IMPORTANT! IMPORTANT! MAKE SURE YOU READ THE A/N AT THE END OF THE CHAPTER!

Not gonna beat around the bush. New chappie. Yay. *falls asleep*

Disclaimer: I do not own Percy Jackson and the Olympians.. *yawns*

Ch 6: I Try To Kill Myself:

Drew gritted her teeth as the dizzying stench of jasmine hit her nose. It was enough to send her reeling for a few seconds. I don't get what Perseus sees in that mortal. She clenched her hands into fists. So this was her house. She had stalked the male demon by possessing a dove's body. It had been real fun killing it after her work had been done.

Now here she was, back in front of the stupid bitch's house at twilight. She could still feel Percy's presence lingering around her house, despite the fact that he had gone long ago. Drew wanted to snarl and tear the girl's limbs apart. But no, that would cause her death too soon.

She paused for some time before a smirk made its way onto her face. Well, well. Get ready mortal. Your death is going to be very unpleasant. She willed her body to turn into mist. Soon. Soon enough the mortal will be lying dead on the ground. And she will make it seem as though the girl had killed herself.

Drew smiled. Then Percy will be mine, she thought with a giggle.

-o-o-o-

Annabeth took a deep breath through her mouth as she flopped onto her comfy bed, and heaved a sigh. I've been sighing a lot lately, she cringed. But right then, she was doing it out of exasperation, taking into consideration the fact that she and Percy had had a massive, childish argument, which had only ended after she had ordered him to go back. Well, he would be back again at midnight. Perhaps.

Annabeth laid down on the mattress, wondering if he would return. Maybe the argument had made him angry? Probably not. Besides, she couldn't really blame him for beginning their squabble. Because all this wouldn't have happened if she hadn't… Well, if she hadn't kissed his cheek.

She closed her eyes as she remembered their random bicker.

-o-o-o-

"You kissed me," Percy blinked at her.

"I just kissed your cheek," Annabeth blinked back.

"A kiss is a kiss."

"Fine, I kissed you. On the cheek. So what?"

"So you love me?"

"Don't be silly," Annabeth gave him a look. "You can't love someone you just met."

"Well then, will you take this horrid thing off of me?" he changed the topic.

"Let me think," Annabeth dramatically tapped her chin with her finger, as if she was actually considering it. "Nope! You need to learn to behave first! At least this way, I would be able to exercise some control over you!"

"Exercise control over me," Percy repeated. "Well, well. Who would've thought that my mate has such naughty thoughts about me, hmm?"

Wait, what? Annabeth thought with a blank face before suddenly wanting to throw different pieces of furniture at him. Nah, her precious furniture would end up disfigured. "Shut up, you pervert! I wasn't thinking of anything like that at all! You're the one with the dirty mind here!"

"No need to worry Annabeth," he drawled. "You will find yourself with me in bed soon enough," he purred. "And there, you would be perfectly able to-"

Annabeth didn't let him finish. "Slap yourself!" she shouted, feeling somewhat contended when the locket forced Percy to do what she said, who immediately started swearing profusely. "How do you know my name anyway? Demon powers?"

Percy shrugged. "Duh."

"Demons say 'duh'?"

"Demons say many things."

Annabeth shuddered. "I'm not sure I want to know more." She bit her lip.

"What you're doing right now is hugely distracting," Percy said.

Annabeth didn't bother to reply to his suggestive tone. "Uh, I wanted to tell you something…"

"You always want to tell me something. Shoot."

"Is it okay if I go out with a friend this Saturday?" When she noticed him giving her a weird look, she added weakly, "Er, with a boy." His face darkened and before he could threaten the said boy's life or something, Annabeth immediately interjected. "He's just a friend. He said so himself! So you don't need to go all possessive and jealous and stuff!" She paused. "Wait, why am I even asking for your permission? It's my life. I can live it in whichever way I want."

"You, woman, are crazy."

"Fine! I'm crazy! I just wanted you to know. That's it," she huffed, mentally cringing at how wrong that sounded.

"Alright."

"Alright?" Annabeth gaped at him, surprised at the nonchalant behaviour he was showing. She had expected him to put up another argument, but nothing of the sort happened. "You're agreeing so easily?"

"It's not like I can do much about it, can I? If I do protest, we will end up arguing again. And I don't want that to happen. Besides, with this thing on me, I can't even think about tying you to the bed so that you don't escape. Not if it's against your will," Percy shook his head. "So protesting will just end up being a waste of time."

Annabeth laughed lightly. "I am supposed to be the smart one here, demon."

"Please, human," he smirked. "I am a lot smarter than you'll ever be. So many years of living can teach you a lot of things," he put a slight emphasis on the last word.

Annabeth eyed him suspiciously, not sure whether what he said had a double meaning or not. But judging that it was coming from a demon, she concluded that it did. She suddenly felt a chill run down her spine. "How old are you," she asked. "You're not, like, a few millennia old, are you?"

Percy burst out laughing, leaving Annabeth to stare at him in a stunned silence. (Mostly because there was absolutely nothing funny about what she had just said.) He has a nice laugh, she thought distractedly. Hey wait! Why the heck did I think that?!

"I'm not that old," he said after he was finished with his round of sniggers. "A few centuries at the most."

Annabeth blanched. "Centuries?" she noted weakly. "I'm only seventeen. And my mate is an old man. A very old man."

"Well tell me Annabeth, how old do I look to you?" he rolled his eyes.

"Thirty-five?" she replied with a straight face, not wanting to reveal the fact that she was merely joking.

"Nope, guess again."

"Over nine thousand?"

He gave her an exasperated look. "Demons age slowly. Very, very slowly. So, I'm probably rounding twenty by now. However, if you go along with human years, then yeah. I'm a few centuries at the most."

"Pedophile," Annabeth muttered.

"I'm astounded at the originality of your statement," Percy said, his voice dripping with sarcasm. "Bravo."

"Do you have a sarcasm fetish or something?"

"That would be the biggest understatement of the century," he chuckled.

"You have a nice laugh," Annabeth blurted out without thinking. And then she wanted to bang her head against the near wall till she died out of blood loss, or a damaged brain, or anything as long as it killed her.

"I know," Percy said without even batting an eyelash. Annabeth didn't think it was necessary for demons to blink so that they could moisten their eyes. "It's very handy in important situations. Like, you know, getting girls in bed, who claim that my enthralling voice makes their legs turn to jelly."

"Wha…?" Annabeth's jaw dropped open, and she probably looked like some sort of ninja fish in the middle of a sneeze right then. It sure seemed as though Percy had recovered from the initial shock of her tricking him. She closed her mouth before mosquitoes could take the chance to rush in. "Were you always this perverted from the beginning?"

"What are you talking about?" he asked innocently. "I just said that I could get them in bed. I never said that I would be doing certain things to them." He shook his head. "You're so dirty-minded, Annabeth. Not that I mind."

"Eeh?!" Annabeth's eyes could've very well popped out of their sockets. "Don't bring me into this! I am the innocent one here!"

"Hmm, are you now, mate?"

"Why you-you-"

"Demon?" he suggested, with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

"Why did I even compliment you in the first place? You jerk," Annabeth groaned.

"Lemme guess. Female hormones?"

"Shut up," the blonde girl hissed at him as she resisted the urge to smack his head with her hand, afraid that it would break her bone or something. She most certainly didn't want to land up with a broken wrist.

"So tell me," Percy said, his voice turning serious. "Why did you tell me about that date anyway? You claim that it was not to make me jealous. Then why?"

"First of all, it's not a date," Annabeth mumbled. "And, well, I told you because… I…"

"What?"

"I don't want to break your trust in me, okay?" She didn't face him, but she could feel her voice quivering. Annabeth wondered if Percy could hear it. "It's – it's not something that I like to do. Besides, you would've found sooner or later that I would've gone out with Lu- I mean, my friend. And, well, I guess that wouldn't have felt right. I mean, you get it, right?" Annabeth had never felt tongue-tied before. But unpleasant memories of her childhood kept flashing before her eyes. She pursed her lips as she looked down.

"Hey, are you alright?" Percy asked softly, realising that he shouldn't have forced her to answer him. Annabeth merely gave him a nod, still not meeting his eyes. "So… You want me to trust you," he tried to lighten the tension in the room. "That means you must love me."

The effect was instantaneous. Annabeth frowned at him. "I told you. I don't."

"You do."

"I don't."

"Bet you do!"

Annabeth made an irritated noise. "You're behaving like a child, Percy!"

The demon winked. "Ah, but if I'm a child, then that makes you the pedophile. Also, I love it when you say my name."

Annabeth could feel her eye start twitching. "Shut up." In the blink of an eye, Percy had wrapped his arms around her and she was sitting in his lap, straddling him.

"Make me," he said cheekily.

"Slap yourself."

-o-o-o-

Annabeth felt a smile creep onto her face, but it vanished as soon as it had appeared. The conversation, though ridiculous to an unhealthy extent, had reminded her of her past. Quite the dreadful memories, to be exact.

'Why did you do this to me, Annabeth? I trusted you, and you're choosing him over me?'

Annabeth stood up and tried to think about something else. Anything but that. She knew that Percy knew something was wrong with her. But he didn't inquire anything. Part of her was glad.

'I'm never going to forgive you, Annabeth. I detest you. From the core of my heart. What had I ever done to deserve this?'

"Stop it," Annabeth muttered weakly to nobody in particular. She clutched her head and groaned slightly. It seemed that she wasn't going to get any sleep that night. If she did, the nightmares would probably eat her alive.

'I hate you!'

Annabeth shuddered, and she heard the doorbell ring. She stood there, confused for a moment (partly wondering whether the doorbell had actually rung, or it had been a figment of her imagination a.k.a background music for her nightmares). Who could've visited her at this hour? Her brain replied right away, Your dim-witted friends.

Annabeth rushed downstairs, wondering if Thalia had come to stay over, because she did that frequently. She opened the door with a smile but quickly frowned when she saw nobody present outside. She glanced left and right, thinking that someone will pop out and shout 'Boo!' But she failed to find anybody. Maybe the neighbourhood kids were pulling a prank on her.

The blonde shook her head as she shifted to close the door, but froze when her body temperature seemed to drop suddenly. Annabeth let out a startled gasp as she looked at her shaking hands. What? What is this? she thought wildly. She cried out when her knees buckled and her legs gave in, making her tumble ungraciously onto the floor, her joints suddenly writhing with pain.

Wretched girl, a voice echoed.

Annabeth felt her eyes widened as she turned her head around unceremoniously, searching for the source of the voice. She opened her mouth but no words came out.

You poor soul, having such a terrible past, the voice chuckled. It was raspy, but Annabeth could figure out that the speaker was a female. Nobody loves you, isn't that right? How could they, after you have done such horrible things?

Annabeth winced as booming laughter echoed inside her head. As if on cue, the light bulbs started to flicker, before drowning the entire room in darkness.

I hate you, you know. Everybody hates you. They don't show it, but they all hate you. Even that mate of yours! There was laughter once again. What did you think? He would actually fall for you? Let me tell you, all this is a game to him! He just wants to satisfy his desire, and once he has done that, he will just get rid of you!

There was silence for a while. But that ended when Annabeth felt someone choking her.

But I won't let him do that! I will end you myself before he even makes his first move. Oh, and do you know what would be even better? There was a giggle. The fact that you are going to kill yourself.

Annabeth wanted to cry out but it felt as if her voice box had stopped working. She felt an invisible force possessing her hands, as they moved on their own. Annabeth had never felt so useless before. And all she could do was stare in horror as her hands encircled her throat. And she could do nothing to stop them.

This! This is what Perseus did to me! Why? All because of you, of course! But guess what? You don't deserve him! He should have throttled you instead of me! The voice screamed. Annabeth let out a silent gasp as her hands tightened around her neck on their own accord. Bye, bye, little bitch. I hope that hell gives you the worst treatment you'll ever deserve!

Annabeth could hardly breathe anymore as she started to choke herself. Dark spots appeared in her vision. Her limbs burned as if they were on fire. That was it. Annabeth was going to die. She could feel her body starting to grow weaker and weaker, but her hands were still pressed firmly around her neck, her nails leaving scratches in the skin.

And then, a shout. Percy? Annabeth thought immediately. But no, it was a girl. A familiar girl. Reyna… What was she doing here?

She shouted something in a language which Annabeth thought was Latin. And Annabeth started to shiver as her body temperature turned cold once again. Then, it felt as if her heart was getting a major electric shock.

She could make out the figure of Reyna giving her a concerned look, through her blurry vision. That was the last thing she saw before her body went limp and the world faded around her.

-o-o-o-

Now, many of you will be angry with me right now, thinking why the hell I made Annabeth so weak. So let me makes thing clear. Annabeth is a human! A normal human! She is strong, but not that strong to hold her stand against a high-rank demon. Besides, Drew possessed her, and that wasn't really fair. But that's how demons are!

Annabeth will get stronger as the story progresses. It's a thing called 'character development'. If I had made Annabeth defeat Drew in this chapter, the character development would've been ZERO, and the plot would've zig-zagged its way into a black hole.

She doesn't know much about demons. Not like you guys, who were shouting the entire time: "STAHAAAHHHAAP GAAAL! DON'T OPEN THE F-ING DOOR! NUUUHUHHH!'

Okay? Do I make myself clear? You understand now? BTW, Annabeth does kick Drew's butt later on, so don't worry. I keep my promises. And if you still have got problem with that, stop reading this story.

Cookies to those who survived my rant.

Kudos!