Disclaimer: Nope. I own nothing. Nada. Zero.
"I want to kill him."
Malcolm couldn't stop twitching; anger got the best of him as he was talking to his sister and Luke. They were on campus, sitting on a bench.
Luke looked at Malcolm, trying to calm him down, but he couldn't. Malcolm looked like he meant what he said by his body language and tone of voice.
Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder, telling him all will be well.
"All is not going to be well unless I kill him…he's not human, and he killed me. I can't help it, but I have a strong urge to kill him."
He got up quickly, and ran for the school's front door.
Luke got to him within seconds, along with Annabeth.
"You are not going to kill him, alright?" Luke told Malcolm, trying to compel him.
Strangely, it didn't work.
"I don't care what the hell you say. If I don't kill him, I'm coming after you." Malcolm pushed past him, walking towards Percy's dorm.
He opened it, to reveal a messy room, but no one.
Annabeth ran after Malcolm, trying to get his attention.
"I know you're angry…but calm down for just a minute, okay? You can't be reckless by any means-"
"I know where he is."
Malcolm went to the restricted area, and ended up in the maze.
Luke stared at Annabeth with a bewildered look, and Annabeth shrugged.
"How does he know about this place? And how does he know where Percy is?" Luke whispered.
"I have no idea, but we've got to stop him."
They followed Malcolm, until he stopped abruptly, grinning with an evil twist as he found Percy Jackson in chains unconscious.
Annabeth gasped by how horrible he looked. He was shirtless, scars running down his chest, and dirt covering his whole body. Chains were on his arms, tied to the ceiling. His head was down, so they presumed he was unconscious.
"Oh my God." Luke muttered.
"Well, well, well…look who stopped by." Anthelia stepped into the light, flashing a sickly sweet smile at the three.
Malcolm didn't even look phased as he saw his sister's copy.
"I need to kill him." Malcolm muttered, looking deadly.
"Show some restraint, Malcolm, will you? I have other plans."
Katherine Dare appeared, and said some strange words. Quickly, the scene changed and they were deeper into the cave, but Malcolm and Luke were gone.
Katherine and Anthelia laughed, as Annabeth looked around for her brother and her boyfriend.
Percy was awake, but still chained and tired as ever.
"Where are they?" Annabeth asked.
"Oh, I didn't want them here…I just wanted you…and Percy…goodbye, Katherine." Katherine disappeared, leaving only the three of them.
"What do you want with her?" Percy grunted, nodding to Annabeth.
"Oh, not even thinking about yourself now, are we?" Anthelia flirted.
Annabeth gritted her teeth, thinking of a way to escape.
But, even though she hated Percy with everything she had in her, Annabeth couldn't see him in his horrible state.
In the back of her mind, a small little voice piped up and told her to save him.
But, she needed a plan first.
Anthelia was smart, and thought through everything, probably.
But, she is alone.
Annabeth could try to power Percy, or find Malcolm and Luke, but she had no idea how if Anthelia could kill her in a second.
"Why don't you just kill him already?" Annabeth asked, coming up with an idea.
Anthelia looked a little taken aback for a second, and Percy looked ashamed as if he deserved getting killed.
"Hmm…I would, actually…but, I need him for something….But, since I can't kill him, I guess I could torture him a bit?"
From her back pocket, Anthelia took out a stake, and walked slowly towards Percy.
"Please, no….AHHH!"
Anthelia punched the stake a little under his gut, and twisted it. Percy face contorted into pain, and Annabeth flinched.
"What do you think, Annabeth? Should I keep going?" Anthelia yelled through Percy's screams.
"No…you need to torture him little by little….stop every once in a while so he could rest, then start all over." Annabeth smirked, hoping her plan would go well.
"You really do hate Percy Jackson now, don't you? But I do like your thinking…" Anthelia took out the stake from his gut, and looked at the blood as Percy panted.
"Of course I hate him, he killed my brother."
"I should tell you the truth, but that wouldn't be any fun…oh, well. Anyways, do you want to do the honors?" She handed Annabeth the stake, and Annabeth took it with pleasure.
Please let it work, please let it work.
"Did you carve this stake, or…?"
"Why would I do it? Just stab Percy…I want to see this."
Annabeth looked at the stake as if it was the most interesting thing in the world, then she acted as if she accidentally cut her wrist.
She winced in pain, but hoped it was deep enough so it'll bleed a good amount.
"You idiot." Anthelia muttered.
"Sorry." Annabeth replied, walking up to Percy, and snatching his hair.
She yanked it, so he could see her face.
"Just do it already…" He whispered.
Annabeth looked at the stake, and turned around quickly and stabbed Anthelia.
Anthelia's eyes widened, and fell back.
"Here, have some of my blood…I'm getting you out of here." She put her wrist to Percy, and he drank.
He stopped and started to look healthier.
The only things that didn't leave were the cuts on his chest.
Anthelia's left, but not the rest.
They ran long and deep and Annabeth just looked confused.
"Why are you helping me?" Percy asked, cutting off Annabeth's thoughts.
"I don't know, let's just go."
Percy broke the chains as if it was made out of lead, and they ran off.
Before they could get far, Anthelia appeared in front of them.
"Don't try escaping."
"Why wouldn't we?" Percy asked bravely.
"If you do, then Luke and Malcolm will die."
Percy and Annabeth were getting laughed at by Anthelia.
"You really didn't think that it would be that easy to get away, did you?"
"Where are they?"
"What do you want with us?"
Percy and Annabeth asked those questions at the same time, and as a reply, Anthelia laughed even harder.
"Oh, Katherine? Where are you?"
Katherine appeared, smiling evishly.
"Do you want me to show them what I did, Anthelia?" She asked.
"Would you, bestie?" they both smirked, and Katherine twirled her finger.
Percy and Annabeth saw a sort of video on the wall opposite of them of Luke and Malcolm.
Luke was using his super speed, looking as if he was looking for something.
Malcolm looked the same way, but he wasn't as fast.
"You should be thanking me, Perseus…instead of Malcolm being after you, he's after his precious sister, Annabeth…but Luke, on the other hand…he's after you." Katherine laughed with Anthelia.
"Have fun! Our work here is done." Katherine and Anthelia vanished, leaving the two of them alone.
"What am I going to do?" Annabeth muttered, plans running through her head.
"Don't you mean we?" Percy suggested.
"Maybe you didn't remember this, but you snapped my brother's neck…just because I helped you out once, doesn't mean I have to do it again." Annabeth replied, annoyed.
Something in her snapped, and she didn't want Percy with her at the moment.
"You don't know the full-"
"I don't want to hear it. I'm going to look for Malcolm."
"He's going to kill you!" Percy exclaimed, taking her hand.
She yanked her hand away from him.
"You know what, Percy? I could honestly care less if Malcolm killed me! Let him do it, I don't care! All I care about at the moment is that Malcolm is okay." Annabeth yelled, stomping off.
"Malcolm's dangerous!"
"So am I, Percy!"
With that, Annabeth left without another word while Percy was still in his same spot.
"MALCOLM! LUKE!" Annabeth yelled, fully aware with the fact that this idea was one of her dumbest.
Luke found her first.
"Where's Percy?" He growled, panting.
"Don't kill him-"
"WHERE IS HE?!" Luke yelled, causing Annabeth to jump in surprise.
"Luke, you can get through this-"
"I want to kill him…I need to…"
"This is just a spell Katherine put on you. You're a vampire; you can clear your mind!"
"If you don't know where he is, I'll rip you limb by limb….draining every single drop from your body." Luke pushed her against one of the walls, breathing heavily as he inspected her neck.
"This isn't you Luke-"
"SHUT UP!"
Luke Castellan bared his fangs, and sunk it into Annabeth's neck.
She yelled.
The pain was too much.
"Luke….stop!" Annabeth cried out.
Eventually, Malcolm came along with Percy.
Without even a second thought, Percy used his super speed, and pulled Luke away from her.
"You wanted to fight me…don't fight with Annabeth."
Luke bared his fangs, a crazy light in his eyes.
Percy only then realized what was going on.
Luke drank blood.
Luke promised himself years ago that he wouldn't drink a single drop of human blood because of the way he acted.
Once he wanted one drop, he'd kill for more.
And he didn't care about who he'd kill.
Malcolm ran for Annabeth, but it looked like he was fighting going to her.
"I want…I don't want to….kill you, Annabeth." Malcolm looked so scared for someone so grown, but nobody blamed him.
Anybody would be scared if they were in a situation like this.
"Then don't…don't kill me, Malcolm. Katherine put a spell on both you and Luke so you can kill me and…Jackson, over there." Annabeth nodded to him.
Percy ran for Malcolm, and looked him dead in the eye.
"You do not want to kill your sister or me…you don't want to kill anyone, for that matter." Percy compelled him, and Malcolm repeated the words.
Luke was still a problem, though.
He lunged at Annabeth one more time, but Percy stopped him.
"You're not going to kill your girlfriend, Luke."
"I want her blood."
"Tough luck, you can't have any."
"I also want to kill you."
"That doesn't necessarily mean that you have to, though…now does it?"
Luke lunged at Percy, and they started a brawl.
Malcolm frantically took out a stake.
"Don't kill them!" Annabeth protested.
"I won't…but if I injure Luke, he can calm down."
"But you could kill him…they're fighting hard, you might hit Percy instead of Luke, and you might hit him a little too-"
"Then wish me luck." Malcolm ran over to them, and just stabbed Luke in the back.
Luke gasped, stopping his fight with Percy.
"Luke!" Annabeth ran over to him, but Percy was in the way.
"What are you doing? Look at Luke!" She disclaimed.
"It's fine…Luke needs to be put down. Annabeth, take off your necklace."
"No!"
"Why not?"
"Because you're not telling me what's going on."
"If I told you that it'll help Luke, would you give it?"
Percy and Annabeth had a stare off, until Annabeth gave up.
"Don't give it to me, give it to Luke."
"You're still not telling me what's going on."
"Just do it, Annabeth…please?"
Annabeth reluctantly put her necklace around Luke's necklace.
Luke passed out soon after she did it.
"Oh my God, Luke!" Malcolm and Annabeth yelled, kneeling down as they shook Luke.
"What did you make her do, Percy?" Malcolm asked.
"I helped him. When Anthelia switched with Annabeth, Annabeth was sort of in a sleeping trance, you can say. Luke…he can't handle blood. Sure, making him wear this will burn him, but it will also help him."
"What do you mean by he can't handle blood? He's a vampire for God's sake."
"It's a long story. Now, let's try to find the location Anthelia hid you at.
TIME SKIP
Percy carried Luke's limp body, and put it "gently" on the ground.
He closed the cellar, and walked out with Annabeth and Malcolm by his side.
They got out of the restricted area, and it was already past midnight.
"I have no idea what just went on in there, but…I never want it to happen again. I'm going to bed." Malcolm spoke, jogging to go to his dorm.
"Stay safe!" Annabeth spoke.
He nodded in reply.
Percy and Annabeth stood there, until Annabeth got to courage to slap Percy.
"What did you do that for?"
"For Luke, for Malcolm, and for everything."
"I'm helping Luke, you don't know the full story of Malcolm, and not everything can be blamed on me."
"It's approximately 1 o'clock in the morning …you have time to explain everything to me now."
Percy rolled his eyes in exasperation, and told Annabeth to come to his dorm with him.
Once they entered his dorm, Percy shut the door and stared at Annabeth.
"What do you want to know first?"
"Why did you kill…hurt, my brother?"
"It wasn't me…Katherine put a spell on me, and wanted me to kill both you and Malcolm…I didn't have control."
Annabeth's eyebrows furrowed as she was thinking through the whole thing.
Although she felt like he was being honest, some of it didn't make sense.
"If that's true, then why didn't you kill me?"
Jackson tensed, scratching the back of his neck.
"I don't know…but, it's like what Katherine did to Luke and Malcolm…Like Malcolm, I guess I didn't want to kill you."
There was silence, until Annabeth decided it would be best to end it.
"I'm sorry…I should've listened to you back there...and thank you for saving my life."
Chase was bleeding just a bit, and the pain was overwhelming although she tried to hide the fact.
"Thank you for saving me, also."
"Hey…when you were chained up…I fed you my blood so you can restore your health…when I saw your chest…" Annabeth didn't finish her sentence.
Percy immediately broke eye contact, growing uncomfortable.
"It's a long story."
"We have time."
Annabeth walked up to him so she could take his hand.
"Hey…it's alright to tell me…we're friends."
Percy took a deep breath, and stepped back.
He took off his shirt, and his chest was bare.
He was muscular and lean, as if he was born to swim.
The only thing that seemed out of place were all the scars that ran deep all throughout his chest.
"Luke and I…we got turned by our fathers. Luke's father, Hermes Castellan, was a greedy man and wanted to escape death. He made my father who's also his step brother, Poseidon Jackson, the same way. Both of them founded the school, actually…anyways, as I was saying…They didn't only want to escape death, they were also evil geniuses. My uncle and father were too afraid on testing on themselves, so they tested on me and Luke…me and Luke were like brothers, and I didn't want to see him hurt. I took most of the suffering; they burned me, chained me, poisoned me…it was a living hell. They made Luke and I live forever…they tricked us, saying this was the final time they'll test us…both Luke and I died that day, but we became vampires."
Percy stopped talking, as if he relived every moment he spoke.
Annabeth knew that what happened to him a century ago tormented him until this day, and possibly will forever.
She walked over to him, touching his scars.
"So all of these scars that you have…they're because of what happened?" She softly spoke.
He nodded.
What Annabeth did next surprised Percy.
She hugged him.
"I never knew…but sooner or later you're going to get past this…I'll help you."
"Why are you being so kind to me?" Percy asked once she let go.
"Because…we're friends, and friends are always there for one another."
Annabeth sat down on his bed, and Percy put his shirt back on and sat next to her.
"It's alright if you want to stop talking, Jackson…I understand."
"No, I'm going to keep talking…It'll help, I guess."
"Good for you."
Percy had a ghost of a smile before he started again.
"The day Luke and I died, our fathers disappeared…we found nothing, no hint or clue, to find them. It was like they disappeared off the face of the earth or something…anyways, Anthelia came along around that time. She was brilliant, charming, beautiful…a lot like you in that department, actually," Annabeth nudged Percy, smiling a bit, "While I thought that I was the only one with her, Luke that he was the only one with her; she played the both of us. Anthelia made us fall in love with her, and sooner or later she found out our secret. She wanted to live forever just because she didn't want to die, but we thought that she wanted to live forever because she wanted to be with us forever…Luke, he fed her his blood but I never did…I didn't want that life for her…I hated being a vampire…I still do. You know what happens next, don't you? I shot her to save him, but I didn't know that Luke's blood was in her system…I lived with all that guilt for a century. I blamed myself for everything. There was a period of time when Luke and I left the boarding school, and didn't return for a long time…Luke and I separated, but I searched for him until I finally found him…he changed. We later found at that Hermes and Poseidon did different tests on us, and even though Luke's a vampire…blood changes him. Luke became a ripper…he drained people of their blood, and killed hundreds…he was reckless, and I helped him get out of the deep end. I locked him in a cellar, and gave him an elixir instead of blood to help him live. It took some time, but he ended up stopping blood…Luke didn't drink blood up until he drank yours. I suffered for a long time, knowing that Luke was alright with the fact that Anthelia was gone…but I never was."
"Luke never helped you get back from the deep end because he never noticed your suffering?"
"Basically…but I don't blame him. Luke thought that I was trying to be cool and liked being a vampire because of the way I acted…I made everyone hate me because I thought that it was easier that way."
"Why?"
"I thought that they didn't need me…I was a monster, I killed Anthelia, drank blood, and…I was just myself. It's a curse to live forever, Annabeth…I know you…I know you love Luke and maybe the prospect of being together with him forever is perfect, but…living forever isn't as great as it seems."
"I know anyone who'd love to live forever, Percy…why is it a curse?"
"Imagine the people you once knew and loved and cared for died all around you…they grew older while you stayed the same age forever…everyone you knew died and it becomes sort of a routine as you meet new people…Annabeth, the only reason why life is so precious is because it ends."
There was a silence.
Percy dropped his head, looking at his hands while Annabeth stared at him, trying to figure out a way to help him.
"Life isn't precious because it ends, Percy…it's precious because you live it." Annabeth took his hands that he was playing with, and looked directly into his almost broken and lonely sea green eyes. It hurt her so much, she had a strong desire to look away.
"You only live to die in the end…I can't die. That's the problem."
"You only live to live a life, not to die…If Luke can't help you get out of the deep end, I will."
"We just became friends. I don't need pity."
"It's not pity, Jackson. I'm going to help you whether you like it or not. Get used to it."
