**Song: Devil in Disguise by Marino**
The next few days after I got here were just a blur of not drinking or eating, going outside, or basically doing anything. That leads us to today. When I woke up this morning I felt like something bad was happening. You know that sense of dread when you know something is off? Well that describes what it felt like waking up today. Now I'm sitting in bed, dreading when Nico comes back and forces me to do something.
Surprise surprise, Nico shadowtraveled in. It's agitating because every morning he tries to get me to eat, I say no, he pesters me a little more before meeting up with Will.
"You need to eat Luna." Of course, the daily lecture
"No." I say it plainly.
"You're eating today whether you like it or not." He takes on a stern tone.
"Nope." I barely finish saying it before he sets his hand on my arm and closes his eyes. Suddenly we melt into the shadows of the room and appear in what seems to be the dining hall. We’re at a table next to Will (Nico’s bf) and Dionysus (the camp director). It was just us and a few others, which makes sense because it was the winter months and apparently no one stayed during that time of the year.
“Hey Neeks!” Will exclaimed. His face expression became surprised as he realized I was there, better than ever. “You finally got her to come?”
“Yeah. It was kind of easy once I forced her.” So many emotions raged throughout me. I was anxious about being in this situation. I was furious they were talking about me like I was a small child who didn’t understand a word they said. I also wanted to cry. Seeing Will reminded me of that fateful day when my life changed forever.
I contemplated running out, but that was too risky. People could see I was autistic and realize I was different. I didn’t want to go through that again. I could shadowtravel. The minor headaches I got went away after the first few times I shadowtraveled out.
"Luna, you need to eat." I was snapped out of my head to Will trying to coax me into eating. He must've seen me accidentally wilting it a bit. I don't feel like eating my food right now, but I don't know if Will will let me off easy this time. I stand up, trying not to wobble
"Where are you going?" Will has this concerned look on his face. He also looks as if he is trying to suppress something. His lips are upturned the tiniest bit. Maybe laughter? His eyes look tired. That's it. He is trying not to show how tired he is, but also that he is a little happy.
I stand up and try to walk out of the dining hall.
"Luna, you need to eat something." This time his voice is firm. I don't know what to do. I start to stim. Nothing that bad, just scratching my hand behind my back. Without realizing, I shadowtravel back into the cabin. I suddenly collapse onto the ground, blacking out for the second time in the past four days.
~~~
I don't know how long I was out. All I know is that when I blacked out it was early morning, around 6:00 A.M. and now it looks dark outside. It's maybe 9:00, give or take?
"You're awake." This time the voice isn't Will's. It sounds sort of like a girl's. "I'm Solana Moon." When she steps out she looks like her brother a little bit, but she has paler skin and freckles dotted all over her arms and legs. Her curly long hair went down to her ankles. She fashioned her orange camp t-shirt into a tank top with some jean shorts.
All I know is that she's pretty. Wait, backtrack. I can't be doing this again. Not with what happened last time.
"So..." Her voice began to trail off. She was looking at her shoes, and she was a little fidgety. She was probably uncomfortable.
"Is she awake?" I hear Will call from somewhere far off. Solana's face lit up, as if a big weight has been removed from her shoulders.
"Yes!" Solana called back. She walked away, leaving me waiting for Will to come into the room.
"You need to eat." Will too? He's even worse than Nico at this point.
"You were blacked out on the floor. I don't know if you have ever seen anything like this before, but by overusing your power when you were weak caused you to faint. Even worse, when it happened you were stuck in a could of darkness. If we didn't follow you, if we didn't get there fast enough..." My brain went haywire. What could've happened? Could I have died? The way Will was looking at his clipboard, his eyes tired with visible stress. It made me feel guilty.
"What?" I made my voice go up with anticipation. I have been doing horrible at acting recently and I need to look at least somewhat normal.
"You could've died. Nico had the same problem when I first met him. You could literally melt into a little pool of darkness." He let that sink in. I shouldn't have taken such a risk. "You have to stay in here for a bit." I opened my mouth to protest, but it seemed like his mind was already made up.
"I have to stay in here." I took on a tone that said something like, you've got to be kidding me. I mean that's what I felt, but I had to intentionally speak like that in order to let Will know that.
"Yes, and you have to eat too. I am not going let you even come close to death like that ever again." It made me feel nice that, for once, someone other than my family cared about me. Whether he cared about me as a friend or as a doctor, I don't know. All I know is that it felt good to be heard for once.
I pick up a pomegranate off of the table next to me. It's sweet but bitter rat the same time. The seeds have a crunch to them and it doesn't trigger me. I take another bite. This is good.
"Like it? Neeks hates them because well, let's just say traumatic event." I nod my head while chewing, savoring every bite from the first piece of food I've had in three days. I drink some water too. I'm bad at remembering to drink water, even though my mom would try to make me drink some every time she saw me.
Just then, Nico walked into the room.
"Hey Will. Luna, you're up!" Nico walks over, kisses Will on the cheek, and then grabs a KitKat bar from the cupboard. "Here, try this." He hands it to me, and I unwrap it.
The bar tastes like the chocolate chips my mom used for cookies melted in between some vanilla wafers. It's good.
"Much better." I mumble, trying not to show the food inside of my mouth. Even though the pomegranates were good, the KitKat tasted like heaven compared to them. Maybe it was because they reminded me of when I was little. Or maybe it's because they just tasted better. Either way, it was better.
"Neeks, let's go. We need to let Luna rest." Will pulled Nico out of the room, leaving me alone with my thoughts. I didn't feel like thinking at the moment, so I simply tried to sleep. I tried to clear my mind as I slowly drifted into a dreamless sleep.
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