Chapter 8


Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan.


The sun had come up about two hours ago, so when we were driving up the long, steep, rocky driveway, everything was bathed in bright, morning sunlight. I could tell something was wrong, but I tried to push the troubling feeling out of the pit of my stomach.

When we reached the end of the driveway, I wasn't very surprised to see that the house looked dirty and abandoned. No one had been up here for about two years now. All the maintenance had stopped when my parents died, so no one had been coming up here and cleaning it up and making sure everything was working properly.

Jordan turns off the car and peers at the house, almost warily, through the dirty windshield.

"I dunno, Keegs. This place looks like bad news." he says.

"C'mon. What's the worst that could happen? Walking through a spider web and having a giant spider on the top of your head?" I say, grinning and setting Oliver on the dashboard.

"Man, don't even joke about that. I'm terrified of the creepy things." he says, shivering and opening his door.

I open my door as well and hop out of the car, hitching my backpack strap higher up onto my shoulder.

I walk up the creaking wooden steps, Jordan right behind me. The windows were so dirty with dust and grime that it was nearly impossible to see inside. It amazed me how quickly something could deteriorate without proper care.

"Man, I really think this a bad idea." Jordan says, his voice low.

"Will you man up and stop being a baby? I just need to get the spare set of keys and then we can go inside and see what we gotta deal with." I say, rolling my eyes and heading over to the loose board in the wraparound porch.

My parents had purposefully had a secret compartment built under one of the floor boards for the spare keys and any other important things we wanted to keep away from sneaky hands.

I find it after about five minutes of searching. I drop my backpack and unzip it, rifling through it until I find the small pocket knife. I pop it open and then jam it between the cracks, prying it open.

I get it open and place the board beside me. There were some old, deserted cobwebs lining the inside of the compartment. I hear Jordan make a disgusted sound as I dig my hand inside, getting it coated in the webs, and pulling out the keys.

"I can't believe you just did that." he says, looking a bit green, as I place the board back and stomp it back into place.

"Well, you gotta do what you gotta do." I say, shrugging.

We head back to the front door and I select the correct key. I place it in the lock and turn it. There's a slight clicking sound and I turn the knob. The door swings open, squeaking slightly.

We walk in, the place extremely quiet. Everything had been left as the last time I had been here. All the furniture had been covered up by the previous housekeepers, protecting them from the dust.

"Oh yea, what was it you were going to explain to me?" I ask, looking around.

I drop my backpack on one of the chairs in the living room, creating an enormous dust moat.

"Keegan, how did your parents die?" he asks.

"What?" I ask, his question catching me off guard.

"How did your parents die?" he asks again.

I rip the cover off of the couch and plop down on it. I open my bag and unzip the secret pocket. I pull out the Ziploc with the two joints and pull one out. I take out a lighter and light one. I inhale the smoke, resulting in a small cough. I offer it to Jordan, but he holds up his hands and shakes his head slightly.

"You still haven't answered me, Keegan. How did they die?" he asks.

I sigh and lean back, propping my arms along the back the of the couch. I look up at the ceiling and blow rings of smoke, watching as they sorta glimmered then disappeared in the sunlight.

"Keegan." Jordan says, his voice serious.

"A creature killed them." I say, taking another hit.

"What?" he asks.

"Oh, y'know. Sorta like the one I told you about that killed Oliver this morning. Except it didn't look like that one, it was different." I say.

"What did it look like?" he asks, sitting down next to me.

"Oh, I dunno. That was over a year ago. Man, why are you so uptight about this?" I ask, getting that light as a feather feeling that I loved so much.

"Because this is extremely important. So, I need you to stub that joint out and put it away, and I need you to listen to me." he says.

I start giggling. I have no idea why I'm giggling. Maybe just because of the way Jordan was so serious. What was there to be serious about? I was safe now; we were safe now.

"Godsdammit, Keegan!" Jordan shouts, standing up from the couch and running his fingers though his spiky, magenta hair.

"Duuude, chill out. We're safe now." I say, a couple of giggles escaping my mouth.

"No, Keegan. We are not safe." he says, looking at me.

I sigh and shake my head, taking another puff and blowing smoke in his face.

He rolls his eyes at me, waving the smoke out of his face. "I'll be right back." he says.

He comes back a few minutes later with a bucket. The next thing I know, I have ice cold water dumped all over me. I bolt off the couch, yelling.

"What the hell, Jordan?!" I scream, my high instantly evaporating.

"Well, you're not high anymore, that's for sure." he says, smirking.

"Damn right. What gave you the impression? Was it the fact that I moved at the speed of lightening getting off that couch?" I ask, motioning to the now-soaked couch.

"I'm gonna go change. I'll be right back." I say.

"Uh-uh." he says, holding out an arm and stopping me.

"Jordan, I'm freezing cold. I need to go change clothes." I say, my teeth starting to chatter.

"Not until I tell you what you need to know." he says.

Just as he's about to start what I predict will be a very long explanation, there's a loud crash out back. We freeze and look out the big bay window in the dining room. We see a large, dark figure moving in the trees, making it's way to the house. Even from all the way in here, I could tell it was covered in long spikes.

"Oh shit." Jordan says.

"How the hell did it find me?!" I shriek.

"Shh!" he shushes me, "C'mon, we can't stay here." he says, grabbing up my backpack and my arm, dragging me quickly out the front door and down the steps.

"Jordan, where are we going?" I ask, keeping my voice low.

"Away from here." he says.

We get in, quickly closing our doors "We're not safe here. I promise, I'll explain on the way." he says, starting the car and peeling away from the house, barreling down the long driveway.

I look behind me at the disappearing house as we go down the hill. I hear a crash, like glass breaking, and then an extremely loud roar. I shiver, partly from my soaking clothes and partly from the roar. I was glad Jordan had dragged me out of that house. Who knows what would've happened if he hadn't?

A/N:

I bet you guys are getting pretty frustrated with me for putting off that explanation, yet again. Don't worry, it's in the next chapter :3

Or at least, part of it is in the next chapter...The rest of it is in chapter 11...

I really just get so fucking frustrated with my friend sometimes. She's my best friend and she can be really awesome, but sometimes she just drives me up a wall.

A) She's blown me off countless times when we've had plans to hang out, just so she can spend time with a girl she's known for barely a year, but then, this girl's brother is my friend's boyfriend, but still!

B) When I need her when I'm really upset and angry with myself and just everyone, she acts like it's nothing important.

C) When she's "had a really bad day," she asks if we can hang out because she just really needs to "be with her best friend," and when this happens, I actually care and I don't act like I don't care about her problems. I give her advice or I'm just there to listen.

Sometimes I just feel like I'm wasting my time with her and I shouldn't even bother. You guys ever feel like that with someone? Like, you care a lot about them, but they don't seem to care much at all about you or what happens to you?

M/A:

The more I listen to Circa Survive, the more I love them. Just like-good god, they're awesome!

One of my newest favorites by them is "Brother Song" from their album "Violent Waves."

"'Oh there must be a way to understand the things you say,
Without letting it get to me,
Oh I may never get used to getting locked out of your life,
Who'll get, who'll get out alive,

And I won't share your anger,
It doesn't do me any good to feel,
And we can't shape our feelings the right way,
Until we learn things won't ever change no oh oh oh oh'"

Just like wow, those lyrics are just so awesome! I really love them because I can relate to them. Those are my favorite kinds of songs, ones I can relate to.

XOXO,

Mrs-diAngelo25