Leo banged on the door. Come on, come on! He banged louder. "Guys!" he yelled. "Let me out!"
No, no, no! He felt a lump rising in his throat. He had to get out. He had just been working on the Archimedes sphere, so close to the final calculation that would give him the knowledge of the great Archimedes himself. Percy and Jason had walked in, creating a bit of small talk with him, until Percy opened the door to the closet. And, one thing led to another, and here he was. Locked in. Like that night, long ago.
He felt himself succumb to the memory, his pleading still continuing.
The car had stopped. The rain did little tap dances on the ground, little puddles forming in the dips in the ground. Heavy gray clouds hung over the streets head, the neighborhood completely quiet. A rather tall man stepped out of the car, a black suit perfectly polished. His stern features were annoyed as he let out a grunt at the weather. He went to the trunk, grabbing a small suitcase, and a small umbrella. Opening the umbrella, the man made his way to the back of the car, opening the door. A small, thin little boy sat in the seat, his brown eyes annoyed as he looked at the house in front of them.
"Again, Tim? You know what'll happen," the boy said, raising his eyebrows.
'Tim' kept an emotionless expression. "Leo. You will behave and follow all instructions given to you by your new parents." He spoke like a robot as if he had to say this line millions of times.
"Yeah, whatever Tim." Leo stepped out of the car, shrugging. "Let's get this over with."
The house was in the middle of a neighborhood that strangely resembled a Levittown, with white walls and brown shutters. The outside was neatly kept, flower boxes neatly sitting on the steps to the door. The brick stairs were freshly cleaned while the sidewalk leading down the street was stained with dirt. Tim closed the door with a large slam.
"I meant it, Leo." Tim walked forward, Leo walking alongside him, obviously bored. "This is it. The court is going to send you somewhere next time."
Leo smirked. "Is it just me, or did you sound concerned just then? I must be-"
"I have warned the family of your specific circumstances," Tim continued, ignoring the boy. "They have taken the necessary precautions. No matches, fire extinguishers, etcetera."
Leo's eyes narrowed, although hidden by his curly hair. They reached the door, Tim knocking politely in three, orderly taps.
The door flew open, revealing a slender woman. Her blonde hair was neatly put in a bun, and her green eyes wild and uncontrollable. Her floral apron was covered in flour, along with a freshly ironed dress. She couldn't have been older than 35. Behind her, stood a man, possibly large enough to size up Tim, with brown hair and the same colored eyes. He wore a plaid shirt, tucked into khaki pants.
"Mr. Himmer," the woman said, in a voice way to kind to fit her eyes. "This is Leo, I presume?"
Tim nodded. "Yes, Mrs. Delora." Tim looked at Leo, who had been quiet. "Leo, this is Mrs. Gloria and Mr. John Delora. You'll be staying with them."
Gloria nodded. "Yes, I believe I have taken all the precautions." Her eyes narrowed. "There isn't even a spark anywhere."
Tim looked pleased with that. He placed the suitcase next to Leo. "Have a good day, Mam'am. Sir." He left.
Gloria smiled and waved goodbye, then softly closed the door. Her smile melted. She glared at Leo. "Go! Get your things and go to your room!" Leo was startled for a moment, then furiously nodded, quickly running off. Leo knew how some foster parents worked. He did have Teresa once, after all.
Dinner came faster then Leo would have liked. The man, John, collected him and sat him at the table, Gloria sitting at the head. They ate in silence. "Leo."
Leo looked up, to see Gloria staring at him calmly. "I've heard about your ways. I'm here to tell you that if any of your arsonist ways, or any of your murdering ways are to come in my home, I will see to it that you will never find a foster home again." She said this is such a manner, Leo didn't realize the full threat until after a moment of silence. He was terrified. Sure, he had heard these threats before, but never, not once since he was eight, had he been directly called a murderer. Yes, of course, he knew he was, but it was information that not many of his foster parents got.
For what happened next, Leo was sure sealed his fate in the Delora household. His hand, which was under the table, caught fire. The table cloth went up like gasoline. Leo fell back in his chair, a loud thump echoing through the room. Gloria shrieked, her hands waving wildly in her fear. John raced to the kitchen, his movements completely revolving around his wife's actions. Leo stood up shakily, his breathing harsh. He felt eight-years-old again, back in that warehouse, where his life was destroyed.
John Delora ran back into the room, fire extinguisher in hand. He readied the nozzle and quickly put out the blaze, leaving a shaking Gloria, and a very frightened Leo. John, stalking up to the boy, yanked him up to his eye level. His eyes were full of pure fury, his grip tight. John threw the boy down, Leo landing on his elbow. He hissed in pain as volts of electricity raced up his body, his arm screaming in pain.
Gloria was taken back to her room, whilst Leo struggled to get up on his now broken elbow. John came back in, his movements measured, calculated, like a predator. He grabbed Leo by his shoulder (thankfully on his other arm, but it still hurt like hell.), and dragged him to a small hatch in the storage closet. The hatchet was thrown open by John's free hand, shoving Leo inside.
It was dark, that was for sure. He had never been in a place this dark, even as he slept. Not a single window.
The first notion that they knew it was a bad idea was the whimpering.
Leo wondered if they would let him out- if they could hear him banging on the door, pleading for mercy.
Percy looked Jason in the eyes, noticing he had the same thoughts he was having. Hazel blinked. "What's that noise?"
He began to sink down to the floor, stopping his racket before, but his yells turned into sobs.
They heard it. Quiet little, broken cries. "Leo," Jason breathed. "Percy, that's Leo!" The six shot up from the table, none even questioning how Jason knew, or why Leo was crying. They ran down the stairs.
Leo's sanity was waning, he had been down there for how long? A few days? A week? Months? He didn't care. All he knew is he hadn't been given food by the Delora's in a few days. He was sure that he was close to his mother, now. She would call him 'mijo', and he would laugh in pure joy. He was sure that he would be there with her any moment. His throat was raw, and his movements had become sluggish.
"Leo!" Piper yelled, the group still rushing to catch up with Percy and Jason, who were showing speed that they had never seen before. Jason slammed the doors open to the engine room.
The hatchet slammed open, a man Leo had never seen before jumping down. It didn't matter, though. His eyes were already closing. "He's in here!" a voice yelled
"He's in here!" Percy yelled, pointing to a closet in the back, where sobbing could be heard. The reaction was immediate. Frank quickly eyed the key on the ground, shoving it in the key hole. The door swung open.
His energy was waning, there was no need to save him. The man ran up to him and said,
Piper ran up to him and hugged him. "You're okay. You'll be okay."
I'm alive, no worries. So the background on writing this: I finished it, but instead of copying the story, I pasted, so I lost EVERYTHING. After a few days of sulking, I came back and wrote it again, and yeah. Notes:
So this idea came to me whenever I was thinking of a few story ideas. I think, that at one point in time, Leo was locked in a basement/ closet by abusive foster parents. And, yeah. Also, I don't know if there is a storage closet in the engine room of the Argo ll, but there is in this story.
The first part of this story was inspired by the fact that I think Percy and Jason would have an older brother relationship to not only Nico, but to Leo also, so they would pull pranks or tricks on them sometimes. Also, I wasn't sure how I did with tieing in the past and present when the group found him, so any comments on that would be appreciated.
Did anyone catch that BoO reference? I'd like to know if ya did.
Questions? Comments? Concerns? If not, bye!