Medusa's

Chapter Eleven

Apparently, Ryan is Caloses's boss. She drags me through the woods to a clearing. Chained to a tree is Dylan, alive and (for once) conscious. "Bailey! Are you okay?" I try to get Ryan to release me, but she holds me tight. "I'm fine. What happened?" I ask. "She kidnapped me in the infirmary." I turn to Ryan. "Why do you want us?" Ryan laughs. "I though Caloses made that clear enough. Demigods suck. They need to be eliminated." I stare at her. "You are a demigod!" Ryan rolls her eyes. "Incurably yes. But I am half way to becoming a full goddess. Hermes has offered me immortality if I can find him four more of his kids. A bunch have gone missing. I've found two." She slams me against a tree next to Dyan. I gasp for air. "Can you not slam me against trees?" Ryan waves her hand, and chains appear and bind me to the tree. "Let her go!" Dylan yells. Ryan examines him. "Interesting." She produces a gun and holds it to my forehead. "I am getting really tired of having guns held to my head." I say. Ryan waves a hand and a gag ties around my mouth. I'm getting tired of that, too. "Leave her alone!" Dylan yells. "So, you wouldn't like it if I did something like this?" She backs about five feet away from me and shoots my arm. I scream so loud and hard that I break the sound barrier of the gag. The pain is so intense, so blinding that I sag against the chains, breathing heavily. "Stop it! Stop it, stop it, stop it, STOP IT! She's felt enough pain already. Just let her go and let her live and just kill me goddamn it! I love her, and your not gonna kill her." Ryan approaches him, pure hatred in her eyes. The gag has fallen off my mouth. "...no." I say, my voice small and meak, but Ryan doesn't hear. "Listen you." she says to Dylan. "Bailey will be the first of all demigods to die. You can't stop me. No one can stop me. You are going to die, but not until she has. You are going to stand here and watch her die, and mark my words it will not be quick and it will not be painless. Your lucky it would take too long for her to bleed to death from that bullet wound." Then she slams the butt of the gun onto his forehead, hard enough to cause considerable pain, but not hard enough to knock him out. He groans. "You are an evil, heartless bitch. If you kill her, I will kill you with my bare hands. You will not live as long as I live. Do what you want to me, but leave her fucking alone." Ryan stares at him for a minute. Then, she takes out a knife and stabs Dylan hard, really hard, in the thigh. He screams, maybe as loud as I did. "Stop it!" I cry. Ryan ties a gag on Dylan's mouth and waves her hand again. The chains shift so he is forced to stare at me. Ryan idly wipes the blood off the knife. She grins wickedly at me. "You knew there was no escaping death, Bailey. You knew it from the moment you found out who your mother is." Then, she drives the knife into my calf, dragging it upward. I scream and scream and scream. I am tired of pain. I am tired of seeing Dylan suffer. I am tired of being a demigod. I am tired of being me. Ryan pulls the knife out. I turn to Dylan, who is crying from a combination of anger and sadness. Ryan places the knife over my chest. I feel the point at my chest. "Goodbye, Bailey." Just as she's about to drive the knife in, someone bursts into the clearing. I turn. Nico is there, his eyes wild. "Don't fucking touch her!" Ryan turns sharply. Nico tackles her, and I hear the knife fall. I close my eyes. After a loud bang, I open my eyes. Ryan is standing over Nico, who has a bullet wound in his chest. I start to sob. Then, the chains get hot, like really hot. Then, they melt away. I walk slowly towards Ryan. I jump on her, my leg and my shoulder on fire. I grab the nearby knife and hold it to her throat. "You can't do it. You're just a stupid demigod." Ryan says. "No," I say. "I'm a daughter of Medusa." With that, I turn Ryan to stone. Then I drive the knife into her stone heart, and the statue dissolves, with Ryan's expression of disbelief still etched upon her face. Dylan's chains disintegrate with Ryan, and he rushes to my side. I turn to Nico. Dylan gasps. "Oh, god." I take Nico's face in my hands. My tears drip onto his face. I sob and sob. Nico, my only known non mythology sibling, dead. Dylan puts an arm around my shoulders. Annabeth and Percy burst into the clearing. Annabeth starts to cry, and Percy looks unbelieving. "He died for me." I say. I take his body in my arms. "I'm so sorry, Nico."

"I love you."