I didn't know what to say to that, even having dealt with alcoholics myself. Kezi shook her head after a stretch of silence. "So, have you ever been to Pittsburgh before?"
"Uh, no, actually, I haven't." I shrugged as Kezi shook her head again. "Are you really originally from Pittsburgh?"
"Technically, no. I was born out near Canton, Ohio. And my family moved to a town just outside the city proper." Kezi paused as she merged into the left lane. "I bet you've heard of a guy from there."
"Not Easton, I hope." She shook her head. "Who?"
"Tony Dorsett."
"Seriously, Tony Dorsett?" I asked. "Like, the star running back?"
"No, the chess player. Of course he's the running back!"
The conversation lulled for a moment until Kezi spoke again.
"So how did Annabeth go missing?"
I sighed. I still can't believe I let that happen.
"Annabeth has a tendency to get up in the morning before I do. So originally I didn't think anything was up when I woke up alone. But the apartment was empty and when I called her cell, it rang in the bedroom. Long story short, I called everyone we know and no one had seen her."
"Everyone?" Kezi asked.
"I called Easton. Why she'd be in Philadelphia, I have no idea. Of course that's more likely than Pittsburgh."
"We'll find her." Kezi assured me. "After all, who better to use for navigation than a girl who spent fifteen years of weekends wandering the streets?"
"A GPS?" I asked to be annoying.
Kezi snorted. "GPSs have nothing on me. Besides, a GPS is just a glorified map. I know where and where not to go and for what reasons. None of that point A to point B crap."
We slowed to a stop after another couple of hours on the road. According to Kezi, the Liberty Tunnels were about two miles ahead of us.
"Quick! Turn the station!" Easton shouted as we finally started moving again.
Athan reached over and changed it to something called y108.
"Is this country?" Nico asked at the same time I asked "Why?"
"This is the only station that plays the whole way through the tunnels." Athan answered me.
"Country is the only music worth listening to anyway." Supplied Kezi as the tunnels shut out what little sunlight was left.
My heart fell when the buildings came into view. "Is there another Pittsburgh?" I asked once I was sure I couldn't see anything that looked like it had on Google.
"No h, sure, but this is the only one worth noting." Kezi replied with a tone of pride in her voice.
"But, when I Googled it, none of the pictures looked like this." Long, low buildings stretched out around us as I looked down from our elevated position. "And the captions all said they were a view from some tunnel."
Easton laughed. "The Fort Pitt Tunnels, dude. That's the view we're famous for."
"The three rivers, the point, the golden triangle. I have to agree with Kezi on that one. No city has a more magnificent skyline." Athan nudged Kezi's arm as he spoke.
"New York has a nice skyline." I defended.
"Certainly," Kezi agreed. "From the right angle at the right time of day, New York can take a very pretty picture. But there's something about Pittsburgh, maybe my prejudice, which makes it beautiful no matter what's going on."
We rode in silence for a while along the river. According to my Google search, the muddy water should be the Monongahela. Our view of the city disappeared behind a steep hill with huge rocks jutting out all over the place. Suddenly, we were surrounded by concrete walls. A road went up above us on either side as we went under an overpass. The two lane road opened to five lanes when Kezi took a left onto the lower roadbed of a yellow bridge. Two of the lanes went into a tunnel up ahead. Behind us, I could see an obscured view of the city as I'd seen it online.
"Why are we leaving the city?" I demanded in the dark tunnel.
"You can't start looking at 10:30 at night." Kezi explained. "We'll stay with Athan's mom, just half an hour away."
Easton and Athan insisted we stop somewhere quick for food before we stopped for the night. Nico quickly agreed.
"Do we have to?" Kezi whined from the passenger seat, having switched places with Athan.
"Yes, Kez." Athan sighed. "Please, just for once, don't argue."
"But-" She started.
"Zee, as a future physician, I highly recommend you actually eat something. Especially in your state." Easton jabbed a finger at her shoulder.
Kezi grabbed his wrist quickly and twisted it to an unnatural position. "In my state?" Her voice was practically a growl.
"As a future witness to your murder, I highly recommend you work on your bedside manner." I suggested to Easton as he painstakingly pried his hand free.
"Bedside manner?" Kezi turned to me.
"Kez! Chill!" Athan snapped.
Kezi opened her mouth to say something else, but he met her eyes and she quickly turned away.
We made our way up to the house by about eleven. Athan carefully opened the door and slipped inside, Kezi right behind him. Easton followed not too far behind her. Nico and I just looked at each other.
"Do we go in too, or…" Nico trailed off. Easton appeared back in the door and waved us through.
We approached a room with an open door frame. A squeal emanated from the softly lit room.
"Kezi!" A feminine voice ensued. "I haven't seen you in, like, forever! Look how round you're getting!"
"Sister?" I whispered to Easton. He nodded.
When we walked into the room, Kezi was enveloped awkwardly in a hug from a girl who looked to be about seventeen. Athan stood over by an older woman who waved us farther into the room with a warm smile.
"So I finally get to meet the son of Poseidon, huh?" She remarked as she held out her hand for a hand shake.
"Easton said you were a daughter of Zeus, right?" I asked as I let go of her hand. Kezi disentangled herself from Athan's sister enough to drag the two of them over to us.
"Yep." She nodded. "You believe Annabeth is in Pittsburgh?"
"Whoa, wait!" Athan's sister suddenly shouted. "Percy Jackson? Annabeth? Seriously? Does all of that really exist?"
"Yes, Sam. And he's Nico di Angelo. I'm a son of Apollo. You're Samantha Astley. Any other questions with obvious answers?" Easton snapped after Nico waved from his dark corner.
"Hey!" Sam shouted again. Kezi clamped her hand over Sam's mouth and shot Easton a look that would make Medusa jealous.
"Yes, Rachel thinks she's out here, somewhere." I answered, pulling my eyes from Kezi's glare.
"And Chiron?" Mrs. Astley asked me.
I sighed. "He thinks it's very likely. He also thinks Kezi would be our best navigator."
"I'm sure she is. She's very stubborn in leading." Mrs. Astley said with a smile.
"Hey!" Kezi laughed.
"Can I go?" Sam jumped up and down after finally letting go of Kezi.
"Absolutely not." Athan said immediately.
"Come on! I'm seventeen! I can take care of myself!"
"I don't like Kezi going, and she's dealt with crap like this before."
"I'm not pregnant!" Sam hissed.
"You're not going." Athan stated firmly.
"Kezi!" Sam pleaded.
Kezi shook her head. "Six is a crowd, especially when you're trying to be inconspicuous."
"Mom!" Sam was whining this time.
"It's not up to me, Sammy." Mrs. Astley said gently.
Sam looked quickly to me, her eyes growing wide and her hands folding in front of her. "Please let me go. I can help." She whispered sweetly.
"No. I can't risk anyone else." I couldn't help but think of what Annabeth called 'the youngest sibling disease.' Apparently it's when the youngest kid in a family does everything in their power to get what they want.
Sam growled. "I never get to go anywhere!" She stormed out of the room and stomped up the stairs. Mrs. Astley just shook her head.
Kezi sighed. "I'll go talk to her."
Once Kezi'd left, Mrs. Astley stood up. "So I assume you'll be leaving tomorrow after the morning traffic clears up?"
"When is that?" I asked, suddenly terrified of just how long it would take to start looking for Annabeth.
"Eight, nine-ish." Easton clarified.
I must have paled. Mrs. Astley pulled me into a hug. "Everything will be fine."
"Now," She continued. "There are a couch and loveseat in here and blankets in the closet down the hall."
Naturally, I got stuck on the loveseat. After an hour of not being able to get comfortable, I decided Easton's idea of sleeping on the floor was a good one.
A soft sound padded down the hallway past my head. Assuming I wouldn't fall asleep anyway, I got up to investigate. I followed the sound into the kitchen, where I found Kezi sitting on the counter.
"Hey." She said quietly.
"Hey." I answered, taking one of the cookies she offered me and sitting next to her. "Why are you still up?"
Kezi leaned back against the cabinet behind her, running a hand over her fabric covered belly. I realize she was actually bigger that I'd originally thought. "Is it really any question why I can't sleep?"
"I have good excuses too, you know."
Kezi grinned. "I know."
I shifted uncomfortably. "Do you know where the US Steel building is?"
Kezi smiled again. "Tallest building in Pennsylvania. Is that where Rachel suggested?" I nodded. "Hmm."
"What?"
She shrugged. "Just thinking of who I know who can get us to whatever floor you need." Kezi paused. "I honestly can't think of anyone who can get us into the UPMC floors, but that's where Easton comes in anyway."
We sat in silence for a while as I turned a second cookie over and over in my hand. "What did Athan mean when he said you'd 'dealt with crap like this before?'"
Kezi sighed. "Not the whole 'searching desperately for someone' thing, unless you count when Lucy wandered off."
"Lucy?"
"Athan's mom adopted a little girl four years ago."
"When you two left for college?" I asked. This seemed kind of weird, like she was trying to replace her son.
Kezi nodded. "Around then. Lucy was just learning to walk when we left. She's the reason no one was offered a guest room." Kezi shrugged. "But the 'crap' I've dealt with is my father."
"What do you mean?" I asked, suddenly aware the guy was my brother.
"I already told you he drinks a lot." Kezi spoke, not looking at me and spinning the ring on her left hand. "But he gets really violent too. Like, really violent." She paused.
"What do you mean?" I repeated.
Kezi pointed to a long scar on her left shoulder. "He's a fan of razors and broken glass." She whispered. "This one was a broken whiskey bottle." She tapped on her ribs, just to the right and above where she started to round. "Here is a clean slice from another broken bottle." Kezi's fingers moved to the jagged scar on her neck. "Razor."
"He could've killed you with that one." I couldn't shut out the thought in the back of mind about how I always seem to get the worst relatives.
"That was his goal." Kezi shrugged again. "I moved in here for the remaining three-quarters of senior year."
"Seriously? People approved of that?"
"It's better than letting me get killed, isn't it?" Kezi said this as an actual question, not the hiss I expected.
"Well, yeah." I answered intelligently. Kezi suddenly sat up, straight and alert. I followed her intense gaze to the doorway. A few seconds later, Athan appeared. I definitely wanted this girl's senses on my side.
"Really? Both of you? Whatever." Athan shook his head and walked over in front of Kezi. "Kez, come on. Bed."
Kezi smiled. "Fine, bed, but no sleep." She slid off the counter and stood on her toes to kiss him.
Kezi turned and walked out of the kitchen. Athan ran a hand through his hair. "She's gone insane. I swear it." He turned to me. "Is Annabeth completely different?"
I laughed. "She shows signs of herself every once in a while."
"Once in a while. So Kezi's not that out there." Athan shook his head once more and left to follow Kezi.
So I updated the next day... I don't know that I've done that before. There's a first time for everything, right? So, I truly won't be able to update until late Sunday or Monday (probably). However, I do plan to write this weekend, I just don't know how much I'll get done. Especially since I tend to read over a chapter half-a-dozen times before I allow myself to post them!
Please review!