Maddie was still shaken from everything that happened earlier that day. Sure, her friends had praised and congratulated her but the feeling of irresistible urge to kill shook her to her core. She had always known that had been a part of her, this violent nature. Her mom had warned her about it multiple times and every time she had held any sort of knife, blade, or even a pencil at times, her mind went dark and it felt like her movements became that of which were not her own. She could see and feel everything that happened but couldn't control it. Her mom always told her it was why she wasn't allowed to leave the house for long periods of time. Her mother didn't want her to hurt someone by accident. She needed to control it. She needed to figure out how to control it.

Yet, now her friends were telling her it was a great thing. That she could be a powerful demigod as long as she cultivated and worked with this power. Apparently every demigod was like this in one way or another. Had her mom lied to her? Had she made the excuse just to keep her daughter close to her? It didn't make sense. All she knew is that even though this ability was supposed to be a good thing, it didn't feel like it.

Kelly and Aaron had taken the liberty to try and modify the spear for Maddie so that it could be ready in time for the capture the flag game tomorrow. The others went off to take care of some other duties they had. Maddie was alone and wandering around camp. She wanted to explore the woods but Marcus had been explicitly clear not to go near the campers over there. What to do then? She wanted to go back to the lake but the memories from the other day scared her and she didn't want to mess up again, not when she was finally gaining friends.

A thought jumped into her mind and her smile brightened immediately. She ran over to her cabin and dug through her bag of stuff. The past couple of days, her collection of items had grown, mainly because people finally told her how long she'd be staying. 'A whole summer here…' She had gathered some more clothes, Alicia had been kind enough to offer her some of her old clothes as well. She had even been given a bright orange t-shirt with "Camp Halfblood" written in big black letters. It was her favorite shirt. It made her feel like a part of everything.

She grabbed her polaroid camera and hurried out, letting her feet randomly guide her around camp. She wasn't expecting much of anything. She had been searching the past couple of days as she walked from place to place, yet, none of her main subjects of interest had popped up. She refused to give up hope though. She knew she could find some if she wanted, and this was the perfect moment to take as much time as she needed to search.

She lost track of time as she wandered around, observing every detail of the ground as she possibly could. Finally, she found something. She froze at the sight in front of her and her heart skipped a beat. No way. Was what she was seeing true? She took small, cautious steps forward to get a closer look. Laying in the grass was a small garden mouse right near the strawberry fields. His eyes were open and staring lifeless, and his neck was awkwardly twisted. The ground around him was pushed down implying that someone or something accidently ran him over.

It was beautiful.

Maddie immediately pulled out her camera and shuffled around, trying to find the perfect angle to catch the sunlight hitting the ground while also showing off the snapped neck of the mouse. She barely breathed, lest she interrupt the shot. After a few moments of trying to figure out what would be best, she snapped the picture. The whir of the machine bringing Maddie a sense of comfort as she waited for the picture to develop and be spit out. The second the picture appeared, she stuffed the small piece of film in her pocket. She had learned the hard way that letting the picture sit out in the open could lead to it becoming too overexposed and ruin everything. She put her camera back in its case and slowly bent down next to the mouse.

"Don't worry buddy, I'm sure it was quick and painless for you. Still though, you don't deserve to be hurt anymore even if you can't feel it."

Maddie started digging in the ground, creating a small pit. It wasn't very deep or big but was the exact size she needed. With dirt covered fingers, she gently rolled the poor broken thing into the hole and covered it back up with dirt. She clasped her hands together and spoke softly to herself

"While it may not be a human it was still a living thing, please watch over it as it crosses into the next plane. Give it lots and lots of yummy food if possible." She gave one finally pat on the ground to where the mouse now rested and stood up, wiping her hands on her jeans. She turned around and immediately froze.

The path back to camp was now blocked by four older boys and one girl. Two of them she recognized from the other day, the taller boy and the girl. Two of the boys were children of Aphrodite she recalled. The other she had never seen before.

"Um...hello!" Maddie tried to pretend like she wasn't startled by the sudden sight of the group. For some reason her mind went to the picture that now sat in her back pocket of the small dead animal, helpless and alone.

"Hey Maddie love. What are you up to today?"

"Oh! Well, I was just trying to find some pictures for my collection. I just buried it though so I can't show you...if you want the photo is almost done developing so I can show you in a second."

"Oh? So you like photography then?"

"Yes! Very much!"

"Have you ever thought of being a model yourself?" One of the boys stepped forward and started advancing towards her. She felt her stomach plummet. Something was wrong. She didn't know why but she was scared. He reached out for her camera and she immediately pulled away.

"Aw, c'mon Maddie. I just want to see your camera. It's no big deal. I won't break it, I promise."

Maddie held the case of her camera close to her, looking down at it worriedly. "I...I'm sorry. This is the only one I have and I can't afford a new one...I don't want anyone to touch it."

"Oh there are plenty of ways you could probably earn money. Not that I plan on breaking it anyways. I just want to take a picture of you, to remember you. Is that so bad?"

Another guy approached and reached for the camera as well but she once again backed away, accidently bumping into the guy from earlier. He took ahold of her shoulders to keep her steady. "Aw, look, she's becoming attached to me. She's like a cute little puppy!"

"C'mon! We wanna hang out with you! Let us see your camera."

"I-I have to go…"

She broke free and started walking away when all of a sudden her hair was grabbed and yanked back. She let out a yelp of pain and tried to glance behind her, seeing the girl with a fistful of her hair.

"We're just teasing Maddie. You don't have to run away." The girl wrapped her arms around Maddie, whether to hug her or capture her, Maddie couldn't tell. She figured out soon though, she felt the weight of her camera leave its case and she immediately felt her heart drop.

"Wait-!"

"Hey, toss it here Sara!"

Maddie watched in horror as the camera sailed over her head at the guy she had met on the beach before.

"Woah! This is like, super old! Does it even work anymore?"

"No way! That's like something my grandma would've own! Maybe Maddie's been lying this entire time and is actually suuuper old."

"I wouldn't be surprised. She's gotta 'protect' herself somehow right? What better way than to act like a child?"

"Smile Maddie!"

Maddie was whipped around and forced to face the camera by the girl. She felt herself folding in on herself once more. Was this how the dead animals felt when she took their picture? Wait no...they're dead. They couldn't feel like this. She wished she was dead like they were so she couldn't feel like this either.

The familiar click and whir made it into Maddie's ears and she wanted nothing more than to clutch the camera in her hands herself. The guy immediately ripped the photo out and squinted at it.

"You gotta wait for it to appear or something like that. I saw it once demonstrated on tv back home."

"Ugh, that'll take forever! I wanna stare at Maddie's beauty right away!"

"You're such a freaking perv!"

"Ah, so what. Doesn't matter. It's not like I'm actually gonna do anything. I'm just a cool older brother picking on his little sister, right Maddie? No harm done!"

Maddie went to answer. More importantly to ask for her camera back, but the words got caught in her throat as she was suddenly scooped up by one of the Aphrodite boys.

"Woah! She's so freaking light! I told you she was like a puppy! Or maybe even a stuffed animal cause she's so cuddly!" Her body was pressed close to the one holding her, she felt as though he was trying to squeeze the life out of her. She was having trouble breathing.

"Let me go!" She pleaded desperately, but her voice was ignored.

Maddie started to squirm, desperately trying to escape. She wanted to cry. There was too much going on right now and she just wanted to go back to her cabin and hide. She could hear laughter and jeers around her but everything didn't make sense. She couldn't process anything.

"Hey! Hey! I wanna hold the puppy!"

Maddie was immediately passed to the boy from the beach who threw her over his shoulder.

"Woah! You're right! She's pretty light, though I think I know where all her weight is truly coming from!"

More laughter and jokes. Maddie felt like she was gonna be sick. She desperately flailed around trying to get him to let go of her. She begged to be put down and was once more ignored. With every movement she made, his arm tightened around her.

"Hey! Hey! Get a picture! I wanna show that I was the one who finally got the lucky opportunity of capturing Maddie!"

Maddie covered her face with her hands, trying to pretend like this was a dream. A nightmare. Anything but reality.

Suddenly the laughter and the talking stopped and Maddie heard a giant thud. She tried desperately to see what was happening by craning her neck to the side. She saw the body of one of the guys sprawled on the grass, her camera lying helplessly next to him.

"Put. Her. Down."

Marcus.

Maddie began to cry at that moment, the flood of emotions she had suddenly bursting open. Marcus' voice being the one comfort she had right now.

"Oh look. Big scary Marcus. What are you gonna do punk? We haven't done anything wrong, we're just playing around. Right Maddie?" The boy carrying her did another little spin and Maddie once again started struggling.

"No! Let me go!"

"You got three seconds to put her down or you're dead Michael."

"Fine, fine whatever. But take your freaking whip off of my buddy's leg you hear?"

Maddie was gently lifted off and placed on the ground. She stumbled as she tried to get her balance. Her first action was to run over to her camera and scoop it up, cradling it like a baby in her arms.

"Now let go of my buddy, Marcus or I'll rip you to shreds myself."

"You're lucky that I don't want to see your disgusting faces anymore." Maddie heard Marcus' whip snap back into place and he walked towards her, leaning down and looking at her.

"You alright?" His voice low and soft.

"Aw, look at Marcus. Bet I know now why you really wanted us to stop. You want to keep Maddie all to yourself, huh? Didn't take you as one to be so fixated on a girl's-"

Marcus attacked so fast that Maddie didn't even see it. One minute he was next to her, the next his whip was wrapped around the tall boy and knocking him over.

"You piece of-! Get him!"

Madness broke out. The campers all started attacking each other. Maddie curled into a ball to protect her camera, too afraid of what might happen if she watched. 'He's gonna get hurt. He's gonna get hurt because of me.' The sound of yelling and swords clashing and noises of pain filled her ears. It was too much, she wanted it to stop.

"Don't think this is over you fucking bastard. We'll get our revenge on you. Mark my words!" The boy's words echoed in Maddie's mind but she couldn't tell if she was imagining it or if the fighting had actually stopped. She refused to look up, her body trembling so much she could hardly breathe.

"Kid? Kid...Maddie!" Marcus' voice made her snap out of it and she finally looked up. Marcus stood in front of her, his weapon still active, in its sword state. He was breathing hard and his clothes were covered in dirt and mud. He had blood dripping down from his arm and a bruise already forming around his eyes. His lip was also split open and bleeding, covering some of his teeth in blood. My Fault.

He knelt down on the ground beside her, staring intently at her. "Did they hurt you?"

She shook her head and hugged herself tighter. She looked down, ashamed of herself for being so pathetic that she got her friend hurt. She started crying again.

"Hey. Hey Maddie. It's alright. They're gone. They're not gonna hurt you anymore. No more tears, alright?"

"They hurt you…."

Marcus paused and then laughed. "You're a weird one. You're more concerned about me then you? I'm fine Maddie, they barely scratched me. Nothing I haven't dealt with before. After all, they weren't the ones who almost broke my arm."

Maddie found herself laughing weakly along with Marcus. Slowly she untangled herself from her ball of safety and wiped the last of her tears away.

"Hey. It's gonna be okay. They're a bunch of jerks. Especially tormenting a little thing like you. Fucking sickos…she's a freaking child..." He murmured the last part under his breath as if it was something he didn't want Maddie to hear. Something he himself was annoyed he even had to say. He cracked his neck and stood up, offering a hand out to Maddie. "C'mon. You should wash up before dinner. I'll probably make a run to the Apollo cabin after you're done...then we can go get some food."

She gently took his hand and used it to help her stand up. "Well...you could go to the cabin while I clean up...you don't have to wait for me."

"Maddie, after what happened? I'd be an idiot to let you fend for yourself again. I'm not leaving your side until I know for a fact no one at camp is gonna bother you again. Just...just make sure that from now on you don't let yourself be alone for long periods of time. Or specifically, alone with creeps like that."

"I promise I won't." Maddie smiled at his words. Even though things were new and different and scary at times...she had a friend. A friend who just put himself in a battle against five other people to protect her. She quickly wrapped her arms around him.

"Thank you Marcus."

"Friends stick together, don't they? Besides, if I stick around, then I can find a way to get back at you for almost breaking my arm."

Maddie let go and pouted at him, her face scrunching up in annoyance. "Why do you keep bringing that up? I said I was sorry!"

He let out a laugh, smiling down at her. "I know, I know. Don't worry about it. I promise I won't tease you...much."

"Hey!"

He spun around and began to walk off. Maddie stomped her foot in the ground like an impatient child but quickly followed after him. Asking him what she could do to make up for the incident and him avoiding her questions. While they walked, Maddie inspected every inch of the camera. A few spots of mud and a few scratches, but the camera itself still worked perfectly. Somehow, that made everything better.