Chapter 17

Annabeth stared in a stunned silence. Right in front of her was the New York City Public Library; the Stephen A. Schwarzman Building on the corner of 5th Avenue and 42nd Street. It was huge, and the architecture was incredible. She was entranced by it's beauty. "Come on!" said Percy. "We can't spend too long here."

"But it's so magical!" said Annabeth, walking up the marble steps.

Once inside, Annabeth and Percy wound up staying there for two hours. Every time Percy said "Alright, we have to go now," Annabeth would find something that distracted her. Percy was getting impatient, and she could tell.

"Hold on. Just one more thing," she begged. "Let's look through the public political document section to see if we can find anything about your dad."

"What if there's nothing? I get the feeling anything involving my dad would be confidential," he pointed out.

Annabeth shrugged. "There's no harm in looking."

All of a sudden, Percy stiffened. "Do you... do you think my mom knows?"

Annabeth furrowed her eyebrows. She wasn't willing to admit that she had considered this option, but had been to apprehensive to voice it. "What do you mean?" she said.

"I mean, what if my dad told my mom that he wasn't actually in the Navy? What if she knows that the government lied to us? What if he's not actually dead?" Percy's voice was steadily rising, so Annabeth put a hand on his shoulder to calm him.

"Those are all really big 'What If's," she pointed out.

Percy set his jaw and didn't say anything as they continued walking towards the political documents. But what if he's right? Annabeth thought.

Percy sat down at a computer while Annabeth began to search through the "J" files. There were files of murder cases, robberies, and even just some stupid lawsuits. None of the records held anything confidential, but what would one expect from a public library?

Just as she was sure she saw a file labeled "Jackson", Annabeth knocked over another box of papers. The cover read "Jacobson". Annabeth blushed, hoping no one in the library had seen her clumsiness. She knelt down to pick up the papers and couldn't help but look at the title.

The Carly Jacobson Case

Date Charges Pressed: May 16, 1907

Location: Summerville, New Hampshire

That really caught Annabeth's attention. She hardly noticed Percy calling her name as she began to read about the trial. She skimmed through the articles so fast she had to read them a second time, and when she did, she was shocked at what she found.

Andrew Jacobson, age 19, accused of stabbing his biological sister, Carly Jacobson, age 15, to death on the night of January 8, 1907 in their summer mansion in Summerville, New Hampshire...

Tara Rodrigez, age 18, who was dating Andrew Jacobson at the time of the murder, is accused of second-hand murder, as she was jealous of Carly's "looks" and convinced Andrew to commit the murder. She allegedly promised Andrew explicit sexual acts, were he to kill his sister...

Carly had been living with multiple foster families before her brother became her legal guardian after turning eighteen. The entire town thought she was a secluded loner, or a "freak"...

The jury has declared the defedant guilty of first-hand murder...

Case closed on November 21, 1907...

Annabeth wanted to throw up. This guy had murdered his little sister because his girlfriend was jealous of her. How could one person be so incredibly twisted?

But the story seemed to make sense. Everyone had said that the "Ghost Girl of Violet Hill" was murdered around a hundred years ago. She had been stabbed to death by her brother. And, according to the citizens of Summerville, her spirit remained in the mansion.

She blinked a few times to get rid of the tears that had been stinging her eyes when Percy walked up to her. "Did you find anything?" he said. All Annabeth could do was shake her head that no, she hadn't. "Hey. What's wrong?" he said, crouching down next to her.

She sniffed. "I... Those stories about the ghost girl. There was a murder at the mansion."

Percy raised an eyebrow. "Huh. That's weird."

"But what if... What if the villagers are right?" said Annabeth.

Percy gave a small laugh, but his eyes were confused. "Don't tell me you're starting to believe in the ghost," he said uneasily.

"I don't know. I mean, I've never noticed anything, and I live there, but..." Annabeth lowered her voice as someone walked by them. "I'm just saying, what if she is real?"

"It's a pretty big 'What If'," teased Percy. Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Look," he said. "I wouldn't worry about it. I mean, the stories are completely sick and twisted, that's true, but wouldn't you have noticed if you were living with a ghost?"

"I guess you're right..." said Annabeth, standing up.

"Now," said Percy, holding out a piece of paper. "I printed out directions to the place where Zeus is supposed to be living."

"Supposed to be?" said Annabeth.

Percy winced. "Well, the address was in my mom's files. I'm not quite positive that it's up to date, but it's worth a shot."

Annabeth nodded, though she couldn't stop thinking about that girl who was just like her who had been murdered by someone she had trusted. "To Zeus it is, then."

Just as they walked out of the huge building, Percy froze. Annabeth followed his gaze to a boy who seemed to be their age, but was on crutches. "Grover?" cried Percy.

I'm not even going to pretend there's an updating schedule for this anymore. I am so sorry.

Today's theme song is for Percy and Annabeth-

Call Me by Shinedown

Special thanks to annabethpercy4eva3 (guest) for this theme song!

Review!

-Rebel