A/N Thank you everyone for all the positive feedback, trust me when I say it is greatly appreciated! Please let me know if you catch any error in my writing so I can fix it as soon as possible. I have recently changed this story from 3rd person to 1st person, so it has been a struggle to make sure the story is all grammatically correct in 1st person. I'm pretty sure it is all changed, but if you catch anything just let me know. Anyway enjoy! (And don't forget to review and favorite!) xoxo
Chapter 2
Annabeth
Piper, Thalia and I all started to walk home together. School had just ended and I was recounting my run-in with Percy Jackson. "Just ignore my idiot cousin, it's what I do," Thalia told me. I just smiled and nodded. The air was cold, but the sun was shining, so it wasn't as bad as the walk that morning.
"Piper, we should work on our history project tonight," I suggested. "Oh, yeah sure." Piper agreed. "Your house or mine?" she asked. "Defiantly yours, I don't want to have to deal with my family tonight…" I explained. Piper and Thalia exchanged looks. They always told me that I should tell my dad about how my step mother treated me, but what they didn't understand was that he wouldn't care. When they had first got married, I had run away. They didn't find me for about a week; there were only so many places a ten-year old can go before it started to get suspicious.
When I had returned home, the news of my step mother's pregnancy hit me...hard. From that day forward, it was as if I ceased to exist in my father's eyes. The only time my family ever talked to me was to badger me about my grades or chores, and my stepmother was the worst of them all.
"Okay, then let's go." Piper said. Soon, Thalia took her separate way from Piper and I. Finally, we made it to Piper's building. She lived in one of the nicest buildings in all of New York, and she lived in the biggest penthouse at the top of the building. Piper's father was a famous actor, but sadly he wasn't around much for her.
I became mesmerized as we walked into the opulent lobby, just like I always was. I did a slow 360 around the room, the lobby had high golden ceilings, with arches that came to the top and met in the middle. The tile flooring was a sunrise orange with specs of gold and brown intermixing. The lobby had four long couches each facing each other to create a square shape, with a small Persian rug in the center. On top of the rug held a glass center table with golden legs propping it up, a gorgeous vase of flowers sat atop the table. The walls were a dark burgundy and every few inches a modern painting adorned each wall. The reception desk was a dark mahogany and sitting behind it was a pretty blonde talking into an ear piece.
"Earth to Annabeth, can we go upstairs now?" Piper said slightly annoyed, and slightly amused. "Huh? Oh, yeah!" I said with a slight blush crossing my face. I wanted to become an architect when I was older, and every time I saw some big, beautiful building, swells of hope would encircle my heart.
I followed Piper to the elevator, and we silently filed in. Piper pushed 22, the number to her penthouse. Her penthouse took up the entire floor, so she was the only one who could get up there.
Once the elevator finally stopped, there was a gate with a pass code for us to get in. Piper typed in her pass code, and pushed back the wrought iron gate. Like the lobby, Piper's penthouse left me breathless.
On the right side of the room was the living room, it had a large brick fireplace with a flat screen attached to it. Directly in front of the screen were two sleek black couches and in the middle of the room stood a small but elegant silver chandelier.
The entire back wall was glass that looked out to the New York City skyline. I loved coming to Piper's at night because the entire city would be lit up like a Christmas tree.
There was a kitchen to the left that consisted of all stainless steel appliances, with tan wooden cabinets. A large island sat in the middle of the kitchen with a marble coating.
Henrietta, Piper's housekeeper/nanny was in the kitchen cooking something that smelt incredible. Piper walked over to her and gave her a peck on the cheek; she started to explain that she and I were going to work on a project together. "Alright, would you like to stay for dinner Annabeth?" Henrietta asked with a slight accent.
"That would be great, thank you!" I replied. Piper and I made our way to Piper's room to begin their project.
Piper and I were just about finished with our project on the Cold War when we heard someone talking in the living room. "I'm going to go see who's there," Piper told me. I only nodded in response.
I heard Piper squeal in delight from the other room. "Dad! What are you doing here?" Piper exclaimed in joy. I quickly got up and peered around Piper's door frame.
Tristan McLean, the famous actor and Piper's father stood in the middle of the room with a huge grin on his face. "What? I can't come and see my daughter?" He asked with a smirk playing on his lips. Piper's smile was starting to resemble the one of the cheshire cat. "I just can't believe you're here, I haven't seen you in months! Aren't you still filming that movie," Piper asked confused. "I am, but I have to promote another movie here, in New York. I'm only going to be here until tomorrow night, but I wanted to come and surprise you!" Piper's father exclaimed.
Piper's face seemed to falter for a split second, "Only until tomorrow night?" She said, sounded slightly disappointed. Tristan McLean's face set into a hard-line, "Yes only until tomorrow, but I thought you could skip school tomorrow and we could spend the day together!" He suggested.
Piper's face brightened instantly "Really? That would be amazing! Thanks dad!" I smiled to myself, I was glad to see Piper so happy. Piper rarely ever got to see her father. I stepped out from my 'hiding place' behind the door and came to meet Piper.
"Oh! Dad, this Annabeth, one of my best friends," Piper exclaimed. I had a feeling Piper had forgotten about me in all of her excitement. "Very nice to meet you Annabeth," Tristan McLean said, as he extended a hand to me. "It's really cool to meet you, Mr. McLean!" I said barely able to contain my excitement in meeting a movie star, as I shook his hand.
Piper gave me a weird look. I suppose I'm not usually affected by something as petty as meeting someone famous, but who was I kidding it was TRISTAN MCLEAN! I saw Piper's look, and composed myself quickly. "It was great meeting you Mr. McLean, but I should get going," I said.
"You don't have to go," Piper said. "Oh, I really should! it's getting late. It's already dark out!" I reasoned. Piper sighed, "Okay, let me call you a cab."
Piper's father and I stood in an awkward silence while Piper called the cab. "So, how long have you known Piper?" He asked in what I assume was an attempt to ease the tension. "I've known her since we were freshman; Thalia, Piper, and I are best friends." I replied.
"It's good to know Piper has such great friends, I hate leaving her here all alone. It makes me feel better knowing she has you girls!" He said truthfully. I offered up a warm smile. "Don't worry Mr. McLean, Piper will always have us!" I reassured him.
Just then, Piper came into the room. "Well, the cab said he can't come down this street because the snow is so bad, but he offered to pick you up a street over." Piper told me. "Yeah, that's fine. Thanks Piper." I replied. "And it was great meeting you Mr. McLean."
"The pleasure was all mine, Annabeth," Tristan McLean said accompanied by a dazzling smile. "Right, well I'm just going to go get my things," I told the others. "Okay, I'll help you," Piper offered.
The two of us went into Piper's room and started gathering my things. I quickly packed all of my belongings into my school bag. Once I finished, I began to walk out to the elevator, when Piper started to follow me.
"Um, where are you going?" I asked. Piper gave me a puzzled look. "I'm walking you to your cab."
"Piper I can get there by myself, go and enjoy your time with your Dad." I told her.
Piper opened her mouth to speak, but I interrupted her. "If you go down there with me you have to walk back alone and you'll be in the cold twice as long, it's better if I just go by myself."
"I can't let you walk the streets of New York alone at ten O'clock at night Annabeth!"
My face set into a stern line. It was ridiculous of Piper to think I couldn't handle myself, I mean does she not know me at all?
"Piper trust me I'll be fine, I have a few tricks up my sleeve if anything happens. I mean this is New York. I've lived here my whole life. Trust me, nothing scares me around here anymore."
Piper sighed, "Fine, but text me the second you get into that cab!"
"Jeeze, I will Pipe's calm down!"
I hugged Piper one last time before I descended down the elevator. Once I made it to the lobby, I politely said goodbye to the receptionist and the door man. I shivered as the cold wind hit me like a slap in the face.
I hugged my coat tighter around my slender frame and began the brisk walk to my cab. It was dark, and the snow was thick on the sidewalks. I decided to take a shortcut through an alleyway. Normally I wouldn't go down the dank and dark place, but it was cold and I just wanted to get to my cab.
I heard something behind me as I was walking and I turned around. I could see nothing through the darkness. I began to pull out my phone for the flashlight, when I suddenly realized I had left it at Piper's. An uneasy feeling washed over me, leaving an uncomfortable amount of tension to settle in my stomach.
I shook my head and blamed the noise on an over active imagination. I continued walking down the long alleyway in long strides. My lungs began to ache from the icy air, and my feet were sopping in freezing water from the snow. I'd be lucky if I didn't catch a cold.
Again, I heard a noise. The sound was just like footsteps. My heart skipped a beat, and my breath hitched. I turned around to see three tall, shadowy figures in the dark.
Percy
"So you're going to go see your Dad tonight?" Nico, my cousin asked. I sighed and kicked aside a piece of ice in the road. "Yeah."
"Why?" Nico asked.
"Honestly, I have no idea." I said with uncertainty.
My father, Poseidon had demanded that I see him tonight, something was wrong. My father barely ever talked to me, and the only time he did was for the gang.
Technically I was the leader of the Half-Bloods, but my father gave the orders. Poseidon was the one who said what and when he wanted things done. I was just the messenger. My job as the leader of the Half-Bloods was to make sure everyone stayed in line and did their job. I had to discipline my guys, even if I didn't like it. If I didn't do it Poseidon would, and it would be a worse punishment coming from Poseidon.
That was why I was nervous; I worried Poseidon was going to do something to my gang. I had never wanted to become a part of the Half-Bloods; much less be their leader. I became sucked into it after….after my life took a turn for the worse. That was a part of my life I didn't like to think about. Now that I was a part of the Half-Bloods, there was no way I could go back. I was responsible for those guys; the Half-Bloods were my family now.
Poseidon was my father, but he had never been my Dad. When in it came down to it, I would always pick the Half-Bloods over my father, because they were my real family, and it was my job to protect them. I was just hoping I would never have to make that choice. I was probably getting all worked up over nothing, anyway.
Nico began to stagger, and grabbed a building wall for support. Nico and I had come from a party that night, and he was completely wasted. There was no way I could've drank that night, not if I had to meet my father. I was meeting my father at twelve thirty, and it was already almost eleven thirty. I hadn't even gotten home to shower and change.
I grabbed Nico and put an arm around his shoulder for support. Nico smelt like a gas station, the smell of alcohol and smoke clung to him in a nauseating aroma. I supposed I didn't smell exactly like a bouquet of daisies though, either.
Nico leaned on me for support as we made our way to my apartment. Nico stopped once to throw up in the snow. Someone would walk by tomorrow to a see very unpleasant looking puke-cicle in the morning. I laughed slightly at the gross and absurd thought. I steered Nico into an alleyway, it was a shortcut to my apartment.
I could barely see down the dimly lit alleyway. The street lights from behind me cast a menacing glow over the entire ally. There was just enough light though, for me to see a flash of blonde and blood.
My eyebrows scrunched up at the sight. I set Nico up straight and walked over to someone lying on the ground. It was a girl with curly, golden hair and a large gash to her head. She wasn't moving and her skin had an unsettling blue sheen to it. A small puddle of blood surrounded her head, dampening her hair. It was Annabeth Chase. Annabeth Chase was dead.
