Hi guys! I'm so sorry I haven't updated for so long! I've had a busy and crazy few weeks! Also, to Mrs. Leo Valdez (I think that's your name), Leo won't be in Ransom. But I'm thinking about doing a sequel and he'll definitely be in that. It would just be too hard to put a new character out of the blue into the story right now. I'm not going to do any HOO characters in this story except Jason, some Piper, and I just mentioned Drew. In the sequel I'm going to include all of the HOO characters.
Also, if I seem a little formal while writing, sorry. I'm reading Les Miserables right now, and it's really affecting my writing and talking. I'm talking all 1800s now and it's actually kind of funny :)
Disclaimer: I don't own Percy Jackson.
Annabeth's POV
The rest of the day passed by slowly. Annabeth could hear someone come into the cabin, but she didn't know who it was. She could only hear an extra set of footsteps.
Travis seemed worse than he looked. Every now and then he would wince and make a strangled sound and hold his head. The pain would pass and he would say it was nothing, but it didn't look like nothing.
So the day passed. Then another. And then another. They didn't even dare to talk about escaping, not after seeing what happened to Travis when Kronos found out.
But Annabeth knew that escaping was their only way out. All they needed to do was hotwire the car and leave. It seemed simple, except for the hotwiring part. Oh, and also the part that Kronos, Cortez, and Beckendorf all have a gun.
So after what felt like a week (Annabeth couldn't tell how long had actually passed) the teenagers gathered in the girls' room and started talking about the plan (but of course they didn't tell Luke about it).
"Okay guys," Annabeth said after they gathered around in a circle. "We need a plan. A strategy."
"Why can't we just wait for the ransoms to be paid off?" Percy pointed out.
"Because, Seaweed Brain, most of our families are poor. We have not money to pay the ransom." Annabeth told him sternly. "First things first," Annabeth turned to the Stolls. "You can hotwire a car, right?"
They both nodded, though Travis was grimacing as he nodded. He still must've been in pain or something.
"Then all we really need to do is find a way to get out of our rooms at night." Annabeth said slowly. "Can you guys steal the keys?"
Connor looked wary. "Annabeth, hotwiring a car is one thing. Stealing keys off of the belt of a guy with a gun is another. It'd be pretty hard to do that."
"But not impossible." Annabeth added. "Do you think that you could do it while he's asleep?"
"Maybe…" Travis agreed. "But couldn't Beckendorf just get the keys from Kronos?"
"Not with his wife's life at risk." Thalia said.
"We still have to ask. There's a chance he'll get the keys."
"And if not?"
"Then we might have to wait to gain a little bit of Kronos's trust. If he thinks we're done with wanting to escape, then he might not keep the doors locked."
"Might. He might do this. He might do that. Geez, Annabeth, that's a lot of mights." Percy grumbled.
"It's better than not." Annabeth glared. "But this is our only chance if we don't get the keys from Beckendorf."
"Ask me what?" A gruff voice said from behind the group.
The teenagers jumped and saw Beckendorf examining them.
"Don't tell me you're trying to escape. Kids, trust me. Kronos always gets his revenge." Beckendorf warned.
"Come on, Beckendorf!" Annabeth pleaded. "If we leave first thing after Kronos goes to sleep then you can get the cops and they'll arrest Cortez before he hurts Silena!"
Beckendorf looked tempted but reluctant. "Fine, I'll give you the keys."
Annabeth felt more excited than she had ever been in her life. They would finally leave this death trap!
"But I'm not guaranteeing that you'll get out of here." Beckendorf continued. "And if you don't, then you'll have to face the consequences."
"We won't get caught." Annabeth said firmly, with the others agreeing with her.
Thalia held out her open hand and said smugly, "Now hand over the keys."
Annabeth wanted to punch Thalia for acting that way to someone who had a gun (even though he was sort of on their side) but Beckendorf didn't even look a little mad. He just put the keys into Thalia's hand and told them, "If you get caught, you stole these from me. I did not give them to you. Deal?"
"Deal." The teenagers chorused.
Beckendorf nodded and then said, "You better get to work."
The night came too quickly. They almost didn't have enough time to fill out any holes in their plan, but they managed. Finally Kronos locked the teenagers in their separate rooms and an hour later the guys snuck out and then unlocked the girls' room. They had decided to include Luke, mostly because Kronos would probably kill him if they made it, and also because he could help with escaping.
"Stolls, you ready?" Annabeth whispered.
"Totally." Travis grinned. Then he winced and pressed a hand to his head. After a second he sighed in relief and then said, "Guys, I think I have a concussion or something. I keep getting sharp pains in my head."
"We need to get you to a hospital." Katie told him and started examining his head. "It might be serious."
"Let's just get this over with." Travis said and then turned to Connor. "Come on, bro."
They snuck upstairs, passing Beckendorf, who was waiting on the couch upstairs.
"The doors unlocked. Kronos passed out half an hour ago." Beckendorf told them quietly.
The Stolls and Luke (who was going to help them hotwire the car) nodded and ran silently outside.
"Katie, go out there with them. They might need an extra hand." Annabeth instructed Katie.
Katie smiled. "Knowing Travis, he'll need the help."
Annabeth couldn't help but notice that Katie said Travis and not the Stolls. She was so in love with Travis, it was amazing that he didn't know.
"Beckendorf, you might want to go out there with them too." Annabeth added after Katie left. "If Cortez comes up then they'll need the protection."
Beckendorf stood up unwillingly and said, "You're probably right. But you five are coming out here if Kronos wakes up. Close the door quietly and hope that he doesn't know that we're out here."
Thalia, Percy, Nico, and Annabeth all agreed.
Ten minutes have passed since Beckendorf left. The four that were waiting in the living room silently, not knowing what to say.
After what felt like an eternity Katie showed up in the doorway. She was grinning happily. "Guys! They started it!"
Right as she said that Kronos walked down the hall. His eyes narrowed as he saw the kidnapped teenagers out of their rooms.
"What are you doing?" He shouted.
"No," Annabeth whispered. They were so close! They were right by the door, but they couldn't run. Kronos had already drawn his gun.
Annabeth met eyes with the others. They had gone over this part in the plan, but didn't want for it to happen. Sadly, it did.
This part was simple: Thalia, Nico, and Luke would travel on foot to town. They would get the police so Silena wouldn't get hurt or killed. Katie, Travis, Connor, and Beckendorf would go to the hospital for Travis since his condition kept getting worse. (A/N: see why Travis had to be the one taking the blame? They had to get to the hospital. I told you guys, it's the Butterfly Affect! [I just love that name...haha, butterflies :) ] Oh, so many memories...) Percy and Annabeth would stay and try to fight Kronos or at least distract him so the others could get away.
At the same time Nico and Thalia ran out of the door with Katie following them. Annabeth saw Katie get in the car, say the code word for 'Kronos is here!' (which was carrot), and Luke get out of the car. She saw three figures disappear off into the distance as the car went down another road.
Percy launched himself at Kronos, who dodged. Annabeth watched them fight for a few seconds, dazed and confused about what just happened, but then snapped out of it and looked for a way to bring Kronos down.
"You kids are so stupid!" Kronos spat. "I have a gun and I will kill you all!"
"Oh, really?" Percy taunted. "I'd like to see you try!"
Kronos laughed. "You asked for it."
Percy punched Kronos in the gut and tried to grab his gun, but missed. Annabeth was about to help Percy when she couldn't see Kronos.
Percy turned to Annabeth and shouted, "Wise Girl!"
Annabeth didn't know what he was looking at, but his eyes were full of fears. Then her question was answered.
Annabeth felt the cold barrel of a gun pressed against her right temple.
"You asked for me to try to kill you." Kronos whispered.
Fear flooded over Annabeth as she heard the bullet slide into place.
"I'm just doing what you asked." Kronos continued.
"Annabeth," Percy stared at Annabeth, his eyes filled with tears. "Don't shoot! Please, don't! Shoot me instead!"
"Too late." Kronos chuckled.
Annabeth's eyes met Percy's. She decided to make her last moment worth it. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she cried out, "Percy, I love you!"
Then the fatal shot was fired.
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