The Chloe Chronicles: The Lost Goddess

He couldn't get those creatures out of his mind, he kept seeing them every time he slept. Andrew tossed and turned in the corner where he curled up in the ping pong table room and looked over towards Percy who had an arm wrapped protectively around Annabeth.
"You can't sleep either?" He asked.
Andrew nodded. "I keep seeing that nightmare chasing me."
"What do you think Chloe is doing right now?" Percy said. "We have to help her, but we risk everyone else in here."
"I wish I had run to her instead of here, then I could have protected her," Andrew said.
"Chloe is perfectly capable of protecting herself," Annabeth said, keeping her eyes shut. She blinked them open and sat up.
"She hasn't had any training," Andrew whispered. "Not to mention she was in the infirmary earlier today. She might be a little tired and weak."
"She's Percy's sister," Annabeth said. "I can tell she will be okay. I didn't think Percy would be able to handle himself when he first got here, but he pulled through and proved everyone wrong, including me."
"Chloe is smarter than she looks," Percy said. "She proved that earlier today."
"So you're telling me you aren't the least bit worried that some black crusty skeleton thing might not be eating her brains?" Andrew asked.
Percy looked down at Annabeth who gave him a comforting look.
"Chloe will be okay, we just have to trust that."
Percy wrapped his arms tighter around Annabeth's waist and Andrew sat awake while the two of them fell back asleep. His eyes drifted closed for one minute before the image of being chased appeared in his mind again.
Andrew sat up and rubbed his arms, looking towards the window. It looked to be around two In the morning. He fished through his pocket and pulled out his cellphone which he rarely used. He figured that it would be around nine in the morning where his father lived.
Andrew scrolled through the text messages his father sent him, which happened to only be three. The first was telling him that he had gotten engaged, the second was telling him that he was begin moved into a smaller room so that his stepmother could have a place to keep her things. The third was wishing him a happy birthday, two months late.
Andrew typed a paragraph quickly and the screen and sent it, figuring his father wouldn't even look at it.
Hey Dad, things have been getting a little rough around here, so I might take a break from camp pretty soon. I haven't made any decisions yet, but just tell Alfred to prep my room just in case.
Andrew looked out the window in the direction of the Poseidon cabin. He could convince Chloe to come with him, and they could spend every day together, fighting monsters and going to school. Andrew smiled to himself, thinking about how much Chloe would enjoy school.
He was surprised when a reply came back, and he read over the words quickly.
Alright, have fun.
Andrew gave up talking to his father so he put his phone back into his pocket and moved towards the window, to look around. He didn't see any nightmares anywhere. The jump from the window ledge would be at least five feet or six. Andrew had trained for high jumps, so he pulled the window up, and shut it, sitting on the ledge.
Andrew drew a knife and looked around before dropping to the ground. He didn't hear any shrieks of the nightmares, so he began running towards the Poseidon cabin.
Andrew was surprised when no nightmares had tried to attack him on the way to the cabin, but he wasn't going to draw any attention to himself. Andrew sneaked into the Poseidon cabin through a window and shut it quickly.
"Chloe?" He called, whispering through the dark room.
Chloe peaked up from behind the couch, and she pointed her own knife at Andrew.
"Andrew?"
"Yeah, it's me. I'm here."
Chloe flung her knife onto the floor and hugged him, tucking her head into the crook of his neck.
"I was so scared! Then I felt them, chasing you!"
"You felt them chasing me?"
Chloe nodded. "I couldn't do anything but sit here because about ten of them surrounded the cabin."
"There are about nineteen of us held up int he big house because of them. I was able to sneak out. Where did they go?" Andrew asked.
Chloe bit her lip and then grabbed a flashlight from off the side table.
"I can't believe I'm saying this but..you wanna go find out?"


Andrew crept around the corner, eyeing Chloe's hand like a child would a chocolate bar.
He hadn't grabbed it yet, but he felt as if he would pretty soon. Chloe had tied her hair back into a ponytail, but the blonde strands looked almost like strings of gold in the moonlight.
"Is everyone in the big house okay?" Chloe asked, moving beside Andrew.
Andrew nodded. "Percy is worried about you, but Annabeth knows that you can handle yourself. I just had to get out of there, I had to come find you."
Chloe looked toward him, pointing the flashlight towards him. She stared into his eyes for a moment before biting her lip.
"Andrew, do you think that I'm crazy?"
Andrew frowned. "Of course not."
"I sensed them coming before either of us were attacked, I felt cold."
"I felt cold too," Andrew said. "That doesn't mean you're crazy."
"It's not that...." Chloe said. "Sometimes I feel like I'm losing it. I could have sworn I saw him outside when the nightmares came for me."
"Who did you see? A God? A camper?"
"My uncle," Chloe said, looking down. She brushed her hand over her arm, as if reminiscing about an old injury and that was when Andrew put the pieces together.
"He hurt you?"
Chloe nodded. "I swear, I thought he was dead. If he is alive, he is here to take me back."
Andrew turned, pointing his flashlight in the bushes, only to find a squirrel scampering around on the ground. He froze when they heard the howl and shrieks of monsters in the distance. Chloe grabbed his hand, looking around wildly in front of them.
"We should keep moving," Andrew said.
Chloe squeezed his hand, and Andrew knew it felt right, that this was the way things were supposed to be.
They passed by a few training areas before stopping and listening for the screeches of the nightmares. Andrew moved towards the creek, pointing his flashlight into the water. Chloe stopped at the edge of the water, dipping her fingertips into the creek.
"Andrew," Chloe's voice wavered. "We have to get out of here, now!"
"What-"
"Now!"
Chloe grabbed his arm, yanking him out of the creek and began pulling him back towards the camp. Andrew felt the ground rumble behind them until he heard the water crash against the edge of the trees.
"What are we running from?"
"Indos worms! They can travel up to a speed of 100 miles per hour if they're hungry enough!"
Chloe pulled Andrew behind a large oak tree and they watched as a slimy creature crawled from the water. Two more joined the first one, and they began looking for Chloe and Andrew. The Indos worms looked exactly like normal worms, but they were the size of a small truck, had fangs and sharp points sticking from their backs.
"How do we fight these things?" Andrew asked.
"You slice of their heads off before they can spit green poison into your eyes," Chloe said. "I've had dreams about these monsters before."
Andrew drew his knife, and looked around in the dark, trying to find something that would give them an advantage. His eyes wandered towards the campfire area, and Andrew's mind began going over the many options they had.
"The problem is I don't know how quick I'll be able to slice their heads off, considering I know which side their head is on."
"You're thinking about the fire?"
Andrew nodded. "Do you think they're resilient?"
"Only one way to find out. How are we going to lead them over there?"
"Somehow we have to get their attention over to us by the fire. Will they come towards us if we just run over there?"
"Probably," Chloe said. "They're already looking for us."
Suddenly, Andrew heard the familiar shriek of a nightmare and he looked in front of them only to see a crowd of nightmares and the Indos worms, standing directly behind them.
A nightmare lunged at Andrew, clawing his arm and Chloe screamed. Her shield exploded in front of them, hitting the nightmare directly in the face. The skull toppled onto the ground and the body disintegrated into silver dust and Chloe drew her knife, the blade lengthening into a sword.
Andrew looked around them as the crowd of monsters advanced forward. His vision started become cloudy, and he knew he was going to loose consciousness.
"Chloe, you have to take out the worms first, they're the biggest threat."
"Stay awake!" Chloe said, shielding Andrew with her body.
Chloe slashed out of instinct at the nightmares, who retaliated by clawing at her. She stabbed one in the eye, using the momentum to push it back against three other nightmares and into one of the Indos worms. One of the Indos worms shrieked as it spat green poison at Chloe. Chloe shielded herself with the shield, covered green spit slime . She slammed the base of the shield down onto the head of an Indos worm, causing it to explode. A nightmare stalked Andrew from behind, and he threw his knife into it's eye, causing it to explode. Andrew fell to the ground on one knee as he felt his body continue to weaken. Chloe killed the last nightmare, and turned to face the other two hissing Indos worms. She held up her hand, and waited until a stream of water came from the ground, causing the worms to fly up into the air.
Andrew's head began to nod and he tried to keep his eyes open.
"Andrew! Please, stay awake!"
"It's hard," he croaked. "The infirmary isn't far from here-"
"We won't make it there," Chloe said. "I got scratched too. We have to go back to the creek. The water will heal us."
Andrew struggled to stand, but he continued to move his legs and pull Chloe up when she stumbled over a tree root. He dropped down into the water of the creek and felt Chloe's hands touch his arm.
"It's gonna be okay," Chloe said. "We can't soak for long, more nightmares are coming."
"Where are they coming from," Andrew asked. "There isn't anything on this end of camp besides the capture the flag woods."
"Maybe there is another hole," Chloe said. "They have to be coming in from somewhere."
Andrew felt his fingertips scrap against the palm of his hand as he stood up, bringing Chloe with him.
"Let's go back to the Athena cabin," he said. "Maybe tomorrow we can convince Chiron to let a team of us explore the woods."
Chloe didn't protest as they walked back towards the camp. Andrew tried not to say anything when he felt her arm wrap around his waist. The Athena cabin was dark, which gave them an advantage. Lucky for Andrew this was the night most of his siblings had border patrol duty. Andrew pulled his shows off his feet and tossed them in his chest, trying not to disturb his brothers who were sleeping nearby.
"Are you sure it's a good idea for me to be in here," Chloe asked. "All of these owl statues are staring at me like I've done something wrong."
"Don't worry," Andrew said. "They do that to Percy all the time."
Andrew pulled the blankets of his bed aside, scooting over enough for Chloe to climb in beside him. She pressed her head to his chest and Andrew shuddered.
"Good night Andrew," Chloe whispered.
Andrew smiled to himself as he fell asleep. Everything felt right this way, as if Chloe was missing piece of him that made him whole.

Notes