#chapter:three

For the last few months he had been sleeping on the streets, pickpocketing strangers for food money, he had dropped out of school and the only people he hung around would probably stab him without a second thought. This was the best he was going to get in a long time.

However, his restless feet won. Trying to remain as quiet as possible, Geoff touched his bare feet to the floor and grabbed his shoes. Someone, Geoff wasn’t quite sure who, took his dirty clothes and had given him a fresh pair of running shorts and an obnoxiously orange camp shirt which he had no choice but to wear.  Carrying his shoes, Geoff tried to weave his way through the bunks as silently as he could. The floorboards squeaked underneath his feet, but it seemed that all these Hermes kids were heavy sleepers. Probably had to be in such a crowded space.

The door caused the most noise, creaking as he attempted to open it slowly. One kid closest to the door stirred, gave a loud snore, and flopped over.

The night air beyond the cabin was still warm, but had lost the heavy humidity. Geoff closed the door carefully behind him and pulled on his shoes over bare feet. Time to start running.

At first, the camp seemed deserted. Nothing stirred, all of the cabins dark and silent, staring at him as he ran by. He would head out the way he came, maybe find one of those chariots, couldn’t be much different than carjacking. He had done that before.

He was barely outside the circle of cabins when something screeched just beyond the trees. The sound cut through Geoff like a bolt of lightning and his heart started to slam against his chest. The image of the harpy flashed in front of his eyes, they wouldn’t keep those damned things here, would they? Geoff started to run faster, pumping his legs as fast as he could.

His path was severed as three shapes darted out of the trees, skimming the ground with razor talons. There was no trick of the eye this time. They were immediately monsters, and their beady eyes were locked right on him. “Camper out of bed. Camper is our dinner.” They screeched in unison, the first one dive-bombing straight for Geoff’s head.

The ground suddenly went slippery underneath his feet as his shoes slid against the grass. He couldn’t change direction fast enough for his panicked mind, truly terrified that he would receive a blow to the head. However, he found purchase soon enough and the harpy’s terrible maw missed him by a breath. Geoff was off running again, but back toward the cabins.

The lights stayed off and quiet as he ran along the line, desperately trying to reach Hermes cabin. He neared the peeling brown door when one of the harpies fell in a swoop, blocking the doorway. “Unclaimed camper out at night.” It growled as the other two circled overhead. “The best meal.”

“Hey, over here you idiot!” A shout rang out across the cabins. One cabin had its lights on, a beacon of hope. A figure stood outside the door, waving their hands.

Geoff sprinted faster than he had thought possible. The harpies were hot on his tail, calling threats to his back. Then the years of baseball when he was a kid kicked in and he slid the last yard, slipping past the stranger and across the wooden floor. The harpies attempted to follow inside, but were blocked by the camper. “He’s in the cabin, get lost! Shoo!” He shouted, blocking the entrance with his body, careful to keep a foot inside the cabin.

The harpies let out a low grumbling sound before launching back into the air. The kid slammed the door shut and whirled around to face Geoff. “Seriously, wandering around at night? At least learn the harpies’ patrol path before attempting that!” This camper was young, had tanned skinned with dark hair to match. He wore only a pair of white boxers decorated with bright red roses.

“They keep those things at a fucking kid’s summer camp?” were the only words Geoff could find, wiping sweat from his forehead.

“Security. Yeah, they will eat any camper that wanders out at night but they are great guard dogs when needed.” The kid shrugged nonchalantly, scratching his head with a yawn. “You’re lucky I was still up. Otherwise you would’ve been bird-food.”

“That is the second time I’ve heard that today.” Geoff muttered, standing stiffly. This cabin was a stark contrast to Hermes cabin, stuffed to the brim with kids. No wonder Ryan had told Burnie to stick them with another cabin. This one was empty. About five bunks were spread out across the room, only one seemed occupied with pictures hanging on the wall next to it. The rest were carefully made and as Geoff leaned against one to stand, his hand was covered with dust. “Are you in here by yourself?”

It was not nearly as lived in as Hermes. The floor was relatively scuff free, it smelled of sea salt rather than sweat, and the walls lacked the decorations of several children attempting to share one space.

“Yeah,” The boy said, without a hint of loneliness. “My dad doesn’t like to get his groove on as often as some of the other gods.” He made a slow gyrating motion with his waist before stopping, a blush creeping across his face. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to imply that--”

Geoff held up a hand. “I’m new to this mess, I don’t even know if that Hermes dude is my dad.” He sighed heavily. “This just feels like a bad dream.”

“It does feel like that at first, doesn’t it?” The kid laughed, sitting down on his bed. “My name’s Ray, and you’re new. A little old to be a new camper.”

“Tell me about it.” Geoff sat on the bed across from him, rubbing tired eyes. “I’m Geoffrey, but for the love of god don’t call me that. Geoff works just fine.” He flopped down on the bed, trying to ignore the cloud of dust that erupted from his back. “You’re not going to send me back out there, are you?”

Ray shook his head, a careful smile spreading across his face. “Nah, you don’t need to be harpy bait twice in one night. There’s plenty of room for you here.” The boy rose from his bed and plodded over to the lights, flicking them off. “If you want to make your grand escape, I suggest putting it off until dawn. No one likes to get up before eight here.”

Geoff mumbled a noise of acknowledgement, his muscles relaxing for the first time in days, this bed was really comfortable. He would only sleep a few hours, and then he would be out. Ray wasn’t going to stop him and the harpies would be gone with the sun. He only had to sleep a few hours.

A loud slam on the door jolted Geoff from sleep, banging his forehead against the bunk above him. Bright sunlight filtered in through the windows. He had definitely slept past dawn.

Ray was already out of bed, now wearing one of those obnoxious camp shirts. He had one sandal on his foot and hopped over to the door, still trying to pull the other one on.

“NARVAEZ, OPEN THE FUCKING DOOR.” Ryan’s deep voice bellowed outside. “Do you have my new camper in there? I really don’t want to deal with the paperwork if he’s dead.” He continued to pound on the door until Ray ripped it open.

“YES.” Ray shouted back into Ryan’s face. “He’s right here you psychopath.”

“Nice escape attempt,” Ryan snorted, peering around Ray at him. “Didn’t even get past Poseidon cabin.” His face was slowly going from bright red back to a normal pale. “Let’s get going, it’s time for breakfast.”