Forbidden (A Luke Castellan Love Story)

Chapter 70

A/N: HOLD THE PHONE!!!! OVER 1000 VOTES!!! OH MY GOSH GUYS THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!! I CANNOT TELL YOU HOW HAPPY THAT MAKES ME FEEL!!! THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!!
        Your ESTATIC author,
                Breann!
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Avery’s POV
            Finally, I managed to get away from everyone when Luke sternly announced that we would all go to bed early with the day of events. Chiron quickly agreed to the suggestion, even had an extent for tomorrow and put the rest of the camp to bed early, much to their disappointment. It wasn’t luck though that Luke suggested to have us all go to sleep earlier, he knew that I needed to be alone again and that I would go on the roof to calm myself down.  I loved him for that.
            So here I was, lying on the roof, thinking and getting away from everyone. Coming up on the roof was my get away. Strangely, I didn’t like to be with so many people at once unless I was close to them. I had some… distance issues. When I first came to camp, it was strange and nerve racking to have so many people that wanted to talk to me and be their friend. At the Orphanage, I was used to riding solo. It was just Grey and I.
            When I first meet people, I have a long time trusting them completely. Some people are better than others. Jacie, Luke and Grover were easy to trust but others…I had a hard time. Maybe it was because of Mr. Gretcher abusing me, or maybe it was just in my blood. Probably a little bit of both. Once I did trust someone though, I was loyal to them. I would do my best to protect them and be the best friend that I could be. Grey told me that I had a good sense of people so I never tried to change.
            I blinked as I saw the stars shining brilliantly back at me, calming my senses.  A small breeze blew but it was warm and light in a comforting way while I let out a sigh, my hands, laying on my stomach, lowered from the exhale, making my stomach dip slightly.
            Finally I was away from everyone and I was able to get some peace and quiet. The questions I was asked all blurred together, sticking together until I thought I had heard everything. ‘Did you know she was your mom?’, ‘Were you expecting that?’, ‘How do you feel?’, ‘Did you expect to be claimed by Artemis?’, ‘Did you expect to get claimed at all?’ I was really sick and tired of answering no or that I didn’t know, to each question
            Tonight was my last time in the Hermes cabin. Tomorrow I would be moved to Cabin 8 and, as crowded, crazy and loud as Cabin 11 was, I was going to miss it. It wouldn’t be the same with all my friends in another cabin. I wouldn’t be familiar, something completely new. And I wasn’t sure if I wanted it.
            Not being able to help myself, I looked towards Cabin 8 to see it shining brilliantly, the full moon beautifully reflecting it. The cabin was beautiful but, it wasn’t what I was used to. It was foreign. I knew I’d get used to it but I was worried about how long it would take.
            Closing my eyes, I exhaled deeply, forcing myself not to think of everything. I pushed it away until it was just me, the sky, the wind and the stars glowing down at me. My eyes opened again and I started to trace each constellation, naming each of them as I finished, though, I don’t know how I knew all the names. Soon, my eyes wandered to the moon, shining brightly at me, it being a full moon. Once again, my thoughts went back to what I told myself I wouldn’t think of.
            My mo- Artemis, was the Goddess of the Moon. According to my classes on Mythology, she was the one that brought the Moon into the sky each night on her silver chariot.  Does that mean that she could be watching me right now? I asked myself.
            Luke’s words came into my mind then. “The Gods, however great everyone makes them seem, don’t care about us. We’re just their pawn. We’re the little ‘heroes’ that have to do things for them. They couldn’t care less about if we die of not, even our own parents.”
            No. I thought to myself, feeling stupid for feeling hopeful of something so stupid. My mother didn’t care. If she did, she would have helped me when I was…being abused. She couldn’t care less if I died or not. She wouldn’t be watching me right now. Why did I even care about my Mom? Would I really feel better if she was watching me? I asked myself, my bitterness creeping in.  She wasn’t watching before, so why should she now? She wouldn’t. That was the simple answer. She wouldn’t watch over me. Not now, not then, not ever.
            As hard as it was to hear that, I knew it was true. She didn’t care about me, so I shouldn’t care about her.
            Closing my eyes shut again, I gave one last sigh before sitting up and slowly making my way down to walk towards my bunk. It had been an exhausting day and I was beat. Usually I could stay up for hours, but emotionally, I was drained.
            It seemed that I had only just fell asleep when someone started to shake me slightly. I groaned and turned over, my head facing away from them, trying to shut them out.
            “Avery come on.” Jacie sighed, “You have to get up.”
            “Make me.” I mumbled, not motivated at all. Something that everyone found out quickly was that I was not a morning person. At all. Only my close friends woke me up, the other ones worried that I might hit them, just so I could go back to sleep. I’ve done it before.
            Without looking at Jacie, I knew that she rolled her eyes. “Come on.” She said again and ripped off my blanket.
            “No.” I moaned, curling up to make up for the lack of warmth that my blanket had provided.
            “Luke.” Jacie whined, knowing that she wouldn’t be able to get me out of bed.
            I heard Luke’s familiar chuckle as he walked towards me and Jacie. “I can handle this.” He assured her and I almost heard her shrug and walk out of the cabin as he knelt beside my bed. “Avery…” He said softly, drawing out my name. “Wake up…”
            Softly, I made a noise of protest, and shoved my pillow over my head to block him out.
            “Avery…” Luke said again, his fingers brushing on the bare skin on my arms. “Wake up.” He took my pillow away from my reach and kissed my cheek then kissed me on the corner of my mouth while I tried not to smile at how cute he was being. “Are you gonna get up?”
            Forcing a frown I answered a stubborn, “No.”
            Smirking, Luke said, casually. “Well ya know….remember yesterday? When you told me that you wouldn’t surrender? Would you like to surrender to me again?”
            My eyes immediately widened as I realized that he was threatening to tickle me again. I shot up, fully awake now. “I’m up.” I quickly said before he could try anything.
            Laughing, Luke kissed my cheek. “Get all your stuff ready. Remember you’re moving cabins again.” He reminded before leaving out the cabin door.
            Groaning, I forced myself to get up and realized that I was the only one in the cabin, every bed deserted. Looking out the window, the sun seemed to be high in the sky, and after checking the clock, I realized that it was about noon which meant that I had been able to sleep in big time. Probably thanks to Luke, telling Chiron that I needed the rest.
            Soon I was kneeling on the ground as I folded up all my clothes, packing them into my two backpacks, the one that I had been stuck with forever and the one that Grey and Nico gave me. I was almost finished packing when Luke, Jacie and Grey walked in.
            “Hey, ready to go?” Jacie asked.
            “Almost, hang on.” I told her then walked back around to my bed and took down the pictures that were hanging up in the slight wall space that I had. I smiled at the picture that Jacie took of all my best friends while we were smiling and laughing, all looking like we were having the time of our life. Even Nico was smiling.
            I took the pictures then placed them in my bags before slinging one over my shoulder and carrying the other in my left hand and my guitar case in my right hand. “Ready.” I told them, trying not to look nervous. It wasn’t like it was scary, it was just…different and strange.
            “Let’s go then.” Grey said, opening the door for me then shutting it once we started to walk towards cabin 8 on the other side.
            While we walked, I couldn’t help myself but tune out of the conversation slightly and look back at the Hermes cabin. The chipping paint made me feel almost home sick as I remembered every memory of the place. I remembered stepping over everyone that was laid out on the floor, the constant pranks, the noise, the laughs, the fun…the memories. I was going to miss all of that.
            It wasn’t until a hand was placed on my shoulder that I realized I had stopped walking to stare at the cabin. Slowly, I turned my head to see Grey giving me a sympathetic look, her hand lightly on my shoulder. “It’s not like you won’t ever be able to go back there.” She reminded. “You can always go and visit.”
            “Of course you can.” Jacie cut in.
            “The Hermes cabin is still family.” Luke added.
            “Thanks guys.” I sighed, happily. “I know, I’m being silly. It’s just gonna be different ya know? Not to be in the same cabin with everyone.”
            “Think of the bright side.” Jacie joked. “You won’t be pranked every day and you might have more money without everyone stealing it all the time.”
            I laughed then shoved her slightly. “You still owe me that five bucks that you ‘borrowed’.”
            Jacie suddenly avoided eye contact and tugged her shirt. “Ahhh…later.”
            Another laugh came from my lips as I turned back towards where we were walking to, everyone following me.
            When I first came to camp, I went to every cabin, including Artemis’ but I never really studied it like I did when we walked closer to it. The silver color of the cabin still shimmered but it wasn’t as bright as it was last night when it was reflecting the moon. I had seen that last night.
            Step by step, we walked closer and I really got a good view of the cabin. The outside looked normal with a symbol of a deer, a full moon and a silver arrow above the door as well as a flat roof. If you looked closely, there were things carved into the cabin that represented Artemis. My hand slowly ran over the engravings before I took a deep breath and opened the door.
            To say I was disappointed was an understatement. The cabin was beautiful on the outside but instead it was complexly and utterly… “Empty.” I said aloud, my shoulders sagging and my smile turning to an upset frown. Literally the only thing that was in the cabin was the bathroom in the far right corner, and beds lined up on the walls. The Hermes cabin had more things in it than this cabin did.
            “Well, she is a virgin Goddess, the only people who stay here are the Hunters.” Grey pointed out, shrugging.
            I looked around the pain room, disappointment filling me. The only items in the rom were single beds and a queen bed in the corner. Nothing was truly special about the cabin and, even though I was bitter towards Artemis, this cabin was a disgrace. “How often is it used?” I asked, still looking around and furrowing my eyebrows as I noticed cobwebs.
            “Hardly ever,” Luke admitted. “The last time the Hunters came and stayed in the cabin was when I first came to camp so…” He thought for a moment, doing the math which came in almost seconds since Hermes kids were amazing with numbers. “Wow. They haven’t stayed in the cabin for about 16 years.”
            “Shows.” I muttered, scrunching my nose in distaste.
            Jacie sighed and walked towards me from behind and placing a hand on my shoulder. “I know it’s not the welcoming comity that you wanted,” She started while I thought in my head, Dang right it’s not. Honestly I expected all my half brothers and sisters to welcome me with open arms but there wasn’t a single kid in the cabin. “But you should be glad that you got claimed.” She finished, trying to look at the bright things.
            “Yeah sure.” I muttered, my tone upset and almost not caring.
            Luke walked next to me tense, obviously about the mention of my claiming. He wrapped an arm around my shoulders, comforting me.
            “Why don’t you pick a bed?” Grey suggested. I looked back at her then nodded numbly, picking the bed closest to the door and knelt down to start unloading my things. After I put my guitar, in its case, under the bed, I realized something.
            “Where are the trunks?” I asked, my head turning back towards where my three friends were sitting.
            They all looked confused, only now realizing, like me, that there weren’t any trunks. “Maybe the Hunters don’t like the trunks?” Luke guessed.
            I stared at the bed that I had chosen, even more upset by the cabin.
            All four of us jumped when we heard Chiron, who came from nowhere, speak. “Too many campers moved to the Hermes cabin.” He explained making each of us look to him startled. “The Hunters hadn’t come for such a long time that we figured we need to move the trunks to the Hermes cabin. With so many kids moving in and not enough time to make more trunks in time.”
            When he finished speaking, I looked back at my bunk. “Then what am I supposed to use?” I asked.
            “Don’t fret. We’ll have a trunk made for you by the end of the day.”
            “What about the rest of the beds?” I pointed out, meeting his eyes.
            He was silent for a moment. “The Hunters haven’t come for years but I suppose it is time to make new trunks to the cabin.
            And the rest of the cabin? I thought in my head, my eyes flashing with untold anger.
            “I hope you settle in nicely. We’ll clean the sheets and you’ll have to straighten up the cabin.”
            Turning to him, my eyebrows raise in both surprise and in being upset. “Me?” I ask, thinking it should be their responsibly since they were the ones that made it like this.
            “Yes, is that a problem?” Chiron asked, not understanding that I was upset about it.
            “No.” I grumbled turning my head back to my bed.
            “Good. We’ll allow you to start making the cabin more of your home once you are finished with breakfast. I will give you the day off with activities since…” He seemed uncomfortable and softly said the next sentence. “Cabin 8 doesn’t have a schedule.” Then more clearly he said, “But we will get them as soon as possible. In the meantime, settle yourself in as you would wish.” He nodded to me, seeming to trust me then galloped away while I stared at the bed until everyone dragged me to breakfast.
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A/N: Again thank you so much for giving me over 1, 000 votes!! I would have never imagined that you guys would like this story so much!!! Thank you!!!!!