~ HEY ANGELS ~
Is anyone still there? I am so SORRY! What else can I say other than the fact that I am just so completely and utterly and heart-breakingly sorry.
~ Please Forgive Me ~
Usually, I would say I had no excuse to be gone for so long but I really did have a reason my lovelies. I've had a lot of self-esteem issues lately, they're kinda eating away at me and on top of Sixth Form (Senior year) it's just not good for anyone. Really, you can only understand my situation if you're a sixth form in the UK bc then you know the amount of work we go through.
I've lost sleep, I've lost motivation, I've just kinda lost the will, you know? Art, my favourite subject, has now become my least favourite bc of the workload. It's honestly one of the most time consuming, challenging subjects EVER! And apparently, they only expect like three people in the COUNTRY to get an A*!
All I can say is that I really couldn't find the time to write and every time I did, I just got writer's block.
I seriously struggled with this chapter. More than any of the chapter before and I have no idea why. BUT! It's here now. And I hope, those of you who don't hate me, are still here. 33
As promised, here is my LONG, FULL apology DEDICATED TO Jessica L xxx in response to the trauma I put her through during Chapter 13... (lol)
Heyy girly! Totally understand your frustration and your anger towards me and I know it's all in good faith ;) It's hard to know where to begin with this message because as you probably already realised, I have been absent for over a month, and that means I have even MORE to apologise for. So I'll start with that! I'm sorry for leaving a cliffhanger and then disappearing so suddenly, really, that was never my intention. I just got caught up in work and life and problems and updating became something I pushed to the bottom of my priority list until the days were turning into weeks and the weeks into even more weeks. I just kinda fell out of the habit, you know? Of course, I felt awful about it but I just needed a break.
In relation to chapter 13 - From the bottom of my heart, I am so so sorry for a) separating percabeth again, b) putting you through a heartbreaking funeral that was, Silena's and c) leaving Percy in a very...very dark place.
I promise that after this chapter, things will really start to brighten up like actual SUNSHINE ON A SUMMERY DAY IN JULY IN THE FLIPPIN' CARIBBEAN!
Love you lots! Hope this was long enough ;)
~ Your girl, AWG xxx
If anyone else would like a LONG, FULL, apology DEDICATED to them, please do let me know. Lol, I'll try my best! Maybe I'll pick 3 and they'll fill up the review responses in my next chapter. Okay yeah! I'll pick my THREE favourite reviews and you'll ALL get super long responses. How about that? Is that nice enough?
Knowing me, I'll probably end up responding to more than 3, lol but oh well :))
So anyways, this chapter is SUPER SUPER long. I kinda felt like you guys deserved a long one after being so patient/ impatient with me ;)
I really really hope you enjoy it! x
Oh, sorry quick message! I have been calling Octavian, Octavia all this time! How come no one said anything! I'm an absolute idiot! I feel like it's too late to go back now though so he'll just have to be called Octavia in this story. Lol sorry :))
Chapter 14
Annabeth POV
A Little Less Human
Monday 11th April
It was a strange feeling—going back to school. Hearing the same buzz of gossip sweeping across the car park and the same ring of the bell bouncing off the walls.
I hadn't set foot in those corridors in almost 6 months. Half a year had passed. Just the thought of doing so now made my stomach sick and it wasn't because I'd have a lot of work to catch up on. I'd been a year ahead of everyone since I was eleven years old. That wasn't the problem. The problem was that everything inside those doors was going to remind me of Silena. Every tiny little detail.
Gods, I wish Percy were here…
Tossing my old white school bag over my shoulder, I took a deep breath and stepped out of the car. My mum had hired someone to drive me around again because my car was pretty much doomed from that crash and it was way too long a walk from home to school now. I'd have to wait a few weeks for her to get me a new one but I had a feeling she was going to take her time. She'd been terrified of letting me leave her sight for days, I don't think she was about to let me drive alone anytime soon.
Even the slightest movement, like rising out of a car, caused a sharp pain in my stomach to appear. It had been like that ever since that night. That terrible, terrible night. And though I was healing, it was a slow, gruelling process. There were important things I had to worry about now like not eating too much, and not doing any excessive exercising, and being careful about taking the stairs and remembering to take my medication on time.
It felt like I was tipping back pills whenever I got the chance nowadays. Anything to get rid of the discomfort.
I pushed my not-for-fashion-but-for-hiding-tears-sunglasses up to the top of my head and started to walk—slowly. There wasn't much of anything I could do that wasn't at a snail's pace nowadays. My grey-blue jeans were faded and light against the mid-blue of my loosely fitted v-neck cashmere jumper. I'd gone for comfort over class today and I can't remember the last time I wore anything other than my converses.
The warm sunlight on my skin didn't do much to soothe me, as I walked towards the stone steps. Nothing could really soothe me today at all. I'd spent the whole weekend at home, in my room, by myself and I'd cried more than I care to admit.
My mother was worried sick and I was scaring the hell out of Bobbie and Matthew. I was like a ghost in my own house all over again but I couldn't help it. With Silena gone, everything just seemed so...so lifeless and pointless. The things that once made me happy no longer even stirred a smile on my face anymore. The days were bright and the golden sun shone like beacons of hope. The skies were crystal blue and nature was green and alive once again. But I never gave it a second glance. Things that were once beautiful in my eyes, brought no emotions to my mind now, not a single one.
This whole thing was eating away at me from the inside out and I wasn't doing anything to stop it. I would just sit at the bay window and stare outside mindlessly. Some nights, when it was really late, I'd just gaze up at my ceiling, tearing up until I was too exhausted to keep my eyes open anymore. Then I would close them and I'd fall into something that never really felt like sleep at all.
The police came by my house for questioning a number of times and even the CIA once. I could see right through their good cop-bad cop games as they callously made me describe every abominable and gruesome detail of that one night. I'd give anything to forget it—to never even speak of it again.
With a shivering wince, I pulled my bag strap up to busy myself and thought of Percy. Thalia mentioned him not being home when she and Jason had gone to check up on him, on the phone last night. Sally had been in tears all day apparently. Gods, I felt terrible for her.
I just couldn't believe that he wouldn't at least have the decency to turn up at Silena's funeral. It was our last goodbye to her and he hadn't even bothered to turn up. Did she really mean that little to him? Did I really mean that little to him? Did we all mean that little to him?
The girls were all waiting at the bottom of the steps for me. I think we all shared a look as if to say 'I don't want to do this but at least we have each other.' I gulped a little fiddling more and more with my bag strap.
"Everyone knows..." Reyna murmured quietly. "About the theatre...did you see it on the News?"
"Yeah..." Piper replied hoarsely as she hugged her arms. "And we thought the worst was over."
I sighed at her sorrowfully. I had experienced death like this before and I knew that the funeral, though painful was nowhere near as bad as the weeks afterwards. It was about to get a whole lot worse...if only they knew. That made me think; Silena had been with me at my Dad's funeral. She had been by my side, holding my hand throughout the whole service. She'd always been there for me when I needed her and maybe the one time she needed me, I couldn't do anything to help her.
I had yelled at Rafael to take me but Silena being the selfless heroic type had to just step in and save the day. Urgh, she made me so mad and...and... I gulped, scrunching my eyes shut as I steadied my breathing. I didn't want to cry again.
"They arrested Max and Doug this morning." Thalia suddenly piped up.
"Yeah, it's been in the papers and the News all day." Piper added. "I didn't realise how famous they all were. The government must really hate their guts."
"The entire city is on lockdown, looking for Rafael's cult now." Thalia agreed. "This is the first breakthrough they've had in a long time. They haven't caught anyone since a gun exchange went wrong with some rogue English guys at the docks a couple years ago."
My heart jumped. Was that the exchange Rafael had been telling me about when he drove me home that one time?
"How did they catch them?" Reyna asked curiously.
"The cops found them chained up in an alleyway, drugged out of their minds." Thalia told her.
"People are saying it was some kind of vigilante." Piper said eagerly.
"You got that from a gossip magazine, nobody thinks that Pips." Thalia rolled her eyes but when she caught my eyes, a secret understanding passed between us.
I think we were both thinking the same thing and what a horrifying thought that was.
"Let's just get this over with." I sighed. "As long as we have each other, right?"
They smiled weakly, even Thalia did. Then, Piper took my arm and helped me up the stairs, having to take some of my weight to lessen the struggle. We walked side by side as we made our way through the busy corridor. It was just like I remembered; loud, overcrowded and rowdy.
Reyna had been right though, everyone knew and the second we walked in, it seemed as though they all reeked of sympathy and pity. They would subtly glance at us with sorrowful looks as we walked in with our heads held high but our hearts sinking low in our chests. Everyone would glance at my arm linked in Piper's and it was as if at that moment, they all realised just how frail I was. Rumours had probably gone around. Rumours about the kidnapping and my being stabbed but the seriousness of the situation was just coming to light now for them.
It was unbearable. All of it. Every second worse than the last.
It was only when I'd reached a display that I slowly began to stop walking and sure enough, the others did too. We all stared through the glass cabinet at her school photo inside. She wore her cheerleader outfit and she was holding two blue pompoms but the most noticeable thing was the bright smile on her pretty face. She looked happy...really happy.
There were smaller pictures of her inside, pinned to the wall in the background, taken with friends. There were loads of her with Beckendorf, Percy, Piper, Thalia and even a few with me that I didn't know existed. Below the larger picture of her in the cheerleader outfit sat a desk plate on the glass shelf inside. It read:
'You will not be missing from our hearts'
I let out a shaky breath as I covered my mouth in shock and pressed my fingers up against the glass case. "Who made this?" I whispered.
"Senior year I guess." Thalia smiled, coming up next to me to look at the pictures. Many students had left flowers, cheerleader pompoms, teddy bears and all other items underneath the case in tribute to Silena.
"It's beautiful." Piper murmured and we all smiled, nodding in agreement.
We looked at the glass case a while longer when something caught my eye. I gasped, staring at the long silver chain with the two dog tags on the end. It was unmistakably Percy's necklace. I recognised the engraving of the ACDC quote 'Living Easy. Living Free' on the silver metal. Piper seemed to follow my gaze and her eyes widened as she began to understand what was going through my mind.
"Annabeth, wait—" She started but I was already unlinking our arms, yanking the cabinet open and snatching it up. The chain dangled through my fingers as I smoothed my thumb across the metal. It was cold as though it hadn't been worn in a while.
"He was here?" I whispered and they all peered closer at the dog tags in my palm. "He came to put this stupid necklace in here but he didn't have the decency to turn up at her funeral!" I breathed, a little shocked and definitely frustrated. I wasn't sure if you'd call this angry but I was very close to it.
"We all grieve in different ways, Annabeth..." Reyna sighed.
"He's just as hurt as we all are...I'm sure he would have come if—" Thalia started.
"If he wasn't such a coward?" I finished for her harshly before I frowned at myself, shocked I'd even say something so horrible. I sighed, looking back at the tags in my palm. "Maybe he couldn't turn up for Silena but he could have turned up for me...for you..." I looked at Thalia. "For all of us. Funerals aren't for the dead, they're for the living." I murmured. "Now none of us got to say a proper goodbye."
"Annabeth..." Piper sighed. "It's hard, I know. I'm angry he didn't show too but don't you think that maybe this is just the grief that's making you act out like this?"
"Maybe..." I whispered and there was a tear in my eye now as I looked back at the case. "I just...I wanted everything to be perfect for her, you know. I wanted us all to be there together. She would have wanted that."
"I know." Thalia sighed, pressing a hand to my shoulder.
"We all did." Piper smiled and then the bell went like a slap of reality across the face.
We all jumped.
"Now..." Piper smiled, putting on her charmspeak and trying to create a more upbeat atmosphere. She took the dog tags from my hands and lifted the necklace over my head to leave it resting on my chest. "Come on...let's go sign in and then relax during free period, yeah?"
"We've got assembly first, apparently." Reyna cut in.
In a normal circumstance, this would have been the point where Thalia groaned in frustration or facepalmed but she did neither of those things. The death of Silena had hit even Thalia really hard and her sense of humour had become very dry recently as did all of ours.
"Well then...let's go find the others." Piper smiled and together we walked to the common room.
Sure enough, everyone was in there but they weren't mucking around as usual. They were sitting on the desks in a group and talking in hushed voices. Neither of them smiled or cracked up a joke and Beckendorf sat silently on the end staring at the floor with a heart-rending expression on his face.
I think we were all feeling a little less than human this morning.
"Hey guys." Piper smiled using her charmspeak again to try and cheer everyone up. It seemed like our happiness was in the palm of her hands now and only she had the power to turn our miserable behaviour into...well...slightly less miserable behaviour.
"Hey Pips." Jason smiled weakly. "You seen Percy?" She shook her head and we all joined them, taking a seat on the desks.
I sat with Thalia and Reyna as Piper perched on the desk next to Jason and Leo. Thalia had to help me up a little but I tried not to make a big scene out of it. I could see the others trying to hide their worried expressions—pretending like they didn't know I was about as weak as an 80-year-old woman right now.
"No one's seen him since..." Grover started but then his voice seemed to almost shut itself off for reasons we knew all too well.
"He'll come around." Travis murmured. "He always does."
"I dunno man...this whole thing with Silena..." Grover gulped. "It's hit him pretty hard."
"It's hit us all pretty hard." Leo frowned. "Doesn't give him the right to just run away like that."
"Leo." Piper frowned in astonishment. "You weren't there...you don't know what he saw...what we saw..." She gulped and at that Beckendorf kicked a stool which fell onto the floor, making a loud clattering sound as he stormed out of the room. Piper covered her mouth as if she thought it was her fault.
"Don't sweat it Pips, we just gotta give him some time." Jason smiled soothingly as he put a comforting arm around her and she nodded slowly.
We fell into an uncomfortable silence but I didn't really mind, I was too busy twiddling Percy's necklace in my fingers and staring off into the distance, mindlessly elsewhere. I was thinking about so many things, I didn't particularly know what any of them were.
"Annabeth? Annabeth!" I looked up in shock and realised that everyone had already stood up and begun walking to the door. I didn't know how long I'd been daydreaming but I guessed it had to have been a while. Thalia was frowning at me. "Come on...assembly remember?"
"Oh..." I said, sliding off the desk and leaving my bag with the others as I followed her out the door. The whole school filed into the huge auditorium and we all sat in the back row and watched the other students settle down in silence. I sat between Thalia and Grover as we watched Mr. Brunner take his place on the podium.
"Good morning students." He smiled warmly and a dreary chorus of good mornings was given back to him. "I'm sure you've all heard about the tragic recent events of our very own, Silena Beauregard. Our prayers are with her friends and family." He frowned sorrowfully as he looked at the podium in front of him.
My heart sank a little in my chest but I suddenly felt something warm in my fingers and I looked down to see Grover gripping my hand. I gasped a little and looked up at him in shock and he pulled away instantly with a frown as though he didn't realise what he was doing.
"Sorry..." He murmured but I could see the grief and despair in his eyes. He, like the rest of us, was in need of comfort and who was I to prevent him from that? He missed Silena but mostly, I think he missed his best friend, Percy.
I smiled softly and took his hand in mine again. The fact that cringey, gold digger slash lady's man, Grover, would be capable of showing affection like that kinda stunned me and maybe even created a space for him in my heart. I knew that deep down, he wasn't such a silly jerk after all. Grover was actually a sweetheart inside who craved comfort and love and had a nerdy fetish for nature and the great outdoors. At that moment, I completely understood why Percy loved him the most out of all of us.
He sighed a little giving me a weak smile and we both turned back to the stage. The lights were a little dim so it wasn't obvious that we were holding hands but it was nice to know that he was there...that someone was.
It was when I turned my head slightly that I caught her eye. She looked pretty today as usual but there was something different about her. She looked more like the old Rachel, not that I knew her very well but from a faint memory, I recognised her. She wore less caked on makeup and you could clearly see her freckles. She looked more natural, prettier even. Her clothes weren't so in your face anymore, they were average looking, making her stand out less.
Anyway, the thing I was really looking at was her face because she was looking straight back at me. I saw the pain in her eyes. I knew she cared for Silena. Like Drew, she may seem evil on the outside but there was a beating heart somewhere inside that seemingly-hollow chest. I saw her expression switch from pain to concern and that's when she smiled at me—just ever so slightly. It wasn't one of those malevolent smiles she was famous for giving me; it was a soft one, a sympathetic one.
For a moment, I forgave her for all the nasty things she'd done to me. I never really sought revenge or became overly angry at her for her actions before anyway but today I got to see right through her; I got to see the real Rachel.
I half-smiled back at her. Her expression dropped like the world had suddenly been doused with grey liquid—as if a thick layer of dust had settled over everything. Something wasn't quite right about her.
Then with the snap of a finger, she was swiftly turning her back to me to face the front again. I honestly thought because it all happened so quickly that it was just a figure of my imagination. We didn't really speak or acknowledge each other again after that.
When I focused back on what Mr. Brunner was saying, he had moved onto a different topic entirely. He began talking about the school dance coming up in a couple of weeks for the Seniors and Juniors. They did it every year but I never went. I had a feeling that Piper and the others would force me to go this year but then again, I also got the feeling that none of them would want to go after recent events. Celebrating seemed like an insult right now, to be honest.
It was a surprisingly formal dance with ball gowns and tuxedos and traditional dancing and whatnot. It was a special non-contact dance which morphed into a sort of waltz I guess. A number of students from the two years were selected to perform it each year. You'd think at a school like this that silly events like that would make them all laugh but, surprisingly, it had the opposite effect. It was practically the only event that the students took seriously and decided not to mess up, here at Goode. Besides, it was the only event that they didn't hold in school so that already gives it bonus points I guess.
"I expect to see you all there...after all, this was going to be organised by Silena herself and I think we owe it to her to make it a day to remember." Mr Brunner smiled gently and I think everyone in the room shared his thoughts.
I guess I'll be going now—we all will.
I sighed and Grover tightened his grip on my hand, I'd almost forgotten I was holding his for a moment. It put a smile on my face at least and that was pretty impressive given the fact that I didn't smile for most of the rest of the day. Not even when I sat with the populars for the first time at the popular table and all the students looked at me with admiration in their eyes. I didn't even care. I sat with them for comfort for the most part.
It's weird to think that a couple of months ago I would never have done that but I had changed a lot recently. I had grown up and become a lot stronger and I hope that will help me cope with Silena's death a lot better than how I coped with my Dad's.
~xXx~
Percy POV
"Leave all your personal belongings in the tray." The prison guard said, looking me up and down.
I couldn't help but feel my heart drop. Perhaps my attire wasn't the best for looking innocent: black leather jacket, button-down, dark jeans and my usual high-top Vans. Perhaps the guard thought I looked like the type of guy who belonged on the other side of the prison bars. I felt myself panic a little.
Is this how I would have felt if they had caught me too, all those years ago? If I hadn't had the guts and the sense to leave Rafael, maybe I wouldn't be a visitor today… Maybe I would be an inmate.
The guard seemed impatient with a permanent frown set on his unfortunately ugly face. Quickly, I tossed what I had in my pockets onto the tray: my phone, keys, sunglasses and a half-empty pack of gum. It wasn't much, I tended not to carry a lot with me when I was kind of on the run, or ever really.
"Follow on to the left." He gestured, his voice monotone like a robot.
I was lead off down a long corridor. It wasn't a pretty place. To keep yourself sane, you had to focus on the things that anchored you to the outside rather than the shivering horrors that defined this place. You had to have the right mindset to enter a place like this. The right kind of attitude. If you allowed yourself to be vulnerable, you could lose your soul here.
But I was okay because, after all these years, I knew what kind of walls you had to put up in order to allow yourself to walk in and out of hell.
Eventually, we came to the visitor room, people were already inside speaking to each other through a glass wall that separated the innocent from the guilty. I was guided to an empty space and I had to wait until they brought him out.
A part of me wondered what the hell I was doing here. The part of me that hated his guts and wanted him dead. But it was that same part of me that wanted to see his face, to stare him down as I watched him waste away in this place. It was where he belonged.
There was a buzz of an electric door opening and suddenly a guard brought him in. He wore the usual orange suit and his hands were cuffed in front of him. His lip was split and there was a purple bruise sprouting below his left eye, across his cheekbone. It looked fresh.
Clearly, he wasn't having the easiest time in here and that made me smirk with an overwhelming sense of satisfaction.
He swaggered up to the chair in front of me, seemingly still having the attitude to piss me off. I rolled my eyes and picked up the phone to talk to him. He did the same.
"I was surprised when they told me you were here." He started. "Have you been missing me or something?"
"No one's ever going to miss you, Luke." I snapped.
This just amused him even further, much to my irritation. If there hadn't been a glass wall to separate us, I probably would have reached out and ripped his head off.
Pretentious jackass.
"So how is she?"
My blood ran cold. I knew exactly who he was referring to and hell would have to freeze over before I told him the answer to that question.
"How's Annabeth?" He asked again.
"You're even crazier than I thought if you think I'm gonna tell you anything about her." I replied, my tone as icy as the blood running through my veins.
"Look at you." He sneered. "Percy Jackson, the almighty playboy himself. You think you own her, don't you?"
My fist clenched tightly in my lap and I began to sweat with anger.
"Well, she's not yours to own." He snapped. "I should have taken her from you when I had the chance."
"You sick, son of a bitch." I snarled, keeping my voice low enough so as not to catch attention. "I would have hunted you down and killed you without blinking. The only reason you're not dead right now is that your prison cell keeps me from smashing your head in."
He paused for a moment and then he began to laugh, low and gratingly. "Aaah, Percy…you're all talk and no walk. We both know you don't have the guts to kill anyone."
I glared daggers at him, anything that could cause him pain or fear. I was livid. The anger burning through my veins was enough to leave the world in ashes and what he said next only made it worse.
"Even at the theatre, you couldn't do it. You couldn't kill me or Rafael." He smirked. "And now your friend is dead."
"Shut your mouth!" I hissed. "You even so much as whisper her name and you'll regret it."
He liked that he was getting under my skin and I hated it. Before I'd come here today, I'd tried to prepare myself for this—for his mind games. It was supposed to be me getting under his skin—me controlling the gears of the conversation but right now, it felt like he was playing me like a puppet. And with every provoking word he threw at me, he was watching me dance.
Maybe he couldn't physically hurt me and maybe he couldn't have Annabeth anymore but, by the Gods, he was going to put me through hell in any way he found possible. All because it was in his nature.
Psychopath.
"Didn't Annabeth tell you what I did to her?" I flinched at this and he grinned. "I followed her everywhere."
"Stop talking." I breathed but I sounded weaker than I'd intended as I averted my eyes, feeling agitated.
"I followed her to work, to all her exercise classes with her mom, to the coffee shop…"
His voice was drowned out by the pumping of blood in my ears and the loud thrum in my head. I scrunched my eyes shut, spluttering a little as I pictured it—or tried not to. It made me sick.
"I made a whole gallery of all the photos I collected. You can probably see it if you ask the detectives at the station, I'm sure they'd be happy to show you."
"Enough!" I exploded, catching the guards attention. He shot a warning look at us. "That's enough." I breathed. I couldn't listen to this anymore.
"Poor kid…you really love her, don't you?" He raised an eyebrow. "Well, I love her more." He leaned forward, his eyes daring me to question him.
"You don't love her, you've just got some sick obsession with her and it's disgusting. You are disgusting."
Song Tribute: [Heathens – twenty one pilots]
He flinched, leaning back and all of a sudden, I felt like I had the upper hand so I didn't stop there.
"You're not normal, Luke. You never were. I always knew, deep down, you were completely insane. You shouldn't be in here, you should be in a mental asylum because that's where people like you belong."
"I'm not crazy." He snapped. "I love her."
"God, you need help!" I cried. "Only a crazy person would believe that—that everything you did for her was an act of love. You're just a stalker who wears a smile and it's disgusting.
He was shaking now; out of anger, out of fear, I wasn't sure—maybe both. But I think a part of him was trying to make himself believe that none of what I was saying was true and it scared him—the fact that he had to do that.
"You make me sick." I snarled.
"And you make me want to kill myself."
"Do us all a favour and do it, would you?" I sighed. "That would make my job a lot easier."
"You're job, what are you talking about?" He frowned.
"I've been assigned to wipe you all out. A lot of people want Rafael's gang out of the picture and they asked me to do it."
"Why would they pick you?"
"I volunteered." I smirked. "Plus, it buys me my freedom so I figured it was a win-win situation really."
"You don't have the nerve…"
"Oh, really?" I leaned forward, intimidatingly and lowering my voice through the phone. "That's exactly what Max and Doug said before I watched them blackout and get locked up in here."
He gulped. "That was you?"
"All I gotta do now is find Octavia and then I'm done. There's no point in wasting my time on you since you're already miserably wasting away in here." I smiled a little too much but I couldn't help it and I could see his face reddening with anger.
"You'll never find him and even if you do, he'll kill you." He retorted.
"Not if I kill him first." I smirked, my eyes darkening.
It was in that moment that Luke, for the first time, wondered if I was actually capable of doing it.
"Now, you'll behave yourself, won't you? I don't want to have to get someone to put something in your food."
He blinked in shock.
"No." I smiled. "And just so we're clear, if you ever try to escape or if for some God-awful reason you get early release…just know that I will find you—and I will slit your throat—and I will watch you choke on your own blood."
Suddenly, I could see fear in his eyes. The kind of fear that swallowed his whole being and crushed every bone in his body.
With that, I hung up the phone and rose to my feet with a superior smirk on my face. I held his gaze for one powerful moment, my eyes blazing with all the hell I had left in me and then I turned my back and walked away.
And I didn't look back.
~xXx~
Annabeth POV
The end of the day came later than I thought was humanly possible. It wasn't a nice feeling—to be surrounded by so many friends and yet feel so utterly alone. We hardly ever spoke or looked at one another. Like a group of ghosts, we'd hover through the corridors and sink into the shadows. Anywhere where the light was dimmer.
I hobbled down the stone steps, away from school, clinging onto the railing, and found Piper sitting at the bottom all alone. She was looking out over the car park peacefully and she had a small smile on her face as if she was remembering a beautiful memory.
Song Tribute: [The Sun Is Rising – Britt Nicole]
"Hey." I murmured, coming to sit down beside her and ignoring the sudden shriek of pain in my gut.
"Hey." She smiled at me.
"What are you doing?"
"Nothing really...just thinking..."
"About Silena?" I looked at her with soft eyes and she turned to me with a weak smile.
She nodded slowly and I took a breath before pulling her against me. She didn't sink away, she just rested her head on my shoulder and I rested mine on the top of hers. We both took a shaky breath, looking out over the car park.
"You know, I still find myself imagining her walking up these steps like she'll just magically appear again." She murmured and I hugged her tighter.
"Me too." I sighed.
"It feels as though her car will pull in any second and she'll step out and smile at us—probably waving some pompoms, ready to dish out the latest Kardashian goss."
I managed a soft giggle but even that hurt. "It still doesn't really feel like she's gone…does it?"
I heard her sigh and we were both silent for a while.
"Annabeth?"
"Yeah?" I said sitting up to look at her again.
"Is it...is it always gonna be like this?" She murmured. "Will it hurt forever?
I smiled sorrowfully. "No Pips...in time it will heal, I promise." I whispered.
She nodded and I sensed her smiling weakly.
"I wonder where Percy is." She said aloud. "I miss him."
A heavy sigh escaped my lips but she kept her head on my shoulder. "I miss him too." I murmured.
"He'll come home soon, I know it." She assured me as if she had it in writing. "No matter how far he strays, Percy always comes back in the end."
A part of me wanted to believe her but a part of me didn't.
"And he'll come back for you, Annabeth." She said, lacing our fingers together in my lap. "He told you he loved you, didn't he? Percy will do anything for the people he loves."
"I wonder if it still stands though." I murmured before I could stop myself.
"Of course it does!" She cried, sitting up to look at me and tightening her grip on my hand. Her eyes were blown wide with astonishment. "Annabeth, I watched that boy falling in love with you from day one. He's never ever looked at anyone the way he looks at you."
I smiled weakly, nodding a little. "It just hurts…being away from him." I peered up at the sea of blue above us and relished in the cool breeze brushing across my face, through my blonde curls. "I wonder where he is, what he's doing…who he's with."
She frowned sorrowfully at me, sensing that my worries had been with me for a while now.
"If he's hurting…" My voice was barely a whisper.
"He'll be okay, Annabeth. He will."
I nodded, trying to persuade myself that she was right. "I just wish he'd call… How am I supposed to go through each day knowing that he's out there all alone? Knowing that he could be hurt?" I sighed.
"Gods, I never thought I'd fall in love with him this much."
Piper shifted closer to me, resting her head on my shoulder again and holding our laced hands with her other. "I know how you feel." She said. "And it's never easy, believe me, but you'll get through it. You'll get through it together."
We sat for a bit longer, listening to the birds in the trees and the soft winds blowing through the leaves. The sky had never been this blue before.
"You need a lift?" She suddenly asked and at that moment, I looked up to see my driver pulling into the school car park.
"No, I'm okay. My mother hired me a driver but thanks anyway." I smiled and she nodded understandingly. "Are you gonna be alright?"
"Are any of us?" She laughed weakly but that only made me sadder. "I'll be alright, Annabeth." She smiled, squeezing my hand. "Now go."
I looked at her worriedly for a few moments before sighing and getting to my feet. "Call me when you get home?" I asked and she nodded again before I began walking to the car.
Piper and I had started doing that with one another out of habit now. We'd always be frantic until we got a text from the other saying they'd got home safe and sound. We could never be too careful.
I quietly pulled my seatbelt on as the driver was steering out of the car park. It was amazing that I had even gotten through today without crying.
With a sigh that could offer a thousand words, I opened the back window to let my hair blow in the wind. There was a warm, spring breeze floating through the air and sunlight was dancing off the silver sheen of the car. I don't know why, but I could smell cherry blossom. It was a sweet scent, the kind of scent that brought back early childhood memories.
For a moment, I closed my eyes and rested my head against the car. And as we flew through the messy streets of the city that I was raised in—a city I could barely even recognise anymore, tears began to blur in the corners of my eyes and trickle down my face.
Silent tears—the kind of tears that hold the loudest pain of all.
~xXx~
3rd Person POV
Thursday14th April
...
..
The calling
Behold the red sky
Filled with rage, fury and might
Demons do their deeds
As the souls of angels plunge
Into the depths of the moat
Rattle the cage
To steal all is to thunder
For tomorrow is upon us
Judgement day is calling
— Jay Long
..
...
Song Tribute: [Time – Hans Zimmer]
Nighttime again. The witching hour. When demons creep out of the shadows to play with those of us willing to dance with the devil. It sounded across the city like the silent ring of a church bell.
Two men stood on an old rooftop in downtown Brooklyn. One carried a briefcase, the other—a gun.
It all came down to this. All the chasing and the scrambling and the panting was over. Now, nowhere to run and nowhere to hide. Nothing but them and the chilling company of Death on that isolated rooftop.
Two pairs of eyes set firmly upon each other—one icy blue and the other a startling sea-green. They were eyeing each other, daring the other to make the first move. With only a few metres between them and a 500m drop advancing closer and closer, either of them could have died tonight. Their fates were in the hands of the Gods now.
Βρίσκεται στην αγκαλιά των θεών
- The Iliad
"Being away from your girlfriend has turned you rogue, boy." Octavia grinned. "Tell me, how was it leaving her? I bet she was crushed."
"Mention Annabeth again and I'll shoot you between the eyes, I mean it."
This didn't even make the villain-like story character flinch. He just smiled, his eyes glinting maliciously in the light. "I hope it hurt."
"And I hope after this, you hurt."
"You've been a thorn in my side ever since Rafael let you in." Octavia hissed. "You were nothing but a kid then and you're nothing but a kid now. Just a spoilt brat who got given a knife to play with."
The dark angel, sniggered, wiping the blood from his mouth—a war wound from when Octavia had punched him in the alleyway. He'd caught him just before he'd called for a taxi to take him to the airport. This was his chance now—his chance to make him suffer for all the pain he'd caused. For all the trauma. For all the silent tears he'd cried. For all the anger that boiled through the blood in his veins. This was his revenge.
Maybe he couldn't fix himself by breaking someone else but it would sure as hell help a little.
And besides, revenge is a dish best served cold.
"Right back at ya, teddy boy." Percy grinned, remembering how Octavia used to carry a stuffed bear around with him wherever he went. "But let's skip the chit-chat, the sound of your voice makes me sick."
He was dressed in all black, with a long trench coat that almost reached his knees and was left open to flap in the icy wind. His hair had grown wildly out of control and there was something in his sharp jawline that appeared permanently clenched now. He didn't look like a High School boy anymore and there was something about him that didn't seem human at all.
"What are you gonna do? Kill me?" Octavia challenged.
"I've killed you three times already in my head, I think I can handle killing you one last time." Percy smirked, using his devilish eyes to play with his mind.
"Cowards don't kill."
Percy's grip tightened around the gun hanging down by his side. He wasn't thinking about how he got it or where he got it, only why he got it.
"And you're nothing but a coward. Too cowardly to pull the trigger and too cowardly to protect your girlfriend and too cowardly to save your frie—"
A thunderous explosion of anger jolted through the dark angel's veins and like the flash of lightning, his arm had come up to aim the gun at the murderer that stood before his eyes. His body was fused with rage. His fury, like a rolling flame, was an unquenchable force, bursting through and giving violence in its way.
"SHUT UP!" He screamed.
Eyes ablaze, he stormed towards Octavia, pushing him to his knees and pressing the gun to his head. The villain merely looked at him and sniggered as though a child was pointing a toy gun at him and threatening his life.
"You should have used that anger to save her. But instead, you caved, just like you did with Zoë Nightshade."
"I SAID SHUT UUUUUUP!" He boomed and snapped a right hook across his jaw, triggering a ripple of crushing bones. His all-powerful voice sliced through the cold air like a sharp knife. It echoed and bellowed through the night like a thousand lion's roars before disappearing amongst the compelling sound of car horns and New Yorkers.
Long locks of black hair, fell in his eyes from the sheer force and it was as if his iris' were burning holes between the dark strands. He was trembling now. Trembling with a maddening rage.
And if only his love could see him now, she would have been terrified—but strangely attracted to the iridescent beauty in his anger.
Pain exploded through Octavia's jaw, choking cries from the back of his throat. For the first time, all night, he began to sweat with fear. It trickled from his blonde hair, down his face, to his neck. His eyes began to quiver in the moonlight as he stared up at the dark shadow that loomed over him. The shadow that carried fear and flame and fury.
"For all your crimes Octavia, I swear by the Gods, I will strike you down!" Percy bellowed. "For the torturing and the murdering of innocent people—for Annabeth—for Silena…" He hesitated, desperately trying to control the emotion behind the glass wall of his eyes.
"I hope you die a thousand deaths in hell."
"If you kill me, you'll be no better than I am." Octavia spluttered. "Who's going to love you when you've got blood on your hands? You'll be a murderer."
"It's only murder if they find the body, otherwise it's just another missing person." The dark angel glared.
Octavia blinked in shock, staring blankly down the barrel of the gun that was pointing at him.
"On your feet!" Percy ordered, pulling him up and stepping back to separate the two of them by at least 3 metres. Octavia staggered to do so, keeping a firm grip on the briefcase in his hand. It carried everything that mattered to him—money and drugs.
"Any last words before you die?"
"You wouldn't."
The safety switch flicked off with a click.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Okay! Okay!" Octavia put his hands up as if they would protect him from the bullet that was seconds away from slicing through his ugly flesh. "What do you want? I'll give anything. Name your price!"
"The only price I desire is your head."
"Please, I'll leave. I won't bother you." He said, breathlessly as he backed up close to the edge of the building. "You'll never have to see my face again, I promise. Just…I beg of you…mercy—show me mercy."
"WHERE WAS YOUR MERCY WHEN YOU MURDERED SILENA!?" Percy cried.
Octavia flinched and briefly looked up at the sky as if the Gods would help him. They wouldn't. No one would. Realising that playing victim wasn't getting him anywhere he resorted to doubt again instead.
"You won't do it! You kill me, you kill your relationship with Annabeth! So go ahead! DO IT! KILL ME!" He shouted, holding his arms out as a sickening grin wrinkled at the corners of his mouth. "I'll watch her hating you in the afterlife."
Percy clenched his teeth and gripped the gun tighter than he had ever gripped anything ever before. The only sound audible now was the blood racing through his ears, churning through his veins. It goaded him on. Drove a heated passion through him. Like ashes to fire, this angel was set aflame—blazing in the darkness and crackling through the night.
Kill him. Do it. Do it now!
He could hear a high pitched ringing noise now. It left him dizzy and disorientated. He blinked, trying to control himself.
What are you waiting for? Kill him!
Sweat collected in his hairline and at the back of his neck. Could he really do this? His hands were shaking, his mouth was dry—his whole body was fighting against his urge to do it.
The tension was broken by a vision of a face. A bitter-sweet vision of the most beautiful face he'd ever seen. Golden skin and golden hair. Grey eyes and pink lips. It was hers and it made him question his whole being. She seemed to reach out to him with her tiny hand and brush her fingers over the gun.
She whispered one thing and one thing only—his name.
Percy.
Even before he saw her face, he had hesitated. Hesitated not just because of the fear that was consuming him but because of an inkling he'd always had as a kid—an inkling that he had never truly belonged in this world.
Pain burst through his veins, dulling the strength in his limbs and making it hard to stand. His arms felt heavy, his head was hurting, his legs were shaking. But he knew that nothing physical could ever outweigh the emotional pain of seeing her face again. Even if it was only in his mind.
Because she was the love that came without warning. She had his heart before he could say no. And he would have given Heaven and Earth if only he could have hers too.
The vision faded in a cloud of smoke that was briskly swept away by the whistling wind. Suddenly, all he could see was Octavia and his loathsome, smirking, sickening face.
A low, crying outburst escaped his mouth and in the heat of his anger, he pulled the trigger. But not before he could see the sudden sheer panic, dawning across Octavia's face. He knew he was going to die and he opened his mouth to beg for his miserable life but it was too late.
BANG!
Octavia stumbled back in shock, losing his footing against the wall and then, as if in slow motion, he was falling. His arms came up in front of him, eyes wide, lips tinged red. Falling, falling to his death. Down and down and down. A dark figure, sinking into the blinding kaleidoscope colour of the city lights that set the night ablaze. The earth; torn from his feet and only the thickness of wind and air could carry him now.
The briefcase opened and like an explosion of wedding confetti, they began to rain down on the city below. Each piece of paper gently drifting in the wind like delicate feathers. They danced with each other; twisting and twirling in the air until finally, they were out of sight. And so was he.
Smoke permeated from the gun as it dropped down by the dark angel's side. His eyes were blown wide and for a moment, he found it hard to breathe. His long coat rippled in the wind like a black flag, his hair moving with it, and for a moment, they were all that moved on that rooftop.
Then he took a step, and another, and another until he was peering over the edge where he knew he would see the body. Still alive.
It had been a last minute hesitation. A cowardly move to some—maybe, but the bravest move of all to most. He had chosen not to take the darkest path that any one man can walk. He had chosen love over revenge because at the end of the night, it was the most important.
Before he had pulled the trigger, he had taken a deep breath and tilted the gun to the side with a quick flick of the wrist. Angled to perfection, the bullet had sunk deep into Octavia's shoulder and he had plunged to a terrace balcony below.
And sure enough, there he was—unconscious from the shock but the rising and falling of his chest was a sign that he was still breathing.
Not dead.
Percy exhaled hard. A sense of relief washed over him. He hadn't killed him. Gods, he had never been so glad to be a coward before in his entire life. If he had done what he set out to do tonight, he may have lost Annabeth forever.
He shook the thought away, whipping out his phone to send a text to an unknown contact:
It's done
His phone buzzed instantly with a response.
Good. You make it out of there alive and you're a free man.
A spark shot through his veins as it suddenly dawned on him that it was dangerous to be anywhere near the sound of a gunshot in New York City. He broke into a sprint and ran away into the night, disappearing amongst the shadows of the building.
~xXx~
"But grief makes a monster out of us sometimes...and sometimes you say and do things to the people you love that you can't forgive yourself for."
― Melina Marchetta
The city went on whirring away. Traffic jams clogged up the roads, people dotted the sidewalk, rushing to get home from late night jobs and the smell of carbon emissions concentrated the air. Everything was alive.
Thank God.
Percy staggered through the streets, his vision blurring. Everything mixed into one huge ocean wave of sickness.
Song Tribute: [Atlas – Coldplay]
When he finally reached a quiet spot in a dark alleyway, he collapsed against the brick wall, panting breathlessly. His heart was ramming against his ribcage, inflicting pain on his chest. He was out of control—caught in hyperventilation. Slowly, he sunk to the ground, propping his knees up in front of him and burying his hands deep into his hair. He tangled his fingers between the strands and clenched them stressfully while the voices argued in his head.
Voices saying he had done the right thing and other voices saying he should go back and finish him off for Silena. He deserved to die. To show him mercy was a crime against nature. Killing him would probably save a hundred others. Go back and finish him off! You coward!
ENOUGH!
Exhaustion consumed him.
Percy had never been a killer. No matter what people say, he had never been a killer.
He was tired now. Tired of feeling like this. Tired of living like this. All he wanted was to feel Annabeth's embrace and for a moment, he imagined what it felt like. He missed her lips and her smile and her voice and her laugh and her hugs. He just missed her. He wanted to go home.
The sudden, desperate and painful desire to see her didn't come as much of a shock because Percy had always known—he'd always known that love will fuck you up more than drugs ever will.
As if called upon, the sky began to cry. A single raindrop landed on the back of his hand, splashing across his skin and sending a shock-wave of cold through his body. Then he tipped his head back against the wall with a thud, and slowly gazed up at the night sky. The rain poured more heavily now and he blinked against the droplets coating his thick eyelashes.
It was as if the heavens were washing away his sins. So he allowed the clear liquid to coat his black clothes, seeping through to his hot, burning skin and chilling him to the very core. He had to freeze the fire. Chase away the flames. Coax out the demons buried deep inside him.
He wanted out of the chasm now. This was his last attempt at scrambling his way out of there. Clawing and climbing. Breathing in the fresh scent of freedom that was within his grasp. Until finally he could stand and walk away with effortless ease. He could hold his head up high, square his shoulders and turn away with a triumphant smile on his face and the sense to never look back.
The roaring water filled his ears and blurred out the nasty sound of car horns that were screaming at each other. At that moment, it felt as if he was carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders. Like Alas, it was his burden. When you become aware and wise about the world, you are finally ready to carry the weight of it. It's bitter-sweet. But to carry someone else's is to carry their weight as well as your own, the ultimate sacrifice for love.
And that is exactly what he was doing for Annabeth. Forevermore.
In time, he would go back to her. He would ask for her forgiveness and never speak of the weight he was carrying for her. But for now, he had to stay away. He had to remain in the shadows as the dark angel. Only when this had all blown over could he return home. Only when he was fully cleansed could he truly be free.
So for now, he just stared up at the night sky, where the blackness went up and up forever and there were hundreds of thousands of stars.
~xXx~
That's it peeps!
Dark Percy is well and truly over. Next chapter he'll be the charming Prince you all know him to be and there will obviously be a massive REUNION! Bigger than the previous one. Much bigger ;)
I feel like a lot of Dreams has been dark and depressing so far... sorry about that. Next chapter is all sunshine & rainbows pretty much with maybe a little drama and some wistful moments.
How did you like the Tribute Songs? The Sun is Rising makes me cry every time! I thought 'Time' was honestly so perfect for that scene with Percy and Octavia. And 'Atlas' is a seriously bewitching song. I love it. I could kinda picture the rain and the sky and Percy with that song.
What did you guys think of the Piper x Annabeth moment? I thought it was cute and it was really nice to develop their friendship like that.
Please don't forget to leave a review and tell me what you thought because I really struggled with this chapter. I'd like to know if I did okay? I want to keep you guys happy. I MISSED YOU ALL!
I won't disappear like that again without warning!
So the next update will probably be next week! I'm going on holiday with a friend for the weekend so I'll see you guys on SEAWEED BRAIN SUNDAY on the 7th April.
Lots of love,
~ AWG xx
P.s. I am currently having problems with my PM box, there are so many PMs that it keeps crashing. But I am sorting it out and I'll be responding to you all ASAP! x
P.P.S Sorry I didn't respond to reviews. I'm gonna go back and do that in the next chapter. Especially to NONAME2002, LouTheDog, QueenofWolves and some others x