Hello, my lovely readers!
I have a very special thank you for Mjzero06, who has given a lot of support since this story started.
Sorry the last chapter was short, this one will be longer, I promise.
WARNING: MATURE THEMES AHEAD. Underage drinking and smoking mentioned, as well as gang activity and violence. If this offends you, skip this chapter. You have been warned.
AOB ENTERPRISES DOES NOT SUPPORT UNDERAGE DRINKING, SMOKING, OR GANG ACTIVITY/VIOLENCE.
Disclaimer: If I owned PJO, I wouldn't be worried about buying an apartment when I move out, and the only person I hate would be living in Russia, far, far away from me.
General P.O.V.
Everyone was looking slightly confused. It was Hazel who spoke up first.
"What did you need protection from? And why did you have cigarettes? Who was Nick?" Leo sighed and leaned on the table.
"We were two nine-year-olds on the streets. We needed protection from everything. Nick was this gang kid who told us if we got him a pack of cigarettes he would give us the protection we needed. We were hungry with no safe place to sleep. If all we needed to do to get those things was steal a pack of cigarettes, then we were going to steal the cigarettes, consequences be damned."
A crackling sound from the projector alerted everyone to the next memory starting.
Anni and Leo were standing against a building, looking nervously around the corner and down the street a little ways, where a group of about five teenage kids stood around laughing, leaning against a chain-link fence, pushing each other and laughing loudly. One girl lifted a bottle, took a swig from it, and stumbled into a guy standing next to her, still laughing. In one of Anni's hands was clutched the pack of cigarettes.
Leo took a deep breath and grabbed her free hand. "Come on, Anni."
Together, they headed down the street towards the teens.
A girl in very short jean shorts and a neon orange fishnet top noticed them first. (I know almost nothing about fashion. The only reason I know about gang stuff is because I read this book called Run Baby Run. So I'm sorry about any inaccuracy.) Under the top she was wearing nothing but a bright blue bra. Extremely high black heels accentuated the outfit. She nudged a couple other people near her. Soon, the entire group of people were looking at the two nine-year-olds moving down the sidewalk toward them. Leo's footsteps faltered and Anni's grip on his hand tightened.
Suddenly a tall teenage boy with wavy black hair and a tattoo of a snarling leopard on his bicep grinned and pushed forward to be at the front.
"Hey! Wondered when I'd see you two again." he told them. He held out his hand. "You got my cigs?"
A trembling Anni stepped forward and deposited the cigarettes in his palm.
"Thanks darlin." The boy drawled, reaching over to mess up Leo's hair. He dodged his hand. The boy laughed.
"Check it out, guys. This Anni and Leo. They want protection." Now he addressed Anni and Leo directly. "Now, I'm glad to give. But Nick needs something from you two before, you dig?"
Anni and Leo both did bobblehead impersonations. Nick grinned.
"Ya see, I can't get these good no more." He informed them. "Damn cops know my face, see. But you two… now you two are like smoke. Im gonna need you to do a little somethin for me. Every time I ask, you steal. Savvy?"
This time Anni spoke. "Yeah." Leo nodded next to her.
"Well, then, we're square." Nick grinned. "Lemme introduce you to the gang. This Lila" the girl in the orange shirt "Levi" a kid with a green Mohawk "Skull" a kid with a skull tattooed on his shaved head "Riley" a girl wearing ripped up black jeans and an army green tank top, with dark and dramatic makeup on. "You need anything, come to one of us, got it?"
"Got it." Anni and Leo chorused.
Lila smiled and stepped up next to Nick. "Come here, sugar bee." She said, gesturing to Leo. 'Ain't you just the damn cutest thing." She ruffled Leo's messy curls as he came up beside her. "Hey, Nicky my boy. Got a light, baby?" The other girl, Riley, didn't seem to talk much, but she smiled at Anni and gestured to her, letting the little girl lean next to her.
"You got nice hair." She told Anni, accepting a cigarette from Skull, who now had the box and was passing them out. "All long and blonde. You ever lit one of these?" At Anni's negative nod, Riley pulled a lighter out of her pocket and showed Anni how to flick it before Riley lit the cigarette, putting it to her lips and pulling the smoke into her lungs, closing her eyes.
"Doncha worry, kids." Nick told them, blowing out a mouthful of smoke from his own cigarette. "Keep doing this, and you'll do just fine."
(Well? How'd I do?)
"HOLD ON A SECOND!"
Annabeth jumped up and spun to look at Leo. "You agreed to steal stuff for those kids?!" Leo glared up at her, also getting to his feet.
"We didn't have a choice, Annabeth!" he snarled. "Nick and his buddies may have asked us to do something illegal, yes, but when you're that scared, you will do anything to stay alive! I would prefer it if none of you all judged me!" he added, glaring around the room at the rest of the seven, all of whom looked uncomfortable.
"It's still wrong!" Annabeth snapped. Leo glared at her.
'I've done worse."
And on that ominous note, the next memory began.
Leo was standing on his own in front of Nick, looking absolutely terrified.
"I-I di-didn't m-mean it, N-Nick, I s-swear!" he stammered, shaking from head to toe. Skull placed a heavy hand on Anni's shoulder, holding her in place as she tried to step forward. She shot a confused, apprehensive look at him but kept silent, watching the exchange with wide eyes.
Nick was shaking his head, spinning a pocketknife between his fingers. It was one of those with a black handle and a blade that locked in place. This was a big knife too, the lights of the room glinting off of the blade, reflected in Leo's eyes. He was worrying his bottom lip between his teeth as he stared at Nick, his eyes periodically flicking to the knife being spun. Nick was somehow managing not to cut himself. He noticed Leo looking and smiled.
"You like my knife, Leo?" he asked, leaning forward to show it to him. It was an impressive looking knife, with a razor-sharp half-serrated blade painted gold and a long black hilt. The blade could be folded back into the hilt. Nick closed the knife, leaned closer to Leo, and flicked it open, right in front of Leo's nose. "Listen Leo. I ask for something, I want it, savvy? Specially if what I want is weed. I don't need smart mouth kids who tell the world who ordered the weed, or kids who can't run fast enough to outrun the cops. So here's whats gonna happen, Leo." Nick sat back and gestured towards the wall.
"Go over there and stand against it, facing me."
Leo obeyed, trembling but trying desperately to look brave. Noticing Nick still playing with the knife, Leo took a deep breath and, seemingly with a great effort, unclenched his hands from fists to press his palms against the wall, fingers splayed.
"Now here's whats gonna happen, Leo. We're gonna play a game of chicken. You're gonna stand there while I throw three knives at you. If you don't flinch and run, even if the knife sticks you, you clear. If you run… well then, baby, you better hope I don't ever see you round here again, or I'll cut out your belly button with a corkscrew. You dig?"
Leo nodded.
Nick gestured to Skull, who still had his hand on Anni's shoulder. Skull instantly yanked backwards, wrapping his arm around Anni's waist and grasping her other arm in his hand. He covered her mouth with his other hand.
"Keep her there, Skull. One move to bite him or to escape, Anni, and Leo gets four knives thrown at him. Clear?"
It seemed stupid to the demigods to have big, burly Skull hold back Anni, who couldn't have hit four foot and probably weighed fifty pounds, but that didn't seem to be a problem for Nick.
Anni glared at Nick over Skulls hand before her eyes flicked to Leo, standing against the wooden wall with his lips compressed, taking deep, shaky breaths. Levi stepped forward, shooting an apologetic look at Leo, and handed Nick two more knives like the one he held. Nick calmly unfolded all three knives and held one up, a simple number with a silver blade and handle. He grasped the handle and held it up to his shoulder, saying one word that echoed in the suddenly silent room.
"One."
The knife flew through the air and embedded itself in the wall next to Leo's head. One dark curl, sheared off, drifted to the ground.
Nick took up another knife and spoke again.
"Two."
This knife hit the wall right next to Leo's throat, just above his shoulder. Another centimeter down or two the right and it would have cut him. Leo's eyes were wide and scared, his breaths trembling. He was shaking with the effort not to move, flinch, or make a noise as Nick lifted the last knife, the one with the golden blade.
"Three."
The knife flew through the air and embedded itself through Leo's right hand.
Leo went absolutely white, and he gasped, staring straight ahead. Blood dripped slowly from the wound to the end of his fingers before falling to the floor. Nick stared right at him, cold and unfeeling, before he nodded at Skull.
Anni flew out of Skull's grip and straight to her friend, where she grasped the knife and yanked on it, trying to get it out of his hand. She turned and glared at Nick, her green eyes hard and cold as ice.
"It was just weed, Nick." She snarled. Nick raised an eyebrow and shrugged.
"Maybe to you, Anni, it was just weed. To me, it was a failure." He got up and left the room, everyone else following him as Anni pulled at the knife.
The blade had gone completely through his hand, landing between Leo's index and middle fingers, right between the bones, before embedding itself in the wall. Anni finally managed to get it free, sobbing all the while. By this time, there was a pool of sticky blood on the floor. Leo lifted his hand, stared at it, and slumped against the wall, hand shaking violently. Anni grabbed for the hem of her too-big t-shirt, ripping a length of cloth away from it and beginning to bind Leo's hand. Leo hissed between his teeth.
"I'm sorry, I know it hurts." Anni whispered, wiping furiously at her cheeks.
The door opened and Anni whipped around, crouching protectively in front of him. Riley, standing at the door with a bottle and a roll of something in her hand, paused, and then came forward.
"I knew something like this would happen." She muttered, and handed Anni the bottle. "It's peroxide. It'll clean it good, but it'll sting like hell." She took Leo's hand, unwrapped the makeshift bandage, and unscrewed the cap before pouring the bottle over Leo's palm and hand.
Leo yelped and tried to jerk his hand away, but Riley's grip on his wrist was strong and he got the treatment over the back of his hand and over his palm. The edges of the wound turned white and frothy before she stopped and bound the hand with the Ace bandage she had carried inside before she got up and left. Leo, still shaking, covered his eyes with his good hand. Anni leaned forward and hugged him, and Leo gently wrapped his arm around her ribs, eyes still shut.
The memory froze there, Anni's eyes closed and tears still trickling down her face, Leo with his injured hand unmoving, his good hand grabbing at Anni's shirt, like he needed a reminder of reality. The demigods stared, lost for words, while Leo stared at the back of his hand, where a long white scar stood out against his skin.