THE GHOST'S HAND
In a far-off valley deep in Long Island, New York, a beautiful camp called Camp Half-Blood rested. By day, it was calm, with campers running around, trying to attend their daily activities. Some of the campers were quite content to be living in this camp, while others were unsure about one thing.
This "one thing" happened at night, when Apollo had parked his sun car in his garage and had gone to bed, and everyone was sleeping.
By night, Camp Half-Blood was a very scary place, and it all began in the woods, where this random swamp was. No one ever noticed the swamp before, and it was never mentioned. That's because it was nestled deep into the woods, and no one had ever noticed it, except for Chiron and Dionysus, and they'd never tell what they saw in the woods. Strange creatures took over that swamp at night, and they could be anything from dead people to drunk scorpions.
There was a boy named Travis Stoll who said that it was all just bull crap that lurked in the woods.
"I'm telling you guys," he explained, "I've been deep within the woods before, and whatever was out there scampered away when I farted really loud."
His friends, Percy Jackson and Nico di Angelo, laughed anxiously. "Seriously, Travis?" asked Nico.
"Dead serious," Travis replied. "In fact, to prove my point, I'll do some creature hunting tonight. And if I get freaked out and run, I'll give you guys fifty drachmas each."
"Where can you get that money?" Nico asked.
"I know a guy," Travis said, a sneer playing around his lips. "Now, leave me alone while I scoop up this Pegasus crap."
That night, Percy and Nico ran over to Cabin Eleven, where they found Travis telling Connor his plan. Connor decided to tag along, so off the four friends went.
Thick clouds were obscuring the moon from sight, so it made it much worse to walk through the woods right now.
Travis had brought along a flashlight, and his philosophy was that no matter how dark the night was, his son of Hermes powers would protect him through the flashlight.
"Well, off we go," Connor said, "we're going to watch Travis Stoll get eaten alive by whatever lurks in the swamp."
"Shut up!" Travis yelled back angrily.
"You guys want to sing something while we're walking?" asked Nico.
"No, because if we sing one of your songs, we'll all start crying," said Travis angrily. "You listen to all this depressing Italian music and it all sucks. Besides, it's not like it's far. We're halfway there already."
True to his word, they'd come to the swamp about ten minutes later. Travis stepped to the very edge of it, and yelled loudly, "Hey, monsters! Come here and eat me alive!"
No one replied. There was finally a response after Travis sneezed and dropped his flashlight in the swamp. It stayed put.
"Well," said Percy, "you think we're gonna get eaten?"
"Nah," said Connor. "Travis, scoot around to the other side of the swamp. We'll stay here if anything happens to you."
Travis finally decided to step gingerly through the swamp, but stopped in his tracks when he felt something slither against his ankle. "Uh…guys? I think something's in here."
"Yeah, right," said Percy. "Sure, Travis. Sure there's something in there. You liar."
"No, I swear on the River Styx there's something in here."
Despite the fact that there was something in the swamp, Travis made it to the other side of the swamp, where he pushed himself up against a large willow tree and sighed with relief.
The clouds shifted and out came the moon, shining a circle of light on Travis. He was still pressed up against the tree, but he had his arms in front of him, like he was in a fight move. Then the clouds obscured the moon again.
When the moon came back out from behind the clouds, Travis had changed his position. He wasn't against the tree anymore. He was holding onto it with one hand, and the other hand seemed to be stuck in the swamp. It looked as if the hand of a corpse had grabbed him from out of the swamp. Whatever actually did have hold of Travis jerked him into the swamp.
When the clouds covered the moon for a third time, Connor, Nico, and Percy all ran back toward the safety of their cabins. Again and again, they fell from tripping over stray tree branches.
They soon came upon a drunk scorpion. "H-hey," it stuttered, "are y-you g-guys…you want a beer now tonight?"
"Not now, drunkard!" yelled Percy. "We're trying not to die!" And he fell over yet another stray tree branch.
In the morning, all the cabins gathered at the dining pavilion and began to search for Travis Stoll. To Connor's dismay, they had to give him up for lost after a few days.
About a month later, in the evening, the campers heard a loud cry. They turned toward the woods to see Connor Stoll, begging them to follow him.
They found Travis near the willow, and he was shaking and moaning like his mind had vanished. He kept pointing with one hand at an invisible being, while his other arm bled. The hand of his right arm had been ripped off.
Later, the campers decided that it was the Ghost Hand that had done it. But if anyone knew what happened, it was Travis Stoll, and he never spoke another word again.
This was taken from "The Dead Hand" by Alvin Schwartz.