This is just a short one shot (relatively short, anyway) I thought of while watching Flowers in the Attic.

I will leave why Leo is being punished up to the imagination. He is OOC in this story, but that's because there really weren't any good places to put jokes in.

This is based on the movie Flowers in the Attic (somewhat anyway), but you do not have to see the movie to understand this.

Also, there is a poll on my profile to see which Halloween story I should post. The summaries are on my profile, so please vote for the idea you like the best. It will be up until October 30th, 2017, so... five days from now, including today. Get your votes in while you can.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

WARNINGS: CHILD ABUSE, LANGUAGE, MENTIONS OF SUICIDE AND MURDER, VERY VAGUE IMPLICATIONS OF SEXUAL ABUSE (SERIOUSLY, YOU WON'T NOTICE IT UNLESS YOU SQUINT). FOR NOW, IT WILL BE RATED T. I WILL CHANGE THE RATING IF PEOPLE SUGGEST IT

Tap, tap, tap.

"Leo, I know this isn't an ideal punishment, but it's fitting..."

Tap, tap, tap.

"I need to call a guardian. I tried your aunt, but she politely told me that she never wanted to have contact with you again and hung up..."

Tap, tap, tap.

"Therefore, I contacted your first foster mother, Teresa Wilkes."

Silence. Leo's fingers didn't tap; he didn't fiddle; the screws in his hands froze in the middle of building something (what, he wasn't entirely sure).

"I will be messaging her."

"But Chiron-"

"Leo, your pranks and jokes are out of control. Someone needs to straighten you out, and judging from your expression, Teresa may be the one that can do it. Follow me."

Leo stood and followed Chiron on shaky legs towards the Pavillion.

"I'm afraid the only place I can contact her is the Pavillion," Chiron stated, "and other campers may take advantage of this to watch."

"And you're not going to stop them?"

"Leo, after so many years, I stopped trying to stop half bloods from doing anything."

Leo saw his logic, but it still ticked him off a bit.

Chiron walked over to a stand and pressed a button; an image immediately popped up. Right now, it looked like a simple lake turned right side up and hovering over the ground, but Leo knew it was some kind of portal.

"So that's what that's for," he muttered.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the seven and his siblings watching in curiosity, as well as the Stolls, Clarrise, and a handful of others who were either laughing or taping it.

"Teresa Wilkes," Chiron said, simply.

The image changed to that of a bedroom with a four poster canopy bed; expensive red and gold bedding covered the soft mattress, and at the vanity sat Her.

She was tall and thin with golden blonde hair. Her eyes were ice cold blue, and her make up was done impeccably; she wore a blue shirt to match her eyes and skinny jeans. Despite her thirty something years, she looked like she couldn't be over twenty one. A belt was wrapped around her waist, and Leo stared at it in fear.

Chiron gestured Leo through, and Leo stepped through the portal.

For a long moment, Teresa didn't seem to notice him, but then, she must've felt someone's eyes on her because she looked into the glass and saw Leo's reflection.

She smiled, cruelly. "Leo Valdez."

"Miss Teresa," Leo responded. He could almost feel the crowd of campers gathering behind his back.

"What brings you back?"

Leo stared at her. "You don't believe that I wanted to see you because I forgive you and everything can just be like rainbows and daisies?" He deadpanned.

"Forgive her for what?" He heard Percy whisper to Annabeth.

"I don't know," the blonde demigod responded.

"No," Teresa replied. Being mortal, the Mist shielded the portal from her view.

"Good. I would've thought you were even crazier if you said yes," Leo laughed without humor.

Teresa turned and glared at him. He heard a few whimpers from younger campers, and he knew everyone was shuffling a step backward at Teresa's glare, but Leo didn't budge. He was accustomed to it; Teresa always hated him the most.

"I got into some trouble at my summer camp, and the director had to contact a guardian. Unfortunately, he contacted you."

"Well, he did the right thing, I straightened you out the first time. I can do it again," she said, casually.

Leo gazed at her as though she'd grown a second head. "Straightened me out?"

"Yes."

"By doing what exactly? Was it the attic? Is that how you straightened me out?"

Teresa laughed. "No, the attic was simply to keep you out of my way. The beatings were what really straightened you out, as well as starving the other two brats."

"They were not brats!" Leo shouted, slamming his fist against the dresser beside him. He saw the crowd jump, and his fist started to bleed, but he didn't care. "They were children! Innocent children!"

"Ha! They were the devil spawn!" Teresa spat.

"No, they weren't. They were six and seven year old siblings that had just lost their parents to a car accident. They wanted love, but all you gave them was hate. And you gave Johnny much more than that."

Teresa smiled. "I gave you love, didn't I?"

Leo froze, his throat closing up at the memory. "That wasn't love. That was your sick mind."

He heard Annabeth gasp as the pieces fit together in her mind, and he could tell she was whispering it to the rest of the seven, but right now, he didn't care.

"How about you let me do one last thing for you?" Teresa asked.

Leo spat in her face, and saliva trickled down her cheek before she grabbed a tissue and wiped it away.

"Not that," she assured him. "Look in the trunk."

Leo glanced at it, recognizing it as one from the attic, the one Johnny got locked in and nearly suffocated.

"Why? What's in it?"

"Open it and find out," she replied.

Leo stared at it, almost afraid of what was inside. Oh, who was he kidding? He was afraid of what was inside.

"Do it!" Teresa barked, and Leo stumbled over to it.

He unsnapped the lid and opened it.

He removed two bears, a pink and a blue one; they'd been Johnny and Annie's prized possessions, but Annie had had to leave her's behind when her and Leo ran away, and Johnny couldn't use it anymore where he'd gone.

He grabbed a small stuffed lion, his own. He'd carried it everywhere; he'd had it with him the day at the machine shop, and it'd somehow survived. His bisabuelo had given it to him the day he was born.

He moved a blanket Johnny had always carried with him, and he staggered back, screaming.

A skeleton lay in the bottom of the trunk.

"J-Johnny," he stammered. "You didn't even bury him."

Teresa stood there, not looking remorseful or sympathetic. Her emotionless face had not changed in the last seven years.

"The girl died, too," she stated. "Killed herself a few months ago."

"Because of what you did to her!" Leo burst out. "I probably would've killed myself, too. In fact, I tried, but guess what? I'm stronger than you; you did not break me!"

Teresa chuckled. "I think I did."

"No, you didn't."

"We'll see about that," she growled before grabbing Leo's shoulders and shoving him into the closet, slamming the door shut. Leo didn't even have time to react before the door slammed, leaving him in the small, dark room.

"NO!" Leo screamed. Since the attic, he'd been terribly claustrophobic, and already, the walls were closing in on him. "NO! NO!"

He pounded on the door, his fists bleeding.

"NO!"

The door burst open, and he tumbled out, falling into the arms of Piper McLean. Jason was standing right behind her, and Teresa was still standing beside the vanity.

"You bitch," he snarled.

She scowled. "Devil's spawn."

"Come on, Leo," Piper begged.

Teresa grinned. "Don't even try, little girl. I have complete and utter control over Leo."

"No, you don't," Leo disagreed.

"Really. Come here."

"No."

"Come here!" Teresa's hand went to her belt.

"NO!" Leo's hands caught fire, and just like that, the room was in flames.

Teresa screeched, racing towards the door, her burned hands scratching against it, trying to open it.

"BURN IN HELL, MURDERER!" Leo screamed, and Piper grabbed his wrist and yanked him through the portal.

The portal vanished just in time for Leo to see Teresa open the door and run for the stairs. He heard a Bang! from above, and he knew the attic had been the first to give. He smiled, slightly.

A hand touched his shoulder, and Leo turned to see that it was Chiron, and he looked guilty.

"Leo, I'm-"

"It's not your fault. She's an abusive, murderous monster, who loves to have control over people. I didn't tell you; therefore, you didn't know. That's not your fault."

"Leo, what's going on?" Harley asked as he gazed up at his brother with his big, confused brown eyes.

Leo smiled and knelt down to hug Harley tightly.

"Nothing, Harles. I want you to remember that I love you more than anything in the entire universe, okay? Never let anyone tell you no one cares about you or that you're anything but the sweet, kind, hard working little Harley I know."

Harley smiled, looking confused. "Okay!"

"Good. Now, let's go finish that project you were working on, and then, I have to talk to Nyssa and Jake and the seven, all right?"

"Sure."

Leo glanced at the said people, as well as Chiron, and nodded, a clear message in his eyes:

I'll tell you later.

The room was utterly silent. It was the kind of silence no one wanted to break. The kind of silence you find at a funeral.

Percy found the courage to shatter the quiet atmosphere:

"So... what was that all about?"

Leo inhaled, deeply. "She was my first foster mother. She had two other foster kids, Johnny and Annie. Johnny was six, and Annie was seven.

"She hated children. She only took us in for the money, and she never told anyone about us, not even the maids or the cooks or the rest of the help. She locked us in an attic, brought us food once a day, and forgot about us the rest of the time.

"She abused us. We did something wrong; we made too much noise; we disrepestected her; or she'd just had a bad day, and we were convenient targets for her anger. Anyway, she'd beat us, whip us with her belt."

Leo's voice faltered.

"You get the picture," he settled on. "It only got worse. We were in danger from the beginning, but the danger only increased after Johnny's death."

*FLASHBACK*

"Miss Teresa!" Leo shouted, pounding on the door. "Miss Teresa!"

The door burst open, and Teresa shut it behind her as she glared at Leo.

"What are you doing, brat?" She sneered. "No one can know you're here. The maids are already suspicious. Why are you-"

"Johnny isn't breathing!" Leo interrupted.

Teresa's head jolted up, and her eyes zeroed in on Johnny, pale and sickly and unmoving, on his bed as Annie sobbed into his stomach.

Teresa cursed. "Move, girl. I'm taking him to a hospital."

Without another word, Teresa carried Johnny out of the room and locked the door behind her.

Leo and Annie never saw Johnny again.

*FLASHBACK OVER*

"She said they'd been unable to save him, that he'd already been buried. She didn't even bury him," Leo growled. "She kept his body in that trunk all these years."

Piper patted Leo on the shoulder, and Leo exhaled, loudly, before continuing.

"Annie and I ran away. We'd been there for six months..."

*FLASHBACK*

Leo tied the rope to the sturdiest piece of furniture he could find: a trunk that was so heavy, a body builder couldn't lift it.

"Leo, I'm scared!" Annie bawled.

"I know," Leo said. "Climb on my back and close your eyes. We'll be at the bottom before you know it."

Annie seemed to shrink in on herself, her shoulders hunching up to her ears and her back bending, hiding her face behind a curtain of blonde hair. She whimpered before clambering onto Leo's back.

"You little brats!" Teresa shouted, banging on the attic door, unable to open it. Leo had stolen the master key from her. "You'll join that other brat if you don't open this door this instant."

Annie sobbed, and Leo grabbed a hold of the rope before hopping out of the window.

The children walked down the side of the house, Annie holding onto Leo for dear life. Teresa was still hammering on the door; any second, she would break it down.

As if on cue, the door splintered open, and Teresa was at the window, yanking on the rope to pull them back up.

Leo and Annie were between a monster and a two story fall. The possibility of death faced them on both sides.

Leo made a split second decision. He'd rather die than spend another night in that musty, dusty, claustrophobic attic. He knew that Annie felt the same way too.

Leo lit a flame on his finger. Teresa was too far away to see it, and Annie still had her eyes clenched shut.

Leo touched the fire to the rope, and the rope curled in on itself, weakening with the heat, before smoldering, casting the scent of smoke in the air.

It snapped.

Leo and Annie tumbled two stories, Leo turning in mid air in order for his front to face the ground versus his back. He'd take the worst of the fall.

Leo hit the ground chest first and gasped when he felt some ribs break. Annie tumbled off of his back, and Leo barely waited a second before grabbing her hand and leaping to his feet.

Leo and Annie bolted across the yard, Teresa cursing at their backs, leaning dangerously far over the window ledge (Leo wasn't ashamed to admit it: he hoped she would fall).

"What on earth?" A gardener shouted, cutting them off and holding a sharp gardening tool out in front of his body. "Who are you?"

"We're Teresa's foster kids," Leo responded, holding Annie close and behind him, away from the gardening tool.

The man's eyes widened as he took in their sickly, pale, and beaten appearances. The raw fear in their eyes.

He'd been suspecting something for a while now. He'd often seen a face peering out of the attic window; once, he'd even seen kids sitting on the roof, but by the time he'd looked back, they were gone. He'd put it off as his imagination.

Now, he knew how wrong he was.

"I will murder you!" Teresa yelled as she sprinted across the lawn, having abandoned her post in the attic.

"GO!" The gardener ordered. "I'll turn the electricity off. Get to the gate!"

The gardener ran to switch the electric fence off while Leo and Annie raced for the gate, Teresa coming closer with each step.

Leo and Annie escaped, and they boarded a train, buying tickets with money they'd stolen from Teresa. The train was headed for California. Leo and Annie wanted to get as far away from Teresa and that Hell House as possible.

It never crossed his mind that he might see Teresa again.

*FLASHBACK OVER*

No one knew what to say, so they didn't say anything.

Piper stood and embraced Leo, quickly joined by the rest of the seven and most of the other people in the room.

Leo wasn't good with physical contact. He hadn't been since his mom died. Hugs and the like... yeah, no. It wasn't his thing. Neither was emotional stuff.

"We're here for you," Jason murmured into his ear.

Leo believed him, and he hugged his friends back.

For the first time in a long time, he had a shoulder to cry on, and he actually let himself cry.

How was it? I know, OOC Leo, but beyond that, how was it?

ALSO! This was not mentioned, but Teresa poisoned the kids with Arsenic. She'd give them small doses of it in their foods, so it killed them slower, and they didn't even expect anything for a while. It killed Johnny, and it didn't take Leo long to realize Annie and him were being poisoned. That's why they finally ran away. That's why Leo calls her a murderer.

Thanks for reading.