December 25
"Okay, now ease down on the gas pedal. That's the one on the right." Wayne said from the passenger seat. "Careful. Wait, let this car pass. Now turn the wheel to the left a little and change lanes." Hunter carefully turned and changed lanes on the highway, pressing down on the pedal to accelerate into the fast lane.
"How is someone supposed to do this without feeling like they're going to die?" Hunter said with a nervous laugh.
"This coming from the guy who rides pegasi."
"Well, a flying horse is not the same as two thousand pounds of steel on 80 pounds of rubber."
"Well, don't worry about it. You're doing fine." Hunter kept a tight grip on the wheel and he locked his eyes on the road. It was around 3 in the afternoon. Lunch went really well. His Aunt Lucy had changed her disposition towards him almost completely. Hunter knew not to push his luck. He realized that having him around was the constant reminder that she had lost her entire family. Her brother. Her sister. Her parents. The entire time-All these years-every time she looked at him, she remembered that she was the only one left. Why did he deserve to survive when the rest of her family didn't? Hunter hoped that the charm bracelet would help remind her of all the good things that her family left with her. The memories that she'd always have.
After they ate lunch, Hunter and Wayne decided to go out driving for a little while before dinner. Hunter could already tell that he didn't like driving, but he wanted to learn. It was probably one of the only normal things in his life that he could actually get.
"We've been driving for an hour and a half. Why don't you get off here and I'll drive us home?" Hunter nodded then carefully switched lanes and exited, parking in a gas station. Hunter got out and started to walk around the car. "So, are you going to tell me about this 'uh...friend' of yours?" He said right before ducking into the car. Hunter cocked his head a little as he buckled his seatbelt in the passenger seat.
"Who?"
"The 'uh...friend' who made you that chain that you gave to Julie." Hunter immediately blushed. The weight of his guilt slammed back down on his shoulders.
"Oh, she's...It's not important."
"Yeah, bull. Spill it, kid." He said with a laugh. "I can tell from the way you're mood changed that you're lying." Hunter sighed a little and then cleared his throat before speaking.
"I...I don't know. Her name is Marina." He said, closing his eyes. Hunter explained how he had gotten to know Marina over the past few months and how his relationship with her had become a more romantic one. Wayne just quietly listened, nodding every once in a while to what Hunter had to say. Hunter went on and described how things had been becoming more tense and he talked about when she finally kissed him in the woods and how he loved the feeling, but at the same time he was just confused. He was worried that he would get attached and she would leave. And he would be heartbroken once again. Like he was with Brooke and like he was with Arabella.
"I didn't know that your summer had been so rough, bud." He said quietly. There was a long pause and Hunter fidgeted with a small tear in his jeans a little, trying to get his mind off of Marina. He really liked her. "So, she basically risks her neck to do you a favor and then she kisses you and you just leave?"
"I completely froze. I mean, I liked it, but I just...I don't know. What if I had messed it up? Or if I did something that ruined the friendship that we had?"
"This is the same kid that we had to ground because he kept climbing to the top of the playground equipment and jumping off." Wayne said with a laugh. "What happened to the kid that always took risks? The kid that when he found out he was a demigod he thought he was a superhero and jumped off of our roof with a towel around his neck like a cape." Hunter laughed a little and rubbed the arm that he had broken with that little incident. "The kid that tackled a monster and choked it to death because it knocked Christina off the slide."
"I can't anymore. It doesn't matter. It's...It's too late. She probably hates me now."
"She's staying at camp?" Hunter nodded a little twisting his hands together. "Great." He said before taking a U-turn. "Well, we're going to find out if she still likes you or not." He said, leaning toward the windshield to make sure he was going the right way.
"We're not--"
"Oh...yes, we are." Wayne said with a smile. "The way I see it, you left a girl alone on Christmas and she's a friend of yours, so why not invite her to dinner. We like to know all of your friends, buddy."
"Uncle Wayne, please, sir. I really just-"
"You, my dear nephew, have no choice. I will fight my way in there if I need to." Hunter sighed in defeat looking disappointed, but in reality he was nervous. He was nervous and excited. Maybe if he were lucky he could salvage at least a friendship out of this. He looked at his arm where he saw a scar near his elbow. He used to take risks. What happened to him? There was no reason he couldn't be that person again. As they got closer and closer to camp, he started to get more nervous. What would he even say? Oh, sorry for abandoning you right before Christmas after we kissed, but I had a lot on my mind, y'know? He rubbed his face a little and closed his eyes, imagining her and all of the moments that he felt happiest with her.
"Do we have to do this?" He asked quietly. The car stopped and Hunter's eyes opened suddenly.
"Well, either you do this now or you owe me for the gas." He said with a smile as he unlocked the car door. "Your choice. Gas is pretty expensive nowadays, but don't let that influence you in any way." Hunter took a deep breath then narrowed his eyes at his uncle for a moment before slipping out of the car and heading up the hill. Hunter played with the beads on his necklace while he walked, hoping that something might make this easier. No sign came as he made his way to the Hephaestus cabin. The entire camp was practically empty. A few satyrs and nymphs were running around or cuddling. A miscellaneous child or two was walking around the mess hall. He stopped at the door and stared at it for a long moment before opening it. It was completely empty except for the light shining up from the forge. He headed down the stairs and saw Marina pounding away on a sword, her plain white tanktop marked with soot and her hands gripping the hammer tightly.
"Hey." Hunter said quietly once she had stopped hammering. She looked over at him, but her face was plain and sad.
"I thought you weren't going to be back until tomorrow." She said quietly, tossing the red hot blade into a bucket of water before moving to the opposite wall where several items hung.
"My uh...My uncle wanted to invite you to dinner." He said quietly. She paused then looked at with an eyebrow raised. "And I...I wanted to talk to you."
"Go ahead. Talk your heart out." She said, turning back to the weapons on the wall.
"Marina, I...was really really stupid on Saturday. It took a really...really long and emotional Christmas for me to realize that I have been selfish to a lot of people and I hate it. I really do." He paused and studied his feet for a moment then looked up to see Marina focusing on him. "I'd totally understand if you slapped me and told me that you never wanted to see me again. After what I did, it would be deserved, but I'm asking you to refrain from doing that."
"And why should I? What's stopping me from kicking you out of here?"
"Because I only did what I did because I like you, Marina. I really like you and the idea that you might not like me anymore really hurt and it scared me." He quickly ran his hand through his hair. "And I used to be the kind of person who takes risks, but I haven't done that in a long time because I was scared. I really want to change, Marina. I really do mean that. I will never be more sorry for what I did, but let me start making it up to you." She took a dew steps closer and crossed her arms in front of her. "Do you still hate me?" She paused a moment then shook her head.
"Hunter, I....I really liked you. I still do, but you really hurt me. I gave up these nine months that I could be spending at a swanky private school, so that I could hang out and get to know a scrawny little Hermes kid. If doesn't tell you how much I liked you, then I'm not sure how I could get it across to you. It took a lot for me to kiss you and I really liked it, but then you balked and I assumed it was because you didn't like me." She moved a few steps closer and unfolded her arms. "Now, I'm hearing the opposite and it feels like something out of a dream where he comes back to her princess and it's all very colorful and romantic." She smiled and Hunter felt like all of the weight of this bad situation was lifted off his shoulders. Then she slapped him hard across the face. His face turned red hot and he stumbled back a few steps before catching himself against the doorway. "That does not excuse you from walking out on me." She moved close to him and placed a hand on his chest. Hunter rubbed his glowing red cheek lightly before grabbing her hand.
"I really am sorry." He said, looking down at her.
"I know, Hunter." She said with a nod. "But you're here now. And that's all that matters." They locked eyes for a long moment before Hunter leaned down toward her then pressed his lips to hers. "Merry Christmas." Marina said quietly, pulling on his shirt a little
"Merry Christmas, Marina."
Chapter 39: Hunter
December 25
"Hunter! Hunter, wake up! It's Christmas!" Christina shouted to the blanket cocooned Hunter. He turned to his other side away from her and pulled the blanket tighter. He hadn't really done anything in the past couple days. It was good seeing his uncle again, but he felt bad because he wasn't really being very sociable. He hadn't really had a conversation with anyone. He had just kind of been coasting through the visit. The kiss with Marina really kind of bothered him and what bothered him more was how he left. He was stupid. He kept playing it back in his head and how he should have done it. What he should have done instead of leave. He had to leave, but he could have brought her along or..."Hunter, if you don't wake up, Baxter and I are going to bother you all day until you do." Hunter curled into a ball and groaned a little. "Okay. Up, Baxter. Up." She said, patting on his bed. Hunter felt the weight shift on the bed and felt it move toward him.
"Just leave me alone..." Hunter groaned as he tried to hide from the dog that suddenly appeared in his line of sight. The small chow-lab mix puppy licked at his face, barking and panting at him.
"Hunter, if you don't wake up, I'll get Jojo involved. And if that doesn't work then Wilbur is going to be brought into the mix and you know you can't stand up to Wilbur." Hunter was pretty much awake at this point, but he might as well let Christina have her fun. "Well, that's it then. It won't be long now. Come on, Jojo." She said, then placed another small puppy on Hunter's shoulder. Hunter finally rolled to his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, trying to escape the dogs. "Time for Wilbur." Hunter sighed, knowing that he would have to wake up soon, but it didn't stop him from drawing this out. "Say good morning to Hunter, sweet puppy." Christina said in baby talk as she set Wilbur down carefully next to Hunter's head. Hunter could hear the quiet panting of Wilbur and then a soft whimper as he bumped Hunter's ear with his cold nose. Hunter finally turned his face and saw Wilbur the tiniest little puppy he'd ever seen with big dark eyes and a pink little nose. Wilbur barked and then stumbled over to Hunter and licked his face in a good morning kiss.
"Good morning, Wilbur." Hunter said with a smile. He carefully grabbed the dog then sat up, turning to Christina. "Merry Christmas, Christina." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Get up and get dressed and then we'll get you some breakfast." She said, grabbing all the dogs except Wilbur and leaving the room. Hunter set Wilbur down next to him on the bed then stood up, throwing the blanket over Wilbur who barked and bit the blanket, trying to escape. Hunter walked to his bag and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Wilbur barked at him and as soon as Hunter had his shirt on, he picked up Wilbur and left the room.
"Hey, there he is! Merry Christmas, sleepyhead." Hunter's uncle, Wayne said, walking over and hugging him, giving him a hard pat on the back. Hunter smiled a little and patted his uncle on the back, hugging him back a little awkwardly. He finally pulled away and Hunter set Wilbur down before taking a spot at the kitchen table. "You almost missed breakfast, Hunter." He said with a smile as he sat down at the head of the table.
"Julie, Steven! Come on. We're going to eat." Lucy said, stepping into the living room for a moment before taking a spot at the other end of the table, giving him a look and a seemingly forced smile before taking her napkin and setting it in her lap. Hunter did the same and kept his head down a little. He was seated next to Julie who was about a foot and a half shorter than he was and now that he had been spending a lot more time with his sword he was now much bigger than her.
"Hunter, I'm just now realizing that you have told us how you've been doing at camp." Wayne said, taking a bite of egg. Hunter glanced up at Lucy who calmly ate her breakfast just like everyone else. Wayne wasn't here all year, so it was hard to know when something was a bit of a taboo subject around the table. Hunter still remembered when Lucy had sent him to his room the last time he talked about camp at the table.
"Well, uh..." Hunter said quietly, looking up at Lucy a little hesitantly. "It's fine, I suppose. Making some friends." He said with a nod.
"Wrestling, too from the looks of those arms." He said with a chuckle. Hunter had built a bit of muscle, but he didn't really think it was that obvious. "Have you saved the world yet? From ancient snakes or something?" That got a bit of a laugh out of the table which Hunter couldn't be more thankful for. It let the tension disappear a bit.
"Have you fought any monsters?" Steven asked with a bit of an unimpressed look on his face.
"Well, apparently a lot of the big fighting was all done before I got to camp, but I did kill a hellhound once." He chuckled a little at the memory as he stabbed a sausage link. "It was fun." He said, smiling at Steven who laughed and nodded.
"Sounds like fun. Perfect summer camp activity." Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. The table fell silent again. Hunter hung his head a little bit, poking at his food. "What? Is the food not good enough?" She asked Hunter, setting her fork down to her plate with a clatter. "Should I make you do a burnt offering beforehand or is the camp food just better than mine?"
"No, ma'am. I just...I was..."
"You were what?"
"Mom, leave him alone." Christina said quietly. "He's just a little nervous." She said before smiling over at him a little.
"Don't you-"
"Alright! Time for presents!" Wayne said, putting his fork down on his empty plate. "You guys are going to love yours." He put his plate in the sink and then hurried off to the living room where a Christmas tree stood, presents stacked underneath. Hunter took a few quick bites of bacon then placed his plate in the sink with everyone else's. He walked into the living room to find Julie, Steven, and Christina sitting on the couch and Lucy moving to join them at the end in a soft blue armchair. "Come over here, beautiful." He said, snagging Lucy's shirt sleeve and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Oh, come on, you two! Don't make us get the water hose." Julie said, shielding Christina's eyes. Hunter watched them kiss. Not in a weird way, but in a interested way. He loved it whenever Wayne was in town. He had a way of calming down Lucy and Hunter could tell how much they still loved each other even after all this time apart. It made him feel worse that he was the reason that she had to go without her husband. Wayne started humming really loudly and moved his hands down to her butt. The kids laughed and started throwing things at them to try and make them stop. Hunter moved into the room from the doorway and sat down on the small step in the doorway.
"Okay. Okay." Wayne said, finally breaking the kiss. "MWAH!" He laughed and then moved Lucy so she was standing beside him. "Alright, welcome to the Christmas gift extravaganza. I will be your host, Wayne and this is my lovely assistant, Lucy." She smiled and waved meekly to the kids on the couch before kissing her husband on the cheek. "Excellent, now before we move onto the gifts, I have an important announcement." His face turned serious. A little too serious for Hunter's preference. It immediately made him worry. "Well, I got a phone call yesterday about my job." He took a deep breath and he closed his eyes. Lucy looked over at him with sad eyes, but it looked like she didn't know about whatever news this was either. "They had some...comments about my performance and they said that my job would be..changing." His chin quivered a little and he swallowed, trying to push this news out. "I got promoted." He said finally, a giant smile on his face. Lucy's face brightened in surprise. "What that means is more money, more benefits, and a brand spanking new office at the headquarters in Manhattan, New York, United States of America!" Lucy was crying at this point as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"You scared me half to death you big jerk." She said with a laugh through her tears. Christina was the first one up, but the twins soon followed, joining their parents in a group hug. Hunter smiled a little at the family moment, but sadly his entire body felt like he didn't belong. This was a private family moment and he was intruding. Hunter thought for a second and then stood up, walking into the kitchen and starting on doing the dishes. He knew that Lucy was going to tell him to do them anyway, so why not start them now? He usually didn't get gifts anyway. Or if he did they weren't under the tree. It was only fair, considering he usually didn't give gifts.
He was scrubbing down a frying pan when he heard his name from the other room. He set the pan down and wiped his hands off before looking into the living room.
"Oh, there he is." Steven said, walking over and handing him a small wrapped gift. "A friend of mine gave this to me and I didn't want it. I'm not sure who would, but I thought you might." Hunter looked down at the package in his hands for a moment before going to hug Steven, but he went for a hand shake and he quickly adjusted to the handshake.
"Uhm...thanks." Hunter said with a nod.
"Open it, stupid." Christina said with a laugh, her legs crossed under her, her head adorned with a fuzzy hat that still had the tag on it, no doubt one of her gifts. Hunter turned the package over and ripped the paper, revealing a thick book. He turned it over revealing the title in Greek.
"The Compiled works of the Ancient Greek Poets." Hunter translated with a bit of a laugh.
"My friend bought it thinking that love poems in different languages would help him, but it wasn't til he shelled out 50 bucks for the book that he found out that Greek didn't sound all that romantic."
"I know, right?" Hunter said with a little laugh. He looked down at the book again then shook Steven's hand again. "Thanks. I'll be sure to read it. Tell you how it goes." He laughed and then sat back down just as Julie stood.
"Here's my gift." Julie said with a smile, walking over and handing him a gift bag. Hunter took it gingerly in his hands and then opened it. Inside was a lighter. A little confused, he looked at her then back down at the bag before reaching in and grabbing it. On closer inspection he saw that there were letters etched into it.
"It's supposed to be an H. My boyfriend got me a new one that was officially engraved, so I changed the J that I scratched into it into an H, so...H-U...You're Hunter."
"Why do you have a lighter?" Christina asked. Julie's eyes looked pleadingly into Hunter's for a moment before turning around.
"Well, uh..."
"Incense." Hunter said with a shrug. Julie turned around and looked at him. "You can get these like...focus-inducing incense sticks now. A lot of the children of Athena use them at camp."
"My study group always uses them and we ran out of matches, so I decided to buy a lighter."
"Wow, all these new ways to study, huh, Luce?" Wayne said, his arms wrapped around Lucy who was sitting on his lap in the armchair at the end of the couch. Julie hugged Hunter and kissed him on the cheek.
"I owe you one big time. Thanks." She whispered in his ear before pulling away.
"Thanks, Julie." Hunter said, holding up the lighter a second. Christina finally stood up and handed him a big box.
"Now, before you say anything, you should know that I made this myself and wasn't positive on some of the measurements, so...You can't say anything bad because I tried." She said with a giggle. Hunter smiled and unwrapped the box and took the lid off. He took out the tissue paper and pulled out a piece of clothing. He unfolded it and on black fabric with orange letters it was a scarf that read 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD.' He held it up and found it to be longer than he was by a good amount.
"This must have taken you forever!" Hunter said bundling it up a little bit. She smiled and took it from him doing a quick slip knot.
"It's still really long..." She said, frowning a little. Hunter smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I don't care, Chrissy. Thank you. Thanks to all of you." He said with a nod. "This really means a lot."
"Hey, now, Hunter. You didn't let me give you my gift." He carefully stood up out from under Lucy and reached into his pocket, retrieving a small box. He handed it to Hunter who opened it to reveal a car key.
"Oh, Uncle Wanye...Sir, I don't deserve this."
"Oh, calm down." He said with a laugh. "It's not a key. It's a promise."
"You're getting me a car!?"
"Let me finish. I'm telling you that, you're going to learn how to drive. Lucy told me that she didn't see much point in it, but I think that you knowing how to drive is very important." He quickly checked his watch and then turned to Lucy. "When are we eating lunch?"
"Right about noon."
"Fabulous. Let's go now, then." He said with a smile. He grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him toward the door, but Hunter stooped, looking down at the gifts he had received.
"No, I...I'll be right back." Hunter said, walking back to his room. He set the book and the lighter and the scarf down on his bed then sat down, pulling out his bag. There had to be something. Five somethings. He reached into the bottom of his bag and pulled out a shoebox full of keepsakes from his life at camp. The pink Barbie watch that belonged to Arabella. His first camp shirt. A few photographs. His camp necklace. A small charm bracelet that belonged to his mother. Hunter laid it all out on the bed then stood and looked at it all. "Okay. The feather for Chrissy." He said quietly. "The tooth necklace will go to Steven....The chain that Marina gave him will go to Julie..." He just had two more. One for Wayne and one for Lucy. "What to get Lucy..." He paced a little and then sat back down. He pulled the gifts aside and then started to put things he couldn't give up in the box. The watch. The photos. The shirt. He went to grab his camp necklace when there was a knock on the door.
"Hunter?" Wayne said, stepping inside and closing the door. "You okay, Hunter?" Hunter looked up at him a little sad.
"I uh...I got all these great gifts and I don't have anything to give in return. So...I'm looking for things."
"Hunter...this is your stuff. No, son. Listen, you don't have to give us gifts. Don't worry about it."
"No, no." Hunter said, shaking his head. He felt like he was going to cry, but he needed to hold it together. "If I don't give gifts then Aunt Lucy is going to yell at me or something. Not giving gifts back would be unfair, so..." He felt a tear build up in his eye and he wiped it with his sleeve before pointing to the three gifts he had pulled aside.
"Oh, is this...is this for Steven?" He said, holding up the necklace. "That's perfect. He'll love it. And I'm assuming the feather is for Chrissy? It's really good that she has you as a cousin." Hunter was crying at this point, but he was staying as quiet as possible and he had to or he'd feel ashamed or weak or ungrateful or helpless. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve then looked down at Wayne's hand as it ran down the chain. "Where did you get that?"
"My uh...friend. She made it." He said, looking a little closer at it. It looked like several roses and the stems tangling together into chain. "I'm not too sure how much of a friend I was to her in retrospect, so I figure I can give that away." He said, feeling another wave of guilt hit him.
"I'm assuming it's for Julie?" Hunter nodded and then wiped his eyes again, finally feeling a little bit more composed. "So, that leaves...Lucy and I." Hunter nodded again, looking at the remnants of his keepsakes. He grabbed his camp necklace and put it in the box then looked down at his mother's charm bracelet. He picked it up and ran his thumb over the few charms she had. A winged hat, no doubt from his father. A bunch of grapes. A pair of held hands. Finally a small crown. "That belonged to your mother, didn't it?" Hunter looked over at him and took a breath, nodding a little.
"It's all I really have left of her." Hunter said quietly. He felt tears threatening his composure again, but he resisted this time, taking a deep breath.
"You know what each of these charms represents?"
"I know the winged hat was...that was from my dad, but...she didn't tell me the rest of it before she uh..." He let out a sigh of frustration as he started crying again. Wayne took it gingerly from his hand and examined each charm.
"Well, the grapes. She said that it reminded her of Mort. The twin sons of Dionysus. Castor and Pollux. She explained this all to me one night. She said that whenever she ate grapes, she would save half of the bunch for Morton." He said before moving to the next charm. "She told me and Lucy agreed that the thing that she could remember most distinctly about her parents was that they always held hands. You never met them, but I can say for a fact that they did. It was sweet how much they loved each other even when they were so old." He cleared his throat a moment and moved to the crown. "Queen Elizabeth of Reed and Connecticut. That's what Lucy used to call her. Do you remember when your mother would be into a discussion and she'd sit up all straight and she'd cross her legs and put on a face that was very...y'know regal, kind of?" Hunter sniffed and laughed a little at the memory. He barely knew what was going on most of the time, but he did remember. "Well, Luce would always call her Queen Elizabeth of Reed and Connecticut and that's why she wore a crown charm. When she was off with your dad, traveling and going wild she would always remember her family. Your uncle Mort and your grandparents and your Aunt Lucy."
"It's not fair, Uncle Wayne." Hunter said quietly, hiding his face in his knees which were hugged tightly to her chest.
"I know, Hunter. Cancer never is." He twisted the bracelet in his hands a moment before placing it on the bed next to him. "I really think it would mean a lot if you gave that bracelet to your Aunt Lucy." Hunter looked up at him stunned.
"After how she treats me, I should give her the only thing I have left of my mom?" Hunter said, a lump in his throat. "My mom is gone, uncle Wayne. I miss her so much. It's my mom and she's dead. No ten year old should have to bury his mother."
"And no person should have to her younger brother, her younger sister, and her parents." A silence entered the room and they both sat there for a while. Hunter knew he was right. How could have been so selfish? That's all he had been is selfish. With his family here and Marina at camp. He looked over at the bracelet and picked it up, running his thumb over the charms.
"How am I going to remember her?" Hunter whispered. Wayne put his arm around him and rubbed his arm.
"By making her proud. By growing up and being the man that she'd want you to be." He took a deep breath. "You've got memories of her and you'll never forget those." Hunter took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, his sleeve officially saturated with tears.
"Thanks." Hunter said before gathering the four gifts and heading out of his room. He held the charm bracelet tightly in his hand as he tried to have a few more moments with it before finally giving it up. He walked into the kitchen where he found his Aunt Lucy hard at work making lunch. "Uhh...Aunt uh...Aunt Lucy?"
"What?" She said, not turning to look at him. He took a deep breath then cleared his throat.
"I guess, I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me over the years and I'm sorry for all of the trouble that I've caused you, but I just wanted to give you this." He said, finally holding up the bracelet. She looked quickly at the gift and opened her mouth to give some sort of retort, but her head whipped back at it as she gazed at it.
"Hunter, I could never..."
"No...No, no. It's okay. You need it more than I do." He said quietly before dropping it into her hand. Hunter felt better and better about giving it up with every moment with every teardrop that was starting to drop from his Aunt Lucy's face. She ran her finger over the charms and then stepped forward, giving Hunter a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, Aunt Lucy."
"Merry Christmas, Hunter."
"Hunter! Hunter, wake up! It's Christmas!" Christina shouted to the blanket cocooned Hunter. He turned to his other side away from her and pulled the blanket tighter. He hadn't really done anything in the past couple days. It was good seeing his uncle again, but he felt bad because he wasn't really being very sociable. He hadn't really had a conversation with anyone. He had just kind of been coasting through the visit. The kiss with Marina really kind of bothered him and what bothered him more was how he left. He was stupid. He kept playing it back in his head and how he should have done it. What he should have done instead of leave. He had to leave, but he could have brought her along or..."Hunter, if you don't wake up, Baxter and I are going to bother you all day until you do." Hunter curled into a ball and groaned a little. "Okay. Up, Baxter. Up." She said, patting on his bed. Hunter felt the weight shift on the bed and felt it move toward him.
"Just leave me alone..." Hunter groaned as he tried to hide from the dog that suddenly appeared in his line of sight. The small chow-lab mix puppy licked at his face, barking and panting at him.
"Hunter, if you don't wake up, I'll get Jojo involved. And if that doesn't work then Wilbur is going to be brought into the mix and you know you can't stand up to Wilbur." Hunter was pretty much awake at this point, but he might as well let Christina have her fun. "Well, that's it then. It won't be long now. Come on, Jojo." She said, then placed another small puppy on Hunter's shoulder. Hunter finally rolled to his stomach and buried his face in his pillow, trying to escape the dogs. "Time for Wilbur." Hunter sighed, knowing that he would have to wake up soon, but it didn't stop him from drawing this out. "Say good morning to Hunter, sweet puppy." Christina said in baby talk as she set Wilbur down carefully next to Hunter's head. Hunter could hear the quiet panting of Wilbur and then a soft whimper as he bumped Hunter's ear with his cold nose. Hunter finally turned his face and saw Wilbur the tiniest little puppy he'd ever seen with big dark eyes and a pink little nose. Wilbur barked and then stumbled over to Hunter and licked his face in a good morning kiss.
"Good morning, Wilbur." Hunter said with a smile. He carefully grabbed the dog then sat up, turning to Christina. "Merry Christmas, Christina." She leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek.
"Get up and get dressed and then we'll get you some breakfast." She said, grabbing all the dogs except Wilbur and leaving the room. Hunter set Wilbur down next to him on the bed then stood up, throwing the blanket over Wilbur who barked and bit the blanket, trying to escape. Hunter walked to his bag and changed into a t-shirt and a pair of jeans. Wilbur barked at him and as soon as Hunter had his shirt on, he picked up Wilbur and left the room.
"Hey, there he is! Merry Christmas, sleepyhead." Hunter's uncle, Wayne said, walking over and hugging him, giving him a hard pat on the back. Hunter smiled a little and patted his uncle on the back, hugging him back a little awkwardly. He finally pulled away and Hunter set Wilbur down before taking a spot at the kitchen table. "You almost missed breakfast, Hunter." He said with a smile as he sat down at the head of the table.
"Julie, Steven! Come on. We're going to eat." Lucy said, stepping into the living room for a moment before taking a spot at the other end of the table, giving him a look and a seemingly forced smile before taking her napkin and setting it in her lap. Hunter did the same and kept his head down a little. He was seated next to Julie who was about a foot and a half shorter than he was and now that he had been spending a lot more time with his sword he was now much bigger than her.
"Hunter, I'm just now realizing that you have told us how you've been doing at camp." Wayne said, taking a bite of egg. Hunter glanced up at Lucy who calmly ate her breakfast just like everyone else. Wayne wasn't here all year, so it was hard to know when something was a bit of a taboo subject around the table. Hunter still remembered when Lucy had sent him to his room the last time he talked about camp at the table.
"Well, uh..." Hunter said quietly, looking up at Lucy a little hesitantly. "It's fine, I suppose. Making some friends." He said with a nod.
"Wrestling, too from the looks of those arms." He said with a chuckle. Hunter had built a bit of muscle, but he didn't really think it was that obvious. "Have you saved the world yet? From ancient snakes or something?" That got a bit of a laugh out of the table which Hunter couldn't be more thankful for. It let the tension disappear a bit.
"Have you fought any monsters?" Steven asked with a bit of an unimpressed look on his face.
"Well, apparently a lot of the big fighting was all done before I got to camp, but I did kill a hellhound once." He chuckled a little at the memory as he stabbed a sausage link. "It was fun." He said, smiling at Steven who laughed and nodded.
"Sounds like fun. Perfect summer camp activity." Lucy said with a roll of her eyes. The table fell silent again. Hunter hung his head a little bit, poking at his food. "What? Is the food not good enough?" She asked Hunter, setting her fork down to her plate with a clatter. "Should I make you do a burnt offering beforehand or is the camp food just better than mine?"
"No, ma'am. I just...I was..."
"You were what?"
"Mom, leave him alone." Christina said quietly. "He's just a little nervous." She said before smiling over at him a little.
"Don't you-"
"Alright! Time for presents!" Wayne said, putting his fork down on his empty plate. "You guys are going to love yours." He put his plate in the sink and then hurried off to the living room where a Christmas tree stood, presents stacked underneath. Hunter took a few quick bites of bacon then placed his plate in the sink with everyone else's. He walked into the living room to find Julie, Steven, and Christina sitting on the couch and Lucy moving to join them at the end in a soft blue armchair. "Come over here, beautiful." He said, snagging Lucy's shirt sleeve and wrapping his arms around her, kissing her gently on the lips.
"Oh, come on, you two! Don't make us get the water hose." Julie said, shielding Christina's eyes. Hunter watched them kiss. Not in a weird way, but in a interested way. He loved it whenever Wayne was in town. He had a way of calming down Lucy and Hunter could tell how much they still loved each other even after all this time apart. It made him feel worse that he was the reason that she had to go without her husband. Wayne started humming really loudly and moved his hands down to her butt. The kids laughed and started throwing things at them to try and make them stop. Hunter moved into the room from the doorway and sat down on the small step in the doorway.
"Okay. Okay." Wayne said, finally breaking the kiss. "MWAH!" He laughed and then moved Lucy so she was standing beside him. "Alright, welcome to the Christmas gift extravaganza. I will be your host, Wayne and this is my lovely assistant, Lucy." She smiled and waved meekly to the kids on the couch before kissing her husband on the cheek. "Excellent, now before we move onto the gifts, I have an important announcement." His face turned serious. A little too serious for Hunter's preference. It immediately made him worry. "Well, I got a phone call yesterday about my job." He took a deep breath and he closed his eyes. Lucy looked over at him with sad eyes, but it looked like she didn't know about whatever news this was either. "They had some...comments about my performance and they said that my job would be..changing." His chin quivered a little and he swallowed, trying to push this news out. "I got promoted." He said finally, a giant smile on his face. Lucy's face brightened in surprise. "What that means is more money, more benefits, and a brand spanking new office at the headquarters in Manhattan, New York, United States of America!" Lucy was crying at this point as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly.
"You scared me half to death you big jerk." She said with a laugh through her tears. Christina was the first one up, but the twins soon followed, joining their parents in a group hug. Hunter smiled a little at the family moment, but sadly his entire body felt like he didn't belong. This was a private family moment and he was intruding. Hunter thought for a second and then stood up, walking into the kitchen and starting on doing the dishes. He knew that Lucy was going to tell him to do them anyway, so why not start them now? He usually didn't get gifts anyway. Or if he did they weren't under the tree. It was only fair, considering he usually didn't give gifts.
He was scrubbing down a frying pan when he heard his name from the other room. He set the pan down and wiped his hands off before looking into the living room.
"Oh, there he is." Steven said, walking over and handing him a small wrapped gift. "A friend of mine gave this to me and I didn't want it. I'm not sure who would, but I thought you might." Hunter looked down at the package in his hands for a moment before going to hug Steven, but he went for a hand shake and he quickly adjusted to the handshake.
"Uhm...thanks." Hunter said with a nod.
"Open it, stupid." Christina said with a laugh, her legs crossed under her, her head adorned with a fuzzy hat that still had the tag on it, no doubt one of her gifts. Hunter turned the package over and ripped the paper, revealing a thick book. He turned it over revealing the title in Greek.
"The Compiled works of the Ancient Greek Poets." Hunter translated with a bit of a laugh.
"My friend bought it thinking that love poems in different languages would help him, but it wasn't til he shelled out 50 bucks for the book that he found out that Greek didn't sound all that romantic."
"I know, right?" Hunter said with a little laugh. He looked down at the book again then shook Steven's hand again. "Thanks. I'll be sure to read it. Tell you how it goes." He laughed and then sat back down just as Julie stood.
"Here's my gift." Julie said with a smile, walking over and handing him a gift bag. Hunter took it gingerly in his hands and then opened it. Inside was a lighter. A little confused, he looked at her then back down at the bag before reaching in and grabbing it. On closer inspection he saw that there were letters etched into it.
"It's supposed to be an H. My boyfriend got me a new one that was officially engraved, so I changed the J that I scratched into it into an H, so...H-U...You're Hunter."
"Why do you have a lighter?" Christina asked. Julie's eyes looked pleadingly into Hunter's for a moment before turning around.
"Well, uh..."
"Incense." Hunter said with a shrug. Julie turned around and looked at him. "You can get these like...focus-inducing incense sticks now. A lot of the children of Athena use them at camp."
"My study group always uses them and we ran out of matches, so I decided to buy a lighter."
"Wow, all these new ways to study, huh, Luce?" Wayne said, his arms wrapped around Lucy who was sitting on his lap in the armchair at the end of the couch. Julie hugged Hunter and kissed him on the cheek.
"I owe you one big time. Thanks." She whispered in his ear before pulling away.
"Thanks, Julie." Hunter said, holding up the lighter a second. Christina finally stood up and handed him a big box.
"Now, before you say anything, you should know that I made this myself and wasn't positive on some of the measurements, so...You can't say anything bad because I tried." She said with a giggle. Hunter smiled and unwrapped the box and took the lid off. He took out the tissue paper and pulled out a piece of clothing. He unfolded it and on black fabric with orange letters it was a scarf that read 'CAMP HALF-BLOOD.' He held it up and found it to be longer than he was by a good amount.
"This must have taken you forever!" Hunter said bundling it up a little bit. She smiled and took it from him doing a quick slip knot.
"It's still really long..." She said, frowning a little. Hunter smiled and hugged her tightly.
"I don't care, Chrissy. Thank you. Thanks to all of you." He said with a nod. "This really means a lot."
"Hey, now, Hunter. You didn't let me give you my gift." He carefully stood up out from under Lucy and reached into his pocket, retrieving a small box. He handed it to Hunter who opened it to reveal a car key.
"Oh, Uncle Wanye...Sir, I don't deserve this."
"Oh, calm down." He said with a laugh. "It's not a key. It's a promise."
"You're getting me a car!?"
"Let me finish. I'm telling you that, you're going to learn how to drive. Lucy told me that she didn't see much point in it, but I think that you knowing how to drive is very important." He quickly checked his watch and then turned to Lucy. "When are we eating lunch?"
"Right about noon."
"Fabulous. Let's go now, then." He said with a smile. He grabbed him by the arm and started to pull him toward the door, but Hunter stooped, looking down at the gifts he had received.
"No, I...I'll be right back." Hunter said, walking back to his room. He set the book and the lighter and the scarf down on his bed then sat down, pulling out his bag. There had to be something. Five somethings. He reached into the bottom of his bag and pulled out a shoebox full of keepsakes from his life at camp. The pink Barbie watch that belonged to Arabella. His first camp shirt. A few photographs. His camp necklace. A small charm bracelet that belonged to his mother. Hunter laid it all out on the bed then stood and looked at it all. "Okay. The feather for Chrissy." He said quietly. "The tooth necklace will go to Steven....The chain that Marina gave him will go to Julie..." He just had two more. One for Wayne and one for Lucy. "What to get Lucy..." He paced a little and then sat back down. He pulled the gifts aside and then started to put things he couldn't give up in the box. The watch. The photos. The shirt. He went to grab his camp necklace when there was a knock on the door.
"Hunter?" Wayne said, stepping inside and closing the door. "You okay, Hunter?" Hunter looked up at him a little sad.
"I uh...I got all these great gifts and I don't have anything to give in return. So...I'm looking for things."
"Hunter...this is your stuff. No, son. Listen, you don't have to give us gifts. Don't worry about it."
"No, no." Hunter said, shaking his head. He felt like he was going to cry, but he needed to hold it together. "If I don't give gifts then Aunt Lucy is going to yell at me or something. Not giving gifts back would be unfair, so..." He felt a tear build up in his eye and he wiped it with his sleeve before pointing to the three gifts he had pulled aside.
"Oh, is this...is this for Steven?" He said, holding up the necklace. "That's perfect. He'll love it. And I'm assuming the feather is for Chrissy? It's really good that she has you as a cousin." Hunter was crying at this point, but he was staying as quiet as possible and he had to or he'd feel ashamed or weak or ungrateful or helpless. He wiped his eyes with his sleeve then looked down at Wayne's hand as it ran down the chain. "Where did you get that?"
"My uh...friend. She made it." He said, looking a little closer at it. It looked like several roses and the stems tangling together into chain. "I'm not too sure how much of a friend I was to her in retrospect, so I figure I can give that away." He said, feeling another wave of guilt hit him.
"I'm assuming it's for Julie?" Hunter nodded and then wiped his eyes again, finally feeling a little bit more composed. "So, that leaves...Lucy and I." Hunter nodded again, looking at the remnants of his keepsakes. He grabbed his camp necklace and put it in the box then looked down at his mother's charm bracelet. He picked it up and ran his thumb over the few charms she had. A winged hat, no doubt from his father. A bunch of grapes. A pair of held hands. Finally a small crown. "That belonged to your mother, didn't it?" Hunter looked over at him and took a breath, nodding a little.
"It's all I really have left of her." Hunter said quietly. He felt tears threatening his composure again, but he resisted this time, taking a deep breath.
"You know what each of these charms represents?"
"I know the winged hat was...that was from my dad, but...she didn't tell me the rest of it before she uh..." He let out a sigh of frustration as he started crying again. Wayne took it gingerly from his hand and examined each charm.
"Well, the grapes. She said that it reminded her of Mort. The twin sons of Dionysus. Castor and Pollux. She explained this all to me one night. She said that whenever she ate grapes, she would save half of the bunch for Morton." He said before moving to the next charm. "She told me and Lucy agreed that the thing that she could remember most distinctly about her parents was that they always held hands. You never met them, but I can say for a fact that they did. It was sweet how much they loved each other even when they were so old." He cleared his throat a moment and moved to the crown. "Queen Elizabeth of Reed and Connecticut. That's what Lucy used to call her. Do you remember when your mother would be into a discussion and she'd sit up all straight and she'd cross her legs and put on a face that was very...y'know regal, kind of?" Hunter sniffed and laughed a little at the memory. He barely knew what was going on most of the time, but he did remember. "Well, Luce would always call her Queen Elizabeth of Reed and Connecticut and that's why she wore a crown charm. When she was off with your dad, traveling and going wild she would always remember her family. Your uncle Mort and your grandparents and your Aunt Lucy."
"It's not fair, Uncle Wayne." Hunter said quietly, hiding his face in his knees which were hugged tightly to her chest.
"I know, Hunter. Cancer never is." He twisted the bracelet in his hands a moment before placing it on the bed next to him. "I really think it would mean a lot if you gave that bracelet to your Aunt Lucy." Hunter looked up at him stunned.
"After how she treats me, I should give her the only thing I have left of my mom?" Hunter said, a lump in his throat. "My mom is gone, uncle Wayne. I miss her so much. It's my mom and she's dead. No ten year old should have to bury his mother."
"And no person should have to her younger brother, her younger sister, and her parents." A silence entered the room and they both sat there for a while. Hunter knew he was right. How could have been so selfish? That's all he had been is selfish. With his family here and Marina at camp. He looked over at the bracelet and picked it up, running his thumb over the charms.
"How am I going to remember her?" Hunter whispered. Wayne put his arm around him and rubbed his arm.
"By making her proud. By growing up and being the man that she'd want you to be." He took a deep breath. "You've got memories of her and you'll never forget those." Hunter took a deep breath and wiped his eyes, his sleeve officially saturated with tears.
"Thanks." Hunter said before gathering the four gifts and heading out of his room. He held the charm bracelet tightly in his hand as he tried to have a few more moments with it before finally giving it up. He walked into the kitchen where he found his Aunt Lucy hard at work making lunch. "Uhh...Aunt uh...Aunt Lucy?"
"What?" She said, not turning to look at him. He took a deep breath then cleared his throat.
"I guess, I just wanted to thank you for everything you've done for me over the years and I'm sorry for all of the trouble that I've caused you, but I just wanted to give you this." He said, finally holding up the bracelet. She looked quickly at the gift and opened her mouth to give some sort of retort, but her head whipped back at it as she gazed at it.
"Hunter, I could never..."
"No...No, no. It's okay. You need it more than I do." He said quietly before dropping it into her hand. Hunter felt better and better about giving it up with every moment with every teardrop that was starting to drop from his Aunt Lucy's face. She ran her finger over the charms and then stepped forward, giving Hunter a tight hug. "Merry Christmas, Aunt Lucy."
"Merry Christmas, Hunter."
Chapter 38: Hunter
December 22
Hunter groaned a little when the sun hit his eyes. He sighed a little and buried his face in his pillow, wondering if he could get Apollo to go back and come a little bit later. He moved to his other side and stretched a little, throwing his blanket over his face. He wasn't sure what time it was, but it was a Saturday and he didn't have a single thing to do. He had talked to Marina the previous day and he felt a little less awkward about the tension during the fight that Thursday.
"Fucking bullshit!" Hunter sat up quickly, looking at the door as it shook. He recognized that it was Chelsea's voice. He groaned and threw his blanket over his head, laying as flat as he could. Chelsea was the kind of person who involved anyone who was nearby in her current problem. She slammed against the door to try and open it, but she was apparently too angry to remember how to open doors or...speak normally. Finally the door banged open and she walked in then slammed it. "Such a dickbag!" He could feel her heavy footsteps move across the floor to her bed which was across the row from his. Hunter tried to stifle his breathing, but it didn't work when he felt her stop by his bed then flip the blanket off of him. "Why are all of you assholes?!"
"Uhh..." Hunter started, shivering a little at his sudden exposure. "I'm not entirely sure."
"Well, you can go fuck yourself!" She said before pushing his bed over. Hunter laid there for a second as he listened for the sound of her storming out again, but he heard her sit down on her bed. Hunter sat up and he managed to look over the edge of the bed to see her crying on her bed. Hunter paused for a moment and then stood grabbing his shirt and slipping it on over his head. He stepped out from inside his bed then took a second and stood it back up, throwing everything back on top. Hunter finally looked over at Chelsea and took a few steps toward her.
"Chels?" He said, leaning against the bed next to hers. "Chels, are you alright?"
"Do I fucking sound alright!?" She shouted before pulling her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. He twisted his hands together for a second and then looked up at her a little nervously.
"Look, I just...You're my sister and I want to help." He said, hopping up onto the top bunk next to hers. "What's wrong?"
"Men are fucking douchebags. That's what's wrong!" She shouted. Hunter put his hands up then hopped down from the bed. "Well, hold on." She said quietly. Hunter hopped up next to her and she swung her legs off, sitting next to him.
"Well...Arabella moved on with that douchegoblin Brett from Apollo cabin, I saw an opportunity and I...and he...and so after a couple days we..." Her lip quivered a moment and she buried her face in her hands. Hunter took a small breath and put his arm around her, gently rubbing her arm. After a moment, she composed herself enough to speak again. "I should have known that he was a lying asswipe, but he was so nice and he..." She let out a couple of sobs and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Well, I thought we had this really like...deep connection, but I just Iris messaged him and I saw that he was with..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "With someone else."
"Oh, Chelsea, I'm so sorry." He said quietly, letting her cry into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time. Hunter didn't exactly plan his day going this way, but every second that he thought about what had happened to Chelsea and to Arabella made him angry. Neither of them deserved it and no one ever should be treated the way that Brett treated them.
"Hey, Chelsea...I uh...I think it's time that we got some revenge on Brett the only way that Hermes kids know how." She looked up at him and had concerned eyes. "I have an idea, but we'll need some help and I know the person to ask."
----------------------------------------
Hunter took a look around the camp and noticed how vacant it seemed. It was in the midafternoon, so people were milling about, but he didn't like the fact that not as many would be able to see it. He walked down the line of cabins until he found the Hephaestus cabin where he walked in and down the stairs to the forge.
"Shush shush shush." Marina said quickly, holding up a finger. Hunter froze in place, his mouth open to speak. She seemed to take a moment to add something really small to a small disk before exhaling and standing up straight again. "Are we almost ready?" She said with a smile.
"I cannot thank you enough, Marina. This really...It means a lot."
"Well, it's not often I get to make an adhesive glitter landmine and you know I like a challenge." She smiled up at him and they locked eyes a moment before looking away. "So, what's the plan? You skimped a little on the details."
"Okay. Well, Chelsea told Brett that she wanted to sleep with him again, but he had to come to camp if he wanted it. Being the guy that he is, he said yes and made sure that the Apollo cabin was empty for 3 hours-Very generous if you ask me- so that they get some privacy. She'll walk in. Get him naked. Run out with his clothes. While that's going on, we're placing the landmine and before you protest that we'll get in trouble I'm not doing it by myself and I know that you find this whole idea really exciting." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Then he's going to give chase, step on the landmine, become bedazzled, we'll release the banner, reading in bright red letters, 'STDs: You name it, Brett's got it.' Chels burns his clothes then we run like three bats outta hell." Marina looked at him with a wide range of emotions.
"I...well, Wow. You really just...You are really ruining his day."
"Well, Chels wanted to stab him, so...this is the midpoint." He said with a smile. She smiled back then took a deep breath.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. Let's do it." She said with a giggle. Hunter laughed then hugged her, lifting her up a little.
"Alright. Let's do it." He said, finally setting her down and hurrying back upstairs. He emerged and took a quick look around to see Chelsea waiting for them.
"Okay. He's almost here." She said quietly. Marina walked out from behind Hunter and hugged Chelsea tightly around the middle. Hunter smiled at them a little. Why did Marina have to be so nice? It made trying to not have feelings for her really difficult. Hunter looked up finally and saw Brett entering the ring of cabins. He quickly grabbed the both of them, hauling them back behind the railing of the porch. They hid and Hunter peeked out to see him finally disappear into the Apollo cabin. A moment later there was some shouting and three other kids were ejected from the cabin.
"Alright. Let's go." He said quietly. They crept out from behind the railing and ran next door to the Apollo cabin. Hunter looked at Chelsea and she looked so upset. He finally put an arm around her and held her comfortingly. "He's about to get what's coming to him. We'll get him good, Chels. He won't be bothering you ever again." She took a deep breath and nodded before standing up and putting a game face on. She unzipped her jacket to reveal some cleavage then walked inside, closing the door behind her. Marina and Hunter quickly moved to the front of the porch right before the steps, laying the mine and arming it.
"Okay. Help me up." Marina whispered, jumping on his back and then climbing up onto this shoulders. Hunter blushed a little, but then moved toward the wall of the cabin. "Just a little closer....one sec. steady...Okay. Perfect. Now the other side." She said before moving her legs and dropping down just as Hunter caught her in his arms. They smiled a little awkwardly for a moment before moving to the other side of the door where they repeated the process. They were apparently just in time because no sooner did Marina climb down when they heard a 'What the fuck?!' from inside.
"Get down!" Hunter said quickly hiding behind the railing, the rope in his hand. The door swung open and out came Chelsea, arms full of clothes and a scowl on her face. She ran out and hopped the stairs, dodging the mine, and heading straight for the fire.
"What the fuck are you doing, you crazy bitch?!" Brett shouted, emerging with only a shield covering himself. "Don't you dare!" click FOOM! The entire front of Apollo cabin erupted in a cloud of sparkling glitter, coating the rails and the stairs and as it settled the very angry Brett who was now a twinkling figure frozen in surprise at the glitter mine. Hunter pulled the rope and out came the banner, reading in large print, something that would hopefully cease his sex life here at camp.
"This is what I think of you, Brett Wilcox!" Chelsea shouted, throwing his clothes into the fire. She ran at him and slapped him in the face. "You've got a tiny little dick, too! Like being fucked by a baby carrot!"
"That's not a part of the plan." Marina mumbled, reaching into her pocket. Brett finally shook out of his stupor and looked at Chelsea with an evil glint in his eye.
"You crazy...insane bitch! You're gonna pay for this!" He said raising his hand. Hunter moved quickly and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground before he could hit her.
"Look away!" Marina shouted just as she threw something at the ground and dodged behind the railing again. It exploded with a loud whistle and a bright light then started spraying out a thick plume of smoke. Hunter finally looked back and saw Chelsea kicking him Brett.
"Come on, Chels! No time!" He said, hoisting her over his shoulder and taking off through the camp toward the woods.
"Put me down! I'm not done with that asshole!" Chelsea shouted, pounding on Hunter's back with her fists. Hunter saw a couple of Brett's sibling running toward them, but they never saw Marina coming. She knocked one of them down with a kick then dropped another flash bomb, allowing the three of them to make an escape into the woods. Hunter moved as fast as he could with the protesting Chelsea over his shoulder, but after a little while she seemed to be screaming so hard that she passed out. Which didn't help the matter now that she was just plain dead weight.
"Quick. Hunter, this way." Marina directed, moving a few stones away from a big pile and climbing inside. Hunter moved in and set Chelsea down on the ground immediately groaning as he felt the soon-to-be bruises on his back. Marina placed some of the rocks back then looked out as they heard motion from outside. People probably looking for them. Hunter closed his eyes then sat down, trying to catch his breath.
"Are they gone?" He asked after a moment. Marina finally turned to him and nodded.
"Yeah. Is she okay?" She said, kneeling down next to her and looking her over.
"Yeah. I think she just tired herself out. She had a really long day." He said quietly, rubbing his face. Marina turned and stood up again, moving to the entrance of the small cavern. She pushed the rocks back out then took a quick scan around.
"It's clear. You can bring her out here." She said quietly. Hunter nodded and stood up, carefully picking up Chelsea and bringing her out of the cavern and setting her down, leaning her against the rocks. His back was killing him, but it looked like they got away with the prank, so it was worth it. Anything to get back at Brett. "Wow. She is really out of it." Marina said, patting her face. Hunter leaned up against a tree then finally laid down in the dirt on his stomach. It felt amazing despite his getting his shirt dirty.
"I think it went pretty well." He said with a little laugh. Marina laughed and it became infectious after a moment, both of them laughing hard at what they just witnessed. This carried on for several minutes before Hunter felt a hand on his back. He looked up a little and saw Marina sitting next to him. "You were hustling me with all this pranking stuff weren't you?" He said with a smile, rolling over onto his back. She giggled then shrugged.
"Maybe I just have an eye for these sort of things." She said, looking down at him affectionately. Hunter noticed it, but with the mild exhaustion and the pain and just coming down from a laughter high he didn't do anything about it. "It was impressive with you picking her up and everything."
"Well, trying to freestyle it is not wise when pranking." He said with a chuckle. "And look at you with your...smoke...bang things! What is that? You completely saved us, Marina. You're amazing." He said with a smile. She blushed and stared down at him for a moment. They just looked at each other for a moment before she leaned down and kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss or a deep kiss, but a meaningful one. When broke the kiss she stayed leaned down, her face close to his, and licked her lips, her eyes never leaving his. Hunter's stomach was knotted and his heart was pounding and his cheeks were red. It took a soft moan from Chelsea to knock him out of the stupor that he was in. "I have to go." Hunter said quickly, standing up. He turned to Marina who looked heartbroken, but she stood up and walked to him.
"What do you mean?" She said, her voice weak.
"I...I'm going home for Christmas. My uncle is picking me up in about 20 minutes." Hunter said, pulling away from her and walking toward camp.
"What? I thought you were staying through Christmas." She said from behind him her voice on the brink of tears.
"No. I thought I told you. I'll be gone until the 26th." He said, not even stopping to turn around. She stopped when she walked in front of him and put a hand on his chest.
"Hunter..." He tried to look away from her, but she made it difficult. He finally looked down and saw the tears on her face and his heart broke for her. "Hunter..." She said almost frantically. Her fingers finally gripped hi shirt and she pulled him down to her, kissing him tightly. She finally pulled away and looked at him, her face inches from his. "Hunter, please...stay." She said quietly. "This summer was because of me. I stayed because you stayed. I did whatever you wanted. Didn't that mean anything?" Hunter looked down at her trying to hold back his tears.
"I'm sorry, Marina. I just...I need to go. I'm sorry." He said before pulling away from her and heading back to camp.
Hunter groaned a little when the sun hit his eyes. He sighed a little and buried his face in his pillow, wondering if he could get Apollo to go back and come a little bit later. He moved to his other side and stretched a little, throwing his blanket over his face. He wasn't sure what time it was, but it was a Saturday and he didn't have a single thing to do. He had talked to Marina the previous day and he felt a little less awkward about the tension during the fight that Thursday.
"Fucking bullshit!" Hunter sat up quickly, looking at the door as it shook. He recognized that it was Chelsea's voice. He groaned and threw his blanket over his head, laying as flat as he could. Chelsea was the kind of person who involved anyone who was nearby in her current problem. She slammed against the door to try and open it, but she was apparently too angry to remember how to open doors or...speak normally. Finally the door banged open and she walked in then slammed it. "Such a dickbag!" He could feel her heavy footsteps move across the floor to her bed which was across the row from his. Hunter tried to stifle his breathing, but it didn't work when he felt her stop by his bed then flip the blanket off of him. "Why are all of you assholes?!"
"Uhh..." Hunter started, shivering a little at his sudden exposure. "I'm not entirely sure."
"Well, you can go fuck yourself!" She said before pushing his bed over. Hunter laid there for a second as he listened for the sound of her storming out again, but he heard her sit down on her bed. Hunter sat up and he managed to look over the edge of the bed to see her crying on her bed. Hunter paused for a moment and then stood grabbing his shirt and slipping it on over his head. He stepped out from inside his bed then took a second and stood it back up, throwing everything back on top. Hunter finally looked over at Chelsea and took a few steps toward her.
"Chels?" He said, leaning against the bed next to hers. "Chels, are you alright?"
"Do I fucking sound alright!?" She shouted before pulling her legs up, hugging her knees to her chest. He twisted his hands together for a second and then looked up at her a little nervously.
"Look, I just...You're my sister and I want to help." He said, hopping up onto the top bunk next to hers. "What's wrong?"
"Men are fucking douchebags. That's what's wrong!" She shouted. Hunter put his hands up then hopped down from the bed. "Well, hold on." She said quietly. Hunter hopped up next to her and she swung her legs off, sitting next to him.
"Well...Arabella moved on with that douchegoblin Brett from Apollo cabin, I saw an opportunity and I...and he...and so after a couple days we..." Her lip quivered a moment and she buried her face in her hands. Hunter took a small breath and put his arm around her, gently rubbing her arm. After a moment, she composed herself enough to speak again. "I should have known that he was a lying asswipe, but he was so nice and he..." She let out a couple of sobs and wiped her eyes with her sleeve. "Well, I thought we had this really like...deep connection, but I just Iris messaged him and I saw that he was with..." She took a deep breath and closed her eyes. "With someone else."
"Oh, Chelsea, I'm so sorry." He said quietly, letting her cry into his shoulder. They stayed like that for a long time. Hunter didn't exactly plan his day going this way, but every second that he thought about what had happened to Chelsea and to Arabella made him angry. Neither of them deserved it and no one ever should be treated the way that Brett treated them.
"Hey, Chelsea...I uh...I think it's time that we got some revenge on Brett the only way that Hermes kids know how." She looked up at him and had concerned eyes. "I have an idea, but we'll need some help and I know the person to ask."
----------------------------------------
Hunter took a look around the camp and noticed how vacant it seemed. It was in the midafternoon, so people were milling about, but he didn't like the fact that not as many would be able to see it. He walked down the line of cabins until he found the Hephaestus cabin where he walked in and down the stairs to the forge.
"Shush shush shush." Marina said quickly, holding up a finger. Hunter froze in place, his mouth open to speak. She seemed to take a moment to add something really small to a small disk before exhaling and standing up straight again. "Are we almost ready?" She said with a smile.
"I cannot thank you enough, Marina. This really...It means a lot."
"Well, it's not often I get to make an adhesive glitter landmine and you know I like a challenge." She smiled up at him and they locked eyes a moment before looking away. "So, what's the plan? You skimped a little on the details."
"Okay. Well, Chelsea told Brett that she wanted to sleep with him again, but he had to come to camp if he wanted it. Being the guy that he is, he said yes and made sure that the Apollo cabin was empty for 3 hours-Very generous if you ask me- so that they get some privacy. She'll walk in. Get him naked. Run out with his clothes. While that's going on, we're placing the landmine and before you protest that we'll get in trouble I'm not doing it by myself and I know that you find this whole idea really exciting." He took a deep breath before continuing. "Then he's going to give chase, step on the landmine, become bedazzled, we'll release the banner, reading in bright red letters, 'STDs: You name it, Brett's got it.' Chels burns his clothes then we run like three bats outta hell." Marina looked at him with a wide range of emotions.
"I...well, Wow. You really just...You are really ruining his day."
"Well, Chels wanted to stab him, so...this is the midpoint." He said with a smile. She smiled back then took a deep breath.
"Sounds like a lot of fun. Let's do it." She said with a giggle. Hunter laughed then hugged her, lifting her up a little.
"Alright. Let's do it." He said, finally setting her down and hurrying back upstairs. He emerged and took a quick look around to see Chelsea waiting for them.
"Okay. He's almost here." She said quietly. Marina walked out from behind Hunter and hugged Chelsea tightly around the middle. Hunter smiled at them a little. Why did Marina have to be so nice? It made trying to not have feelings for her really difficult. Hunter looked up finally and saw Brett entering the ring of cabins. He quickly grabbed the both of them, hauling them back behind the railing of the porch. They hid and Hunter peeked out to see him finally disappear into the Apollo cabin. A moment later there was some shouting and three other kids were ejected from the cabin.
"Alright. Let's go." He said quietly. They crept out from behind the railing and ran next door to the Apollo cabin. Hunter looked at Chelsea and she looked so upset. He finally put an arm around her and held her comfortingly. "He's about to get what's coming to him. We'll get him good, Chels. He won't be bothering you ever again." She took a deep breath and nodded before standing up and putting a game face on. She unzipped her jacket to reveal some cleavage then walked inside, closing the door behind her. Marina and Hunter quickly moved to the front of the porch right before the steps, laying the mine and arming it.
"Okay. Help me up." Marina whispered, jumping on his back and then climbing up onto this shoulders. Hunter blushed a little, but then moved toward the wall of the cabin. "Just a little closer....one sec. steady...Okay. Perfect. Now the other side." She said before moving her legs and dropping down just as Hunter caught her in his arms. They smiled a little awkwardly for a moment before moving to the other side of the door where they repeated the process. They were apparently just in time because no sooner did Marina climb down when they heard a 'What the fuck?!' from inside.
"Get down!" Hunter said quickly hiding behind the railing, the rope in his hand. The door swung open and out came Chelsea, arms full of clothes and a scowl on her face. She ran out and hopped the stairs, dodging the mine, and heading straight for the fire.
"What the fuck are you doing, you crazy bitch?!" Brett shouted, emerging with only a shield covering himself. "Don't you dare!" click FOOM! The entire front of Apollo cabin erupted in a cloud of sparkling glitter, coating the rails and the stairs and as it settled the very angry Brett who was now a twinkling figure frozen in surprise at the glitter mine. Hunter pulled the rope and out came the banner, reading in large print, something that would hopefully cease his sex life here at camp.
"This is what I think of you, Brett Wilcox!" Chelsea shouted, throwing his clothes into the fire. She ran at him and slapped him in the face. "You've got a tiny little dick, too! Like being fucked by a baby carrot!"
"That's not a part of the plan." Marina mumbled, reaching into her pocket. Brett finally shook out of his stupor and looked at Chelsea with an evil glint in his eye.
"You crazy...insane bitch! You're gonna pay for this!" He said raising his hand. Hunter moved quickly and punched him in the face, knocking him to the ground before he could hit her.
"Look away!" Marina shouted just as she threw something at the ground and dodged behind the railing again. It exploded with a loud whistle and a bright light then started spraying out a thick plume of smoke. Hunter finally looked back and saw Chelsea kicking him Brett.
"Come on, Chels! No time!" He said, hoisting her over his shoulder and taking off through the camp toward the woods.
"Put me down! I'm not done with that asshole!" Chelsea shouted, pounding on Hunter's back with her fists. Hunter saw a couple of Brett's sibling running toward them, but they never saw Marina coming. She knocked one of them down with a kick then dropped another flash bomb, allowing the three of them to make an escape into the woods. Hunter moved as fast as he could with the protesting Chelsea over his shoulder, but after a little while she seemed to be screaming so hard that she passed out. Which didn't help the matter now that she was just plain dead weight.
"Quick. Hunter, this way." Marina directed, moving a few stones away from a big pile and climbing inside. Hunter moved in and set Chelsea down on the ground immediately groaning as he felt the soon-to-be bruises on his back. Marina placed some of the rocks back then looked out as they heard motion from outside. People probably looking for them. Hunter closed his eyes then sat down, trying to catch his breath.
"Are they gone?" He asked after a moment. Marina finally turned to him and nodded.
"Yeah. Is she okay?" She said, kneeling down next to her and looking her over.
"Yeah. I think she just tired herself out. She had a really long day." He said quietly, rubbing his face. Marina turned and stood up again, moving to the entrance of the small cavern. She pushed the rocks back out then took a quick scan around.
"It's clear. You can bring her out here." She said quietly. Hunter nodded and stood up, carefully picking up Chelsea and bringing her out of the cavern and setting her down, leaning her against the rocks. His back was killing him, but it looked like they got away with the prank, so it was worth it. Anything to get back at Brett. "Wow. She is really out of it." Marina said, patting her face. Hunter leaned up against a tree then finally laid down in the dirt on his stomach. It felt amazing despite his getting his shirt dirty.
"I think it went pretty well." He said with a little laugh. Marina laughed and it became infectious after a moment, both of them laughing hard at what they just witnessed. This carried on for several minutes before Hunter felt a hand on his back. He looked up a little and saw Marina sitting next to him. "You were hustling me with all this pranking stuff weren't you?" He said with a smile, rolling over onto his back. She giggled then shrugged.
"Maybe I just have an eye for these sort of things." She said, looking down at him affectionately. Hunter noticed it, but with the mild exhaustion and the pain and just coming down from a laughter high he didn't do anything about it. "It was impressive with you picking her up and everything."
"Well, trying to freestyle it is not wise when pranking." He said with a chuckle. "And look at you with your...smoke...bang things! What is that? You completely saved us, Marina. You're amazing." He said with a smile. She blushed and stared down at him for a moment. They just looked at each other for a moment before she leaned down and kissed him. It wasn't a long kiss or a deep kiss, but a meaningful one. When broke the kiss she stayed leaned down, her face close to his, and licked her lips, her eyes never leaving his. Hunter's stomach was knotted and his heart was pounding and his cheeks were red. It took a soft moan from Chelsea to knock him out of the stupor that he was in. "I have to go." Hunter said quickly, standing up. He turned to Marina who looked heartbroken, but she stood up and walked to him.
"What do you mean?" She said, her voice weak.
"I...I'm going home for Christmas. My uncle is picking me up in about 20 minutes." Hunter said, pulling away from her and walking toward camp.
"What? I thought you were staying through Christmas." She said from behind him her voice on the brink of tears.
"No. I thought I told you. I'll be gone until the 26th." He said, not even stopping to turn around. She stopped when she walked in front of him and put a hand on his chest.
"Hunter..." He tried to look away from her, but she made it difficult. He finally looked down and saw the tears on her face and his heart broke for her. "Hunter..." She said almost frantically. Her fingers finally gripped hi shirt and she pulled him down to her, kissing him tightly. She finally pulled away and looked at him, her face inches from his. "Hunter, please...stay." She said quietly. "This summer was because of me. I stayed because you stayed. I did whatever you wanted. Didn't that mean anything?" Hunter looked down at her trying to hold back his tears.
"I'm sorry, Marina. I just...I need to go. I'm sorry." He said before pulling away from her and heading back to camp.
Chapter 37: Hunter
December 20
Hunter walked into the arena a little nervously, making a quick scan of the place to find it empty. With a sigh of relief, he made his way to the weapons racks where he grabbed a spear and a knife, carrying them over to a dummy. He had pretty much stuck to a sword since he got to camp, but now that his sword was in the forge that meant he couldn't use it which meant other weapons. He could use a new sword, but he had been familiar with his for so long, it would be like starting over. He set the knife on the ground and grabbed the spear, taking a fighting stance that he had learned early in camp.
It was still early in the day, so there really wasn't any competition for the arena. It was still a little dark out and the camp was silent. Eerily quiet. He imagined that this was what it was like being in a school at night. He wouldn't know having never been inside a school at night, but he didn't like schools in the daytime, so it was a logical leap. He only went to school for 3 years and then he was sent here. When he closed his eyes, he could still imagine walking home from school with his mom every Friday. Everything was so different now, but he still had the memory. He would always have the memory.
He shook himself out of his reminiscing and gripped the spear again. He jabbed into the dummy then slashed across the dummy's chest. It rocked backwards a little and Hunter put the shaft of the speak in its neck and pushed back, then put uneven pressure, swinging the spear into his face.
"Dammit." He said, rubbing the quickly forming welt on his cheek.
"That was smooth." Hunter looked around and saw Marina walking into the arena toward him.
"Thanks. My opponent would never expect that, would they?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her. "They'd be so surprised that they would expect a surprise attack like this!" He said before swinging his spear into the side of the dummy, but was too close so the shaft hit it, vibrating into his hands making him drop the spear. He shook the pain out of his hands and tried to ignore the laughter from Marina before kicking the spear away and picking up the knife. "Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just...let it all out," he said with a sigh as he leaned on the dummy, waiting for Marina to regain her composure.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She said breathlessly, waving her hand. She finally stopped and put her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. "Okay. I'm done." She said with a couple last guffaws. "Sorry, please. Continue with your practice. You don't mind if I watch, do you?"
"Well, I didn't, but that hurt my feelings, so if you could please leave..." He said, waving his hand dismissingly, adding in a few sorrowful sniffs for good measure. She scoffed and sat down, leaning back on her hands. "Oh, well now I'm nervous." He said, looking back at the dummy. He drew the knife and spun it in his hand once before taking a deep breath and gripping the knife to attack. He slashed upward at the shoulder then stabbed into the neck, dragging the knife across the front of the throat. He pulled it out then backed away a step then took two quick slashes across his chest.
"Wow. You're not bad with a knife." Marina said, sounding surprised.
"That sounded reassuring." Hunter said, turning to her. She laughed for a second and stood up, brushing her hands off on her jeans. "I doubt you're much better." He said with a challenging smile.
"Oh, is that right?" She said with a giggle, walking over to the weapons rack and selecting a knife. "Well, why don't we found out, then, Mr. Reed?" She walked over and took his hand, leading him to the center of the ring.
"I don't want to fight you, Marina." Hunter said, starting to walk away.
"Oh, no, no. No way, buddy. You challenged me. You put your foot in your mouth." She took a fighting stance with her dagger. "It's time to prove it." Hunter sighed and took a fighting stance across from her.
"I'll take it easy on you this time. Next time, you'll have to deal with full power." He spun the knife again, laughing at the look on her face. He took a step forward taking a quick swing only to be blocked by Marina. "Good. You're paying attention. Now, try this!" He said before thrusting his knife at her. She dodged then spun the blade out of his hand, twisting his arm behind his back. Her knife went to his throat then she pulled him down to her height, so she could put her chin on his shoulder.
"You said something about full power next time?" She whispered into his ear with a giggle. He turned his head towards her and they locked eyes a moment, both their cheeks turning red. He cleared his throat then pulled away from her, grabbing his knife.
"You ready? See, I let you win that one."
"You let me kick your butt? Oh, why, may I ask?"
"Well, see it's all part of my strategy." He turned the knife around, holding the blade pointed at the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the new grip and changed hers with it. "You see, I let you win, so you'd think I was incapable. And after that, now I'm explaining my strategy, so you have that moment where you believe me and you mimic me, thinking that I actually do have a strategy. I do know that you're not familiar with this grip though." He said before attacking. She squeaked a little and managed to block it, but she had to step back to quickly change. "I can't believe you actually thought I had a plan!"
"I don't know! It was possible!" She said with a laugh before running at him, slashing forward with her knife. Hunter caught it in his and they both pushed forward, locking eyes, each giving the other a grin. He could feel her warm breath tickling his face and he could smell the forge in her hair. They pulled back then charged once again, Marina's dagger lined up at Hunter's throat. "Ha. I win again." She said with a wink. He laughed at her.
"Oh, did you?" He said, looking down at his knife which was aimed at her heart. She took a breath then they both stepped back. "It seems we're even, so this decides the victor."
"Fair enough." She said before slashing at him. He dodged and made an attack of his own, slicing upward. She knocked it away and they both went back and forth like this for several minutes, striking and blocking, trading turns making attacking only to be parried by their opponent. Hunter stabbed at her and she caught his arm under hers, pulling herself close to him. She held her knife gently at his stomach, but it fell to her side and she leaned up toward him. Hunter panicked and put his leg behind hers, tripping them both to the ground, holding himself over her.
"It looks like I won." He said quietly, looking down at her. Her breathing was heavy and she was looking up at him intensely her eyes never leaving his face. Hunter's eyes roamed from her hair which was sprawled out on the ground around her head, coal black waves spread in all directions. Her forehead, softly glistening with sweat and her cheeks slightly red. Her lips slightly parted in hopeful anticipation. Finally her eyes which looked up in adoration, two chocolate brown pools staring into his eyes. He felt her legs wrap around his middle and she pushed to the side, rolling and ending up on top of him.
"Now, it looks like I won." She said, leaning down toward him. Hunter quickly grabbed her hands and rolled, pinning her to the ground, her hands trapped above her head. His stomach was twisted and his heart was beating out of his chest, but he didn't want to take that step yet. He wasn't sure why. He didn't feel confident again. It took a lot of courage to be ready to ask talk to Arabella the day before she left, and it felt like he was rejected. He did want to rush into this. He really did like Marina, but he wanted to be at 100 percent. He felt her legs wrap around him again, but he didn't let her roll this time. He started to stand, but her legs stopped him for a second and then relented, letting him up.
"Good fight, but we all knew who was going to come out on top." He laughed a little and pointed to himself, making an attempt at cutting some of the tension. He helped her up then picked up his knife sliding it into the sheath. She looked around nervously, fiddling with her hair a moment before looking up at him.
"Yeah. Good fight. Umm...I have to uhh...I need to check something. I'll see you around, Hunter." She said before walking out of the arena. As soon as she was gone, Hunter buried his face in his hands.
"Why did this have to be so difficult?"
Hunter walked into the arena a little nervously, making a quick scan of the place to find it empty. With a sigh of relief, he made his way to the weapons racks where he grabbed a spear and a knife, carrying them over to a dummy. He had pretty much stuck to a sword since he got to camp, but now that his sword was in the forge that meant he couldn't use it which meant other weapons. He could use a new sword, but he had been familiar with his for so long, it would be like starting over. He set the knife on the ground and grabbed the spear, taking a fighting stance that he had learned early in camp.
It was still early in the day, so there really wasn't any competition for the arena. It was still a little dark out and the camp was silent. Eerily quiet. He imagined that this was what it was like being in a school at night. He wouldn't know having never been inside a school at night, but he didn't like schools in the daytime, so it was a logical leap. He only went to school for 3 years and then he was sent here. When he closed his eyes, he could still imagine walking home from school with his mom every Friday. Everything was so different now, but he still had the memory. He would always have the memory.
He shook himself out of his reminiscing and gripped the spear again. He jabbed into the dummy then slashed across the dummy's chest. It rocked backwards a little and Hunter put the shaft of the speak in its neck and pushed back, then put uneven pressure, swinging the spear into his face.
"Dammit." He said, rubbing the quickly forming welt on his cheek.
"That was smooth." Hunter looked around and saw Marina walking into the arena toward him.
"Thanks. My opponent would never expect that, would they?" He said, raising an eyebrow at her. "They'd be so surprised that they would expect a surprise attack like this!" He said before swinging his spear into the side of the dummy, but was too close so the shaft hit it, vibrating into his hands making him drop the spear. He shook the pain out of his hands and tried to ignore the laughter from Marina before kicking the spear away and picking up the knife. "Yeah. Okay. Okay. Just...let it all out," he said with a sigh as he leaned on the dummy, waiting for Marina to regain her composure.
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," She said breathlessly, waving her hand. She finally stopped and put her hands on her hips, taking deep breaths. "Okay. I'm done." She said with a couple last guffaws. "Sorry, please. Continue with your practice. You don't mind if I watch, do you?"
"Well, I didn't, but that hurt my feelings, so if you could please leave..." He said, waving his hand dismissingly, adding in a few sorrowful sniffs for good measure. She scoffed and sat down, leaning back on her hands. "Oh, well now I'm nervous." He said, looking back at the dummy. He drew the knife and spun it in his hand once before taking a deep breath and gripping the knife to attack. He slashed upward at the shoulder then stabbed into the neck, dragging the knife across the front of the throat. He pulled it out then backed away a step then took two quick slashes across his chest.
"Wow. You're not bad with a knife." Marina said, sounding surprised.
"That sounded reassuring." Hunter said, turning to her. She laughed for a second and stood up, brushing her hands off on her jeans. "I doubt you're much better." He said with a challenging smile.
"Oh, is that right?" She said with a giggle, walking over to the weapons rack and selecting a knife. "Well, why don't we found out, then, Mr. Reed?" She walked over and took his hand, leading him to the center of the ring.
"I don't want to fight you, Marina." Hunter said, starting to walk away.
"Oh, no, no. No way, buddy. You challenged me. You put your foot in your mouth." She took a fighting stance with her dagger. "It's time to prove it." Hunter sighed and took a fighting stance across from her.
"I'll take it easy on you this time. Next time, you'll have to deal with full power." He spun the knife again, laughing at the look on her face. He took a step forward taking a quick swing only to be blocked by Marina. "Good. You're paying attention. Now, try this!" He said before thrusting his knife at her. She dodged then spun the blade out of his hand, twisting his arm behind his back. Her knife went to his throat then she pulled him down to her height, so she could put her chin on his shoulder.
"You said something about full power next time?" She whispered into his ear with a giggle. He turned his head towards her and they locked eyes a moment, both their cheeks turning red. He cleared his throat then pulled away from her, grabbing his knife.
"You ready? See, I let you win that one."
"You let me kick your butt? Oh, why, may I ask?"
"Well, see it's all part of my strategy." He turned the knife around, holding the blade pointed at the ground. She raised an eyebrow at the new grip and changed hers with it. "You see, I let you win, so you'd think I was incapable. And after that, now I'm explaining my strategy, so you have that moment where you believe me and you mimic me, thinking that I actually do have a strategy. I do know that you're not familiar with this grip though." He said before attacking. She squeaked a little and managed to block it, but she had to step back to quickly change. "I can't believe you actually thought I had a plan!"
"I don't know! It was possible!" She said with a laugh before running at him, slashing forward with her knife. Hunter caught it in his and they both pushed forward, locking eyes, each giving the other a grin. He could feel her warm breath tickling his face and he could smell the forge in her hair. They pulled back then charged once again, Marina's dagger lined up at Hunter's throat. "Ha. I win again." She said with a wink. He laughed at her.
"Oh, did you?" He said, looking down at his knife which was aimed at her heart. She took a breath then they both stepped back. "It seems we're even, so this decides the victor."
"Fair enough." She said before slashing at him. He dodged and made an attack of his own, slicing upward. She knocked it away and they both went back and forth like this for several minutes, striking and blocking, trading turns making attacking only to be parried by their opponent. Hunter stabbed at her and she caught his arm under hers, pulling herself close to him. She held her knife gently at his stomach, but it fell to her side and she leaned up toward him. Hunter panicked and put his leg behind hers, tripping them both to the ground, holding himself over her.
"It looks like I won." He said quietly, looking down at her. Her breathing was heavy and she was looking up at him intensely her eyes never leaving his face. Hunter's eyes roamed from her hair which was sprawled out on the ground around her head, coal black waves spread in all directions. Her forehead, softly glistening with sweat and her cheeks slightly red. Her lips slightly parted in hopeful anticipation. Finally her eyes which looked up in adoration, two chocolate brown pools staring into his eyes. He felt her legs wrap around his middle and she pushed to the side, rolling and ending up on top of him.
"Now, it looks like I won." She said, leaning down toward him. Hunter quickly grabbed her hands and rolled, pinning her to the ground, her hands trapped above her head. His stomach was twisted and his heart was beating out of his chest, but he didn't want to take that step yet. He wasn't sure why. He didn't feel confident again. It took a lot of courage to be ready to ask talk to Arabella the day before she left, and it felt like he was rejected. He did want to rush into this. He really did like Marina, but he wanted to be at 100 percent. He felt her legs wrap around him again, but he didn't let her roll this time. He started to stand, but her legs stopped him for a second and then relented, letting him up.
"Good fight, but we all knew who was going to come out on top." He laughed a little and pointed to himself, making an attempt at cutting some of the tension. He helped her up then picked up his knife sliding it into the sheath. She looked around nervously, fiddling with her hair a moment before looking up at him.
"Yeah. Good fight. Umm...I have to uhh...I need to check something. I'll see you around, Hunter." She said before walking out of the arena. As soon as she was gone, Hunter buried his face in his hands.
"Why did this have to be so difficult?"
Chapter 36: Hunter
November 21
"So, your uncle is always away? What does he do?" Marina asked, leaning over her empty tray of food. Hunter finished off his food and nodded a little, taking a sip of water.
"He sells this weird low cost chemical fueling system for power generators." He waved his hand a little when he saw the interest on her face. "Before you ask, I have no idea how it works. I might ask when I see him next...whenever that is."
"Where is he now?"
"Congo, I think. He's usually in some third world country selling them to missionary projects or other third world support organizations. He was in Haiti for a long time after the quake, I know."
"He sounds like a really nice guy. I'm sorry that you never get to see him." She said, reaching over the table and grabbing his hand. Hunter blushed a little and looked down at her hand in his. Marina and he had been hanging out a lot lately ever since they started making a new sword for Hunter. He liked her and he liked hanging out with her, but getting this close made him think about Brooke and against his own will, it made him nervous about actually entering into a relationship with her. On top of that, he wasn't sure if he saw her that way yet. He knew that she saw him that way, which made hanging out with her all the more painful. He didn't want to think about the look on her face when he was finally honest with her to tell her that he wasn't interested. At least not interested in that way. He couldn't help but enjoy the feeling of warmth coming off of her hand at that moment though.
"Well, I just wish that my aunt were as-" He stopped when he saw the time. He let out a sigh then looked up at Marina. "I should go. If I get there too late, I'll be locked out." He said, pulling his hand away, much to the disappointment of Marina, and standing. She did the same and they took care of their trays quickly before heading outside. Hunter adjusted his backpack on his shoulders a little and looked out at the hill before turning back to Marina. She had a pensive look on her face and she was twisting her hands together a little anxiously.
"So, you're coming back tomorrow night?" She asked quietly, brushing a little bit of hair behind her ear. Hunter swallowed nervously and nodded a little. He could tell that she was on the brink of blurting something out and he really didn't want her to.
"Well, I'll see you later, Marina." He said stepping forward and hugging her. She put her arms around his neck and pulled herself closer. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, breathing in the faint smell of smoke like from a campfire. "You're a good friend, Marina." He said and he felt her body stiffen for a moment before pulling away from him. Hunter waved at her then turned and started walking toward the hill. It wasn't a long walk to his aunt's house, but it wasn't a short walk either. It was around 8:00 when he was walking up to the medium two-story soft blue house with white shudders on the windows. He climbed the three steps up to the porch and took a deep breath before knocking on the door.
"Coming!" He smiled when he heard his cousin's voice. She was part of the only reason he decided to come home at all. The door swung open to reveal Christina, a 17 year old girl with a thick mane of auburn hair in a typical state of disarray, a pair of blue glasses tangled within. She smiled and hugged him tightly, standing on her toes.
"It's good to see you, Chrissy." Hunter said, hugging her back, lifting her up enough to walk inside and close the door. She finally pulled away and looked up at him. She wasn't a lot shorter than Hunter. Maybe a few inches. She had a smattering of freckles covering her face and thin eyes, mostly because she was always smiling.
"My goodness! Since when did you become all...broad-shoulder and biceps and muscles and stuff." She said with a giggle, putting her hands on his arms to squeeze his muscles. "What happened to the little stick person that I used to be able to pick up?" She slugged him in the shoulder and he laughed. "You'll have to show me some tricks and maybe I can work on getting rid of this spare tire around my stomach." She said, pinching the extra weight around her waist. He scoffed and patted her arm.
"Unless, you want to exchange the little bit of extra weight around your waist for big beefy arms then you don't want tricks from me." He said, shifting so he was giving her a hug from the side. She sighed a little looking down at her stomach. She was a little big, but it was nothing that would stop her from being the lovely girl that everyone knew her as. It really bothered her more than anyone else. "Hey, remember what I said last winter?" She nodded and smiled up at him a little. "Good, now show me to my room." She laughed a little and rolled her eyes, leading him to the stairs.
"Is that Hunter?" Hunter sighed when he heard his Aunt Lisa's voice and he hid his face a little when she came around the corner. "Hey, good to see you, kid." She gave him a quick hug around the neck and looked him up and down once. "I like the haircut. Anyway, I'm about to go to bed. Hunter, shovel the drive tomorrow if it snows. We're supposed to get snow, so get up early. Good night, sweetie." She said, leaning over and kissing Christina on the forehead.
"Good night, mom." She said softly, watching her mom climb the stairs. Her door closed and Hunter relaxed a little. "Now, then. Come with me." She said, leading him past the stairs to a small room past the kitchen. "I pulled out the couch. You can sleep here. Now drop off your bag and we'll get to work on your meal of the visit." Hunter sighed and slipped his backpack off placing it on the bed.
"Isn't this a little silly, Chrissy?"
"That's head chef Chrissy, to you, sous chef." She said, poking him in the chest. "And besides, are you too cool to cook with your favorite cousin or something?" Hunter laughed and put his hands up in surrender.
"I'll never be too cool to cook with my favorite cousin. So, where is Steve then?" She smacked him again and he laughed. "I'm kidding. Come on. Let's go cook something." She narrowed her eyes at him a second then lead him to the kitchen. "Speaking of, where are the twins?"
"Julia and Steve drove in early this morning, so they said they were going to Skype with their friends a little bit then turn in early." Hunter nodded and then leaned on the counter as Chrissy walked around the kitchen, gathering ingredients. "Well, today we will be making a pasta pesto." She said with a laugh.
"Do you remember how this whole thing started?" Hunter said with a faint smile on his face. "Eggs. I was...oh, how old was I?"
"10. You woke up at 6 in the morning with some crazy nightmare. I showed you how to make eggs." She said with a smile as she pulled out the food processor. "Then the next time, it was cookies. Then bread."
"Then pasta. And now we're doing pasta pasta."
"Pesto."
"Whatever." She scoffed and turned to him.
"Girls like a guy who can cook, Hunter. You gotta learn how to cook, so you can attract all the ladies." Hunter must have done something, but she gasped and pointed accusingly at him. "Do you have a girlfriend?!" She squeaked, shoving him a little bit. Hunter blushed and took a deep breath.
"I don't have a girlfriend, but I did have a girlfriend." He said quietly. She smacked his chest.
"Why didn't you tell me?!" Hunter shrugged and stepped away from her.
"First of all, stop hitting me. Second of all, you know how your mom doesn't like me around here and all of my 'magic pagan hoodoo.'"
"Well, you're going to tell me, but first we need to start on this pesto." She handed him a knife and a bag of basil. "Cut that open. You're good with a knife so I trust you won't cut yourself."
"I use a sword. That's about 2 feet too long. I can't use a knife to save my life." He set the bag down then carefully stabbed into the plastic. "Okay. Now what?" He asked, handing her the knife back. She grabbed the basil and held it in his face.
"Smell. It smells fresh. Smells good." She inhaled and smiled before putting a handful of the leaves into the food processor. "Now..." She said tearing open a bag of pine nuts. "Pine nuts. And parsley and olive oil." She added the ingredients to the food processor and then hit the button to start grinding it up. As it was going, she filled a pot with water and put it on the stove. "Now, then." She said, stopping the food processor. "Tell me about this girl." She said taking off the lid and tasting the pesto.
"I...well, okay." He couldn't decide where to start.
"Hunter, we've told each other everything for years. Trust me." Hunter laughed a little then sat on the counter. He finally told her about how he saved Arabella and then dated Brooke, but that made him only feel closer to Arabella, but then she dated Brett and she dated Ethan and now he was starting to develop feelings for Marina, but now he was kind of confused. He wasn't sure how to act, now. Christina listened closely, taking a break to cook some pasta. When Hunter finished explaining everything, she walked over to him and hugged him.
"I'm not going to tell you what to do, except eat because the pasta is ready." She handed him a plate and he smelled it, moaning quietly.
"This smells fantastic." He said, sitting down at the kitchen table with her. She was about to hand him a fork when she pulled it away with a grin. "Oh, right. Uhh...Pine nuts, parsley, olive oil, and basil in the food processor with salt. Cook pasta then mix it together." She smiled and handed him a fork then hugged him a little.
"Well, what are you going to do about Marina?" She said, taking a bite of the pasta.
"I don't know what I should do," he said with a shrug. "I mean, I like her as a friend and I know she likes me and I kind of like her, but I feel like I barely know her. I, at least, know that I don't know her well enough to start dating her."
"I don't know all the answers, so I can't tell you what you should do. I'm no source on dating, since I've never done any dating myself."
"Christina, I trust your opinion more than anyone's." He said, taking a bite of the pasta. "I don't care that you--Sweet Poseidon, this is delicious." He said, looking down at the pasta. Christina laughed and nudged him. "I don't even remember what I was talking about. That's how delicious this is."
"You were talking about how fantastic I am."
"Oh, that's right. I trust your opinion more than anyone else's. No matter how little you've dated. It's not like I'm suddenly an expert because I've had a girl like me." He slipped an arm around her shoulders. "You are my best friend and my favorite cousin. I will always listen to your opinion more than anyone else's because you are an amazing person, so...there." He said, taking another bite of pasta.
"Well, I can say that I am not a fan of this Arabella girl." She said with a nod. "I thought you demigods were supposed to be heroic and honest like...Superman or Hercules." Hunter laughed.
"Superman was an alien not a demigod and the Hercules you know is the Disney version which is possibly the most inaccurate thing ever." She elbowed him and he laughed a little. "I mean, we're still humans just...mega-humans." He sighed a little then took another bite. There was a pause and Hunter finished off his pasta, putting his dish in the sink.
"Thanks, Chrissy." He said, turning toward her. "For being my reason for coming here."
"It's my pleasure." She said, hopping down from the counter and giving him a hug. "Well, get to bed. You have snow to shovel tomorrow. Bright and early!" She said, shoving him toward his room. Hunter smiled a little and walked toward his room.
"I'll see you tomorrow, Chrissy. Again...Thanks."
"Good night, Hunter."
"Good night."
Chapter 35: Hunter
September 20
Hunter took a moment to catch his breath as he spun his sword in his hand, his arms aching slightly from fatigue. He sighed a little as he adjusted the grip on his new shield, tightening the straps a little. Hunter hadn't done much since the beginning of Fall and it didn't look like there was much else that he was going to be doing. With a small breath he bashed his shield into the dummy and followed up with two quick slashes across the belly of the wooden dummy. He jabbed into the shoulder, flicked his wrist which separated the arm, knocking it to the ground, then pulled back smacking the dummy in the neck with the edge of his shield knocking the head off then quickly chopping the other arm off and placing a hard kick against the torso, knocking it back and toppling it to the ground.
"Keep that up and you're going to have to replace that shield again." Hunter turned and saw Marina walk up next to him. She gave him a warm smile then looked down at his sword and his shield. "And your sword." She said with a small gasp as she took it form him.
"What's wrong with it?" He said, giving his shield a quick once-over. It seemed fine and his sword had been working fine so far. "Is it...out of batteries or something?" He said with a deep breath. Marina giggled and handed it back to him.
"No, come here. Look." She lifted the blade up and looked down to the tip. Hunter stood behind her and lowered his head next to hers. He could feel the heat coming off of her cheek when he did that, but he tried to ignore it. They had hung out a little bit over the past month, but he hadn't really had much interest in being anything more but friends with her. He looked down the edge of the blade and finally noticed the chips that had formed. "Just because it's umm..." She turned her head and looked at him a moment before turning back to the blade. "Just because it's magic metal, doesn't mean that it can't break. And with how much you've been using it lately, I'm a little surprised it's lasted this long."
"Okay then, where's an-"
"And there's pitting...shotty workmanship." She said with a sigh "And you've worn the handle down."
"Okay, so where's a new one?" Hunter asked, taking his sword back. Marina laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Think about this. You can't just get a new sword. If you have a dog and it gets sick, you don't just get a new dog. You heal the sick one."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to fix my sword? I have no idea how to smith a-"
"I'll show you. How about that?" She said, biting her lip a little. "It's better to have a weapon that you're familiar with anyway. And how can you get more familiar then by making it yourself?" Hunter sighed a little then finally nodded.
"Yeah. Alright. I've never been a fan of this sword anyway." He said, slipping his shield on his back. Marina smiled and took a deep breath, obviously excited.
"Awesome! I promise, it'll be fun." She stared at him for a moment and Hunter laughed a little. "Okay. Tomorrow. I'll find you and we'll make you a new sword." She bounced on her toes a moment then took a deep breath. Her face straightened out a moment and she shook herself a little.
"Something wrong?" He said, raising his eyebrow.
"Sorry. I just..." She cleared her throat. "I don't usually get all...excited like that. Apologies." Hunter laughed and sheathed his sword..
"No need to apologize. I think it's kind of funny" He laughed and put his hands in his pockets. "Good funny." She laughed quietly then looked up at him.
"Hey, do you want to hang out after dinner?" She asked, twisting her hands together. Hunter blushed a little. As much as he knew that saying yes would be leading her on, there wasn't much else he could do. He says no, she reacts badly. He says sure, maybe he could do something else down the line He hesitated a second and he hated the way that her face fell. "It's okay if you don't-"
"Sure." He said with a nod. "I did promise that we would hang out, didn't I?" She smiled wide again and Hunter couldn't help, but smile back. She had a nice smile. It was warm like a campfire.
"Well, I'll see you after dinner then. Which is in...45 minutes. Oh..." She said, looking a little embarrassed.
"I'll see you then, Ms. Goldman." Hunter said, bowing to her a little. She blushed and grinned at him before a little awkwardly heading out of the arena, looking back at him as she finally exited. Hunter looked back at the dummy a moment before heading out himself. He walked back to the Hermes cabins and set his sword and shield on his bed before stretching a little.
"Mail call! Hermes cabin." Hunter turned to the door and saw his brother dropping off a pile of letters in a box by the door.
"Thanks, Nick." He said, walking to the door. He picked it up then snapped his fingers and the letters buzzed for a moment before zooming off to each individual bed except for two of them. He looked down and saw his name on the front of one. Looking at the return address, he saw that it was from his aunt. He walked over to his bed and set the other letter down before sitting and rubbing his face. He didn't want to read it, but he had to read it or he'd never hear the end of it. He tore off the end and pulled out the letter unfolding it and reading the typed out letters.
"Hunter," he read, loving how formal it was with a roll of his eyes. "As much as I don't need another mouth to feed, Christina thought it might be nice to have you home for Thanksgiving. We'll expect you on the 21st. Eat before you come here because we're not saving you food." His stomach grumbled a little and he quickly read the rest of the letter. "I don't have time to finish this in a real extravagant way, so bye. Love, Aunt Lucy." He folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope before grabbing the other letter. It was in a soft pink envelope which gave him pause, but when he turned it over and saw his name in female handwriting and the return address he felt his heart beat a little bit faster. Arabella had sent him a letter.
"What do you want, Arabella?" He said quietly as he ran his finger along the edge of the letter. Why would she send him a letter? She was with Ethan and he was left here at camp. Why would she take the time to write a letter to him when she could have said all this before she left? Or sent him an Iris Message, so he could at least look her in the eye. He sighed and was so tempted to open it, but why give her the satisfaction? She was probably getting off on making him think about her all year. She's probably expecting him to write her back and then he'll have his hopes up, but find out that she's been with Ethan this whole time.
"Hunter?" Hunter stood and looked up at the door, holding the letter behind his back for some reason. Marina was standing there looking at him curiously. "I thought that maybe we could walk to the mess hall together. I mean, Hermes cabin is on the way to the mess hall from Hephaestus."
"No, it's not." Hunter said with a laugh. "But sure. Let's go in one second." He said. "I just need to...change." she blushed and looked down.
"Oh. Sorry." She said, hiding her face then ducking out. He turned back to the letter and then looked back at the door. Maybe Marina wasn't so bad. That night on the beach had obviously meant nothing to her, so maybe Hunter wouldn't let it mean anything to him. Maybe he would just get over her. He quickly changed his shirt and then walked out, turning toward Marina. "Ready?"
"One second." He said, walking toward the fire in the center of the cabins. He looked down at the letter for a brief moment before tearing it in half and tossing it in, forgetting about the whole thing. He turned back to Marina and smiled. "Alright. Ready. Let's go."
Hunter took a moment to catch his breath as he spun his sword in his hand, his arms aching slightly from fatigue. He sighed a little as he adjusted the grip on his new shield, tightening the straps a little. Hunter hadn't done much since the beginning of Fall and it didn't look like there was much else that he was going to be doing. With a small breath he bashed his shield into the dummy and followed up with two quick slashes across the belly of the wooden dummy. He jabbed into the shoulder, flicked his wrist which separated the arm, knocking it to the ground, then pulled back smacking the dummy in the neck with the edge of his shield knocking the head off then quickly chopping the other arm off and placing a hard kick against the torso, knocking it back and toppling it to the ground.
"Keep that up and you're going to have to replace that shield again." Hunter turned and saw Marina walk up next to him. She gave him a warm smile then looked down at his sword and his shield. "And your sword." She said with a small gasp as she took it form him.
"What's wrong with it?" He said, giving his shield a quick once-over. It seemed fine and his sword had been working fine so far. "Is it...out of batteries or something?" He said with a deep breath. Marina giggled and handed it back to him.
"No, come here. Look." She lifted the blade up and looked down to the tip. Hunter stood behind her and lowered his head next to hers. He could feel the heat coming off of her cheek when he did that, but he tried to ignore it. They had hung out a little bit over the past month, but he hadn't really had much interest in being anything more but friends with her. He looked down the edge of the blade and finally noticed the chips that had formed. "Just because it's umm..." She turned her head and looked at him a moment before turning back to the blade. "Just because it's magic metal, doesn't mean that it can't break. And with how much you've been using it lately, I'm a little surprised it's lasted this long."
"Okay then, where's an-"
"And there's pitting...shotty workmanship." She said with a sigh "And you've worn the handle down."
"Okay, so where's a new one?" Hunter asked, taking his sword back. Marina laughed and rolled her eyes.
"Think about this. You can't just get a new sword. If you have a dog and it gets sick, you don't just get a new dog. You heal the sick one."
"Oh, so I'm supposed to fix my sword? I have no idea how to smith a-"
"I'll show you. How about that?" She said, biting her lip a little. "It's better to have a weapon that you're familiar with anyway. And how can you get more familiar then by making it yourself?" Hunter sighed a little then finally nodded.
"Yeah. Alright. I've never been a fan of this sword anyway." He said, slipping his shield on his back. Marina smiled and took a deep breath, obviously excited.
"Awesome! I promise, it'll be fun." She stared at him for a moment and Hunter laughed a little. "Okay. Tomorrow. I'll find you and we'll make you a new sword." She bounced on her toes a moment then took a deep breath. Her face straightened out a moment and she shook herself a little.
"Something wrong?" He said, raising his eyebrow.
"Sorry. I just..." She cleared her throat. "I don't usually get all...excited like that. Apologies." Hunter laughed and sheathed his sword..
"No need to apologize. I think it's kind of funny" He laughed and put his hands in his pockets. "Good funny." She laughed quietly then looked up at him.
"Hey, do you want to hang out after dinner?" She asked, twisting her hands together. Hunter blushed a little. As much as he knew that saying yes would be leading her on, there wasn't much else he could do. He says no, she reacts badly. He says sure, maybe he could do something else down the line He hesitated a second and he hated the way that her face fell. "It's okay if you don't-"
"Sure." He said with a nod. "I did promise that we would hang out, didn't I?" She smiled wide again and Hunter couldn't help, but smile back. She had a nice smile. It was warm like a campfire.
"Well, I'll see you after dinner then. Which is in...45 minutes. Oh..." She said, looking a little embarrassed.
"I'll see you then, Ms. Goldman." Hunter said, bowing to her a little. She blushed and grinned at him before a little awkwardly heading out of the arena, looking back at him as she finally exited. Hunter looked back at the dummy a moment before heading out himself. He walked back to the Hermes cabins and set his sword and shield on his bed before stretching a little.
"Mail call! Hermes cabin." Hunter turned to the door and saw his brother dropping off a pile of letters in a box by the door.
"Thanks, Nick." He said, walking to the door. He picked it up then snapped his fingers and the letters buzzed for a moment before zooming off to each individual bed except for two of them. He looked down and saw his name on the front of one. Looking at the return address, he saw that it was from his aunt. He walked over to his bed and set the other letter down before sitting and rubbing his face. He didn't want to read it, but he had to read it or he'd never hear the end of it. He tore off the end and pulled out the letter unfolding it and reading the typed out letters.
"Hunter," he read, loving how formal it was with a roll of his eyes. "As much as I don't need another mouth to feed, Christina thought it might be nice to have you home for Thanksgiving. We'll expect you on the 21st. Eat before you come here because we're not saving you food." His stomach grumbled a little and he quickly read the rest of the letter. "I don't have time to finish this in a real extravagant way, so bye. Love, Aunt Lucy." He folded the letter and slipped it back into the envelope before grabbing the other letter. It was in a soft pink envelope which gave him pause, but when he turned it over and saw his name in female handwriting and the return address he felt his heart beat a little bit faster. Arabella had sent him a letter.
"What do you want, Arabella?" He said quietly as he ran his finger along the edge of the letter. Why would she send him a letter? She was with Ethan and he was left here at camp. Why would she take the time to write a letter to him when she could have said all this before she left? Or sent him an Iris Message, so he could at least look her in the eye. He sighed and was so tempted to open it, but why give her the satisfaction? She was probably getting off on making him think about her all year. She's probably expecting him to write her back and then he'll have his hopes up, but find out that she's been with Ethan this whole time.
"Hunter?" Hunter stood and looked up at the door, holding the letter behind his back for some reason. Marina was standing there looking at him curiously. "I thought that maybe we could walk to the mess hall together. I mean, Hermes cabin is on the way to the mess hall from Hephaestus."
"No, it's not." Hunter said with a laugh. "But sure. Let's go in one second." He said. "I just need to...change." she blushed and looked down.
"Oh. Sorry." She said, hiding her face then ducking out. He turned back to the letter and then looked back at the door. Maybe Marina wasn't so bad. That night on the beach had obviously meant nothing to her, so maybe Hunter wouldn't let it mean anything to him. Maybe he would just get over her. He quickly changed his shirt and then walked out, turning toward Marina. "Ready?"
"One second." He said, walking toward the fire in the center of the cabins. He looked down at the letter for a brief moment before tearing it in half and tossing it in, forgetting about the whole thing. He turned back to Marina and smiled. "Alright. Ready. Let's go."
Chapter 34: Hunter
August 19
Hunter didn't really sleep that night. As soon as he saw Ethan and Arabella talking and smiling and hugging, it felt like someone punched him in the chest. He wasn't sure why. It felt like she was cheating on him, but they weren't together. They were friends. Just friends. That's all they were allowed to be. And now he was here, laying in bed and trying to just sleep until next summer. Every time he closed his eyes though he could see her looking up at him as he pulled her up from her sand angel. They way that her cheeks reddened ever so softly and she looked away, brushing her hair behind her ears. He would see her standing on the porch of the Aphrodite cabin about to say good night, but kiss him on the cheek. That would make him think about the way her lips felt against his, so innocent, but electric, when she kissed him during capture the flag. It would always make him realize that she was friends with Hunter, but she loved the guy who saved her. The one that she had never really gotten a good look at. The one she now thought was Ethan. That feeling would always wake him up. That feeling that it was too late.
"Hunter. Hunter, wake up." Hunter let out a heavy sigh and finally rolled over and looked up at the blurry face of Jake. "Hunter, I'm leaving and I'm not going to let you mope around all day, so now you're going to help carry my bags." He dropped a gym bag on his chest and Hunter groaned a little at the surprise. "Come on. Get dressed. I'll be outside." Hunter pushed the bag onto the floor then swung his legs over, his barefeet landing on the stone floor. He took a deep breath and rubbed his face, quickly running his fingers through his hair, before standing up and stretching the sleep out of his body.
"Worst day of my life." He groaned as he slipped out of his pajama pants and into a pair of jeans. He pulled on a plain white t-shirt then grabbed Jake's bag, stepped into his shoes, and walked out. "Since when are you leaving?" Hunter asked Jake who was leaned up against the wall by the door.
"Well," Jake said, grabbing his bag off the ground. "I'm pretty sure I told you at some point during all this saving Arabella business, but I was pretty sure you weren't listening, so this could be my fault. I'm blaming you though." Hunter nodded and yawned a little.
"That's typical," Hunter said, as they walked to the top of Half-Blood Hill. "Sorry, man. I guess I was a little inconsiderate." He patted him on the back as they stopped at the top of the hill and looked down at the station wagon that waited him. Jake set his bags down and then put a hand on Hunter's shoulder.
"If you want to make it up to me, then don't just mope around for the next nine months, okay?" He said with a laugh. "I know it sucks. It happened to me, remember?"
"Yeah, you're right once again. That's like a record for you." Hunter laughed a little then handed him his bag. "I'll see you next summer, man. Your mom is looking a little upset." they hugged briefly then Hunter watched as Jake descended the hill with his bags and got into his mom's station wagon, driving off and finally disappearing behind the trees. Hunter took a deep breath and turned around, looking down at camp from the hilltop. He had 9 months and no friends. That when it was really sinking in.
He slowly made his way back to his cabin where he grabbed his sword and made a mental note to grab a new shield at the Hephaestus forge on his way to the arena. What else was he supposed to do? The climbing wall was always full early on a Sunday. Nothing else really appealed to him. Fighting could maybe relieve some of the stress he could feel building up. He tied his sheath to his waist then headed out of his cabin, turning and closing the door behind him, just as someone pushed him back inside.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hunter asked, turning around and shoving his attacker. "Brett?" The sandy blonde haired child of Apollo stood in front of him, rage in his eyes, but also a sense of urgency. Brett pushed him up against the back wall and held him there.
"Look, I'm leaving soon, so let's make this quick." Brett said angrily.
"Hey, Brett, I'm flattered, but I'm very much attracted to women, so I'm not-"
"Oh, shut up! Arabella. Did you tell her?" He asked, releasing him from his pin against the wall.
"Tell her what? That you were lying to her?" Brett threw him a glare.
"Yes, I was lying to her, but you said that you knew and then she breaks up with me and next thing I know, she's talking to Ethan from Ares."
"Yes. I'm aware of that. I didn't tell her though. It was probably the guy who saved her. When he, y'know, saved her. Again." Brett sighed then checked his watch.
"All I know, is that when I find him, he and I are going to have a talk."
"Look at Ethan. Apparently, he did it."
"Not a chance, man. This guy took out a couple of Athena kids then a bunch of evil water nymphs from what I heard. Ethan is good, but he couldn't do all the singlehandedly." He straightened his clothes a moment. "Besides, if she wants to whore herself out to some--" He was interrupted by Hunter punching him in the face.
"I won't let you talk about her like that!" He shouted, shoving him out the door. Brett stumbled toward the door then regained his balance enough to step forward when the door opened.
"Mr. Wilcox, I thought I heard your voice. Oh, hello, Mr. Reed." Chiron said with a pleasant smile. "Brett, it seems your ride is here." Brett nodded then walked over to Hunter, putting an arm around him.
"If you think you have a chance with Arabella, you can not be more wrong. See you next summer, Hunter." Brett said before walking out the door. Hunter faked a smile and walked over to the door, slamming it once they left. He gripped his sword tightly until his knuckles were white and took deep breaths trying to calm down. He blew the air out of his face then fell back against the door, his hair falling again. He exhaled sharply then blew it out of his face again. He watched it as it fell in front of his eye again and he finally gave up.
He stormed out of the cabin and marched straight to the Aphrodite cabin where he banged hard on the door. There was a shuffle on the other side of the door before Daniel opened the door.
"Geez, Hunter, what's the fuss?"
"Cut my hair. All of it. Just...make it look good. I'm sick of this stupid long hair thing. I want it gone." Danny raised an eyebrow then looked him up and down a moment then stepped out of the way of the door. Hunter walked in and took a deep breath.
"Well, take a seat. Let me get my scissors." He said, walking over to his packed bags on his bed. Hunter sat down in a chair surrounded on three sides by mirrors. Danny came up behind him and sprayed his hair down with a squirt bottle before combing it. "So...What's going on?" He said in a tone that did not lend itself to legitimate interest. Hunter's mind was spinning slightly, giving him pause at the question.
"I umm..." He stammered a little. "Nothing really."
"Well, that's fascinating. Usually, this is a time for gossip, but you're obviously one of the clucking hens that my siblings typically are." Danny said with a scoff as he took the first cut away from Hunter's hair. "Well, since I'm more of the talker, I'll start." Hunter assumed that he would ask him what he was doing over the year, since it seemed that Danny was leaving for some school. Instead, Danny was more...blunt. "That was some number you did on Brooke." He said with a nod. Hunter looked around uncomfortably for a moment only seeing his own uncomfortable face in the mirror.
"I uh...It was all one big misunderstanding really. She wanted to...and I-"
"Let me guess. She tried to pounce on you like a house cat on car keys. You pussied out. She got defensive and kicked you out." Hunter opened his mouth in slight protest.
"I wouldn't say I pus-"
"It's typical of her, you know." He said matter-of-factly. "She finds some new beau, is all cutesy and affectionate for a couple days then tries to mount him like a mechanical bull. When they do it, she dates them for a few more days then dumps them. You saw what happens if they say no." He took a deep breath and cut around his ear. "She waited a long time for you though. I wonder why." He shrugged then cleared his throat. "So, what are your plans for the fall? I'm going home. Back to school for me. There's this really cute boy there and he..." Hunter zoned out since it seemed Danny got into a zone with his talking and Hunter really didn't have anything else to say. He was pissed off.
Hunter was mad at Brooke. She made him care about her then broke it off. She made him feel guilty about the break up. She was just using him. It never had anything to do with him. Danny finished cutting and Hunter stood quickly, handed Danny a couple of Drachmas, and walked out, his hand gripping his sword. He was mad at Brett. He insulted him and Arabella and more than that, he gave Ethan the idea to lie to Arabella. Hunter was mad at his family. For not being normal. Or even close to normal. He imagined going back to a suburban life and going to school, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. His aunt was too busy with the kids she actually wanted. Hunter walked into the arena and made a beeline for the closest dummy before drawing his sword and angrily striking the wooden dummy, splinters falling from the wooden frame and dusting the floor below. As he slashed and cut and sliced he could feel his angry going away. The layers peeling away. It felt good. Brooke was a bitch. Hunter was better off without her. Without her he never would have connected with Arabella. Brett is a douchebag. He probably always will be. Even after his modeling career takes off and up until he gets mauled by some empousai who bats her eyelashes at him. His family was his family. His aunt didn't ask for the extra kid and he couldn't blame her. He liked it here at camp. It was something he could forgive.
With the layers gone, Hunter stopped, his sword hanging in his hand at his side, his chest heaving with each breath as he looked at the beaten practice dummy. He still felt angry. He just wanted this dummy to go away. He wanted all of it to go away. He wanted to be alone, but at the same time he needed something to take his anger out on. He knew it wouldn't go away until he faced the source though. It took the rest of the layers disappearing before he realized that he was actually angry at Arabella. He lifted his sword again and slashed at the dummy. Arabella made him care about her. She was charming and she was flirty and Hunter couldn't help, but fall in love with her, but then she decided to ignore that. She believed Ethan. Hunter knew that there was something between him and her, but she ignored it and instead went after Ethan. Ethan who was lying to her. As much as he destroyed this dummy, Hunter still felt angry at Arabella. He could be holding her on the beach right now as they talked about what they wanted to do over the next 9 months, but he had missed his chance. She was gone and he was left, alone for the longest 9 months that he would probably ever experience.
He slowly made his way back to his cabin where he grabbed his sword and made a mental note to grab a new shield at the Hephaestus forge on his way to the arena. What else was he supposed to do? The climbing wall was always full early on a Sunday. Nothing else really appealed to him. Fighting could maybe relieve some of the stress he could feel building up. He tied his sheath to his waist then headed out of his cabin, turning and closing the door behind him, just as someone pushed him back inside.
"What the hell are you doing?" Hunter asked, turning around and shoving his attacker. "Brett?" The sandy blonde haired child of Apollo stood in front of him, rage in his eyes, but also a sense of urgency. Brett pushed him up against the back wall and held him there.
"Look, I'm leaving soon, so let's make this quick." Brett said angrily.
"Hey, Brett, I'm flattered, but I'm very much attracted to women, so I'm not-"
"Oh, shut up! Arabella. Did you tell her?" He asked, releasing him from his pin against the wall.
"Tell her what? That you were lying to her?" Brett threw him a glare.
"Yes, I was lying to her, but you said that you knew and then she breaks up with me and next thing I know, she's talking to Ethan from Ares."
"Yes. I'm aware of that. I didn't tell her though. It was probably the guy who saved her. When he, y'know, saved her. Again." Brett sighed then checked his watch.
"All I know, is that when I find him, he and I are going to have a talk."
"Look at Ethan. Apparently, he did it."
"Not a chance, man. This guy took out a couple of Athena kids then a bunch of evil water nymphs from what I heard. Ethan is good, but he couldn't do all the singlehandedly." He straightened his clothes a moment. "Besides, if she wants to whore herself out to some--" He was interrupted by Hunter punching him in the face.
"I won't let you talk about her like that!" He shouted, shoving him out the door. Brett stumbled toward the door then regained his balance enough to step forward when the door opened.
"Mr. Wilcox, I thought I heard your voice. Oh, hello, Mr. Reed." Chiron said with a pleasant smile. "Brett, it seems your ride is here." Brett nodded then walked over to Hunter, putting an arm around him.
"If you think you have a chance with Arabella, you can not be more wrong. See you next summer, Hunter." Brett said before walking out the door. Hunter faked a smile and walked over to the door, slamming it once they left. He gripped his sword tightly until his knuckles were white and took deep breaths trying to calm down. He blew the air out of his face then fell back against the door, his hair falling again. He exhaled sharply then blew it out of his face again. He watched it as it fell in front of his eye again and he finally gave up.
He stormed out of the cabin and marched straight to the Aphrodite cabin where he banged hard on the door. There was a shuffle on the other side of the door before Daniel opened the door.
"Geez, Hunter, what's the fuss?"
"Cut my hair. All of it. Just...make it look good. I'm sick of this stupid long hair thing. I want it gone." Danny raised an eyebrow then looked him up and down a moment then stepped out of the way of the door. Hunter walked in and took a deep breath.
"Well, take a seat. Let me get my scissors." He said, walking over to his packed bags on his bed. Hunter sat down in a chair surrounded on three sides by mirrors. Danny came up behind him and sprayed his hair down with a squirt bottle before combing it. "So...What's going on?" He said in a tone that did not lend itself to legitimate interest. Hunter's mind was spinning slightly, giving him pause at the question.
"I umm..." He stammered a little. "Nothing really."
"Well, that's fascinating. Usually, this is a time for gossip, but you're obviously one of the clucking hens that my siblings typically are." Danny said with a scoff as he took the first cut away from Hunter's hair. "Well, since I'm more of the talker, I'll start." Hunter assumed that he would ask him what he was doing over the year, since it seemed that Danny was leaving for some school. Instead, Danny was more...blunt. "That was some number you did on Brooke." He said with a nod. Hunter looked around uncomfortably for a moment only seeing his own uncomfortable face in the mirror.
"I uh...It was all one big misunderstanding really. She wanted to...and I-"
"Let me guess. She tried to pounce on you like a house cat on car keys. You pussied out. She got defensive and kicked you out." Hunter opened his mouth in slight protest.
"I wouldn't say I pus-"
"It's typical of her, you know." He said matter-of-factly. "She finds some new beau, is all cutesy and affectionate for a couple days then tries to mount him like a mechanical bull. When they do it, she dates them for a few more days then dumps them. You saw what happens if they say no." He took a deep breath and cut around his ear. "She waited a long time for you though. I wonder why." He shrugged then cleared his throat. "So, what are your plans for the fall? I'm going home. Back to school for me. There's this really cute boy there and he..." Hunter zoned out since it seemed Danny got into a zone with his talking and Hunter really didn't have anything else to say. He was pissed off.
Hunter was mad at Brooke. She made him care about her then broke it off. She made him feel guilty about the break up. She was just using him. It never had anything to do with him. Danny finished cutting and Hunter stood quickly, handed Danny a couple of Drachmas, and walked out, his hand gripping his sword. He was mad at Brett. He insulted him and Arabella and more than that, he gave Ethan the idea to lie to Arabella. Hunter was mad at his family. For not being normal. Or even close to normal. He imagined going back to a suburban life and going to school, but he knew that wasn't going to happen. His aunt was too busy with the kids she actually wanted. Hunter walked into the arena and made a beeline for the closest dummy before drawing his sword and angrily striking the wooden dummy, splinters falling from the wooden frame and dusting the floor below. As he slashed and cut and sliced he could feel his angry going away. The layers peeling away. It felt good. Brooke was a bitch. Hunter was better off without her. Without her he never would have connected with Arabella. Brett is a douchebag. He probably always will be. Even after his modeling career takes off and up until he gets mauled by some empousai who bats her eyelashes at him. His family was his family. His aunt didn't ask for the extra kid and he couldn't blame her. He liked it here at camp. It was something he could forgive.
With the layers gone, Hunter stopped, his sword hanging in his hand at his side, his chest heaving with each breath as he looked at the beaten practice dummy. He still felt angry. He just wanted this dummy to go away. He wanted all of it to go away. He wanted to be alone, but at the same time he needed something to take his anger out on. He knew it wouldn't go away until he faced the source though. It took the rest of the layers disappearing before he realized that he was actually angry at Arabella. He lifted his sword again and slashed at the dummy. Arabella made him care about her. She was charming and she was flirty and Hunter couldn't help, but fall in love with her, but then she decided to ignore that. She believed Ethan. Hunter knew that there was something between him and her, but she ignored it and instead went after Ethan. Ethan who was lying to her. As much as he destroyed this dummy, Hunter still felt angry at Arabella. He could be holding her on the beach right now as they talked about what they wanted to do over the next 9 months, but he had missed his chance. She was gone and he was left, alone for the longest 9 months that he would probably ever experience.
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