Chapter Eleven

Disclaimer: I do not own the PJO or HoO series by Rick Riodan.

Kyra's POV

Darkness. That's all I could see; darkness. I'd close my eyes and then I'd open them and see the same thing as when they were closed; absolutely nothing.

I couldn't move. It felt like my wrists and ankles were bound with rope or something, I couldn't tell. I was leaning against something hard and uneven, it was cold and damp too. Almost like the wall of a cave or a tunnel.

I hear something beside me. Two things, actually. A sniffling, as if someone were crying, and a sort of sawing sound.

I lean over, only to bump into something smooth and warm. It was another person.

"Hello?" I ask, my voice quite, yet rough. I then realized that I was extremely thirsty. My throat felt like sandpaper.

"Oh, thank the gods." I hear Nico say.

"Mama? Are you alright?" I hear Mike ask.

There's a loud 'bang' and the wall we were leaning against and the floor beneath us started to shake.

I wake up with a start, only to find that the banging and the shaking from the dream had not stopped when I had woken up.

"Nico." I hiss, shaking him roughly so he'd wake up.

"Wha? Ky, what's that?" he asks, yawning and sitting up, sleepily.

"C'mon." I say, pulling him out of the bed.

I open the bedroom door, gripping a dagger tightly in my hand. Nico was right behind me, wide awake now, and yielding his Stygian Iron sword.

We quickly make our way down the hall and to the smaller bedroom where Michael was sleeping. I open the door and gasp.

There was a tall, shadowy figure standing over Mike's bed, watching him as he slept peacefully. Mike was just like Nico when it came to sleeping; hard and nearly impossible to wake.

The figure turns around and looks up, revealing his face. He had pale skin, speckled with a few freckles. His eyes glowed red and two fangs protruded from his mouth.

He was wearing dark blue jeans and black combat boots, a white tee shirt, and a black leather jacket. His hair was a dark auburn color and slicked back. He looked almost like a greaser from the 1950s.

"Shh. Don't want to wake the child now, do we?" he asks, walking over to Nico and I. His voice was deep, and his accent suggested that he had grown up in New York.

"Who are you?" I ask, my bow in my hands now and an arrow notched.

"Well, that's for me to know and for you to never find out." he says, a smirk on his face.

"Why you—" I start.

"Ky." Nico says, holding me back, "Look."

He points to Mike and I see a another figure standing over him, a deadly looking dagger hovering just above his head.

"Please, don't." I say, my eyes widening.

"Well, if you don't want me to have my servant kill your precious Michael here, you and Nico are going to have to obey me. Otherwise, that dagger goes straight through his skull. Do you understand?" he asks.

I look at Mike and then back to the strange man. I nod and he gives me a smug look.

"I knew you wouldn't be able to just kill off your youngest child." he says, "Get the kid, Jessica. We're leaving."

The servant, Jessica, sheathes the dagger and grabs up Mike. Then he starts to wake up. As they walk past Nico and I, he starts to scream to us.

"Mama! Daddy!" he screams, kicking at Jessica and trying to get loose.

I feel a tear run down my face and I wipe it away.

"No." I say, my voice quivering.

"What?" Nico says, sounding like the life had been taken out of him.

"I'm not just going to stand here and let them take him. I don't care. They're not just taking him." I say, running after them, Nico on my heels.

Mike's screams and protests had become fainter since they were outside now. The shaking and banging was still going on, but its intensity had lessened a little.

I burst out of the house to see a giant, oozing mess of goo. The goo had what I suppose is considered a face, legs and arms, and also a couple of giant serpents attached to it as well.

I stop short and look up at the thing.

"Wh-what is that thing?" I ask Nico.

"I don't know." he says, breathless.

I come out of my stupor as I hear Mike's screams start up again. I look and see that they were loading him into a car, with difficulty, I might add.

I rush over, notching an arrow and letting it fly. It lodged itself right into Jessica's head, spraying blood all over the place. She falls to the ground, limp. This did not help Mike's terror in any way.

"Jessica! What the hell is taking so long?" the guy yells. Apparently he hadn't seen what had happened to Jessica.

Just as Nico and I reach the car, the guy gets out, on the passenger side, and a look of surprise crosses his face for a split second. His features harden and he sets his jaw.

"Kill them!" he shouts up at the giant goo mess.

The thing roars and throws it's head back. Then it steps forward, leaving a puddle of goo where it had previously been standing.

"Go distract that guy and get Mike. I'll take care of this thing." I say.

"But Ky—" he starts.

"Go. I've got it." I say.

He gives me a look and then sighs. I could tell he didn't want to leave me, but he needed to protect Mike as well.

I had been fighting for a good 30 minutes. I was growing weary, to say the least. By this point, I was well aware of the fact that I wasn't a teenager anymore, and haven't been for quite some time. I wasn't paying much attention to Nico or Mike. This gross ball of goo was occupying pretty much all of my time.

I shoot an arrow into its abdomen, but it doesn't seem to even faze the thing. It roars and then shoots a stream of goo out of its mouth and towards me. It always seemed like I was getting something shot at me by a monster. I mean, honestly, can't they think of something better to do with their time? Like maybe clean up the planet or something?

I hear Nico shout behind me and the other guy laugh. Mike screams and I whirl around. Nico was on the ground, curled up in a ball and clutching his stomach. I could see a dark stain spreading across the fabric of his shirt.

I completely forget the monster behind me and rush over to him. As I get closer, the guy steps in front of me, an evilly smug look on his face.

"Move." I say through my teeth.

"And what if I don't want to?" he asks, looking at his nails.

"Then I'll do this." I say, quickly unsheathing a dagger and stabbing it into his arm. It went straight through his flesh, blood immediately flowing out and splashing onto the pavement.

"You fucking bitch!" he screams, clutching his arm.

I take my chance and move around him, kneeling in front of Nico. He had his eyes squinted shut and I could tell he was gritting his teeth, trying to distract himself from the pain.

I roll him over and he opens his eyes a little. I move his hands off of his stomach and see a deep gash.

"You picked one of the best times in the world to get hurt." I say, my voice dripping in sarcasm.

"I know, I know. I'm the master of good timing, aren't I?" he grunts, trying, and failing, to smirk at me.

"You're the master of a lot of things, Nico, but good timing isn't one of 'em. Just hold on a second." I say.

I start to dig into my pocket, then realize that I'm in my pajamas still. I curse under my breath and then pick up my dagger again and rip the bottom part of my shirt off. I wad it up and press it against Nico's wound.

This reminded me of senior prom night when Mo had taken Keegan's arrow for me. I cringe at the horrid memory. I still hadn't quite forgiven myself for killing Keegan, even after all these years.

"We can't leave them here. They'll just contact their buddies and come get him. It'd be better if I took them as well." I hear the guy mumble behind me.

I tear my attention away from Nico and look behind me at him. He seemed to be perfectly healed now, even though moments before he had been clutching his wounded arm. He was pacing back and forth, in his own little world.

He freezes and looks up at the creature, seemingly coming to a conclusion. "Grab them! Don't kill them! Follow me!" he shouts up at the goo monster.

My eyes widen and I quickly start trying to heave Nico to his feet, while also trying to grab Mike out of the car at the same time. Before I can do either successfully though, I feel a hand wrap around my waist and I'm lifted high off the ground.

The thing had gotten me, and in his other hand was Nico. I sigh and prop my arms up on the thing's gigantic fingers, resting my chin in my hand.

There was no use in fighting back now. It would be impossible trying to free myself from this thing's grip. And even if I did, what would I do if I managed it? Fall to my death? It was hopeless. It was better just to stay awake and see what happens when we reach our destination.

A/N:

So who do you think this guy is, and what's his connection to Kyra's family? And how do you think he got his hands on that goo monster?

The next chapter is kinda cute towards the end. Oh! And you also meet Tristan! I think you guys will like him. I mean, he's Will's son, so how bad could he really be?

Well, last night I was very productive when it comes to writing. I finally finished writing my story Brutal Love. It's about time too, since I've been writing it for months now. That one was really difficult to write because it was so depressing. I had to stop writing in the middle of a chapter a couple of times 'cause it would get to me. Then I'd have to go and write something happy for a little while before I could return to it.

But anyway, I wrote for about three hours straight and finished it. Of course, I'll have to go back and edit it, but the main stuff is all there.

AHH! NEW SUPERNATURAL TONIGHT! I CAN'T EVEN REMEMBER WHAT TODAY'S EPISODE IS ABOUT, BUT I DON'T CARE!

Heh. Can you tell I'm excited?

Also, I found a bunch of new bands to listen to last night! Some of which are: Daisyhead, Band of Skulls, Devour the Day, Night Terrors of 1972, and D.D Dumbo. There were some others, but those are just the ones I can remember at the moment.

M/A:

"'If I could get another chance,

I'd put it in a zip-lock bag!'"

That, my dears, is the beginning lines to the chorus of Zip-Lock by Lit. It's one of my favorites, my brother used to listen to it all the time ^_^

XOXO,

Mrs-diAngelo25