All rights go to Rick Riodan, the true master and my inspiration for this story.
Nico's way was dangerous-maybe even deadly. But it might give me a fighting edge.
"All right, " I decided. "What do we do first?"
His cold creepy smile made me sorry I'd agreed. "First we'll need to retrace Luke's steps. We need to know more about his past, his childhood. "
I shuddered, thinking about Rachel's picture from my dream-a smiling nine-year-old Luke. "Why do we need to know about that?"
"I'll explain when we get there, " Nico said. "I've already tracked down his mother. She lives in Connecticut. "
I stared at him. I'd never thought much about Luke's mortal parent. I'd met his dad, Hermes, but his mom . . . "Luke ran away when he was really young, " I said. "I didn't think his mom was alive. "
"Oh, she's alive. " The way he said it made me wonder what was wrong with her. What kind of horrible person could she be?
"Okay . . . " I said. "So how do we get to Connecticut? I can call Blackjack-"
"No." Nico scowled. "Pegasi don't like me, and the feeling is mutual. But there's no need for flying. "He whistled, and Mrs. O'Leary came loping out of the woods."Your friend here can help." Nico patted her head. "You haven't tried shadow travel yet?"
"Shadow travel?"
Nico whispered in Mrs. O'Leary's ear. She tilted her head, suddenly alert. "Hop on board," Nico told me. I'd never considered riding a dog before, bur Mrs. O'Leary was certainly big enough. I climbed onto her back and held her collar.
"This will make her very tired," Nico warned, "so you can't do it often. And it works best at night. But all shadows are part of the same substance. There is only one darkness, and creatures of the Underworld can use it as a road, or a door. "
"I don't understand," I said.
"No, " Nico said. "It took me a long time to learn. But Mrs. O'Leary knows. Tell her where to go. Tell her Westport, the home of May Castellan. "
"You're not coming?"
"Don't worry, " he said. "I'll meet you there. "
I was a little nervous, but I leaned down to Mrs. O'Leary's ear. "Okay, girl. Uh, can you take me to Westport, Connecticut? May Castellan's place?" Mrs. O'Leary sniffed the air. She looked into the gloom of the forest. Then she bounded forward, straight into an oak tree. Just before we hit, we passed into shadows as cold as the dark side of the moon.
(One year prior)
"You're the first visitor our precious Audrey has had in all her time spent here at the Beaumont Clinic."
His eyebrow rose. "Not even her parents?"
"Oh well, the adopted parents had their hearts set on here. But no. No sign of them or the biological father that abandoned her. The poor thing lost her mother at age four."
His voice held little pity. "How tragic."
"Indeed. Incredible character though. If I had it my way, she'd be on her way to this year's gymnastic auditions for the Olympics. I've never seen such talent! You see those incredible jumps! One time we found her balancing her whole body on just two fingers. I tell you, that girl is a natural gymnast!"
Or natural killer, a thought probed. The young man smiled politely.
He continued, "Court committed her six years ago. Her crime called for three, but she keeps adding on to them."
"What did her crimes entail, sir?"
"Oh I'd have to pull out her file to be certain, but it commonly involves assault. Tricky little thing that one is. We have to have our strongest men hold her. Too many people too times our people have underestimated her. "
"What diagnosed her as mentally ill?"
The man chuckled. "You will tell soon enough how happy a bugger that one is. Uncontrollable laughter at times she shows. Doesn't say much, but we find that's because of her dyslexia. She has a severe case of ADHD that stimulates a majority of her problems too. Nurses want to also diagnose her as anorexic after putting her on a scale each week, but hey I think she looks fine. Now state your name to me again, young man?"
He grinned. "Luke, sir. Luke Castellan."
"Ahh, yes that's right. Nice name."
"I've gouged a nurse's eye out with a pencil," she described, "suffocated a doctor to near death with both my wrists tied." She took a moment to observe her cold meal. "I can't tell you the number of times a man has crippled himself when sticking a needle in my vein."
"Is this your way of intimidating me, Audrey?" It sounded a lot more like bragging.
She glanced his way, her illuminating green orbs assuring him of her insanity. "Oh, I can see fear in others. It comes as natural and swift as taking a breath." A heavy laughter suddenly erupted, erasing her of her good charm. He watched quietly as she had to hold on to her stomach and her chair to keep from falling.
He figured she was just exaggerating – and then the back of her head struck the floor. In a state of panic, he rushed over to her side.
"Are you okay?" He asked, as she struggled to keep from barking out in laughter.
She shook her head before taking his hand. "Please, you're too kind." Kindly helping her back up, he found that the fall had somehow awakened her out of this wild phase.
He chuckled.
Once sitting her back down, it disappointed him the second she jumped back up. To his surprise, she waltzed away to a bear spot in the cell only to sit down and stretch, reaching for her toes. Something told him this helped her to focus far more than the mortal norm.
"Still a little hyper tyrant, aren't you?"
"And you not so much?" She remarked, bending the right leg aside while keeping both hands in contact with the other one. "As I recall you ran circles around me every day afterschool."
The memory of them racing to the park at the end of the day flashed through his mind. He made up for his lost fencing rounds with his speed. She had a talent for fencing from a young age, he can remember.
It was a time when they were just kids, just students at Westport Middle School, just the freaks in class.
He grinned. "I suppose my ADHD is no longer as strong as yours. I manage my impulses with a little fencing, though, when I can."
The sound of her favorite activity drove her away from further stretching. She repeated the word, as if it was touching her ears for the first time in years.
"Absolutely, Audrey. How long has it been since you last enjoyed a round?"
She looked away. "A while, perhaps." Her eyes then focused on him again with a different mindset. "Why exactly have you chosen to come here now, old friend?"
"Why to help you of course!" He chuckled. "You made it very hard for me to find you. It wasn't until your parents told me you had been committed that I had to come and see for myself."
"And you didn't sense a single ounce of fear when you heard what I had done?"
"Butchering a teacher to death with a ruler? No. I will say I was shocked though."
She studied him further. "Not even for a second? Or when Mr. Oglethorpe showered you with details of my offenses?" Her tone smeared in suspicion.
"No." No more than when she described to him the same crimes.
"That's interesting – say can I tell you something, Luke?"
"Absolutely."
In response she returned to the table and swept the array of uneaten food on the floor. Sitting on the now clear table facing him with a clean smile, she leaned in and whispered in his ear, "That teacher wasn't the only one I slaughtered that day." She giggled.
"There were others?"
She whispered again, "I killed at least five maybe more but they all disappeared – poof!" She laughed again. "I'm so glad to finally let that off my chest!"
He grabbed her wrist. "You never told anyone?"
"Of course I did, silly! But they all thought I was crazy," she began shaking her head. "That's why I've been keeping it to myself now for all this time."
He took a moment to imagine the torment she must've endured. "I believe you."
"Ms. Dorfiss's body, unfortunately, did not poof. It decided to stay lying on the floor, painting the clean white marble red."
An eerie dark side of Audrey suddenly protruded. Luke began to sense a nerve of pity toward her. He knew exactly what Ms. Dorfiss must've been. But before he could build up enough courage to do anything else, she giggled again, "There's something different about you, Luke."
For a moment, he feared the spirit of Kronos somehow stimulated her senses. And then she said, "It's like you know what I mean – like you've been through the same thing."
After taking a deep breath, the demigod placed a strand of her loose black hair behind her ear. He said, "I'm so sorry I wasn't there for you. Can I make it up to you by breaking you out of here?"
Both her icy green eyes darted in his direction. She didn't believe him, laughing, "Break out of here? And abandon all this fun? Now what would I tell all my loose minded friends?"
Hey, I'm back with a new version to my Audrey character and story. Hopefully, I can continue on and see where it goes. It's a bit vague right now but I set it around the time frame of the Last Olympian. Hope you guys enjoyed ;)