Chapter 19
The sun shined in my eyes through the window. I groaned and pulled the covers over my head. For a second, I thought I was back at my Mom's house. Then I remembered everything that had happened the day before. The smell of bacon and eggs filled the air around me. I swung my feet off the bed. Last night, I didn't really get a good look at the room I slept in. There was a nightstand next to the bed. The window was lined up perfectly with the bed, so the sun could shine in your eyes. The carpet was a dull gray color; the sheets on the bed were a plain, boring, light brown. An alarm clock sat on the nightstand. It said eight-thirty-seven. I rubbed my eyes and looked around for my shoes. One of them was under the window, and the other one was on the opposite side of the room in a corner. My socks were also scattered around the room. I placed my bare feet on the gray carpet. Yawning, I opened the door. Annabeth's brothers, Bobby and Matthew, raced pass my door. I think it was Matthew running with a toy airplane and Bobby chasing after him.
I could smell the bacon coming from the kitchen. Connor slept in the room on the right of my room. Thalia slept in the room left of me. Her door was opened, so I guess she had already woken up. Connor's door was closed. He'd probably sleep in a few more hours. His back was killing him. I remember last night, Mr. Chase had taken Connor in the bathroom and removed the glass from his back. I walked down the hallway. Pictures of Bobby and Matthew hung on the walls. But I saw just as many pictures of Annabeth. I saw one when she was a little kid, before she ran away. She was climbing on her dad's back messing up his hair. I smiled and continued down the hallway. Mrs. Chase came out of one of the bedrooms. "Hello, Percy," she greeted warmly. "If you're looking for the kitchen, take the stairs at the end of the hallway and you should be able to find your way."
"Thanks," I smiled.
I walked to the end of the hallway and looked down the stairs. It looked like the staircase from the Titanic, except it was white. There was a marble floor. White carpet covered the stairs. I walked down the steps. When I got to the bottom, I could see Mr. Chase cooking in the kitchen. "Percy! How did you sleep?" Mr. Chase smiled.
"Great," I said sitting down at the table.
Everyone was up, but Connor. Thalia had her fingers curled around her glass of orange juice. Clarisse and Chris were talking about something at the end of the table. Pollux was starring at at a bowl of grapes on the counter. Katie and Jake just sat at their seats and didn't say anything. Travis looked bored out of his mind. Grover looked like the only one who was actually somewhat enjoying himself. Nico had his arms folded on the table and was resting his head on them. A few minutes passed and I noticed Clarisse glaring at me. "What?" I snapped.
"I was just wondering, why didn't you feel the need, to TELL us Luke was taking over your body?" Clarisse growled.
She had a point. I didn't want to tell them. Though, at the time, it probably would have been nice to know. Well, you can't turn back time, unless you're Kronos. "I don't know." I shrugged.
I thought smoke was going to start coming out of Clarisse's nose, but her face just got red and she turned away from me. "Say whatever you want guys," Travis said. "I thought you turning into Luke was sweet!"
Thalia looked at him and cocked her head. "Are you metal?"
"No! I mean the transformation was freaking awesome!" Travis said.
"I thought you were scary," Jake muttered.
"Yeah," Pollux agreed. "I thought you were going to shoot us."
"I kind of thought it was cool," Chris muttered.
"Me too," Nico said.
Clarisse punched Chris's arm. "Ow! What was that for?" he yelped.
Thalia kicked Nico's legs under the table. "Hey!" Nico cried.
"Alright, guys, no fighting," Mr. Chase said.
Clarisse folded her arms and glared at Chris. He smiled innocently. "So what about you, Katie? Did you like it was 'cool' or 'awesome' that Percy almost killed us all?" Thalia asked the daughter of Demeter.
Katie shrugged. "I didn't enjoy thinking my life was going to end any second."
"Hey, it's not my fault!" I protested.
Mr. Chase turned around and had a huge stack of pancakes, eggs, and bacon. As soon as he set it on the table, we tackled it. Travis shoved two pancakes into his mouth. Nico ate five pieces of bacon at once. I wolfed down my eggs and bacon. I hadn't had a good meal in forever. When I was done, I sat back in my chair. "I'm stuffed!"
Thalia gulped down another glass of orange juice. Mr. Chase stood at the front of the table, unable to say anything. "You...the pancakes...what am I suppose to eat now?" Mr. Chase said.
"I don't know," Travis picked a piece of bacon out of his teeth. "But my complements to the chief!"
Mr. Chase sighed and starting cleaning the table. "You shouldn't really do that. I think, Travis, Chris and Nico should clean up for you," Clarisse offered.
"HEY!" they all protested.
Grover laughed a little. "What are you laughing at, Goat Boy?" Travis snapped.
I stood up and looked out the window. They had a pool. Wow. Annabeth had failed to tell me so much about her house. "Mr. Chase, can I swim in your pool?" I asked.
"I guess," he said. "But I don't have any clothes for you to wear when you're done."
"No problem," I smiled. "I'm a son of Poseidon; the water won't get me wet, unless I say it can."
Mr. Chase just looked at me in shock. "Okay...go ahead then."
I walked out the kitchen door. The water in the pool was calm. The weather outside was perfect for swimming. I dived in. When I'm in water, I could always think better. I was enjoying myself, until I saw a certain son of Hades looking in the water. My head burst through the surface of the water. "What do you need, Nico?" I asked.
"The hospital just called," Nico told me. "Annabeth isn't in critical condition anymore. They're allowing one visitor at a time to see her."
"Awesome!" I climbed out of the pool. "Are we going to see her now?"
"No. Everyone needs a shower and stuff like that," Nico said.
"Blah," I muttered.
Nico and I walked back up to the house. Travis and Chris were washing the dishes. "Is Connor up yet?" I asked them.
"Yeah, he's in the living room with the others," Chris said.
Nico led the way to the living room. Clarisse, Thalia, Grover, and Jake were sitting on the couch. Pollux was sitting on the floor watching TV. Katie was reading a book in the corner of the room. Connor was sitting on the love-seat. He looked pretty bad; he wasn't wearing a shirt and his chest was wrapped up and he winced every time he moved. Nico plopped down next to Pollux and they started watching an old Clash of the Titans movie. "Cheesy graphics," Pollux muttered.
"You look like you want us to do something," Clarisse told me.
How did she know? "Well, actually, I think that you guys should go back to Camp Half-Blood and tell Chiron what's happened," I said.
"Whoa, I'm not going anywhere," Thalia snapped.
"I think that Thalia, Nico, and I should stay here. After all, we're the ones that John wants," I admitted.
"Personally, I would like to go back to camp," Pollux said. "It would be nice to relax for awhile."
It took awhile for me to convince Clarisse to leave. She was so stubborn. I didn't want anyone else to get hurt because of me, Nico, or Thalia. Mr. Chase volunteered to take the other back to camp, since he had a plane. But Katie and Clarisse refused to go back to camp before they had a hot shower. The Chases' house had like five bathrooms, all of which, had showers. Mr. Chase let us barrow some of his clothes, while Mrs. Chase washed our Camp Half-Blood T-shirts. By noon, everyone was dressed and ready to go. Mr. Chase started his plane and everyone, but Thalia, Nico and I, loaded into the plane. "We'll see you guys in maybe a week," Thalia yelled over the roar of the plane.
"Bye, Percy," Grover said.
"I'll you later, G-Man," I smiled.
The plane took off. "I'll take you guys to see Annabeth," Mrs. Chase told us.
It was a little awkward in the car. Annabeth had told me her step-mom hated her. So I didn't really expect Mrs. Chase to be concerned. Matthew and Bobby had a baby-sitter that Mrs. Chase had called earlier. We pulled into the hospital parking lot. I wasn't sure what to expect. Would Annabeth be awake? Or be in too much pain to move? We walked up to the front desk. "Annabeth Chase," Thalia said.
The nurse typed something in on the computer. "Miss Chase is on the top floor, Room 872," the nurse said.
"Thanks," I said.
"Only one of you may see her at a time," the nurse told us.
We went to the elevator and pressed the top floor button. The doors opened and we stepped onto the top floor. "She said Room 872, right?" I asked.
"Yeah." Thalia smacked the back of my head.
"Room 868, 869, 870, 871...here! Room 872," I said.
"Percy you should go first," Nico said.
Thalia didn't comment. I nodded and turned the door knob. The door creaked open; I stepped into the room and shut the door behind me. The room was pretty big. There was a bathroom, with a shower and everything. A TV hung from the ceiling in front of the bed. Annabeth laid on the bed motionless. If had wanted to, she could have looked out a window right next to her bed. I looked out the window; it was a pretty sweet view of the city. I silently pulled up a chair next to Annabeth. She was sleeping. I smiled and brushed her blond hair off her face. Her eyes opened. "P-Percy?"
"Hey, Wise Girl," I said.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
"Sorry? For what?" I asked.
"For keep having to save my life."
"It's fine," I told her.
Annabeth winced. "How are you feeling?" I asked her.
"Other than, I'm hardy breathing, in horrible pain, and my shoulder stinging from Thorn's stinger, I'm great," Annabeth smiled weakly.
"You'll be out of here in no time," I whispered.
"Is John gone?" Annabeth asked me.
I put my hand on the bed and held her hand. "No. But I really don't care about him, right now. I just want you to be okay."
Annabeth squeezed my hand. Tears rolled down her cheeks. "Hey, hey, don't cry," I said and wiped away a tear.
I sat on the bed and swung my feet up. I pulled Annabeth close to my chest. "I just want to go back to camp," Annabeth whispered.
I wrapped my arms around her, "I do too."
She started to drift to sleep. I looked out the window. I wanted to go back to camp. But I knew I couldn't. Not until I found out what John and his Demigod Hunters were planning. Thalia opened the door. Annabeth was still sleeping. "I just got an Iris Message from Chiron," Thalia said softly. "Josh and Tom have gone missing from camp."
Just as she finished, Nico yelled, "Percy! They're here!"
Mrs. Chase screamed. She crashed into a wall. Nico had his sword out. Thalia cursed and aimed her bow. I stood up and drew Backbiter, which I was shocked was still in my pocket. "Stay here," I told Annabeth.
Thalia and I raced out to the hallway. Our dear friends, Cain, Jason, Mark, and Michael were coming down the hallway. Cain's gaze was locked on me. He probably blamed me for killing his brother, Nick. "You take Cain, Nico and I can handle the other three," Thalia said.
Cain ran at me and held a huge sword in his hands. The sword was probably taller than me. He brought it down on Backbiter. Energy rippled from the collision. Two more familiar faces joined the fight. I kicked Cain's chest and he stumbled backwards. "Josh, Tom," I growled.
Josh was dressed in jeans and a Camp Half-Blood T-shirt. A sword was strapped to his back. Tom was wearing a white T-shirt and shorts. A sword was at his side. "Hey, Percy," Josh grinned. "How's everything been going?"
"Not so great since you're here," I said. "So what's in it for you guys?"
"What do you mean?" Tom stepped in front of Josh.
"You guys are working for these scumbags, right? Are you two even demigods?"
"Actually," Josh began. "I'm not. When they said I was a son of Hermes, it was all an act. I never met Luke. John just did some research on you and your little friends. I was some homeless kid living on the streets; the Demigod Hunters took me in. So I owe them."
"I wasn't lying when I said I was a son of Hephaestus," Tom admitted.
"Josh, why did you act like the Demigod Hunters were your enemies?" I asked.
"I needed to get close to you," Josh said. "I needed you to show me the location of Camp Half-Blood. When we got there, Tom is a demigod so he allowed me to enter camp. We wanted to know how many demigods were there. How many could fight us. It was just too easy! Once I was in, I placed bombs all around the camp. John can simply push a button anytime he wants too. When he does, bye-bye campers," Josh laughed.
Thalia was pinned against the wall by Mark. Jason was pressing Nico to the floor. What could we do? I couldn't send an Iris message, not now; if I did John could blow it up. "Oh, yeah, John gave us orders to kill the daughter of Athena," Josh told me.
Then Cain and Michael grabbed my arms and slammed me against the wall. Backbiter clattered on the floor. "NO!" I screamed.
Josh slipped the sword off his back. He slowly began walking toward Annabeth. I tried to fight Cain and Michael, but they were too strong. Josh raised the sword. Annabeth squeezed her eyes shut. I looked around for some kind of source of water. The bathroom in Annabeth's room, there was a sink. Suddenly water was knocking Cain and Michael to the ground. The sink had and Nico had broken free of Jason and Mark. Nico pointed his black sword at Jason's throat. Thalia swiftly killed Mark in his ribs. I grabbed Backbiter and ran toward Josh. I jumped and tackled Josh. Well, we didn't land on the floor. No, we had to crash out the window. The glass shattered. "PERCY!" I heard Annabeth cry.
Josh grunted and struggled. I held him so that when we hit the ground, he'd take the impact. "Sorry," I said just before we hit the cement.
Josh's eyes and mouth were open. Blood ran down the sides of his mouth. He was dead. I stood up as people scream in horror. My Achilles spot really came in handy sometimes. Thalia and Nico couldn't hold off Cain, Mark, Michael, Tom and Jason by themselves. I ran back inside the hospital and took the steps. My legs felt like they were going to fall off. "Nico! Thalia!" I yelled when I got to the eighth floor.
Water was all over the floor. I didn't see any demigod hunters. Nico and Thalia's voices were in the distance. I ran to Annabeth's room. "Percy!" Annabeth cried happily.
"Where did the Demigod Hunters go?" I asked.
"When you and Josh crashed through the window, they took off. By the way, is Josh-?" Thalia said.
"Dead. He's dead." I put Backbiter in my pocket.
"The gods want to see us, Percy," Nico said.
"Why?" I asked.
"I don't know."
"Can't it wait? We have to warn Chiron about the bombs," I said.
Then in a second we were transported to Olympus. Zeus, Poseidon, Hades, Athena, and all the other gods looked down at us from their thrones.
Author's note: Man! That was a long chapter! People that write chapter this long for every chapter, I don't know how you do it! Sorry for any grammar errors.