Highway to Hell

Chapter Eight: No Time For Goodbye, He Said As He Faded Away

She knew. She knew there was no coming back from this even if they continued their lives 20 years into the future, the aftermath would still have effects on them. They had travelled too far into the rabbit hole. It was funny, in a cruelly ironic way. It was like they were Alice in this.

Before Jessica knew she was a demigod, she had usually thought of herself as a person who didn't fit into society and wanted more to life, and now after everything that's happened, she started regretting her decisions.

It's dangerous. Having a life of a demigod on one side, and the life of a normal day human being on the other. God knows what would happen if those lives ever intersected, especially with the people around you. None of this was supposed to happen. Even if those fucking prophecies existed.

The realisation flashed before her eyes when the ground crumbled beneath their feet. Jessica hadn't even realised that she and Caelan were close to the edge of the Pit. It was only then when she acknowledged her mistake but it was too late.

The ground was already weak with age, and the sudden tremble of the exit closing behind them set it off.

Jessica looked down and saw the crack that had appeared, separating her from Caelan. And before anyone knew what happened, the edge of the cliff had collapsed and Caelan was hanging there.
"Caelan!" Jessica heard a voice yell. It was either Nico's or Tim's voice but she wasn't paying attention. She dove towards the edge just in time to grab Caelan's hand but ended up being pulled over. So now they were both hanging there.

—

"Where the hell is this supposed to lead?" Jason asked. Jessica was leading in front beside Jasmine, their flashlights were shining in the darkness offering whatever sight they could. Except for Jasmine. Jasmine was a walking light bulb. Jessica almost forgot that she was a descendant of Apollo.

She heard Caelan stumble a little, bringing her out of her thoughts. It was being in a horror movie. The suspense was thick in the air and her legs felt heavy and her arms stiff. Jessica could hear her blood pumping in her head and the heavy breathing of her friends.

"I don't know," she breathed out. Replying felt like it would give away any signal to monsters ahead, which was very possible. The passage split into two directions making Jessica pause.

"The voice mentioned something the Labyrinth... could it have been a warning about something in here?" Ella guessed. She glanced behind, feeling chills go down her spine. Ella shone her flashlight into the pitch black only to luckily see nothing.

"Don't know that either."

A demonic screech erupted from the right, the direction that Jessica was just about to walk towards. Ella's head shot back to the front in shock. Everyone froze.

"Okay, let's not go that way," Jasmine spoke quietly. The rest silently agreed.

Jessica swallowed the lump in her throat and slowly stalked to the left instead. The light only went so far to illuminate the corridor so anything could suddenly attack and it would be too late to defend themselves.

—

Jessica heard screaming voices and footsteps above running towards them when Nico, Jason Todd, and Jasmine appeared. This was life's cruel reenactment of when Percy and Annabeth fell.

"Jess! Caelan! Hang on," Jasmine shouted looking down on us, her wide hazel-blue eyes boring into Jessica's black ones.

"The fuck you think we're doing! The rock's about to break off!" Jessica shouted back, not bothering to hide the panic and fear lacing her voice.