Camp Half Blood: Magic and Vice

Chapter 14

Vex's POV:

After my fight with Olthen, I decided to go hunt. It always seemed to make me feel better. Getting a kill would help me take out my building anger, and just the whole action and idea of hunting always brought me joy. There were a lot of rabbits and squirrels out in the forest today, but I wanted something more difficult to track. I wanted a bird. Any kind would do, I just needed to focus on finding one first. If not, I guess I could settle for something else. Just wouldn't be as fun though. After a while of searching, I found one in a tree. It looked as if it were pretending it didn't see me. I took my bow, and aimed at its head. Before I took the shot, the bird looked at me. I looked in its eyes the second I released the arrow, aiming lower than I had originally had planned on out of surprise. It was Maddox. I freaked out and ran as the bird transformed and fell from the tree. I made it in time to catch him so that he didn't hit his head, but the worst part is that I never missed a shot. "Mads? Hey, Maddox look at me. Don't take your eyes off of me, ok?" I said looking him over. He kept his eyes locked onto mine. I found where the arrow had hit. It hit him just below his clavicle which means it could have made contact with an artery. I had to get him inside and to Will asap. Gods, I wish I would have missed. Just this one time. "Okay, Maddox? I gotta get you inside. Will can help you. Gods I'm so sorry." I whispered the last part.

"V-Vex... I-" He started but was cut off as he winced in pain.

"Shh, Shh... don't talk. We can talk later. Just stay with me, alright? I'm gonna pick you up now, but you gotta try to work with me here." He nodded slightly as I began the long trek with Maddox back to home base. It was slow and pangs of guilt swam through me every time I heard him groan in pain. I brought him to Will's room, where I thought he'd be, but he was nowhere in sight. I swore under my breath, but I had to lay Maddox down now or else the pain would get worse. I knew I couldn't pull the arrow out until I knew for sure he'd be ok. Or at least that I knew Will would be there to deal with whatever problems that arose. I looked around Will's room for any kind of pain killer, but I couldn't find any. His lab was right next door so I ran there really quick and found a jar filled with leaves marked "Pain". I knew Will was horrible at labeling things, but I had a feeling that was just what Mads needed. I opened the jar and grabbed one and then ran back to Mads. He looked at me with sleepy eyes. I saw that he lost a little blood, so that was probably why he was kinda losing consciousness at this point. In a matter of a second, I was at his side. "Okay, Mads. I have something to help with the pain. Take this." I say putting the leaf in his mouth. He swallowed it rapidly and then began breathing heavily. I looked at a side table to find water and grabbed it, putting it up to his lips for him to drink. He did so immediately and offered a close to silent 'thank you'. I smiled a little at his response. A few minutes later, the meds finally started working, but I think they may have worked a little too well. Maddox began acting a little out of it. "Are you okay?" I asked, putting my hand to his forehead to see if he had a fever. The wound may be infected...

"Oh yeah... I'm great. Hey, you look really pretty today." He said as a matter of factly. I felt a heat rise to my cheeks, but decided to ignore it.

"Mads, why were you out there today? You must have heard me storm out." I said holding his hand with worried eyes.

"That's just why though... I saw you a-and I wanted to make sure that... like, you were okay." He said looking deeply into my eyes.

"But Maddox, you know I can take care of myself. You shouldn't have done that." I said with a sad smile.

"B-But I care about you so much, Vex. I'm like literally..." He trailed off, yawning. I rolled my eyes.

"You're what, Mads?" I asked. He smirked, still not opening his eyes.