Silence is Golden (Percy Jackson AU)

Chapter 20- Thalia

Hey guys sorry for the long wait! I'd like to thank Always_Love_Books_ for totally helping me in this last chapter! Please guys check out her story called Reach for the Stars! If you think this is good (for some unknown reason>.<) hers is a thousand times better!

Okay here you go!

It felt like just yesterday everything in her pathetic life was going fine. A couple shots of vodka, a loud stereo of music that shook the house, and no one to bother her.

"What I wouldn't give for a nice, cool beer." Thalia muttered.

"Same." Zoë Nightshade stood beside her, dark shades covering her face, which was unreasonably pale. Her hair was tucked as neatly possible into a braid that contrasted her shining silver parka. She kept her face blank but her knuckles were curled white on around her lap top, as she typed the last letter of her program.

If Thalia closed her eyes she could feel the night all over again. The night it all started. The beginning of the end.

Zoë's fingers froze over the keyboard, like a moment of indecision. The screen of her lap top lit up with one question, Delete All?

Then Zoë hit ok.

Thalia watched as an entire life worth of digital information disappeared so completely no one would ever find it again. The screen blotted out, until it was just one dark screen, a broken lap top that would never turn on again.

Zoë closed it with a click and walked to the nearest trashcan. Thalia followed warily, the Central Park grass folding underneath her sneakers.

Zoë towered over the garbage can shaky, Thalia put a hand on her shoulder, frowning.

"You don't have to do this." She said.

Zoë have her a sad smile, her eyes flashing briefly behind the black sunglasses. She dropped the entire lap top into the trashcan.

"This is very different than jumping off a bridge, Thalia," she said, "You can't say the same words and expect the same outcome."

Thalia wasn't amused. It's just a precaution. Thalia thought, in case we don't come back.

Zoë turned back to her. "You ready?"

"No."

"Let's go." Zoë led the way barely making a sound. She weaved down the path, finding the exact warehouse without a problem. None of the other pedestrians gave them a second look. The world continued moving even when Zoë fidgeted to a stop.

If Thalia took a deep breath, she could feel the panic of the situation buzzing under her skin. Almost like static electricity flickering between her fingers. The sun was high in the sky, a little past lunch, but for once Thalia didn't even have an appetite.

"When I was younger, I use to dream about the stars." Zoë said monotone.

Thalia nodded. Staring right ahead, right at the warehouse door.

"I told myself I would dance among them, one day. I'd visit far away planets, I'd be honored and admired by tons of kids." Zoë's voice echoed still, as if she was drifting that far away. "I said I'd leave this world and find a new one. Another reality, to escape the nightmare I was in."

She walked forward towards the warehouse door, trance like, like she was coming home. Her fingers tugged at her jackets zipper, revealing the collar of the black T shirt underneath.

"I could name all the constellations. Every single one. And I studied them on my computer, late into the night."

Thalia dug her nails into her palm. Zoë's voice was growing hollow, just like that night on the bridge. Thalia felt freezing cold as if a icy wind was tormenting her, even though there was no wind.