Note: The title is an allusion to a Shakespeare quote that I wanted to incorporate somehow into this chapter. I couldn't find a seamless way to do it though, so here's a bone to all you Shakespeare buffs out there :)

OUT, OUT, BRIEF CANDLE

Luke felt like banging his head against a very pointed stick.

He'd begged the Headmaster to let him take Annabeth in. He'd gone through the trouble of dragging her here so she'd be out of harm's way. He'd even asked a favor from Ethan, of all people.

And what does she do?

Go prancing through the school 'disguised' as Silena Beauregard.

And who comes to make everything even more complicated?

Percy goddamn Jackson.

He'd gotten reports from a number of students about the two of them wandering around the school looking for each other. It was kind of infuriating, really, seeing someone care so much about Annabeth…someone who wasn't him.

"You came alone?" he heard a familiar voice stress from somewhere up ahead. Annabeth sounded pissed. Well, at least she wasn't scared out of her wits. For some reason being kidnapped didn't have the same effect on her as it did other people.

Stalking towards the next corner, Luke strained his ears. This was bad, they'd found their way to the Headmaster's office. At least he'd told everyone else to evacuate. Now there'd be no one to interrupt whatever was going to happen.

"Yeah…," Percy replied nervously, probably recognizing that tone.

"Did you at least tell anyone you were coming?"

"Well I think Malcolm knows…"

Annabeth let out a grunt of frustration. "How did you even get this far into the school?"

"I didn't see anyone on my way in."

"And if you had," Annabeth started. "What would you have done?"

"Punch them? I don't know," Percy answered, exasperated. "But that doesn't matter. Come on, we've got to get out of here."

Luke sighed, stepping out of the darkened corridor and into their view. This wasn't going anywhere. "Violence on school grounds? I don't think so."

Percy whipped around and scowled while Annabeth remained hunched over something, probably the door's keyhole. Luke almost chuckled. Did she really think the Headmaster would give one of his spies a key to his room? The thought turned sour quickly. Wasn't that all he was? A spy? Luke cleared his head with a light shake. No, thoughts like that helped nobody.

"You found out quick," Annabeth commented, not looking up from her work.

Ignoring the sea green glare he was getting, Luke scoffed. "Your tutee made it too easy."

Annabeth didn't reply, focused entirely on her task.

Percy on the other hand had nothing else to do but talk. "Look, I don't know what's up between the two of you right now, but can't you just let us go?"

"I can't," Luke interjected coolly. "The school's under lockdown."

"Argh," Percy groaned, balling his hands into fists. "What's wrong with you? Don't you even care that you've just kidnapped someone?"

Luke took a moment to consider that question. "Frankly, no, I don't."

"Save it, Percy," Annebeth said calmly. "He has his reasons."

"Funny how you can say that without looking me in the eye," Luke noticed, regretting the words as soon as they'd left his lips. Damnit, that was just adding fuel to the fire.

She stopped tinkering with the lock and their little chunk of the hallway was suddenly silent without the soft clinks. Still crouched and facing the door, she sighed. "I can say that because I still believe in you. Why are you making it so hard for me to do that?"

"For someone so smart," Luke started, a painful smile stretching across his face. "You seem to have the wrong idea."

"Stop doing that!" Annabeth screamed, swept away by a fit of frustration. She turned on her heel, staring at the scarred face she'd grown to love over the years. It didn't matter however much water they had under the bridge. They were family, and family was there for each other. No matter what. "You're not some heartless evil villain! You're not a shameless traitor!"

Luke grit his teeth. She'd always been too smart for her own good. "You're overthinking this, Annabeth. Why can't you just accept that I've changed."

"Because you haven't," she insisted stubbornly. "Because you can't have! Because, because…"

"Annabeth," Percy called, worried. It was so rattling to see her at a loss for words. He may not know anything about the two's history, but nothing was worth all this strife. "Annabeth, snap out of it. Just let it go."

"I can't," she told her tutee. Her words came out in a breathless jumble. "You don't understand, Percy. He's Luke. He can't be doing this for no reason."

"And why not?" Luke asked quietly, all the fight gone from him. He couldn't keep this up for much longer. All the hateful things he'd been doing were just piling up. But what other option was there? This was all he could ever do to help his mom, and nothing would stop him from finishing the job.

"Well, well, well," a new voice chided. "What do we have here?"

Luke groaned. Of all the people to show up… "Ethan, what are you doing here?"

"Just checking up on you, Castellan," the half-blind boy replied nonchalantly. "You were taking a pretty long time to get rid of the pests."

"Annabeth is under our protection, Ethan," Luke reminded him. Something was…different about Ethan. Something that put Luke on edge.

"Well, that was assuming she kept her nose out of our business," Ethan drawled, lazily inching his hand behind his back. "She's trying to break into the Headmaster's office, and she's brought another half-blood in. A half-blood that I think I've seen walking around on our turf lately."

Confidence, Luke thought to himself warily. That was it; Ethan was suddenly walking with an air of confidence. "So what are you going to do about it?"

"I'm going to get rid of the intruders, obviously," Ethan said offhandedly, a wicked smile creeping up his countenance.

Luke felt his blood run cold as time slowed to a snail's pace. He watched a jet black object appear in Ethan's hand, mind reeling as it processed exactly what it was. He saw the gun's muzzle take aim, pointing directly at Annabeth. He felt himself moving forward, straining against time.

The gunshot echoed coldly in the hallway, and every noise was dwarfed by it.

Their frightened breaths and muttered curses were silenced by the enormity of what had just happened and what was still happening.

A dull thud sounded as four turned into three, and just like that, a single moment had ended a life.

~o~O~o~

May Castellan shivered as a chill crept up her spine.

"Is something wrong, Mrs. Castellan?" a nurse asked.

"It's nothing," May replied, waving off the concern. She wondered briefly about superstitions and old wives tales and gave a little chuckle. Clear blue eyes twinkling for the first time in a long time, she added. "Someone must be walking over my grave."

Note: Just the epilogue after this, guys.