Maybe it was too early in the day for tourists, or maybe the weird weather had scared them off. The Wilderness School kids had spread out in pairs across the skywalk. Most were joking around or talking. Some of the guys were dropping pennies over the side. About fifty feet away, Piper was trying to fill out her worksheet, but her stupid partner Dylan was hitting on her, putting his hand on her shoulder and giving her that blinding white smile. She kept pushing him away. Kiara wanted to walk up to Dylan and throw him off the skywalk.

She decided she would do that later, and without saying a word to the redheaded boy, Kiara headed towards Jason and Coach Hedge.

Hedge was snorting. "Never seen you before today."

Jason looked relieved. "Look, sir, I don't know how I got here. I just woke up on the school bus. All I know is I'm not supposed to be here."

"Got that right." Hedge's gruff voice dropped to a murmur, like he was sharing a secret, but Kiara was close enough to hear. "You got a powerful way with the Mist, kid, if you can make all these people think they know you; but you can't fool me. I've been smelling a monster for days now. I knew we had an infiltrator, but you don't smell like a monster. You smell like a half-blood. So—who are you, and where'd you come from?"

"I don't know who I am. I don't have any memories. You've got to help me."

Coach Hedge studied his face like was trying to read Jason's thoughts. "Great," Hedge muttered. "You're being truthful."

"Of course I am!" the blond exclaimed. "And what was all that about monsters and half-bloods? Are those code words or something?"

Hedge narrowed his eyes, then he finally seemed to notice Kiara standing there. "You," he said to her. "You don't remember anything either?"

Kiara shook her head. "No. Nothing."

"Look, kids," Hedge said, "I don't know who you two are. I just know what you are, and it means trouble. Now I got to protect four of you rather than two. Are you the special package? Is that it?"

"What are you talking about?" Jason asked, bewildered. He seemed really confused.

Hedge looked at the storm. The clouds were getting thicker and darker, hovering right over the skywalk. "This morning," he said, "I got a message from camp. They said an extraction team is on the way. They're coming to pick up a special package, but they wouldn't give me details. I thought to myself, Fine. The two I'm watching are pretty powerful, older than most. I know they're being stalked. I can smell a monster in the group. I figure that's why the camp is suddenly frantic to pick them up. But then you two pop up out of nowhere. So, are you the special package?"

The pain behind Kiara's eyes got worse than ever. Half-bloods. Camp. Monsters. She still didn't know what Hedge was talking about, but the words gave her a massive brain freeze—like her mind was trying to access information that should've been there but wasn't.

Jason stumbled, and Coach Hedge caught him. For a short guy, the coach seemed to have no problem supporting the blond's weight. "Whoa, there, cupcake. You say you got no memories, huh? Fine. I'll just have to watch you two, too, until the team gets here. We'll let the director figure things out."

"What camp?" Kiara asked finally. "What director? What the hell are you talking about?"

"Just sit tight. Reinforcements should be here soon. Hopefully nothing happens before—"

Lightning crackled overhead. The wind picked up with a vengeance. Worksheets flew into the Grand Canyon, and the entire bridge shuddered. Kids screamed, stumbling and grabbing the rails.

"I had to say something," Hedge grumbled. He bellowed into his megaphone: "Everyone inside! The cow says moo! Off the skywalk!"

"I thought you said this thing was stable!" Jason shouted over the wind.

"Under normal circumstances," Hedge agreed, "which these aren't. Come on!"

Kiara agreed that nothing was normal right now. She followed Coach Hedge and Jason, rushing and pushing past kids to get through the doors. The moment she had stepped on the skywalk, she had had the feeling she was not supposed to be up high.