IT WAS MY BIRTHDAY YESTERDAY! SQUEEEEEE! AND BY YESTERDAY I MEAN MAY 21st!
Anyways...
Sorry for the long wait, I never got the chance to keep writing, but I got a lot done today, so here it is! The title gives it away, though...oh, well. By the way, LONGEST CHAPTER EVER! 9 PAGES LONG AND 4,005 WORDS! SUCK THAT, CHAPTER 1!
Anyways...
Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson. You'd better catch on by now :)
Claimer: I do own everything else x3 I will know whether or not you're using a character, so you may as well lay off.
Enjoy!
Chapter 4
Strangers Like These
Worst day ever, if that was possible knowing that I've nearly been killed before.
It started with a bad dream. I was chained to the post, as always. I was beginning to get used to this, as, most likely, was the true victim. I was sitting there, hoping someone would come for me. They would, I knew they would…or, at least, whoever this was thought so.
I thought of random people at camp, people I didn't know. I saw Zachary, and I saw myself, a scruffy-haired boy that looked somewhat familiar, and a bunch of people who I didn't know. Not one of them was even remotely familiar, but somehow, thinking of them made me sad.
My thinking was interrupted by a boy with reddish-brown hair and blue eyes…er, eye. On his right eye, there was a pitch black eye-patch. He was wearing armor over a red T-shirt and ripped jeans. He might have looked handsome if it weren't for the scars peeking out from above and below the patch, and the fact that he was torturing me. "They're certainly coming for you, daydreamer, but they won't succeed. You'll all die, you will."
"Shut it, Drake, I've had enough of you. That's the third time you've told me that…"
"So? I like to torture you. But don't worry, if they don't come within a year, Leslie will take care of you…"
I gulped. Leslie? Who was Leslie? And why was she going to "take care of me"?
"I don't care if Leslie kills me," I told him. "It'll be better than sitting here all day."
"Will you care if Noah kills you? He's stronger than Leslie, likes to torture his victims longer…"
I gulped again. I was not liking this at all. Who were these people?
"Leave me alone, Drake."
Drake poked me in the arm with his sword, slightly reminding me of Lola, but her poking didn't hurt like a sword did. "Maybe I will after you've proven useful…"
"…Proven useful in what way?" I said, hate and disgust in my eyes.
"Information."
"…What kind of information?"
I glared at Drake. But he just smirked and said, "Oh, you know…the useful inside information that will set you free—"
"Really?"
"—but the camp would fall and everyone would die. It's your pick. Sit here for the rest of your short life or give us some information."
"I'm not telling you anything, Johnsford."
"It's O'Johnsford, not just Johnsford! Agh!"
"Yeah. I know that," I said, scowling. "I like to annoy you as much as you love to torture my poor depraved soul."
"At least you admit it. Now, I must go—oh, wait, there's Leslie. HEY, LESLIE, GET OVER HERE!"
A slender girl in her teens (as was the boy standing before me now) walked her way over, swaying from side to side as she did so. "Yes, Drake?"
"Our captive would like to meet you. Say hello, daydreamer," he said, smiling evilly.
"Hello, daydreamer," I said unenthusiastically. I sighed and looked away. Maybe there was something less evil looking over there. It was hard to look at Leslie, anyways, and know that she was evil, because of who she looked like to me.
She was a skinny girl, with semi-pale skin and curly blonde hair. She had a bit more muscle than the girl who looked like her, though, and her eyes were blue, not a reddish hazel. She wore a black tank top and a camouflage jacket, which matched her camo pants and camo hat a bit strangely, I might add. I was sensing a theme going on over here. But other than these few differences, this girl looked eerily like my best friend, Lola Ruman.
Leslie was holding a large dagger, and had begun to look at it with cruelty in her eyes. Then I could have sworn I saw a glint of red in her eye, and it seemed that she had gained an idea. She began to cut little slits in my skin. I screamed, but Leslie and Drake were grinning ear-to-ear.
I couldn't push her away, seeing as my hands and feet were tied behind me, an uncomfortable position in which I was getting used to. How I had not died yet, I was unaware of, because all they fed me each day was a bit of sinew from their meals, and I hardly even ate it. The water I drank was only a few drops in the morning when Drake or someone or something would splash it at me to wake me up. No doubt the new wakeup call would be Leslie cutting away at my skin some more.
It was hours later. Leslie had given up on me because she couldn't get a good scream out of me anymore and was now sitting in a chair close by. Drake was still taunting me, though, which was more to endure than Leslie's dagger.
"He's comin'…not gonna work, though. They'll die trying to save you. And once they're gone, we can finally get rid of you."
"So now I'm the pest, huh?"
"Yep," he said coolly.
"Prat…" I muttered under my breath. Luckily, he didn't seem to hear me calling him a stupid person in British-English.
A couple more hours passed. Drake had fallen asleep, and now it was Leslie's turn to talk to me.
"Don't worry. Your boyfriend is coming, sweetie," she said sickeningly. "But both of you will die."
Boyfriend? Either this girl had a boyfriend or it truly was supposed to be me and they assumed that Greg was my boyfriend or something (I shivered at the thought.)
"Just shut up, alright? They're either coming and living or not coming and still living. For their sakes I hope they don't come…" I looked out at the hills for no particular reason. Maybe Zachary would come back. He seemed to be the only one making a big, brave attempt to save me and he had said he'd come back. I trusted his word.
"Fine, fine…but don't be sad when they come, princess."
My original attacker was now talking in his sleep. He muttered something about a daughter of Ares, which sent my nerves up a wall. Was he dreaming about me or something?
But Leslie stretched over to him and smiled. "Dreaming about me again?"
My mental jaw dropped. So this girl was my half-sister…wonderful.
"Leslie…" he continued, still unaware that she was right in front of his face. Leslie shook him and he shouted. "Get up, Drake," she barked. "We have orders, you know, we can't sit here all day."
Thank gods, I thought. They're leaving.
Leslie smacked my cheek before leaving, and I watched, horrified, as Leslie and Drake walked away. But they seemed to be exactly side-by-side, there was hardly any space between them. They held their evil hands and eventually, they began to embrace a bit more and began to kiss, and I looked away. How could there possibly be love in such a place?
I woke up soon after that, the image of Drake and Leslie kissing and so closely wrapped around each other stuck in my head. It disgusted me that evil might actually know love. Evil people or things never knew love, or at least that I knew of, especially in literature. I remembered there being a girl way back when at Symphony Elementary who had been reading the Harry Potter books, and she wouldn't stop droning on to everyone how stupid Voldemort was and how he didn't know what love meant. It had gotten really annoying, and I had soon trained my ears to drown it out with the sounds of nothing.
Lola was sitting on the bed, looking sad. Her face was not wet from tears, thank goodness, but I could see the red in her eyes. Well, her eyes were partially red in general, but you know what I'm saying. That she had been crying.
"Ms. Stupidface would like to talk to you…" she said glumly, and I knew that she meant Ms. Cunningham. She had come over to the Orphanage soon after our departing from the school grounds, and we once again began to call her names, as we had on the day we left.
"Why?" I said, alarmed. If Ms. Cunningham wanted to see me, what was going on? Was Lola in trouble, and she needed someone else to talk to? Someone who knew her well?
"I-I can't tell you," she murmured.
"Can't or won't?"
She glared the slightest. "Can't, but in the won't kind of way. I just can't say it, Eve…just go…"
I took her "just go" as "move it or I'll punch you," so I left fairly quickly.
I went past the dining hall and into the front office. What I saw worried me. Ms. Cunningham was with…a pair of adults. Now I knew why Lola was crying. Now we really had the reason to call her Ms. Stupidface.
When I saw them, I faltered and stepped back a bit.
"Um…hi," was my intelligent response.
The woman waved and smiled, but the man seemed hooked into an unfortunate conversation with Ms. Stupidface. The stupid woman motioned for me to go into the nurse's office, right next to the office I was in now. I hurried in there and began to eavesdrop.
"—good, caring girl. She sounds just about right," said the man.
He talked about me as if I were a dog, which made me mad.
"Dear, we have to keep Quinn in mind," said his wife. I didn't know who Quinn was and I didn't give a darn either. Ms. Stupidface was trying to get me adopted.
"I already told him that whoever we came out of here with, if we got out of here with someone, that he'd have to live with them no matter how much they disliked each other. And he agreed."
"You got his word?" she asked, sounding very surprised.
"Er, no, I kind of got the puppy-dog pout and a reluctant 'okay, fine, dad', but hey, I got something out of him!"
"Oh, Theo…"
Ms. Stupidface began to talk again. "Her files say she's kind, caring, hard-working, smart, willing to do any chore—"
I stopped listening right there. 'Willing to do any chore?' Now she was just trying to get rid of me.
The man called Theo continued to talk with the woman I despised almost as much as I despised Leslie. I didn't bother trying to listen anymore. It was clear that it wouldn't matter anyway. These people were talking too excitedly, and Ms. Cunningham had the most evil grin on her face.
"Olivia, I'm already told you, Quinn won't mind—"
"He will!"
"I know I said chances were more likely he'd get a brother but—"
"THEO!"
"Calm down, Olivia, I didn't promise him!"
"But STILL! You told him chances were likely-"
Ms. Stupidface stopped them from conversing any longer.
"Now, now, calm down…so, I take it that you are adopting her? Or have you changed your minds?"
The man's face went pale and he looked at the woman next to him. "Olivia?"
"Well…yes. The first one."
My heart sank. I would be leaving Lola, Becca, right now I even cared that I was leaving Kira.
"Eve," crooned Ms. Stupidface, "come out here."
I reluctantly walked out of the nurse's office and shakily walked into the main office. "Er, hello…"
The woman smiled encouragingly, and so did the man. I knew I'd have to get used to them. They were taking me away.
"I am Olivia, this is Theo…we just need to talk to you."
I nodded, and Ms. Stupidface went to go sort out files or something of the sort. I was alone with these people now, and I would never see my friends again. I couldn't go off to camp with these people hanging about. My newly discovered life would officially be put to an end. After all that I had been through? After each and every one of us risking our lives for something we didn't even care about? Lola and I were completely new to it, we didn't deserve that so quickly. I didn't do that for nothing. There had to have been a reason that the Cyclops had chased us, that Barry had taken us away…surely I was not meant to be confined to a house forever, never go to camp again?
They talked to me for a while, explaining things and asking me questions that I answered bitterly. I couldn't take this. When would I be free?
If things went well, they would decide they didn't like me. If things in my life were to fall, I'd be adopted.
It turned out that, apparently, my life was supposed to fall apart.
I went back up to my room, crying. When I finally reached my door, I opened it up to find Lola and Becca sobbing into each other's laps. This was almost as if reliving what Becca and I had done the night that Jasmine had left, and I did not want to relive that.
"I…I don't know what…what to say…"
"It's okay, Eve…" said Becca, tears in her eyes. She wiped them away. "You didn't get a say in whether or not you got adopted…they must have figured all of us just want to leave this place."
I shrugged.
Lola finally found her voice. "I really shouldn't tell Kira about this…she'll be so jealous…but I will anyway." She smirked.
That was my Lola. She'd been acting a bit strange since we'd gotten here.
I packed all of my things half-heartedly.
I didn't know why Becca and Lola were sticking around. They weren't even doing anything anyways, and why torture themselves by watching me leave? It was pointless and rather stupid of them. But then again, I'd be doing the same had the situation been reversed.
There was a soft rap on the door, and I flinched. Becca began sobbing all over again. "Eve, are you ready?" said the woman's voice. A tear rolled down my cheek—and to think I had wanted to leave this place…It might have been lonely, and upsetting watching people come and go, but it would be better than never seeing Lola or Greg or Kyle or even Becca again…but then again, there was drachma to be considered, and those led to Iris-messages…but I still didn't want to leave. And then I remembered how Greg and I chased each other across the beach, how my friends had saved me from the collapsing cave, how Lola and I had sat in the attic talking things over, how I had jumped off of the fiery climbing wall and gracefully landed on the back of my now former Pegasus, Jet, and flew off, and several more drops of water emerged from my eyes. I wouldn't experience it again. I felt a hand touch my back. Hoping it was Lola or Becca, I whirred around, only to see the woman, with a deep look of sympathy in her hazel eyes. My only problem with the sympathy was that I knew she could never really sympathize. She would never know how this felt.
"Eve, sweetie, are you ready to leave?" she asked again. I couldn't take the soft tone in her voice. It was mind-boggling.
"N-," I began, but stopped short. I couldn't say that I wasn't leaving. No doubt they'd done the paperwork already, I couldn't go against it. "I…Almost…"
And so I reluctantly packed the rest of my things and walked with the couple to the front office. Lola and Becca followed. By the front door, we said our final goodbyes. I wasn't having any of it…I wouldn't see Lola again. I wasn't sure I exactly minded never seeing Becca again, but I still couldn't leave. Becca would be alone in that room. It was bad enough when Jasmine had left, but now with me leaving, Becca would be broken.
It was almost like reliving Jasmine's goodbye. "Bye Lola," I murmured, though muffled underneath the sound of crying. She grabbed me fiercely and we hugged. This would be like the Underworld, leaving her. Dark, cold, not empty but certainly not happy.
The hug lasted almost three whole minutes. We were both sobbing, and Becca was doing the same. We eventually broke, and I said, "Bye Becca," and Becca made to grab me as well, but I stopped her and we had an awkward handshake.
"I don't want to leave you guys…"
"Don't worry, Eve," said Lola, though she was one to talk about worrying. She'd been doing it for over half of her life. "I'll watch over old Rebecca over here."
Becca winced at her full name being said, just as I did whenever my middle name was mentioned. I was finally noticing some similarities between us, though I would no longer be able to put them to use.
"I'm more worried about you, to be honest," I joked. Lola laughed a bit, but that was it. We had a group hug, and then I left them forever.
The moment I walked out those doors, I regretted it. I walked silently to the car with the man and the woman. I couldn't take this.
The car was a silver Honda Civic, and I wouldn't know that had there not been a logo on the car. I reluctantly opened the back door and got in. The woman followed in after me. The man got in the passengers' seat, and there was an adolescent boy in the front seat, who I had to guess was Quinn.
As it turned out, I was quite right.
"I thought you said I'd be getting me a brother," he muttered.
"I know we did, Quinn, but—"
"Yeah, I know, Mom…she had good records. We've gone over it."
"Hey, don't talk like that, young man," ordered the man.
"Yes, Theo…"
He must be really mad to be calling his father by first name. Theo glared at him and said, "Olivia, make him be quiet."
"Be quiet, Quinn," ordered Olivia.
He obeyed.
Along the way, they began to ask me about myself.
"Do you know what happened to your parents, sweetie?" asked Olivia. This was an extremely touchy subject for me, and I answered reluctantly. "My…my mom's dead…" I whispered. The woman looked sad. "And your father?"
"Ares," I said. Then I realized what I'd said.
"What?" Theo asked.
"I said, 'Er, he's gone'," I improvised. Thankfully, they bought it, all except for Quinn, who seemed very uneasy about this, slightly throwing off his driving.
"For goodness' sake, Quinn, you're nineteen, you're supposed to drive better than that!" cried the woman next to me. Quinn began to focus again and put what I'd said behind him.
I was disliking this boy already, the way I had disliked Jasmine in almost a heartbeat. He was on to me, too.
After a long time of awkward conversation and repeated scolding towards Quinn, we reached the house. It was a one story, the color of white. There were stairs leading to the front door, and a large bronze van parked out front. The place looked perfectly friendly, and I trusted these people, but I didn't like it at all.
After a couple more minutes of talking to me about random things, though I really couldn't care less whether or not their Uncle Skandar was an equestrian, I forced my suitcases onto Quinn and strode into the house after Theo. I swore right there that I would never go easy on Quinn as long as I lived in that house.
I entered, and I saw a large living room with white carpet flooring, a flat-screen TV, a big purple beanbag sitting by it, and squeezed into a small corner behind the beanbag chair, was a tall door. How could they fit a room into the side of the house like that?
Theo motioned me down a short hallway, two doors on each side. He pointed to the first one on the right side. "This is Olivia and I's room," he said, then pointed to the one next to it, "and this is my office. I work from home." Then he pointed to the first one to the left. "This is a sort of playroom, I suppose, and this," he pointed to the one next to that, "is all yours."
I faltered. "Where does Quinn sleep?"
He pointed to the door in the living room behind the beanbag.
I didn't pity him. I envied him. To have a room separated from these people? I'd swap anything for that.
He motioned for me to go into my room and get unpacked as soon as Quinn came with the bags, but instead I continued down the hall. There was the kitchen space behind a large island, and then a table and chair set-up in the main part of the room. There were many trinkets placed in different places, along with a small TV set up near the table. There were glass doors leading to the backyard, and then I saw a medium-sized white-and-brown creature with a torn ear and scratches all over it. I gulped.
"Er, sir, just wondering, do you happen to have a dog?" I asked fearfully. This animal looked an awful lot like a small dog.
"No, Eve, we don't, but we do have a cat. He's right out there. His name's Scratch, as you can see why."
"How'd that happen?"
"Got in a fight with the next door neighbor's dog, Roscoe. Now Scratch is blind in one eye, has an ear and a half, and scratches all over, hence his name."
I opened the door and let the cat in. It didn't look very handsome, but Theo seemed to adore the thing, so I decided to try and 'befriend' it.
The rest of the day, I endured insults from Quinn and his parents shouting at him to shut his mouth unless he wanted to be grounded for a month, to which Quinn instantly obeyed. Quinn reminded me of a more snotty version of Lola, and a calmer version of Rosa, which tore me completely. He acted like two people, one that was awesome, and one that was an absolute hag that I never wanted to see again. Therefore, I was struggling with how to treat him, but I had already promised myself that I wouldn't go easy on him, even if he eventually softened on me. This would be a forever rivalry.
I would keep going forever, until he finally cracked.
And I would make him.
I went to sleep in my new room that night, still horrorstruck. This had actually happened. I was gone, away from my friends, forever. I had met too many people in one day for my head and heart to bear. There were just too many. I had the misfortune of meeting Drake O'Johnsford in a dream, where he had tortured me. I had met a girl named Leslie, who was apparently supposed to be my half-sister. Well, I wasn't going to show her any sisterly love any time soon. And then there were Olivia and Theo…I had mixed feelings about my new step-parents at the moment. I was happy, because they had liked me enough to want to adopt me, but I hated them all at once, because they had taken me away from the people I loved. And Quinn…Quinn was a different case. I didn't hate him like I hated the foul demigods Drake and Leslie, but I didn't like him like I liked his parents. And Scratch…well, that was for me to find out. Scratch was only a cat, so I wasn't going to say that I had met him. We would see whether I liked him or not. But I knew one thing: this was going to be like the Underworld, as I had predicted. Dark. Cold. Not empty, not happy. Painful, that was the word.
DON'TCHA JUST LOVE QUINN? :DD He's my favorite character in the entire series. You'll find out why, eventually.
Review, flame, all the same to me. As long as you read it.
By the way, there's something I want you to do for me. Since I'm officially in love with Harry Potter, I've listened to a band called Ministry of Magic. They are a completely Harry Potter-based band, with four albums and 2 EPs, and they rock to no end. So, I need you to listen to them for me. 'Kay? Thanks.
