Page 53 of The Wild Zone

The minutes crawled by. The small crowd of runners grew restless, pacing around, swatting mosquitoes, peering into the woods toward Zeus’s Fist. Finally, the Apollo counselor Lee Fletcher burst through the underbrush, flanked by two cabinmates. He handed his baton to Will Solace, the kid Zuri had been entertaining on the archery range, and yelled, “GO!”

Will took off like the three Furies were after him.

Moments later, more runners appeared: from the Hermes, Athena, and Demeter cabins. Pandemonium broke out as spectators hooted and clapped. Demigods from various teams shouted orders, suggestions, insults: “Come on!” “Where is he?” “Trip him!” “No fair!”

At last, Clarisse raced into the clearing and slapped the baton into my hand. “RUN!”

I ran. For a few seconds, I followed the course. I had to be sure I was away from any spectators before I turned invisible.

The second-leg runner for the Hermes cabin, a boy I didn’t know, slammed into me as he raced past, knocking me sideways into a tree.

“Hey!” I complained, but the guy was gone. I took the opportunity to duck into the bushes and twist my ring.

I skidded to a stop as my body disappeared. A wave of raw emotions slammed into me, even more disorienting than last time.

CRACK!

A vision forced itself into my mind.

The boy who’d pushed me was lying on the ground, staring up at me in shock as he dabbed his busted nose. I pointed at the blood trickling down his chin. “That’s what you get when you mess with me!” He deserved it. And hurting him was so easy, so satisfying….

I blinked hard, forcing myself back to reality. I couldn’t see my right hand, but I could feel it outstretched in a pointing gesture, as if I were actually showing the boy his blood.

“What the…?” I clenched my hand. I had to control the ring. I started running again, away from that horrible vision.

That wasn’t who I was. I was a good kid. Not a great one, by any means, especially if you believed my mom. But she’d be so horrified and ashamed if she ever saw me do something like that.

CRACK! Another vision hit me just as I crossed into the Wild Zone.

Mom shook her finger at me. Nag, nag, nag. I grabbed her finger and bent it backward so she could only ever point at herself. She screamed when the bones snapped, but I just grabbed her other index finger and—

“Stop!” I smacked myself on the side of the head.

The violent fantasy shattered, but it left my stomach churning with a mixture of rage and glee. The evil eye medallions stared down at me from the tree branches as if I were exactly the sort of evil they’d been set up to guard against.

No, I told myself. Stay on task, Katie.

I secured the baton under my belt and took off again, heading toward the fissure. If I just kept running, maybe I could build up enough endorphins so that all my thoughts would be pleasant ones. I could be like Olivia—happy all the time, not a care in the world, because everything always worked out for me.

CRACK!

Olivia held a trophy in each hand and wore a Miss Perfect sash draped across one shoulder. She smiled at me, but not in a kind way. I wrapped the sash around her neck and pulled on both ends. She dropped her stupid awards and fought for her life.

“No, no, no!” I chanted and ran faster, kicking through pine cones and ducking under low branches. I found the creek and then ran past a pile of bones and monster dust where the drakon had eaten the kalamodonta.

I tried to stay focused on my surroundings. It would be so much easier if I took off the ring, but I remembered how many monsters I’d run into my first time in the Zone. Being invisible was the only way I could travel safely and maybe find Grant before I ran out of time. If I cost Clarisse this race…

Of course, this whole thing was her fault to begin with. If Clarisse hadn’t been so selfish and cruel, Grant could have been running by my side right now, enjoying the baton race.

CRACK!

Clarisse sprinted beside me, smirking at my distress. As I reached the fissure where Grant had found the ring, Clarisse pushed me away from it. I tripped her and buried her face in the dirt while she struggled for air.

I let out an enraged scream that echoed through the trees. Half a dozen squirrels scattered in different directions, uncertain of the source of the sound.

I was on my knees at the fissure. The vision of Clarisse had vanished, although I could still smell her sandalwood shampoo and feel the nape of her neck under my fingers, and the way she’d struggled as I tried to suffocate her.

I hated this invisibility ring. But, also, I was reluctant to take it off. I had a sense that the violent fantasies running through my mind weren’t just side effects. They were the ring’s fuel. Somehow, it was drawing out my worst impulses, my darkest thoughts, and using them to turn me invisible.