Chapter 3

An Orphan

It was years later now and I was still trying to fulfill my promise to Annabeth. The words I had said in the late night had not been forgotten even 8 years later when we were both 15. Several times I had tried to get away, but I couldn't stand to leave my mom, who refused to try escaping. She told Annabeth and I that she would hold him off and cover for us to give us enough time to get away.

There was a knock on the door and Annabeth shook me in the bed. She was already dressed in one of my old shirts and jean shorts, her hair in its normal ponytail. I rolled away from her and burrowed my face in my pillow. Annabeth then yanked the pillow out from under my head and whacked me with it.

"Okay, okay, I'm up." I told her, sitting up. Then I got up and changed as she turned around so she didn't see me. We both walked into the kitchen like normal and met my mom to start cooking breakfast.

Mom was making pancakes and rushed to us as soon as she noticed that we had entered. She hugged us both fiercely. "He knows." She whispered to us, her head in between our heads.

Annabeth did a large intake of breath and I froze. Gabe knew that I had tried to get away yesterday by going out the window at night, but how? "You two have to run." Mom said.

"I'm not going without you." I insisted.

She shook her head at me. "I'm not asking." Mom then pushed us towards the window and opened it for us. "Here's some money for a taxi. Get out as fast as you can and get as far away from here as you can."

Before we could leave the door swung open showing Gabe. "What are you trying to do brat?" He asked me.

"Uh..." I managed, but he wasn't paying attention to me anyways. Gabe went up to The knife block and yanked the biggest one out. Then he walked towards Annabeth, menacing and cold like. Annabeth backed up, but she was already pressed against the wall. Gabe thrust the knife in the air and then plunged it into my mom's chest, who had jumped in front of Annabeth's body.

I ignored the pounding in my head and the need to cry. I used all the pent up anger and revenge to get back at all Gabe had ever done to us and to make sure he never tried to touch Annabeth ever again.

I stared, frozen in my spot at the limp form of Sally, who had become like a mom to me in the past years. She was the person that I strived to be like when I got older, not my mom or dad. Blood was flowing freely from her chest where her heart lay. There was no way she would live.

Percy's face went red with anger and he pounced on Gabe, even though he still had a knife in his hand. I watched in horror as Percy avoided being hit with the knife. Then I ran over to the knife block and picked one up as Gabe had. I carefully stalked behind him and then stabbed him in the middle of the back. If nothing else he would be paralyzed or injured so badly that he couldn't follow us out.

Percy rolled out from under the collapsed Gabe. He ran over to Sally and held her hand in his own. "Come on mom, wake up!" He repeated over and over. Her blood was starting to soak his clothes, but he didn't mind at all.

I walked over to him and gently out my hand in his shoulder. "Come on Percy, we have to leave before we're caught." Percy stood up carefully and then went out the window after helping me out. We ran then out of the neighborhood and then to the busy morning streets.

I called a taxi as soon as we got there since Percy didn't know how to. "Where are you two going?" The man driving asked. The driver didn't notice our rumpled and blooded clothes or our horrified faces.

I looked at Percy then, not sure of the answer. "Montauk Beach." Percy answered. He seemed more calm now, but I knew that was only because he had a mission. He needed to get us both far away and then he'd allow himself to break down. I decided to help him by keeping his mind off of his mom.

"Why Montauk Beach?" I asked him.

"That's where my mom met my dad. We own a beach house there. It isn't the best, but it'll work for now." He answered. I nodded and then set my head on his shoulder, but he didn't set his head in top of mine like he normally would, he stared straight ahead as he tried not to cry.

The car stopped in front of a brown beach house, but it really reminded me more of a cabin. The ceiling sagged a bit to the right and there were spiderwebs everywhere. I could tell there would be some encounters with the 8 legged creatures.

Percy ran inside that house, not able to take it anymore. There was a loud slam of the door and I was a bit worried that the house would collapse in on him. Maybe that had been his goal.

I paid the driver some of the money Sally had given us and then followed Percy inside the house, not paying a bit of attention to the different rooms and furniture. Then I found a messy head of black hair laying on a blue bed.

I ran inside the house and made my way over to the bed my parents had shared before my mom died. Surely I had crawled in here after nightmares, but I didn't remember any of that. I was too young then.

Now that I was alone I let myself wallow in my own self pity and to let out all the tears I had contained since I started living with Gabe. It felt new and surreal that I was able to cry without fear of being shown to a whole new chore. It was nice to be able to show my emotions for a change, even though it had been brought on by something so painful.

The bed shifted slightly and I jumped a bit, but I knew that it was Annabeth that had sat down beside me. I didn't look up from the pillow that my face was smothered in though. My shoulders shook as I tried to breath. I didn't want her to feel how sad and hopeless I felt.

"I'm so sorry." Annabeth told me, her voice quivering. She hugged me from behind and laid her face on my back. I felt the back of my shirt slowly get wetter and wetter as she cried too.

I slowly sat up then and Annabeth did as well, rubbing the tears from her eyes and cheeks. Then I hugged her tight and we both sat there comforting the other. I believe that, had I been alone and without Annabeth, then I would have done something drastic.

Eventually it was late and we realized that we had sat there almost the entire day. Annabeth then made me lay down and went to the kitchen to investigate the food supplies.

Annabeth eventually came back with two sandwiches and sat down beside me. I grabbed the closest one and sat it on my lap, not able to eat. Annabeth held it up to her mouth once and took a bite, but I could tell she was forcing herself to eat.

"You have to eat Percy or you'll get sick." She persuaded me. I didn't really care right now if I would get sick, but I didn't want Annabeth to have to deal with that. So I took a small bite of my sandwich and swallowed hard. This comforted her a bit and she managed to eat about half of her sandwich.

After we were both done she took the dishes to the sink and got back in the bed beside me. "You should get some rest." She told me. Then she snuggled up to my side like she had done every time something had happened like nightmares since the first day I met her. I closed my eyes and she gently stroked my hair as I fell asleep.

Percy started squirming in his sleep, which woke me up. I hadn't slept much that night because I wanted to make sure he was ok, I guess I must have dozed off at some point.

I shook him awake and he bolted upright, drenched in sweat. He whipped his forehead off as he panted. "Are you alright?" I asked him.

"No, I didn't keep my promise." He sounded angry, like he wanted to punch Gabe straight in the face.

"Yes you did, you got us both out of there."

"But I didn't get out mom." He whispered, his voice quivering.

"Percy, your mom isn't there anymore. She may not be with us, but she isn't with Gabe either. I think that she'd be happier where she is know than she would be here." I explained. He nodded and then laid his head down again.

"What was your nightmare about?" I asked cautiously. I didn't want to make things worse or to make him mad at me.

"It was about my mom." He choked out. I knew what that meant, he must have dreamt about what happened to Sally. There was nothing I could say to make that better, no words could heal this wound in his heart. So instead I snuggled up to his side.

"It's not your fault." I told him. He was one of those people who always blamed themselves for anything wrong that happened. He was probably going through every single way that he could have prevented this from happening, starting from not trying to get out of there.

"I could have stopped it!" He growled, though more at himself than at me.

"No, you couldn't have. What we need to do is to go to the police and make sure that Gabe doesn't do this to anyone else. Understood?" I asked. I realize that I sounded a bit like a mom scolding her child, but this was the only way to make him listen when he was in this state.

"Mom told us just to get as far away from them as possible. I'm not letting you get yourself caught." He reasoned.

"How would going to the police get us caught?"

"That would put you out in the open. Let's just get out of here and then try it. It's safer that way. I don't wanna lose you too." There was a sudden pounding in my chest after he said that. I noticed all too well that he didn't want me out in the open, he never said anything about himself, but that was probably just from grief.

"Ok. We get one state away and then I'm going to the police, like it or not." I replied.

"Thank you." Then he squeezed my hand and my world started spinning from giddiness.