Just Another Bad Dream // Self Para
Each and every full night of sleep Angel gained the less he feared actually closing his eyes for the night. Though full nights of sleep came rare when staying at a camp full of teenagers the boy had still managed to get himself on a better sleeping habit and not be so afraid anymore. They were just dreams. They weren’t going to hurt him even if it seemed quite the opposite at times. Sometimes Angel would be blessed with dreams of him with L and Caine or just goofing around with Milo in the woods. And then there were the dreams with Addie in them. It seemed the more and more frequently she showed up in his dreams the more his heart seemed to flutter both while fast asleep and wide awake, and while Angel knew exactly what was happening he refused to admit it to himself. He wasn’t going to get hurt this time. No more falling for friends.
But with every dream came a nightmare. Most Angel could deal with because as soon as he’d wake it the effects were gone. No longer were him and Caine about to be eaten by a Drakon or where the ninja squirrels suddenly going after L. As soon as he woke up nothing had gone wrong from Milo’s transformation from a dragon to a boy. And then there were the nightmares that weren’t just figments of the son of Hecate’s imagination but rather harsh memories. Angel would find himself being called a monster by his father and then later by his fellow camp members after his own mother had attacked camp. The bloody memories of war would easily fill the boy’s mind. Blood that his own mother had caused to be shed and blood that was shed because the goddess of revenge was going after certain campers –Jinx being one of them. Though out of all the painful memories of names and slashes the one that hurt the most was the day Angel woke up, memory and all, to find out he had driven away his girlfriend. Jinx had left camp -friends, family, her home- because he couldn’t remember her. Because he was unknowingly falling for Addie even though he knew Jinx loved him. Angel knew Jinx was a huge part of his life. That no matter how toxic to seemed their relationship was at time he still loved her but she left before they could work anything out between them. Maverick has won and lost at the same time and Angel hated having to see the son of Hermes’s face every day and not being able to see hers.
Though the worst nightmare of them all were the ones were Angel found his mind going blank again. He’d be in his own cabin and not know a single thing around him or worse, he’d be surrounded by totally darkness and have it collapsing around him. After waking up from the darkness Angel the walls of his cabin collapsing around him and the boy would scramble for the light to make the new feeling of claustrophobia go away. Angel just wanted all the feeling of self pity to go away. He was only bringing himself and those he loved down and besides, wasn’t it arrogant to just assume he was the reason Jinx suddenly left?
Angel wasn’t having any of those nightmares though, but in the same way it was almost just as bad. He was out on the docks just like any other normal day but this time he was holding someone in his arms. The boy’s heart fluttered in his chest because even if she was gone the memory was still there and powerful enough to let himself believe that it was real. It was hard to tell if his memory was blessing or torturing him. Though when Angel started to play with the girl’s hair it was much longer then the red locks he had run his hands through so many times before. When Angel glanced down he noticed her hair was not red of even her natural blond but brunette, and that was when his mind finally registered that it wasn’t Jinx who he was holding but Addie.
Even with the realization Angel’s heart didn’t stop fluttering in his chest. Instead it seemed to get worse and he couldn’t comprehend what the girl in his arms muttered to him as she rested her head back against his chest. Though even with Angel being utterly confused in the switch the memory still played out as if Addie was Jinx, Angel still gently cupped the girls chin and gently turned it as he leaned down to kiss her gently on the lips.
But before their lips could make contact Angel was startled awake with the sound of havoc outside of his cabin. Quite literally rolling out of bed Angel didn’t even care that he was only in his boxers and an old camp t-shirt as he slipped his shoes onto his feet and concentrated enough that his spear flew from its resting position against his trunk into the boy’s hand. Running out of his cabin, Angel found many other campers looking like mirror images of himself. Everyone seemed to have a bad case of bed hair and if the sound of roaring wasn’t echoing through the camp Angel wouldn’t have almost found the picture amusing.
A natural drive made Angel want to go to the Aphrodite cabin. Since he was a toddler he’d done everything to protect Addie the best he could because she was like a sister to him –that’s what Angel kept telling himself at least, even though that dream proved him otherwise. But the sounds of roars had struck something deep inside of Angel and while he’d never heard the sound before a part of him just knew that it was Milo. One of the older counselors yelled for a war meeting in the big house in five minutes when suddenly a hellhound broke through the tree lining of the woods.
No Angel thought to himself panicky Milo is in there somewhere.
Glancing back over at the Aphrodite cabin, Angel considered going over and taking Addie with him. But while the girl’s fighting skills had improved greatly, Angel didn’t know what he was going to be walking into and now that the roaring at seemed to stop Angel didn’t want Addie to see the horrifying images that were filling his head. Besides, she was a daughter of Aphrodite, the whole male population of the camp would be going to that cabin to be the girls’ prince in shining armor. Addie would be safe.
Taking off into the woods Angel found himself wishing he’d not only wore actual clothes but also put on socks. The back of his shoes were rubbing him raw and the bottom of his foot was going to blister as well, but Angel just bit his lip and tried running faster. He wouldn’t know where his friend would be. The woods were big and they had far too many hiding places and while he prided himself in always being able to find his best friend, panic was getting the best of Angel.
All that was running through Angel’s mind was Milo’s last roar. It had sounded so desperate and was cut off far too quickly. Just the thought of losing his best friend already had tears starting to pool in his eyes but the determination built up as well as he pushed his legs to go faster.
Finally though Angel had come across an odd sight, some of the hellhounds has yet to turn into dust and were just lying there on the ground. Steering clear of their mighty jaws Angel followed the new and strange trail and felt his eyes grew as his sight locked on the cliff and the blood that stained the grass. While holding his breath Angel made his way to look over the edge and with great difficulty held himself back from screaming out his best friends name. The last thing he needed was to give the hellhounds behind him motivations to tear off his arm.
