"Maybe it's like one of those hide and seek games where you're crazy finding that object but really, it's right in front of you." ~ Frank Zhang
"Boss, I'm sorry. I told you he's unpredictable." Luke said apologetically.
"I know." The Shooter said shortly. "That's why I picked him."
"Is it a good thing?" Luke asked, lighting up just by a bit. Knowing his boss, he shouldn't get his hopes up.
"No."
Luke's heart sank. He knew it. Now what is coming? The Shooter is so predictable it's hard to believe he's someone else.
"I'm going to watch a few episodes of Desperate Housewives." The Shooter said unexpectantly.
"Um..okay?" Luke frowned. Wow, what the heck?
The Shooter laughed. "Just kidding! You don't think I don't have a sense of humor, do you?"
"Er..of course you have a sense of humor!" Luke forced himself to laugh alongside his boss. "Great one too! I wish I had one like that."
"I knew it." The Shooter said triumphantly. "All I need to do is get rid of that skank, Piper."
"Piper?" Luke repeated. "She's dating..Jason."
"I don't want Paris Hilton dating him." The Shooter said firmly. "Piper is like a Kim Kardashian wannabe."
Luke nodded half-heartedly. "Agreed." He didn't know Piper but if Piper is one of Annabeth's friends, she surely isn't somebody like Paris Hilton or Kim Kardashian.
The Shooter went on, despite Luke wanting to be spared from a lecture. "Why would Jason even pick Piper? Look, I don't care who he dates and whatever but seriously, Piper of all people? Blasphemy."
"I..better go now." Luke pointed towards the door. "I need to get some rest and fly back to San Francisco."
"Keep in touch." The Shooter gaze out of the window once again as Luke slipped away.
Piper forced herself to smile at the cameras. She couldn't possibly embarrass her dad. This is the Academy Awards, it's a big deal. She couldn't possibly spare to make a single mistake.
"So, Piper McLean!" One of the reporters jumped in front of her blocking her path in the red carpet. "I see you have landed yourself on a date with this blonde cutie over here."
"Right, Jason." Piper nodded. It wasn't really a date but her dad told her to bring a guy to the awards. Her first choice was Sky but it wasn't really anything since he is in the hospital at the moment and Jason was really last minute. It's a wonder he even agreed to this one day before the awards.
"Jason. Cool. Now let's focus on our beautiful daughter of Tristan McLean. Where did you get that dress?" The reported asked completely ignoring Jason now. Apparently, they're only interested in knowing names and then they're back to their planned script of 'oh my god, that necklace is beautiful! Is it Tiffany?' or 'Valentino Dress! It looks absolutely gorgeous on you!'. Piper hated those topics. She didn't give a damn to who designed her dress. In fact, she would come in her usual mix-and-match of anything she could find in her closet (which sometimes can include Hello Kitty pieces and everything kids her age don't normally wear) if it wasn't such an important event.
"It's Alexander McQueen." Piper replied. "It's quite a work of art, isn't it?"
"Oh yes, girl!" The reporter cried. "It brought out your kaleidoscopic eyes and oh my god. Have you seen the back?"
Piper spun around as if it was cued. "The patterns are stunning." She agreed adding as much enthusiasm into it as she could though she had none. She stole a glance at Jason who was standing quite awkwardly in the side looking around. He probably still couldn't believe he was standing on the same red carpet Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt stood on. He also tried to look occupied despite the reporter paying no attention to his existence.
"And that bracelet is breathtaking" The reporter breathed. "How much did it cost?"
Piper shifted uncomfortably, why the hell would they want to know that? "It's my um.. mom's. In fact, it's in my family for generations." She lied.
"Antique." She commented. "I love it."
"Thanks."
"I heard this will be quite a great year for the Academy Awards." The reporter started. "With so many great movies being nominated, it really is going to be a tough one!"
"Tough." She repeated and rubbed her wrist for the unexacting watch. "I have to go now. It was nice talking to you!"
"There we have, Piper McLean and her date Jason." The reported faced her camera and grinned.
"Wow. The paparazzi, the celebrities, the glam and fame, it's real." Jason shook his head in disbelief as he walked down the carpet with Piper. "And oh my gods! Harry Potter!"
"Harry?" Piper raised her eyebrow.
Jason blushed. "Sorry, got used to the whole Harry Potter thing. I seriously can't even watch the Women in Black without yelling 'Harry Potter!' out loud."
Piper laughed. "It's amazing how your parents let you come to Hollywood with us. After all, it's quite far from New York and we'll be missing two days of school because of this."
"Yeah, especially my mom. She have been like super protective with me ever since Thalia sort of ditched us." Jason told her. "I mean, Thals still live with us but she's more like the whole 'I'll eat your food and sleep here but for the rest of the time I'm gone' sort of personality. Neither of my parents liked it."
"I can imagine but it'll be cool. After the Oscars, I got us into parties." Piper grinned. "Besides, I like to get away from New York sometimes. All the drama and unnecessary crap."
As they walked inside the theatre and took their assigned seats, they felt fortunate to be among the world's most famous people. They started to enjoy ceremony more than they expected although it haven't even started. Piper found herself chatting to the celebs who sat next to her as they engaged into a conversation of movies released this year and Jason was on his phone texting his friends. He realized nobody would really start a conversation or anything as he is new here and doesn't have direct connections with any celebrities. He didn't really mind though, it was awesome just being here.
The theatre seemed so safe and the event is just so harmless nobody suspects anybody dangerous would be lurking around. Sure, there might be a few crazy mob fans hanging about but they aren't much of a trouble. You can pretty much get rid of them with a few burly security guards. However, this isn't insane crowds. This is somebody people feared of, some people still have nightmares because of what they done and they have a gun.
Annabeth stared at Percy's TV screen refusing to look at her ex-boyfriend. It was Leo's idea to try and spot Piper and Jason from Hollywood live. Annabeth suspected it was also to somehow reunite her and Percy but from what happened on Valentine Day, she won't even be talking to him for a while.
"I spy with my little beady eyes..Amanda Seyfried!" Leo announced. "You Percy? How about you, Annabeth?"
Percy and her in the same (well sort of the same) sentence. There got to be some plot under this.
"I see Halle Berry!" Frank pointed at the celebrity as Leo glared at him and some understanding passed through their eyes Annabeth didn't know about. It was even more obvious it was a plan to get her and Percy together now.
"Not helping." Leo muttered and look brightly at Percy and Annabeth. "You guys?"
Percy squinted his eyes. "George Clooney but no Piper or Jason."
"Kristen Stewart." Annabeth muttered as her gray eyes stayed on the screen.
"I was thinking more like you two spot somebody together." Leo suggested. "Do you guys see somebody?"
"Steven Spielberg." Percy answered automatically.
Annabeth finally turned her gray eyes away from the screen but they were almost murderous as they were set on Leo. "Why are you forcing us together?"
"Forcing you?" Leo laughed bluntly. "Wha…No..! Besides, it doesn't mean anything asking you guys who you spot. I ask everybody that. Hazel! Frank! Reyna! Spotted anybody?"
"Way to keep it subtle." Reyna shook her head and murmured.
"Ooh, Emma Stone!" Frank jumped up excitedly as Hazel nudged him. "Right. I mean, Percy? Annabeth?"
"Is everybody in this plot?" Annabeth sighed. "I'm leaving."
"Don't go!" Hazel tugged her friend's shirt. "Leo will stop annoying you! Right, Leo?"
Leo frowned. "Bu-bu-but you and Percy are like-"
"Forget it." Annabeth shook her head.
"Fine!" Leo blurted out. "I'll shut up."
"That was awesome." Jason breathed as his glass of beer banged against the table. Yes, they are underaged and in a public bar but it didn't matter. A party's a party, even if you're a pre-teen you can get a cocktail in them.
Piper took a sip of her alcoholic mix. "Will your dad kill you if he knew your drinking that without his permission or anything?"
"Yeah." Jason admitted. To be honest, he is scared his father would find out. He has always been the role model and role models don't drink, especially when they're not 21 yet. He wanted to impress Piper though and if she drunk alcoholic underaged, he didn't want to be the guy who was all innocent and drunk soda instead. "He's in another state though, he won't find out."
"Looking good." A random drunk guy slurred as made himself comfortable right between Piper and Jason as if they were old friends despite being strangers. "Girl, are you horny?" He did his best to flash a cocky grin as his hands wandered around her.
"Fuck off." Piper snapped as she slapped his hands.
The guy raised his eyebrows. "Ow, babe. What was that for? And have anybody told you that you're hot when you're feisty?"
"Get lost." Jason said firmly trying to help his friend. "Who the hell are you anyway?"
"69 year old pedo." Piper answered for him. The guy looked in his late twenties but he was offended by the comment of him being 69 years old. "Pick somebody your own age."
"Whatever, loser." The guy rolled his eyes and sauntered off finding his next victim. "You're not worth my time."
"Does this happen often?" Jason questioned.
Piper shrugged. "Yeah, I guess it is pretty often for a drunk dude to come after you. This is a bar, those kind of things are expected. People don't know what they're doing when they're drunk."
Jason took another gulp of his beer as he felt his face turning pink. The taste was queer as he never tasted it before but he was starting to get fond of it. He was self-conscious being in the bar and drinking for the first time. It seemed like he missed off a lot of his last two years and even if he is around for it, he probably won't have been doing what he's doing now. He feared his father's wrath too much. He can be quite ferocious especially since he is very arrogant and powerful. "Right."
"You never done this before, have you?" Piper guessed.
"No…I mean yeah, I did this before." Jason lied as he tried to sit down on a chair casually while almost tripping himself clumsily.
Piper laughed. "Liar."
"No!" Jason muttered defensively. "I..I always do this." He looked up and saw Piper with an expression that is obviously teasing him and realized she was never going to buy it. "No..I haven't."
"Knew it." Piper grinned triumphantly. "Anyway, got anything planned for the next few days?"
"I want to see the Hollywood sign and stuff. Sorry, I never been to LA before so I'm guessing you're bored since you probably saw it thousands of times." Jason said thoughtfully as a man in a suit walked up to them. "Oh god, not another pedo." Jason groaned.
"Don't worry, he's wearing a suit. He can't be that bad."
"Are you Jason Grace?" The man asked formally.
"Um..yeah." Jason nodded. "I'm Jason."
"You don't know me." The man said as if it was a proper introduction. "but we need to talk. Who is this lady beside you?"
"Piper McLean." Piper replied. "In case you're here for my dad's signature or something, you're not getting it."
"Looks like you would have to come along too." The man gestured them to follow him. Normally, they wouldn't be following strangers anywhere however, both of them were slightly drunk from their drinks and had a fuzzy mind. Neither of them thought it was a threat of anything, they only felt obliged and annoyed at this man who practically ordered them to join him.
Soon, they found themselves in that man's limo. It was a pretty nice, spacious and sleek limo. Jason and Piper were both comfortably sat still unaware that their lives are in the hand of the stranger now they're in his car.
"Who are you?" Piper demanded.
"Your friend Percy's dad." He answered. "You may also know me as Poseidon Jackson. I prefer to be called 'Mr. Jackson' though."
"Percy's dad." Jason repeated. "We've been friends with Percy for quite a while and we never got to see you before."
"There's a reason for it." Poseidon stated. "It wasn't right with our families histories. At first, I didn't approve Percy's friendship with you, Jason and I definitely didn't like him being with Annabeth. I'm glad they broke up now. I saw the relationship status change on his Facebook page. Anyway, I don't mind him being friends with you, Piper. In fact, I liked your friendship with him."
"Why me?" Jason wondered aloud and asked. "Have I done anything that er.. offended you, sir?"
"No, no no." Poseidon shook his head. "How should I know if you have? I never met you before. No, it was your dad."
"Poseidon." Jason repeated again as if a memory was beginning to trigger in his mind. "Hey! Weren't you my dad's best friend back in school?"
"I don't like to talk about that, but yes." Poseidon said grimly. "We're no longer friends and I don't wish to see him anymore. Your father is a very ah.. secretive, cunning person. Nobody realized how dangerous he is except for me."
"Only you?" Piper asked as she raised her eyebrows. "Nobody else?"
"No." Poseidon said. "Not even his family. Jason, even though your mother is your father's wife, I bet she doesn't know half of the things about him. Well, of course there is another person who knows it but he is also a rather forbidden subject."
"Who is it?" Piper pressed on.
"Nico's father. Hades." Poseidon said softly. "I know both of you would be drunk after the Academy Awards as you are now. Drunkards are easy to lure and I have done it successfully. You are both under my grasp. I know everybody won't be expecting you to go back to New York for a couple of days but now you aren't expecting to go back for a one or two weeks. Don't worry, I got everything under control. You have nothing to worry about. You, especially you Jason, need to know something before you return."
"Percy's dad. A crazy kidnapper." Jason muttered. "Great."
Leo and Reyna found their ways to the waiting area in front of Sky's bedroom. Sky was still unconscious but Leo promised Piper to give him a small gift everyday prepared by her. He didn't fancy visiting the place again but his relationship with Piper are like siblings, sometimes you have to do each other favors.
Reyna scrolled through her texts. "Jason and Piper won't be coming back for a few weeks. Her dad set them on a special task in LA."
"Do I still have to give Sky a gift?" Leo asked. "If I am, I'm not paying."
"Piper said she sent you another crate of gifts to give him everyday." Reyna laughed. "Looks like you'll be visiting this place more than you would ever want to."
"Excuse me, are you close friends with the young man inside that room?" A nurse hurried beside them.
Reyna shrugged. "You can say that, I guess."
"Do you know where he is?" The nurse said urgently. "He's missing."
"What?" Leo cried. "We just got here and he can't be missing. He's unconscious, he can't move because he felt like he needed a break from this madness."
"Exactly." The nurse agreed. "Somebody smuggled him elsewhere and we don't know. Our security cameras have been disabled and the film for our back-up version has mysteriously disappeared. Somebody have been planning to take the gentleman away carefully."
"And no other nurse saw somebody carrying a body outside?" Reyna frowned. "You have some crappy security here."
"With all due respect, we're running low on funds and I am deeply sorry we couldn't afford the best but this is simply not logical. Nobody visits Sky other than his family members which haven't come today so it couldn't be them, that brown hair kaleidoscopic eyes girl who haven't been here for a day so it wasn't her either and you guys. I am sure he was there an hour ago but just a minute ago, he was gone." The nurse said. "If you stole it as a joke, this isn't funny."
"You can see we're empty-handed." Leo grumbled. "It obviously couldn't be us. We don't have a big ass case to hide some body in."
The nurse glanced around desperately. "I'll remind you if we call the police and you're caught, you're in serious trouble. I can see a few years in Juvenile Detention because of this and a bad college report."
"Don't worry, you won't see us there because we didn't steal Sky. Why would we steal somebody anyway?" Leo said growing impatient.
Reyna's calm brown eyes gazed at the nurse. "Let's just go now. Leo, it's not worth arguing with her."
"I don't know why she's ignoring me." Percy muttered. When Leo and Reyna went to the hospital, Annabeth thought it was prime time to leave leaving him with Hazel and Frank. "She had some explaining to do and it's starting to seem like it's my fault. What is Annabeth hiding?"
"I don't know, man." Frank shrugged. "She does seem to be kind of pissed at you. Have you done anything lately that annoyed her?"
"Not that I could think of." Percy said thoughtfully. "Our relationship weren't at the best recently but nothing big."
Hazel's amber eyes blinked. "Maybe all she needed was a little time to herself."
"She never needed that but I guess." Percy muttered. "Why are girls so complicated?"
"We're not, it's just that sometimes you guys have to understand us." Hazel jumped to her gender's defense. "In fact, sometimes it's actually really easy to but you just miss the signs."
"What sign did I miss this time?"
"I wasn't there chaperoning your relationship with Annabeth every second." Hazel said patiently. "I'm not sure but I'm sure it's something simple."
Frank suggested. "Maybe it's like one of those hide and seek games where you're crazy finding that object but really, it's right in front of you."
"Ugh, I hate them!" Percy shuddered. "It's like, seriously? Why didn't I see that before! It's so annoying, I kick my shins every time."
"Exactly." Hazel smiled. "You're probably going to do that when you know the answer. Sometimes, things are silly like this. When it's not solved, it seems very complicated and difficult but when it is, you wonder why you haven't figured that out before."
Frank checked his phone. "Annabeth's free. I can ask her to go to a coffee shop supposedly to meet Hazel but then you show up."
Hazel frowned. "So we're going to lie?"
Frank squeezed her hands. "Yeah, we are."
"Bu-but…we can't."
Percy couldn't help but smirk at Hazel's protest. She is just so innocent she doesn't even approve lying that much. Lying is one of those crime everybody commits and although it can be quite big at times, nobody really minds. It's like human nature. It's just funny how good Hazel remains even at being towards the end of a teenager.
"Sure, we can, Haze." Percy had a cocky grin on. "Come on, besides Frank is telling her that. You won't be involved."
"He's using my name!" Hazel pointed out.
Frank looked at his crush and he couldn't say 'no' to her anymore. "It's alright. We'll just say Reyna wants to meet her."
"Let's do it." Hazel sighed.
AN: This chapter was obviously dedicated to the Academy Awards (or Oscars) which was last Sunday! :) I loved it, aha I always watch it every year :P What did you guys thought of the shows? asdfghjkl;, I was so excited for Jennifer Lawrence! xx
**For all those who watch Pretty Little Liars, Spoiler Alert!**
Yeah, I kinda know how Sky disappeared was like how Jason disappeared from his hospital bed a few episodes ago but it's nothing like that ;) I guess it's just a coincidence both of them have to disappear...
~Kisses, Emily