So, I'm really sorry for the two or three week wait I've made everyone wait. But what's important is that the new chapter is here. And so, next I've got to say thanks for the incredibly positive reviews the story's gotten. So thanks. And I know this chapter's a bit shorter than the two before it, and there's some characters that are sort of our of character, so sorry about that.

Finally, I'm not Rick Riordan. My name isn't Rick, nor do I have the last name Riordan.

Waking up to screams was not a pleasant way to wake up. Especially when you're having a great dream. And for once, Leo was having a great dream, no creepy deaths or flashbacks. His dad wasn't six inches away from his face, staring him down. He was a hero. That's what his dream about. But when Nyssa grabbed him by the shirt collar and dragged him out of the cabin, he was starting to wish he hadn't had such a great dream.

Anguished cries reached his ears, and Leo automatically knew that there was a seventeenth murder. Another friend dead. But what he saw seemed ten times more unreal than the fact that Jason had been killed.

Hanging from long blond hair was a decapitated head. Simple as that. A decapitated head missing two stormy grey eyes. And when he looked a bit closer, the eyes were still there, just not in the eye sockets where they were supposed to be. No, that wasn't the worst part. If you were to look about four feet to the right of the head, then you would see a body tacked up to the tree's trunk with a few knives. And where the head would be if still attached was a crudely carved picture of a spider.

"Annabeth!" Leo heard someone shout, not daring to look away. It couldn't have been possible. She had been just as cautious as him and Piper. Maybe more. There was no way that was actually Annabeth. She couldn't have actually died.

And really, Leo hadn't realized that he had been shoved to the ground until he was pulled back onto his feet. As he watched Percy, who seemed torn between crying and looking like a strong hero, he couldn't help but feel sorry for the guy. He and Annabeth had survived Tartarus together. How terrible it must have been to live through one the worst places to be only to be killed by a mere human with a weird liking to trees.

Seventeen dead. Just the thought of it made him want to throw up. It couldn't be possible. Seventeen. How the Hades did this happen? Annabeth couldn't be dead. She wouldn't wander off on her own. There had to have been someone with her. Annabeth was smarter than that, even though she had a sort of sudden slight personality change. This was impossible.

The only thing that could make this worse was if the Hunters showed up for no reason at all. He couldn't see that happening, but with his luck, Thalia was going to show up, find out her brother and best friend were cruelly murdered, and then she would probably be the next victim. That was just how things were working right now.

And it really sucked.

"Annabeth," a voice behind him whispered. He turned around to see who it was. "They killed Annabeth."

"Yeah, they did. We're gonna get ´em though Pipes, just you wait. They won't get away with this. We're gonna make ´em pay." He had never felt so determined, other than the time that he swore he'd save Calypso. Whoever this was deserved to suffer just like them. Like everyone who was suffering because they lost someone.

The bastard was going to pay.

"Leo, maybe we should just forget this."

"Forget it? How the Hades could we forget?! They killed Jason! Annabeth! Clarisse! And don't forget Lacey! How can we ignore the deaths of these people, our friends, our family?! Think Piper! What would we do to forget?!"

"We could leave camp. We could run away, back to the Wilderness School if we have to. They killed Clarisse, Jason, and Annabeth. How do we have a chance at living if three of the strongest people we know have been killed by the same person? We don't have one. We're all going to die." The whispered words boiled his blood. She was saying that they might as well give up.

"Fine! Run back to Hollywood or some French-speaking place! I don't care! I'll find ´em myself! I'll kill your sister's murderer! How's that sound Piper?!" Piper's face showed only what could be described as a mixture of shame and shock.

"Leo-"

"I'm sure Drew would love to help you pack." He stormed off, leaving the girl standing there. Though she soon sank to her knees, tears streaming down her face and obscuring her vision. She just made a real stupid decision.

She had to stay. She wasn't going to run away. She was plenty scared, terrified really. But there were people less capable than her. At least if she got caught, there'd be a chance of being able to charmspeak the killer out o killing her and into killing themselves. She had a chance, small, but still there.

A quick glance at Annabeth's mutilated body made her stand up. The image of Jason flashed through her mind. It was just as much her responsibility as it was Leo's, wasn't it? Her friend. Her boyfriend. Her sister. She knew them just as much as Leo did.

With that thought, she swore on the River Styx to kill whoever did this, even if it killed her.