The feeling off fear.
Melanie was not ready to drown. She held onto Percy like her life depended on it, she was screaming at him in his ear all the way down till she felt cold water hit her hard. Her nerves screamed in pain, as her head felt dizzy when she slowly sank.
To slow.
Melanie her body shook slightly as her arms tightened around Percy, her throat was already closing up. The memory she utterly despised threatened to come forward.
Lake. Mother. Alone.
Those words kept repeating in her head. She needed air. She needed to get out of here. With her eyes closed she pushed away from Percy who grunted at the impact. She kicked her legs around, desperately trying to swim up. Flashes of small Melanie invaded her brain, so lost.
Air. She needed air.
There was no air. A headache started to from in her head, her legs started to slow down as she felt fatigue take over her senses. No, she needed to stay alive. She needed to kill Percy.
"That's right, my dear. Kill him!" The man's voice cackled in her ear. Melanie opened her eyes. She screamed in horror.
Arms wrapped around her, she desperately tried to escape the grip. But Percy his voice sounded next to her. "Breathe." Melanie wanted to punch him and tell him he had lost his mind, but her body betrayed her. Fresh air invaded her lungs as she took a breath.
An air bubble was formed around her head. Melanie looked with a confused face to Percy, who just grinned.
"See, everything is okay."
Melanie felt anger rising in her chest as she pushed Percy away from her. "You fucking asshole! You know I hate water! I fucking nearly drowned because you just- just." Melanie her voice died. Something behind Percy had appeared.
a woman the colour of the water, a ghost in the current, floating just above the sword. She had long billowing hair, and her eyes, barely visible, were green like Percy his eyes. Melanie pointed behind Percy. Who looked confused and turned around.
"Mum?" Percy his voice cracked, Melanie could feel his emotion even when she hated him.
"No, child, only a messenger, though your mother's fate is not as hopeless as you believe. Go to the beach in Santa Monica."
"What?" Melanie said. This woman was speaking nonsense.
"It is your father's will. Before you descend into the Underworld, you must go to Santa Monica. Please, Percy, I cannot stay long. The river here is too foul for my presence."
The woman was right, the river was polluted. Plastic floated past her and pieces of wood scrambler her feet from time to time. "But ..." Percy stuttered. "Who—how did you—"
"I cannot stay, brave one." the woman said. She reached out to Percy, and softly glided his fingers over his cheek like a caress. "You must go to Santa Monica! And, Percy, do not trust the gifts...."Her voice faded.
"Wait hold up, gifts?" Melanie asked. "What gifts? Wait!" Her image started to falter. "You cannot just drop that bomb here, lady."
She made one more attempt to speak, but the sound was gone. Her image melted away. After a long silence and just trying not to freak out she turned to Percy, anger all over her face. He looked at her and gulped. "You-!"
She started paddling towards him, only realizing she couldn't swim. She had never learned it. Pouting she crossed her arms and floated behind Percy who took her elbow and swam upwards.
They came ashore next to a floating McDonald's.
Melanie her eyes lit up. "You owe me a MacFlurry."Percy rolled his eyes. "Fine,"
A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded me of Times Square on New Year's Eve.
A little girl said, "Mama! That boy and girl walked out of the river."
"That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances. "But they are dry!"
"That's nice, dear."
Melanie smiled softly at the kid. Who's mouth fell open. "Mum, she is pretty."
"Thanks dear."
A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."
Melanie hoped Annabeth and Grover were okay. She hoped the elevator had already taken them down before the chaos had erupted.
They tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.
"... an adolescent boy and girl," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show an adolescent boy and girl going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."
They backed away, trying to keep their head down. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.
A familiar voice bleated loudly.
"Perrr-cy!" They turned around and Percy got tackled by Grover's bear hug. Melanie softly smiled and look over Grover his shoulder to see Annabeth making her way towards them. Their eyes met, and the blond haired girl gave her a small smile.
"We thought you'd gone to Hades the hard way!" Grover said.
Annabeth averted her gaze to Percy next to her who was already watching the daughter of Athena. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?" Annabeth tried to sound angry but failed. Melanie gave Grover a box who looked really excited that she hadn't died.
"I sort of fell."
"Percy! Six hundred and thirty feet?"
"You didn't fall Percy! You fucking jumped with me in your arms."Melanie scolded him, earning a sheepish smile.
Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. Melanie recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua—"
"Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."
Melanie her hearth ached a little.
"I'm not crazy! This boy and girl jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared. He just forced that girl to go with him." Then she saw them. "There he is! That's the boy!"
Percy and Melanie turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Grover after them. They disappeared into the crowd.
"What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"
Percy told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, their high-dive act, and the underwater lady's message.
"Whoa," said Grover. "We've got to get you to Santa Monica! You can't ignore a summons from your dad."
Before Annabeth could respond, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Melanie almost froze in her tracks when he said, "Percy Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Percy Jackson."
They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.
"First things first," Percy told Grover. "We've got to get out of town!"
Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. they got on board the train just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.
"I am never going to do sightseeing ever again."Melanie mumbled.
~~
Where she faces her fear,
This chapter wasn't that long, but the next one is like extremly long.
Edited? 🔴