Turning Tides | P. Jackson Books 1-5

Was That A Chimera?

"Mom! Wake up!" She tried to check her neck for a pulse, but Ayden wasn't even sure she had her fingers in the right spots. "Mom, come on!" She started hitting the woman's chest to see if it would bring her back, but deep down she already knew it was too late. Her mother had been in the bathroom for maybe fifteen minutes, but that was long enough. "Mom." She gripped the pale face in her hands. She could feel how heavy her head was. How limp the body was in front of her.

"I hate you." She stood up slowly looking at the bottles. She'd taken everything. Ayden opened the cabinet seeing all of them were gone. She'd taken everything she had just to make sure she wouldn't survive. She stumbled back into the doorframe as she stared at her mother's dead body. She didn't know what do to. What was she going to do? What should she do? She was nine. Ayden had to get her mother's signature to go on a field trip. She slid to the floor pulling her knees to her chest as she stared at the body. A small part of Ayden hoped that she would wake up. That she would throw up the pills and the water. She hoped that she would live and Ayden would be able to yell at her for being so selfish.

"And you think this was me? I wasn't even here." The small girl turned. She wasn't in her bathroom anymore at home. She was standing in a desert. A red desert. A man stood before her. "How could this be me, when I left her for a reason." Ayden didn't understand. "You're just like me, little brute. Whether you want to admit it or not. You know deep down inside yourself that it's true, but you won't face it."

"Ares." Ayden realized as the man laughed.

"Finally, brute. You aren't as dumb as your mother."

"Stop," Ayden shouted. Her hands clenching at her sides. The man took a few steps toward her surprised when she didn't move away from him. "You don't get to speak about her like that. She was that way because of you!"

"Was it because of me?" He tilted his head. "Or because she had to raise you?" Ayden's anger flickered as she let his words sink in.

"No," She shook her head. "No, it was you."

"I wasn't there, but you were." He reached out for her, but Ayden slapped his hand away.

"No." Her eyes burned. "She-it was you-you did things to her-s-she told me," Ayden suddenly didn't know the truth. She couldn't remember exactly what her mother had said all those years ago. She couldn't remember if her mother had told her or if she made them up herself.

"You are the reason she died." She reached forward again, but Ayden moved back. Her foot caught on something and she tripped back, but she didn't hit the ground. She fell. She could see Ares leaning over the hole she'd fallen into. Beneath her, she could feel a heat and hear something calling to her. Someone. She spun around-.

"Ayden."

The girl shot up quickly moving until her back hit the wall. Annabeth and Percy were both staring at her. She could see the outline of their bodies as they faced her. She looked around quickly realizing she wasn't with him. She wasn't at home, but she was on the train.

"Where-we," Ayden struggled to take a deep breath.

"We're on a mission. We are on a train to Los Angeles." Annabeth explained. Ayden ran a shaky hand through her hair as she looked up to the door beside her. She got up quickly grabbing her shoes as she yanked the cabin door open moving down the aisle. She heard movement in their cabin, but no one followed after her.

***

"Why aren't we going after her?" Percy asked. He leaned to the side watching as Ayden staggered down the hall her hands pressed to the walls as she walked.