Chapter 6: Taking Lives and Hiding Lies
Disclaimer: GODS GET AWAY FROM ME! I DO NOT OWN PERCY JACKSON YOU EVIL EVIL DISCLAIMERS!
"That's what you think…" He trailed off leaving me suspicious. "What if I tell you that it wasn't an accident?" He asked me with a desperate look in his eye.
"You mean-" I began.
"Yeah," He nodded, "We got a new lead on who might've been responsible for it."
I was lost as I tried to make my mouth form words. "So it was rigged?" I asked a bit amazed.
"According to the sources they were…" Nico looked around as if afraid we were being followed. "Anyways… based on what I know, the accident was planned." I looked at him a bit baffled. "I mean it was not an accident at all." He explained.
I stared at him in shock, "Nico, it was three lives!" I said in a frustrated tone. "No one could take three lives that easily without a second thought."
"For money they will…" Nico mumbled glaring at the uneaten hamburger in his hands.
I clenched my fist and took a couple breath to calm myself down, "So they just took three innocent lives like that?" I asked.
"I already told you… for money they will." He repeated.
"You don't even know if it's true man!" I tried to deny that anyone could be that cold hearted.
"Percy… I have an idea what happened, and I can assure you that someone planned it. There are evidences." Nico tried to tell me.
"I don't want to talk about this anymore." I told him, not really meaning any word I said. I just didn't want to bring up the death of my two old friends anymore.
"Whoever did that was guilty! Don't you want to find out who?" He asked me, his anger rising with every second. "What if that person decides to hurt more people? If I take on this case… we can stop that from happening." He told me. "Just listen to me man." He begged. "Please?"
I thought about it and my curiosity got the best of me, I slowly nodded, not sure if I was going to like this any bit. I sighed, "Tell me from the beginning."
Nico nodded, "As I told you before… it was rigged."
"Where was it-?" I began.
Nico looked troubled, "The back exhaust, someone blocked it, and the heat kept on building up." He explained. "They already messed with your car beforehand, and also put a stopper into the brakes so you couldn't stop your car." He told me. "Though through police account, for security purposes of course… we informed them that there was a car malfunction, so that no one would get suspicious and we can't deny that we were all drunk that day… especially after…" Nico trailed off not wanting to remind me of Rachel's break-up.
"Continue." I told him as he paused making sure that I'm taking in everything.
"We manage to take a hold of their plans after looking at all the evidence in the car. We're not sure who it is at the moment, but I have my team working on it." He informed me.
"Any particular reason why they decided to use my car though?" I asked, clearly very curious.
"That's what we were finding out, all we know is that they intended on taking something, or perhaps someone." Nico added darkly.
"Then what-?" I began as Nico interrupted me again.
"Unfortunately their plan went wrong… they planned to only take one life, but I guess you could say that the person who rigged the car was outsmarted, and in turn took three innocent lives. We haven't found out the identity of this person that they wanted to kill yet, nor the person that rigged the car, but we're working on it." Nico finish, his voice grim.
I stared at him trying to take in the information I have just heard. My brain have seem to forgotten to form words as I opened my mouth and closed it repeatedly like a fish in water. Then I remembered that he met with a witness today. "What about the witness? What did you get from them?" I asked him.
He looked at me in bewilderment, "Witness? Perce, the only witness alive… is you, me, and obviously…" Nico said the next words with distaste. "Ms. Princess Rachel… and I am saying that SHE WAS THERE!" Nico emphasized his point. "Other than that…who else?" He glared at his uneaten burger again. "Unless you are talking about the ones that died." He added silently.
"The one that you met up with this morning," I informed him, remembering his nervousness just a while ago.
"The one- Oh…" He exclaimed as realization dawn to his face. "That… yeah, that was the information I found from that person." He said swiftly. "But the witness wanted to keep their identity a secret… which is why… umm… I haven't told anyone about this yet." He quickly added. I didn't know what to believe now, the accident that changed my life forever was said to be something entirely different. "Dude… just trust me… I can totally handle this case." He assured me and took out his phone to quickly send a message, from which I assumed to be from his team or something.
I wasn't sure if I was willing to let him take on this case, even though he have been in many cases, none of them involve a terrorist. As much as I wanted to find the killer and the reason behind all this mystery, I couldn't bear to let him probably risk his life to examine this case. I have always felt protective of the little guy, especially ever since his sister's death. "You can't take this case Nico." I told him.
"Try and convince me." Nico said stubbornly.
"Holding grudges is not the answer." I tried to tell him, remembering about Minos.
"I'm not holding a grudge." Nico tried to tell me. "I'm finding answers! I didn't come here to ask for your permission Percy, I know much more about this case then you do, and I know that this case is much more important than you think. You need to know this is not just for your personal information…" He said maturely. "This could stop them…whoever they are… to stop taking lives from innocents."
"Nico-" I was about to say something more when my phone interrupted. I reached into my pocket and grab out my cell phone. "Hello?"
"Percy?" A familiar voice rang through my phone.
"Yeah? Who's this?" I asked still as clueless as possible.
"Annabeth? Umm… I mean your sister?" She answered me. I checked my watch and noticed that it was near an hour already.
I mentally cursed, "I'll be there in fifteen." I told her and hung up. I turned to Nico, "Dude I gotta-"
"Yeah, your sister called." He finished.
"And Nico… what you said before… just don't get hurt while taking on the case okay?" I quickly told him.
He gave me that scary grin of his, "If I don't get hurt man… where's the fun in it?"
"Dude you're scary when you're happy." I murmured.
He simply replied by grinning evilly again. "Anyways… go pick up your sister before she goes all berserk on you again." He clapped my back and sat back down and finally ate his burger.
I nodded and rushed out to my car.
Annabeth's POV:
I walked into Starbucks to see my old friend already sitting there with a cup of frappuccino in her hand. She saw my face and waved me over with a wide grin on her face.
I smiled and hurried over as she grabbed me into a death hug. "WOW I haven't seen you since four years ago kiddo!"
I frowned and tried to breath, "Thalia… I am not that younger than you…" I managed as she squeezed the air out of my lungs.
"What are you talking about?" Thalia finally released me. "I'm a year older." She smiled. I looked at her she was dressed much more mature since I last saw her in the summer before we decided to separate and go to different colleges.
"Whatever… so did you order a drink for me?" I gestured pointing to another cup of coffee on the table and made a grab for it, but Thalia beat me to it.
"Actually… that was for my friend…an old co-worker." She said smoothly.
I narrowed my eyes and smirked, "A friend? Could it be that Leo you were talking about?" I asked grinning like crazy as I took a seat.
"No… that guy always tries to hit on me!" Thalia nearly exploded.
I backed down a bit and let out a laugh, "Okay, okay… not need to get all crazy on me."
"Whatever." Thalia mumbled. "So…" I sighed already knowing what was coming next. "Why are you here in New York? Did you withdraw from school? Who is this brother you are talking about?" She asked me in one breath.
"I'll explain just listen and don't-"
"Don't what?" She looked at me then her eyes went wide. "Oh my gods… you got pregnant in California and you're coming here to hide out from the disgrace."
My mouth went wide, "Woah! Woah! What? How did you even get that idea?" I yelled back.
She cocked her eyebrows suspiciously. "Well… you're not exactly as slim as you were five years ago… you actually look more humane now then when you were in high school, and now…" Thalia trailed off. "Well… if anything… you look much more healthier now." Thalia smiled.
I glared at her, "One… I did not get pregnant and two… it's called college stress…. And I don't think it's very healthy." I mumbled.
"Then…" Thalia looked me over. "You got into an argument with your dad again?" She guessed.
I have to give it to her, it was a pretty good guess… well better than the first one. "I'm not going to leave California for a stupid fight… so no." I answered.
Thalia had her thinking face on as she took a sip from her drink and her eyes stared at me so wide I could almost see it popping out. "OH MY GODS! YOU FAILED YOUR CLASSES! YOU DROPPED OUT DIDN'T YOU?" I stared at her, for a moment wondering what goes on in that mind of hers. "But… how?"
"I did not fail my classes nor did I drop out!" I snapped angrily. "I'm not that dumb." I glared at her.
Thalia grinned, "Then there's only one solution…" I looked up at her happy face.
"You missed me so much that you decided to pay me a visit." Thalia said confidently.
"No…" I began then saw Thalia raised an eyebrow. "Well… yes I miss you… but that's not the reason." Thalia looked like she was about to say something but I quickly interrupted her, "How about you just listen and not interrupt me?" I asked.
She nodded reluctantly and took a sip out of her drink. "Okay… listening." She mumbled.
"Well… remember my friend Emily I told you about?" I asked her.
"The girl who's crazy and pretty much loves to fool around but is serious about her major?" Thalia asked as I nodded. "No I don't remember" Thalia added sarcastically. "Why?"
"Well… apparently… her father is a major business guy… and she thought he was dead for all her life." I told her. "Then just a couple days ago, she got a letter of him telling her to go to New York and help manage the family company."
Then as if by magic Thalia's eyes brightened like she finally get where I was going. "You don't mean-"
"Well… if you're thinking that she wants to stay in California and keep on working to get her degree in the medical field at Stanford, and asks me to go to New York and pretend to be her, and therefore studying at Columbia University to get my dream job as an architecture… then yes."
"I was going for you decided to go with her here to New York and help her get settled in then leave and decided to pay me a visit… but that…. ARE YOU FUCKING STUPID!" Thalia finally exploded as I covered my ears in hopes of saving myself from going deaf.
"Thalia calm down!" I hissed as we caught the attention of some of the people sitting in nearby booth.
"GIVE ME ON REASON WHY SHOULD I CALM DOWN WHEN YOU'VE DONE SOMETHING SO DAMN STUPID!" She yelled at me.
"Okay, okay I know it was a not so smart idea but-" I began.
"NOT SO SMART? IT'S PLAIN STUPID!" Thalia yelled back.
"Can you just let me explain!" I asked her.
"Fine!" She grumbled and crossed her arm, slouching back down into the chair.
"Well, before I was rudely interrupted, Emily received a letter from her father who requested her to come to New York. However she wants to stay there, so I'm here to study in Columbia and to pretend to be her, just until we both finish with our studies. While that time I have to live with Emily's half-brother, and have him take me around the company and such." I told her.
Thalia seemed to look at me in disbelief, "You are going to get caught." She finally said.
"Come on Thalia… when have you ever cared about getting caught?" I asked sarcastically.
Thalia seem to think about it, "Point taken…" She sighed, "But seriously Annabeth, you can't just live in a house with a stranger like that." Thalia tried to tell me.
"He thinks I'm his sister." I explained.
"Still, what happens when they find out then?" Thalia questioned.
"I've already thought of it, I'll tell them before they find out… It won't get out of hand… trust me." I assured her, or more like assuring myself.
"And I can't believe I thought you were smart in high school." Thalia groaned. "Listen to my advice-"
"Should I start running now?" I asked her trying to make my face look serious.
Thalia faked a sarcastic laugh, "Haha very funny… anyways, since you've already did this plan and what-not… you can't back down."
I rolled my eyes, "You seriously think I'm going to cave and tell everyone…" I murmured.
Thalia shrugged and took a sip, "Don't ask me… I don't really know how your mind works after you went along with that stupid plan."
"It's not a stupid plan!" I tried to tell her even though I knew it myself that if was a plan set for failure. "It's just…just…" I trailed off.
"Just?" Thalia cocked an eyebrow, her face plastered with a smirk.
"Okay! It was stupid! But we both got what we wanted! I mean it's our whole future at stake here!" I admitted.
"Yeah yeah, and then the next thing you know… they write down committed fraud in your record." Thalia mumbled.
For a moment I was worried, "But it's not fraud if they agreed to it… I mean Emily send me here… and they won't find out." I said confidently, or at least tried to.
"I can't believe all through high school…I thought you were the smart one." Thalia said sarcastically.
I glared at her, "As long as you don't tell anyone we're all good. Plus according to Emily's brother… their dad probably won't be visiting until ten years later." I told her. "It's almost foolproof."
"Almost?" Thalia asked suspiciously.
"Well… there is Percy to consider…" I murmured.
"Percy?" Thalia asked in confusion. "You gotta give me all the facts woman! I don't know names!" Thalia yelled at me.
I didn't even flinch, "Percy… Emily's brother, that's suppose to be my brother."
"Oh geez… that clears it up a lot." She grumbled sarcastically. "Okay enough of that little plan of yours, so how's life?" She asked changing the subject right away. "Seems as if you're still the same as always… minus the healthier body, and sudden change of brothers."
I ignored her constant attempt in trying to get under my skin, "Well you pretty much know it… it's not like we haven't been keeping in touch." I said remembering our most recent conversation about four months ago, before I started at Stanford.
"Hmm… makes sense, but I haven't hung out with you since… well since I left high school." She admitted. "You have to admit it's not that easy to put in sarcastic comments while chatting with you on aim." She pointed out.
I smiled, "Did I ever told you how much I miss your insulting remarks and sudden outburst of wise comments?" I teased her.
"Just admit you miss your older sister." Thalia grinned.
"I miss you so much…" I said with fake sweetness in my voice that didn't go unnoticed by Thalia.
"I feel the love…" Thalia said sarcastically, taking a sip out of her drink.
"So where's my drink?" I asked her.
"You got hands and feet, go buy it yourself." Was her rude response.
I grumbled about Thalia being so inconsiderate and lazily stood up and ordered a light mocha, then sat back down waiting for the person to call my name. "So who's this Leo you've been talking about?" I asked smirking.
Thalia groaned, "You remember my younger brother Jason that went and lived with my dad, while I stayed with my mom?" Thalia asked her voice dropping to venom mode.
I nodded knowing that Thalia never really had a good relationship with either of her parents, but I knew she cared about them. When her mother died during her freshman year she kept to herself for half the school year. No one found out her mother died until the next school year, and I also learned that she's been living by herself at home since her mother's death with her younger brother Jason and a close relative before he was asked by his father to stay closer to the family business a couple years ago since Jason was technically the heir of the family fortune. "Yeah I remember him." I replied. "How's Jason now?" I asked.
"Actually I just talked to him a couple days ago, seems as if he's going to be attending some kind of piloting course in the western states." Thalia informed me.
I was happy for Jason, I knew he always wanted to become a pilot and experience the thrill in the pilot seat. The siblings look nothing alike except for their electric blue eyes. He used to follow his father's order in training for the family business, but after his father arranged his engagement to Reyna, a daughter of a leading business chain, Jason was furious and broke off the engagement. He went back to Thalia, and attended school there as a regular kid, ignoring his dad's demands that he comes back. There at the public high school was where we found out Thalia had a successful brother, and also where Jason met Piper.
"How about Piper?" I asked.
Piper was the daughter of Tristan McLean, the famous movie star. She was like a little kid sister to me, and despite her dad was pretty much world famous, she never rubbed it in. I never even considered her to be Mr. McLean's daughter until I accidentally overheard her conversation with her dad's assistance. I have to say, I was pretty surprised, for one I expected someone with her kind of family status to be in some kind of famous private school with designer clothes and an overload of perfume. Thankfully Piper was just the opposite, uneven cut hair, casual and even a bit of tom-boy clothes, and for some reason she would always wear that specific snowboarding jacket of hers. According to Thalia's source (not very reliable…by the way), I was told that Jason and Piper was officially a couple as of their senior year, but now that Jason is off to take a piloting course and Piper heading off in her own career path…
"Don't worry about them." Thalia shrugged that off easily. "You should've seen them at my house last week," Thalia shuddered at the memory. "Anyways… you don't have to worry about them… they have plans to meet every week and catch up."
"So then what does this have to do with Leo then?" I asked her.
"Leo… how should I say this… ? He's Jason's old friend, fixed up Jason's first plane." Thalia told me. "Anyways… that guy is a fucking player! He doesn't get the fact that I'm not interested in him, I already told him that I'm not interested in a relationship with him at any moment… but that guy just doesn't get the clue."
I laughed, "So he flirted with you?" I tried to keep my smile in check so Thalia wouldn't slap it off my face.
"More like attempted."Thalia mumbled. "I seriously just hate that guy." Thalia mumbled. "Jason on the other hand, said he have a long history with this Leo guy, and in some way respects him, and believe it or not… Piper actually doesn't mind this guy as well." Thalia sighed in frustration.
"Maybe this Leo guy, is not that bad?" I suggested trying to not smile.
"Not to Jason and Piper, but he annoys the fucking shit out of me." Thalia grimaced. "Anyways… enough with my personal life stalker… how was life with this so called brother of yours?" She asked me.
I sighed and went on telling her about the weird attitude of Emily's brother, and how he was straight up annoying. Thalia went on being herself adding in some witty remarks from time to time and convinced me that since I already went with this horrifying plan… I might as well stick with it to the end.
"Interesting roommate you have there." Thalia said after I finished telling her about how annoying Percy is. "If I hadn't known any better I would've thought you guys were old enemies rather than strangers."
I sighed, "If I didn't' know better… I would've thought you guys were the same person." I mumbled finally noticing how alike Thalia and Percy was. Their stubborn and witty remarks were almost uncanny. "You guys love to fight with me…"
"Only difference is I'm much cooler." Thalia boasted when suddenly her phone beeped for an incoming message. Her eyes suddenly went wide as they sparkled with more happiness then I've ever seen in them as she read the message. "Hey I have to go soon." Thalia informed me as she closed down her phone.
I smirked, "What was that?"
"I already told you, I'm so much cooler than I have a lot of old friend visiting today." Thalia replied simply shrugging off my comment. "You mind paying for the drinks today? I'll pay next time." She promised half-heartily.
I sighed, "When did you ever pay…? If I'm correct this is 118th time that you said that line… but who's counting… " I added sarcastically.
"You are." Thalia grinned, "Keep in touch Annabeth, don't forget to call me out to hang sometimes, but if you ever get caught for fraud…" She paused dramatically and said, "We do not know each other." I grumbled and took a sip from my drink before dialing to call Percy.
So… how was this chapter? Found out a little bit about Percy's little accident…. Should I bring in Rachel yet? Or shall I develop Percebeth brotherly sisterly relationship first? But how was it? You likey Thalia? Haha honestly I love Thalia XD Good? Bad? Horrible? Amazing? REVIEW PLEASE!
Well I have to apologize… I've been busy with … well battle practices and been getting home really late all the time this week… and well… I don't know… I'm just really stressing with school at the moment… my grades are I guess still good, I mean straight A's and all that… but you have no idea how tempted I am just to drop the good grades… I'm feeling almost like a loner, to be honest I'd rather just be alone sometimes… and you know… just sleep in a corner. If I hang out with the same person everyday… I feel like I'm tied down and obliged to hang out with them… any of you guys ever feel like that? Well… you can see… I'm feeling a bit depressed today… so… yeah…
Also… the person that's still having up my story… please take it down now, I'm getting more and more frustrated…. No seriously… I'm so stressed about real life and then I come on here to be pissed and see someone copying my story… I'm just losing it… I swear I'm going to explode soon… Please if you are the person who's copying my story… please take it down, I don't appreciate it at all… once again… thanks…
Reviews:
Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute: I have to admit I really love Nico's happy-go-lucky attitude, but I actually need him to be his emotional self in this one, but maybe I could somehow hint those childish feelings somehow :D
Freaky: Yep three people died, however, Bianca's death does not have any relation towards Percy's car accident at all. Bianca's death was almost like a fill in to the story just as true to the original story, how she made Nico go depressed. However the three people that died during the car crash… well… you'll soon find out. I hope I was able to sort out that confusion :D
Its just me: haha thanks, I try hard to make Percy a more charming guy in here since in Jackson's Chase in the beginning I made him kind of a big jerk.
AzianDemigod16: Yep haha I love using words and making up some weird stuff, I guess here's a good use to them :D
Theminotaur'shorn: haha I'm really sorry about that XD but it had to be done, builds up the suspense, but I can assure that it'll be explained later on in the story :D
Capilla007: Haha yep, it should be a majority of those that died in the real story, except probably a selected few. Well people hate partial truth but, when we say the truth… they could never handle it… *sigh*. Haha but your family seems exciting XD I totally understand the annoying part XD but you gotta love them still right? (maybe…? :P)
GemOfOlympus: HAHA I hate that the one year older thing… well my sister's actually 352 days older ( not necessarily a year and I never let her forget that) but she still acts so bossy… well I have a pretty big family, one older sis, 2 younger sis and one baby bro, my older sister- she's almost the complete opposite of me… in love with Korean idols, and well…girly then again all my sisters are girly, my two little sis always annoy me as hell! But I still love them ( I think….) and my baby bro… well too soon to tell XD. Well with the cliffhanger business, I'm guessing this chapter was better :D haha burdensome! Nice word though :D I would've never thought of that XD
Leblover: haha I totally understand the contradicting feeling about cliff hangers XD but to be honest… I don't really plan out everything from the start XD I just go with the flow as well… but whenever I just suddenly out of the blue think of something for my story I just write it down, and perhaps save it for later, you should try it! It helps a lot :D
C-Nuggets N.L.: Thanks :D Aren't we all like that, whenever we're all bored we eat or sleep haha typical human behaviors, haha and lazy bums FTW!
Thanks for the reviews! I think it just lifted up my spirit answering these reviews :D
Song- How to Save A Life – The Fray note amazing yet depression song…
Agent Astro Zombie