part three:

tension

I hauled a few buckets of water back to my cabin from the lake. It was freshwater so it would clean all the red red red it's everywhere-

I couldn't bathe there because surely one of the creatures in the water would realize that it was red and it wasn't mine-

So I hauled it back to my cabin from the lake. I stripped off my clothes and washed myself and made sure that I was clean and it fell of like flakes like they didn't belong to the boy I had killed-

I tried to wash my clothes but it won't go it's redredred and it won't go-

And then I remembered that water wouldn't wash it. I remembered Mr. D complaining how much money they wasted on vinegar to get all the clothes clean. I remembered having some on my night stand because I liked vinegar and now vinegar will pay back the favor and clean my clothes-

And then I laughed this sick, twisted laugh becausebI was obviously going insane.

So I scrubbed my clothes until the redredred was gone.

I killed the flakes to dissolve in the water and I wiped at all up with a tag and my nose scrunched because it smelled oh god it smelled-

I decided to burn it in the campfire that night. No one would question it since it seemed to be a bit of a trend.

And then I climbed into bed, naked, and closed my eyes shut because it was honestly too much and I was tired and Niles was dead and I wasn't-

I dreamed I was laughing brightly with Niles and Annabeth and Grover and everyone and then Niles just ran away and why isn't he running faster why am I chasing him why is he scared what am I doing whatisgoingon-

-

I stared blankly down at my meal. Breakfast. The most important meal of the day. Yet they insist on feeding us this sludge. But if I squinted and tilted my head to the side, just a little bit, it looked a little red and it was suddenly a lot more edible and youmonsterwhatiswrongwithyou-

And then Will Solace came up to me. He was smiling nervously, his eyes concerned. "Percy, do you know where-Woah, are you okay, dude? You look horrible!"

I hadn't looked in the mirror this morning but I could just imagine how I looked. Ruffled hair, bags under my eyes, and an empty expression.

And I couldn't shake off the feeling that my hands were stained redredred and my breath reeked of redredred ohgodit'severywhere-

And I stated into Will's eyes and stopped myself before I could shake him and scream and beg for forgiveness because IkilledhimIkilledhimIkilledhim-

Instead, I smiled. "Don't worry about me. I just had a rough night."

Will nodded, obviously not believing me, but he let it go because I'm Percy Jackson the hero of Camp and I can take care of myself and itobviouslycouldn'tbethatbad-

"Do you know where Niles is?" he asked. "Because he never came to Apollo Cabin last night and he isn't here and I'm worried and-"

I smiled and told him that everything was fine and that Niles was probably playing a prank and that he shouldn't worry but I'mdrowningalloveragain-

And Will just sighed and thanked me and I smiled back and said, "No problem!"

And he walked away and I was just sitting there with my hand clenching my spoon so hard that it was white but at least it wasn't redredred ohgodit'severywhere-

When lunch rolled around and Niles still hadn't shown up, everyone started getting anxious.

No one talked in more than a whisper and everything was strained and Sanders literally punched the Hermes kid who suggested that maybe he had run away.

Sanders sneered down at the Hermes kid who was clutching his jaw. He spat in his face and turned and walked calmly out of there and all I could this was don't hit him hit me I deserve it Ikilledhim-

He was missing for two days before the tree nymphs came across the nightmare fuel I had left behind and even now every time I close my eyes it's always redredred it'severywhere-

Chiron wouldn't let any of the campers near there and that included me and I almost laughed because I'mtheonewhodidit-

The Stoll brothers managed to sneak to where the body was before it was removed. They came back with a haunted look in their eyes and refused to talk to anyone about it.

The rumors started to run rampant around Camp.

"I heard his face was gone-"

"I heard there was blood everywhere-"

"He was probably killed by some savage beast-"

I couldn't help but agree.

And when I saw the look in Sanders and Hannah's eyes, I realized that I really, truly was a monster because Niles is dead and he had so much to live for and now he's gone becauseofme-

The rumors started to grow more and more outrageous.

"They say he was sacrificed to some forgotten god-"

"-killed by a cult that worships-"

"-they're in our camp-"

"-they're campers-"

"-they want to kill more people-"

I didn't realize how right that last one was.

tbc

-

Huh. Anyway, that was fun-ish to right. Getting inside his head was definitely an experience to be remembered.

This was part three out of four (and maybe an Epilogue if I get some inspiration) and I hope you all liked it!

Oh, and if anyone wants to refer to me for some weird reason, call me anna (all lowercase). It's short for annapūrṇā (which is not my real name, by the way).

Maybe this way I'll know how many people actually read this.

Review your thoughts. Tell me if you're unsatisfied with something! How else will I grow as a writer?

Anyway, that's it for now! Remember to Favorite, Follow, and Review! This is SSSRHA (or anna) signing out!