Happy Halloween...
The house was dark and quiet as Percy made his way through it. I knew I shouldn't have taken that dare… In a game of truth or dare, Annabeth had dared him to go into the old di Angelo house. A family was murdered there in the 1930s by the father's brother. Everyone said that the house was haunted by the ghost of the young son. Every Halloween, somebody found an excuse to go inside and explore.
But anyone who went in didn't come out. And now Percy was joining their ranks.
It can't be real. Ghosts aren't real. It's all just some huge prank or something. Yeah. That's it, Percy thought to himself. He meant to sound reassuring, but it came as desperate.
Percy stopped in a hallway. It extended far on both sides, and he assumed it was where the bedrooms were. He wondered for a second whether or not he should go down the hall. Suddenly, he heard the floorboards creak behind him. He turned around slowly and came face to face with the most terrifying thing he'd ever seen.
The boy was deathly pale, almost translucent. His inky black hair and eyes looked like they were made of shadow. He looked somewhere between thirteen and fourteen and was a little on the short side. The white shirt and black pants he wore were stained with blood. But the most disturbing thing about the boy was his smile. It was small and seemingly innocent, and it chilled Percy right to the core. There was something very not right about this boy.
Percy stumbled back until he hit the wall. The boy made no move to come closer. "Uh...hi?" Percy asked hesitantly.
That smile grew wider and somehow, without ever opening his mouth, he spoke. My name is Nico di Angelo. Who are you?
Gulp. "I'm Percy. Um, nice to meet you, I guess." Nico vanished. Percy moved off the wall and looked around wildly. He didn't want the young boy out of his sight. Who knows what the kid could do?
Why are you in my house? Percy jumped and whirled around. Nico was standing mere inches away from him with a furious glare. He moved back, heart beating furiously.
"I, um, it was a-" A table at the end of the hall flew towards Percy, effectively cutting him off. He dropped to the ground and rolled out of the line of fire. Getting back to his knees, he angrily asked, "What the fuck was that for?"
WHY ARE YOU IN MY HOUSE? The entire house shook and Percy fell down again. He scrambled to his feet and took off running. Front door, front door, where's the front door? He grinned when he found the door and skidded to a stop in front of it. Just as he reached for the knob, he was thrown back into a wall.
Nico appeared in from of him again. Lights that shouldn't have been working began to flicker on and off with a buzzing noise. Things were flying all over the room, and Percy curled against the wall in an attempt to protect himself. To his dismay, Nico began walking towards him, but this time, he was singing in a child-like voice.
Ring around the rosie
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes
We all fall down
The flying objects were shattering and falling and making Percy fear for his life. Nico's singing wasn't helping.
Ring around the rosie
What do you suppose we
can do to fight the darkness
in which we drown?
Oh dear God, Percy was going to die at the hands of some psychotic ghost kid. This was all Annabeth's fault.
Ring around the rosie
Nico kept coming towards him.
This evil thing, it knows me
Those black eyes of his were shining.
Lost ghosts surround me
Oh God, Nico was right in front of him now. The boy knelt down in front of him.
I
A hand touched his forehead.
can't
He couldn't move now.
fall
Nico leaned in and Percy's vision swam. It grew darker as the last line of the song entered his mind.
down