haunt me ꩜ kotlc + pjo

Chapter 21: Percy's POV

He really hadn't wanted to kill the Alvar guy, but pretending like he wanted to and could was important and a good way to get them to listen to you. 

So when Alvar began to take them towards Sophie, he thought he had made the right choice on his part. 

All three of them had flipped up their hoods again and walked imposingly through the hall. Not that there were many people to see them. The hallways leading to the room they kept Sophie were mainly empty, and every single hallway looked the same - dark floors, dark walls, fluorescent white lights. There were no labels to the doors - making Percy wonder how they went to the bathroom. Did they memorize where it was? 

They arrived in a secluded corner, and Percy was on guard - was this guy going to turn on them? 

Alvar pointed to the door in the back. "Here." He said gruffly. "Now give me what I asked for in return." 

Percy shared a look with Annabeth. He hadn't exactly been planning to help Alvar with the whole Tam issue, but it looked like he wanted it - information, something he could threaten the guy with. 

"Yeah, about that..." Percy started, "We need some time on that. We don't really know the guy. Two days, maybe?" 

Alvar had the nerve to hiss at them, a weird sound that made him want to laugh and run at the same time. "How are you supposed to get me information in two days time?" 

Percy started forming a half-plan in his head, most of it relying on hope - a lot of hope. He had to check something first - but he couldn't, not with Alvar's eyes burning holes into his head. 

"We'll meet you somewhere." He lied, waving his hands around the area. "Give me a crystal-thingy. We'll meet there in 2 days, at a time that works for you." 

He kind of felt like he was making plans to meet up with a friend. It wasn't really the vibe he wanted to give out, but it worked. 

Alvar's suspicious gaze still lingered on him, and Percy knew he had to find out if there was an exit around here - anywhere, really. 

He nudged Annabeth, and made a subtle hand motion repeatedly behind his back. She had carefully faded away from Alvar's attention, and he wouldn't notice if Annabeth did a little looking around. 

Annabeth stared at him, her eyes confused, but he continuously made the motion behind his back, changing it up a little bit to seem more like find an exit. He knew Annabeth out of all people would be able to get it. 

And of course, she did. She nodded, and slipped away quietly, searching for an exit.

"There's a clearing out in the forest - meet me there in 2 days, at precisely 5:00pm. Don't be late - and show up. If you don't, there will be major consequences." 

Percy nodded. "We'll get there on time. I'll be there at most 5 minutes late?"  

Annabeth appeared next to him, and nodded - to both him and Alvar. Percy now had all the information he needed. 

"Thats fine, I suppose." He said gruffly, moving towards the door. "Now, don't get caught. If you do......" Alvar's eyes flashed with anger. "I will deny everything." 

Percy nodded, and Alvar seemed satisfied. He took what seemed like a card that you could swipe through a cash register and pressed it against the door, which slid open. He then stuffed the card back in his pocket. 

He walked off, but not before Percy quickly swiped the card from his back pocket. He silently prayed Alvar wouldn't notice - and he didn't. 

This is where they would find out whether Alvar had lied or not. 

He peeked into the room and said tentatively, "Sophie? Fitz?"

well i hope you enjoyed the chapter !!

i love how this book gets the most reads but the fewest comments XD well if you're reading this, feel free to give any criticism or praise in the comments, i'd love to hear it :) 

ok, love you guys ! hoped you liked this chapter, and if you haven't made the connection, i suggest you go back and read chapter 14 ! 

with love, naomi <3