Chapter Twenty-Three
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan, nor do I own Star Holder Commander's character Walker. I do own all of the other OCs mentioned.
Adrienne's POV
Keegan took the lead after we left the restaurant. He said he didn't know the area very well, but he knew that there was park just five minutes of walking distance from us.
We were on our way, walking through the heavy foot traffic and keeping our heads down as to not draw attention. I mean, four worn out kids and a ragged looking adult are walking down the street, staggering and looking as if they had just battled a tank and lost. You can't tell me that wouldn't draw the attention of your eyes just a little bit.
After a few minutes of walking, I could see a large area of greenery. There were trees and flowers and bushes everywhere, and little walkways and benches. There were even a few playgrounds with children playing on them, their mothers or fathers watching them play joyfully, and quickly scooping them up if they had fallen and scraped a knee.
There was an elegantly painted sign that read 'Titus Sparrow Park' in swirly black cursive lettering. I wasn't dyslexic, but I knew James and Tristan were. Even if you hadn't of known they were, you would have easily been able to tell by the puzzled and slightly frustrated looks on their faces as they tried to read the sign.
"It says Titus Sparrow Park, you morons," Jade says, rolling her eyes.
"Well I'm sorry we're dyslexic and can't read stupid cursive writing!" James retorts, obviously steamed.
"Gods, don't get your pants in a bunch, will ya?" she sneers.
"Hades, you just can't give me a break, can you? You're always nagging on me and don't even appreciate the fact that I just saved your sorry ass from that Vulture,"
"Well, technically I'm the one that saved the both of you from it, but whatever," Tristan mumbles.
They ignore him and just keep on going. "Oh, you saved me?!"
"Yea, I did! If it weren't for me, you would have had your eyes pecked out two seconds after you walked into that kitchen and saw your beloved Danny lying there on the floor like a child's toy carelessly tossed away!"
Jade sucks in a sharp breath, and James seems to realize he had gone too far with that. "Jade I—" She holds up a hand, silencing him, and whirls to walk into the park.
He turns around to look at the three of us, a completely baffled look on his face. "I just don't get girls," he mutters.
"I'll go check on her," I say, moving past James, leaving him with Tristan and Keegan.
I jog over to where Jade was. She had stopped outside a painted white gazebo. It was obviously aged by the looks of its chipping and peeling paint. It was still in relatively good shape though, the bones of it still strong.
I tentatively place a hand on her shoulder, and she turns her head to look at me. Her eyes were welled up with tears, threatening to spill over at any moment.
"Jay, what's going on," It wasn't even a question really. All of us knew something was going on, and it somehow had something to do with her.
She was looking at the gazebo again, as if it held so many different memories for her. "Coming back here, to this city, it brings back so much. And when I'm staying with my aunt, everything is constantly surrounding me, and I feel like I'll suffocate on it all," She pauses before continuing, "In a way, this gazebo is a lot like me,"
I look at her, tilting my head to the side. "How so?"
"It's been through so much. Storms, people stomping all over it, little broken pieces that need to be repaired. But it still stands there, strong as ever. A little on the worn side, but still there,"
I was about to say something when she spoke up again. "When I was five, my parents were killed. Car crash, the police said. I had been at my aunt's, because she was watching me for the weekend while my parents were away on business,"
She takes a shuddering breath before continuing. "We never got to see the bodies, said they were too badly mutilated from the crash, but they knew it was them from the I.D.'s they found in the car. They were cremated and buried three days later, and my aunt was given custody of me. She basically raised me, and when I was ten, the monsters slowly started following me more and more,"
"So what family emergency made you leave Camp last year? You told James it had been your first year and you had had to leave because of one, was that true?" I ask.
She nods. "It was. My grandmother got really sick, and died just a little after I got back here. She was actually the one that told my aunt and I what I was, that I was a demigod. She had known all along that my dad had hooked up with Iris when he was younger. He had been into a hippie stage at that point of his life, and Iris was attracted that that apparently,"
"Uhh.."
"Sorry, anyway, she told us the year prior that I would have to go to Camp, and she told us all about it. How she knew so much, I dunno, she just did,"
"And where is this leading on where you'll tell me what all these monsters want with you?"
She ignores my question and keeps talking. "Before I came to Camp last year, I had started getting pretty close with Danny, and well, that ended pretty fast after I found out about my real parentage,"
"Did—does he know?"
"No, he just knew something weird was going on and didn't want to get in the middle of it. So he got out early. He didn't want to leave me though, we both knew there had been something special there in that first two weeks we were dating. But as to why all the monsters are after me specifically, I really don't know. Do you think Osiris is sending them after me to try and take me from you guys? Like they did with your parents and little brother?"
"I don't think it's Osiris, because his creatures don't crumble into dust, they just sit there like a dead animal. It's something else. Something else that we're going to put a stop to."
I take another look at the gazebo, its peeling paint and the cobwebs up in the rafters. I had a feeling that by the time we got to the end of all this, we'd all look and feel like this gazebo.
A/N:
You learned more about Jade, yay! I figured it was about time I shined a little light on our mysterious Jade. I actually wrote most of this on Saturday night after we got to my aunt and uncle and grandmother's house, because I didn't want to rush it last night, or worse, this morning. I did a little bit of touch ups and editing yesterday afternoon, but besides that, it was finished!
Well, the last time I saw my dogs was on Friday before we dropped them off at the kennels, and I gotta say, I miss them like hell. We pick them up on Saturday after we get back though, and I'm so excited! I haven't gone more than three days without my Zoe, and I miss her sooooo much, oh my god.
I have eaten so much watermelon in the past two days. My uncle bought two big ones and my mom, cousin, grandmother, and I finished off what was left of the first one yesterday, and we cut open the second one tonight and started munching on it.
And this morning I went swimming with my other cousin, then we snuck upstairs to my aunt and uncle's room (they're gone for the week so they won't know) and went into their giant closet where they have a fucking massage chair. We spent probably about an hour and a half total in that closet taking turns in that chair, and it was fabulous!
M/A:
"'I won't live a day without an injection of anxiety
But I can't live a day without you and the way you make me feel'"
One Thing To Do Before You Die by Bribry Is Sky High
XOXO,
Mrs-diAngelo25
