Hey, Everyone!

I'M BAAAAAAAAAAAAACCCCCCCKKKKKKKK! YAY!

So, the main reason why I took my break was to write my new story and update some old ones. Sorry if I disappointed any of you with the results of my break...

But please, check out my newest PJO story Ellipsis!

Enjoy!

Chapter 37

Hazel

Jason had pulled them all out of the breakfast hall and into his and Piper's room to discuss their interrogations.

"How did yours go, Leo?" Jason asked first.

"It didn't," Leo sighed, scratching his head. "I didn't find out anything important what so every except for basically the whole first season of The Real Housewives of New Jersey."

"Hazel, what about you?" Jason asked.

"Um, well," Hazel started, but then she gave up and sighed. "Absolutely nothing."

"Frank?" Jason asked, discouraged.

"I talked to his man," Frank started, looking at the floor. "He asked me if I thought he was crazy. I said no; I told him I didn't think anyone was crazy. And he said that here was something wrong with this hotel: People would go missing and people wouldn't even remember who they were; kids would get lost and then no one would hear from them again; all those things.

"And I asked him what he thought about that.

"And he said saw strange people taking them down to the catacombs below the hotel lobby's floors."

Piper blinked. Jason was stunned into silence. Hazel looked at her boyfriend and wondered why he didn't tell her first.

"I asked him if he knew how to get there," Frank continued. "He said he knew someone that did. He said a friend of mine knew someone that did. And that he should help her. Help her find what she was looking for."

He looked up at all of them then. "I don't know which one of you two it is, but you'd better say something now!" He glared at Leo and Jason and Leo leaned back a bit.

Jason sighed. "She was a fourteen year old girl."

Leo wore a look of relief.

Jason continued, "She sounded a lot like this man of yours. She wouldn't tell me anything about her; just that she was here, looking for something. She wouldn't tell me what it was, but when I offered to help her, she declined. Then she got up and left the table. And then Piper came over and led me off."

Hazel was puzzled. Jason looked like he might be hiding something, but what was the point?

"We have to find her, now," Leo stood up and asked Jason, "What does she look like?"

"Leather windbreaker, brown hair, ripped jeans," Jason replied.

"And her face?"

"She never looked at me."

"We have some hunting to do, guys. People can change clothes, remember," Frank said as he stood up.

He helped Hazel up and Jason and Piper followed them as they all broke apart. Hazel and Frank searched the lobby together.

They checked under staircases and in cabinets in the kitchens. They checked buffet lines and they check behind the desk.

They didn't find a younger girl.

"This is so pointless!" Hazel sighed. "We need a better description of her; we need to know exactly who we're looking for! She could have dyed her hair, or-"

"Hazel, shut up for a second, would you?" Frank whispered. "He's trying to talk to us."

"What?" Hazel looked around. "I don't see anyone out of the ordinary."

Frank didn't reply. He looked like he was listening.

Hazel suddenly became scared.

Frank turned to Hazel. "Hazel, we need to find her."

"Yeah, Frank, I know!" Hazel snapped.

"Hazel, Nico is down there. He's dying. We need to find her."

Hazel's response died in her throat. They were so close. So close, and they just couldn't get to him.

Hazel wanted to throw something. She wanted to break something. She wanted to cry.

"We need to tell Jason and the others," Hazel replied, and they ran off to find Jason, Piper, and Leo.

When they found them on the third floor, Frank began to explain what he had heard with his invisible man-friend.

And Hazel was looking around anxiously, only thinking of her brother. Where he could be in those catacombs. How to help him.

And where the hell that little girl was.

"Um, I'm right here, you don't need to use that language," a younger, feminine voice said calmly from behind Hazel. She turned on her heel and sure enough, a girl with long brown hair, a black leather windbreaker, and ripped blue jeans. She was looking down at her shoes, leaning against the door frame, her long brown hair covering all her facial features. She was twisted a little bit to the side, like she was shielding herself.

"We need to find those catacombs. We need them, now! Please, you have to help us, my brother, he's-"

"I know," she said. "I know all about your problems. That's why I'm here." She picked at her thumbnail with the fingers of her other hand.

"Hazel," Leo asked suddenly, and Hazel snapped her head around to face him.

"Yeah?"

"Who are you talking to?"

Hazel looked back. She was still there.

Hazel looked back at Leo. "Get Jason."

Leo walked off without another word, calling for Jason.

"Nico is always getting himself into things, isn't he?" she asked, finally leaving her thumbnail alone.

"How do you know his name?" Hazel asked.

"I've dropped by and seem him a few times," she shrugged. "He told me to find you. He told me what you looked like. But he also told me what a couple other friends of yours looked like. That's how I showed myself to Jason. Here he comes now."

Jason appeared by Hazel's side in an instant and Leo said, "Is there anything else I can-"

"No," they both said, and Hazel turned her attention back to the girl.

"I can take you to the catacombs, but no one else can see me but you guys. You have to follow me, and if you're gonna get him out, you really should get your friends to come with you, too. So convincing them to follow a girl they can't see really won't help them much, will it? So what are you two going to do?" she asked, still looked at the floor.

"They'll believe both of us," Jason rationalized. "It's more convincing if it's two people."

"Yeah, definitely," Hazel agreed. "We have to go get them. Just, wait here, okay? Please?"

"I'll meet you guys in the lobby in front of the front desk. I'm only waiting five minutes, so you'd better show up. Good luck," her last words were sing-songy and it made Hazel shiver.

They'll believe us, Hazel thought as she and Jason ran down the hall to find their friends in Leo's room.

They have to. For Nico.

I think my whole "Update every Sunday" thing is going to be overruled offically. Because it's offically summer vacation and I'll have a lot more time on my hands, so I'll probably be updating more often. Thanks for understanding!

Thanks for Reading!