Lost In Darkness.
Chapter One: Start Of A Nightmare.
There it was again. The same dream. The same beach, the same scenery. This was the first time he'd dreamed so vividly and of the same things. It just didn't make any sense.
It was storming on the beach, and two beautiful animals—the beauty dulling with the number of times he'd dreamed a white horse and a golden eagle, were trying to kill each other at the edge of the surf. The eagle swooped down and slashed the horse's muzzle with its huge talons. The horse reared up and kicked at the eagles wings. As they fought, the ground rumbled, and a monstrous voice chuckled somewhere beneath the earth, goading the animals to fight harder.
Stop!—A caramel-haired girl ran past him, the word coming from her lips. He stared after her in disbelief before he ran after her. But not matter how fast he run, he couldn't seem to catch up.
Both knew it would be too late. They saw the eagle dive down, its beak aimed at the horse's wide eyes, and the girl screamedNo!—
Percy woke with a start. He glanced out of the cabin's window even though he knew it would be futile. He was blind, that much was obvious by how his gaze was void and blank as if his eyes were unable to concentrate on anything. Which made him cherished dreams because they allowed him to see.
"What's happening out there?" he murmured.
He could hear quite well and judging from the sounds,it really was storming, the kind of storm that cracks trees and blows down houses. He didn't hear anything that could prove that there was a horse or an eagle on the beach, just lightning probably making false daylight, and twenty-foot waves pounding the dunes like artillery.
"Hurricane," a feminine voice said. Percy didn't turn to acknowledge his younger sister. His ten-year-old sister scowled at him, not that he'd be able to see it anyway. Out of habit, Percy envisioned how his sister would look like: caramel-colored hair—usually dyed with highlights; currently a purple one ran through her bangs—framing a playful looking face, green-eyed, tan-skinned, and short.
He didn't know colors but he figured that with his black hair and eyes and deathly pale skin, serious and grim looking face, tall for his twelve years of age, he didn't look anything like his sister. Though the coloring was different, his mother claimed that he resembled her while Reyna'd looked like their father but with different coloring.
"That's ridiculous," Percy retorted. He heard Reyna huff as she settled herself down beside him, on his bed. Flinching when the thunder rumbled ominously and nestling herself closer to him. The next roll of thunder woke their mother from her peaceful slumber.
Sally Jackson rubbed the sleep from her eyes and studied her two children. Her older child was as grim looking as ever, not showing the concern he was feeling. The younger one was more emotional and she looked downright terrified, especially when a loud roar—which was not made by thunder—and scraping sounds reached their ears.
Sally threw the covers off her and went for the door, opening it and instantly felt dread. She dimly heard Reyna suppress a scream and her blind son grasped the night lamp, ready to throw it at whatever danger they're facing.
"Percy!" the mortal woman had to yell over the storm to be heard by her son; Percy looked up, confused. "What happened in school? Why didn't you tell me?"
Percy traded a stunned glance with Reyna; he trusted his baby sister not to tell and she didn't. Calmly, he explained everything that had happened and he nearly lost his bearings as his mother, who was kind and gentle, practically kicked them out of the cabin and ordered them to run for the car. Baffled, Percy did as told, Reyna holding his hand and guiding him in his blindness.
"You wouldn't believe this!" Reyna yelled as their mother floored the pad and sped off to gods-know-where.
"What?"
"Grover's a donkey!"
"I'm not a donkey. Blah-heh." Said donkey protested. "I'm a satyr—half-man, half-goat—and I'm assigned to protect you two!"
"From what?" Reyna asked as Percy came to the realization that the sound he associated with Grover's nervous laughter was actually what a goat sounded like.
"From..." Grover glanced back in fear. "...that."
Percy couldn't see but from Grover's voice and how Reyna squeezed his hand, clammy with cold sweat, he figured that it was pretty bad. "We're going to die," Reyna muttered. Percy was impressed, negative much?
"Not right away," Grover added unhelpfully. "a slow painful death would most likely be what awaits us."
Percy narrowed his eyes at his best friend when Reyna made a whimpering sound that indicated she'd burst into tears soon. His sister was so mature at times—contradicting her playful looks with her grim face she claimed to have learned from him—the one guiding him that he'd sometimes forget that she was younger than him.
Percy didn't remember much of what happened next since his vision was always black. But from the taste of bitter and unpleasant ozone in his mouth, he figured that lightning had blasted their vehicle out of the road. He spat on the...whatever he was on...and blindly grasped around for something.
"Rey?" he called uncertainly. "Mom? Grover?"
"I'm here!" Sally called from somewhere in front of him. "Are you kids all right?"
"Perfectly!" Reyna called back sarcastically from beside him. "But Grover's out!"
"I smell blood," Percy said as he sniffed some more. "and something that stink of barnyard animal... is that Grover?"
"With his goat part out," Reyna sounded as if she was grimacing in disgust before she hissed in pain. "Pricked my hand on something," she answered Percy's unasked question but before he could say anything, he heard something being crushed and ripped off its hinges.
"Mom?"
"Come on kids," Sally said soothingly. "Everything will be fine. We just need to get out of the car and reach the borders—"
"To what?" Reyna demanded.
"I'm sorry, but I really don't have the time to talk now—" A roar shook Percy's world and with Reyna's guidance, he scrambled out of the car with minor scratches from the broken glass; he didn't protest when Reyna's crescent fingernails cut a few more scars as she started hyperventilating at whatever it was she saw.
"What's that?"
"Is that the Minota—"
"Don't say its name," their mother chastised as she shouldered Grover along with Percy who'd been the one to pull him out of the car, not wanting to leave his only friend other than his sister behind. "But it is Pasiphae's son."
"Impossible." Percy murmured in disbelief—was he still dreaming and was unable to see as he usually did in his dreams?
"Kids," Sally said as she took Grover's burden from Percy and started backing away. "You have to go," her voice was thick with emotion. "I'm mortal, I can't go through the border, but you two can—go and you'll be safe!"
"What—?"
"Pasiphae's son," Percy recalled. "Jump out of the way at the last second the moment he comes for you!"
Reyna stared at her goofy older brother—a side he only show to her and sometimes, their mother—until the Minotaur chose her as his target. She yelped and felt like passing out but adrenaline urged her to stand and move. Instincts had her diving left and the Minotaur barreled past where she last stood. She'd never been more thankful that her brother was a Greek geek.
Percy felt useless. He couldn't see so he ended up sitting on the cold grass, desperately trying not to draw attention to himself and hoping that his family and friend would be okay. As expected, things did not go as he wished. He heard Reyna cry out for their mother before the sound of something—that sounds suspiciously like human bones—being crushed.
He rose to his feet. "Reyna! Where is the thing?"
"He's going after Grover," Reyna replied weakly. "What do we do?" she sobbed. "He took Mom!"
"I'm going to kill him," Percy muttered darkly. "Distract him, lure him to the borders. How far am I from that border?"
"Mom said it was the pine tree. To your north and about hundred meters ahead."
Percy did as instructed and for some reason, he felt the earth pulsing. As if guiding him to his destination. He groped around and felt a rough bark of a tree, he pushed himself against the body and waited as his sister yelled a warning, leaping to the side as the monster charged towards him, missing his sister and definitely going to get him since he was directly behind her.
He stiffened, not knowing how horrible the monster looked but knowing that it was terrible all the same. For the first time, he felt true fear—he could die but death didn't seem so scary. He inhaled sharply when he realized he'd delayed and the monster had both arms—at least that was what he thought the monster had— thrust out to stop him from jumping out of the way (thanks for the warning Reyna, could have come earlier though).
"Jump up!"
Adrenaline surged through him again and he leaped, the wind rushing in his ears. He can't see (again) but he knew he'd just jumped way higher than any normal human could. He landed on something with flexing muscles—the damn monster—and when he felt gravity doing its work, he clung to the monster's furry back. The damn thing swung around and kept charging forwards as if he couldn't reverse and—
"It can only move forwards!"
Percy bit back a sarcastic remark at his sister's call, fearing that he might bite his tongue off if he said anything. With great effort, Percy climbed up the monster and was barely able to hang onto the monster when his hand grasped thin air. He fumbled around (with his sister yelling instructions to get the monster's horn) until he reached the ivory horn; he pulled with all his strength and the next thing he knew, he landed in the dirt.
"What?" he asked, dazed.
The Minotaur roared and the pounding of hooves on the road warned Percy (along with Reyna's incessant yelling) that he was going to be run through. He rolled over and rested on one knee, the horn poised to stab.
"You got the right position!"
With that assurance, Percy thrust his arms forward, the point of the horn connecting with something bulky and meaty. He hoped that it was a dead point. Reyna scrambled to his side, grabbing the horn and driving it deeper into the monster's ribcage judging from its structure.
"Its dead," Percy announced and the siblings pulled back.
"How did you know that?" Reyna asked as the monster disintegrated into golden dusts before them. Her brother didn't answer but the sound of body hitting the earth made her turn. Percy's eyes were closed peacefully and Reyna felt like dying. Her mother was gone, Grover was possibly dying, her brother couldn't be dead too!
Percy snored softly and Reyna felt relief surging through her so strongly her knees buckled. But she pushed herself onto her hands and knees, grabbed her brother's body and staggered to the direction where her mother had said there was a safe place.
"Help," she groaned as she crumpled to the ground, exhaustion taking over her and her brother's heavy body collapsing on top of her.
Little did she know, it was the start of a nightmare.
~X~
A/N: Hope it isn't too rushed. Tell me what you think!