Chapter seven: Jake

The next two hours or so were a blur. I wasn't asleep, I wasn't awake, I was suspended in a constant state of shadowy confusion, not really understanding what was happening and not really sure who I was anymore.
Sometimes I would surface, hoping it was over but the next second I would be pulled under again, sucked into a painful state of limbo.
The worst thing was, I couldn't speak, even when my head felt a little clearer for a moment.
I barely noticed how I got back to the Big House, I think Ryan might have carried me there, but I wasn't sure.
What I could remember were merely a few snippets of conversation I heard at some point.
"...happening to her?" – "...not for fifty..." – "...call Solace." – "better...not here!"
None of these made any sense to me, except for one, which explained itself when I finally regained full consciousness and control over my body.
A young man, maybe thirty years old, was standing beside the bed I was lying in. He was looking at a cup, the contents of which I couldn't see, with a look of doubt.
I tried to speak but all that came out was a little croak.
The man looked at me. He had blonde hair, like Ryan and intelligent eyes with lots of crinkles around them. His fingers were slender, and there was a concentrated air about him.
"Hello Erin." he said, taking my wrist to feel my pulse. "It's good to see you awake."
"What-" I started, but the man shook his head.
"Try to rest your voice a little. My name is Will Solace, I'm the chief healer here. They called me after you were brought here, during your...turn."
Turn, I thought. That was one way of calling it.
"I tried to put a calming spell on you, but it, ah, didn't work. All there was left to do was let it try to sort itself out, though once you've slept a little, you'll have to tell me exactly what happened before and during the fit, okay?"
I nodded to show I understood. Healer Solace smiled, and then looked back down at the cup.
"I think we'll wait with this." he stated, setting it on a table, just out of my reach.
Before I could ask what was in the cup, my eyes had closed and I'd fallen asleep.
When I woke, it was still dark outside so I figured I hadn't slept that long.
The room was filled with a soft light emanating from a satyr shaped lamp on the bedside table, and it took me a moment to register the person sitting beside the bed.
When I did notice the red haired woman, I jumped so badly the whole bed shook.
"Don't worry!" she immediately said, holding up her hands and smiling reassuringly at me. "Don't worry, I won't do anything. My name's Rachel."
She held out a hand which had random words drawn on it in marker, and I shook it tentatively.
"Who are you?" I whispered, unable to talk any louder.
"I told you" she winked "my name's Rachel. As for what I do, I'm the oracle here at camp."
I stared at her. Had she really said oracle? "So...you tell the future?"
Rachel chuckled. "Sometimes. Though I'm afraid it's never really simple. Often I only get notions, I guess you could call them, and they're hardly ever helpful."
She said this with a hint of bitterness.
I blinked. My brain felt slow and sluggish, so it took me a while to phrase my next sentence:
"You tell the demigods their prophecies?" I asked, remembering something Piper McLean had said about demigods having to get themselves a prophecy before going on a quest.
Rachel nodded.
"What are you doing here?" I wanted to know, and Rachel's green eyes suddenly turned unfocused.
"I had a...notion." she murmured, and I was no longer sure that she was actually talking to me. Still, I inquired further. "A notion? About me?"
"No" she shook her head, staring into the distance. It was kinda creepy.
"Not about you directly. But you've got something to do with it."
I raised my eyebrows and waited for her to explain.
But instead, Rachel shrugged, and her gaze found mine once again. "Like I said, the feelings I get are hardly ever useful."

Although I wanted to know more about this odd notion which somehow concerned me, I guessed that Rachel probably didn't understand things either. So I decided to wait, perhaps talking to me would give her idea time to grow.
"Do you live in Little Athens?" I asked, and Rachel once again shook her head.
"I have a...cave."
"A cave?"
"Yeah, though it's much nicer than it sounds. Apollo reckons that an oracle isn't supposed to live in a regular place."
"Apollo?" I repeated, my voice shaking "Like, the god Apollo?"
Rachel laughed. "The one and only."
Silence fell, and I watched as Rachel got out a tiny notepad and began doodling on it. I didn't know what she was waiting for, but somehow I got the feeling that she might just be able to help me solve my problems.
"Rachel?" I asked, and her green eyes met my blue ones.
"Yes?"
"Would it be okay if I came by your cave tomorrow? I think...I think you might be able to help me."
Rachel hesitated, then nodded.
"Okay." she said, then added "But don't come before three o'clock."
"Why not?" I inquired, interested.
She winked at me. "Oracle business."
With that she got up and went out the door, leaving me alone in the now empty room.
Before I fell asleep again, I stared up at the ceiling, wondering who I was and what was going on.

"Is she still asleep?" a low voice murmured, drifting through my sleepy mind.
"No, I think she's waking up. What are you doing here anyway?" a sort of familiar voice replied.
"Ryan said he wouldn't come." the other one answered.
Both of them were male.
I screwed up my eyes and tried to go back to sleep, but alas, a hand was already gently shaking me.
"Erin?" the older man said "Good morning."
I blinked, and slowly the room came in to focus: Healer Solace was back, and behind him stood a dark haired, slender guy, whose white teeth showed as he grinned at me.
For a second, I had the oddest feeling that he looked familiar, but then Will Solace spoke and I turned my attention to him.
"Here, drink this." he told me, holding out the cup which he'd refused me yesterday.
I took it and looked inside. There was barely any liquid there, just a few drops of golden syrup.
"What's this?" I wanted to know, sniffing the stuff. It didn't really smell of a lot, just faintly of pancake sauce.
"Drink it, and if you survive I'll tell you." Healer Solace said, and I laughed.
Then I noticed that he and the dark haired boy were only smiling weakly. Were they serious?
I decided that I wasn't a wuss, and so I brought the cup to my lips and let the few drops trickle into my mouth.
"Ew." I spluttered, choking.
The liquid tasted like burnt toast dipped in chilli sauce (Yes, I have eaten that before.).
I grabbed my throat, forgetting about the cup which fell onto the ground with a thud.
"Here, take this!" the boy called, and thrust a glass of water at me. I took it and chugged the whole thing, desperate for the burning to go away.
"Curious" I heard Solace say, and between coughs I managed to get out: "Curious?"
"Yes. It doesn't seem to harm you-" "speak for yourself!" "- but apparently it does not appeal to you either."
"What is it?" I asked again, and slowly the burning sensation ebbed away.
"Nectar, the food of the gods." the dark haired boy answered, his chocolatey brown eyes fixed on me. "Demigods usually like it."
"Yeah, well, I'm not so sure I am one of those" I croaked. The boy grinned, and I felt a little better.
"Well, Erin, I think you're good to go, but I have to ask you to tell me what happened first." Healer Solace requested, and helped me into a more upright position.
"I'll wait outside" the dark haired boy piped up and left with a little wink. His consideration was nice.
Quickly, I told Will Solace about the, what had he called it, a turn? Stroke seemed more accurate.
His expression didn't reveal anything, except maybe the slightest bit of confusion mixed with worry.
When I'd finished my tale he told me to come to him as soon as I felt the least bit off and gave me a card with his address in Little Athens.
Before he left, he turned around at the door and gave me a half smile. "You know, Camp Half-Blood is amazing really. When you get used to it."
I looked at the door for a few moments after it had closed. I had no doubt that this place could be the most awesome one on earth, no doubt at all. But it seemed that for me it came paired with strokes, mad parents and quite a few existential questions and I had no idea if I was prepared for that.
There were no things for me to take with me from the infirmary and so I left as well, after standing on my feet for a minute to make sure they still worked.
Outside, I found the dark haired boy waiting for me.
"Hi" he grinned, holding out his hand. "I'm Jake."
I took his hand and shook it. "Erin."
"I know" he winked, and motioned into the room. Obviously he knew, I thought and felt a little embarrassed.
"So how are you enjoying your stay so far, Erin?" Jake asked jovially, as we made our way back outside.
"Oh, it's great" I laughed sarcastically. "You know, the not knowing what I am, who my parents really are, getting strokes stuff, it's really regenerating."
Jake laughed, a hearty laugh I instantly liked. He looked at me and his chocolatey eyes were like warm pools of, well, chocolate.
"Don't worry" he told me. "We all go through that. Except the strokes. That makes you weird."
he winked and I grinned.
It was nice talking to somebody my own age for a change, it made me miss Kara and home a little less.
"So how long have you been here?" I asked him, wanting to keep up the conversation. We were passing the fields now and the fruity scent of strawberries wafted past us, making me inhale deeply.
"Oh, about six years now. I came here when I was ten, and my dad claimed me when I was eleven."

I tried to surreptitiously check him out and guess who his godly parent was. Alas, I had no idea.
"Who is your dad then?" I asked, and instead of an answer, Jake pointed straight ahead.
We had reached the cabins and were now standing in front of the one with a number nine on its front door.
"Hephaestus." Jake added to my confused expression.
Hephaestus, I thought trying hard to remember what he was the god of.
"The god of...building?" I guessed and Jake laughed.
"Kind of right. We build all sorts anyway, and invent a whole lot more. I'd give you a tour but they're cleaning at the moment so we're forbidden to go in. Dangerous stuff, cleaning in our cabin."
he lowered his voice conspiratorially. "You never know when things might go BOOM!" he shouted the last word of the sentence, making me jump a little.
"So, let me tell you about how things at camp work." Jake invited, throwing an arm around my shoulder.
"Piper already-"
"Piper McLean? She's cool, but what you want it insider information. Luckily, you have me. So, the first thing you want to know about demigods is that they're not very good at focusing..."

And he was off, telling me all sorts of stories and making it all sound fun and exciting.
I liked listening to him, it was cute how he got all excited and acted out little parts of his story. He couldn't keep his hands still either, they were constantly in motion, fumbling with wires or making gestures.
We spent most of the day together, and I had my first proper meal at Camp sitting with him in the dining pavilion.
Jake told me that the tables used to be separated according to which cabin you belonged to, but they'd gotten rid of that rule last year.
"It was so annoying." Jake sighed. "At least now all you have to do is chuck a little of your food into the fire for them."
He showed me how, and when I didn't know whom to offer my food to, I simply said. "Please help me." and went back to sit with Jake.
And that was around the time I started to get the feeling that life at Camp Half-Blood might actually be fun. Jake was nice. He introduced me to some of his friends, which was nice as well.
We ate and I told them my story and they told me theirs, and Jayne, the girl from practise was there and it was all really cool. I enjoyed myself so much, I almost forgot my plan to visit Rachel the Oracle later.
At five to three, I jumped up from the arena rows we'd moved to and told Jake I had to go. We said goodbye and I walked off, until I remembered that I had no clue where I was going.
But as it would have been pretty embarrassing to walk back after I'd just said bye, I went off in the general direction of camp, hoping I'd soon meet someone to show me the way.
After maybe five minutes, I did meet someone, but sadly it wasn't exactly anyone I was happy to see.
"Is the damsel out of distress?" Ryan asked me as a greeting and I stuck my tongue out at him.
"Completely out, thank you very much." I told him and proceeded to walk by.
"Where're you going?" he asked, and I was so surprised that he was actually interested in anything I did, I turned around.
"Rachel Dare's cave."
"Would you like me to show you the way?" Ryan half smiled and I couldn't decide whether he was being sarcastic or not.
"Sure" I replied, shrugging.
Surprisingly, Ryan really did help me find Rachel's cave.
We walked in silence along a narrow path that sloped slowly upwards, until Ryan stopped.
"It's maybe another three minutes in that direction." he told me, and I nodded. This was getting awkward.
"Thanks" I said, not looking at him.
"No problem." he answered, his eyes also fixed on something else.
After not moving for another moment, both of us turned around and walked off.
I was confused. What was going on inside that boy's head?
When I reached Rachel's cave, I was instantly in love with it. There were green trees outside, and soft curtains serving as a door.
Not sure how to knock, I held back one of the purple curtains and pocked my head inside.
"Rachel?" I asked, not getting an answer.
Thinking she might be at the back of the cave, I cautiously walked in and looked around.
The place was amazing: There were paintings hung all over the oddly straight walls, a wood panelled floor with mismatched carpets on it, a huge TV and stereo and pencils strewn all over the floor.
Also, there were odd markings on every surface available. Was that Ancient Greek?
It looked like Rachel just randomly snatched up whatever pen was lying nearby and scribbled the vision or whatever onto the next cupboard, pillow, book and so on.
Suddenly, I heard a raised voice.
"I can't, and you know it!"
It was Rachel Dare.
She was sitting on a huge bed at the far end of the cave, and shouting at what looked like a rainbow floating in front of her.
When she saw me, she said "I have to go" very curtly and waved her hand through the rainbow, making it scatter into millions of little water drops.
"Hey Erin." she smiled, and it seemed a little strained to me.
"Is everything okay?" I asked, unsure whether I shouldn't go or not.
"Oh, don't worry about me. All in a day's work as the Oracle." she didn't sound too enthusiastic.
I approached a little further, and Rachel patted the free space beside her. I sat down.
"Erin." Rachel suddenly said, staring straight ahead, her eyes wide.
"What?" I asked, warily.
"Follow the trail." the Oracle's voice sounded far away.
"Excuse me?" I squeaked, unsure of how to act.
Rachel blinked, and met my gaze again. "Sorry" she apologized, sighing deeply.
"That's what I do, I'm afraid. I just randomly spurt out words of not-so wisdom, and people are expected to understand them. I wish..." but she didn't tell me what she wished, for at that moment,
Hazel Levesque came bursting into the cave.
"Erin? Oh good, you're there. Come on, we'd better hurry."
"Why?" I asked, wondering what was happening now that made Hazel seem so hectic.
"Mr D is here. He wants to see you."

Oh my gods I am sooo sorry for not updating for so long!
I had probably the most stressed week of my life! Exams, exams and preparing for my theory driving test and piano practice etc etc etc.
Sorry!
Anyway, here's chapter seven for you and I hope you like it too :)
What do you think of Jake? Do you like him?
Also, what do you think Mr D will do when he meets Erin?
Tell me your opinion!
Xxxx

I don't own PJO/HoO.