Brace yourselves!
I do not own anything from Rick Riordan.
Chapter 23
Annabeth hugged her coat closer as she walked the last few miles to her apartment, under the cold winter night. December had just started, and the snow was already covering a great part of the city, letting New Yorkers know it was going to be a harsh winter.
She shook her boots on the stairs before getting her keys out and opening the door. That day the restaurant had closed for renovations, and Annabeth was glad to arrive home early for the first time in eight months.
As she waited for the elevator, the image of hot chocolate came to her mind, is the perfect beverage for relaxing and just forgetting about the awful day she had at the firm. Her boss, Tartarus, had been so furious about someone's design that Annabeth was sure he was going to punch a wall. She didn't know if there was any case where he had ever used physical abuse, but honestly, she wouldn't be surprised if he had.
Unfortunately, thinking about hot chocolate made Annabeth remember the day when Percy and she bought a special machine for it. Nostalgia filled her head, as she remembered how insistent Percy had been on taking her to the trip that would ruin everything. That was almost nine months ago. Time really flew by, but her wounds hadn't healed at all.
Actually, they were getting worse. Her mental health was so deteriorated she didn't even remember when she had felt happy and relaxed for the last time. Her physical state wasn't better. She had dropped out of boxing months ago, and her nutrition was horrible.
Still, she couldn't bring herself to make the call.
The elevator dinged as it reached Annabeth's floor and she stepped out of it heavily, shaking the thoughts away from her head. Maybe she could go to the bed early, but she highly doubted she would get any sleep anyway without taking her pills, and she had been scared of taking them arbitrarily since Will had prescribed her stronger ones and had specifically warned her not to take more than one, and only when she really needed to.
Maybe she could watch a movie with Luke.
The first thing she noticed after stepping into their apartment and closing the entrance door behind her, was that the T.V was on, indicating Luke was home. He wasn't, however, in the living room nor the kitchen.
She left her stuff on the hanging rack by the door and that's when she noticed the tiny blood droplets scattered on the carpet floor, going from the entrance door to the kitchen, where she found several bloody towels laying the sink.
"Luke?" she called, worried.
Nobody answered. Just for precaution, Annabeth grabbed a kitchen knife from the cabinets and carefully headed towards the hallway. She saw a speck of light coming from the bathroom, and slowly tiptoed towards it, knife ready.
She pushed the door softly and peeked inside.
"Jeez, Luke," Annabeth said, taking a deep breath a lowering down the knife. Her roommate was standing in front of the bloody sink with his head tilted backward and was pinching his nose preventing more blood from coming out. He had some nasty bruises on his cheeks and a red patch over one of his eyebrows. "You scared me."
Luke tried to give her a smile. "Sorry. I didn't mean to. What were you planning to do with that?" he asked pointing to her knife."
"I thought there was a serious killer in the house, so I planned on killing him before it killed me."
"Makes sense…"
"What happened?" she asked, stepping fully inside, and inspecting his face.
"I fell down the stairs at work." He said.
He was lying. She knew him too well to tell.
"Aha." She touched gently one of the bruises and he flinched. "Some very aggressive stairs."
He shrugged. "You know how clumsy I can be."
Why was he lying? Could it be…
"Are you hanging out with you know who, again?" she asked, her eyes widening.
He gave her another reassuring smile, but fear tinted his gaze for a second. "Nah. You know I stopped that years ago."
"That's what you told me."
"Well, it's true…trust me."
She sighed and thought about pushing him harder to answer her, but he wasn't her boyfriend anymore. She didn't have to worry about his life, and he didn't have to worry about hers. That had been their dynamic since they started living together, and it had worked so far.
She touched his arm slightly and said, "Sit. I'll bring you some ice."
Luke didn't question her request. He sat on the toilet's lid as Annabeth went to get some ice for his bruises. When she returned, she noticed the bleeding had finally stopped and Luke was now looking at his reflection in the mirror.
"You're home early," Luke said, as he gently pressed the ice against his cheeks. He winced slightly.
"The restaurant closed today for renovations." She answered looking at him.
"That's nice. You'll finally have some time to relax."
"Yeah. You should too. Those wounds seem really painful."
"I was actually thinking of going to bed early today." He said, avoiding her eyes. "If that's okay with you."
"Of course. I'll leave you alone, then." She turned around ready to walk out the door, but something stopped. "Luke?"
"Yes?"
She already had a lot going on. Did she want to add Luke's problems to her list?
"Just be careful with those stairs." She fixed her grey eyes on his. "I don't want you to get hurt." She saw the hesitation in his eyes. "I'm always here for you. You know that, right?"
He gave her a small smile. "Still? After all, I've done."
"We are family, Luke. You promised."
He simply nodded with his lips pressed in a thin line, and Annabeth went to hide in her room. She didn't know what kind of relationship she had with her ex-boyfriend/roommate, but Annabeth knew Luke was a part of her life she couldn't deny, no matter how different they currently were from each other.
Sitting on her bed, she got her phone out and looked at her contact list as she often did since Percy and she last talked five months ago.
She wanted to call him. Tell him everything that was happening with her life; her relationship with Luke, her awful job, her insomnia. Telling him she was ready and ask him to forgive her for making him go through Hades.
But she never did.
She wasn't ready.
Not yet.
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"I should be at home."
"No, you should not. The restaurant is closed for renovations, Annabeth. You need to use that time to break your routine and hang out with us again."
Annabeth took a sip from her beer. "It's just you and me, Pipes."
"Aha."
"In a bar."
"Yes."
Annabeth raised her eyebrows. "You hate bars."
"I don't hate them…I just think there are better things to do on a Friday night," Piper said, shimming her chair away from the awfully close guy next to her.
"So, let's go do something else."
"Nop."
Annabeth sighed, exasperated. "Why won't you just admit we are here so you can find me a guy to date?"
Piper finished her cocktail. "If I wanted to do that, I would set you a Tinder profile."
"You hate Tinder."
"Jeez, Chase. You're making me look like I'm a hateful person."
,,,
"But you still hate it."
"Yep."
Annabeth laughed and asked for another round of drinks. "I don't need a date to move on, Pipes. I'm fine taking baby steps."
"You're not taking baby steps, you're walking backward." Annabeth rolled her eyes, as her friend gave her the same monologue, she had heard thousands of times for the last month. "You need to cry, Annabeth. You need to admit that you're exhausted and that you made a mistake by leaving Percy, and that you're heartbroken that he's dating Rachel again."
Annabeth shrugged. "I really feel none of those things. Percy and I were never meant to be together, and I'm happy we're each focusing on our lives. Maybe I was just a bump in the road, and those two were just made for each other."
"Love doesn't work like that, Annabeth. There's no such thing as 'meant to be'. You work to preserve the relationships you want to keep, and it's hard and there are sacrifices to make, but you do it because you know how important they are to your life."
"Well, maybe I decided work was more important than him."
"Then why, even when he offered to come here and just follow you everywhere, did you turn him down?"
Annabeth stayed quiet and drank from her beer.
"I'll answer it," Piper continued. "Because you won't be able to handle it if he regrets his decision and abandons you one day. Because you have abandonment issues."
"Wow, honest much?" Annabeth muttered. "Why do you care so much, anyway? Why can't we talk about something else than Percy and me?"
"You're not happy, and I'm your friend and I want you to be happy. You need Percy for that."
"I don't need anyone to be happy, Piper. You should be fine on your one, and that way you'll learn how to love others…isn't that what motivational coaches say nowadays?"
"We are humans. We need people to grow both mentally and emotionally. And yes, we should love ourselves, but sometimes we need other people to learn that lesson."
"You're saying I should go back with Percy, even if he breaks my heart, just so I can grow internally?"
Piper pursed her lips. "Yeah, pretty much."
"That's an interesting theory," Annabeth said, shaking her head. "But it's too late, Pipes. He said he wouldn't wait forever, and he was right. As he said, things between Rachel and him are a lot less complicated."
They stayed quiet for a while until Piper started tapping her glass and said, "I'm going to Paris for a few weeks. I'm writing an article about sustainable fashion."
"That's wonderful!" Annabeth cheered wholeheartedly. "You deserve it. You're one of their best writers."
Piper smiled, embarrassingly. "Yeah, well… You don't mind spending the holidays alone?"
"It's fine. I think Luke it's gonna stay in New York too." Annabeth's family had decided to spend Christmas in England, so she was stuck in the city for a while.
Piper grimaced. "Don't do anything stupid."
"I won't." Annabeth frowned. "Actually, Luke has been acting pretty weird lately. He's almost never home and when he is, I get the feeling he hides in his room purposely."
"What do you think he's doing?"
"I don't know." She sighed. "Sometimes I think he's hanging again with his old friends."
"The ones that used to steal, and set things on fire, and sell drugs…"
"Yeah, those ones."
"That's even more of a reason to keep away from doing anything stupid." She finished her drink and said, "I'll bring you lots of things from Paris if you promise me you won't."
"I promise." Annabeth smiled. "Hey, Christmas is coming, along with the time for love and good energies. What could possibly go wrong?"
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Her problems started a week before Christmas.
The restaurant had reopened, and Annabeth now had more work than ever with people celebrating Christmas dinners and the place getting rented by offices to celebrate their parties.
Tartarus was freaking out about delivering designs and reports before the end of the year, and everyone was full-on panicking as they tried to finish in record time blueprints and budgets for the clients.
Annabeth was so exhausted because of the extra work that she even stopped worrying about how Luke was getting the habit of disappearing for days, or how, when he reappeared, sometimes he was full of bruises and cuts.
She desperately wanted to believe that he had changed and that he was no longer the Luke she had broken up with several years ago, but something, at the bottom of her heart, was warning her that he might have gotten some old habits back.
However, Annabeth was on autopilot mode until that dreadful day at the office happened.
Everybody had been working on their projects' tasks during the day before holiday vacations started, and people were leaving Tartarus's office with tears on their cheeks. Annabeth was lucky her projects had been delivered earlier on, and now she was just a supporting architect to her other coworkers. Still, she kept hovering from desk to desk, fixing measurements, and aiding others to finish their assigned houses.
The final meeting had everyone biting their nails. Some hadn't even done quality control to their designs, preferring to deliver their works to Tartarus even if it was a danger to the client, or to the environment.
Annabeth hated that, but she just had to resist a couple more months, and then she could try again with a better and more ethical firm.
As she sat on one of the many grey chairs, she watched her other workmates while they fidgeted with USB and some even had old school models. Everyone was too afraid to risk their computers after what had happened to hers.
Even Michael, his second on command, had decided to change into a tablet.
"Shall we end our suffering?" Tartarus asked, sitting heavily on his favorite wheeled chair. "We have to place our orders before the New Year comes, and prices start rocketing into the sky." He scanned the room with his evil glare. "If somebody exceeds the budget, I'll make sure he or she pays it with their own salary. Am I clear?"
Everyone nodded.
"That's illegal in so many ways," Damasen said next to her, earning a murderous look from his father. Annabeth smiled at him, gratefully. He was the only one who dared defy Tartarus. At first, she thought it was because of the father-son relationship, giving Damasen immunity to his father's threats. But then she heard the rumors of Tartarus also being an abusive father, and her perspective of Damasen changed.
Things went normally, or as normal could go in Arachne, with Tartarus rejecting projects and destroying people's self-esteem. Until, one of her coworkers, Eris, presented her project. It was clear that it had deficiencies in the support systems and Annabeth wasn't so sure about the materials used for the foundations. It was a classic case of a rushed project and Annabeth thought Tartarus was going to turn it down…
"I approve of it." He said, shocking Annabeth. "Start construction as soon as you get the papers from the township…"
Maybe it was because she had been deprived of sleeping, or because Tartarus was really playing with the safety of people, but Annabeth decided to step up.
"You can't approve that."
Every head in the room turned towards her. Tartarus sent her a look that would have made her hide, but it was too late to back down. She might be a work freak, but she still had principles.
"The Support System will fail." She continued. "It could harm a lot of people and put in risk the client's life."
"It won't fail. We need the money now. The project is approved." Her boss slowly stood up. "Do you have a problem with that, Intern?"
"It's unethical, and the failure is clearly visible in the design…"
"Are you calling me stupid, miss Chase?" Tartarus said, making his way through the sea of hanging mouths until reaching her.
"I am not…I'm calling you unethical, sir."
Tartarus bend over so their faces were at the same height, and leaned towards her until he was so close, she could practically see the fire in his eyes.
"And what, exactly, are you going to do about it? You're gonna report me or your fellow coworkers? That would make us close the firm, leaving all these people without a job. And what about you? I heard you're with us because no one else hired you…what would they do if they knew you worked in an unethical firm? Or when they call me for references?"
The silence was deafening.
Tartarus stood straight again and said, "The project is approved. And, if you still have a problem with it, I'll make sure your career is over. Do we have an agreement?"
Her coworkers were frozen in place, waiting for her answer, but she knew she was doomed no matter what her answer was. Instead, she stood up from the chair, grabbed her stuff, and headed out of the room. She went straight to HR.
"Hello, miss Chase. How can I help you?" Erica greeted with a smile on her face.
"Tartarus just approved a project that is going to put in jeopardy the client's safety," Annabeth said, without hesitating. "Also, he's abusive with everyone and broke my laptop five months ago."
Erica's smile vanished, and she cleared her throat as she put her pen down. "I'm so sorry about your computer. We'll get you a new one."
"I don't care about the damn computer," Annabeth said, exasperated. "He just approved a dangerous project. He must be stopped before he causes more harm."
"I understand your concern, Miss Chase. But Tartarus is the best architect in here. If he believes the project should pass…"
"Why are you defending him?" Annabeth asked, enraged. "Because he's the one getting clients? I bet there are other really good architects that can do what he does, and even better."
Erica sighed. "We'll take a look into the case. Meanwhile," she got something out of the desk and put it in front of Annabeth. "A new position has been finally opened, and we would like you to join us as a full paid member of the firm…"
Annabeth laughed dryly. "Are you bribing me?"
"That is a very serious accusation, miss Chase. We just want to offer what you deserve…"
"Keep it," Annabeth said, standing up. "I don't want to be part of your filthy firm. And, just so you know, I am going to report this to the competent authorities."
Erica also stood up, her eyes widening. "Miss Chase…"
"Goodbye, Erica. I hope you sleep well, knowing what he does."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
"We sold out, Annabeth! Can you believe it?"
Annabeth was having difficulty hearing her friend over the noise of people screaming orders to others, as they prepared the stage for Thalia's performance.
"I do! You are incredible after all. I'm happy you're doing well in LA, Thals." She answered, knelt in front of the toilet, and scrubbing it until it was clean enough for her.
"Yeah, well. It's a group effort. I don't what I would have done without The Hunters."
"Still. I'm glad you're all being successful."
"All?"
"Piper is in Paris writing fashion articles."
"Well, good for her. Tell her to bring lots of crepes and those weird sweet cookies."
Annabeth laughed. "Macaron? Sure, I'll tell her."
"Talking about being successful, how's the firm?"
Should she tell Thalia she had quitted her job three days ago, had gone on a sleeping spree, and was now on a cleaning spree? No. She didn't want to get one of those monologues. At least not before Christmas.
"It's fine. Lots of work, as usual."
"Just fine? Are you having problems with it?"
"Nop. I'm just a little tired of working. That's all."
"Okay…What about your new roommate? What was her name, again?"
"Tabitha. She's okay." Annabeth lied. She also hadn't told her she had been living with Luke for the last months. She didn't want Thalia to freak out and come all the way to New York to drag her away from him.
"Aha." Suddenly Annabeth heard someone calling Thalia to stage. "Listen it's not too late. You can't still book a ticket and spend Christmas with me and the girls."
"I'll be fine, Thalia. I'll just watch one of those crappy holiday movies and eat junk food all day."
"You're using a lot the word 'fine'"
"It's because I am." She heard someone calling her friend again. "You have to go, Thalia. Put on a good show, okay?"
"Always."
Annabeth finished cleaning the bathroom and wondered about what else to do. Luke wasn't home, so she decided to order his room so he could have a nice surprise when he arrived later on.
Being noisy wasn't part of her plan, and she intended to tidy up a bit on the surface. But when she was arranging the clothes in his closet, a small semi-opened box caught her attention. It was unusually heavy, and when she tried to close it properly, a dark surface shined awakening her curiosity.
She opened the lid and found a gun. A fully loaded gun.
"What are you doing?"
Annabeth turned violently to find a scared Luke standing on the doorway. She showed him the gun. "What in Hades is this, Luke?"
"It's just for protection." He explained walking towards her and grabbing the weapon from her hands.
"Protection? I'm not stupid, Luke. You've been acting pretty weird this past month, and now you have an illegal gun? You're hanging out again with those monsters, aren't you?"
Luke didn't answer as he put away the weapon on the box again, hiding it in his closet.
"You told me you had changed. You told me you were concentrated on your job…" She ran a hand through her hair. "You need help, Luke."
"I needed help, Annabeth!" he yelled, finally losing his temper. "I needed your help. I wanted to be better, I really did, but I wanted you to help with it. You were the reason I wanted to change. But you turned me down, remember? We are not supposed to need each other, I think those were your words."
"Luke…"
"And I freaking tried. I tried being a good man for myself and for nobody else, but then I was so lonely…" he shook his head. "Not everyone is strong by sheer will. Sometimes we do need people that care about us." He looked at her, sadly. "Not that I expect you of all people to understand. You only need your work, after all."
She tried stepping closer to him, but he ran away from her touch. "I-I am so sorry…"
"Save it," Luke said. He grabbed his keys again and headed towards the door. "I need some fresh air."
Long after the door was shut, Annabeth stood frozen in place, trying to digest what Luke had said.
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Three days.
Luke had been missing for three days.
Annabeth had dialed 911 several times during the day, but she never made the call. She laid on the couch watching the ceiling as a Christmas movie was playing on the T.V. Maybe he just needed some time away from her after their small fight. But, why was he staying away on Christmas Eve?
Had something happened to him?
She felt an empty void in her stomach.
No, he was fine. She just needed to trust him.
Time passed, along with several crappy holiday movies. Annabeth tried hard to relax and think about other things, but even when Thalia, Piper, and her dad had called she couldn't get the feeling that something bad was happening.
She hugged the blanket closer and took a sip from her hot chocolate as she checked her phone, again.
No new messages.
She was very close to losing her mind.
Annabeth was even annoyed by the fact she hadn't gotten the Christmas shift at the restaurant and that her boss had given her early vacations. She desperately needed to busy her mind.
Percy would have known how to calm her down.
For the gods, if she had accepted to stay in Australia with him, she wouldn't be going through that situation. She would have been happily enjoying Christmas with Percy's arm around her shoulder while they chat with his friends about mundane things. Who knows? Maybe she would even be working on an ethic and sustainable modern firm. But she had wanted to be the best and depend on no one.
She went through her contact list and stopped on his name. She should have called. She should have told him that he had been right all along, that she was so tired of dragging herself through New York as she tried to be an architect…that she needed him and that he made her happy.
But she was so ashamed. After all, they had been through, it would be evil of her to call him now after he had waited for so long. Now that he was finally happy in Australia with Rachel. Was she really going to call him and ruin that for him with more of her drama?
No. She wasn't that evil.
Annabeth set the phone back on the table and rested her full body on top of the couch. If Luke didn't appear by Christmas morning, she would call the police and report him as missing.
With that thought on her mind, she closed her eyes and fell asleep.
A few hours later, she was awoken by the sound of her phone ringing. Groggily, Annabeth sat up and peeked at who was calling her. Her eyes widened and her heart stopped. She answered.
"Luke?" she asked softly, the T.V playing on the background. Loud music was heard from the other end.
"Annabeth," he said, inhaling sharply. "I'm sorry."
"Luke, where are you? Why did you disappear like that? Do you have any idea of how worried I've been?" she asked, desperately.
There was a pause.
"I'm sorry, Annabeth." He said again, his voice shaking. "I'm sorry I couldn't withhold my promise. I broke our family. I should have been stronger…"
"Luke we can talk this back at home, okay? Just come back. It's Christmas, remember? We can have a nice meal and watch some of those crappy movies you liked a much…like A Christmas Carol." She whispered.
"I can't come back…no after everything I've done." He sounded so sad,
"Please don't say that. Luke, just tell me where you are, and I can come to get you."
The loud music continued, and Annabeth just hoped he was in a safe place.
"Okay." She let out a breath of relief. "Remember the bar I used to spend a lot of time when you were still in Goode?"
"Yeah." The anxiety came back. He used to hang in that bar with the bad people. "Don't move. I'll get there as fast as I can…and please stay out of travel."
"Okay."
She hung up and immediately went to grab her coat, not even caring that she was on her PJs and left as fast as she could, not even bothering to turn off the lights and leaving the T.V on.
The subway was empty, except for a few street artists and late workers. Every minute she spent traveling felt like an eternity, and she couldn't shake off the feeling that something was not right. It's gonna be okay, she told herself, you're gonna find Luke and he's gonna be fine.
The night was exceptionally cold, but Annabeth barely felt it as she got out of the station and started jogging towards the small bar she had only seen once when Luke and she used to date. It was snowing lightly, but she still slipped a couple of times on the sidewalk, earning some scratches on her hands and knees. It was as if an invisible force was preventing her from reaching him.
Finally, the bar entered her vision and Annabeth sighed loudly. It was full of people chattering, drinking, and laughing. She considered going inside and look for him, but there it was so crowded, she settled for texting him that she was outside and waited for him to come out.
A couple of minutes passed, and he still hadn't come out. Annabeth checked her phone and noticed he had read her message. Frowning, she texted him again asking if everything was okay.
He didn't answer.
Annabeth started to panic. Had he gone somewhere else? Had he lied to her about his location?
She stepped forward with the intention of going into the bar and looking for him, but a strange chill traveled through her body making her stop.
Then, everything happened in slow motion.
Several disturbing sounds exploded into the night, and Annabeth watched as screaming people started fleeing the bar. They seemed hysterical, and some were even grabbing their phone and asking for help.
It took her a few seconds to realized she'd heard gunshots.
Luke.
Breaking away from her daze, Annabeth bolted towards the bar, fighting against the current of people running away in the other direction.
He had to be fine.
She was going to find him and bring him back home.
There was no other way.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
Annabeth focused on the snowflakes as they fell into the pavement. They were so beautiful and majestic, yet so fragile. She used to hate when it snowed. It made people slow down, and things break down. It was nice when it was freshly fallen, but then it would turn black from the dirt, giving everything a dirtier,
But she welcomed it at that moment. It was the only thing keeping her away from pure madness, and it reflected exactly what she was feeling at the time. Cold and fragile.
The blanket the officers had placed over her was just heavy and rough. She took it off several times trying to embrace the cold air, but they put it on her again and again, claiming she was in shock.
So, what if she was? A stupid blanket was not going to fix the fact that Luke Castellan had bled to death in her arms…
The lights from the ambulances and police cars were dazzling, and they made her head spin over and over again. Her eyes burned. She had forgotten to blink.
"Ma'am?" someone asked next to her. The police officer who had taken her declaration a couple of hours ago was looking at her with sadness on her eyes. "They've already taken him away. Would you like me to take you…?"
"N-no," she answered, shivering. "But his dad…"
"We'll make sure to contact his family."
Annabeth tried answering but just managed to stutter. The officer smiled sadly, telling her it was okay for her not to answer. She was thankful for that. She resumed her snowflake seeing.
The officer cleared her throat. "Is there someone you want us to call? Someone that can pick you up at the station?"
She was alone. All of her friends were out of town. Maybe she could go back to her apartment…
Annabeth looked at her hands. They were full of dry blood due to her trying to stop his bleeding.
No. She couldn't go back there.
"I have my phone." She answered weakly. "I'll call someone."
The officer nodded and finally gave her space. Shaking violently, Annabeth managed to get her phone out her pockets. A few specks of blood where over the window, from when she had hysterically called 911 for help. But it was too late. She had been too late.
She went through her contact list, looking for the only person that could possibly reach her, but then her eyes stopped on a name.
Her lip started quivering. She didn't want to make the same mistake.
So, she made the call.
And it rang and rang but nobody picked up.
She tried calling a second time.
No answer.
A third time…
Still, no answer.
The fourth time, Annabeth decided to leave a voice mail. And when the beep resonated on her ears, her soul finally broke.
"He's dead." She said, hyperventilating. "I was too late, and he died in my arms. I should have gone for him sooner…I should have been there for him when he said he needed me, and I wasn't." She was now wailing. "It was my fault, and now he's gone. He needed me as I needed you, and I pushed you away. I'm sorry, but I- I can't breathe thinking about all the mistakes I've done, and I…"
The line went dead, but Annabeth keeps sobbing, pulling the blanket closer. A few minutes later, the officer appears again.
"Did you make the call? We need to clear the area and head to the station."
Annabeth took a shaky breath. "I need to make another one, but I can do it in the car."
The officer nodded. "Let's go then."
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Magnus opened the door to their little apartment, and Annabeth followed Alex inside. She was holding the small bag Magnus had fetched for her in her apartment before they set course to Boston.
"I turned off the lights and the T.V." Magnus had said when he was back in the car. "You don't have to worry about that."
She hadn't been worried.
Annabeth had no idea what Magnus had gathered for her several days' stay, but she wasn't concerned about that at the moment.
"Welcome to our home," Magnus said, closing the door behind them.
"It's not big," Alex continued. "But we have a marketplace nearby and Magnus's favorite falafel restaurant. It was necessary since his blood is made of falafel at this point." Alex joked, trying to lift her spirits up.
Annabeth smiled, thankful. "It's perfect." She took a shaky breath. "Sorry for ruining your Christmas."
"Oh, it's fine. We weren't planning on doing much anyway." Magnus said, guiding her towards a small hallway.
"Besides, the day hasn't finished yet. We still can eat whatever you want and watch something that might cheer you up." Alex suggested with a sad smile.
Annabeth took a deep breath. She was so grateful at them for picking her up and respecting her privacy by not making a lot of questions. Still, she just wanted to be alone at the moment.
"Thanks, but I'm feeling tired. I think I'm gonna sleep for a while."
They both nodded, understandingly, and Magnus opened the door to the guest room. "You can take a warm shower in the guest bathroom in case you want to…"
Annabeth watched her PJs. The shirt Percy had given her the day after the Kronos incident, was now fully covered in Luke's blood. She wanted to throw up at the thought but managed to calm down and compose herself.
"I packed the essentials," Magnus said. "But if you need anything, Alex and I can rush to the nearest shop and get it for you."
Annabeth nodded. The room had a single bed with a nightstand and a small lamp on it. Nothing else. "I don't know how to thank you." She whispered.
Magnus walked towards her and gave her a hug. "You don't have to, cuz. This is what family is for. Besides, I'm happy you finally came to visit. Of course, it would have been better in other circumstances."
Annabeth nodded. "I need to call my dad and…gods, I need to tell Thalia."
"We can handle that," Alex said. "We can be your personal assistants, while you rest."
Annabeth smiled and handed them her phone, giving them the password. She didn't want to talk to anyone.
"We'll be in the living room in case you need anything," Magnus said. When they finally left, Annabeth took a long hot shower. She put the bloody garments on the trash can, before searching for some comfortable clothes in the bag Magnus had prepared for her.
Then she went to sleep. She didn't want to think. She just wanted to forget.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
The door of the room made some noise and Annabeth's eyes fluttered open. Outside of the window, everything was dark. How long had she slept?
She felt someone sitting on the bed.
"I didn't want to wake you up, but are you hungry?" Magnus asked. "You've been sleeping for a whole day."
"I'm fine." She answered covering herself with the blankets. "I just want to sleep."
She heard Magnus sighing. "Okay." He turned off the light again and exited.
Annabeth fell asleep again.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
Her nightmares were memories.
She kept reliving the moment Luke had found her on the alley when she had run away from home; when they had had their first kiss; when she had moved to New York and started her new life with him there; when they had broken up; when he had asked for a second chance and she had abandoned him; when they had danced at her birthday party; And when she had found him with several gunshots on his chest, his blue eyes looking at her with regret and desperation.
She would never be able to take that image off her head.
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
The next time she opened her eyes, the sky was a dark grey, but there was still some light coming through the window.
Someone was slightly shaking her shoulder.
She slowly turned to find a puffy-eyed Thalia sitting on the edge of her bed. "Hey." She greeted. "You've been sleeping for a lot of time. You need to drink something at least." She pointed to a glass of water on the nightstand.
Blinking away the sleep, Annabeth slowly sat on the bed with his body numb from sleeping. Her throat was so dry, the first thing she did was gulping down the glass of water.
"Magnus told me what happened," Thalia said, playing with her hands. "Gods, Annabeth, why didn't you tell me you were living with him? I could have…"
"It was my choice, Thalia." She said with a hoarse voice. "He didn't do anything to me."
Thalia didn't have any of her accessories or makeup on. She was wearing a simple leather jacket with regular jeans. "I'm sorry you had to go through that."
They stayed silent for a few minutes.
"I called his dad. The funeral is tomorrow." Thalia continued with a weak voice. "Do you wanna go?"
Annabeth cleared her throat and nodded. "It's the least I can do."
Thalia sobbed and gave her a strong hug. "I'm gonna get you proper clothes then. Do you want to eat something?"
Annabeth shook her head.
"Okay. See you tomorrow."
HeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeythereimalinebreakenjoyyourdayHeyth
Annabeth had never been to a funeral.
She knew people hated them and that it was a mere formality for more the leaving relatives than the dead person itself.
But nobody had ever told her how soul-bearing they were. She had never felt more vulnerable or fragile in her entire life like she was when looking at Luke's closed coffin.
The black dress was itching her, and she swore never to wear one ever again, except if she found herself in a similar situation.
Most of the people standing on the snowy grass around Luke's grave were their old classmates and some of Luke's friends from college. Annabeth disliked most of them, like Ethan Nakamura and Prometheus. They were awful reminders of Luke's demise due to horrible friendships.
"They caught the people who started the shooting," Thalia said.
"Good," Annabeth replied, clenching her hands into fists in her pockets.
"They say he was unarmed, and that he was just trying to solve a dispute." Thalia continued her voice breaking. "I never forgave him…"
Annabeth got a hand, out of her pocket, and grabbed hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. She remained quiet, fearing she would start sobbing again if she talked. She couldn't even bring herself to look into Hermes's face.
When it was finally over, Annabeth was shaking uncontrollably. Everyone started to scatter to their respective cars, but Annabeth stayed a few minutes more, wondering if she should say something to Hermes. But then, he ended up nearing her instead.
He stood in front of her, not even looking at her in the eyes, and said, "I thought you would save him. But you left him. We all did."
Annabeth choked on her words, tears starting to fall again.
Thalia frowned. "Your son died a hero, sir. It's nobody's fault."
Hermes just shook his head and continued his way towards the parking lot.
"He's right," Annabeth whispered. "If I had arrived sooner…"
"You didn't know…"
"He was acting so weird. I should have helped him before all of this happened."
"We should go," Thalia said, changing the subject. "This place gives me the creeps, and Alex and Magnus are waiting for us in the car."
Annabeth nodded, putting her gloves back on. "I'm gonna buy some flowers for him first." She knew she would have to walk all the way towards the entrance, but Luke was worth it.
"Do you want me to come with you?"
"Yeah. That'd be nice."
They walked in silence towards the entrance, along the line of parked cars, both deep in thought. Annabeth still needed to tell Thalia about what had happened with the firm and the lawsuit she wanted to place against it. Her father had called her that morning and had asked her to live with him in San Francisco for a period of time, at least until she felt emotionally stable again. But, honestly, she still had no idea what she wanted to do first.
"How's the band?" Annabeth asked.
"They are great. They have a substitute until I come back."
"Sure they won't like the new one better?" she joked.
"Haha. They love me too much to do it." Thalia bit her lip. "Maybe you can come back with me, look for a firm in LA, and we could one of those California girls…"
Annabeth stopped listening to Thalia when something familiar caught her eye. Even if it looked like the thousands of others, Annabeth would recognize that Prius wherever she went.
"What?" Thalia asked, following her gaze. Her eyes widened. "Oh, gods."
Annabeth walked over to the pilot's seat and peeked through the window. "It's empty." She said.
"Maybe it's not his."
"It's his license plate."
"What would he be doing here?"
"I don't know…"
"Listen, Annabeth." Thalia touched her shoulder gently. "I don't think you're strong enough to have a conversation with him just yet. Let's just keep going. Okay?"
Annabeth sighed. "Alright."
They finally got to the flower carts and bought some purple hydrangeas before returning to the now fully covered grave. They set the flowers down and stood in silence for a moment.
"I'm gonna go back to the car," Thalia said. "Don't stay too long in the cold."
After Thalia left, Annabeth took a moment to think what Luke's life would have been if he hadn't died. Would he had moved on from all the resentment? Would their friendship have flourished again? Would he have had a family of his own? If she had only been there for him at the right time…
Annabeth wiped away the tears and turned around ready to leave when she noticed the one and only Percy Jackson standing a few feet away from her. He seemed stronger, tanner, and leaner, while she was sure she seemed like a decayed ghost with her puffy eyes, her dark circles, her skeletal appearance, and her messy bun. Australia suited him.
Their eyes met and she felt she could lose herself in them and just forget everything that had happened.
"Oh, hi." She greeted softly. Percy kept staring at her, without saying anything. Despite being in a Cemetery, his eyes had never looked so bright than at that moment. His black suit only highlighted them more.
She cleared her throat. "I didn't know you were back. How long have you been here?"
He narrowed his eyes. Still no answer. Thalia was right. She wasn't ready for it.
"Okay, so it's been nice seeing you…"
"That voicemail," he interrupted her, and she tried not to wince at the sound of his voice. "That freaking voicemail is the most terrifying thing that has ever happened in my life."
Annabeth frowned. "What voice…oh." Suddenly, she remembered. "I-I'm sorry. I was in shock, and I don't remember a lot of the things I did or said."
He stayed quiet again for a few seconds, before asking "That's all you're gonna say?"
Annabeth shook her head. "What do you want me to say?"
"I want you to open up to me." He took a step closer with hesitation. "What happened, Annabeth?"
His sea-green eyes were disarming, and suddenly Annabeth was sobbing again.
"He's dead."
"I know. I'm sorry." He said, softly.
She shook her head. "It was my fault. I should have helped him sooner."
"Stop acting as if you know what's best for everyone, Annabeth." He took another step closer. "The truth is nobody knows what the future holds, and we only had little control over the present. Luke made his choices, and even if you had helped him, you still wouldn't know how things would have turned out." Annabeth sobbed again, not knowing what to say. "Right now, you should focus on yourself. So, tell me, what do you want to do?" he asked, taking another step. He was now close enough for her to smell his essence. Gods, how she had missed him.
She sighed. "I just want things to slow down. I need time to just figure out what I want…" he nodded. "And I think I need your help with that."
He smiled. "Was it that hard?"
She laughed "Super hard. It took me eight months to get it."
"Eight long months." He chuckled.
Hearing his laugh again made her lose control of her body and she tackled him with a hug. He returned it, surrounding her with his arms, and for the first time in a long time, she felt she was in the right place.
"I need to go. Thalia and Magnus are waiting for me in the car." She said, not making any movement to get away from his hug.
"I like your cousin." He said out of the blue. "He had been the one keeping me updated in everything since he's the one answering your damn phone."
"Sorry about that. I really didn't want to talk to anyone."
He cleared his throat. "I know this is going to sound like a lot, and you can say no if you want…but if you want to stay in New York, you can stay with me for a while. We can take care of each other…but only if you want…"
"Okay." She said burying her face in his coat.
"You sure?"
She was not going to make the same mistake again.
"Yeah."