Hi! I'm sorry for the delay this time but my exams are going on! I rarely get time to write so this chapter is going to be extra long

Chapter 8

PERCY'S P.O.V

For the past few days, it felt like just because of me and Annabeth's meeting, all drama had broken loose.

First, Luke and Beckendorf try to force me to…do something hilariously dangerous.

Next, I spot a flash of curly blonde hair when I fled from Luke and Beckendorf.

Crazy, huh?

I promised myself I would try to stay out of it, but it seems as if Luke and Beckendorf are forcefully trying to make me do their bidding. First, they threaten to spill my secrets..(as if I had any) second, they threatened to hurt Rachel, and now they threaten my mom.

I waved them off; I wasn't going to do anything for them when I suspected that they did something worse than just the average of pushing kids down or stealing lunches.

They might have attempted to kill someone...someone in particular…but they seemed to have failed.

I groaned when the bell rang. It was now P.E.

I had no intention of getting harassed by Luke and his idiot goon squad, but I had been ditching the past few classes and if I didn't go to this one, I might fail P.E.

I grumbled colorful remarks about Luke as I walked to P.E., deliberately going at a slower pace.

The crowd of students that served as my camouflage, filled into the large gym, everyone scattering into different groups, all of them excitedly chattering.

I recalled that today was something special… but I couldn't remember exactly what.

I stared at Annabeth when she walked in. For some reason, I felt little balls shooting around in my stomach

Stupid.

I sighed and forced myself to look in the direction of the gym teacher, Coach Hedge. He was just over 5 feet tall, with frightening facial hair and a permanent scowl.

"Listen up cupcakes!" He growled

"Today is the physical test of the year, the most difficult test of the year."

I cursed, no one even told me about it… or maybe I was being ignorant…

And so, Coach Hedge herded us to the several tests that I failed miserably.

I might be good at swimming, but I had just started, and thus I had less muscle as compared to an experienced swimmer.

I stumbled on the obstacle course, fell as I was climbing the rope and lost in the running test.

By the end of P.E., I was sore, sweaty and tired.

I didn't bother to ask Rachel how she did in the exam; she was ignoring me anyway…probably bitter after Octavian's death. I didn't blame her; I would be shattered if…

Whoa… did I just think of Annabeth?

I was glad that no one could read my thoughts.

As soon as we entered the cafeteria, I collapsed on the nearest lunch table.

A few girls eyed me with nasty looks, so I glared back at them. They huffed and moved to a new table.

I slowly slurped my juice and tried to spot Annabeth, which was silly.

To my surprise, Annabeth came with none of her friends, and instead, she plopped on the seat in front of me. She wore sunglasses and a cap, maybe as an attempt of disguise to make sure no one saw her sit with me.

"Luke is after me." She whispered.

I rolled my eyes. "Yeah, and you did a terrific job of spying on me yesterday"

She inhaled sharply.

"You s-saw me? What did you hear about me before I… arrived?"

I shrugged.

"Well… Luke mentioned that you did something terrible.. what exactly was the thing you did?"

She narrowed her eyes "That is none of your concern… anyway.. I just came here to warn that.. he's probably serious when he said that he was going to hurt your mom and… Rachel."

Her expression looked bitter when she said Rachel's name, almost like she swallowed something sour.

"Why do you care so much about me?" I muttered.

Her cheeks went red.

"I don't care about you, I just care about Luke and I'm just making sure he doesn't do wrong things… and-"

I laughed.

"Yeah right… anyway, um thanks for warning me about something I already knew…"

Annabeth scowled as she left, muttering something about 'ungrateful' and 'stupid'

She was the one who was ungrateful, I saved her life but she still yelled at me. Some people just never changed.

I stared at her departing the cafeteria, her curly blonde hair swaying in a mesmerizing way. I turned back to my lunch, ignoring the bouncy balls in my stomach, how her face was scrunched with determination and her gray eyes piercing anyone she disliked.

Which probably included me.

I didn't think that Luke would actually hurt the people I cared about… but it seemed to be true.

I sped home, faster than ever. I had to get to my mom fast.

As soon as I reached my apartment, I doubled over and gasped. I staggered to the door, exhausted ad rang the door bell.

My mom opened it with a surprised expression.

"You're home early."

I waved her off, "Yeah, it doesn't matter… anyway, are you fine?"

My mother looked puzzled.

"Yes dear, I'm absolutely alright… what's wrong?"

"Nothing… just a bad feeling." I muttered.
"Alright then…" She murmured.

I collapsed on my bed in my tiny room. The wall's plaster was peeling off and the room still smelled like alcohol.

My step-father, Gabe had just left a week ago after he got arrested for sexual harassment, but his smell hadn't gone away yet… which was unfortunate.. because I thought I was allergic to stinky, alcoholic and abusive men.

I stared at the ceiling with disgust. Why did Luke want me to hurt Annabeth? What had she done?

Suddenly, I heard a shriek, which sounded awfully like Rachel.

I sprung from my bed and ran to the living room.

My mother was on her knees sobbing. The door was open and lying in front of it was Rachel, blood spurting out of her stomach.

I rushed past my mother and held Rachel. My mother eventually got up and called the police, sobbing in between of words.

Within minutes, I heard the siren of an ambulance. My mind was hazy that moment, all I could think of was that Annabeth was right… Luke did mean business. A few people climbed out of the ambulance, ran up the stairs and carried Rachel back to the truck. I followed them downstairs, all of my senses dim.

Luke was really desperate to hurt Annabeth….

Even if I didn't talk to Rachel much these days, she was still my friend, and the only one I had. I couldn't lose her.

I watched the trucks carry the wounded Rachel to a hospital.

Her blood on my hands…because I didn't do what Luke wanted.

I let out a sob. Everyone I cared about was getting hurt because of me. I felt cold and hollow as me and my mother walked to our car to go to the hospital.

"Let's wait for a while, she's probably in the ER right now." My mother suggested, her beautiful face pale.

So we stood outside of the car for about 15 minutes. We could've gone inside, but we were too shocked to do so.

After 15 minutes were up, we prepared to go to the hospital.

I sat in the passenger's seat, while my mom drove. Her hands were shaking. I didn't blame her. We had been living for a week in peace without Gabe… she hadn't expected something this horrible to happen so soon.

I stared ahead, not being able to speak. I made a mental note of what I had to do.

First, I had to squeeze the truth out of Annabeth… about what she had done. Secondly, I had to beat the crap out of Luke and finally… Well, I didn't know what to do then…maybe hope for Luke's punishment? My mother pulled up in front of the hospital. It was easy to guess which hospital she went to because there was only one major hospital in the town.

I got out of the old car and walked to the entrance. The hospital was huge. Even though it was beautiful from the outside, the inside of the hospital was serious and gloomy, not really appropriate for a hospital.

I cleared my throat and walked up to the receptionist.

"Um.. I'm looking for a patient… Rachel Dare?"

The receptionist straightened when she saw me. She couldn't have been more than 20. She flashed a toothy grin

"Ah yes… Rachel Elizabeth Dare… she's in room 4-A."

I frowned. "Where is that?"
She stood and pointed to the hall on my left."

"Right there, sweetie."

My mother and I strolled in the hall, looking for room 4-A
"Here it is." She whispered.

I peered inside of the small window on the door and saw that there was a nurse inside, checking the IV. She was in her mid 30's at the most. She could've been pretty, but there was a permanently startled expression on her face.

She walked outside and said that we could go inside.
I hesitantly walked inside, my mother trailing behind me.

"If you need some time alone with her, I'll be right outside."

My face felt hot after seeing my mother's sneaky smile.

"Mom, she's just my friend-"

"Alright, alright." She murmured as she walked out of the room with a goofy grin on her face. Sometimes my mom could be really embarrassing.

I peered at Rachel's sickly face. There was nothing much I could do, really.

I was about to leave when I heard her gasp.

"Percy!"
I turned around so quickly, that I almost fell.

"Percy…L-Luke he.."

"I know." I mumbled.

Her face was tired, and she looked 10 years older than she really was.

"Luke told me that.. it was because of you… that I-"

A wave of guilt washed over mea

"Yes Rachel, he asked me to do… something and if I didn't do that task, he would hurt you."
"That's horrible!" she cried.

She sighed once and said,

"If you meet him tomorrow…"

She dropped the volume of her voice,

"kill him."

I nodded, not sure if she was kidding or not.
"Rachel, I-"

She passed out before I could finish my sentence.
At that moment, I felt more confused than I had ever felt before. I felt angry with Luke, grateful for Annabeth warning me, and worried for Rachel, even though she was ignoring me lately.

Most importantly, I felt guilt… for not being able to protect my friends.

And as I left the room, I realized I wanted revenge… but first, I needed the truth.

So, sorry for the dramatic ending, but I feel like it had to be done. In the next chapter, you will find about Annabeth and the horrible thing she had done.

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Thanks for reading!
- IILoveII