Hey all! So, I'm back, sorry I haven't updated in a while, its just this chapter broke my feels to write. Thanks to daici95 and camilu257 for favouriting/following.

TheFancyFox: Thanks for the comment, I'll try to include that in my story.

Chapter 5: Noises in the Night

Annabeth POV

"Percy. Percy! Wake up!" I whisper.

He rolls over and mumbles "C'mon Wise Girl. Just five more minutes."

"No, Percy, I heard a noise."

"Sorry Annabeth, I'll try to stop snoring."

"No Seaweed Brain, I heard a noise like- like a m-monster," I can barely bring myself to say it, thinking that if I do, it will make it come true.

Quick as a flash, Percy is up and pulling on a jumper. Despite myself, I allow a small smile. How am I so lucky to have him. I get up and stand next to Percy.

"I'll check on Zoë," he says. "You check Luke."

And so we walk hand in hand down the freshly carpeted landing, past the staircase, and to the doors outside the kid's rooms. They are just as we left them last night. That's a good sign. I slowly open the door to Luke's room, expecting to see him stir slightly. Nothing. I go over to his bed, and see it is empty, but still warm. Maybe Zoë just had a nightmare, and he went into her room to comfort her. Yeah, that's it, that's all it is, I say to myself. I creep back out into the hallway, and find Percy standing there, a worried expression on his face.

"Are they in there?" he asks me.

"No, I thought Zo might've had another nightmare, and Luke might've gone into comfort her."

"I thought the same thing, only that Zoë might've gone into find Luke."

"The bed is still warm, so they can't have been gone long," I point out. "Maybe they're just hiding."

"Yeah, maybe. ZOË! LUKE! WHERE ARE YOU!" he yells. "IF YOU ARE HIDING, COME OUT RIGHT NOW. THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" he says, getting more and more distressed.

"Come on, Seaweed Brain," I say, trying to calm him. "Lets go look for them downstairs."

As we walk downstairs, for Percy's sake, I try to hold back the tears and, thankfully, he is too preoccupied to notice. I run down the last few steps and into the kitchen. I panic when I see a note on the bench.

"P- Percy, come here," I stammer. "I-I found a note."

It is written with letters cut out from magazines. Not good for dyslexia, but we finally manage to decipher it and I break down into tears.

It says,

Hope you enjoyed your birthday,

it will be your last.

We'll start with the kids,

We'll take you last.

We'll pick you off,

two by two,

until all that's left,

are gravestones, not you.

I start sobbing even harder, and curl up on the floor, while Percy strokes my hair, his own tears mixing with mine. I try to calm myself and think, but I am too heartbroken to think straight.

"We need to tell someone," Percy says. "We need to let the others know they are in danger."

I muster the strength to sit up and nod.

"I'll ring Hazel and Frank and Thalia, you can ring Piper and Jason, Nico and Will and Leo and Calypso," I tell Percy. "Maybe they can help us find them."

He nods, and I see his eyes fill with fresh tears. I run upstairs to get my phone, and quickly glance at the time. It read 2:15am, but right now, I don't care. I just need to tell someone. With my hands shaking, I manage to ring Hazel.

"Hello?" she answers croakily.

As soon as I hear her voice, I start crying again.

"Annabeth? Annabeth, what's wrong? Is something wrong with Percy, or the kids?"

I just sob harder, and manage to say

"Can- can you- r-ring Thals- and th-then c-come over as s-soon as y-you c-can?"

"Of course, we'll be there in 10," she says. We are so lucky to have the friends we do. I don't know what we'd do without them.

I stumble back downstairs and Percy and I just sit on the couch, cuddling, silent tears streaming down our faces. I can practically hear his prayers to the gods, echoing mine. Sure enough, in ten minutes exactly, the doorbell rings and all of our friends are standing there, in their pajamas, the kids still rubbing sleep out of their eyes. When I see them, shivering in the cool night air, I feel a fresh batch of sobs making their way up my body. This is just proof of what I've always known, that our friends would do anything for us. I collapse into Percy, and Piper, Hazel, Thalia, Calypso and Rachel surround me and give me a group hug.

"Why don't you kids go upstairs and play?" I hear Percy suggest.

"Where's Luke?" Diana asks, which of course sets me off again.

"Him and Zoë are.. um… out, for a while, but you can have fun without them, can't you?"

"Yeah, I guess," Diana replies, but she doesn't sound convinced.

As soon as we hear the footsteps subside, Percy leads us into the kitchen, where the dreaded note is still on the bench. We couldn't bring ourselves to touch it. Percy sits on one of the chairs, more tears welling in his eyes, and I sit on his lap, searching for comfort. He plays with my curls, knowing it calms me, while Rachel reads out the note to the rest of the demigods. Halfway through, she breaks down and Frank has to take over. By the time he gets to the end, everyone has tears in their eyes.

"Right!" Leo announces. "We are going to get the kids back. We are going to work out who took them and where they took them. We are going to come up with a plan and it's going to kick butt."

Ohhhh, cliffhanger. Sorry, I just couldn't bring myself to write anymore. I am crying, and I KNOW what's going to happen.

The more reviews I get, the sooner I update, so… HAHAHA! I'm evil!

Also, I have this story on wattpad. My username and this story name are both the same, just in case anyone... yeah, I think you get it. Virtual blue cookies to you all! (::) (::) (::)