Sorry, this chapter is a bit shorter than others. I knew what I wanted to write about, but wording it was much more difficult, so I hope I did a fairly good job.

Disclaimer: I own nothing

WARNINGS: CAR ACCIDENTS; DRUGS (GETTING DRUGGED, NOT USING), LANGUAGE


"So what horror story happened here?" Percy muttered.

"Percy!" Annabeth hissed. "That's rude!"

"Don't worry, Annabeth," Leo told her. "It's true. Although this story isn't nearly as bad as the others, but like the others, it ended in tragedy."

"So... what happened?" Piper asked, hesitantly.

"Before I tell you the story, you should know that I didn't just go to six foster homes. I ran away from six, but the others, I had to be taken out of for one reason or another. This was my sixth foster home, right after Johnsonville."

*FLASHBACK*

Leo was nervous. After what he'd been through in Johnsonville, that was understandable. He was still healing and had bandages everywhere; some other patients called him a mummy, but everyone had treaded carefully. Whatever caused that must've caused some problems for Leo that weren't just physical.

They'd moved him from Nebraska to Michigan, and the family was surprisingly nice. With his history of foster families, Leo wouldn't have been surprised if this family had razor sharp teeth and daggers for fingernails (just kidding, but you get the point).

The caretaker was in her twenties with long blonde hair and blue eyes. She was slim and pretty, but also very kind and clever. The woman, Terra, too care of Leo almost as well as his own mother did, but she couldn't replace his mama's love. No one could.

She had one son. Jake was adopted from Asia when he was three. With short black hair and wide brown eyes, he was a little on the chubby side and had a great sense of humor, one that rivaled Leo's own.

Jake and Leo became friends, immediately. Leo, if only for a few weeks, thought he'd finally found a home

Until...

It was a rainy night, and the moon was so bright, it almost looked like day time. Bullets of water pounded the house, and thunder shook the world with its rumble. Lightning flashed and lit up the world; if this were a movie, everyone would've sensed that something was wrong. But in the real world, it was a thunderstorm. What was the big deal?

Terra had been acting weird all day; any time, Leo or Jake talked, she'd snapped at them. She hadn't allowed them to eat all day, and she'd even hit them a few times. Leo had popped more than a few stitches when she punched him. Jake, having never seen his mother like this, had been crying all day.

Leo just felt angry, but at himself more than Terra. He should've known it was too good to be true.

The real event came that night, though. Terra had given the two boys bottles of water and loaded them into the car; having not drank anything all day, Leo and Jake chugged the water so fast, their stomachs started to hurt.

Not even five minutes later, the teens started to feel... odd. Sluggish, tired, like everything was coming through a wall.

"Mama," Jake mumbled. "What's going on?"

"Shh, honey, it's okay," she said, her voice sweet as sugar. "Give me your hand, sweetie."

Jake lifted his wrist with a lot of effort and watched as she latched a hand cuff onto his hand before snapping the other shackle to the door handle. The door was locked.

"You, too, Leo," she said, repeating the process with the demigod.

And then, Terra continued driving down a back road that was wedged between the bottom of a cliff and a lake that had only a thin, steel railing to prevent accidents.

"Terra," Leo whispered as she sped up.

"Shut up, demigod," she hissed, spinning around in her seat.

Leo's eyes widened when he saw her golden eyes.

"What-"

"We know about you, son of Hephaestus. I promise, you'll never complete the prophecy."

"What..." Leo repeated

The car was speeding beyond what should've been possible, and Terra- or whatever it was- wasn't slowing down.

"Terra, please," Leo whimpered. "Slow down."

But Terra didn't. In fact, she swerved and demolished the railing, sending the car spiraling into the lake.

The car was sinking rapidly. Terra's eyes went from gold to their original blue before they rolled up in her head, and she slumped over in her seat.

"Jake!" Leo cried as water began to fill the car. "Jake!"

The boy groaned.

Leo shook him with his free hand. "Jake, we need to get out of here!"

The water was up to his waist.

"How?"

That was the one part of the plan Leo hadn't figured out yet.

Searching the front seat for as far as he could reach, Leo found it. Terra's purse.

The water was up to his chest.

Dumping the bag over, Leo rifled through the supplies until he found a collection of bobby pins.

The car was filling up with water, and it was already up to Leo's neck; he didn't have much time. Picking the locks on both his and Jake's handcuffs, Leo unlocked the door and threw it open. After gesturing to a bleary eyed Jake, Leo swam for his life, thinking Jake was right behind him.

After being drugged, locked in a sinking car, and betrayed by the only adult that had cared about him since his mother, Leo wasn't feeling so hot. His arms were made of lead; his head felt heavy; he was so tired. Swimming wasn't easy.

Still, he broke the surface, and despite his blurry vision, he could see the red and blue blinking lights and hear the screech of sirens.

"Help," he coughed. "Help!"

Hands were yanking him from the water and dragging him onto land, thumping his back until the water rose from his lungs and onto the pavement.

"JAKE! TERRA!" Leo screamed. "Jake..."

"It's alright," a police officer told him. "My partner's going down there to help the others."

Another officer lifted his wrist in her hand and examined the deep red lines that circled it.

"Somebody restrained him," she realized. "Somebody wanted him dead."

"Terra," Leo whispered. "She went crazy."

"It's okay. Take him to the ambulance," the policeman said to the woman.

"No!" Leo cried. "I left Jake. I didn't mean to, please."

"Shh."

The woman picked him up bridal style and carried him towards the ambulance, where paramedics were waiting.

Over the woman's shoulder, Leo saw them. A man breaking the surface of the water, dragging the lifeless bodies of a young boy and a woman. Jake and Terra.

"No!" Leo sobbed.

And finally, as if the world were taking mercy on him, he slipped into the darkness of unconsciousness.

*FLASHBACK OVER*

"Oh, Leo," Hazel murmured.

"Stop saying that," Leo snapped. "I don't need pity. I was doing just fine keeping all of this a secret!"

"Leo," Annabeth said. "You tried to kill yourself not even a week ago."

Leo blinked back tears. "That doesn't mean I need your... your sympathy. You don't understand, so don't act like you do! I left Jake in that car; I watched as Sir killed Alexis and Bradon and then didn't even fight him when he... he..." Leo's voice broke.

"Leo Valdez, don't you DARE say that again!"

This wasn't Piper. It wasn't Percy or Jason. It was Frank. Mello, calm, friendly Frank was shouting, but not in anger. In loyalty.

"None of that is your fault! You were a kid! We're all just that. Kids. We can act like heroes, but at the end of the day, we're all just kids that grew up too fast. And... you can't save everyone, Leo, no matter how hard you try."

"I would know," Percy agreed. "When your brother, Beckendorf, died, I never stopped blaming myself. I've gotten better about it, but... Leo, if you try to save everyone, you're going to drive yourself crazy before your eighteenth birthday."

Leo smiled, sadly. "Maybe I'm already there. After all, I did carve a line into my arms a few days ago."

Piper smiled, but her eyes betrayed the gesture. "You're insane, Leo, but not because you tried to kill yourself."

"Then, why?"

"Because you think that all the ladies love Leo, even when they slap you."

The seven burst into laughter because it was very true.

"Wait," Jason suddenly frowned. "You said her eyes were golden?"

Leo nodded. "An eidolon. Maybe that's why they targeted me specifically. I have a bad track record with certain monsters."

"Does anyone have a good track record?" Hazel asked.

"We are friends with a Titan, a Giant, and a Hellhound," Annabeth pointed out. "And you're friends with a horse with a potty mouth and likes to eat metal. Not exactly a monster, but close enough."

"Good point."

"Anyway," Leo interrupted. "The real struggle came after the incident, though. I was kept in the hospital for weeks because I'd popped some stitches and for... mental... issues.

"I attended their funeral, but I couldn't stay long because I broke down at Jake's casket and didn't stop crying for three days. I was moved after I got out. Never came back to this town."

Nobody said anything for a long time.

"Well," Leo finally said. "Festus should be heated up about now. We should get going."

The demigods hopped on Festus while Frank turned into an eagle to carry Hazel.

"Leo?"

"Yeah, Hazel."

"I'm not as... good with death as Nico is, but I know that Jake doesn't blame you."

"Is he in Elysium?"

Hazel nodded. "He saved a neighborhood girl when he was eight. She was being... assaulted, and Jake was the one to call the police. He knocked one of the guys out with a fallen branch."

Leo smiled. "Sound like Jake. He's brave, even if he didn't always act like it."

Hazel returned the smile. "You know, you're brave, too, Leo, even if you don't always believe it."

The ride was silent for the next few miles, but this time, they barely made it ten minutes (the dragon flew much faster than a car drove).

Leo's hands started shaking. He didn't know why he was so cold; he couldn't get cold! But his fingers were turning blue, and he knew his lips were as well. A chill was settling into his bones, and no matter how much he tried to raise his body heat, the cold didn't go away.

"Leo, are you okay?" Piper asked when she felt him shaking. Upon seeing his stained hands and lips, she answered herself. "No, you're not. We should probably land and figure out what's going on."

Leo nodded. "G-G-Good i-id-d-dea."

Piper took the reins and landed the dragon in a park. She didn't understand what was going on; it was chilly, yes, but far from freezing. What was causing this?

"Why'd we stop?" Frank asked after changing back. "Holy shit, what happened to Leo?"

Piper shrugged. "I don't know."

"I-I-I d-don't un-nd-d-derst-st-stand. I-I c-can't g-get c-col-ld." Leo's teeth were chattering so badly, they could barely understand him.

"That's what makes this so confusing," Percy said.

"I agree," Annabeth said. "You're a fire user, so your body temperature is naturally high. Therefore, getting cold? It's possible, but it'd have to be freezing, like way below zero, for it to happen."

"Do you guys need some help?" A voice asked.

Leo recognized the voice. The shock and the cold together sent him spiraling into darkness.

The last thing he saw was the person he'd been running from since he was thirteen.

He was screwed.


The girl with the bandana is next! Hopefully, that'll be posted by Friday, and I'll have this story finished by the end of next week! It'll be 11-12 chapters.

Review!