"Annie! Bethie! Annabethabanana!" a boy with messy black hair drummed his feet against the seat in front of him. The amber sky casted a rusty hue that filtered through the tinted windows of the grandfather-like car they were puttering along in. The stench of smoke that was so deeply integrated in the seats was starting to cling to the clothes of everyone in the car.
The driver's glare felt palpable to Annabeth as she turned around to scold her best friend. "Seaweed Brain! We're in separate seats so that we're not so loud!"
"I give up," Gabe sighed in annoyance, giving Annabeth a jut of his greasy head in Percy's direction. "Go sit with him. But you twerps better be quiet."
"Yes," Annabeth ducked her head and unbuckled her seatbelt, scurrying behind the front seat to where Percy sat. The second she was sitting beside him he patted her head and glowered at Gabe. Annabeth closed her eyes and tried to pretend for a second that she wasn't driving with Gabe, she wasn't scared, and Percy could stand up and protect her from the foreboding feeling that was gnawing at the edges of her mind.
"It'll be alright, Annie," he gave her his typical the devil-may-care grin and mussed her long and curly blonde hair. "In a few weeks, we'll be back at school, and it'll only be us."
Annabeth's worried expression faltered into a hopeful smile. She loved going to boarding school with Percy; it meant almost a year of no obnoxious stepfathers, no wicked stepmothers, and another year of being together. It was the way they had always been. The name Annabeth had been linked with Percy since as long as she could remember. The most wonderful pre-disposition anybody could ask for.
"I can't believe we're starting middle school this year," her smile was blindingly sweet and beautiful, her voice a contrast to her attitude in its solemn whisper. Everyday Percy was becoming more and more conscious of his childhood's friend tendency to look pretty almost every time his glance turned her way. "I feel like it's going to be such an amazing experience full of new knowledge and life lessons—"
Percy clamped a hand over her mouth and shook his head. "Just say fun. Normal people say fun."
"Well I'm not exactly normal," she glared at him, oblivious to the gleam that shined in Gabe's eyes as he turned on to another road. This road was probably the great-uncle of all the others; its ancient dirt path could barely pass off as a make-shift trail in the forest, much less an actual road. Annabeth's intelligent mind barely registered the fewer cars that passed by Gabe's Camaro.
"Aw, but I still love you Annie," he crooned quietly, enveloping her in an over-bearing hug.
"And I can still tolerate you, despite your abnormalities as well," Annabeth smirked and pushed him away to the other side of the car.
"My abnormality is kick-as—"
"I was referring to the abnormalities in your personality."
"Man, we need to fix your personality!" Percy laughed, his jade eyes twinkling as Annabeth launched over the seats back to him, wrapping her slender but strong fingers around his throat.
"What was that?" she hissed as she attempted to strangle him.
"Shut the hell up!" Gabe growled at the wrestling 11-year-olds. "I don't need your fucking noise in my car."
The two children's immediate silence was a feeble attempt to appease Gabe's foul mood. Their hands found each other's as they have every time they were forced to deal with step-parents. Whether it was the intimidating and unexpected fury of Percy's stepfather, or the nasty side-comments made by Annabeth's stepmother, the best solace they could find was in each other.
"Um, excuse me, Mr. G-Gabe?" Annabeth stuttered softly, finally noticing her surroundings. As opposed to the familiar palm trees that usually appeared on their trip to Montauk, she only saw mossy green pine trees and dark brown trunks. This trip usually wasn't even taken with Gabe. The driver was typically Percy's wonderful mom, Sally Jackson, but Gabe had insisted on taking them down to the beach this time. "I don't think we're going in the right direction."
"No, Annabeth," his smile was chilling and Annabeth hated that goose bumps appeared on her skin. From now on, she didn't want goose bumps whenever she talked to Percy's step-dad. "I'm taking you where you need to go."
"Actually, Gabe," chimed in Percy, his gaze gelid compared to its usual warmth. "This doesn't look like Montauk at all."
"I'm taking you where you need to go," Gabe repeated, turning down another road.
Percy had an ominous feeling in his stomach. He leaned over to Annabeth and whispered in her ear, "Annabeth, I think you need to use it. We need to know where he's taking us."
"But Percy…" Annabeth trailed off.
Percy knew she didn't want to, because she rarely used his name. She once said she preferred the small amount of deprecation she could provide him with just by saying his name every day, 'Seaweed Brain'. "Annabeth, I feel like it's important."
"Fine." She closed her eyes and shut out her senses.
Darkness swirled around shutting out Percy's voice, the odor of cigarettes, the unfamiliar scenery, and she breathed.
A coarse voice broke through her state of nothingness. "So much money. Just for the runts? Why shouldn't I? They'll take 'em off my hands. Knew the kids were freaks since the day I met 'em. So much money."
Annabeth gasped for air as her eyes shot open, leaning over and wrapping her arms around herself, trying to hold it all together. Percy felt sick knowing that he left her in this state, but he also knew that they needed the information only her gift could provide them with.
"We need to get out," she breathed, her sterling silver eyes wide and her breath short.
Percy nodded and thought of the quickest plan. He grabbed Annabeth's hand and flicked the lock on the door. With a smirk playing on his face and his eyes fixed on the road ahead, Gabe paid no attention to Percy and Annabeth. Percy squeezed her hand and whispered, "We're going to get away. Together."
He whipped open the car door and leaped out of the car, pulling Annabeth along with him. They hit the road hard, and Percy swore he heard something crack in his hand when he tried to cushion the blow. They eventually were stopped by the impact of hitting a tree, leaving a cursing Gabe and a door swinging in the breezebehind.
Percy leaned against the tree and clutched his aching shoulder, but doing so almost ripped a scream of pain from his throat. Clearly that cracking noise had been a broken finger or two. He finally looked over to see Annabeth already on her feet, limping slightly. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine," she waved him off, her face pale and her striking blonde hair tainted with dirt and blood from the cut on her forehead. "We need to get away from Gabe."
"Where the hell are you brats?!" they both cringed when they heard Gabe's roar.
"Now." Annabeth grabbed Percy's slightly less broken hand and they moved as fast as they could with Annabeth's injured foot. Even though it felt like they were speeding through the forest, Gabe's lumbering footsteps seemed to come closer and closer. Finally, they ran into two men in camouflage trudging through the forest.
"Please! You have to help us; a man is coming to kidnap us!" Annabeth panted, out of breath, clutching the side of jacket of the man with the blonde hair and a long scar running down his face.
"Whoa, whoa, calm down kid, what's your name?" he asked, voice full of concern.
"My name is Annabeth, his is Percy!" Annabeth continued to force the words out of her mouth. "He's going to hurt us, we need your help!"
"Hold on kid, let me just grab something," the man reached into his back pocket and grabbed something. Annabeth waited anxiously until finally he pulled the object out, and slammed it against her head. Annabeth dropped to the ground, completely unconscious. Percy didn't even spend the time to let his jaw drop before going after the blonde man. With his broken fingers and injured shoulder, though, he barely stood a chance and was quickly taken down in the same way as his best friend.
Minutes later, Gabe burst into the area, breathing heavily. "Where the hell—What are you two doing here?"
"We heard shouts and decided that we should investigate, and maybe help out," the other black-haired man's lips crept up into a smile. "We were intending on helping, but unfortunately their names had to be Percy and Annabeth."
Gabe gave the pair a slimy smile. "Well, now that you have them, where's my money?"
"We're going to give you that, and more," the blonde winked at Gabe. "We'll give you the money, and an alibi."
The black-haired man placed a stack of hundred-dollar bills in Gabe's hand as the blonde pulled out a gun. He quickly shot Gabe in the leg and got the immediate reaction of Gabe's shout of pain. "There. Now you have your money, we have our specimen, and you tried your best to get the children back from the kidnappers, but were injured and unable to do so. Goodbye."
Hi guys! Obviously I don't own Percy Jackson. Though I am working on that in my current legal battle with Uncle Rick. My lawyer has a blade made of imperial gold, so I think I have a good shot at winning. Hope you liked my first chapter, and please give me reviews and feed back, because this is my first Percy Jackson fan fic! Thank you!