Natasha's Secret

Chapter 8 - Luke wants to Visit a Cat

Annabeth had promised to pick up Luke from daycare.

Daycare ended at 3:00

Shit.

Annabeth ran into the first public bathroom outside the tower and went into a stall, she removed her clothing and facial changing technology, her blonde hair falling over her shoulders in waves.

Annabeth put on a loose purple hoodie that read 'New Rome College'. It always made her feel sad but she felt like if she threw it away she would be dishonoring the memories of all that had lived and died there.

Annabeth ran down the busy streets of New York City, hastily apologizing to the people she ran into.

Annabeth was breathing hard when she stopped in front of the daycare, just in time to hear the babble of kids leaving their playrooms.

"Mommy!" A voice yelled as something small but heavy collided with Annabeth's legs.

Luke Jackson was beaming up at his mom, his eyes bright and full of life, "We made drawings of our family today in class, I drew you, Daddy, Uncle Will, Uncle Nico, Uncle Jason, and Aunt Piper! Are they coming over for dinner tonight?" Luke asked excitedly.

Annabeth smiled and kissed his nose, "Uncle Will and Uncle Nico aren't, but I'm pretty sure Daddy is the only good cook in our family, so Uncle Jason and Aunt Piper will probably come over," Luke giggled and jumped up and down.

"Let's go, Mommy, I want to say hi to the cat on the way home," Luke skipped off, pulling Annabeth along.

'The cat' was an old stray that had been living outside their apartment building since the group of demigods moved in. This particular cat was not as hostile as most New York alley cats, it was so calm, in fact, that Luke could pet him softly.

Percy and Annabeth knew that Luke loved that cat, so they started looking after it.

They didn't adopt it, but they made sure it was alive every day, gave it some cat food if they found on sale, and left a little dish of water out on the hot days.

Luke and Annabeth turned onto the alley and Luke started looking for the cat, making little noises.

Annabeth looked around too, but she couldn't find the cat, she looked under boxes, inside milk crates, but the cat was nowhere to be found.

Annabeth was pulled away from her quest to find the missing feline by loud coughing from the end of the alley.

Annabeth knew, logically, that this could be a monster, but what was the saying? Curiosity killed the cat, but satisfaction brought it back.

She had to investigate.

"Luke, be ready to run inside," Annabeth said, Luke looked up at his mom who was in a battle pose,

"Why?"

"I'm not sure what's coughing, but it might not be nice. When I say so, you run inside, grab Aunt Piper and tell her what happened, then stay inside, no matter what you hear," Annabeth could tell that she was scaring Luke, but what else could she do if this was a bad monster?

Annabeth crept closer to the end of the alley, it was harder to see but Annabeth could make out the outline of a figure, something that was quite large and burley. The figure made another coughing noise.

Annabeth drew out her dagger from her boot, ready to strike if necessary, and spoke: "What do you want,".

Annabeth was expecting a monster, a baby hellhound perhaps? Maybe it was a homeless person, though it looked bigger than the average man.

She could hear Luke behind her, unsure whether Annabeth wanted him to run and get Piper yet, or if he should wait.

The figure turned around and Annabeth nearly dropped her dagger.

It wasn't a monster,

It wasn't dangerous,

And it certainly wasn't there to kill them.

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AN: Ok, I don't to authors notes a lot, but I wanted to share something and I don't really have anywhere else to do it. This doesn't relate to the plot of the story so you don't need to read this if you don't want to. My parents have been taking away everything on my phone, all the access to apps that I use to help myself calm down from panic attacks and other things. I have depression (I've been medically diagnosed) and my mom thinks that getting rid of my phone will 'cure' me. I've had more panic attacks in the past week than I have in the last month and that's because I don't have access to the things I used to use. Sorry if this affects my upload schedule in any way, I will try my best to stay consistent! :)

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