A/N- So. Not much to say. Chapter 9. Enjoy!
Disclaimer- I could not have come up with a son of Apollo that slaughters Percy's pillow pet. Really, I couldn't. Therefore, I am not Rick Riordan.
Chapter 9: Package
Erin's POV
The goal? Get Lief back to camp. The plan? Still working on it. The music helping me think? Paramore. What can I say? Theo has good music choices. Anyways, I was trying to figure out how to contact Lief. I knew I'd need drachmas, since I couldn't use mortal mail. Why? I had no idea where he was going this time. Therefore, the only was to contact him was by Hermes Express or Iris Messaging. See, I am smarter then you think, people who think that I'm just a dumb prankster. Hermes kids ROCK!
Anyways, I was trying to figure out what to say. I couldn't concentrate, and eventually decided just to IM him and see what happened. Theo had a spray bottle -apparently the only way to wake Noah unless you want to be stabbed in the ribs. I think Noah's paranoid- so it was fairly easy to make a rainbow. I threw the drachma in, but since I didn't know where Lief was, I just said his name. Apparently Iris was in a good mood, because she showed me Lief. The only problem? He was running away from the IM. "LIEF!" I yelled at his back.
He turned around. "Erin." His face was hard and cold again, but there were traces of tears. Lief had been crying again. His surroundings were woods, which wasn't exactly unusual, considering that we were in the woods. "What do you want?" Lief asked.
"Lief, listen to me. You need to come back." I said. Not very logical, but it was the best I could think of. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Theo fiddling with a phone, and music started playing.
"Why should I?" he asked.
"You need to," I begged, "Think about how everybody will feel."
Lief's face turned cold. Well, colder. "Erin, listen to the song playing behind you, would ya? That about sums up most people's feelings for me. I'm sorry, but if I stay, people will get killed. I can't risk caring for someone. You can't risk caring for me. I -I don't want you to get hurt. It's better for both of us if you forget about me." He swiped his hand through the Iris Message and it dissipated.
Remembering Lief's comment, I listened to the song playing behind me. I recognized it from way back when I was little. Not One of Us. You know, the scene from The Lion King 2 when Kovu gets exiled? That music. "Great music choice, Theo. You're really an idiot, you know that?" I said.
"Hey, it's not my music. That's my phone ringing!" he said, picking up the said phone.
"That's your ringtone?" I asked, incredulous.
"Well, for Noah. Long story," he added, seeing my confused expression. "Hey Noah…yeah, she's here…Lief? He ran off…You better get over here…gotta go. See ya." He hung up.
"Wouldn't that attract monsters?" I asked.
"Nope. Latest Hephaestus cabin technology."
"Awesome!" I yelled. "I want one!"
"Well, you can't take mine," Theo said.
A couple minutes later, I felt a knife on my throat. To say I jumped is an understatement. I looked over at Theo. He was cracking up. "Noah, get your knife off my neck," I growled.
"Noah? I'm not Noah. I'm Theo," The person said.
"Theo? But Theo's right there." I pointed to the person sitting on the boulder that I had assumed was Theo.
"Ah, yes. But one of the advantages of having an identical twin is that you can switch places when the unsuspecting child of Hermes is too deep in thought to notice." Theo explained, taking away the knife.
I stood up. "You two are so dead when we get back to camp." Of course, this just made them laugh even more.
"Dude!" Noah started. "Remember when-"
"-they tried to-"
"-prank us, and we-"
"-caught them?"
"And I-"
"-threatened them-"
"-with my knife? Yeah. That was-"
"AWESOME!" they finished together.
"Do you do that just to annoy me?" I asked.
"Um, no," Theo said. "We also do it to annoy Lief."
"And Autumn."
"And Will."
"And Chiron."
"And Dionysus."
"And Matt."
And-"
"I GET IT!" I yelled. What? They were getting on my nerves.
"Sorry," one of them said.
"Or not," the other muttered.
"I heard that!"
"So?" They chorused.
"What are we going to do about Lief?" I asked.
"Oh, that's easy," Noah said. Or at least, I think it was Noah.
"What?" I asked.
"Let him be," One said.
"Or go after him." The other said.
"Or IM him again."
"Or -"
"Would you guys stop doing that?" I grumbled.
"Nope!" Three guesses as to what duo said that. Seconds later, Travis and Connor came crashing through the brush and into the clearing.
"Hey," Connor said. "What's with all the gloomy faces?"
"Lief's gone. Again." I said. The Stolls didn't even frown.
"So?" Travis asked.
"So we're trying to figure out how to get him back," I snapped.
"Aw, does wittle Ewin have a cwush?" Connor smirked. I could feel my face heating up.
"Connor, sometimes I swear you are such an idiot I wonder how you ever made it through first grade." I growled.
"Oh, that? That was easy!" Connor said. "We just-"
"-bribed the teacher!" Travis finished for him.
"I also wonder why I ever bother with you two," I said.
"Aw, Erin, don't be like that," Travis said. "We were only having a little fun. Besides, who else is gonna cheer you up when your boyfrie- er, friend, runs off?"
"He's NOT my boyfriend, you imbecile!" I snapped.
"Anyways, what are we gonna do?" Theo asked.
"I vote we send Lief an IM," Connor said.
"Nope," I contradicted. "We already tried that. We need something he can't just ignore."
" We could go after him," Travis said.
"That won't work," I groaned. "Have you ever seen him run?"
"No," Connor said, "but we have inherited Dad's speed. Travis and I'll go after him, 'kay? You and the gloomy twins can figure something else out in case we don't catch up."
"If you want to," I conceded. "Just make sure you have-"
"A weapon? Check. Food? Check. Water? Check. Ambrosia? Check." Travis cut me off. "What can we say? College is a dangerous place."
I smiled. "Get going, then. You're wasting time." The Stolls nodded and sprinted off. I turned back to Theo and Noah. "Got any ideas?" I asked.
"The gloomy twins?" Theo snickered.
"They are so in for it next time we see them," Noah smirked.
"Hello? Ideas?" I said, irritated.
"Oh, right. How 'bout you send him something through Hermes Express? He can't really ignore that."
I thought it over. "Sure. Got a box?"
Theo ran inside for a moment and came out with a small box. "First rule of packing. Be prepared for anything."
"Great. Now what do we send him?"
Lief's POV
I was on the run again. Erin knew who I was, and for some reason she wouldn't give up on me like everybody else. Why couldn't she understand that if she insisted on liking me, she'd get hurt? It's not that I liked her back or anything, I just didn't want anybody to get hurt. I didn't want another death on my hands. I was concentrating so hard on this problem that I didn't notice the box until I tripped over it and fell flat on my face. I picked it up. It was a plain cardboard box, but it was addressed to me. Hermes Express.
I opened the box, knowing it was from Erin. Inside it was a note, a knife, a shirt, and…carrots? Why would Erin be sending me carrots? I decided to take a closer look at that note.
Dear Lief,
You are an idiot. You had better get back here before I find you and rip your hair out by the roots dragging you back. How could you just leave like that? I'm worried about you. Plus, the Stolls won't stop saying that you're my boyfriend. I'd kill them, but then there'd be nobody to give me prank ideas. Anyways, you'd better get back here. Or else.
-Erin
P.S. In case you're still wondering: Eat the carrots. They aren't poisoned. Put on the shirt. And you needed a weapon. Try not to stab yourself with the knife. Now…GET BACK HERE!
I stared at it for a while and then read it a couple more times. Ouch. I didn't know it was possible to be yelled at in a letter. As much as I didn't want my hair to get ripped out, there was no way I could go back. I took the knife, slipped the shirt on despite what Theo had told me, and stuffed a couple carrots into my pockets.
I pushed the box under some bushes and leaned back against a tree. I needed a little rest before I could start up again. Normally I would have just kept running, but my side still hurt from the attack and I was bone tired.
About ten minutes later, I pushed myself to my feet. I took a deep breath and was about to start off again. Key word: about. Only problem? Somebody- actually, make that two somebodies- grabbed me and pulled me back. I swear, I about jumped out of my skin. Whoever these people were, they were a bit taller then me and definitely stronger. I looked up and saw two curly mops of brown hair and identical mischievous grins. Shoot. The Stolls.
"And just where do you think you are going?" One of them asked.
"Um…nowhere?" That had seemed to be a safe answer, but I was quickly proven wrong.
"Au contraire, my dear Lief. You are coming with us," the other smirked.
"Oh, great. I'm being kidnapped by juvenile delinquents," I muttered under my breath. I apparently wasn't soft enough to escape detection, though, because one of my arms was abruptly twisted, making me wince.
"First of all, we're not juvenile. We're fully mature adults," one of them started.
A thought occurred to me. "Oh no. The Stolls voting," I breathed. "The world must really be messed up if they're allowed to vote."
Somebody pinched me. "The world got better because we voted."
"And we aren't delinquents, either. We've never been proven guilty."
"But that doesn't mean you haven't done anything," I accused.
"It's only wrong if you get caught," the taller one -Travis, I think- quipped. Each of them grabbed one of my arms. "Come on, or else we'll drag you the whole way back."
"Or you could just kill me," I suggested cheerfully. At the moment, dying didn't seem too bad compared with having to put up with the Stoll brothers. You say I'm being melodramatic? I say you've never had to put up with the Stolls.
"Don't I wish?" Connor asked. "But I can't. Erin would kill us, and that, my friend, is-"
"Not. Cool." The two chorused. I took advantage of their momentary distraction to kick one of them in the shin as hard as I could. The one I had kicked let go of my arm, and I took the chance to yank it out of his grasp. Spinning quickly, my fist caught the other one in the jaw, knocking him backward a little and loosening his grip on my other arm. I jerked it free and took off like Matt was charging me with a pitchfork. Trust me, it's happened. I could hear the Stolls pounding after me, but I knew I had the advantage of being smaller, more fit, and a head start. They weren't going to catch me again anytime soon.
A/N- Well, somebody doesn't want to go back. What'd you all think? Review?
-smartone101
