The Twins of the Sea- A change in the past-

Chapter 7

Dream/Flashback

Inside an apartment 2 children were helping their mother with the dinner. The woman was smiling brightly at her children, a boy who was washing the vegetables for the soup and a girl who was arranging the plates and the cutlery on the table. Suddenly, the door was slammed to the wall and someone yelled "Sally is my dinner ready?"

A man entered the kitchen where the trio was. He looked horribly, and he smelled of alcohol and cigarettes. He was definitely drunk, as his eyes were bloodshot and he could barely stay straight.

"Percy, Andy go to your room, now! " Sally whispered to them and pushed them towards their room. The twins left, but they didn't go to their room as they were worried for their mother.

"I'm sorry Gabe, the dinner is not ready yet, it would need some more time" the woman tried to say this in a way not to anger Gabe, knowing that he reacts badly when he is drunk, unfortunately for her the man became enraged.

"I gave you two hours to finish the damn soup, can't you do even one simple task, woman? " he yelled at Sally, then he looked as if he had remembered something "It's the brats, isn't it? My dinner isn't ready because of them. " He looked at Sally and told her "Maybe if it weren't for those two you would have more time to do what I want you to. I shall make sure they don't interfere any longer. "

He passed by the table and took a sharp knife from it. Sally anticipated what he was going to do and got in his way to the children's room.

"Gabe, they are not to blame for any of this. They... "She was cut short when the drunk man slapped her across the face and she stumbled from the impact on the table. When she looked up, you could clearly see the slap mark on her cheek, yet she didn't move from her position.

"Those brats don't deserve all I've done for them, and you dare to insult me too?"

In the blink of an eye Gabe enraged stabbed Sally with the knife through the hearth. Sally gasped shocked and fell to the ground, her shirt beginning to redden.

"Mom!" the twins saw the entire scene but were too scared to move to their mother when she was confronted by Gabe.

"Mom, please don't close your eyes, mom... "Andy tried to keep her mother awake, but their step-father would have none of that. When he saw the kids his fury increased and yelled at them "This is your fault. Your mother is dead because of you two useless bastards. " then he kicked both children who were kneeling next to their mother.

The children fell on the floor next to their mother. Sally saw that Andy was closer, so she gave her the pendant she was wearing and told them to run from Gabe.

"Mom, I can't leave you, you have to come with us, mom..." Andy tried to plead with her mother, who smiled sadly at her youngest child and gave her final breath. Andy was in tears and couldn't do anything but to yell to her mother to come back. Percy was also in tears, but he had to stay strong for her sister and to get her out of the house, away from Gabe. He got on his feet, when he saw Gabe advance towards his sister. He looked around and found a broken beer bottle on the ground. He took it and threw it at Gabe as a distraction, then he got his sister and ran out of the apartment, his step-father yelling and cursing after them.

"Andy, come on he have to run!" he told his sister while pulling her down the stairs.

"But-But, m-mom, we ca-can't leave her!" said Andy while hiccupping and sniffling.

"She told us to run, sis, remember? And besides, she wouldn't want us back there with Smelly Gabe"

"O-ok, I'm co-coming, I do-don't want to see..."

"WHERE DO YOU THINK YOU BASTARDS ARE GOING? IF YOU THINK YOU CAND GET AWAY, YOU ARE DEFINETLY THE STUPIDEST KIDS EVER" yelled Gabe as he came down the stairs with a knife in his hand, the knife used on their mother.

"Come, Come Andy, we have to run NOW!" said Percy as he took his sister hand and run away from Gabe.

Artemis heard the crying coming from her tent, where the twins were. She went to check what was wrong. When she got inside she saw them trashing around in their cot, their blankets being tangled with their legs. They were crying and murmuring words, sweat dripping down their foreheads. They were clearly experiencing a nightmare.

Suddenly, they woke up, still having tears running down their cheeks and their eyes were full of fear.

Artemis quickly got to their cot, the kids jumped a little , frightened by the sudden movement, until they recognized her. She pulled them in a hug and began to shoot their fear by telling them it was only a dream and that everything was going to be alright. Little by little the twins calmed down and Artemis wiped their tears away and smiled at them trying to ease their worries.

The sun began to ascend in the sky and the hunters were preparing to leave the camp. They were packing everything, while Artemis stayed with the twins to help them pack their belongings. She saw that they were still shaken by their nightmare, but she didn't bring it up to them, believing that they didn't want to relieve the memory.

Soon everyone was ready to leave. On their way Artemis began to explain the Jacksons more about the Greek world. She was surprised by how fast they learned, but she knew that they had potential to be great heroes.