Disclaimer: I don't own PJO or HoO.
Pairing: Jasico. Eventually.
A/N: So I made this fic because my jasico highschool AU idea involving an abandoned hospital was pretty well-received on Tumblr.
Exploring a hospital that burned down years ago wasn't how Jason imagined spending his Friday night, but it beat coming back to an empty house when his father was busy with work and his sister was enrolled in a boarding school quite a distance from the town he lived in.
Dude, it's seriously freaky, he remembered Percy tell Leo at the lunch table earlier. They say there's a ghost in Wing Tree Medical Center. Drew even told me that she saw it, Percy had said.
Jason reached a dead end on the first floor.
Leo had snorted. You really believe that?
Jason turned back and thought of finding the stairs to explore the second floor.
Leo, the ghost is real. I pass by that place whenever I visit Annabeth's house. And last night, I saw something move when I looked at one of the hospital windows. It was some sort of black shape. That, my friend, can't not be a ghost, Percy had insisted.
I'm a man of science, Leo had sounded proud of what he had said. I'd need real proof before you get me to believe there's a ghost in Wing Tree Medical Center. Leo had pointed at Percy with his plastic fork while he spoke.
Okay then. Jason's gonna go there tonight and get you a picture of the ghost. Percy had folded his arms and smirked at the Latino.
Hey, I wasn't even part of this conversation. Don't drag me into this, Jason had said, frowning at Percy as he put down his almost-empty chocolate pudding cup and his plastic spoon.
Aw c'mon, Jase. Just to prove that Percy's wrong, I dare you to go there tonight. You're level-headed and not likely to hallucinate about ghosts in an empty hospital. Leo had sneered at Percy. Percy had narrowed his sea-green eyes at the wiry-haired boy before turning to Jason beside him.
Come on, man. You owe me for that thing with that cheerleader, Piper. I know the ghost is real. Just do it, Percy had nagged.
In truth, Jason had owed him nothing. Just because Percy had been the one to deliver a slip of paper with a phone number on it from some cheerleader to him didn't make Jason owe Percy anything. Jason hadn't even asked for her number.
But he went through with Leo's dare anyway.
Three hours, starting at 9:30pm. That'll be more than enough to explore a good portion of the hospital, yeah? Then by 1 in the morning, head to my place. We'll wait for you there. If you bring back proof that there's a ghost, pizza's on me. If not, pizza's on Jackson. Leo had looked to Percy for confirmation with a sly smile on his face.
Percy, smug, had said, Prepare to pay for pizza, Valdez. Which was ironic because, after Leo left the lunch table to get to his Physics class, Percy had urgently and desperately told Jason not to die so he could show Leo proof of the ghost's existence. Jason had sighed and assured Percy that he wouldn't die from a visit to an empty hospital.
The abandoned hospital was eerily silent. No dust motes danced in the light of his flashlight. Everything was still. There was no moonlight, and being alone in a dark place at that time of night made Jason jumpy. He held the flashlight in front of him, shining it on the floor in front of his feet. Jason was careful not to step on any broken glass or trip on any huge pieces of debris.
He had batteries in his pocket for both the flashlight and his phone, just in case either of them ran out of juice. Jason honestly didn't want to end up without a source of light in such a place. He didn't want to be a victim of horror movie stereotypes where the character's only source of light runs out of battery while exploring a haunted area.
Jason made it back to what used to be the hospital lobby. He went past the reception desk and took the path on the left.
A cockroach scuttled past his foot, which made Jason jump, gasp and drop his flashlight all at once. The sound that left his mouth seemed loud in the dead silence. He stomped on the insect angrily, hearing the wet crunch underneath his sneaker, before retrieving the flashlight that had rolled a few feet away from him. The light shone on the wall where someone had sprayed unreadable colourful graffiti on the cement. He picked up the flashlight and shone it on his path.
Jason passed by blackened doors. A few were ajar while most were shut. When he shone the light in the rooms, all he generally saw was soot, ash, melted plastic, cracked glass, and metal objects bent out of shape.
At the end of the hall was an open elevator door with an open emergency exit door on the left and a long hallway on the right. Jason went close enough to peek down the elevator shaft and shine his flashlight on whatever was at the bottom. It was just a pile of wreckage. Jason stepped back from the elevator and went through the emergency exit door.
Jason chose to go upstairs instead of downstairs. In the middle of the steps, he saw a dead cockroach. It would have been fine except for the fact that its bodily fluids glistened around its brown exoskeleton like it had been freshly squished by someone else. Or something else. The realization that he might not be alone in that hospital dawned upon him. Jason tightened his grip on the flashlight.
Jason quietly made his way to the top of the steps. The emergency exit door on the second floor was unhinged and propped up against the wall. He stepped into the hallway, noticing that there were more bricks strewn about on the floor than on the first floor.
Thump.
It was faint, but the sound came from down the hall.
Thump.
There it was again. He definitely wasn't imagining it.
Jason gulped and readied his phone with his free hand, turning on its night vision camera setting.
He crept down the hall and shone his light through the first open door. All he saw was a metal bedframe and the remains of a bedside table.
Thump.
It sounded closer now.
He walked inside the second room. It was almost like the first, except Jason found something on the floor.
It was a dingy yellow stress ball. He put his phone back in his pocket and bent down on one knee to inspect the object. When he picked it up to take a closer look, he saw that it had a smiley face on it.
Jason heard a gasp behind him. Before he could turn around to look, he got hit hard on the back of his head.
He dropped the ball and the flashlight, and fell on his side. The ball made a thumping sound when it fell. That was probably what Jason had been hearing earlier.
The last thing Jason saw before losing consciousness was someone's horrified face illuminated by the light from his fallen flashlight.
It was that one kid from Chemistry class.
Nico di Angelo.
A/N: This fic will be continued. Eventually.