The Connection

Chapter 9.)

I woke up with a scream. I had another nightmare, this time about the war.

"Sophie look out!" Annabeth called.

But I was too late.

A knife pierced through my gut and I collapsed to the ground. "Sophie!" Carter called. "Sophie!" His voice sounded so close and so far at the same one as I felt myself dying. Just before I lost all consciousness the sky turned red and Gaea cackled loudly.

Suddenly my door flew open revealing a worried Carter. He sighed in relief. "I thought someone attacked you." He said as he shut the door behind him. I sniffled and wiped away some stray tears. "I'm fine. Just a bad dream."

He sat next to me and pulled me into a tight hug. I snuggled into his chest and breathed in his fresh scent. For some reason he always smelled so good. "You wanna talk about it?" He asked.

I now knew better than to lie to him about my feelings so I told him the truth. "It was the war, and I got hurt. I was terrified. I am terrified. I'm so scared Carter. I thought I was ready for this but I'm not." I sobbed.

"Hey, hey, hey, calm down. We're all a little scared, but I'm confident we'll win. You wanna know why?" He asked.

"Why?" I managed to say.

"We've got you. And with you, and Brooklyn House, and your friends working as a team, we'll be unstoppable. Now stop crying you're making me sad."

I laughed. "Thank you Carter."

"Anytime, Sophie. Anytime."

We lay together in silence until he sighed. "I should probably go back to my room." He said. He started to get back up but I found the courage to grab his wrist.

"Carter." I said softly. "Don't leave."

We stared at each other for a few seconds before he spoke. "I won't."

I moved over and he slid in next to me. I didn't know where this confidence was coming from, but I found myself snuggling back into his chest. He wrapped an arm around my waist and pulled me closer towards him.

I fell back asleep almost immediately.
__________

I woke up at 7 the next morning with Carter's arm still wrapped around me. He was snoring softly, but his face was so peaceful.

I slowly slid out from his grasp and went to go take a shower. 10 minutes later I was out and changed into my camp shirt and jeans with my blue green converse. Those shoes were so worn out but I'd been using them since I came to camp.

Once I had pulled my hair into its usual pony tail, it was 7:30. "Sophie." Carter muttered sleepily. "Morning." I told him softly.

"What time is it?" He asked.

"7:30. We should go upstairs if we're said to arrive around 8." I replied.

"Alright. Where are we gonna keep the ship anyway?"

"Down by the coast. The war will be at the Acropolis." I explained. We stayed silent for a moment. "Thank you for staying with me last night." I told him.

He nodded. "Like I said. Anytime. I'm gonna go to my room to get ready." He said.

"Alright. See you out there." I tell him. He gives me a curt wave and walks out.

I walked upstairs and saw that a lot of the kids were already up.

"Hey Walt. Status report?" I asked as I peeked into the control room.

"Reaching our destination in 15 minutes. Protective charms are covering the boat and we should be safe from any nearby monsters." He replied.

"You're a life saver Walt." I sighed in relief. Now I didn't have too much to worry about. "No prob Soph." He replied.