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The cool inky liquid rolls down your face, the iron filling your nose as you wobble closer to the tree, finally crashing against it. The harsh bark scratches your already ripped skin as you slide down the trunk. Breath is the only thought running through your mind, stay alert- how do you know you're actually safe? what if another one comes back?
You struggle in a breath, your broken nose aching from the motion. Breathe you repeat.
Your anxieties aren't soothed by the person running up, yelling something your ears can't quite hear over the ringing. breathe.
The person, who you're assuming is a man from the size of his body, lifts you into his arms. You can't even fight back, your eyes drooping dangerously low and your head rolled back because you don't have the strength to hold it up anymore.
he runs towards a group of people, the wind hitting your skin just enough for you to stay awake. He places you on a stretcher- or maybe it was a bed? you couldn't tell. The faces blur as they start to cut off the little left of your clothes, you don't even have the energy to worry about being exposed.
breathe.
and as much as you're fighting to keep your eyes open, you can't hold it any longer and your eyelids touch down.
"So you escaped a group of harpies?"
A guy, named Ray, chimed in, slipping in between Laura and Jean in your little circle on the floor of Hermes cabin.
"That's what they're called!"
Laura exclaimed with a light laugh, you don't look over, checking out the new guy with a frown, you could've sworn you'd seen him before
"I guess I did"
You say plainly, letting out a small amused chuckle to not come off as rude.
"Hey, have... we met before?"
You ask with some hesitation, squinting my eyes at him with suspicion. Although he did something you didn't expect, he smiled.
"I was the one who found you the other day, I'm glad you've healed up alright"
He sounded genuine making you feel bad for your suspicion, you don't notice the looks that Laura and Jean give each other. you nod your head curtly, turning your gaze to the floor. The memory fresh in your mind as your cuts are still wrapped up, the smell of blood that wasn't your own still in your nose.
I should leave, You think when the others go quiet by your demeanour. they must think I'm strange.
You rise to your feat despite the discomfort it brings you.
"I'm going to go for a walk"
You announce, not waiting for their response as it's written all over their faces. Their smiles long ago dropped and you could've sworn audible sighs realised when you walk out the door.
"Right new game! left deals soo......New girl, it's your turn"
The current counsellor, Berk, slides over the deck to your hands. Cards were always something you liked, they made sense, and they didn't change or get mad at you for 'having a rude tone'. And since you liked cards, you were pretty fucking good at them. They bend to your will as you perform the dovetail shuffle and you are about to hand them out when someone drops in the chair across from you.
The man across from you immediately makes you stop, blood red eyes, light blue hair and scars running across his face. Despite his imitating look and how you sware the temperature dropped as soon as he came close, you can't help but feel attracted to him.
his blank stare at you makes butterflies run around your insides, while also making you freeze.
"Room for one more?"
He gives you a sly smile, his eyes locked on you.
You agree, your teammates do not. But you're the dealer, you make the rules. Plus, black lady works better with 6 people. You start to explain the rules once more as you deal out the cards.
"The aim of the game is to get the least amount of points cards, each heart card is worth 1 point. The queen of spades is worth 20, the jack of diamonds is negative ten points. Follow suit if you can, if you can't you can place whatever. The highest card, aces high, wins the round. Don't show anyone your cards and....."
You pick up your stack, noticing the ace of hearts and the ace of spades, You take them out of your stack and pass them to the left
"Take your two worst cards, and pass them face down to the left. they're called Discards"
You finish, picking up the new cards and let out a hum. Jack of Diamonds and Queen of Spades, you can work with this.
"Left of the dealer places first. Since there's 6 of us it's first to 100 points loses"
Vin, the person to your left, places a 3 of hearts. By the time it comes around to you, you're safe.
The game goes on for a while, and everyone except the blue-haired man across from you has won a stack, you're on one, It all comes down to if you can win the jack of diamonds to see who gets first and second.
You glance up at him, it's all down to chance, you have the jack of diamonds, you're the starter and these are the last cards of the game. The odds seem to be in your favour. By this point in the game, most people have random cards, all of the hearts have been played and so has the queen of spades, You can win this, you should win this.
You place down the jack, your eyes locked with his.
A king of spades is placed, then an ace of spades, It's his turn now.
He places a king of diamonds.
He won, it doesn't matter what else is played, he won.
A 7 of diamonds and finally a queen of diamonds is played. You would've lost anyway.
"Zandik"
He smirks, standing from his chair, not bothering to pack up.
"I hope to see you around"
His eyes linger on you before heading out of the cabin, people parting for him to leave. You can't help but wonder why he never looked at anyone but you this whole time, why it felt like you were just playing him and not the other 4 people in this game, and why the others were scared to speak in his presence.
The forests were dense and vast, the wind whipping your skin as you sat under a tree, your sword stuck into the ground next to you and your knife on your hip. You weren't exceptionally skilled with any weapon you'd tried but you weren't hopeless either, you figured that maybe fighting wasn't for you anyway. The game of Capture the Flag should be over soon, you've learnt in your month or so here that they mostly last about 2-3 hours and this one had been going on for about 3 and a half.
And just as you predict, the horn sounds and you make your way over to the river, absentmindedly fiddling with the sword you carry, flicking it around and slicing blades of grass. You only stop once you hear a commotion coming from up ahead, not unusual for after a game of capture the flag but it was the people who were fighting.
Vin- the least violent person you know, getting pushed around Caleb, the son of Ares. It was always the fucking Ares kids.
You sneak closer hiding behind trees to not get noticed. It was right outside the cabins, Vin had a bloody nose running down his face and Caleb had matching blood on his fist. Fuck
You could use your fists but Caleb was much bigger than you, and you could use your sword but it was much too heavy for you to swing and not hit Vin as well....knife it is then.
You stab your sword into the ground and wait for the right moment to move, fingers wrapped around your knife.
Caleb hits him again, the crunch making your grip tighten. Vin choaks out a sob, begging him to stop. And just as Calebs responds, you pounce.
You sneak up behind him and press the knife to his throat, slightly cutting his skin. Caleb froze, his breath catching in his throat and his jaw locking.
"Run!"
You call out to Vin, who is just as surprised as Caleb, but he doesn't hesitate to obey. He scrambles from his feet and presumably runs off to the cabins for help.
"What are you doing?"
Caleb warns, lifting his chin with pride. You press the knife tighter, but you can't answer his question, you're not sure you knew yourself, you weren't close with Vin. Without warning he elbows you in the side, causing you to realise him with a grunt.
He twirls, reaching out to you, but you're quicker- darting away. You dropped your knife when he elbowed you, leaving you with nothing to defend yourself. Your only hope was reaching the other campers.
He was quickly approaching, calling out insults while at it. Your heart beats in your ears, If you can't make it to the others in time you're not sure you'll be alive for tomorrow.
You're foot catches on the ground and you crash onto the floor, the only good thing being the other campers around to see it. You could've sworn you saw a flash of blue right before you fell.
You can hear Caleb's laughter as he walks up to you, glaring down at you with a wicked grin
"Oh, you're so much dumber than I thought!"
He stands over you, kneeling and taking your chin.
"Such a pretty face"
He coos, laughing at your weak attempts to get away, placing a hand on your shoulder. He smirks at you and goes in for the punch but his hand doesn't make contact with your face. Instead, a hand of bones
He flinches back, his whole body moving away from you quicker than you could see as he stars above your head. You take the chance to push him away, stumbling away from him, but you notice something. He's not the only one staring above your head, everyone is. You look up.
Floating above your head was the deep black symbol for Hades......Hades was your father.
You were a child of Hades
The cabin you were now staying in felt dull. It was dark and dreary and empty. Over the last month, you'd gotten used to sharing a bunk or sleeping on the floor in a room filled with other people. Now you were utterly alone.
No one had talked to you more than the minimum of simple greetings- other than Vin but even that was just to thank you for helping. Originally you had tried to talk to Laura or Jean, or even Ray but you hadn't gotten far. Their already stiff conversations with you went from manageable to cold, Ray swore up and down that nothing had changed between you two but you could see the way his shoulders stiffened and how he got out of there as quickly as possible.
It reminded you how they acted around Zandik.
Your face contorts into a frown, not wanting to cry again you bite your lip and look around. The cabin was windowless, with coffins for beds, the only light being a chandelier-looking thing but where the light bulbs would be, were flames of Greek fire. All in all, not really your style. Maybe with a couple of windows...
Someone knocks on the door and your heart skips a beat, maybe they felt bad for not talking to you? You spring from your bed, your hopes are way too high.
You open the door to not one of your friends but instead to Zandik, the one everyone was terrified of and also the one you were incredibly attracted to. The words fall from your mind as you stare at him, he pushes his way in.
"Close the door, I'm not meant to be in here"
You go to argue but realise if he gets caught, you get caught. you close the door quickly.
"What are you doing here?"
Despite trying to push away your disappointment it comes out in your tone, laced with annoyance. You turn to face him, not being able to look him in the eyes.
"I think we should team up. We're both powerful and everyone seems to avoid us like the plague."
He's holding something in his hand, small enough that his big hands cover it from my view. You lift your head, your gaze finding its way to the scars across his face.
"Team up? Do you mean like...be friends?"
His jaw locks for a moment and he simply smiles back.
"whatever you want to call it"
He steps closer, kneeling before you, his stare almost pricing your skin.
"You have nobody, you need me"
Something about what he said disturbs you, a small voice in the back of your mind telling you to send him away. But you do need a friend and what better a friend than the man people only speak about in whispers?
"What would you get out of it?"
He takes your left hand, grinning up at you.
"So much more than you know"
He whispers, his voice hoarse and low, making your eyes widen slightly and suck in a breath. fuck this man will be the death of me
As you stare down at him with a flushed face he slips on a ring, taking your knuckles to his face and planting a kiss. His lips were weirdly soft and you can't help but crave them upon your lips instead of your knuckles.
"It's made from obsidian"
He tells you as he hands, looming over you.
"The gem is Red Beryl."
You look up at him, your lips part but nothing comes out, you're speechless, utterly speechless.
"Red beryl? You must be joking, I can't take this-"
You reach down to the ring, trying to pull it off but it's not budging, it's stuck. You can hear him smirk, licking his lips.
"You can't take it off or break it. Don't even try"
He laughs and without another word leaves you alone in your cabin once more. You have a bad feeling about this.
You pull one last time on the ring before giving up, You bring it to the light inspecting your new ring. Red Beryl is incredibly expensive, one gram is worth 250,000 dollars and this was a whole lot more than just one gram.....and now it was stuck to your hand.
You let out a hiss as Zandik applied the rubbing alcohol to your cut. You had gotten slashed with someone's arrow during Capture the Flag, the cut running across the back of your right hand and stung like hell. He lets out a small chuckle at your wince, taping over the cut with a bandage and pressing a kiss to the back of your hand.
"See? You'll be fine"
His rough hands contrast the softness of his touch, his fingers curled around yours in a very tender moment.
"still hurts"
you mumble, peering up at his face with a look that one could only describe as tender. A very soft small smile adorns your face, the one that he loves so much. He lets a small breath, his fingers running along your palm.
"you're so beautiful."
He whispers, his attention wandering up to your eyes.
"Am I now?"
You let out an amused breath, awkwardly smiling wider before slowly dropping the smile completely, getting lost in his attention. He grins and shows off the canines of his teeth. He reaches up his spare hand to your cheek, stroking it softly.
"yes."
Rumours are spread that you and Zandik are dating but no one dares to ask, being too afraid to even look in your eyes. You never once said they weren't true, and neither did he, even after he said multiple times that he knew about the rumours.
Ever since the day he came to your cabin, you've basically only spent time with him, Breakfast, lunch and dinner you're eating together, in your free time you're sitting or reading or searching for plants together (he says he needs them for his medicine but he's never once asked you to try some of his 'medicine' out), During activities he either finds you two a way out of them or hardly participates.
And after all this time spent together, you've come to some conclusions.
Zandik- or what he wants people to call him, Dottore, Is a genius of medicine and science and his curiosity has no bounds. But his one problem is he doesn't know when to stop, he's fine with hurting people or animals to get what he wants and shows no remorse for doing so. His obsessive and frankly quite possessive nature all came to a head when he saw you talking to Ray, he quite literally stole you away, the grip on your wrist leaving a mark for days.
The last thing you notice is that he seems to be very infatuated with you, one of his hands must be on you at all times, he must always know where you are or going and needs to show his 'claim' over you.
He takes your chin into his hand, snapping you out of your head and bringing you back to reality. He laughs, a finger running over your bottom lip.
"You only need me"
He leans closer, his face so close to yours you can feel his breath. You let out a small breath, weak to his touch.
"Zandik-"
You start, pursing your lips and trying to resist just shoving my lips onto his.
"I'll take care of you"
He looks deep into your eyes, his gaze cold but somehow loving, he inches closer once more, eyes flicking to your lips.
"Let me take care of you"
He presses his lips to yours, his hand moving from your chin to your cheek. He starts to lightly push you down on your bed, his soft kisses putting you into a trance.
"I need everyone to know that you're mine"
You let out a shaky breath, unable to help the heat start to course through your body.
"I'm already yours"
Late one night, Zandik enters your room, a bag in hand. He gently tapes you awake, excitement coursing through his veins.
"Get up, we're leaving."
A grin settled on his lips, a grin that seemed to be getting more and more unhinged. He starts to stuff your things into his bag, which were mostly just clothes and maybe some makeup.
"Zandik, what are you talking about?"
You reply groggily, reluctantly slowly waking up. Once you're sitting up on your bed, you finally notice his packing
"Zandik!"
You click your tongue and shake your head, trying to wake yourself up. He's already finished packing, everything you own is in his bag, that wasn't a good sign.
"sorry my love, But we're going."
He kneels before you and takes your hand, looking up at you with a smile.
"I can further my research without any barriers."
He stands up and pulls you off your feet, lifting you into his arms bridal style. You freeze, without any barriers....that's not a good thing when it comes to his research.
"Zandik are you sure this is a good idea? Have you really thought this through?"
You try to reason, instinctively settling into his imbraces. Throughout your relationship, you've gotten used to letting him control you. He Laughs, tightening his grip on your thigh. He presses a quick kiss to your lips, smiling manically.
"I know you don't like my research but it's for the greater good. Imagine how many lives I'll make better just for the cost of a few others. She promised me a team, unless money. Dont take this away from me"
He starts to move from your cabin, making his way to the edge of camp half-blood's border.
"Who is? what's the catch"
"that's not for you to worry about"
he replies instantly, pulling you closer to his chest. His gaze darks as he stares down at you.
"All you need to do is be my loving wife, you'll have a good life."
Your eyes widen, wife? You had only been dating for a couple of months. He notices your expression and laughs.
"Dear, you didn't think the wedding ring I gave you was just for friendship, did you? "
You snap your head to the ring on your finger, the blood-red colour of the gem shining from the moonlight.
"No no, I wouldn't give a ring that can never be taken off just to a friend. No, I knew from the start you were going to be mine"
He shuffles you up closer to his chest once more, his grip getting dangerously tight.
"At first, I just thought you looked cute covered in blood and just wanted to use you but then I actually started enjoying your presence and how sweet you were."
He makes his way past the big house, closing in on the tree that you rested against when you first came here. You stare up at him, your breathing shallow.
"Once I fell in love with you I realised I could never actually let you go, the thought of you even talking to another man makes me sick. So i made sure you didn't,"
His gaze darkens, stopping right next to the border as he lowers you onto your feet, His hand finds yours and interlocks your hands.
"I was originally planning on leaving you here, coming back for you once everything is sorted out over there to take you as my wife. But I couldn't do that, not when you're presence is the only thing that calms the voices."
He whispers into your ear, his free hand running through your hair. You look up at him, he's been planning this for months? It was never some accidental love, he made sure you loved him and made sure to isolate you from everyone, so you would be dependent on him. You can't even comprehend how sick it was.
"Be mad all you want but I'm everything you have and I know you still love me......you'll have millennials to get past it anyway"
He pecks a kiss on your forehead and drags your stiff body to the border, his grip close to cutting off the blood. Once he steps past, everything goes black.