Annabeth

Chapter 24: The Darkness I Know Well

"Ouch!" I hadn't even taken two steps into the cave behind Ariadne before I tripped. I looked down to see some uneven rocks that I needed to avoid, but amongst them was something shiny. As I picked it up, I almost had a heart attack. It was August's iPhone. "Oh shit."

"Annabeth what's wrong?" Ariadne asked turning around to assist me, only to gasp in sheer terror. She grabbed the phone from me and started to panic. "She never leaves anywhere without that! I even told her she needed to leave it so monsters would track us, and she still brought it! Oh man she is probably dead or mauled alive!" Ariadne rambled in a panicky state, which wasn't helping the current situation.

"Araidne calm down!" I whispered vehemently, grabbing her shoulders and turning her towards me. "Move quickly and quietly. We're going to find her, and then I'm going to kill her!" I said as I shoved her along down the cave, pocketing the iPhone. It was true. If August was still alive, I was going to kick her ass.

The cave went on in jagged turns, over uneven rocks, through narrow pathways, all while the whispering got more intense. Ariadne was almost flying through the cave trying to find August, and I almost had a hard time keeping up. I didn't blame her though; the six months that Percy had vanished I was nowhere near Half-Blood the whole time as I searched for him. Love does weird things to people.

I was about a good yard and a half behind her as she took another sharp turn in the cave system. When I turned the same corner though, Ariadne and Nyxta were nowhere to be found, and the whispering had turned into a dull roar. I was sure that whatever had taken both my cohorts was close. "Arry?" I whispered. No answer. "Arry, where are you?" I whispered a little louder as I continued to creep my way down the hall, hand on the hilt of my knife. This was bad. "Ariadne!" I almost yelled, and the second I did so a strong arm wrapped itself around my waist and pulled me into an alcove of the tunnel, another over my mouth so I wouldn't scream.

"Annabeth shut up!" August's voice whispered into my ear.

"Mmmph?" I mumbled through her hand, which was supposed to translate into 'what's going on.'

"Relax, I'm right here." Ariadne's voice said next to my other ear. August took her hand off of my mouth, but had her other arm still around my waist, probably because she knew if she let go I'd gut her.

"What's going on?" I asked, thoroughly confused.

"Yeah August, this is kind of an odd situation." Ariadne agreed.

"Vrykolakases. Two to be exact." August whispered. That wasn't good news to hear at all. A vrykolakas is basically the Greek equivalent to a vampire, but much more savage and more interested in full body feasting as opposed to just the blood. The killing remains similar to that of a normal vampire; aim for the heart. The other half isn't as easy; silver is needed to stop the heart completely.

"We found your phone." I said, handing it to her.

"Thanks but I left it on purpose." She responded. "I couldn't take any chances on monsters tracking me." I could have hugged her for that. Even though she was probably the most impulsive demigod I had ever met, and I say that having the boyfriend I do, she actually did something that Percy didn't. Listen to my lessons the first time I teach them!

"That's great, but you still didn't come back like I told you to." I chided.

"I couldn't. They're both wandering these hallways often enough, and it was hard enough for me to hide Newman, let alone make it back." August explained.

"Where is Newman anyways?" Ariadne had asked what I was thinking exactly.

"He made it out of an alternate exit we had found before stumbling on the hallway." August explained. "He's too big to fight in here."

"What do we do now?" Ariadne asked.

"I was waiting for you to find me so I could have some back up. And we'll do what we always do best. Fight to survive." August said as she reached for Helios. I grabbed her hand to stop her.

"Yeah nice try, heat-for-brains, but you're missing a huge point of vrykolakas lore here." I said as she pulled her hand away.

"What's that?" She asked.

"Vrykolakas only die if stabbed by silver." I explained.

"Oh yeah." August said in a run down voice.

"Uh Anna? What do you think I'm holding?" Ariadne asked as if it was obvious. And it was. So much so that I instantly felt stupid for not realizing that Nyxta was made of Lunar Silver, and would do just fine.

"Ok, battle plan." August started, talking fast. "I'll cause a distraction and make it as loud as possible so the vrykolakases go after me instead of either one of you. After I get the attention of the vrykolakas sisters, Arry, you come in and start aiming for some hearts. Remember to use your speed or else you're probably going to end up as one of them. Mean while, Annabeth, you take the yarn ball and start searching for the scythe and staff. Once you've found it, try and get them out. If you can't, come to us and we'll work out another strategy. We clear?" August finished, waiting for a response.

I was about to correct about a billion different things on her plan, but I wasn't really supposed to. As part of quest rules, leaders decide the plans and cohorts must follow orders. Also, her plan wasn't actually a bad one, but it didn't exactly sound as safe as a sneak attack or a carefully planned ambush.

"Fine. August, on your mark." I said, waiting for her to start. She pushed me behind her and took a deep breath. Then, she darted out of the shadows screaming.

"I WANT TO BE AN AIRBORNE RANGER!" She shouted down the hallway. I knew this probably wouldn't end well. "I wanna lead a life of danger!" Her voice got fainter as she carried on, but another set of voices joined in.

"The newblood! Kill the newblood!" They hissed.

"Arry, go!" I instructed as I pushed her out of the alcove.
"I'm on it!" She yelled before zipping off. Now it was my turn. I took the yarn ball out and held it to where I could see it.

"Please tell me where the items of which I seek are located." In no time, it pointed in the opposite direction of Ariadne and August. I stuck my head out of the alcove, saw nothing, and made my way down the opposite end of the hallway. I donned my cap for extra security; no use dying because I got caught when I could just as easily avoid that. I wandered over rubble and twists, the fait light of my knife the only viable light source I had at my disposal. As I followed the direction of the yarn, the whispering was getting louder as I made my way through the corridors of the cave system. Suddenly, the light around me started to get brighter, and I found myself walking towards the light at the end of a large tunnel. As I approached it, the whispering became low but prominent voices speaking in fluent Greek, though I still couldn't make it out because of the hundreds of voices all talking over each other. After getting closer to my destination, I pulled out a few voices, and I didn't like what I was hearing.

"Kill the newblood."

"Sisters will die."

"Hubris."

"Betrayer. Battle born do not side with sea born."

"Unruly golden hair will pay."

"The younger of the two will never live up to expectations."

My head spun as I approached the source; a massive blinding light ball of swirling astral beings all covering the two items I was seeking. It was like watching living water with faces; the pale blue light pouring out in every direction as the creatures swirled in around. It was also loud, VERY loud. The whispers sounded more like a vacuum cleaner than a group of whispering people. I had never seen anything like it in my life, but that was my life. I should have expected weird things by now.

"What is this thing?" I asked myself out loud. Naturally, I was greeted with more taunting and unhelpful hints from the astrals. The only thing to do now was to figure out a way inside it. So I did the only logical thing to do at a time like this; throw a rock at it. The rock hit the side of the orb, but that's when things got unusual. It slid down the side and fell to the ground, like the sphere was made of syrup. I threw another one, and the same thing happened. Then, I unsheathed my knife and poked it. The swirling mass flowed past it like a syrup, but my knife had hit something solid, like the sphere had a solid core. It didn't seem to do any damage to either rock or the knife, so I stuck the tip of my finger against it. The orb felt like a weird mixture of fluid and mist, and it burned and froze at the same time. I drew back quickly, but there was no damage done. Whatever this thing was wasn't trying to kill me, so that was good.

"So how do I get in?" I asked out loud again. This time, I was greeted with something I didn't expect, a hint. An astral face formed on the side of the sphere and looked at me with the emptiness of a mask.

"To get in, you must give." It hissed at me in Greek. I almost jumped back in surprise. I hadn't expected it to do that, but then again I didn't know what to expect.

"What do you want?" I asked. Depending on what kind of answer I got, I would be willing to compromise. Maybe.

"Give us back the life we once lost." It answered. What kind of answer was that? I couldn't bring things back to life, I wasn't the daughter of Hades. I stared at the mask face for a second, thinking. Then, I had an idea.

"I cannot bring you back to life, but if you tell me who put you here, I can bring justice to your killer." I bargained. I was hoping that the killer wasn't someone I knew personally. If it happened that these spirits were all monsters Percy had killed, I would have to find another way to get in.

"Seek the vrykolakas sisters who live in this cave and bring us the hearts of both of them." The voice demanded, now sounding like a chorus. I couldn't tell if that was good news or not. Good, because it was in close proximity to me and I could easily get to the hearts, but bad because of the risk that came with it. Most monsters just kill you when you get bitten. With a vrykolakas, you risk living an eternity of immortal suffering if you catch a fang to the neck.

"Deal." Oh gods why did I agree to that?

"Good. Now go! Bring us the hearts!" The chorus all demanded at once. I nodded and exited the chamber, running back towards August and Ariadne.

You should watch Donnie Darko. Just sayin'.