Chapter 7
Disclaimer: I do not own the PJ or HoO series by Rick Riodan.
As we walked down the hall, it gradually got darker. The darker it got, the brighter I was glowing. I still wasn't quite used to that, even though it had been almost a year.
We reach the end of the hall and Nico opens the door. The room was spotless, looking as if no one had slept in the bed or that anyone had been here at all. My duffle and back-pack were stacked neatly by the bathroom door. I guess the maid had been here.
"We can leave tomorrow if you want. Persephone is about to leave again to be with Demeter for the summer and I'm pretty sure you don't want to spend the next week and a half with Hades." he says, pacing.
"I'm getting the vibe you want to leave tomorrow." I say, smirking at Nico.
"I just-the Underworld just doesn't feel like home. You know if you're at a stranger's house and you feel like if you so much as breathe you're going to get scolded?" he asks, stopping to look at me.
"Yea." I replied.
"That's how I feel here. I don't feel welcome." he says.
"Nico." I sigh, "This is your dad we're talking about. I'm sure he doesn't mind you staying here."
"How do you think you'd feel if you had to stay at Apollo's house?" he questions.
"Uncomfortable." I say, shrugging.
"Because I barely know him." I add, seeing his smug expression.
"Exactly." Nico says, looking pleased with himself.
"No. Not exactly. I've only met Apollo twice. You have seen your father a lot more than that and even stayed here." I say, gesturing around the room.
Nico sighs and plops down on the bed. "Okay. You got me. Do you want to stay here?" he asks, sounding defeated.
"Hell no! As much as I love you, this place gives me the creeps." I say.
I see him smile and he says, "Okay, where do you want to go then? We can go anywhere. Anywhere in the world."
"New York. I want to see if that's where Lucas is." I blurt out.
I cover my mouth, realizing what I had just said. If Lucas hadn't called in months, what made me think he wanted to be found by me?
"But Ky-" he starts, but a buzzing sound cuts him off.
We freeze and then I realize what it was. It was my phone ringing. I walk over to my back-pack and take it out. It was John. I stare at the screen, debating on whether I should answer or not. Nico gets up and looks over my shoulder.
"Answer it Ky." he says.
I sigh and press the "receive" button on the screen.
"Hello?" I answer, sounding irritated.
"Kyra! Thank the gods you're okay! Mom called me this morning and kept going on and on about a salad drenched in blood. I thought she was drunk so I went over there and saw she wasn't lying. Then I went up to your room to find you and most of your clothes gone. Kyra, what happened?" he asks.
I had had trouble following him while he was talking because he had been talking so fast. Almost as if he couldn't get the words out quick enough.
What shocked me was that he actually sounded concerned about me. I hadn't gotten so much as a smile for almost a year from him and now he's all worked up and worried about me.
I stay silent for a second, holding my breath, then the whole ordeal burst from my lips. He hadn't been to the house to see us in about a month so he had no idea how bad it had gotten. When I ended it with collapsing on Nico's bed last night, I heard a long sigh on the other end.
"I-I had no idea. I'm so sorry I've been angry. I just-I had to find someone to blame for everything that happened and it happened to be you." he says.
"Is there any way you can forgive me?" he asks, a pleading tone in his voice.
"I-maybe." I say, uncertain.
"Will you come back home? Please?" he asks, hope filling his voice.
"No." I say, a bit sharply.
The line is silent.
"I'm sorry. I just can't go back. Mom will want me to live with her and I just can't. I can't stand on the sidelines and just watch her go away. I can't" I say.
"Well, where are you going to go?" he asks.
"Home." I say, then hang up, not waiting for a reply.
A/N:
Surprise update! Don't you just love those? The reason for the surprise update is because I'm at work with my mom and I'm bored out of my mind. Pretty much nothing to do so I thought, 'Hey! Why don't I post another chapter?' And there you go.
Aren't you guys glad John finally came to his senses and stopped being a total jerkface? And while Nico was talking about being in a complete stranger's house, that's pretty much exactly how I feel. Not being able to breathe because it feels like I'll get scolded if I do. How do you guys feel when you're in a stranger's house?
Bored out of my mind,
Mrs-diAngelo25