Amaurosis

V: All A-Bored Outta My Mind

The threats were empty. Years ago, I would have cowered before his power, but not anymore. His words were meaningless, invalid. He couldn't get to me even if he tried, even if he pounded his fist on every door in this entire world. I was far, far away from his grasp and safe within the confines of camp. I escaped long ago, and his thinking any different is kidding himself.

Suddenly, a twig snapped behind me, and I whipped my head around. I knew nothing bad could get within the barrier. Nevertheless, my guard was not getting any closer to the ground. If anything, I was raising it higher.

"Who's there?" I shouted into the thick, dimly lit forest. The sun barely peeked over the tallest of the trees, but some light was able to seep through the cracks. "Show yourself!"

Dried leaves and thin branches cracked from all around me, setting my senses on high alert, especially the special 'sixth sense'. Bushes rustled and a slight breeze picked up, brushing the leaves that had not yet fallen from the spruce trees. The more noise that sounded from around the clearing, the faster my brain and suspicion raced.

"You don't know who you're messing with!" I screamed, though neither did I. No one, including me, knew the extent of my power. But with my bloodline, you can expect anything.

Suddenly, a mop of blonde hair appeared from the herd of bushes, arms raised in the air.

"I surrender!" Annabeth shouted, eyes shut as she stalked away from the edge of the forest and into the small clearing.

The pinch in my chest ceased when I realized who it was, but a new emotion quickly filled its place: guilt. "My gods, Annabeth. Do you know what I could have done to you?" I turned my back to her and sat down by the riverbank, feeling the water rush between my fingers.

She laughed and took a seat beside me, taking caution near such unpredictable water. It swooshed around rocks, splashing in all directions. Just because she was dating the son of Poseidon didn't mean that the god of the sea didn't still hold a grudge against Athena and vice versa.

"Alex," she smiled. After all this time, and though we are technically unrelated biologically, I consider Annabeth as an older sister. She only has two years on me, but her wisdom is beyond her age. How ironic, her being the daughter of a goddess of just that. "I don't think you know what you could have done to me."

"And you're probably right."

Our voices rested in silence for a while. Neither of us felt the need to talk. Just being with one another, knowing that we were safe, that the other would always watch our backs was more than enough.

"Have you figured it out yet?" she quietly spoke, but I continued to stare at my reflection in the water. I shook my head, keeping that as my answer. "It's been twelve years that you've been here at Camp, Alex. You need to learn how to control that power of yours before it learns to control you."

"I know," I said, it sounding more like an apology to a disappointed mother.

"I know, you know." She lied down on the patch of short-bladed grass. "Is he still trying to find you?"

"Yeah." I kept my answers short and simple. Suddenly, I didn't want to speak to anyone, even Annabeth.

"He's never going to give up, is he?"

"Nope."

Silence returned, but I didn't mind. In the back of my head, I heard something, a scutter. At first, it was not very loud, but it as it dragged on, it demanded my attention.

"Do you hear that?" The words barely escaped my lips before the question answered itself.

Rustling erupted from within the crowd of timber, setting each of us on high alert. Annabeth and I turned toward the other, both expecting some sort of explanation as to who it might be this time.