Annabeth's Mortal Friends

Chapter Six

Annabeth walked back in with two glasses of water, setting them down on the coffee table and pulling the sharpened pencil out of her hair. I smiled as she brought it close to her face, tapping it against her chin as she rambled on about ideas for the project. I nodded in agreement with pretty much all of them. Come on, two people THIS in sync with ideas have to be perfect for each other. It's science or something.

——

I let out a sigh of relief, falling back dramatically on the couch simultaneously with Annabeth. We laughed at each other.

"That took...way longer than I thought it would."  Annabeth said, shutting her laptop and tossing her now-dull pencil on top of it.

"Yeah, it's already getting pretty late..." I said, looking at the clock on my phone.  I glanced back up at Annabeth, standing up off the couch.  "Where's your bathroom?"

"Just go up the stairs and it's the last door at the end of the hall, you can't miss it."  She said, gathering up a few papers into stacks and sorting through them.  I left her with her work, heading up the old wooden staircase and taking note of the bits of missing paint on the upright boards of each step.  Carpeting must've been taken off of these recently.  I kept wandering down the hall, taking in more time to look at the pictures on the walls again.  They were mostly of the boys, who weren't as much interest to me.

I jumped in surprise at the bang sound coming from the room that could only be Annabeth's.  It was neatly decorated, with everything in perfect place except for a few architecture blueprints scattered on the desk and, of course, Percy Jackson laying on her bed and flipping through a math textbook.

"What are you doing here?" I asked, shocking myself a bit at the hostility in my voice.  Jackson looked up at me, his eyes narrowing subtly, but his shoulders stayed relaxed.

"I live here." He answered matter-of-factly, like it was weird that I didn't know that.

I opened my mouth to respond, but just growled in frustration and headed into the bathroom. I did not need to deal with this clueless jerk today.

——

Heading back downstairs, I noticed Jackson had switched from being lazy in Annabeth's room to being lazy in the living room with us.  Perfect.

Annabeth shut the last history book, picking up a stack of them and walking over to the bookshelf.  She lifted them above her head, setting them on one of the higher shelves.  The extension of her arms caused her sweatshirt to lift at her waist, and I couldn't help but stare.  But it was more alarming than attractive to me.

A trail of large, dark bruises led from her hip up into her sweatshirt and out of sight.  They were huge, gnarly ones that looked like something you'd see on a crime tv show.  My gaze flickered over to Jackson, who glanced up at Annabeth as well.  I could see his eyes going to her stomach, and he stared for a bit before returning his gaze to his math textbook, which was on the same page that it was 15 minutes ago.  Why wasn't he fazed by those bruises.  Unless...he had seen them before?

"I'm going to head to the bathroom real quick, you guys gonna be okay in here alone?"  Annabeth asked, turning away from the bookshelf and glancing back and forth between Percy and I.  We both nodded but avoided eye contact with each other.  Annabeth clasped her hands together before slipping out of the living room.

The silence lasted for a bit too long, and the curiosity was gnawing at me.   I turned to face Percy and lowered my voice to a whisper.

"I know you saw those bruises too.  What the hell happened to her?"  I mutter, raising an eyebrow at him and taking note of the way his eyes widen a bit.  He glances around the room for a second, looking like he's trying to come up with an excuse.

"Uhm...she fell?" He states, but it sounds more like a question.  I think back to the time in class when Percy glared at me.  He genuinely scared me with just a look.  If you really think about what he could do if he got angry enough...

"Did you do that?" I asked flatly, staring at him dead in the eyes.  I saw his nervousness immediately warp to hostility.

"You don't actually think I would do something like that, do you?" He questioned, tensing up slightly and returning my stare.

"Listen, I just met you, and you don't seem like that trustworthy of a guy.  Something's off about you, I can feel it.  You need to stay the hell away from Annabeth."  I stated, crossing my arms across my chest and sizing myself up a bit.

Percy stood up, clenching his fists at his side.  "You're wrong in the head if you ever think I'd lay a hand on her.  What's the matter with you?"

I growled, standing up with him and grabbing my bag, tossing it over my shoulder.  "I'm out of here."

"Fine by me!" Percy called back as I headed out the front door.  I jogged down the front steps, walking down the street and heading toward the main road.  I parked a small ways away from Annabeth's house so that I wouldn't have to turn around to get out of the neighborhood.

I shuffled down the sidewalk before turning onto the main road.  It was late, so there weren't a lot of cars around.  The mix of the cool night air and the crackling of leaves sent a chill down my spine. 

Wait, leaves?

I glance down at my feet, noticing the completely clear sidewalk.  If I'm not stepping on leaves...who is?

My thoughts are interrupted by a low growl coming from behind me.  I freeze in place, about to turn my head, when a heavy weight slams me down from behind, knocking my head against the concrete.  I cursed, going to stand up, before I feel something sharp digging into my back, earning a cry of pain from me.

Suddenly, whatever attacked me jumps off, and I hear the sounds of a scuffle behind me.  I groan, bringing a hand to my head and standing up, wobbling a bit.  I turn around again, the entire world spinning as I do.  I stumble backwards, falling back down onto the road and watching the sky spin above me.  I squint my eyes, trying in vain to ease the throbbing headache I now have.

I hear the scratches of footsteps bounding toward me on the sidewalk, but I know there's nothing I can do to stop whatever's coming.  I lazily swing my arm in front of me defensively, which takes just a little too much effort.  I drop my hand back to my side, staring up as I start to lose consciousness.  I blink as something looms over me, just able to make out the face of my attacker before I black out.

It's Percy Jackson.

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4/9/20