Hello everyone! Here is Chapter 6 of this suspenseful Percy Jackson fic! Annabeth seems to be onto something...

Annabeth's POV

It was hard to concentrate as I waited on the side of the intersection for a taxi to come my way. My head was swarming with different realizations, pieces of the puzzle falling into place in my mind. I was trying to focus on spotting out a taxi; I had to get home, wash up, get dressed and explain to my parents (my dad) why I was gone all night. My dad's pretty understanding most of the time...

But I realized just then that he had left 10 messages on my phone (which conveniently died on my little excursion to the hospital last night). I ended up going back inside the hospital after realizing that my phone died and charged it. And, while waiting for a taxi to come my way, the phone buzzed in my bag. Of course I was too flustered and panicked from intensely staring at the busy road, searching for an incoming taxi, that I had missed the call. I just hoped he wouldn't be steaming by the time I got home and I could get to Luke's house and get to the bottom of this...

Just then a taxi sped my way; but before it drove out of my view I hailed it until it slowed to a stop. Percy had taught me how to hail a taxi a couple years back when we were rushing to get a ride to school so we wouldn't get yelled at by Mrs. Dodds a third time that day (it's a long story). Just thinking about Percy made my stomach twist like a pretzel, but this just made me more determined to end this madness once and for all.

Long story short, my dad was ok with everything.

Once the taxi pulled into the driveway of my house, my dad came running out in his boxer shorts and jacket, spluting out random "Where were you?"s and "Your stepmom and I were so worried" (as if my stepmom would even notice I was gone).

I calmly told him what happened (of course leaving out the part where someone tried to murder Percy and instead saying that he merely fell out of bed and was half-delirious from the fall). I told him I stayed the night, just to be safe, and that my phone died in the middle of the night so that's why I didn't return his calls.

And then he said "Ok" and there were no more questions.

Man, I love my dad.

Anyway, I quickly showered, changed, put on a minimal amount of makeup, grabbed an apple from the fruit basket and made up some excuse about wanting to study at the library before rushing out the door and jogging towards Luke's house.

My shoulder was aching from carrying my bag around all the time but I really did need it this time; it had a notebook and pencil (in case I needed to write anything down) and a camera in case I needed to snap any unsuspecting pictures (my phone doesn't have a camera on it; sue me).

Before I knew it, I was turning a corner and I walked up 3rd Avenue towards Luke's house. I was reminded of, when just yesterday, I was walking up this same street, coming to hang out with Luke. Of course then I didn't know what Luke was really up to or why he was acting so weird. Now I was determined to find out the truth.

Once Luke's house came into view, I noticed something interesting on the front porch. The door was wide open and I heard faint voices coming from inside. As I got closer, I slowed down to a walk and listened in on the conversation.

"Mom, I'll be home by tonight, ok?", said a deep, sarcastic voice.

"But you haven't even finished your breakfast! And I thought I told you to finish those peanut butter sandwiches yesterday!", said a higher pitched, more frazzled-sounding voice.

"You made those for the school, Mom."

"I made too many! They wouldn't take them all! Now get over here and eat your breakfast!"

"NO!"

Suddenly a tall, blond and all-too familiar figure came into view on the front porch. I don't know what came over me but I ducked out of view...into a tall hedge on the neighbor's lawn.

Luke looked terrible, and that's putting it mildly! His hair was a tangled mess, his eyes were red and puffy, with wide dark circles framed around them (from far away, it looked like he was wearing glasses), and his clothing- a button down shirt with khakis - was all wrinkled and dirty, like his mom hadn't done laundry in months.

And he looked miserable. It looked like someone had permanently etched a scowl on his face. He slammed the door shut (the sound was heard from miles around) and stomped down the steps of the porch onto the hard, cement sidewalk.

I don't know why, but I stayed hidden in the foliage of the huge hedge, while he stomped past me. Once the sound of his footsteps got quiet enough, I poked my head through the hedge and looked to the left. Sure enough, he turned the corner and was out of my view.

I got out of the hedge and didn't even bother picking off the little leaves and twigs stuck in my hair and clothing. Instead, I jogged after Luke, having a new plan of spying on him from a distance instead of confronting him with the facts. This might seem cowardly to some of you but I was trying to think logically. If I flat out accused him of trying to kill Percy, things would've gotten ugly.

Either A. He would've confessed to being the culprit, kidnapped me and held me for ransom (among other unspeakable possibilities)

Or B. He wouldn't be the culprit and I would've broken a boy's self-esteem just because of my wild accusations.

I was 99% sure I was right in my thinking, but I took that 1% chance of me being wrong with a grain of salt and I followed relatively slowly behind Luke, writing observations down along the way.

For some reason I wasn't paying attention to where Luke (and, in turn, I) was headed until we actually arrived at our destination.

A creepy-looking alleyway.

I don't even know why I zoned out. It wasn't like I was writing down anything important. Just random observations about Luke; how he walked in a sluggish fashion like he wasn't sure if he wanted to move forward or backward, and - the most interesting thing I noticed - is that he had something in his pocket. It looked big and long, but I didn't have time to ponder what it was. We reached the alleyway and a tall (even taller than Luke) dark figure crept out of the shadows and addressed Luke like he was an old friend.

"Hello Luke.", he said in a heavy Russian accent.

At this point, I was already ducking out behind some trash cans.

"H-Hello Mr. Kronos.", Luke said in a much higher voice than when he was talking to his mother, moments before.

"Luke, are you ready to finally prove your worth as one of my army?", Mr. Kronos said with a bit of pride in his voice.

"I-I am sir. Do you have the poison I requested?"

"Well of course, my friend." Kronos brought out a tiny vial of jet-black liquid.

"Thank you sir, I won't let you-"

Kronos abruptly stepped into the light and I finally saw a glimpse of his face. His eyes were the color of honey, little flecks of a rich caramel color visible around the outside of his irises. His jet black hair was plastered against the side of his face, as if someone dumped a bucket of water on him on the way to the alley. His big, crooked nose and sneer made his whole face look twisted as he gripped both of Luke's arms, his long, dirty fingernails digging into Luke's skin.

"Now you listen to me, Luke", he said in a much harsher, faster tone than he had a few seconds ago, "Since I have been so kind as to personally deliver this substance to you, I should hope that you do not disappoint me on your mission. Remember this is your last chance and if, so help me, you fail..."

He shoved his right hand down Luke's pocket and pulled out a big syringe. Kronos lifted the vial of black liquid to the light, unscrewed the cork on the bottle, and filled the syringe to the brim with the poison.

He held the filled syringe up until the needle was touching Luke's skin.

"You die...", he whispered, his voice barely audible from the distance I was at.

Luke was absolutely terrified. Even from behind, I could see him shaking, with little beads of sweat trickling down his neck. I almost felt sorry for him.

I was struggling to contain myself; this Kronos guy made the atmosphere feel so dangerous; like the air was carrying poison in it and the effects were about to kick in anytime. I felt the need to run away, to stand up and surrender or to do something. Instead I blended in with the stillness and quietness of the moment until Luke eventually manned up and said something.

"I-I promise I won't let you down, my lord", he said in a tone so fast that it took me a moment to decipher.

Kronos let go of Luke's arms and handed him the filled syringe.

Luke turned his back on the man and I only had a second to hide myself behind the trash cans. He was running so fast he, fortunately, didn't even notice me.

I waited a couple minutes to both collect my thoughts and to give Kronos some time to leave. My mind was filled with a thousand questions like; Who was that guy? Why is Luke working with him? What is this "army" he's talking about?

But there was one thought that overruled all of the others.

Luke is going to the hospital. With the poison.

Percy.

That thought snapped me out of my daze and I abruptly stood up, shouldered my bag and ran as fast I could, away from the alleyway and to the nearest intersection.

Miraculously, I caught Luke getting into a taxi but, before I could do anything, the taxi sped off towards the direction of the city. Another taxi was coming my way so I hailed it and it stopped right in front of where I was standing.

"Take me to the NYC Hospital; go as fast as you can!", I said hurriedly as I jumped in the backseat of the vehicle.

The taxi gained speed.

I felt like I wanted to cry or pass out or both. But I focused on picking the twigs out of my hair as I braced myself for what was about to go down at the hospital. I had to get there before Luke did. If only there was a way to warn Percy...

Then I remembered the walkie-talkie. When I was packing my backpack, back at home, I packed the walkie-talkie just in case things went wrong.

I hurriedly fished through my bag and brought out the walkie-talkie. My hands were shaking but I managed to press the button.

"Percy, there's not much time. Luke's on his way, you have to-"

Suddenly I lurched forward in the taxi, the walkie-talkie flinging out of my hand.

"Miss Chase, we have arrived at your destination", the guy behind the wheel said.

I grabbed my backpack and the walkie-talkie and jumped out of the car. I sprinted up the steps of the hospital, getting side-glances from the people around me. I reached the hallway of the building and, conveniently, an elevator door was open, as if it were waiting for me. The last thing I was thinking before the elevator door slid closed was:

How did the taxi driver know my name?