The house loomed over them, ramshackle shingles hanging from the roof and grime coating the walls. The grass of the front lawn came up to their knees, so overgrown that it was devouring the porch that wrapped around the entire lower floor. The entire thing was so decrepit that it was at risk of collapsing in on itself with the next slight breeze.

"No," Annabeth said immediately.

Piper elbowed her side. The streetlight across the road cast a halo around her, making her glow. "Too chicken?"

Annabeth scrunched up her face. "I'm not scared. I just think it's a dumb idea."

"Oh yeah, you're terrified." Piper smirked.

"I am not scared of a stupid house!" Annabeth exclaimed.

"Prove it. Come inside."

"Why?"

"Because it's Halloween -"

"It's October 22, it's not Halloween."

"It's Halloween season you loser, get in the spirit."

"Was that a ghost pun?"

"Yes it was. Now will you come in with me, or am I just going to leave you out here alone?"

Annabeth sighed. "Fine. Lead the way."

Piper traipsed across the lawn, flattening yellow grass beneath her feet, and Annabeth followed close behind. She couldn't believe she'd let Piper talk her into exploring the abandoned house, but that girl could be remarkably persuasive when she wanted to be.

She was still talking now, repeating the urban legends that had circulated about the big house for years now. Annabeth knew them all. She'd grown up in this neighbourhood, so she knew all about the jilted bride whose spirit remained trapped in the house, wandering around in her wedding dress, wailing for her lost love. Legend had it that she waited in the attic for her husband to be, thinking that if they couldn't be together in life they could be together in death.

It was all old news to Annabeth, but Piper had just moved here, so this was new and exciting. She had that mad glint in her eyes she only got when she was super pumped for something, and almost fell into a hole in the porch because she was too busy talking to notice it. Annabeth caught her arm at the last minute.

"Thanks." She flashed her a grateful smile.

Annabeth stepped gingerly across the rotting wood, grasping the door handle. "You sure you wanna do this?"

"Of course I am!"

There was no convincing her this was a bad idea. She had her heart set on it now, and Annabeth knew it. With one last longing glance back at the street, she opened the door and the two girls stepped inside.

The house was pitch black and quiet. Annabeth's breath caught in her throat as she surveyed the spacious entrance hall. Memories came flooding back, and she had to make a conscious effort to stamp down her fear - she was older now, wiser now, and she was not scared of a stupid house. It just gave her the creeps. Which was totally different.

"Whoa," Piper breathed. Dust stirred around her feet as she walked over to the staircase that wound up the back wall. "This place is huge! Why hasn't anyone restored it?"

"Bureaucratic red tape," Annabeth answered. Her voice was automatically hushed, as though the heavy, moth eaten drapes muffled it as soon as it hit the air. "It'd be beautiful if it could be restored, but it's too damaged at this point. It'd have to be demolished. But it's protected due to heritage value, so the case just keeps going in circles."

Piper started up the stairs and Annabeth reluctantly followed.

"Where are you going?" she hissed.

Piper's smile looked ghoulish in the light of the moon filtering through the cracked windows. "All the stories say the bride hangs around the attic, right?"

Annabeth shook her head. "No, Piper, come on. Not the attic -"

Piper skipped back down the steps and clasped both her hands. Her skin was warm and comforting. "Annabeth. Embrace the fear."

And with that she pulled her up the staircase.

They didn't stop on the second floor landing, continuing on to the attic entrance. The ladder was down, and Piper started to climb it without even pausing. Annabeth grabbed her ankle and she flinched and made a strange little squeaking noise.

A clatter sounded from over their heads and both girls' eyes snapped up to the entrance above their heads. They held their breath, but everything was silent.

"Don't do that!" Piper whispered. She looked scared for the first time.

"Pipes, don't go in the attic," Annabeth pleaded. "I've been in there and it's not - it's not good."

When she was younger, her babysitter Thalia had brought her here once. Her boyfriend Luke had joked that the house was too scary even for Thalia, which she'd taken offence at. So, despite Luke's protests, the three of them had come to the house and - well, it hadn't gone well. Now that she was older, Annabeth understood that what she'd seen then probably wasn't as scary as it had seemed at the time, but she still wasn't pleased to be back.

Piper hesitated for a moment before steeling herself. "No, I'm going up there."

She pulled out of Annabeth's grip and climbed the ladder, leaving her with no choice but to climb after her.

Another noise, like someone knocking over boxes, came from the attic. They froze.

"We need a plan!" Annabeth hissed.

Piper shushed her and, before she could do anything, burst through the opening. A high pitched scream tore through the air, and Annabeth scrambled after her, instinct taking over.

"Piper!"

She hauled herself through the opening and something solid and warm grabbed her. Whatever she'd hit made a guttural noise, almost scarier than the scream. She spun, twisting out of their grip, narrowly avoiding falling back down the hole, and threw a blind punch. Her fist connected with a nose, there was a sickening crack, and then a string of curse words from a very human, very normal voice.

A flashlight flickered on and swept over the scene. Piper was halfway across the room, wide eyed and breathing heavily but otherwise fine. Beside her stood a blonde boy. His glasses were askew, and he was the one holding the flashlight. Opposite Annabeth, just outside punching distance, stood a boy with dishevelled dark hair and a blood nose. He was staring at Annabeth liked a wild animal who'd been cornered.

Her stomach dropped. "What are you doing?!" she yelled, voice startlingly loud.

"What are we doing? What are you doing?! Why did you punch me?" the dark haired boy shouted back. A drop of blood fell from his nose into his open palm, and he looked down at it with something akin to horror. "I think you've broken my nose!"

"Oh, my god," Piper said, "You've broken his nose."

"He grabbed me!" She spun from her friend to the boy - who, she couldn't help but notice, was quite handsome even with a bloodied face. "I thought you were the ghost!"

"Do I look like a ghost to you?!"

"You are a bit pale," the blonde boy said timidly.

"Shut up, Jason," the dark haired boy snapped. "I'm losing blood, of course I'm pale."

"You're not bleeding that bad, you should clot soon," Annabeth offered. "You need to lean forward and breathe through your mouth to make sure the blood doesn't go down your throat."

He glared at her but followed her advice anyway. "Thanks, that's really comforting. How do you know that, anyway? Do you often go around breaking stranger's noses?"

"Okay, everyone just calm down. We need to get you to a hospital," Piper said. Her voice was level, and her words did have a calming effect.

Annabeth took a few deep breaths and forced herself to meet the dark haired boy's eyes. "I'm sorry for hitting you. Honestly though, you should clot soon. And if we can get your nose set quickly it won't look too bad."

He didn't look comforted by her words.

"Annabeth," Piper said, "not helping."

"Sorry!" she snapped, throwing her arms up. The blood on her knuckles looked extra vivid in the flashlight beam.

"So we need to get Percy to a hospital?" Jason asked, shining the light right at his friend.

He flinched and threw an arm over his eyes. "Watch it."

"Sorry. Will you be all right to get out of here?"

Percy waved off his concern, but Annabeth didn't miss the look he shot her. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Let's just get going -"

Before he could finish, the sound of howling wind started at the far end of the attic. The four teens froze.

"What is that?" Piper asked, voice shaking.

"Probably just the wind blowing through a hole in the wall," Percy offered. He sounded sure of himself, but his eyes were darting around the room.

"Wind strong enough to howl like that would be moving our clothes," Annabeth said. Somehow, her voice was level.

"So?"

"So," she said, flipping up the hem of her t-shirt for emphasis, "I can't feel a breeze. Can you?"

The other three were silent.

A green light began to glow from a hidden source, casting the entire room in an eery light. They all seemed frozen, staring at each other in terror - Until a wispy female voice started muttering unintelligibly from the end of the room.

They all screamed and ran for the exit. They toppled out, knocking hands and feet on the way down, and bolted for the ground floor. Annabeth felt hands on her back, pushing her forward, but she couldn't say if they were Piper's or one of the boy's.

They ran out onto the street and didn't stop until they were two blocks away. Piper was doubled over, gasping for breath. Jason was staring down the street as though he expected the ghost to have followed them. Percy clapped his hands over his face, wincing.

"Do you know how hard it is to run and breathe with a broken nose?" he complained.

"You were right, Annabeth," Piper said between gasps. "We shouldn't have gone in the attic. What was that?"

"The ghost," Jason said, matter of fact. "That was definitely a ghost."

Whatever it was had undoubtedly terrified Annabeth, but now that they were out of immediate danger she could analyse the situation logically. It was probably just other teenagers, playing a prank.

"Have you met many other ghosts?" she asked Jason, words dripping with sarcasm.

Jason opened his mouth to reply, but Percy cut him off. "Uh, I'm still bleeding over here. I would like to get my nose put back in order some time soon. It is, after all, the centre of my face. Get it, centre - scent?"

He waggled his eyebrows at Annabeth, beaming despite the fact that he was covered in blood and undoubtedly in a lot of pain.

She folded her arms over her chest. "Did you just make a nose pun?"

"You nose I did!"

She groaned and started leading the way to the hospital, which was mercifully close.

Later, when Percy's nose was packed with gauze and he was drugged up on painkillers, Jason and Piper went to take care of payment (apparently they both had parents with connections, who they were putting the hospital in touch with) and left Annabeth alone with him. She didn't really know what to say, considering she'd done a fair bit of damage to his (still painfully handsome) face. She stared at her cut up knuckles, which had been given a good wash, and tried not to think about how good he looked in profile. So she missed him frowning at the poster on the wall behind the reception desk.

"Does an apple a day really keep the doctor away?" At first Annabeth thought it was just a drug induced ramble, but then she felt his eyes boring into her and realised he was waiting for an answer.

"Oh. Only if you aim it well enough," she replied.

He frowned. "Only if you - OH! I get it. Haha, very funny," he said, grinning goofily. His smile then slipped at the edges, however. "Are you always this violent?"

"Not always," Annabeth mumbled. She tucked her hair behind her ears. "I'm really sorry for hitting you. You gave me a fright and I panicked."

"Sorry for scaring you," Percy said good naturedly.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence, and then Annabeth said, "Can I make it up to you?"

He raised an eyebrow but was already smiling. "How?"

She bit her lip and forced herself to stay calm. She felt almost as scared right then as she had when they'd heard that woman whispering in the attic. "Let me take you out somewhere. Not to a haunted house, though. I think we've had enough of those."

Percy grinned so wide she was worried he was somehow going to snap his splint. "I'd like that. As long as you promise not to punch me again."

"As long as you promise not to frighten me."

He knocked his knee lightly against hers. "What about if other stuff frightens you, will you be able to protect me?"

"You know first hand how well I punch, I think I've got you covered," Annabeth half-joked.

Percy smiled at her, looking absolutely ridiculously handsome for someone with gauze up their nostrils. "Oh, yeah. We're gonna be fine."