I have returned from the Underworld! This s shorter than most, because, well, because. I want the rest in the next chapter.
I was sitting under a tree in the front of the school. My head had been aching all day, so I had decided to skip the rest of my classes. It was probably not the best decision, because I was barely passing my classes as it was, but I could try to get Athena to help me catch up. We were on the same team again, after all. I leant against the trunk and closed my eyes, trying to concentrate on the sun's warmth on my face rather than the cold and the pain in my head.
I was twelve years old again, and my hair had been bleached blond. I was in the car with a short, elderly woman. She had white hair tied into a loose bun, a small nose and bright eyes full of life. Guilt suddenly overwhelmed me, but I pushed it down. I remembered her name was Irina.
"You are such a charming young boy, Peter," she gushed. "I'm so happy Damon has a friend like you, even though you're four years younger. You say you wanted to tell him goodbye?" I had told her I was eleven. Just another white lie I was required to tell.
"Yes. I'm moving all the way to Texas. Damon was my closest friend, and I wanted to give him a parting gift."
"That's so sweet of you. Oh, we're here!" We climbed out of the car and Irina started fumbling around her purse for the keys to her house. I paced impatiently. She found the keys, and we stepped into the house. I didn't pay attention to the decorations or furniture, I was just looking for all possible escape routes.
"Welcome to my humble home," she giggled. "Damon is upstairs in his room. I think you'll know which one is his. I'm going to go make you two some snacks." She hurried towards what I assumed was a kitchen. For an eighty-year old woman, Irina had a lot of life left in her. She would have lived a long, happy life.
I went upstairs, wincing with each creak. I tensed, ready to kill with a moment's notice. I knew that I was welcome here, but it was just a superstition that the MoA had implanted in my mind. Finding Damon's room wasn't hard. His was the door that had a sign that said "You are being watched" with a picture of a security camera underneath. I did a brief scan and noticed there were no cameras. I sighed in relief. I opened his door and closed it slowly. Rock music was quietly playing from a boom-box. The walls were painted a pale shade of green, and most of his shelves and desk were dark colours. Damon was sitting on his bed reading a book. He had dark, tousled, windswept hair that reached just below his ears, pale blue eyes and a few freckles were splashed across his nose. A strange combination, but it suited him.
"Damon?" The fifteen-year old looked up and his eyes narrowed.
"Who are you? What are you doing in my grandmother's house?" I smiled sadistically, trying to hide the guilty look that most likely was shown in my eyes. I hadn't yet mastered the art of keeping my emotions from showing.
"Peter Johnson. I believe you have something that we want."
"You're part of the Murderers of America, aren't you?"
"Yes. And I believe you recently quit. But see, it doesn't work that way." He studied me.
"You're a rookie. This is your first mission, which would explain why you're by yourself." The first mission you had to do by yourself to prove you had what it took. "But you see kid, you don't have what it takes to kill me, or my grandmother. You're too nice for that. I'll bet your name isn't even Peter Johnson, and that hair is only for disguise." My smile faltered.
"You got two things wrong. I do have the guts to kill you. I didn't come to kill Irina, but if it does come to that, I'll do what I must. Now, I came to collect the ten thousand dollars you borrowed from my uncle."
He got up from the couch and opened his closet. He opened a panel I never would have noticed at the back of the closet, and a panel with Greek letters emerged. He typed in a code and another panel opened to reveal a small case.
"I threw away the keycard." I shrugged and pulled out my pen. I clicked it, and a dim, red beam hit the lock. The laser broke through the safe, and five bundles of hundred dollar bills sat in the middle. I picked them up and stuffed them into the pockets of my cargo pants. I closed the closet and saw that Damon was watching me. I stuffed my hands in my pockets, and I fumbled with my pocket knife, carefully flipping up the switchblade.
"Well, that's all."
"No it's not. You're still going to kill me. But before you do, I want to warn you. The Murderers of America will turn on you. They'll kill everyone you love. They'll kill you once you mess up, or if you get too injured to work anymore." He chuckled darkly. "I was late by one day, and the next day, my little sister died in a car crash. It wasn't a coincidence. She was only four! Four, Peter! They kill children. Innocent children that don't deserve that fate. When I quit, a band of robbers skewered my dad while I was out with my girlfriend. She also died, by the way. My grandmother is the only one left. So just kill me now, I've had enough of this." He spread his arms, and I noticed a tear streak down his face. "It's not like there any more reason to live." I almost decided to quit my mission then and there, but I couldn't fail.
"I'm not going to fail. I'm Poseidon's son, he won't let them hurt me. I'm going to make the Olympians proud. They'll make me one of them." I pulled out my pocket knife and lunged forward. The blade sunk into Damon's chest, and he grunted in pain before slumping down to the floor. Blood stained the carpet. He looked up at me, and his eyes were so full of desperation and regret I wanted to be able to heal him and let him forget about what he'd been through. I pulled out my pocketknife and looked at the fresh blood. I wiped it off on my pants, closed it, and slipped it back into my pocket. I heard plates clatter, and spun around to saw Irina staring at me, like I had just brutally killed her grandchild, which I guess I sort of had. She turned to run. I couldn't let her escape. I pulled out one of my throwing knives, and it hit her in the thigh. My aim was horrible, I had been aiming for her heart. She gasped in pain. I rushed over to her, pulled out the knife and turned her onto her back. Her eyes told me a clear message. How could you. You're a nice boy.
"I'm sorry," I whispered, not even sure she heard me. I plunged the knife right where her heart was. The least I could do was give her a quick death. I wish I could have let her live, but she would have called the cops. I couldn't risk that. I took one more look at the corpses, and ran downstairs. I turned off the electricity, and locked the door behind me. I ran.
My eyes shot open. I had recently been having dreams and flashbacks of my victims. This one came when I was still awake. It was the worst one too. I had felt so much guilt after that day, that I wanted to quit. But I couldn't. It was also the day I got Riptide. I remembered Irina. She was such a friendly, optimistic lady that loved everyone. I felt my eyes get hot with guilt of the past. I couldn't hide from people's ghosts forever. I rested my head in my hands and I cried silently. Thirty seconds. I would only allow myself to cry for thirty seconds. Then I would get up, and be happy and strong and act as though nothing was wrong. It was trick I used ever since I was fourteen when I just couldn't hold everything in.
"Karma's gonna bite," the man warned, using that sentence as his last words. I dipped my head into my elbows and ran my hands through my hair. "Please," the woman begged. My husband is in the army. Someone has to take care of my babies. They're only one!" the woman begged. I pulled at my hair as the flashbacks continued.
I wiped away the tears and looked up at the sky, Thinking. I barely even noticed when Rachel came and sat beside me.
"School's over," she informed me.
"Cool." She watched me for a while.
"What's wrong?"
"Nothing."
"Percy, I've known you since we were thirteen. I know when something's wrong." I looked over at her. She really wanted to help me. I really needed to tell someone other than Nico about the guilt that I had ignored for almost five years. I could trust Rachel. I trusted her with my life. But could I really put her in that danger? After debating with myself, I decided to tell her.
I told her everything, and the whole time she listened patiently. She was silent after that.
"I just can't believe you could do something like that."
"Well believe it. I hate it, but I do it. It's not like I can stand up to my dad and uncles."
"You're strong enough to, though."
"I'm not. I've never been strong enough. I just can't take any more of this, Rach." She wrapped her arms around me, and gave me a quick hug. "How can you stand to be around me anymore?"
"You're a good person Percy." We sat in silence.
"Thanks Rachel."
"For what?"
"Being there."
"If you need anything, I'm always here."
"In that case," I started. There was one thing. "Annabeth's been acting weird since last week. I think something's wrong. I don't know if it's the MoA or..." I trailed off.
"I noticed that too. There's a high possibility that it's the MoA. I mean, they may have realized you're rebelling. They already killed your mom and Nico's sister." I winced. "Maybe we should test some things."
"Like?"
"Like things only Annabeth would know or do." She snapped her fingers. "I got it!"
"What?"
"Well, you know how she's jealous of me?"
"She is?" Rachel face-palmed. "What?"
"You are so dense. Anyway, you know how she doesn't seem to like me whenever we're hanging out?"
"Well, yeah. I may have noticed it."
"So, tomorrow, at lunch when we're eating together or when we have the same classes, we should act like we're going out."
"What? But I thought we agreed-"
"This isn't real! We're acting. I need to work on my acting skills anyway."
"But how will this-"
"If this was the real Annabeth, I know how she'll react."
"How will she act?"
"Trust me Percy. It's too complicated for you." I furrowed my eyebrows.
"I'm not stupid."
"I know you aren't. See you tomorrow."
LINEBREAK
I walked to school with Rachel, just in case we saw Annabeth. She was sitting on the steps, painting her nails. She was wearing super-skinny jeans, and an expensive looking jacket. I still couldn't get over the fact that she was acting so...girly. I slung my arm around Rachel's shoulders and she slipped her arm around my waist.
"Hey Annabeth," I greeted.
"Hi," she replied, still focusing on her nails.
"What are you doing here so early?" Rachel asked. She looked up.
"Rachel, right?" Rachel and I glanced at each other.
"Yeah." We sat down beside her.
"I was bored and had nothing to do at home. So I decided to come early. No point in being late when I have no excuse. And there are teachers in all the classrooms. It would be awkward."
"Cool. So, Percy and I started dating." Annabeth just looked confused.
"But...that doesn't make any sense..." she muttered to herself. Student started going inside. "Well, see ya." Annabeth stood up and walked inside with Drew and her gang of friends. She started laughing with them. Since when did she like Drew?
"Something's definitely wrong with her."
"Tell me about it."
LINEBREAK
"You're dating Rachel?" Grover asked at lunch. I did a spit take with my coke. Nico snorted, and Thalia's jaw dropped.
"What? Where did you here that?"
"It's all around school man." Rachel came by and sat beside Grover.
"What's up?"
"The whole school thinks we're dating."
"What? Why?"
"I don't-" My eyes widened as it dawned on me. "Annabeth!"
"What about her?" Connor asked, sitting beside me.
"Well, Rachel and I noticed that Annabeth wasn't really herself."
"So we decided to test something. See if she would act the way she normally does. Do what she would normally do," Rachel continued.
"So Rachel decided to see how Annabeth would react if we were going out, so we acted as though we were dating," I concluded.
"So that's why you left early this morning," Nico commented.
"But I still don't see why she failed," I added, looking at Rachel. I didn't mean she acted like Annabeth, I mean, she was using nail polish, and hanging out with Drew, that told me enough, but what did her reaction to me dating Rachel have to do with anything?
"Speaking of Annabeth..." Connor muttered as Annabeth came over to our table with a bright smile. She sat beside me. Close to me. Like, really close. Our hips and shoulders were touching. Normally, this wouldn't really bother me, but I was uncomfortable. This wasn't Annabeth. This was somebody entirely different.
"Are you...are you wearing makeup?" Thalia asked her.
"Oh yeah. Drew's been giving me advice." Something was off in her voice. It almost sounded like she was disgusted or something. At Drew? No, It was her choice to hang out with them, and she seemed to be friends with them. At Thalia? That was ridiculous. Thalia's her best friend. Or was she? Annabeth liked makeup and skinny jeans, she was befriending Drew, so how would I know that her interests changed? Like who her friends were. Maybe she didn't like any of us.
LINEBREAK
It was past midnight when I finally woke up in cold sweat. I couldn't take reliving my kills. I would be overcome by guilt, and I don't think I could live with all of it weighing me down. I decided to take a stroll outside. The fresh air would do me some good. Somehow I found myself at the beach, on the dock that Annabeth and I had visited the day we were working on our project. It seemed like such a long time ago, even though it had only been a little over a month. I dangled my toes in the water, ignoring my bare feet being slapped with the ice cold water. I closed my eyes and listened to the waves roaring, the few footsteps of other night walkers, and some dogs barking. I layed down and rested my head on my hands looking up at the stars, picking out a few constellations. After ten minutes, I pulled out my feet from the water. No use getting frostbite. As I was putting my shoes back on, I heard Annabeth's voice. I couldn't make out what she was saying, but it was her voice. I turned around and saw her talking with Luke. They were walking around the houses, talking about something that seemed important. I stood up and followed them, a safe distance away.
I know it's short and all, but it's long enough, right? Right? I had fun writing this, especially the flashback. I don't know why though...
OH MY GODS THE RISE OF THE GUARDIANS IS OUTFSDNJIFHA FJNDA JACK FROST IS SO HOT WHY ARE CARTOON CHARACTERS SO MUCH BETTER LOOKING THEN REAL PEOPLE I WANNA WATCH IT. So...who watched Breaking Dawn Part Deux?
Fluffy Bunnies Are So Cute – Thanks :3
daughterofposeidon917 – I don't know if you mean that in a good or bad way...
The Innocent Little Human – I don't blame you.
BookPig2176 – 2/6 of those are correct :P
Jay – Haha. Nice to read your reaction :)
AllenMoyashiWisdom – Thanks.
ChildOfWisdom – No O_O
Katerina Riley – Yes, hmm...I don't know...
fatbublebunny132 – I was talking about the MoA ending, as in Mark of Athena. Wow, I forgot about the act...wow, I feel awful.
Guest – kk
GotSwagJackson0818 – I like you. You noticed my grammar. Only one other person commented about it in this story, and I wonder how people don't notice it. I edit it about twice, and then I read it once I post it and I'm like: "HOW DID I NOT NOTICE THAT?" and then I give up on editing. True story bro.
Guest – I'm not sure...
KatieElizabethGrace – Wanna know why? NOPE!