Chapter 7

Annabeth's POV

I don't remember much of what happened. I mean, I remember seeing murky brown eyes and the man cursing under his breath as he saved my life. It wouldn't have even mattered if I died that day. I wanted to die and it's not like anyone would care if I was gone.

But that's not the point of this. None of it is the point. The point is that the man, who wants me dead, saved me from dying. 'Why' is probably the question most people would be wondering but I'm more intelligent than most people- not to boast or anything. The one question that ran through my mind was whom is this man working for? Why does he want me and my family dead? How am I going to stop this man?

It didn't take very long for me to begin to uncover the secrets of my family and the man whom wanted us dead. But as soon as I uncovered the first answer, I immediately regretted wanting to know…

...Ω…

"Hush or he will punish me for giving you irrelevant information," a voice warns the second I open my eyes. My vision is blurry but after a couple of blinks, my vision begins to clear and I see a girl with fiery red hair and serious green eyes. Her eyes resemble Percy's a lot, but hers are filled mostly with pain and sorrow rather than laughter and amusement.

I nod and sit up, a wave of dizziness overcoming me. "Careful," the girl says gently, resting a hand on my back to steady me.

"Where am I?" I ask, putting a hand on my head. "Who are you?"

"The location that we are currently at is unknown. My name is Rachel Elizabeth Dare. R-A-C-H-E-L E-L-I-Z-A-B-E-T-H D-A-R-E. But you were probably asking who as in 'of what character, origin, position, importance,' and other things like that. So let me tell you that I am now a character in the story that is your life. I do not know whether I am a good character or a bad character because that is up to you to decide. My origin is in this very city, New York. My father was a wealthy man who owns more than half of New York and my mother was only interested in his money. Once I came into the picture they sold me to a man which brings up the next answer: my position. I do not know who this man is yet. All I know is that his minion's title is Gabriel. So my position is probably prisoner or slave. And my importance is irrelevant for you to know. Now it is your turn Annabeth Chase, who are you?"

The way the girl spoke was very odd. It seemed as if she had rehearsed what she was going to tell me over and over again. I looked around the small room we were in which gave me the impression that she probably had rehearsed it while I was unconscious. The room was very dim and only had a bed seated on the side. A bowl lies near the steel door that looked to be locked at least ten times from the outside. A small window brings in the tiniest speck of light.

I sighed and brought my gaze back to Rachel. "Annabeth Chase. What character: Unknown. Origin: New York. Mother was Athena Olympian whom is now deceased. Father was Frederick Chase whom is now competing for the title of: World's worst father! Position: Unknown, probably prisoner. Importance: Well, let's just keep things simple and say I have none."

Rachel's eyebrows knit together in a scowl as she studied my face. After a couple of minutes she retrieved a blue notebook from under the pillow that sat behind me. She flipped through a couple of pages before looking back and forth several times from me and back to the notebook. "Why do you say you have no importance? You have friends like Piper and Percy who would surely miss you if you were to disappear, am I wrong?"

I opened my mouth to argue but Rachel held up a hand and continued. "Then my point is proven, you have importance. Now tell me Annabeth Chase, what do you see here?"

She shoved her notebook into my hands, forcing me to look at the picture on the page. What I saw was a sketch of a girl. Her face took up the entire page but what worried me most is how similar she looked to me. Her striking eyes had no color but you could tell by the shading of them that they were supposed to be a grey color. Curls fell over her circular face, casting light shadows on her cheekbones. Her mouth was partially open as if she was trying to say something but the words got stuck. But no matter how hard I tried to focus on the other elements of the picture, the striking eyes kept pulling me back. They were filled with fear and worry.

"Me." I simply stated as I continued to look down in awe at the picture.

"That is correct. Now flip the page and tell me what you see." Rachel ordered her voice still soft and gentle.

I did as I was told and turned the page. On this it appeared to be raining. A girl stood under a tree, her curls gliding in the wind as she intensely stared at the tree. Her fists were clenched by her side as she looked up onto the hilltop where the tree stood tall and elegantly. A rope was tied onto the tree and on the other end of that rope was a person. The person's feet had to be a couple feet off the ground as the body glided gently in the wind. The person was a boy with shaggy black hair and as soon as I recognized him, I slammed the book shut.

"What the hell was that?" I demanded, clenching my fists at my side.

"What did you see?" Rachel asked, obviously not fazed by my anger.

"I saw Percy hanging from that tree. Why the hell would you draw that? How do you know who I am and how do you know who Percy is?" I felt my face turn a dark shade of scarlet as I gave Rachel a harsh look.

"That is irrelevant." Rachel stated as if it was obvious.

"I don't fucking care if it's relevant or not!" I screamed at her. "You better give me some answers before I snap your neck! I was already framed for one murder and I could honestly care less if I took part in one."

"Calm yourself. I'm not the enemy here. I'm trying to help you Annabeth Chase which is why I gave you the book in the first place. I finished filling the pages up a week ago. Gabriel should be back tomorrow morning to take you to your house were you will meet your brother. You will spend the rest of the weekend with him and then you will be taken back to the institution. You will tell your brother nothing about this. Once you arrive at the institution, keep my journal near you. It is more important than you realize. It tells your story. I can see into the future Annabeth Chase. I have a gift and so did your mother and your brother and your father and you have it as well. You just need to find it. Keep the journal near you so that you don't end up like me, rotting in a cell, having your gift go to waste.

"Now sleep Annabeth Chase, for your journey is only beginning and you still have a long way to travel."

As soon as the words left her mouth, I was thrown back against the pillow and my eyes shut, pulling me into a deep sleep. Unfortunately, it was not a dreamless sleep.

…Ω…

"The clock is slowly ticking… Finding your journeys end… The clock is slowly ticking… No need to attempt to fix your fate… For the clock is slowly ticking… Don't trust that dearest friend… The clock is slowly ticking… Why, isn't midnight just great!?"

The words implant themselves into my brain, not really having a meaning.

The rain pours from the dark sky above. A girl stands in front of a tree. Her hair glides in the wind and is damp from the rain. As soon as her face comes into view, I realize that the girl is me. Her stormy grey eyes look broken, as if she had been through a lot of pain. Her face was gaunt and her cheeks were hallow. She looked as if she could have once been beautiful but she had been through too much. All of the pain and sorrow had worn her beauty away.

A bright red umbrella is gripped tightly in her hands, so tight that her knuckles are white. "He took everything," Her voice says in a monotone.

My view shifts from the girl to the tree in front of her. On the tree hang my mother, my father, my step mother, my two stepbrothers, and Percy.

"I did this," a cool but familiar voice whispers into my ear. I feel the person standing behind me, his body big and bulky. A cold hand brushes the hair in front of my shoulder behind it, his hand lingering on my cheek for a second. His cold breath hits my neck, sending shivers down my spine. "Now that everyone's out of the picture, we can be together Annie. I'm sorry it had to be this way but they had to die."

That's when it hits me; the voice is Malcom's.

…Ω…

"Annie you okay?" a voice asks. I gasp and look around, realizing that I'm in Malcom's car.

"Yeah, just a bad dream," I reply. I'm sitting in the passenger seat next to Malcom, Rachel's journal sits on my lap, daring me to open it. But I know that I can't until I'm alone.

"You excited to finally see dad after all this time?" he asks.

I nod and turn my gaze from the notebook to out the window. I watch as we pass the houses of all my childhood friends that probably don't even remember that I exist. We finally reach the big brick house on the corner. Malcom parks in the garage and I take a deep breath as I walk in the house while Malcom gets my bags.

The familiar aroma of coffee and honey fills my nostrils as I walk into the house. A smile covers my face as I look around. Everything is almost exactly the same. I hug Rachel's notebook closer to my chest as I walk into the living room.

A lady with brown hair and brown eyes sits on the couch, her hand on my father's knee. They appear to be talking to someone who sits on the opposite couch. Her eyes widen as she looks at me. "I'll be right back," she says before leaving the living room and rushing to my side. "No offense darling but you look terrible and we have company over so let me fix you up a bit." She gives me a sympathetic look and I want to be angry with her but I know that she is just trying to help.

She ushers me to my bedroom and closes the door. "Allow me to introduce myself, I don't think we've officially met. My name is Helen." She says before rushing over to my closet which is filled with clothes. "Once I heard you were coming for a visit I got very excited. I've lived with a house full of boys since I married your father and was excited when he mentioned I would get to meet you. I think it's tragic what happened to your mother and I am so sorry. Oh and I kind of went overboard with the clothes, I didn't know what you liked. I've been begging your father to let you come over but he said something about Malcom still blaming you… I don't remember!" She laughs and throws something on the bed. She grabs a blue dress from the closet and hands it to me. "Here put this on."

She rushes out of the room and I quickly change into the dress. It's a light blue and falls to mid-thigh. I study myself in the mirror that stands against my wall. I bite my bottom lip as I study the girl who already looks so different from me. I quickly put on my navy blue converse that sits in the closet. I smile as I look at myself, this time looking a bit more like me.

Helen comes back in the room and smiles at me. "You look beautiful already. But that hair… let's fix it up a bit… and then we'll put a bit of makeup on."

I shake my head. "I'm sorry Helen but no makeup."

She nods and smiles. "You're right; your face is too pretty for makeup." She comes up behind me and begins to weave my hair in to a braid.

"There," she smiles, admiring me. "Now let's go introduce you to Hermes and Luke. Oh, you're going to love Luke!"

I nodded and bit my bottom lip as I walked to the living room. Malcom now sat on the couch next to my dad and started laughing when he saw me. "Oh gods you got Annie into a dress!"

I scowl at him, "Shut up." Then I remember what Helen had said about him not forgiving me yet for my mother's death. Did Malcom blame me as well? I quickly push the thought aside and stare at my father.

My father stands up and smiles at me. He runs towards me, wrapping his arms around me and spinning me around. Then I understand that he wants to play the perfect family in front of whoever these people are.

"I've missed you so much. I'm so glad you're back from boarding school." My father says as he parts from me.

Boarding school? And then it hits me, he doesn't want people knowing about the dysfunctional family he has.

"I've missed you too dad. Uh who are these people?" I ask, looking at the two men who sit on our couch.

The younger one looks at me with interest. As he stands up and comes to my side. "I'm Luke; would you be so kind as to accompany me on a walk?"

"Uh, sure." And so I loop my arm through Luke's and we go to his car.

(A/N: I know this chapter sucked but I'm having really bad writers block for this story and I felt terrible for not updating so please bear with me. Oh, and by the way, I know I mentioned Luke asking Thalia on a date in the first chapter but keep in mind that they aren't bf/gf and Annabeth doesn't know who Luke is because she's been in a mental hospital. Anyways, review maybe?)