Sarah Lesley

Blank Spaces, and Bad Decisions


Jacob said that my memory started slowly coming back the next day. I remembered who I was, but it was pretty much just my name. Then the next day I remembered them, and Jacob said from them on it came in clumps. Like one day I remembered my encounter with Lizzie, and the next I remembered my parents leaving me at the orphanage. That wasn't the best day. For any of us.


So once I had my memory back and was in somewhat decent shape, Jacob made me do 'exercises'. Joy. And they consisted of..... [pretend I'm talking in a fast voice] Strength Training, Cardio, Swimming Laps, Ju-Jitsu, TaeKwon-Do, Bench Pressing, Math, Memory Drills, History and, last and certainly the least, Running. Fun right? Not.


"Jacob! Please. I'm done. I can't do this EVERY DAY. I've been maxed out for days. Now I'm at the point where I think my muscles are getting worse instead of better. I need a break for a day or two. Give me the weekend at least!" I protested as me tried to get me into the pool.


"Fine." He sighed. "But you'll be back on Monday." He pulled himself out of the pool. By now, I'd gotten used to seeing his eight pack, and ripped biceps, and didn't give them a second glance.


Who am I kidding. I had to tell myself to look away. I'm not big on seeing guys without shirts, but I'm a girl. Sometimes you can't resist. And it's not like he's some random guy at Camp, or at a public pool. I tossed him a towel.


"At least your giving me the weekend. Seriously. I'm not a guy. I'm not supposed to be as ripped as you." I could have slapped myself. What? I'm an idiot. Thank the gods he didn't catch it.


"I know, I know. Let's see what Jen's got for lunch." He pulled a dry dark green t-shirt on, and we walked back to the cabin, shack, house, whatever you want to call it.


A heavenly scent filled the air as we got closer. I looked at Jacob. "Bacon!" I said, and dashed to the front door. To my complete dismay, the door was locked. I jiggled the handle. "Jen!" I banged on the door. "Let me in!"


I could almost see her laughing. "Nope! You'll just eat all my bacon. And I need it for lunch."


"Pretty please?"


"Nope."


I sighed. I turned around and saw Jacob silently laughing to himself. "What? Now you? Great." I leaned against the door and looked at the trees. They were pretty boring, but I was stubborn and wouldn't look at Jacob.


"Aw come on Sarah. It's funny! I wasn't laughing at you, just your love of bacon!" And he started laughing again. I rolled my eyes, and turned my head to the other side.


"Uh, Jacob? Monster." I said, pointing into the woods. He turned around quickly, scanned the woods, then turned to me again.


"Haha. That's not funny Sarah." He said.


"Jacob. I'm not kidding. You don't see it? The big black blob with streaks of red? And the glowing red eyes?" I wasn't kidding. The things eyes made Jacob look washed in red. It looked like it was deciding whether or not to eat us.


Now, I'm not complete sure how a blob looked like that, it just did. "Jacob, cover me please." He stood in front of me, looking slightly worried. It could be because (1 He couldn't see it, or (2 because he thought I was going crazy. I hope it was the first.


I closed my eyes and concentrated, opening my vision. I braced myself, then opened my eyes. I fell to my knees, watching the battle in fast forward. It was like watching Lord of the Rings in fast forward.


I felt disoriented, but I managed to slow it down. Jacob brushed my shoulder, and I quickly shut my eyes. The feeling passed, and I shut off my vision. "Jacob! Give me your knife." He looked wary. "Just do it!" I yelled.


He tossed me the knife, and it fell at my feet. I scooped it up, praying to Ares, and threw the knife, the blade hitting its mark. The monster exploded into blue dust. I turned, shielding my face. When I looked back, the ground was covered in blue dust, making it look weird.


I pounded on the door. "Jen, let me in, or so help me I'll break the door!" I yelled. She unlocked the door. "What on earth? What did you two do?"


Jacob shrugged. "Ask Sarah." Jen turned expectantly at me.


"Uh, can we talk about it over lunch? Please?" I said, as my stomach grumbled. Jen and Jacob started laughing. I stepped inside after Jacob, looking back out in the woods. I thought I saw a branch shake, as if someone were in it. I opened my vision, and saw a dracaenae, sitting on a branch, her snake features blending in with the shrubs.


She looked like she was searching for something. Then, her eyes locked onto me. Like she knew I was there, even though I was peering into the future. I shut my eyes and scrambled inside, deciding on a whim not to tell Jen and Jacob.


Let's just call it a joke. I was so gonna get them back. I locked the door as Jen called from the kitchen. "Go wash up Sarah, lunch is ready."


I walked back to my room, and washed my hands. I stared out the window above my sink as I rinsed the soap off. I bent down and splashed some water on my face. I felt the air for the towel. My hand found it, and I pulled it off the ring.


I wiped off my face, and hands and when I looked back up, I saw the hideous face of a dracaenae. I let out a small scream, and stumbled back away from the window. She broke the glass with her javelin, and climbed in. I grasped the door handle, and shoved it open.


I slammed in in her face. Hearing the crunch of her nose gave me satisfaction. I whipped out my dagger, for once thankful that Jacob made me carry one everywhere, even in the pool. I heard Jacob and Jen yelling my name.


The bathroom door broke down in splinters, and the dracaenae came flying out. Not literally, she wasn't actually flying, she just came out really fast. Oh never mind. She lunged at me with her javelin, and I stepped to the side, my back against the wall.


In the narrow hallway, it was hard to fight. So I got beside her and hook kicked her back, forcing her forward. I ran at her from behind, leaping at her head. I miscalculated, and ended up body slamming her in the back.


Her silver armor didn't make anything better. My chest ached from the impact. I landed on my back, sending a jolt of pain down my spinal cords.


Then I started to freak out. My fingers, toes, everything went numb. I started to feel a tingling crawl up my arms and legs, as the dracaenae stood up. She loomed ones over me, her javelin aimed right for my chest.


I saw Jacob run in in the corner of my eye, but I didn't fully register it. I was a bit occupied with the javelin about to skewer me. Everything seemed to go in slow motion. Jacob screamed my name, and started running towards me.


The dracaenae had raised her arm and was about to throw when she heard Jacob. His shout threw the javelin off course, but not enough. Her head turned around, and the javelin embedded itself in my right shoulder.


I let out a bloodcurdling scream, and started gasping from the pain. Tears started to pour off my face, as my body shook from shock. I focused on one spot on the ceiling. 'Don't pass out. Don't pass out.' The world seemed to go mute.


Jen ran up and knelt down next to me. I saw traces of yellow dust in her hair. The dracaenae was gone. Her lips were moving, but I couldn't hear a single word. Only a strange buzzing. Black spots danced along my vision as Jen seemed to call Jacob.


He came back with a flask, bandages, a knife, matches, and a tube of something. Jen grabbed the canteen and poured nectar on the wound, which took the edge off the pain, and turned my sight to normal.


"This is gonna hurt Sarah. I'm sorry." She had lit a match and held the knife over it. I closed my eyes, and held them shut tightly. My fists clenched in anticipation.


I'm not going into detail. I can't really, because I ended up passing out. And it wasn't like a light sleep, it was deep. The kind they'll put you in when your having surgery. I felt extreme pain, and then passed out and I didn't feel anything after that.


When I woke up, the first thing I noticed, was the bed. It wasn't. It was like a makeshift pallet. I smelled leather, and some kind of candle. I opened my eyes, and saw through blurry vision, Jacob, Jen, and another guy.


Jen and Jacob were sitting on a leather bed, and the other guy was sitting on one in front of them. They seemed to be having an important discussion, because Jacob's eyebrows were all scrunched together. He was leaning forward, with his hands clasped together over his mouth.


My vision cleared, and I realized where I was. "Jacob. Jacob why am I here?" They all jumped.


"Sarah! Your awake." He said, standing up and walking over to my bed.


I gave him a look. "You didn't answer my question. Why am I in the Camp infirmary?"


He rubbed his cheek. "Look. We tried to heal you, but we couldn't. And none of the campers were gonna come OUT and help you, so we brought you here. I don't know why you haven't started screaming in pain like you did last time."


I tried to sit up, but it sent shock waves to my shoulder, and I had to lay back down. "No. Sarah, don't try and get up. It's not completely healed yet. You just need to let it rest for a few days. That javelin had poison on it."


"Poison?" I asked, slightly surprised. Slightly.


"Ya. When we got the blade out, the wound was turning green, and you broke out in a sweat even though your skin was like ice." He said.


I thought for a second. "That's weird, cause I didn't see any poison on the blade. And the only reason the wound would have been green, would be if it was a certain poison. That poison isn't clear. It's definitely a color. It depends on what type of that kind."


Even as I said it, I knew it didn't make sense. They couldn't have dyed it, and I would have felt the poison before hand. It would have gone straight into my blood stream. The thought of Jacob or Jen putting the poison in me scared me.


I looked at them, both of them looked uneasy. They glanced at each other. Jacob was the first to talk. "Sarah? What exactly do you remember about what happened?" He asked.


So I told him. About the bathroom attack, getting stuck in the hall, then the javelin incident. Jacob started to look sick. "You remember how you don't always remember stuff cause of that thing happening?"


"Uh, yeah?"


"Well, you forgot something. Something important. Something major." He said. Then he just stood there. Like an idiot.


"Well?" I asked.


"Well what?"


"Well, what did I forget dork?" I asked, slightly irritated.


He glanced at Jen. I was really getting sick of that. It was like they were sharing a secret. One that I shouldn't or couldn't hear. "Uh, I guess you brain jumbled up your memories. The dracaenae didn't get you. It was, uh," He looked at Jen again.


"Quit looking at Jen and tell me what I forgot!" I was getting mad. Irritated was to light a word.


He shifted his feet and grabbed the back of his neck. "Sarah, your not helping." He looked up and exhaled deeply. "When you ran into the dracaenae and you fell to the floor, I ran up and so did Jen. Jen snuck up from behind and killed it."


"I was in such a rage. Someone else came in through the window and down the hall. Except, it wasn't a someone. It was a something. You remember why the Hunters wanted you? Well, the Manticore showed up. It reared back and shot it's spikes at us, and a few were aimed at you. One landed just above your head, one by your foot, and a rounded one whacked you in the side of the head."


He took a deep breath. "You were unconscious and he was closer to you than me or Jen. He reached out to grab you, and I threw my sword at him. It landed square in his shoulder. But before he turned to dust completely, he stabbed you with his scorpion tail, and tried to grab you with it again. It was like he was trying to turn you to dust with him. And his tail stayed in your arm. It was pretty gross."


Jacob sat down on the edge of my bed. "So we brought you here." I stared straight up at the ceiling. I had pretty much been on the verge of death. "How could I forget that? And why would I think the dracaenae did it?"


Jen walked up. "We don't know. And we already asked Chiron, and he said it may have just been a little bit of leftover amnesia-like memory loss, or mix up. It mixed up your memories, and we're not sure why." I pondered that. If I forgot this, what else may have I forgotten, or mixed up?


"Uh, guys? Have I forgotten something? Or mixed something up? Because if I did, I want to know." I paused. When they didn't say anything I got frustrated. "Come on guys. I NEED to know! What did I forget? I can see it all over your faces! I'm missing something, and you won't tell me."


They glanced at each other. Again. This time, I sat up and ignored the lava like burning in my shoulder. Jacob reached out like he wanted to stop me, but he pulled his hand back. I leaned back on the pillows, wondering if I was a pale as I felt.


"Jacob, please." I pleaded.


He sighed and looked down at his lap. "I'll tell you, but you won't like it Sarah. You won't like it at all. It's not a good idea."


"Please."


He looked up and sighed again, leaning his head back and closing his eyes as if bracing himself for the worst. "Sarah, you know how I told you the manticore almost turned you to dust with him?" I nodded. "Well, he did, and he didn't. Instead of turning to dust, he dissolved and took you with him. I had lunged forward, and Jen followed. I just had time to barely touch your foot with my finger when we all disappeared."


He took a deep breath. "You were unconscious, and it was like flying through space. It felt like walls were closing in on me, uh us. You have no idea. All the breath left my lungs. When we ended up where ever he was taking us. We just appeared. It was weird."


Jen took over. "The campers were already there, waiting for him. They had teamed up with the Hunters to kill him, and send him back to oblivion. They attacked him and killed him quickly, but you weren't okay. The area around the spike as green, and your shoulder was quickly turning green. You started moaning, and not five seconds later, woke up."


Jacob shuttered, and took up the story. "You screamed like I've never heard before. I can still hear it ringing in my ears. My blood turned to ice. Tears started dropping like rain off your face, and you squeezed them shut tight. One of the campers was a healer, and he came over. He touched the area that was turning green, and you screamed again."


I gasped. "No. No stop. Stop!" I closed my eyes, and clenched the sheets in my fists. "I told him to get away. I told him not to touch me, and to leave me alone to die. I didn't want anyone touching me. You, you didn't listen, and held me down anyway. He poured nectar around the wound, and gripped the spike with both hands." I squeezed my eyes, feeling the pain.


"He pulled it out, and I gasped and screamed. I gasped for breath, and started shaking. I think I went into shock. Right?" Jacob just stared at me.


"Darren said you went into traumatic shock. He cleaned he wound and wrapped it up as best as he could and we brought you back here on a pegasus. Or pegasi. Whichever you wanna go with. Look. The point is, when you got here, I was worried. But, your fine, and.." He stopped.


I sat there, just staring out the window in front of me. The one thing that threw me off more than the others, was the fact that I was inside Camp, and I was perfectly fine. I took account of myself, doing a sort of mental check.


I did feel different. It was weird. It wasn't so much that I would notice it right away, only if I thought about it. Then I realized what it was. I freaked out. "Jacob, Jacob its gone. I can't see." He looked up.


"What?"


"I can see, but I can't see see. Jacob, where'd it go?" My hands started shaking. I shoved them under the blanket, hoping no one saw. The medic who'd been standing there the whole time, walked over to a cabinet, and grabbed a small vial of midnight blue liquid.


He handed it to me. "Drink. It'll help you sleep."


I was so desperate for answers. I needed something. Something to hold onto. Something with hope. Dreams. I had hope in dreams. I snatched the bottle, uncorked it, and poured it down my throat. Darren caught the vial as it slipped through my fingers, and I fell into a blissful sleep.

Notes

Sorry! I went back and realized that I skipped and entire chapter. Whoops. :)