I woke up that morning to a fresh blanket of snow. Alone. I got up and stretched, groaning from the lack of sleep. Without him by my side keeping watch. I searched my packs for food. Without him reminding me to ration. I ate until I was full. Without having to share it with him.
I finally left the cover of my rock. He had gone, most certainly. I couldn't see any tracks, nor could I hear the yelling of my name. I hurriedly packed and sprinted away from the mill, going away from that nightmare. All of a sudden, it was like my mind was flashing through that scene again, through the fear and the shivering, through the exchange of bronze as we clashed, through the glowing red eyes I saw in my dreams again. I stopped and took a deep breath. I had put a lot of distance between myself and that horrid place.
It was all that I could manage not to break down again. He was supposed to be my friend! He was supposed to be someone I could trust, someone that I could depend on. Now, something had changed. I now remembered all his compulsive behaviors: how he could never stop figuring out everything there was to know about you, or how he understood right where to hit you to disable you, or the fact that he himself was hiding his past from me.
My friend was not my friend anymore, and there was nothing I could do about it.
But, as I continued to trudge through the snow, my mind couldn't help remembering that boy. This was the boy who had first truly known me at camp. This was the boy who understood me better than anyone else. This was the boy who always knew what to say and what to do to cheer me up. This was the boy who saved my butt on countless occasions. And, my mind continued, this was the boy who risked his life countless times on the quest for you. Was he really different? Did he actually feel that way? Or was it all a mask, keeping me from seeing the real Brandon?
It was at that moment when I realized what I had done.
I had left my friend behind. He was weak from fighting me and he was definitely emotionally hurt. I had left him with no supplies whatsoever, as I had taken all the food, water, and other resources with me in the bags. He was probably seriously dehydrated, freezing, and still searching for me. I froze and let that all sink in.
Which one of us, in this situation, was the real demon, the real bad one?
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I slowly made my way through the thick frost. "Ashley. Ashley. Ashley!" I cried, over and over again. I didn't know where she was or where she had gone. The snowstorm had covered her tracks and I had no clue where to start.
I was about to give up, when my father decided to pay me another visit. He smiled and said, "You must have found something useful in there."
I saw red and I made a fist. I turned and tried to punch him, only to find he had gone. Turning, I watched him chuckle. "You're fast, Brandon. But, I'm the god of travelers, and I know how to be fast." I yelled at him, calling him every foul name, both English and Greek, that I had ever learned. Yet, he still wore the same toothy grin.
"Oh, Brandon. Poor, poor Brandon. So naive. Did you really think that your father would pay you a visit?"
I stopped and looked up to find a cloaked figure, enveloped in shadows, showing nothing but a solid, glowing blue eye. I clenched my fist again. "You."
"Me," he said, "And I am pleased to find you are doing fine after all these years."
"Get away from me!" I tried to shove him away, but, again, he slipped behind me.
"My, my," he said, waggling his finger as if scolding a child, "You've gotten sloppy. I expected something better out of Linus's prime student."
"No, shut up."
The corners of his mouth twitched, "Make me."
I stamped my foot down and took a step back. He suddenly grew serious. "Look, you are suffering and alone. You do not have to be. I can offer you a high place to serve Lord Kronos. Though you are a demigod, Kronos will accept you if you pledge allegiance to him. Perhaps, in the end, you will even be his vessel in this wretched world."
I hesitated, "And if I don't?"
He suddenly lifted his hood off, giving me the full view of the man I had feared since I was little, "I will not pursue you, but I cannot speak on behalf of Luke Castellan."
I looked into his eye, his cruel, intelligent eye. "Oh, Brandon. You know I do not lie," he said, grinning. He lifted his hand. "What do you say, Lee?"
I looked at his frightening, bony hand. I gulped, then put on my serious face, and took his hand. "Deal," I whispered.
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End of Part One
The boy of light and darkness
Born to reap and slay
The remainder of his life
Shall serve until the end