(a/n) I am such a hypocrite. I get mad when it takes people a little while to post a chapter, and here is my second uber-late one in a row. But, in my defence, I've been on a school trip all weekend. Yeah, I know, not much of an excuse. Some of you have been pleading for a new chapter, so I'm trying to get this in as fast as I can. Now, without further ado, here is . . .
Chapter 10
Percy's POV
I'd like to say I fought with 120 percent of my strength. I'd like to say I kicked their backstabbing butts to next week. I'd like to say that my so-called "curse of Achilles" helped me win the battle, and I'm saying this safely in the comfort of my own home.
But this story is supposed to tell you the truth. And, well, the truth is that 2 against 1 is nowhere near fair. Even a plan that's shaky to begin with can work out if you catch the victim unaware. And, when James covered my mouth and yanked my hands behind my back, man, was I unaware.
So, there I was, tied up, blindfolded, and gagged. I thought that it couldn't get any worse. Then, Ann grabbed me by my feet, James grabbed me by my head- it REALLY hurt!- and they carried/dragged me to a road. I heard them running back into the woods, and then nothing.
Their knots were pretty good, but James wasn't the kind of person who would pay attention in Boy Scouts. An hour later, I was free.
It would've been wonderful to go back into the woods, find the group, and confront the two traitors, but as it was, I had no idea which way to go. Twenty minutes later, I decided they had already left, so I started following the road eastward, the way we had left camp. I could look for a gas station and see if Annabeth's van had passed.
Ann's POV
James was pretty fast about tying Percy up, but we had no idea how long it would last, so we had to work quickly. We dragged him to the 'lonely road' that James had seen through his window because I was 'boring him so much that he had to look around.'
We ran back, just as the other group made their way to the clearing. Instantly, words flew around us
"What happened?"
"Where's Percy?"
"Did the monsters take him?"
"What kind of monsters?"
"Did he leave behind his wallet? I'll take-erm, I mean I'll hold on to it for him!"
"Travis, you idiot, at least keep some of your dignity!"
"Hey! I do too have dignity!"
"Here's a drum. Now, BEAT IT!"
"You don't even have a drum, how is he supposed to beat it?
"It's a figure of speech—HEY! Stay out of this, Thalia!"
"I will do what, I want, when I want. Now, why don't you take that and shove i—"
"SHUT UP!" Annabeth roared. Then, more calmly, but still kind of panicky, she turned to James and I. "First things first, what happened to Percy?"
I replied as quickly as I could. "We were attacked by griffons again. Two of them went straight towards me and James, and three cornered Percy. By the time we got past the griffons that were attacking us—"
Annabeth cut me off. "I get it, I get it. He's g-g-gone." And then, to my surprise, she sank down onto a fallen tree, and started crying. Thalia quickly sat down next to Annabeth and comforted her. The other kids looked tired and defeated, as if Annabeth crying really was the end of the world.
The silence—well, other than Annabeth, silence—in the clearing was suddenly broken by music. It took me a minute to realize that the Bon Jovi playing in the clearing was coming from my cell phone.
I looked at the caller ID and saw the words Mary Myers. Shakily, I stood up. "Um . . . I gotta take this.."
And, with that, I ran off into the woods.
James's POV
Just as Ann disappeared from view, Jason looked at me, as if to say "Aren't you going after her?" I shook my head, and said "Not a chance. She runs a five minute mile, and she's been on track teams since she could walk. When she runs, believe me, she RUNS."
Jason rolled his eyes. "Doesn't mean you can't go after her. Besides, we have to know where she is. We can't move on without the both of you."
I groaned. "Fine. But this could take a while." I started walking in the direction Ann had headed off in. After, say, half an hour—okay, a lot shorter than that—I found her sitting on the ground, speaking into the phone.
"No, no, it's okay Mary, please don't hang up, they won't get you, I promise. Do you hear me? He won't get you, the bad man won't get you. Please don't hang up, Mary, I promise he won't hurt you."
Ann was half-crying as she spoke, trying to comfort her sister. "Mary, it's not real. I promise. Just close your eyes, sweetie, just close your eyes and tell them to go away. The bad man will leave, I promise. It isn't real, Mary, none of it. Just close your eyes and it'll all go away, I swear, he'll leave.
Ann paused briefly to listen to Mary. "Okay, sweetie. Just go tell Daddy that they were bothering you again when he comes back. Ask him to take you to Miss Kitty, she'll help the bad people go away, and then they won't be there, and it'll all be fine, I promise. And I'll come home, and Daddy will find his job, and we'll play with Sally and Matthew again.
Just be nice for Miss Kitty, and make sure you take the little pills. They won 't hurt you, they'll make the bad people go away, I promise. I love you, Mary, but I have to go now. Please, Mary, remember that they aren't real . . . okay, bye now."
Ann closed the phone and looked at me, and then she was the one sobbing, saying in between breaths "I can't take this, I can't take it anymore, it scares me so much. She needs help, she needs help."
I had known about Ann's sister, but I had never known how bad it really was until now. I had no idea what to say to Ann. But finally, I came up with something. "You're right, Ann, Mary should have help. You shouldn't have to deal with it on your own. Someone else should keep things from getting so cra- hectic."
I figured that combining the truth and saying that she was right was about as close as I could get to saying something right. And, also, it was what my opinion was about the whole thing, anyway.
Awkwardly, I held out my hand to help her up, and we started walking back to the group. When we reached them, Ann, who had already come up with an excuse, said "I'm s-sorry. I just found out that my dog got hit by a car."
Piper nodded sympathetically, and Thalia, who had taken charge for Annabeth, stood up. "Well, a lot has happened today, but the gods don't favour wimps. We need to finish our mission and find Percy again, and you guys need to complete your quest. So I say we had eastward along with you guys, so we can help out if you need us."
Tactfully—apparently, 'for once'—I decided to skip the part about THEM being the ones who had to find our group member. However, ruining Ann's plan was an entirely different matter. "I don't know . . . it seems like we should go back to camp and tell Lupa that Percy is missing. After all, he is the leader of this quest. We should at least have a new person added to justify our chances."
I wasn't exactly sure what the Pluto I had just said, but desperate times call for pretending to be smart. (Oh, come on. You gotta admit that it was funny. At least a little? . . . Party-Pooper.)
Thalia blinked, once, twice, and then one last time before speaking. "Umm . . . yeah, I guess. Definitely, we need to tell Lupa he's missing. She can tell the search parties to be on the lookout for him, too. Good idea." She rambled.
Well, I wasn't too sure about that response, but if they were really Greeks, they probably didn't want to be taken directly to the leader of the enemy camp, so it kinda made sense. I followed Ann into the van, and prayed that Mary could wait until Ann got to her.
(a/n) Imaginary cookies to those who can guess what's with Mary. And, if you don't like imaginary cookies, take your pick of something else. I've got an entire imaginary grocery store to choose from. Bonus imaginary presents if you've ridden the Griffin at Busch Gardens. I was way to chicken (It's a 90 degree angle down! Call me crazy, but that's kinda scary!) but my friends did. My fave coaster was the Loch Ness monster. Super bonus points if you've been on, loved it too, and can tell me why.
avelinette