Story 6:

Premonitions

This is where things heat up, folks! So grab on to your hats and enjoy the ride!

Rowan feels her heart constrict as the sharp pain flows rapidly through her subconscious. She gasps and bucks against her bed. She is caught in an aching, cold sweat. Her hair is stuck to her face and beads of sweat trickle down her cheeks along with tears.

It is salty in her mouth, but she can't seem to close her mouth…It is twisted into a silent scream. The pain increases, and Rowan knows she can't take anymore.

Blood falls now.

The crimson liquid flows from her nose until it is staining her white tank top.

She claws at the sheets beneath her, still not able to find her voice…to scream.

All she can do is cry and wait for the ache to subside.

The Premonitions are always like this.

They completely overtake her body, paralyzing her with feelings of pain, brokenness, and hurt. It feels as if there is someone…something in her mind. It is dragging her down…but to where?

To Tartarus? The Underworld?

The claws probe harshly at her mind, forcing her shields down…forcing her to see…

"Avery!"

"Avery, Laufen sie schnell!"
Avery, run fast!"

"Töte mich!"
"Kill me!"

"Töte mich, statt!"
"Kill me, instead!"

"Ich will sterben...Ich will sterben…"
"I want to die…I want to die…"

"Avery…Ich liebe dich…Ich liebe dich…"
"Avery…I love you…I love you…"

A boy and a girl run through a dirty old building. They are being pursued. Rowan can feel their urgency to escape. It burns through her body, along with fear, hate, and rage, but the trepidation is over powering. It has Rowan shivering her bed, reaching for anything or anyone that can help her.

The little boy is crying. The girl looks defiant, but underneath that is intense fear. Orders are being yelled in German…they translate easy in Rowan's mind.

"Stop! Stop, you children, stop!"

"Come back!"

"Don't try to escape! We will find you!"

"Laufen Avery, Laufen!"
"Run Avery, Run!"

Rowan is convulsing, her heart pounding, threatening to rip her chest open wide. Someone is banging on her the walls of her chest…screaming…

"Lasst mich raus!"
"Let me out!"

"Lasst mich raus!"

"Lasst mich raus!"

"Lasst mich raus!"

The claws clamp down and Rowan's mental stability shatters. She shoots up into a sitting position, screaming and clawing around in the bleak darkness of the Apollo cabin.

Her siblings are at her side within seconds. They all know to keep an eye on her. No one in the Apollo cabin has had such vivid premonitions as Rowan's. Any person to experience such sensations died. They all would die. They would go mad and die.

Rowan knew she could follow in their path any day now. They thought brings wretched sobs to her throat. She sounds sick as she croaks her tears out.

"Avery!" She cries out for the unknown boy as if she had been the one with him his whole life. She holds herself, allowing her fellow cabin mates to carry her into the big house.

The world around her is a blur. She can still her the desperate cries of the German children.

She moans and reaches to cover her ears. She wants to shut them out.

"Sierra!"

"Avery!"

Stopstopstopstop….you'rekillingme…you'rekillingme…Du bringst mich um….Du bringst mich um!

"Rowan!"

A voice… in the deep of the ocean she hears a voice. It calls to her from the shore…beckoning her back to safety.

She clings to it.

Mick is holding her in his strong arms and she is clutching him like a lifeline…which he is.

He carries her into the big house and sets her in a large, plush, sofa. Chiron is already waiting, his face grim. Mick makes quick work of covering her up, she is still shivering and the blanket seems to serve no purpose. Mick turns to the Apollo cabin and tells them to start a fire. They immediately set to work. Mick kneels before Rowan, taking her too-pale hand in his, pain and worry showing clearly in his watery aqua eyes.

"You…I…" He seems at a loss for words. He presses his forehead to her hand and she can feel the tears. "What can we do?"

Rowan can't answer but she gives him a weak smile. "I won't lose myself." That is all she can say. It hurts her just to whisper those few words.

Mick still looks like he is about to cry. "I couldn't stand it- Damn, Apollo!"

Thunder rumbles in the background. Chiron steps forward, clearing his throat. Mick realizes it was wrong and dangerous to say such a thing.

"I'll go make a sacrifice to him or something," He says, his voice suddenly strong again.

"Why don't you go now? Chiron asks.

Mick is about to protest, but Rowan places her other hand on top of the his. "Go, and when you return, I'll be in perfect health. And I'll tell Dad you didn't mean that…he's understanding."

Mick nods stiffly before marching out the door.

Chiron turns to Rowan. "Tell me."

And she does. When she is finished, Chiron is pale. He looks like he may faint any second.

"Are you-" Rowan begins.

"Listen to me very carefully, Rowan," His voice is stern. Too stern for Rowan's liking. She is scared now. "These dreams…premonitions are very dangerous. They are the kind that have killed many Apollo children in the past. Children with such a gift as yours have become very rare…extinct. You could as well-"

Rowan's heart clenches, and the breath is gone from her lungs. She knew she was more powerful than most…but she didn't think it was this serious. She was not an Oracle…yet she had the abilities of one…this could rip her body apart.

"You could die, Rowan." Says Chiron.

Rowan chokes back a whimper. She will not be weak…not here…when she was alone. Only when she was alone.

"I want to know more about the subjects of my dreams." Despite how she feels, her voice sounds strong.

Chiron pales. "I shouldn't tell you."

"Tell me." Rowan says. "Please,"

Chiron nods. "Sierra came to the Camp seeking refuge. She was a victim of the holocaust. She barely managed to escape the concentration camp she was placed in. She had a little brother with her,"

"Avery," Rowan guesses.

"Yes, Avery" Chiron says. "Sierra lost him in the camp. She wouldn't tell me how she just said she knew he was stolen by…by a god."

Stolen? By a God? Rowan's mind is swimming with questions

"She wasn't happy here at camp. She had recently lost a friend. They were both on their way here, when he died…" Chiron clears his throat again. "Sierra was angry and fierce. She knew she didn't belong here, so I called the Hunters. They eagerly came to get her. She has been with them ever since. I have never seen her again."

Rowan feels an even greater headache coming. She swoons, slightly, resting her head in her hands. "So, why am I getting these visions, over fifty years later?"

Chiron looks ominous. "Something must be happening. Something…bad…"

Rowan shivers for the umpteenth time tonight. Her eyes feel heavy and her head is pounding with ache. She needs to go to sleep, but she is afraid. She is afraid of Avery and Sierra. She is afraid of what they'll do to her if she falls asleep again.

Her mind wanders…

…Avery… Sierra. Brother and sister.

This maybe the first dream she's ever had about them, but she is sure it is not the last.

A/N: Whatcha think? Huh? Huh? Huh? I love this chapter! I know I have errors, I'm sorry! Tell me what YOU think, eh? Drop a review, yeah?