Hey, Everyone!

This is the final chapter of this story, however there will be an epilogue, so that will be uploaded shortly.

If you're wondering why suddenly everything is being uploaded today, that's because I was trying to finish both this story and my House of Hades, which you should totally check out if you haven't, before summer ended, so...here we go! Only this epilogue to go, and then we're done.

Enjoy!

Chapter 12

I was perched outside his house, in the bushes in front of his huge window on the side of his house.

I watched to make sure no one was awake in the house. No one probably was.

I checked my watch.

10:59 PM and 20 seconds.

I checked back at the window. No one, still. No movement.

No one was awake it seemed.

I heard my watch make a small beep when it changed to 11.

I walked around to the front of the house and opened his front door.

I knew he had left it unlocked. I had walked by his house once or twice just to check and make sure everything was going to work out well.

I stepped into the grand foyer.

It was so bright. So white. Too bright. The light front the windows and the chandelier illuminated the room as if it was the moon.

Naturally, most of the tiles on the floor were marble, and some were black to create the design Percy wanted. He'd had the house built for him.

But it was so…bright. The stairs were white and shining. I was definitely looking forward to getting into the carpeted and dark bedroom wing.

The tile was cold under my bare feet as I walked as quietly as I could across the room.

I only made it halfway before I heard the voice. "Annabeth?"

I raised my gun and turned back toward the front door.

Luke was standing in the open doorway.

"Luke, what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Annabeth, stop, please, you don't need to do this," Luke had his hands up. He walked slowly toward me. A couple steps.

I raised my gun again. "Don't move! Don't try to stop me! I have to protect myself! I broke up with you; this isn't your responsibility anymore!"

"Annabeth, please, come on, let's go home, alright? You don't need to do this, okay?" he took a couple more steps forward.

I shook my gun. "I-I-I will shoot you!"

He froze. "Annabeth, I'm trying to help you. Come on, please. Let's go home."

"N-N-No!" I stuttered. Why wasn't he understanding? Why wasn't he realizing I was trying to save us both?

From my jealous boyfriend.

"Back out of the house. Now." I commanded. "NOW!" I shouted when he didn't do anything, and I moved my finger to the trigger.

He started backing up. I watched him go. He was outside, in the door way, when he said, "Annabeth?"

"What?" I snapped.

"I'm not letting you go to jail." And he rushed me.

He tackled me and knocked my gun out of my hand, sending it skidding across the tile floor.

He tried to pin me under him. I screamed and struggled.

My gun…was out of my hand…my gun my gun my gun my gun…

It was my sanity. It was all I had left. I was hanging on because of that gun. I needed needed needed needed my gun back!

I struggled to reach for it. I needed my gun! I was losing my mind. I didn't have it. I wasn't safe. I was going to die without it.

In that moment, when you're completely defenseless, and your life is on the line, the adrenaline pumps through your veins to try to help you survive. I was getting my adrenaline.

I did something I didn't think I could have done.

The first thing I did was scream.

I shrieked so loud that I heard Luke cringe.

Then I arched my back and felt him lose his balance and tumble off me.

I lunged for my gun. My gun. My sanity. My life. My peace of mind. My mind.

My gun.

Luke suddenly grabbed my ankles and started dragging me away.

I tried to kick him. I struggled and kicked but he kept pulling. And because of the marble floors, there was no traction, so I just slid.

I screamed out in frustration and threw my legs forward and tried to free them.

Instead, I dragged Luke with me. I threw him over my body and he went flying across the room and crashed into the wall.

I crawled forward, toward him and my gun, and I picked up my gun.

I was about to get up to go get Percy. But I knew Luke would stop me.

I crawled over to him.

His head was lying in a pool of blood. He was breathing. It seemed like the back of his head, somewhere, was bleeding.

I slid one of my legs under his neck. And then I pressed my other leg on top of his neck.

And with as much strength as I could muster, I squeezed my legs together.

His hands went to my leg and clawed at it, trying to pull my leg off somehow.

"I'm sorry, Luke," I said. "I didn't want it to come to this. I really didn't. I tried to save your life. But you wouldn't let me. Now, here we are, and you're trying to stop me from saving mine. I'm sorry, Luke, I really am. But you brought this upon yourself.

I returned my attention to my gun.

I held it in one hand as I danced my fingers over it with the other. I traced every line. It was the most beautiful thing I had ever seen.

I made sure the safety was off, and then I turned to Luke, pointed the end at his temple, and shot.

He instantly still. His hands sat on my legs. His eyes stared aimlessly at the ceiling I knew he couldn't see anymore.

The kick was subtle.

I giggled. I was so excited. I had power. That type of power that made me know I could do anything I wanted.

I pulled myself away from Luke's dead body. I felt his blood on one of my legs. I smiled. I had caused this.

This was power.

I held onto the gun. I traced my finger around the end, where my bullet had just fired.

It was still warm.

I looked at the foyer around my as I stood up.

It was too bright. Too white. Darkness was good.

It was too…pure.

Life was corrupted. Corrupted with red.

I would have to fix that later.

I walked up the grand, white staircase. I traced my hand along the white marble railing as I turned to the small staircase to the left.

The way to his bedroom.

I turned to the bright white all in front of me.

I looked at my hands.

One of them was soaked in dripping blood.

How did that happen?

As I turned to walk up the other stairs, I slammed my hand onto his wall, and dragged it along the wall as I walked up the stairs.

When I reached to top of the stairs I looked back and admired my work.

It was better…but I would do more, later, when I was done with what I came here to do.

I turned and faced the darkness of the hallway that would be my revival. I smiled to myself.

As I stepped into the darkness, I felt myself leaving my old self behind.

A new Annabeth had arrived to take my place. She had arrived from the shadows.

And she was out to see what needed to be done, happen. I was going to kill him.

Because I needed to.

Or maybe it was because I wanted to…

I staggered into his bedroom like a drunk man.

I clung to his door frame as I stared at his bed.

The door hit the wall behind me.

Sound proof doors.

He was still asleep.

Perfect.

I staggered in and started laughing.

Rachel was lying in bed next to him, tangled in sheets.

I smiled. Her first. Definitely her first.

I climbed onto the bed. I made her the safety was off again. And then I slapped her.

She didn't wake up.

So I slapped her again. I had the gun pointed at her chest.

Her eyes fluttered open. She took one look at me the first thing she did was scream.

She shrieked. She tried to move, but naturally, she couldn't because I was stilling on top of her.

I laughed. I laughed at her terror.

I leaned over and our noses were basically touching.

I was going to give this bitch a piece of my mind first.

"I was his fiancé, you skanky bitch!" I snarled.

"PERCY!" she screamed. "PERCY, HELP ME!"

I laughed again. Percy started to stir.

I had to do this quickly.

I pulled the trigger, and felt the kick jerk my shoulders backward.

She screamed in pain.

I missed her heart…

I hadn't been aiming at her heart.

So I readjusted the end of my sanity to her face somewhere and shot again.

She immediately fell silent.

I'd hit her right in between her eyebrows.

I looked over at Percy. He was starting to wake up.

How sweet.

I watched him as he sat up and rubbed his eyes. "Rachel? Are you okay?"

"Hi, Percy," I said.

He looked over at me. "Annabeth?"

His eyelid opened as he stared at the blood seeping all over his bed sheets.

"Holy shit," he breathed.

I pointed the gun at him. "You brought this upon yourself."

"You're batshit crazy, Annabeth, what the hell?" Percy breathed.

"I'm going to kill you now," I replied impatiently. "That's what I came here for in the first place."

"Did you kill Rachel?" he asked. "There's a ringing in my ears."

"Yeah, I shot a couple times," I looked back at her for a second. "There's a ringing in my ears, too."

"Annabeth, why are you doing this?" Percy asked.

As if he didn't know.

I crawled off of Rachel and said, "I'm not just going to let you kill me, Percy."

He didn't respond. He just stared at me.

Suddenly, he threw the bed sheets over me. He tackled me onto the bed and ended up knocking the gun away from me.

I shrieked, "NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO, NO!"

I started hearing the loud and annoying hum off the police sirens. I didn't know when anyone had called the police, but they were definitely here now.

I had done all this work…for nothing.

Nothing.

I screamed and struggled and fought but Percy weighted much more than me and he held me down.

He shouted for the police officers.

I heard them file in and I listened to him explain.

And then he got off me.

I threw the bed sheets off me and I just screamed.

The police officers grabbed me, handcuffed me, and dragged me away.

I kicked and screamed and fought but they dragged me down the stairs and away from everything.

Everything I'd done. Gone so quickly.

I continued to scream all the way to the police station.

Thanks for reading!