CHAPTER SUMMARY
Nico searches for Bianca, but finds something else.
BEGINNING NOTES
Word Count: 2236
Content Warning: Violence (mild), Abuse
Mentioned above, there is once small instance of physical abuse. Bloodless, not explained in graphic detail or expanded on, basically, as tame as a scene like that can get. Just letting you know.
And all the characters are owned by Rick Riordan.
Credits at the end.
Bianca mentioned before how scared I was when she went for her walk, that it was like I was afraid she'd never come home.
That's because I was.
I can't explain it, but somehow I knew. I just did. Bianca and I are different in a lot of ways, like you've probably guessed. Even with everything I felt, everything I went through, I'd never had the thought to run away. I escaped through drugs, alcohol, and acting like a total asshole. I ran from my feelings, my sexuality, and anyone who might want to try and save me. I always knew that running in real life wouldn't do a damn thing to ease my pain. I was self-destructive, but I wasn't stupid.
In the back of my head, I knew better than to trust Bianca. Why? All her problems would be solved the easiest if she disappeared. Say what you want about me, but at least I'd accepted that Mamma was dead. Bianca never got past the denial stage.
But I told myself that was stupid, I told myself that for way too long. An hour passed, and she wasn't home. I paced back and forth in the kitchen for another half-hour, making up excuses for why she was running late. Finally, I thought, she probably went to the Field of Mars to shoot some arrows. That's what she always does when she's upset.
I went to there, but Ares said she never walked in. I double-checked the range, but she wasn't there. School, I thought. There's an archery range at school.
But she wasn't there either. Maybe she left something in her locker? I reasoned. I tried the front door, and, even though it was after hours, the door was unlocked. I checked my watch--it was almost 4:30. I decided that some clubs were going on, hadn't I heard student gov had a meeting today? She went to do some spy work on Octavian, that had to be it.
I made my way to the black box theater where the freshman usually had their student gov meetings. I glanced inside... surprisingly, there actually was a meeting going on, but Bianca wasn't there. She's probably eavesdropping from the other door, I decided.
I took the long way around. That turned out to be the smartest move, because, talking near the other door was none other than Octavian and Hazel.
Wait... really?
I never told you this story, B?
No, I mean, the blackmail part, yes, but not the details or anything.
Oh. Um, get ready to get angry.
I crouched behind the corner and watched them. They looked like they were arguing, but I couldn't hear what they were saying. Then, the scumbag, that son of a bitch slapped Hazel across the face. He'd hit her. He'd hit my sister.
What the fuck?! He-- oh my god, I'm going to track down that bastard and I'm going to murder him in his sleep! How the fuck did you not kill him?
Simple. I did. Metaphorically speaking.
I forgot about the blackmail, the way he threatened Reyna, all I knew was that my sister was with a guy who hit her, and that was enough for me to sign his death warrant.
I screamed and tackled him to the ground. "You-- son-- of-- a-- bitch--" I said between punches to his face. I was determined to break his nose, to do worse to him than I did to Bryce. "Don't-- you-- TOUCH-- HER--!" I screamed.
"Nico!" Hazel cried, tears in her eyes. "It's okay! Stop it!"
I slammed Octavian's head on the floor. If it wasn't carpet, he would've passed out. "He's hitting you Hazel!" I shouted. "That's not okay!"
"Please," she begged. "You don't know what you're doing!"
Octavian spit blood on my neck. "You're going to pay, di Angelo," he vowed.
Hazel tried to pull me away from him, but I was too strong. "When the school finds out what you did, you're the one who's going to pay," I growled. I shook my arm out of Hazel's grip and punched him again.
I could've sat there forever, punching that douchebag, but then we heard the doors of the black box theater opening. Either someone had heard us fighting, or the meeting was over. Either way, I wasn't about to find out. I grabbed Hazel's hand, and the two of us sprinted to the nearest exit. We didn't stop running until we were in the woods by the road.
"You shouldn't have done that," Hazel whispered.
"I don't care what he has on you, Haze," I said. "Nothing, absolutely nothing is worth staying with a guy who lays a hand on you."
"He doesn't have anything on me," she admitted. "He asked me out at the party, but I said Frank had already asked me. He told me I'd regret saying no. I thought it was just his usual jerky thing, which is why I didn't say anything. Then, the day before Thanksgiving, I got this."
She pulled out her phone and went to Octavian's recent messages. She scrolled up until she got to the day before Thanksgiving.
OCTAVIAN AUGUR
If you love your brother you'll get me the olympus scholarship.
What do you mean? If you hurt Nico I'll go to the police.
Don't worry I won't touch him. I don't have to. I knew if I followed the bastard around he'd give something away, he's so private. And look what I found.
There was a video there; the cover photo showed someone standing outside the school, but the play button obscured their face. I knew it was me.
If you don't help me that goes up on the school facebook pg, snapchat story, and every damn site in the tristate area.
I took the phone from her and pressed play on the video file.
The audio wasn't the best, but, don't worry, Octavian made sure to subtitle the whole thing. Here's the audio. I'll narrate the action.
***
I fixed my hair and clothes and checked my breath. Then, I ran to meet Percy as he jogged across the grass.
NICO: Hey, Percy!
My hands were already shaking.
PERCY: What's up, Nico?
When we reached the road, I knelt on the ground and unzipped my backpack. I didn't look at him as I talked.
NICO: I, um, I got you something. 'Cause, you know, I'm thankful you're my friend.
PERCY: You didn't have to do that!
I looked up. He was grinning at me. I practically fucking swooned. I grabbed the envelope from my bag and threw it into his hands. I watched him open it. He pulled out two tickets, and his mouth fell to the floor.
PERCY: Oh my god, Nico, I can't take this. This must've cost you a fortune.
*Nico lets out a forced, unnatural chuckle*
NICO: (awkward as hell) My father owns a record label. I talked to Thanatos; he knows Fall Out Boy's manager, it was super easy to get backstage passes. Don't worry about it.
PERCY: Thank you, Nico! Annabeth is going to love this!
I was visibly disappointed.
PERCY: Unless you want to come. We'd totally have a great time.
NICO: (miserably) No, take your girlfriend. Enjoy yourself. ... You know what? I think I'm actually going to walk home.
PERCY: It's freezing.
NICO: It's fifty degrees.
PERCY: That's still too cold. C'mon, man, I don't have a jacket or anything.
NICO: (startled) You want to come with me?
PERCY: Sure. Besides, Bianca would freak if I let you go on your own.
Percy pat my shoulder. The camera zoomed in, and you could see the blush on my cheeks. The frame froze, and underneath, one final subtitle said, "Look at the little fag."
***
I dropped Hazel's phone. My mind was spinning. Octavian. I beat him up. I took Hazel, his one bargaining chip, away from him. I cost him the Olympus scholarship. By tomorrow, I'd be outed. By Monday, I'd be in the same situation Will was in North Carolina. No, it would be worse, because the press would pounce and the entire fucking world would know. Papà would disown me for all the bad press he'd get.
Then, my phone buzzed with a phone call. I glanced at it.
SEAWEED BRAIN
I saw the video on insta. Text me back.
My life was over.
I turned Do Not Disturb on on my phone, because it was already blowing up with text messages, FaceBook messages, snaps, and more from my entire contact book.
"What are we going to do?" Hazel asked. I decided I had to be strong for her.
"We're going to hit him right back," I said. I pulled Snapchat up and hit the Camp Half-Blood Class of 2020 group story. I pointed the camera at Hazel, where a mark had already formed on her cheek from Octavian's slap. "Look at that, Octavian," I said as I zoomed in. "Look at what you did to my sister." Then, I flipped the view so everyone could see my face. "Make sure you tell them this is revenge because I beat the crap out of you. Sleep with one eye open tonight, 'cause I'm coming to finish the job."
I sent it out. Within seconds, it had over a hundred views. Mission accomplished.
"Let's go home," Hazel said. "I'll download the video and put it up on FaceBook and the other sites Octavian put his."
We walked home in silence. Every time I looked at my lock screen, there were new texts, Facebook messages, and Snaps about the situation. A few of them were supporting me, but most of them were death threats, insults, people claiming I made up the fight and the fact that he hit Hazel, things like that. Worst of all was Percy, who just wouldn't take no for an answer. He kept texting and texting on every platform he had an account on (which was a lot), even tried calling at one point (and if you know Percy and phone calls, that's something major) but I didn't want to hear it. I didn't want my only real friend to dump me because he found out about my crush. I'd already lost Will, I didn't want to lose him too.
It was almost midnight when we got close to the house.
*Bianca laughs.*
It was dark, and we don't know the woods as well as you, okay?
As soon as we got within eyesight of our front door, Persephone ran out of the house. She pulled Hazel into a hug, saying, "Thank god, thank god you're all right."
"What's going on, Mom?" she asked.
Persephone got ahold of herself. "You'd better come inside," she said.
Papà, Demeter, and Thalia were sitting on the couch in front of the foyer. "Hazel!" Demeter cried. "Where have you been, precious?" She started drowning Hazel in kisses. Papà couldn't meet my eye. Thalia rose from the couch and said, "Nico, where have you been?"
"At school," I said. "I guess you haven't seen the video, then."
"What video?" she asked.
"Check your phone."
She glanced at her lock screen. "Annabeth mentioned a--" she swiped the message open. I waited for the blow. Her eyes went wide. "I am going to kill Octavian. Why the fuck would he--" she cut herself short. "Hurt Hazel," she finished. I was grateful; I knew the original ending to that sentence was "out you" and I was glad to have a few more minutes until Papà disowned me.
"Your boyfriend hurt you?!" Persephone cried. "Is that what that mark is?! Oh, Hazel!"
"I never liked that Octavian," Demeter scoffed. "You poor little thing! Love makes you blind, and not for the better." She shot a look at Papà. He didn't notice, or maybe he just pretended not to.
"She's not a child, Mother, she's fifteen," Persephone snapped. "Don't treat her like an innocent little flower."
"What's going on?" I butt in. "If it's not about the video, what is it?"
Papà finally looked up. He had the same broken expression he'd had at my bedside after the plane crash. "Nico, where's Bianca?"
"She-- she's not back?" I stammered.
"Back from where, boy?" Demeter demanded. "What do you know?"
"She went for a walk," I said in a high pitched voice. I was already crying. "She said she'd be back in an hour."
"Bianca ran away; we thought you kids went with her," Persephone said.
"The bank called me about Bianca's debit account," Papà explained in a monotone voice. "Someone drained her account; we traced it back to an ATM in LAX. The security footage confirmed it was her, but the airport refuses to tell me anything about where she went unless we get a police warrant."
"Then go get a warrant!" I shouted.
"You have to wait 24 hours to report a missing person," Papà said. "And it can take days for them to be granted a warrant after that."
"But she could be anywhere by then!" I protested.
"I know."
My world came crashing down around me. I was right. I should've forced her to let me come on her walk. Why did I say those things to her at all? Bianca, my sister, the one who for so long was the only bright spot in my entire life, was gone.
She was gone, and it was my fault.
END NOTES
This week's beta commentary:
STORY: If it wasn't carpet, he would've passed out.
JOJO: there's carpet in a school?!
MELODY: Dude, this is a school with an archery range, auditorium AND blackbox theater, swimming pool, and a big enough campus for a road to run through it, and THAT'S what you're surprised about?!
MELODY: Also, everything that happens in this chapter, and that's the one thing you decide you have to comment on?
MELODY: No judgement, just... it's nice to know where your priorities are.
JOJO: legitimately yes, this is what i'm surprised about. that's the only thing on that list that's particularly odd for a modern, fancy rich people school to have. though, the fuck do you mean the auditorium isn't just the theatre??
MELODY: A blackbox theater is different than an auditorium, they're smaller. You can look up the difference.
MELODY: And my school had carpets... and it was a public school. They weren't soft or anything, but they were there.
Credits:
Author: Melody Rose (https://bianca-the-huntress.tumblr.com)
Beta Readers:
Jojo (archiveofourown.org/users/bannedfrompencils/pseuds/bannedfrompencils)
Luna Rain (https://peppermintlove1.tumblr.com)
Please comment so I know what you think! See you next week!