I stared at the piece of brass, as the eyes of the Hellhound stared back at me.

"Why did they choose this symbol?" I thought Hellhounds weren't evil like the rebellion, they were just trained dogs we used to guard the Underworld.  Most of them were actually not very aggressive unless on duty, like a police dog. They were only bad if they were taught to be bad, yet there it was, a brass Hellhound snarling at me.

"What are you looking at?" William whispered as he walked towards me.

"Nothing." I could feel my eyes watering, my voice quivering. William looked at me as he took one more step.

"You know you can tell me anything, right?" he whispered he ran his hand through his golden hair.

"Yah I know." I mumbled, I couldn't manage to look at his eyes and say more.  William sat down next to me, it was a little awkward because I was still wearing that stupid pale green hospital gown and it was starting to ride up. 

    "Anything." He put his hand on my shoulder then looked down, his eyes caught on the pin.

    "What is this?" He reached down to grab it.

    "No!" I screamed, Will jumped in the air.

    "What the Hades! Nico, what's wrong?" He looked at me like I was crazy.

    "I-I just wanted you to, well umm." I stammered

     "Think Nico, Think!" I thought.

    "Just don't touch that!" I argued, I didn't want Will to have any association with the rebellion. He looked at me with a broken expression, like a piece of glass. His hand slowly retreated, and his hand looked like it was shaking.

    "Then tell me what is going on," His voice was shaking, part of me wanted to tell him the truth. I knew If I did that it would only get him killed or worse, and I didn't want that for him; of course had to lie for his own good.

    "Nothing, it's just that I don't want you to get pricked by the pin." I tried to make my voice like a wall, keeping out all William's questions. He took his hand off my shoulder, and stared at the pin.

    "Nico, you know that I care about you, and I-I don't want to see you suffering." He looked at me with kindness in his eyes, rage burned within me. William had no idea what was happening and I had been fighting so much rage lately that him saying this made me furious. My rage for the rebellion, the rage that I had to do my duty alone because I didn't want to drag anyone down with me. All of my anger boiled inside me, and even though it wasn't meant for William. I busted. 

    "Suffering?! What would you know about suffering!?" I jumped up, despite the hospital gown.

    "You don't know the meaning!" I snapped, William looked at me like a deer in the headlights. What would he know? He was only a son of Apollo, his life was full of sunshine; he would never have to deal with an Underworld rebellion, or deal with half of the things I had to.

    "You think you're the only one who suffers?!" Williams voice no longer sheepish, but in a tone of rage I have never herd before. He stood up, sometimes I forget how tall he was. "You don't know what its like to have everyone depend on you!" He yelled.

    "If he only knew" I thought, then he wouldn't be talking like this.

    "Oh, please! You heal just like every child of Apollo, who's only a nuisance in my life!" I screamed, if I was in my right mind, I would have never said that. William stopped talking and looked at me like I was a monster - which I was - it was only a matter of time before he put two and two together.

    "I didn't know you felt like that." He whispered.

    "I thought I was helping." He mumbled

    "I thought you liked me." A single tear rolled down his cheek.

    "I made William cry," I thought. Soon my rage disappeared. Seeing Will filled with sorrow made me feel horrible, I really was a monster.

    "Do you know what the most painful moment was for me? Do you?"

     I didn't answer.

    "When you left after you promised you would stay." More tears fell down his face. "Because I thought you left because of me, and I thought you found out about how I felt about you. That you knew how much you meant to me, that I loved you." He gave me a sour look full of dread.

    "I thought when you came back, I-I had another shot." His face hardened. "But don't worry, I just realized that I don't love you Nico. I see now that you are right, you are a monster." He slowly walked to the door and slammed it behind him.

    "You loved me." I whispered almost like William was still in the room, I walked to the door and looked out. I couldn't see William, just a bunch of campers wondering what just happened.

    "I really am a monster." I said again, emotionless. Tears came rushing and I couldn't fight them. I slowly sat down my heart racing. If it wasn't for this rebellion I would have gone after him, fight for him but for now, William Solace being mad at me was probably the best thing for him. Even knowing this, the feeling of sorrow and dread filled me. I looked at the down at the pin in my hands. All of this happened because I didn't want Will to touch the pin. I wasn't mad at him; I was mad at myself. I stared at the piece of brass.

    "I hate the rebellion!" I screamed. "This is all your fault!" perfectly knowing that it was really mine, it just felt good to blame someone else. Pretend it was someone else who said those things to William. I also knew that no matter what I did, William would never forgive me.

    "All because of a pin" I thought. I started laughing like a crazy person, only because I knew when I stopped more tears would come and reality would settle in. I rolled over to my side, laughing like a maniac, the rebellion took away William from me and I was going to make them bleed. If I couldn't make William forgive me, then I would make the rebellion suffer like they did to me. The only thing on my mind was revenge being fueled by sorrow and hatred, if I couldn't have William back then I was going to at least make the world safe for him.

    "All because of a pin!" I said aloud still laughing loudly, I knew why I felt like this. I didn't cry for just anyone, only people I cared about and loved, which that means that I loved William. I loved everything about him: the way he was so kind, his beautiful blue eyes, the way his voice sounded like a song, how he always had a smile on his face.

    "Oh gods" I thought.

    "I will never see that smile again." More tears came rushing through as that thought crossed my mind.

    "I will never hear his beautiful voice." More tears.

    "I will never feel his warmth." That one hurt the most, just brushing up against William make me feel like I was on cloud nine. Pushing away my feelings for William took so much energy, I forgot how happy he made me feel. How I just pushed him away like everyone else, and now I could never be around him without those words lingering around us. Even if I did go after him - what would I say? The truth? I couldn't do that, but I still missed Williams warmth and the way he smelled like sunshine. He was my sunshine, and I blew it.

"I love William Solace." I thought.

"And he loved me to." My mind racing.

"Yet once again I destroyed another relationship, making him hate me." The words became too bitter even for my own mind.

"I really am a monster!" I laughed even harder, then it became crying again.

    "Monster." I whispered,

    "I have to get out of here." I thought as I grabbed my clothes, threw off the hospital gown and got dressed. I didn't care that they were dirty, I just wanted to get as far from this place as possible. I grabbed the pin so that there would be no evidence of the rebellion here. I needed to get away from Will and focus on the rebellion, not my emotions.

    "I have to go away" I said to myself, racing out of the infirmary, grabbing a backpack on my way out. I ran to the dinning hall which, unfortunately, was past the Apollo cabin. All of William's cabin mates looked at me like I was a criminal trying to escape and in a way, I was. I was running, running from Will, and strait on to the heart of the rebellion where I would make it burn.  One of his Cabin mates called something to me, I couldn't tell who it was and didn't really want to know. I made it to the dining hall where I grabbed as much food as the bag could carry, then I went for weapons. I had no idea what I ended up grabbing, all I knew was that it was sharp because one of them cut my hand.

    "I have to go." I thought to myself again.

    "Far away." As I ran to the forest to the nearest shadow, no one tried to stop me. They only watched, knowing what had happened. Then I disappeared into the shadows where I belonged, ready to make the rebellion pay.   

End of Chapter Two