Chapter 4

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

"Where do you want to go?" Nico asks.

We had reached the small park in my neighborhood. It was probably around midnight and the street lamps had flickered on. The playground was deserted. There was a slight wind that made the swings move and creak a little. I shiver, ready to leave. This place was creeping me out.

"Not camp. Not tonight. Let's just go to the Underworld." I say, looking down at my feet.

"You sure?" Nico asks, taking my chin in his hand and making me look up at him.

I nod. I wasn't really all that excited to visit the Underworld again but anything was better than here. Anything was better than having to drag your drunken mother to bed after having a vodka bottle thrown at you.

"Let's go then." he says, taking my hand.

We plunge into a shadow, like so many other times, and into the cold darkness.

We arrived in Central Park, by the secret entrance to the Underworld. Nico didn't even tell me to sing. I just walk right up to the familiar boulder and do it.

"'These are the eyes and the lies of the taken
These are their hearts but their hearts don't beat like ours
They burn, 'cause they are all afraid, for everyone of us
There's an army of them, but you'll never fight alone
'Cause I wanted you to know

That the world is ugly,
But you're beautiful to me
Well are you thinking of me, now?'"

The boulder rumbles then splits open. I step inside, Nico right behind me. The rock closes up and Nico snaps his fingers, igniting the torches mounted on the walls with green flames. I look down into the darkness of the tunnel and sigh. Down into the darkness we go.

By the time we had reached the winding path to Hades' place, Nico was practically carrying me. I had already been pretty tired when I had gotten home earlier. Having to drag my mom to bed, the blood loss from cutting myself, all the crying, then packing all my things, had pretty much drained me of the rest of my strength. Add going down hundreds of stairs to that and I'm practically a living zombie.

"Almost there, Ky." Nico says, as we climb up the path.

We reach the gruesome wrought iron gates with their terrible pictures. They swing open at Nico's touch. We walk through Persephone's garden and toward the doors. I try my hardest to ignore the fragrant scents of the apples and pomegranates.

Nico pushes open the giant doors and we step across the threshold. It looked exactly as it had last summer when I was here. Black and gold everything. We go down the dark hallway and to Nico's room at the end of the hall. I wasn't even glowing because I was so tired.

I open the door and toss my back-pack and duffle bag on the floor. I don't even kick off my high-tops before I collapse on the bed in a heap, already asleep.

A/N:

Sort of a short chapter. Nothing really happened so it's one of those space-filler chapters.. I really hate those kind of chapters. BTW, that piece of a song that Kyra sang was "The World is Ugly" by My Chemical Romance, if anyone wanted to know.

How's everyone's week been? Guess what! I WASN'T FREAKIN' INSULTED ON THURSDAY BY THOSE TWO BROTHERS! I was sooooooooo happy! But, sadly, my friend has gone to her hometown for Easter weekend and won't be there with me tomorrow or today or whatever you want to say... So, hopefully, they'll be nice and I won't have to threaten them... Idk.

The most mortifying thing happened yesterday afternoon (and by yesterday, I mean Friday). My mom works at the McCalister's Deli we have in town and there's this SUPER HOT guy who works in the back. OMFG he's so beautiful I could just stare at him . .

Anyway, my mom walked up to him yesterday while she was taking some dishes to the sink and said that she needed to take a picture of him for me. ME! Of course he asks why and she tells him that he was my muse (or image or whatever you want to say) whilst writing about Nico.. This is not true because the hot guy in my neighborhood (among other guys, famous and not famous) are my muse for writing about Nico.

THEN, to make it fifty thousand times worse, she talked to his freakin' mom about me and that whole ordeal! BTW, this guy is like in his twenties and his parents work at McCalister's as well. Well, his mom asked my mom how old I was and my mom told her I wouldn't be 15 till July and his mom was just like "oh ok" but THEN she said that she also had a 16 year old. Now I'm curious if this guy's younger brother is just as adorable as himself...

My mother was telling me what she had done IN FRONT of my dad! Now, my dad and I are pretty awkward when we're alone (like many other teenage girls with their dads) and it just makes matters worse when my mom starts talking about my non-existent, imaginary, love life with guys that I like to day dream about. Ugg! Can I just die now?

XOXO,

Mrs-diAngelo25