(A/N) I am so sorry for the long time you waited; I couldn't update since I was at Disney! :D I got home yesterday and immediately began working on this for you guys. Thanks so much for the support! I know it was kind of a cliffhanger, and I am deeply sorry for that. I had no idea that Disney would be so long, but I still had a lot of fun. Here is my fun shared with you guys, even if this chapter isn't at all…fun.

Disclaimer: I do not own PJO. I do, however, own the plotline. I'm glad to say it: I OWN THE SHADOW'S SONG TRILOGY. I OWN THE PLOT AND THE DISEASES.

Jason POV

I jolted awake to the sound of rapping on my door. "One second!" I gurgled and rolled out of bed, rubbing the sleep out of my eyes. I shambled over to the door and opened it, revealing a very panicked-looking blurry blob. I blinked a few times and the image sharpened to show a freaked Nico di Angelo. He looked me over for a moment and I realized that I was still in my boxers. My cheeks flushed a rosy red, but Nico didn't seem to mind. His eyes were wide with horror and fear.

"It's Travis." he managed and ran off to tell the other campers. The fog in my head cleared and my mind went into overdrive. Travis? What had happened? Then it dawned on me; we had sent him to spy on Percy because he had been acting strange. Had Percy done something to the son of Hermes? I sure hoped not; that would mean that something was definitely wrong with him, I just wasn't sure what. I threw on a Camp Half-Blood t-shirt as fast as I could and slipped on my shoes, dashing to the door and throwing it open.

Campers had already gathered in the clearing and were talking in hushed tones. Some were crying, others looked skeptical. I tried to pick out one of my friends in the crowd. Leo? Nico? Piper? Annabeth? Will? I couldn't see anyone in the mass of campers. Our numbers had swelled drastically since the war with the Giants, and it was usually beneficial, but not at this time. That's when four figures staggered from the woods, carrying something limp. The clearing fell silent and the feeling of death crept up on us like a shadow, threatening to claim our lives, too. Tingles raced up and down my spine as I stood rigid in front of Cabin One.

I recognized the four people who were carrying the body. There was Nico, Clarisse, Will, and Connor. They lay the limp form down on the grass and everyone immediately crowded it, whispering and spreading the news. I used the power of the air to launch myself into the sky and landed in the center of the circle, right next to the lifeless body. I immediately recognized it as Travis. Same tousled brown hair and lithe physique, but his skin was chalky and his eyes were closed. Blood spattered the front of his shirt and huge claw marks tore across his face, making it barely recognizable to those who hadn't known the son of Hermes for very long.

Connor was kneeling next to his fallen brother, crying into his hands. "I love you. I love you. I love you. Just please, Travis. Wake up. Wake up, please. Please. For me. I'm your brother. You promised to be there for me until the end! You promised!" he screamed. Katie stood nearby and there were tears streaming down her face. I felt my eyes becoming misty as well and I tried to blink back the tears, but to no prevail. Everyone was silent besides the sound of soft sobbing and shuffling feet

"What happened?" I finally managed to choke.

"Monster attack." Nico replied with a frown. His eyes were glassy, but it wasn't noticeable if you hadn't known him for as long as I had. I knew that he was on the edge, but was able to reel himself back in with his knowledge that Travis would certainly go to Elysium. He was experienced with death and was able to handle himself. Death was a normal occurrence in Nico di Angelo's life. In my heart there was a mixture of relief and sadness. Sadness, of course, because of Travis' death, but relieved that it hadn't been Percy who had killed him. Then I felt guilty that I was feeling that way; this was a time of mourning, not relief.

"Why was he out in the woods at night? He knows that's dangerous and against the rules!" Connor cried, trying to pull himself together. "WHY DID MY BROTHER HAVE TO BE SUCH AN IDIOT!?" He broke down and Will gently led him to the Big House for some depression medication.

"I think it's more than that." the son of Hades said suddenly. He walked over to Travis' body and lifted up his mangled shirt. Everyone sucked in a breath as he hacked it off with his Stygian Iron sword, revealing a horribly mangled wound in the chest. I nearly threw up, along with other campers whose faces tinged green, but, unlike them, I was able to choke back my vomit. They weren't so lucky. At first sight the wound seemed like your average monster bite/claw marks. That's when you realized that all of the thin cuts seemed to circle around this small hole in his chest that was barely noticeable. Oh no.

Nico grit his teeth and reached deep into the wound, causing several other campers to throw up. He drew back his hand, holding a bullet. Silence settled over the campers. Travis had not been attacked by a monster, he had been murdered. I looked at him once more and realized that the supposed claw marks on his face looked more like knife slashes; they were too cleanly cut to be from the claws of a monster. The thought that Travis had been killed by a camper sent shivers racing up and down my spine, which also could be the reason why I didn't notice that the wounds were knife slashes; the thought was so far-fetched that I thought it was impossible. Clearly it was not.

Who could've done such a thing? Who hated Travis enough to murder him? Sure, he could be a little annoying at times, but to murder him was quite a feat. What could Travis possibly have done in order to get someone to grudge against him? All the questions rattled inside my skull like angry legion eagles.

Everyone looked around warily, as if anyone around them could be the murderer. I scanned the crowd not for who was here, but who was missing. The murderer knew that it would be suicide to appear at the discovery of the body of the person that they had killed. Not a single person was absent. That meant the murderer was among us. The only question was who did it.