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~o0o~
I held my breath as I felt a slow cascade of water going up my nose. I was able to hold on for a good minute before I was forced to exhale and- as you might expect- inhale in turn. The inhalation brought the damp cloth tight against my nostrils, as if a huge, wet paw had been suddenly clamped over my face. Unable to determine whether I was breathing in or out, and flooded more with sheer panic than with mere water, I strained against the cuffs until the cloth was removed and I was able to sit upright. I doubled over and began coughing- more like hacking- until I found myself able to breathe semi- normally.
"Annabeth!" I heard Percy's panicked voice and I turned to where he was being restrained. He had a pain stricken face and I noted how a bruise had started to form on his jaw.
"I'm fine." I croaked. Percy looked at me like I was crazy before trying to make his way over to me- evidently just getting pushed back down.
"Really?" Gabe asked. "Then I guess we didn't do it good enough. Let's go again."
I winced at my poor choice of words as I was pushed back into a laying position. "No." Percy said but his objections went unheard as the damp towel was placed on my head and the whole process was repeated several times. After, what I had assumed was, the fifth or sixth time Gabe finally made it stop. Immediately after the towel was removed I was pushed from the board. I managed to land on my hands when I fell and I was now on my hands and knees, trying to get all of the excess water out of my lungs. Apparently Percy was finally able to move because in a second he was beside me.
"Annabeth," he whispered and that was all it took. The tears came quick and hard and I tried to turn away so Percy wouldn't see them-which in itself was a stupid thing to do- but Percy pulled me towards him. I gripped his shirt like a life line as I sobbed into his shoulder. His arms encircled me almost immediately and he whispered soothing words in my ear. We stayed like that for as long as we could until Gabe and his men pulled us to our feet.
"I don't need to see you two being all lovey dovey to each other." He said. "Makes me sick."
We were pulled out of the door-either Gabe forgot to put a blindfold on me or he felt I didn't need it- and were forced back the way we came. There were guns pressed to our backs but Percy never let go of my hand. With my free hand I pushed the wet strands of hair from my face. I shivered as I thought of why they had gotten that way and found my feet refusing to move any further. Because of our linked hands I pulled Percy to a stop with me. I felt the gun barrel press harder into my back as I was ordered to move. Percy looked at me with a concerned expression as he asked if I was okay. I stared blankly ahead.
Are you okay? Percy's voice echoed in my head.
No. I thought. I'm not. I tried to take a step forward but failed as I felt myself stumble. Percy caught me as I fell but gripped his shoulder quickly after with a look of pain and panic on his face. I heard Gabe say something to a guard that I didn't quiet catch before I was lifted into the air. I felt Percy reclaim my hand as he struggled to keep up with whoever was carrying me. Soon enough we reached Percy and I's newfound home. I was carried to a corner in the room and put down not so gently. I felt Percy at my side and heard footsteps retreating to the door. As soon as I heard it shut I sat up straight.
"Annabeth…?" Percy asked.
I held a finger to my mouth as I leaned towards him. His breath hitched when my fingers found the hem of his shirt. My fingers ghosted around it and I gave an annoyed sigh when I came up empty handed. I stood up and walked towards the stairs with Percy following closely behind me. I grabbed the railing and felt along the bottom of it. I did a silent cheer when I found what I was looking for. I pulled the small device from the railing and held it up for Percy to see before throwing it on the ground and stomping on it.
"They were listening to our conversations." I said.
"Annabeth, what-"
"We need to get out." I said. "We need to escape."
"How?" Percy asked. "There are guards, with guns, everywhere."
"I don't know yet." I said. "But I'll think of something. I have to."
"Annabeth calm down," Percy put his hand on my shoulder. "You've just been tortured. We can think about this later."
"No!" I said. "Later they'll come back and they will do even worse things to us. We need to leave."
"And we will but you working yourself like this isn't gonna do either of us favors. We both know you're the smart one." Percy offered me a smile.
"But-"
"Annabeth." Percy said sternly. "You are going to sleep. You're exhausted."
"I-I can't." I said as my eyes involuntarily filled with tears. "I can't."
Percy sighed. "What do I have to do to get you to sleep?"
I shrugged. "I don't know."
Percy shook his head. "Just try." He said before wiping away the tears that were threatening to fall. "I'll be right beside you." I nodded before walking towards the wall and sitting down. I looked up at Percy who hadn't moved from his earlier position and silently pleaded with him. He slowly walked towards me and sat down beside me.
"Lay down." He said. I nodded again as I did what he said, using my arm as a pillow. I looked up at him and hesitated a moment before reaching my free hand out. He smiled slightly before grabbing it and giving it a squeeze. I squeezed back before reluctantly closing my eyes.
~o0o~
I shot straight up startling Percy. "Are you okay?" he asked giving my hand a squeeze.
"Yeah." I panted. "I just… had a bad dream."
Percy gave me a sad smile. "Want to talk about it?"
"I- It was just about …you know." I shuddered thinking about the events that had happened earlier. The feeling of water everywhere, not knowing whether you're breathing in or out; feeling like you're drowning.
"Hey," Percy said. "They won't do the same thing twice. And if they do do anything else with water or drowning, I'll save you." He gave me a cheeky grin. I burst out laughing.
"What?" Percy asked.
"No, just, remember how we had a conversation just like this the other day?"
Percy laughed. "Yeah and then you mocked me by saying you'd call me when you were drowning in the toilet."
I laughed but it quickly turned into a gasp. "The toilet!"
"What?" Percy asked. "What about it?"
I turned to him. "I know how we're going to escape."
~o0o~
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-DaughterofPoseidon34