Percy Jackson and the Olympians 1. Chapter 1

**Annabeth**

For people life may be just a free way, were you enjoy your selves, make friends, find your true self and all those things. But let me tell you that everyone's life is not that easy. If you ask a girl at any normal high school how her life is, she would say she has issues like guys, friends, studies, activities, college etc. I wish I had the same problems. I wished I could have been the same nerdy girl I had been last year. I wish time could turn around. I wish above all that I could have stopped my mom from committing suicide.

* * *

I woke up as my car stopped right in front of my school. My driver turned back and gave me a sympathetic look. I glared back at him. The last thing that I needed was a stranger's condolence. I stepped out of the car and banged the door behind me before running inside the school building. I was wearing grey jean shorts and a white T-shirt on. I pulled at the hem of my T-shirt as I made my way towards my locker.

Most days I would have a full shirt on because I needed to hide all the slash marks on my wrists.

Suicidal tendencies. That's what the doctor had said about my behaviour.

_"It is too hard for little Annabeth to accept the reality."_

I greeted my teeth as I remembered what Doctor Miles had said the last time I had cut almost three layers of my skin with a kitchen knife. I disliked Dr Miles with a passion because he is the reason for my messed up life. Well my post-mom's-death one. Because of his advises my dad sent me away all the way from California to New York for schooling in Tamper's Special Academy or TSA. A school for people_like me _according to Dr. Miles.

I just wanted to stay with my dad. I wanted him to be with me while mom couldn't. But he refused to even see my face. That was the reason why I had started cutting my self in the first place.

I bumped into a tall and strong mean looking girl with brown hair and brown eyes as I was trying to find my locker. It had been a week since I had joined there but I just seemed to be forgetting more and more with every passing minute.

"Watch it Anniebetty!" She yelled at me. Last year, if anyone had dared to growl at me, I would have replied with a square punch on their face but now I just rolled my eyes and nodded. I didn't speak much, probably one of the reasons for my absence of friends. I checked my time table and turned left from where I had been and within a few minutes I was seated at the back of my history class. All the students poured in one by one and Grover underwood walked up to me with a nervous smile.

To be honest I liked Grover. We could have been good friends if I were a bit more responsive. The old me would have chattered away with a book in the popular crowd while still being a nerd but this me just didn't want to see anyone everyday. Which was quite difficult when you have to go to school everyday.

"Hey Annabeth. Can you show me some of your notes please? No one else has them." I knew he was lying because he was one of the few who were in Annabeth pity party, he just wanted me to feel at home, but Grover has never said how sorry he was for my misfortune and I respected that above all sympathies.

"Sure." I said in a low voice.

Grover took my copy and stood a bit straighter. His dark skin was sweaty and his curly brown hair were hidden beneath his Rasta cap. His bad leg was in a crouch as usual and he was the only sixteen-year old guy in class who had acne. He took a deep breath as if to calm his nerves and said, "Will you sit with us during lunch?"

I weighed the idea of sitting with Grover's friends during lunch but I quickly saw what a disaster a semi mute and completely hard to reach girl could create when forced to socialize.

"May be some other time." I tried to smile but I knew that it only came out as a grimace. Grover looked a bit disappointed but left me alone to sit with his girlfriend Juniper.

I sighed as quietly as I could when Mr. Turner entered the class room.

* * *

This week I was going to have my therapy. I had managed to dodge it last week but this week it seemed inevitable. Dad had even ordered my care taker to drive me to the specialist's clinic. The fact that he hadn't talked to me about it stabbed my heart a little. It made me wince. I sneaked a table knife up to my room after dinner and smoothed the skin of my for arm after getting into my pajamas.

Then with that knife I etched the words _'miss you mom' _on my skin. It hurt a lot as I cut pretty deep to draw blood. My eyes teared up but I kept on cutting until I was done with all the three words. It was the truth after all. I missed my mom terribly and my dad had abandoned me in an alien city. What else could I possibly do to get over that misery? I tried to take drugs, really I tried. But my mom was a social activist when she was alive and I didn't want to do anything that would upset her up in the heaven. So inflicting physical pain on my self was the next best option and I took it.

Trust me when I say it helps.

* * *

Next morning after school Mrs Dahlia Margo, my care taker, was waiting for me to arrive on the door steps. I was once again shrouded under an over sized sweatshirt on my jean shorts and top to cover my cuts. Dahlia practically pushed me inside the back seat of the Mercedes and sat beside me and motioned for my driver to hit the road. She was a lean, short, middle-aged women with skin as tanned as mine. But my hair is long, wavy and blonde unlike hers which is bobbed, brown and curled near the ends. I hated Dahlia. Just after my mom had died she had got close to my dad. My dad had welcomed her with open arms without any moment's hesitation even when he had mostly forgotten about his younger daughter.

"How was school?" Dahlia asked politely but I wasn't the least bit polite to her when I said,

"It was okay. I was not hooking up with someone's else's husband at least."

Her cheeks had gone pink with embarrassment and anger but then we reached the doctor's clinic and I got off immediately. Before she had a chance to say anything else I jerked open the glass doors of the clinic and stepped inside. I closed my eyes and waited until I head the Mercedes pull away. My dad owned a multinational research company after all. He had tons of those cars.

The reception was empty. The specialist I was going to see was just three years older than me. I had asked Dr. Miles if he were out of his minds but he had just shrugged and said, "That kid only takes patients once in a long while. You might be his second actually. The first patient he had seen also had suicidal tendencies but he cured her quite well."

I didn't want to tell _'a kid' _about my self. But I sighed and decided to just go inside his office or check up room or what ever. I was the only one there anyway. Before I opened the door I heard voices.

"NO! You can't do that to me! I love you!"

A girl was screaming at the top of her lungs.

"I told you that I _was _only your therapist and nothing more. I think I have an appointment today so Rachel if you could please leave."

The voice was a guy's. It felt strange. It gave me a warm and cold feeling at the same time. It calmed me down a bit but also sent a huge shiver down my spine.

"I thought I was the only patient for you! I'll tell your new miss important what a monster you are!" The girl or Rachel was crying shrilly. I wondered what she felt like and why she called him a monster but then I decided that I didn't want to know. I had enough freakish tendencies on my plate anyway.

"Quiet! Leave through the back door." The guy's voice was horribly calm.

I expected Rachel to shout and throw another fit. But then I heard a soft 'clank' and knew that she had closed the back door behind her. I took a deep breath and knocked.

"Come in."

I stepped inside the large cabin. The walls were decorated with certificates which I was amazed to see considering the fact that the guy , to whom those certificates belonged, in front of me was only nineteen.

Then my eyes wandered around the closed large windows, the blue aquarium, the piles of books and magazines, the set of soft snowy sofas, the messed up working desk with two small rolling chairs for patients and a big rolling one for the doctor. My eyes lingered on the plaque kept on the table for more than a moment. It read- 'Perseus Jackson'. This place was more like a comfy study than a therapist's room. I looked up at Perseus who was wearing a loose, buttoned down, blue, full sleeved shirt which was hastily tucked in a black denim jeans. His long lashed and perfect eye brows went handsomely with his pale skin and toned figure.

His skin was beautifully pale. Not even an inch of tan could be seen. His hair was disheveled black mess with small strands brushing his fore head as his shiny sea-green eyes took me down with great curiosity. I suddenly felt too small in my extra-large sweatshirt. I stuffed my hands in my sweatshirt pockets and stared down at the tilled floor. I could still feel his eyes on me.

"Sit down", His voice was gentle but I could have cared less or could I have? I just didn't know. I sat on one of the small rolling chairs and pushed a stray strand of golden hair behind my ears. I hadn't even tied them up or combed them after school.

"So how's life Annabeth." He laced his fingers together on the table and leaned down to put his chin on them. The way he looked at me reminded me of a predator and a victim at the same time. I slapped myself mentally. This good and bad mixed feeling that I was experiencing from the moment I had heard his voice unsettled me.

"My mom committed suicide last year and now my dad has sent me away from him and has an affair with my care taker." I spoke in a single long breath and looked down to stare at my fingers this time. I heard him chuckle and looked up to see his perfect white teeth. His canines were a bit pointer than the other teeth but that only added to his good looks.

He stood without saying anything and sauntered towards me. He stood behind my chair and pushed all of my hair to the left side without touching my skin... It still sent a shiver through me. He bent down and whispered just above my right ear,

"You are lonely."

I shivered again. Somehow I was feeling scared and excited at the same time. I ignored that thought and put my full attention to answering him. So I just shrugged. I was a loner after all. He leaned back and turned my chair so that I was facing him this time. I had no where else to look as his churning ocean green eyes kept me captive somehow.

I had no idea what he was going to do but the hair on the back of my neck were standing straight. My body was not used to so many shivers at the same time. I didn't shiver even when I cried.

He placed his hands on the hand-rests, caging me in, and leaned down to my right again and stopped just inches from touching the skin on the crook of my neck. I took a sharp breath in as I had not expected that. No wonder Rachel had called him a monster. He was impulsive like one.

"Do you want me to help you with it?" His breath hit my skin and this time I shivered because I felt cold. Deadly cold. Even though his body was so near mine there was no heat, but a nasty kind of cold which I could not explain. A part of me wanted to push him away and a part of me anticipated and contemplated his offer. That dilemma irritated me. So the next thing I said was probably because of that,

"Gee! I wonder what tricks you use to rid sixteen years old girls of their loneliness."

The moment that comment had left my lips my eyes had opened wider.

Percy pulled back completely and took a step away from my chair with a lopsided grin stretched across his smoothly, sculpted face... making it brighter.

"That's all for today." He said and leaned against the wall near the main door to his cabin. I stood up and walked out in a daze. When I went past him I couldn't help but steal a glance at him. He wasn't looking at me but I knew that he would when I would turn away from him.

I walked out of the clinic with a new-found lightness in my soul. I hated temper counselling but I really wanted to meet Perseus again (even though his presence was cold and mysterious and he made me feel strange) as he was the first person in 365 days who had successfully made me react.

I hated the world a little less at that moment as he had brought out a small part of witty Annabeth back in just ten minutes.

**How is this story? Percy is not what he seems! And poor Annabeth! Why did her mom suicide? Please tell me if you want me to continue!**

**ciao!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Annabeth**

The rain dribbled on the window pain as I sat by the window seat in my world history classroom. I was undergoing a new type of mental pressure. I was getting lonely. I had had high hopes that I would get better after I had shown a great deal of wit that day in front of the therapist that day but setting up another appointment with now seemed near to impossible. Even though I was his only patient he always seemed to be busy.

"Annabeth? Annabeth!"

Mrs. Mebbins brought me back on earth from my wonder land. She was a slim and tall woman with coffee brown skin and curly black hair. Her black hawk eyes narrowed down on me and made me think of evil vultures. Vultures were yet another thing I hated. I didn't seem to get anywhere with my list of things I hate. They just kept on growing.

"Explain the lines on the board." She folded her hands and lifted her chin high. A little bit too confident of herself, I presumed. I hated her too. But I had to answer what ever stupid question she was throwing at me.

_O, that you were yourself! but, love, you are  
No longer yours than you yourself here live: _

Shakespeare. I hated him too. It would have made my day if he hadn't written something this complicated in the past. I gritted my teeth and stared at the board

"The first line 'O! that you were your self,' means that Shakespeare wants the man he is describing to stay as he is, unchanged, not aging. The sonnet is quite philosophical in that it asks how can a person have an identity if he is constantly changing? Isn't that right?" _  
_

The voice belonged to a familiar therapist. To say that I was shocked to see Perseus Jackson in living day light in front of my class room would be an understatement. He was standing just across the room with his arms crossed. His hair had that dreamy messed-up look and his sea-green orbs were staring right at my grey ones. He was here for me.

I stood up immediately, almost expecting Mebbins to send him away but she just glared at him with pursed lips. Was she scared of a doctor who was just about my age only three years older.

"I don't remember you enrolling in my class son. Shouldn't you be in one of the senior class rooms if you go here at all?" Mrs. Mebbins voice was crisp and business type. I was hating her more by the minute.

"I am afraid I have graduated from medical school and have already also completed my P.G. education last year ma'am." Perseus was brimming with a wild kind of charm as he was toying with the door knob and looking straight at Mebbins with his swirling eyes.

Mrs. Mebbins for once looked speechless and utterly annoyed.

"And why is a doctor interrupting my class again?" She asked quite hostility.

"Oh Mrs. Mebbs please let him stay. He could teach us some thing about P.G. shows!" Drew Tanaka. The school doormat or what ever that is the boys called her, looked up at him with dreamy brown eyes. That is when I noticed how the rest of the girls in the class were giggling, pointing and staring at him. I snorted silently. They could be less inconsiderate!

"I am here to pick Annabeth up." He jerked a thumb in my direction and my ears turned pink as suddenly a fury of hisses started flooding the classroom.

"With that freak but..."

"... he is so handsome!"

"Why that abnormal girl!..."

"...So gorgeous!"

My heart lurched. I somehow knew he could hear them. I just hoped he didn't feel the same way. I don't mean that I like him or something because well... I just met him! So anyway, it is normal behavior after all. You wont want anyone you have to put up with to hate you right?

"As you can see Ms. Chase is busy with her English lesions I suppose you-"

"I have Mr. Chase's full permission." Mebbins looked besides herself with anger on being cut short by a younger boy. Her glare hardened as she signed a slip and handed it over to him. He smiled charmingly at her and motioned for me to follow him out. I stepped out of my seat and made my way towards the door. I could feel each and every stare on my back. They were mostly daggers of jealousy. If only they knew I was going for another mental therapy to Perseus's and not for a date with a handsome older boy to some seven star hotel.

By the time I reached the door where he was waiting for me, Mrs Mebbins spoke up,

"And might I just ask where you are taking her?"

No! I didn't care about my social image and neither did anybody else in the class until Perseus walked in but now if told them that I was going out for therapy... they would be happy to make my life miserable from tomorrow. I gulped and waited for him to reveal that I was mentally depressed.

"None of your business." With that he gave my back a gentle push with the tip of his fingers and made me walk ahead. I wish I could have seen Mrs. Mebbin's face.

* * *

Perseus parked his car outside gala club. Before I could ask him what we were here for he had opened my car door for me. I stepped out and pulled my black closer to me. My grey cargo pants and black tank top looked oddly out of place beneath my full black leather jacket. I had cut myself again last night. This time I had only slashed my skin, not written anything specific.

I had called my dad yesterday to ask If I could come home for thanks giving. His secretory had told me that he had other plans. By now it was clear to me that dad was just trying to erase me from his life. I hated that like I hated almost everything in the world. And I hated the tugging feeling that kept me up all night. All the thoughts all the pressure that suddenly dawned on me when ever I went to bed after dinner. Those depression attacks that medications had no effect on. I wanted to tell my Dad that I was lonely but he could have cared less.

Thinking about him made my eyes sting. My hair cascaded down my back and side so I didn't have to worry about Perseus seeing my eyes water up.

We entered the club to a soprano women singing. There was a table beside a pillar with pre-lit candles and vases of crimson roses. The roses were so red that could have passed for solid blood. I noticed that there wasn't any other customer.

"Why are we no in your clinic... Perseus?" I finally decided to ask as we settled down facing each other. He cringed when I called his name but smiled devilishly at me before saying,

"It's just Percy. I thought you could use some company." His grin widened when he saw my confused look.

"In an empty club?" I questioned. He propped his elbow on the table and placed his chin on his palm and eyed me. His eyes replicated wild ocean currents. Unsettling and unpredictable. I swallowed as The feeling of danger that I had been feeling all the way from school heightened.

"I am your company." He said simply.

I was going to ask him what this all was about but a waitress came up. An old bubbly lady with a funny hat. I ordered a fruit salad and pork. After that she turned to Percy.

"The usual." He said with a slight nod.

After the old lady was gone I looked at him with a raised eyebrow, "The usual?"

"You don't have to remember my diet chart for your exams." He replied as he toyed with a crimson rose petal with his hand which was not supporting his beautifully carved face.

I decided to dodge that question. I was feeling scared wildly excited at the same time. Those mixed feelings only came up around him and I liked being uncertain for once. Uncertain about weather I liked him or hated him.

"So you are going to lecture me about being sad and instruct me to make snobby friends at school?" I tried to start a conversation even though I never talked on my own behalf with anyone. But I felt like I had to because all he was doing was staring at me with his devilish smile.

"Not all of them are snobby." His shoulders moved a little as he took a deep breath in, flexing his muscles beneath his shirt. He was wearing a light blue full sleeved, buttoned down shirt with the collar button off and the sleeves rolled up to his elbow. His black tie which matched his jeans pants was hanging loose around his neck.

I understood why he liked quiet and lonely places. He would have been swarmed by swooning girls and waitresses if he would have taken me to star bucks.

"Who is Rachel?" I didn't know why I asked that but I just did.

He looked away the moment that question left my lips. Which made me even more curious.

"A snobby friend." He said while looking at the soprano singer.

"You said not all of them are snobby."

"But she is."

"Well good for you. I don't have any as I am pretty sure you know."

That got his attention as he turned towards me. There was a small smile on his lips which was mostly stretching to his right cheek.

"I want to be the first one." He inched closer to me with his elbows dragging the table cloth with him.

"You don't seem like a friend material." I tried to get under his skin as I leaned in a little.

My comment seemed to amuse him as he gave out a little laugh. Dangerous but melodious. I craved it the moment it escaped my ears.

"I guess. Girls just feel like eating me up after our first meeting." He dragged his elbows a bit more towards me.

"I guess it is because of your coat of mysteries." I leaned just a tiny bit more so there was still a lot of air between us.

"In my defense I'll say I am an open book." This time he dragged his elbows a little more.

"Too pricey for a depressed girl to read?" I was feeling a different kind of electricity bubbling in my chest as I leaned in. We were so close that our noses almost touched. His rather cold breath mixed with my warm ones. It was no mint cold breath or mouth-freshner as it sent chills down my neck and made the hair on my entire body stand.

"Here is your order my dear sweet children!"

The waitress was back with our food, breaking our close proximity with her words. She kept them on the table and beamed at us with her wrinkly face, "Anything else?"

I noticed that Percy's usual dish was some kind of a drink encased in a dark tinted glass. I couldn't see its content.

"Red Wine please?" I asked with a polite smile.

The waitress turned towards Percy with a quizzical look.

"Are you sure? They wont ask you for an ID around me but are you sure you'll be able to stomach it?" He tried to hide his minor concern but I could detect it anyway. It made me more willing.

"One bottle please."

Percy turned towards the old lady, all concern gone from his features, "Do as the lady says."

The old woman nodded and came back with a big bottle of red wine. She filled a glass for me and Percy shook his head when she turned towards him. Well his loss. I sipped my glass as the wine filled my throat.

* * *

I was totally wasted as I was dragging Percy by his arms. Both my slim arms were wrapped against one of his strong ones. The soprano singer was singing a fast duet song and I was feeling on top of the world. So of course I wanted to dance.

I tripped on my feet wile taking a spin so Percy steadied me with an arm around my stomach, the one which was entwined with mine. All the way where his smooth and cool skin touched my hot and tanned one, sparks flared. I could almost see them I leaned in and pressed my lips against his soft skin on his neck. He froze up. Then he gently pushed me away at arms length.

"You should have been careful Annabeth."

His hands were gripping my jacket edges so I shed it. I wanted his electricity. I wanted his uncertain air. Together they made me intoxicated. I wanted to feel intoxicated.

His eyes quickly traveled to my fresh cuts and slashes. His eyes narrowed. Then he looked up at me and said, "Annabeth you need to go home."

"For what? So that Dahlia could lecture me about how I shouldn't have called my dad today even though he had not picked up? To let her tell me how my father could do without a depressed girl at the moment? To let myself get depressed and cut my self even more? No thanks. I like you better."

Percy gripped my waist as we slowly swayed to the now playing slow song.

"You are so far gone. You depression has got you hard. You need something else... something stronger." His eyes were sad, as if he wished there was some other way to cure me. I didn't know what he was up to but I was happy that he wasn't sending me away. I didn't pay much attention as I clinged to him as he booked a room.

**Things might get a little heated in the next update. Tell me if you liked this one!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Annabeth**

I woke up to angles singing. My minds was fuzzy. I guess I was lucky that after consuming a whole bottle of alcohol I wasn't having a killer head ache or planning suicide from all the lectures I got from Dahlia. Wait! Angles? Dahlia? Suicide?

I sat up straight in a jolt. For some reason my lower stomach hurt. It felt sore. Was I supposed to be ill? Is that the reason Dahlia had postponed or, even better, excused me from her lecture about alcohol and how I should not socialize with my dad? Most of all why weren't there any cuts stinging on my skin? The last time I had been drunk the urge to cut myself had been at its peek. It was one of the times I had slashed open my wrist. So naturally I had expected to wake up in a hospital but-

As that thought crossed my head I looked around. I was in a neat and clean hotel room with a messed up bed, some side tables and lamps and a full body mirror. The bathroom was on the other side of the wall where the T.V was connected. It wasn't a costly suite or deluxe room I was used to but it was... okay.

A hotel room but Why-?

I removed the covers off me and found out that I had nothing on me. All my clothing were neatly washed and pressed and even folded up on a nearby armchair. What was wrong with me? I knew that I was forgetting something or rather someone quite crucial from last night...

The wind blew in and brushed my back. I turned behind to see a guy leaning over the railing of the balcony. His shirt was unbuttoned and flying on either side of him. His hair was swaying with the wind. The pale skin of his neck looked beautiful as it absorbed the first rays of the rising sun.

And suddenly the memories of someone's smooth, white skin beneath mine, someone's soft lip touch and that someone green-green eyes filled the emptiness of my memory. But there was some thing wrong with those memories. It all felt like that I was the only one who was doing all the kissing and touching. It was as if I wasn't even kissed back. Then like a film coming to an end all the movements stopped. I remembered myself collapsing back beside him and then he had moved for the first time to pull me closer to him and that to just to cuddle me in. Nothing more.

That person was Percy. All those realisations made me angry and glad at the same time. And that feeling of confusion and dilemma belonged near only one person. Dr. Perseus Jackson.

I pored some body wash and water over my body and pulled my clothes on. Percy was still standing by the railing. The about-to-rise sun was making the sky glow pink. Thinking about Percy clenched my heart. My urge to be near him and to touch him had grown remarkably overnight. And this was all because of him.

"What do you think you did last night you-" I stopped in my tracks. I couldn't say that he forced himself on me because it was definitely me who was doing all the forcing.

He turned and looked at me. His eyes were shimmering and I could see he was trying to hide his sad eyes under his nonchalance when he said,

"I see you are still alive. Did you plan any suicide attempts lately?" His chest was exposed. I had a hard time removing my eyes from his perfectly toned chest. I lifted my eyes to his and answered.

"What does that have to do with anything I am talking about?" I wasn't dumb. I knew what he was about to say but I wanted him to say it. For a fact I knew that He understood what I was thinking.

"Well, normally when people are drunk, they reveal a truer side of themselves. In your case you are more suicidal when you are drunk, from you past records."

My cheeks flushed red and I averted my eyes to the tiled floor. The tiles were white square tiles. fascinating. Why did he have to read my health records in his free time?

"Well so let us think about where you would have ended up if I have had dropped you home last night... Any guesses Annabeth?" His tone was taunting which made me gulp. The way he said my name was so... I cannot describe it but it felt like he wanted to convey something unintentionally by just saying it. Anyway I told him about my guess but still kept my eyes trained on the white square tiles of the floor.

"The nearby Hospital?" My voice was barely audible and I assumed he would ask me to repeat myself but instead he said,

"I had guessed of a grave yard but yeah, hospital would do too." That made me smile a little. He was giving me a piece of his mind and in the same time he was trying to loosen me up. I could still feel his warm embrace engulfing my lithe frame under the cotton covers of the bed. The thought made my heart leap. I stayed quiet and waited for him to continue,

"So then I thought, Why not get you something like a replacement, a replacement where you would pour in all your emotions instead of cutting and slashing yourself?" He expected me to know what that replacement was. I did know as a matter of fact what it was.

I looked up at him with a raised eyebrow and said, "You are the replacement?"

He took a step closer to me. My breath hitched in my neck as he stood just an inch apart from me. So close and yet I couldn't lift my hand and touch his cheeks were the start of a rather cute subtle was starting to grow. I knew the next time I would see him the subtle would be gone.

"I have observed the way you look at me and the other boys from your school Annabeth." His chin was just above the crook of my neck and his lips were right beside my ear. His warm breath hit the skin of my neck and sent a chill down my spine. Once again I was afraid and attracted to him at the same time. That feeling was slowly becoming a part of me. I knew I could never decide what to feel around him. Well that's what I thought...

"What do you want to imply? That I am a desperate crazy person?" My cheeks were heating up from anger and embarrassment. What I said was a polite phrase for a slut. I knew I wasn't one. If it had been anyone else I am sure tings would have turned out differently. So I answered my question for myself.

"You were intoxicating. I can't help it when I am drunk! You were sober!" I complained.

"I had a choice Annabeth. Either I could have let you cut yourself back at home or I could have indulged your intoxication and saved you..." He moved back and I looked up so that our eyes were locked on each other's.

"You chose the latter... thanks I guess." I said with a shrug. Knowing that I wasn't a virgin anymore wasn't so hard to believe after all.

"Now hurry up Annabeth or you would be late for school." He said with quickly buttoning his shirt up.

I nodded and looked for my bag. There was still a question that was bugging me. I decided to ask away as after the conversation we had just had, nothing could be classified as more indecent.

"Percy? Why didn't you... you know do anything? I mean I was all drunk and-"

"I didn't want to do anything you didn't know of Annabeth." He cut me short calmly. His back was turned towards me so I couldn't see his expression.

"I might have been the first person for you but you weren't the first for me so believe me when I say that it was only you."

His words hurt. I knew he was being heartless on purpose but it still stung. All my happiness from the night's events began to deflate and I instinctively started to look for something sharp. Percy turned towards me with great speed and rested his palms lightly on my hips and said,

"Although the main reason was that there are some boundaries that I cannot cross without your consent but you can. So maybe if you were sober..."

I nodded briskly as his touch were dulling my senses and were shooting electricity down my skin. He smiled at that and took hold of one of my hand and lead me towards the door.

* * *

Percy stopped his car outside the entrance gate of my school. I hopped off the passenger seat and made my way towards the school gate. I knew my face was reflecting my inner misery even before Percy called out,

"Annabeth!"

I ran up to him as he poked his head out of the door window. He slipped his fingers into mined and squeezed tight before saying,

"I'll take you out somewhere after school. Don't let what other worthless people say get to you." I nodded grimly but then smiled slightly before saying,

"What does this make us?"

His eyes shone brightly even though his lips didn't stretch into a smile. He kissed my palm before speaking up.

"This makes me your very crucial medicine Annabbeth." With that he pulled his hand away and placed then on the steering wheel and drove away. There was one last thing that I had wanted him to know.

That I was addicted to him.

* * *

Drew had watched my little farewell episode with Percy in front of the gate and had been glaring at me all day. My stomach ache had flipped on the back of my head from the moment English class started. Mrs Mebbins asked me in front of the whole class if Percy had been bothering me. Nathan Darwis just had to say,

"He is all pleasure for goldy locks Annabeth mam!"

Everyone had snickered at my red face and Mrs. Mebbins had continued to fixate me with her stony glare. I wish she could just vanish from the face of earth. After the bell rang I was the first one to walk out of the class. As I was walking towards chemistry a feminine sneer interrupted me.

"Look who is it! Where is your paid boyfriend freak? The handsome guy who you have hired to draw attention to yourself?" Drew tanaka with her cheers girls were the worst kind of people. I faced her with an arrogant smirk borrowed from Percy and answered her back.

"He would be pleased to know that you think of him as handsome... Drew"

Drew inched closer to me with a baseball bat in her hand.

"Let's see how Pretty boy likes you when you aren't pretty enough for him any longer."

I didn't inch away. I was already forming escape planes when the strong stern voice of the student body president growled at Drew.

"Tanaka! I want you and your bully friends in my office. Now!" I turned to see a fare girl in black jeans and purple top glaring at Drew. Her black, braided hair framed her face beautifully and her black fiery eyes dug virtual holes in Drew's skull. Her glinting badge made it clear that she was the head girl and wasn't someone you could mess with.

"But Reyna!" Drew's lackies wined but another stern look from Reyna told them that she could make the situation worse for them. They silently walked out of the hallway. I turned towards Reyna and gave her a huge toothy grin. In middle school I had been the student body president and she had been my prefect. This year I had pulled out of those stuff but I still liked Reyna. She was stolid and rule bound and hardly ever plotted against anyone.

Reyna returned my smile with a nod and said, "The spot for the cultural secretary is still available Annabeth."

"I'll think about it." I'll talk about taking it up to Percy.

"And Annabeth... good to see you without your scars." She walked away with that statement and left me stairing at my arms. I hadn't realized that my jacket hadn't been on my Tank top. And she was right! All the slash scars and my notes to mom were gone, replaced by soft and smooth skin. How was that possible? The last person who saw them was... Percy.

Suddenly out of nowhere I remembered Rachel calling a monster the other day.

Could he have done this?

**Now could he have? Guys please tell me your views about this chapter! Enjoy!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Annabeth**

Life could have been worse. My dad could have married Dahlia right away and tossed me out in the streets without a single penny. Then I would have never met my handsome therapist and well... I could not have been able to control the suicidal tendencies. Not that I am able to keep them down or anything but now I have got a physical factor on which they could depend. The factor was my doctor, Perseus Jackson.

He is so mysterious and yet I could trust him over my own father any day. He always made me feel conflicted. But I liked that feeling. I liked being not sure what to feel for once because my default feeling for anything or anyone is hatred. It's not advisable.

* * *

I woke up to the shingling light of my room's night lamp. My arms were tightly around Percy's torso, his soft full T-shirt was against my cheek. He was looking at the false ceiling with one of his arms around my waist and with the other he was lightly stroking the blonde strands of my hair that were sticking out of my head. He was staring at the glowing solar system that was etched on my roof. The lights were fading from them but they were still quite pretty. I had always taken them for granted but seeing the look of fascination on Percy's face, made me look at them too.

"What are you staring at?" Percy's voice was husky and rough. Which was of course good to hear as it made him more sexy.

"I could ask you the same question but that would be stupid." I snuggled closer to him. Our legs were on one another's under the covers. I was wearing a plane grey short and Percy was wearing his track suite pants. Up above my waist I was in a baggy green T-shirt and his T-shirt was off white.

"Well I am staring at the universe because I want to be there. I know you don't want to go out in the space and see the world from outside Annabeth."

Hearing him say my name sent chills down my spine.

"I don't know what would I want to do." I really didn't.

A boyish smile came over his face as he looked at the glowing mini sun on the roof and said, "If I asked you to run away with me to the darn, unknown depths of the space, what would you do?"

I thought for a moment. But then something ticked.

"But why on earth would you ask me?" I tried to turn on my side but Percy stopped playing with my hair and instead placed his palm against my back. I wished it was on my skin. But I didn't want to sound desperate so I just kept silent till he answered my question.

"Who else could I ask?"

I gave out a small light laugh. He could ask Drew and she would go with him for sure. To be more specific she would think that the gods from heavens had blessed her. She is such... I don't even think I need to think about it. But then there was someone else too.

"How about your friend Rachel? Why wouldn't you ask her?" My head was still buried in his chest and I expected his breath to stop when he heard her name. But it didn't even hitch. He just shifted a bit closer to me and said, "She wasn't really a patient. Her boyfriend had just dumped her and she had seen me in a party. So magically after our first three appointments she had got cured. But she was the only thing I had close to a friend."

I thought for a moment and asked, "How did you cure her?"

"I asked all those questions that an irritating therapist does in all those books and movies."

I smiled, "I would have instantly hated you if you had thrown all those strings of questions at me like my other doctor."

He pressed his lips to my hair. I could feel his smile as he said, "I could tell you were not the type to be cured by talking. You don't deserve to be abandoned."

"I don't feel lonely anymore." It was the truth. But I guess he knew it was temporary as the moment he would be gone... I would feel evasively lonely.

"Did you meet anyone at school?" He asked while rubbing soothing circles against my back.

My smile widened as a silly thought crossed my mind. I wanted to see if I could make him jealous about me if he didn't even react to Rachel.

"There is this foot ball team captain, Luke Castellan. I think he is cute." He really was, with his blonde hair and light-blue eyes. Even if he had a scar running down his cheek, he made all the cheer leaders swoon. I didn't hate him because I only saw him in glimpses from time to time while walking down the hall way or at cafeteria as the popular table. I didn't think much about him because he wasn't interesting. On the other hand, Percy fascinated me. The new mystery about him was the way all my scars had healed after that one night with him at the hotel. I knew he wouldn't tell me anything about it if I ask him directly, so I would have to just dig around whenever I got the chance. But his guard always seemed to be up.

I got the desired reaction after saying that Luke was cute. Both his arms tightened around me protectively and I chuckled.

"You don't have to tell me about _that. _Anyone else you think you could be just friends with?" His tone was a bit off. So whether I liked some other boy or not really did effect him. I shrugged. I had already told him about Grover and Reyna. There was no one else in the could-be-friends bucket.

Percy sighed. I felt like I should say something to make him ignore that Luke thing. I really liked the way our bodies were pressing together and even if his skin was cool, it spread an unearthly warmth and millions of sparks through the cells of my body. I could drink him in at that moment. But I had to restrain myself. He wasn't permanent. I had to remind myself that if I fell for him, I would have to face a different kind of depression later because no way was his heart ever going to beat for an average younger girl like me. And on top of that I was already addicted to his touch and... him.

"I think I would." I said in a soft voice.

"You would what?" Percy's confused tone made me laugh. I don't know why he stiffened when I laughed but I let it go as he relaxed after a few seconds.

"I would go anywhere in the world with you. Even outside of it as you have asked."

Percy tight grip slackened a little but his slid his fingers under my shirt and rubbed lazy comforting circles around my mid-back. His touch made it difficult for me to breathe. I knew it was dangerous but I wanted more of it. I wanted more of him.

"I could leave you anytime." His breath hit my earlobe and made me shiver.

"I love the way you are unpredictable. I'll gamble my chances."

Percy surprised me as he turned over and with both him palms on either sides of my pillow, he gazed down at me with his intense sea-green eyes. I could see my grey eyes in his. They strangely didn't seem to be dull.

"You are trading on unknown territories Annabeth. I could kill you now and run away and no one would ever know."

He was right. I helped him sneak into the house while Dahlia wasn't looking. He could stab me with a knife with his hands gloved, and run away through the windows, through which he had entered (He could climb like a monkey!) and no one would ever guess that he had been here as no one had seen him.

"You won't do it." My voice was firm. He cracked a smile and asked,

"Why so sure?"

"I just know you wouldn't" A fire kindled in his eyes as he slowly leaned down towards me. His eyes stayed locked with mine. His breath was on my lips which were already parted in anticipation to kiss his salty one.

The knob of the door to my room turned and I mentally cursed myself for not locking my door from inside. Percy jumped and dived under my bed. It was a good thing that my large bed sheets always swept the floor.

Dahlia poked her ugly head inside and squinted when she saw I was up.

"Annabeth! It is three in the morning!"

"Thank's for enlightening me." My face was expressionless. My chest was burning with anger. I could have smacked Dahlia's face really hard at that moment. My body was aching due to the absence of Percy's warmth and spark and I knew if she wasn't gone in a second I would as well as kill her or something.

"Well I would have liked to give you some advise on your manners but I am glad that you are awake. I have to go to California tonight. I'll stay over for tomorrow that is Sunday so I guess there wouldn't be any problem?"

She was mocking me. She wanted to convey that Dad wanted her and not me. I bit my lip because she had really hit a nerve. My nails dug into my palms to the point of drawing blood. It hurt, but it was nothing compared to the way my Dad hurt me. He was beyond cruel and Dahlia was worse. She knew about the way dad affected my tendencies but she still loved to toy around with me. There was a slight tap on the mast of my bed. It made me smile. Percy was trying to tell me that he was still here.

Dahlia looked around but shrugged as she must have thought the sound was her foul imagination.

"Say Hi to Dad." I said after a long pause.

She didn't wait for any more conversations which I was thankful for. I slammed the door shut behind her and latched it. I leaned against in and sighed. Something warm and wet was on my lips while my palms seemed to be just pink put uninjured. I must have bit my lips too hard.

Percy scooped out from beneath the bed. I literally threw myself at him, wrapping my arms around his neck and burring my face in his cool-warm shirted chest. He gently pushed me back by my shoulders and gazed at me from an arms length.

"You shouldn't live with her. I think she wants to kill you."

His eyes were sad as he said that. It made me happy. He wasn't my boyfriend or anything. Somehow, calling him my boyfriend seemed insensitive. He was a necessity now. Something far beyond any boyfriend had ever been for me.

"You care?" I was trying to be glee full.

He smirked at that and leaned down. Whiled locking his eyes with mine he licked the drop of blood off my lips. I don't know whether it was my imagination or not but, for a moment his canines seemed to elongate. But they were back to just being extra pointy in a blink. They added to his charm of course and he wasn't the first guy on earth with pointy canines but there was something about his teeth...

His lips were on mine as he was kissing me. My hands slid up against his chest to his shoulders and his rested on my hips. Hit kiss mesmerised me. His lips were salty and were the best one I had ever tasted. I had kissed boys before but Percy's kiss was different like every other thing about him. It had his air of mystery and all his charge. His intense heat made my heart melt down to plain blood. My conflicted feeling heightened whenever he kissed me or even came close to me. They warned me of him being a poisonous being but I found it much more pleasurable to die by drinking him in instead of cutting my self to death. He was like a sweet death I wanted to embrace.

We broke away for air and I almost pulled him in again when I noticed that there way a stray letter on the floor. I remembered Dahlia fiddling with her handbag while she was talking to me. She must have dropped this.

I reluctantly disentangle myself from Percy who looks at me curiously as I bent and pick up the envelope type thingy. It was from Minerva Chase... my mom.

I looked at Percy with huge eyes. His eyebrows were doing that cute cringing thing. He nodded at me for reading whatever was inside it. I pulled out the letter. My mom's handwriting made my eyes tear up. If only she was here...

Percy wrapped his arms around my waist from behind. I looked at him from my side and smiled as I read out loud,

_Drear Dahlia_

_I was thinking about what you said earlier. Indeed you have been right. I don't understand where Fredrick could go late at night but I think you know about it. I am begging you to tell me as recently our conversations have been rocky. Is he cheating on me?_

_Your school's friend_

_Minerva._

_27/9/13_

I stared with wide eyes at the letter. This was written just a month before my mom had died. What did she mean about 'what you have said earlier'? Had Dahlia written anything to my mom? And obviously if dad was cheating on mom with someone it had to be Dahlia! Why did mom trust her? Just because she was an old school friend?

My mind was buzzing with questions. I knew I would find something in Dahlia's room. I unlatched my door and flew down the stairs to her room. The footsteps I heard behind me were Percy's as he followed me without a word. That made me admire him even more. I twisted the door knob. Nothing happened.

It was locked.

**What has Dahlia done? Is she a real bad person? And what's it about Percy that makes his canines different? You have to tell me about your thoughts to this chapter!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Annabeth**

I was wrong when I had thought that the life of a normal person would be a joyride. My mom was a normal person and she didn't have any mental traumas... At least until the moment she died. I don't know what that means. I don't know what the letter means. I don't even know how long I'll be able to stay sane in this new world of questions and confusion.

There are too many things that I have to... no, I _need_ to find out.

* * *

I was being pinned to the girl washroom's wall, in a public library, by Drew Tanaka and ugly friends. As I have said before, this school has a majority population of students with problems. The minority are normal kids kept here as consolation. I didn't know what Drew's problem was but I guessed that it had something to do with her nature of possessing any and everything she likes, weather or not it is out of bounds or it is a person she is chasing after.

It was the same case this time. She thought Percy was good looking and belonged next to her. Now she was furious as she assumed that he is my boyfriend. She considered me a freak. One thing she has gotten all wrong is that Percy isn't my boyfriend, I don't even know what to call him. A friend? Even the thought of that seems wrong. Anyway, at that moment, I desperately wished he was there. If he were, I would have kept my anger under control for sure.

"I am sure you inherited your sluttish traits from your mother who is now rotting in hell."

I looked at her venomously. She was indirectly calling my mom a slut. All her other ulgies were smirking and agreeing with her. I hated her. I hated them all. I desperately wished that Percy was here but I also wanted Drew to shut up.

I balled my fists and gritted my teeth as she continued.

"Maybe one of her lovers was threatening to expose her so she jumped of a building."

"She cut herself you bitch." I wanted to murder her for saying that. I still loved my mom. I couldn't stand anyone badmouthing her.

Drew's grip tightened on my arms as she sneered at me,

"Whatever you blonde whore. Or should I say, blonde daughter of a whore?" With that she burst out laughing. He group of girls joined in with her. I hated her laugh. I wished she had died instead of my mom no matter how twisted that was. A single tear went down my left cheek. I have had enough.

I jerked up my knee and hit Drew straight in her stomach. She whimpered as she fell on her ass. I kicked her face. There was a soft crack and a gush of blood indicating that her nose broke.

"What are you girls doing? Beat her up!" She screamed at her friends as she clutched her face. My calculative instincts begged me to run and I dashed towards the nearest exit. All of Drew's pirate crew were after me. I rand out of the washroom are and went straight to the sitting and reading area of the library. We were clearly entertaining and disturbing some of the metropolitans. They sure weren't expecting to witness a high school girl chased by some bullies in a public library, that too early in the morning. I didn't even knew Drew would follow me up here. The Library was just ten minutes away from my house so I had come here for some light reading. I hadn't expected Drew to tail me up here that too on a Sunday.

According to Juniper Woods, Drew lives all her Sunday mornings in the hospitals. Getting aborted for obvious reasons.

It seems like she took a detour to the hospital today as she certainly planed this.

I ran down the stairs to the mythology section of the library. One of Drew's girl threw a heavy book at my head. She had a sore aim as the book hit my knee instead. I buckled and fell. The girls circled me in beside a book rack menacingly. A victorious smile in all their faces. One of them stepped forward and punched me hard. The impact was good. I head felt wobbly. More girls closed in. I had to do something. I noticed that all of the bullies were standing on the shadow of the bookcase that was just beside me. An idea perked up in my brain. It would hurt them severely but no kill them.

I gave the rack a harsh push with all the energy I had left. First the books toppled on them and then the rack landed on them. Some of them ran and the others were victimized. I could hear the security guard rushing towards me.

"You are in trouble miss." He said as he tied my wrist with an plastic cuff.

* * *

I was questioned in a room somewhere in the library. The room was like any other detention room in any typical school. Drew was crying her eyes out and saying that I attacked her. But she couldn't explain what she and her friends were doing with me in the washroom so the authorities got their main culprit anyway. They restrained Drew and her friends and said that they would have to pay for the property damage. Drew tried to convince them that she had nothing to do with this and that everything was my fault. Even though she had the most convincing voice I had ever heard, Her sister Piper McLean was equally, if not more, persuasive and way smarter than her. She was also a part time security in-charge so she found the right culprit quite easily.

"Call any adult member who you know properly." She said politely as she walked over to her aggressive younger sister. She was about Percy's age or older. I liked her strange eyes which seemed to change color in every blink. They reminded me of my first kaleidoscope that dad had gifted me on my seventh birthday. I still had it.

I called Percy as he was the only adult could see me with an ice bag pressed to my cheek right now and lead me out of here without a lecture about conduct. Plus I would never call Dahlia even if I were to die. Dad didn't care so that only left him, even if he was my first choice. He picked up after the fifth ring.

"Hey Annabeth." His voice was amused, like he was expecting me to call.

I frowned.

"I got into a fi... situation. I am near my home's library. Can you come and fetch me please?"

He sucked a breath in and replied, " I'll be there."

"Than-"

His side of line was already dead.

My shoulders slumped and I stared at the floor. I had come to the library to check out the architecture corner that my mom had donated a few years back. She used to go there often. I picked myself up and decided to kill my time there until Percy came to pick me up. I took permission from Piper and took the elevator to the fourth floor. The whole floor was donated to the library by my mom. I gritted my teeth to the point of being hurt. I was glad that I had broken Drew's nose for insulting my mom.

I randomly let my gaze wander around the titles of the book when one of them caught my attention.

_Greek's ancient Architecture._

Mom used to say that it was the best book humans had ever written. I agreed with her. It was my first book on architecture anyway. Even though I had memorized the book by heart, I picked it up and flipped through it's pages. The book smelled too much like my mum. I shut the book as soon as that thought crossed my mind. I didn't want to hurt myself like that. I should stay away from things that would urge me to cut myself.

A small smile played on my lips as I remembered what Percy had said,

_"When you, yourself start avoiding things that hurt you, you'll know that you are getting better."_

It was good to know that I was healing, even if it was just a book I still managed to close it without ripping the skin over my wrist apart. As I place the book back on the shelf an old stained book mark fell from it. I picked it up. It smelled salty and rusty like blood. There was something written on it in a rather hurried and frantic handwriting.

I was just about to read it when someone placed a rather cold hand on my shoulder. I froze up. His hands reminded me of Percy's. They weren't ice cold but there was no warmth in them either. But there wasn't any spark or electricity in them. They didn't make my stomach flip or gave me that sweet conflicted feeling. They were filled with pessimism. I felt like an helpless deer being chased through the forest by a tiger. There was nowhere to escape. I swallowed a lump that had formed in my throat and turned around. I was met with two orbs of two ice cold sky-blue eyes. The guy was as pale as Percy was and hat neatly cropped blonde hair. His smile was cold and fake and there was not a single strand of warmth in his light blue eyes. His touch didn't feel evil but It wasn't good either. He was older than me. Maybe an year or two older. When he spoke, I fought an urge to run.

"Is that a property of the library? It smells fishy."

I took in his outfit. Simple blue jeans with and red T-shirt under a black leather Jacket. He could have rivaled any Hollywood star on the red carpet. His charms were similar to Percy's but in a different way. Percy was more misty, his presence felt dry.

I didn't respond. I quickly pocketed the book mark. His sharp eyes caught that motion and went towards my capree's pocket.

"Jason! Are you harassing a poor visitor again?" And suddenly like that, the cold winter turned to a beautiful spring. He still made me feel down with his hand resting on my shoulder but he didn't look sinister. A real smile broke his fake one as he finally removed his hand from my shoulder and turned towards his summoner, Piper McLean. She was playfully glaring at him with her hands on her hips. He walked up to her and pecked her lips and I could have sworn that his diamond hard eyes had melted. They were about the same age, Piper was probably a few months older, and they looked so perfect together. Most of all, that Jason guy looked human next to Piper.

"Not at all Pipes. I just thought she was messing around with the books."

I huffed as I clearly wasn't.

"My mom donated this area, how could I mess around with it?" Normally I would have stayed quiet and let people say whatever the hell they would want to but I didn't want to keep my mouth sealed around him as I didn't instantly hate him for unexplainable reasons. He had made me feel like a prey and yet he appeared as friendly as Piper was.

His eyes soften by a tiny fraction when I mentioned my mom. He opened his mouth to say something but was interrupted by therapist.

"I've been looking for you Annabeth." He said. There was something off about him. He was trying to hide his bad mood.

Piper cringed as he passed her. I wondered if she felt the same way as I had felt near Jason. Like and helpless deer who was about to die. Jason nodded at Percy who smirked at him before nodding back. They knew each other. Percy's long fingers encircled my wrist as he led me away from there. The familiar mixed feeling started flowing through my veins as I turned around my shoulder to take a final glance at Jason.

He was whispering something into Piper's ears who was smiling at it. I knew I would meet him again. And above all... he knew my mom.

* * *

Percy parked outside my house and looked at me. I suddenly felt conscious about my washed out black capre and grey T-shirt. I must have looked worst than average with my hair pulled back in a pony tail. Percy pressed my cheek with his cool palms and traced the almost invisible mark that the stray tear had made in wash room with his thumb. I shivered at his touch. He had that effect on many people I guess.

I grabbed his shoulder and slowly pulled him in for a kiss. He complied. His lips were soft but the kiss wasn't. Then again it would have frustrated me if it was. He kissed me roughly with unimaginable wildness. It felt like the wildness was a part of him. I kissed him back with all the fire that had been bubbling inside my chest from the moment Drew had started insulting my mom. I was glad that he was here. I didn't know from which knife I would have slashed my skin otherwise.

I pulled away a little. We were still dangerously close. Our breaths mixed as our chests heaved with effort.

"You seem off. Is everything okay?" I asked him a moment later. My eyes were fixed to his. His sea-green emeralds darkened a little. Then he looked away.

"Nothing major. You don't need to worry."

That stung a little. I wanted to worry. I wanted to be special to him too. But I needed to go. If I didn't I wouldn't be able to retain the minute importance that I had in his life. So I just shrugged and turned to open the door. He caught my wrist.

"Wait!"

I looked at him questioningly. His eyes looked as conflicted as his presence made me feel.

"There is a lot I wish I could tell you but I can't"

I understood what he meant. I sat forward and kissed the skin just beside his ear and kept my lips pressed there for about a few seconds. He took a sharp breath in as I whispered.

"I'll wait till the day you can."

I could feel him him pulling off his lopsided smile even if I wasn't able to see him. It felt... hot.

"I'll be ready when that day comes."

**What's the mystery about guys? And who are Percy and Jason? What is written in that blood stained bookmark from her mother's all time favorite book? For more keep reading! Please tell me how this chapter was!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Annabeth**

Things change drastically. I always wished I had something to hold on to. When I was little, my mom used to tell me that she would never abandon me like my neighbor, little Jonny's, mom did. His mom had left him with his grand-mom and even though she was a nice old lady he always used to cry and call his mom back. Seeing him like that made me cry too. At times like that she would hug me tightly and ask me to calm down and say that she would always be there for me always. She is the type of person who never breaks her promises.

... but I guess there is a first for everything and sometimes it might become your last.

* * *

Dahlia fumed as she glared down at me. Earlier, I had sneaked in her room while she was busy talking a bath and I had searched around frantically for more letters or evidence. I had found nothing but I had managed to annoy Dahlia. She was in her bathing suit with a towel head, lecturing me about privacy. When she had asked me what I was looking for I had said that I was trying to find out if she were cheating on my dad so that I could show him what she really is like. Steam had literally escaped out of her ears after hearing that.

I walked back to my room and locked it behind me and fell on the bed on my back as I stared up at the ceiling. I dimmed the lights so that I was able to see the glowing solar system on my ceiling. I turned to my side and rand my fingers over the empty space beside me, where Percy had laid a week ago. I had not seen him since the library incident which was driving me crazy. But each time I would wield a knife to cut myself I would feel his fleeting warmth and that conflicted sensation which would eventually stop me and fill me with want and an aching hollowness where my heart should have been.

I missed him terribly. I tried calling him but he won't pick up. I stopped calling after my third unsuccessful attempt. I was too proud to appear desperate even if I was feeling kind of lonely and... desperate. I would wait for him to come back or at least call me back as I don't want to become a second Rachel to him.

I sighed heavily as I sat up and pulled the bloody bookmark out of my short's pocket. I always kept it close to me. The handwriting was clearly my mom's but she had obviously written the stuff in some code language because the alphabets were alien to me. I strained my eyes over it again and again and tried to understand the strange script but it was no use.

I finally gave up and pocketed it again as I pulled my coat over my shoulders and tied my unruly blonde hair and straightened my red green tank top over my blue shorts. The colors reminded me of Percy's eyes so I quickly covered them up beneath by teak-brown coat. I was cold outside anyway, not cold enough to snow but cold none the less.

"Where are you going?" Dahlia asked with a hint of annoyance in her tone as I walked out of the main door.

I didn't answer her and ran out of the large gates as quickly as I could. To be honest I didn't have anywhere in particular to go. I walked past by the park and saw a familiar tanned girl with chopped brown hair and ever-changing eyes playing around with a little chubby kid. It was a boy. He had round cheeks and blonde bangs. His eyes were just like Piper's though his skin-tone way lighter than hers and except for his eyes none of his facial features were matching hers. Then again he was so small, probably three or four years old. I wondered if Drew had a brother but then I remembered that she didn't. She just had one step sister linked through her mother's side of course.

The boy looked so happy as he circled around Piper and blowed his cheeks out. His steps matched that of a penguin. He was round in the cutest way with small pants and shirt and a tiny leather jacket over. Piper was wearing a full-body overcoat and a scarf around her neck, both black in color. She waved at me as she saw me passing by, a huge smile plastered on her face. She picked the little boy up in her arms and walked over at me.

"How are you Annabeth?" She asked as she finally stood before me with the little boy pulling at her scarf.

"I am fine. Thank you." I don't know if I was being rude. It wasn't everyday that someone voluntarily spoke to me anyway.

She tilled her head in the boy's direction and said,

"Orphy! say hello to Annabeth!" She cooed.

He looked at me with his huge now-sky blue eyes and his nose did this cute twitching. A small cold feeling vibrated through my spine when he spoke,

"ellow Annabee." His kiddish voice was adorable but the coldness it gave of reminded me of... Jason from the library.

"Is he...?" I asked Piper. She looked lovingly at Orphy before nodding and voicing my thoughts.

"Yeah, he is my son. My and Jason's. His name is Orpheus."

Orpheus was one of the Argonauts, a companion of _the _Jason. I remembered that from ancient Greek mythology classes. I swallowed.

"How old are?"

Piper laughed before she calmed down and said,

"Twenty two. Does it even matter?"

Before I could answer Orpheus pressed his tiny hand against my cheek and... I can't describe what it felt like but all the hair on my body were up.

I saw images, of my mom sitting in a dark room. Then I see blood, lots of it. Then I see Dahlia smiling victoriously at something, there are voices, screaming for help. I could see a blonde girl in a snowy white frock. She turned as my eyes widened as I recognized myself. The slides of images had stopped at that point as I watched myself, the way the wind was playing with the ends of my frock and my open hair. Someone touched my shoulder in the vision and I turned. I saw Percy. His beautiful face was contorted with pain as he was clutching at his side. Blood was gushing out from a slash wound from his stomach. He fell towards the ground and the Annabeth in the vision caught him. He landed on his knees and the me in there looked down at her open palms. It was covered in blood. _His _blood.

I screamed... both in the vision and in reality.

* * *

There are dreams that I would like to remember and there are dreams that I could do anything to forget. This was one such dream that I wanted to remember as well as forget. It was horrible. I opened my eyes lazily and a pair of green-brown eyes greeted me. Orpheus was staring down at me. When he saw that my eyes were open he yelled,

"Mommy, Daddy! Annabee s wake." I still found his slipping tongue quite adorable. What had happened back then? Was it because of him. I slightly brushed my fingers against his cheek. Nothing happened. But back there-

"God Annabeth you frightened the hell out of me!" Piper came running into the room. For the first time I took in my surroundings. I was lying on a couch of a rather small apartment with lemon yellow walls and white floor tiles. I was in the drawing-room. There was a set of couch and an old television. The wall opposite to me was crawling with images of Piper with Jason and both of their's with Orpheus. I sat up and saw that Jason was leaning against the counter in the kitchen which was just a few feet across the main room. Between the main room and the kitchen was a small dining table and a sink perpendicular to that was attached to the wall facing opposite the table. Left to the basin was a door which was slightly opened, probably a bedroom... and to the right was probably the bathroom as it gave off a soft smell of chlorine.

Jason was wearing a casual purple T-shirt and blue jeans while Piper was wearing an orange top and black semi leggings. She looked relieved on seeing me awake. Jason snorted for some reason. I wondered why he did that for a moment and then I noticed the way he was looking at Piper fretting over me. He was jealous. He wanted all her attention for himself. My cheeks warmed at that thought. Piper handed me a cup of warm coffee. The moment I took a sip I realized how cold I was.

"Are you okay?" Piper's voice was soft and soothing...

I nodded to say that I was fine.

Jason grabbed his keys and crossed the distance between the couch and counter in merely three strides and pulled me up by my collar.

"Hey!" I protested.

"I don't want your caretaker to create a fuss." He said as he pushed open the door with his foot.

"Gwood Bi Annabee!" Orpheus said cheekily.

"See you Orphy!" I heard myself saying as I smiled at him before being pulled inside a cranky elevator.

Jason punched the ground floor button and the lift started moving down. It wasn't a smooth way down.

I turned to look at him and took a step back when I saw his staring at me with narrowed eyes. As my mind was slowly settling down, I was able to feel the same unpleasant chill radiating off him. I raised an eyebrow at him.

"Piper and Orphy seem to like you. I was just trying to figure out why?"

I shrugged. I was about to suggest that he should ask them instead of asking me when he said,

"Even Percy is in love with you."

My head snaps in his direction and I am unable to stop myself before saying,

"What? No! That is impossible! You must have misunderstood something!"

Jason gave a hearty laugh which lessened the chilly sensation a bit.

"Whatever you say... _Annabee."_

My cheeks heat up when he calls me that and I surprise myself by jabbing him sharply at his shoulder. This was something the old Annabeth would have done.

"Ow!" He mumbles and glares at me.

I shrug before saying, "You deserved it."

* * *

Jason parked his rather expensive Honda SUV outside my big celebrity like house. I jumped out of it the moment he hit the brakes. We had been bickering back and forth about anything and everything all along the way. I poked my head through the passenger side window and picked up my coat. Before I pulled back I saw some inscription on Jason's wedding ring. They seemed oddly familiar.

"Good Night Annabee!"

I glared at him and before I could have retorted anything back at him, he was gone. I stood there till his car turned the corner and disappeared. I sighed and realized that I had made a friend. That night dinner wasn't a torture. Dahlia looked at me suspiciously all along it and asked me where I had been. I told her that it was none of her business. That angered her even more as she yelled at me, telling me how lucky I was that an important woman like her was looking after an orphan like me. I reminded her that my dad was still alive. She snapped back at me with a, "He doesn't consider you as his daughter anymore."

And that was the end of it. I had slammed my hands on the table and ran up to my room

Now I was lying on my back. Sobbing helplessly as I couldn't even cut myself without feeling guilty now a days. I picked up my phone with trembling hands dialed Percy. I might as well call him. He didn't pick up. My call went straight to his voice mail. I might as well leave him a message.

"P-Percy..." I stammered.

"Please c-come back." I hit the end button after sending the message and stared up at the ceiling and wondered how pathetic I would sound when Percy would hear that message. I sobbed harder. What's wrong with me? I have never cried before. Not even when my mom died, not even when my dad abandoned me. How could the words from a cheap lady like Dahlia get to me like this? I had had enough of that weakness. I got up and rummaged through my drawers for a thermocol cutter. I finally got one from my craft's kit. I felt quite stupid for not looking there first but I let it slip by. I tossed my leather jacket off myself on the bed and took a deep, horse and watery breath. I stretched out my left hand and pressed the cool blade of the cutter right above my wrists.

I couldn't do it. I kept on feeling Percy's hands on my waits, his warmth kindling on my lips my neck my back.

_But he doesn't care._

A small part of my brain spoke up and that was enough to dampen my spirits. He was not answering my calls anyway so I didn't have anything to contradict myself with. I closed my eyes and waited till the last bead of tear trickled down my cheek. I steadied my shaking hands to press deeper. I might as well as cut my veins like my mom did. Dahlia is right after all. My father doesn't consider me as his daughter.

There was a sharp rapping on my window which made me jump. With shaking fingers I put the thermocol cutter on my dresser and made my way towards my window. I noticed how my room was as big and long as Jason's whole apartment block. I pushed aside the heavy linen curtains and gasped. Standing outside on the tresses was Percy. His palms were pressed against the glass of the window and I lifted my hands and traced his finger lines. When I looked back up at him I saw his eyes shining with... passion. He had been worried about me.

That was too good to be true. To be cared about by someone. A new wave of tears attacked my eyes as I rubbed them frantically as I sobbed. Percy quickly pushed back the window glasses and climbed inside my second-story room. He gently moved my hands away from my face and leaned down to kiss my wet cheek.

He put me on fire. A dangerous kind of fire which could burn me if I wasn't too careful.

"I feel so p-pathetic! I-I don't want to c-cry!" I stuttered between sobs as his one hand wound around my waist, pulling me closer to him and his other hand pushed my head to his chest. His heartbeat was fast. Faster than normal. It made me smile that I could effect his heart rate.

"I think it is pretty normal to cry when you are too sad. What happened?" His warm breath hit the skin behind my ears and made me swoon as he whispered those words.

"Dahlia accepted that dad doesn't consider my existence as significant. For him I could as well as be dead."

His hands tightened around me as he snorted, "I think you should just ignore her. I don't like her or trust her."

I put my hands on his shoulder and pulled back a little so that I could look into his depth-less aqua eyes.

"Neither do I." I whispered breathlessly. Percy looked back into my eyes and slowly leaned down. When his lips touched mine the world started to heat up and charges started to flow freely. I could fell myself melting into him as my lips moved against his.

**Sorry for the long wait guys but I had to study a lot and I still have to study a lot so my update speed would be like this for a month or two at most. I hope you all enjoyed. What kind of being do you think Orphy is? He is super cute! Just in case you were wondering.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Annabeth**

Things might seem to change for good but I wonder if they really do. They certainly didn't when my mom died. The change had wrecked me out of my senses and broken me small shards of hatred and longing for affection. Now that I am trying to put myself back together and the also the mystery behind mom's death... I hope their aftermath would be good...

* * *

Percy grabbed my hand as we walked towards the school's winter camp. Our school is one of the richest in upstate New York. So they of course had a summer resort. But this summer, due to maintenance purpose, we weren't able to visit. Well so summer camp turned into winter camp for seniors this year.

I didn't really want to be here. I had even tossed the form in the trash can of my room. But then Percy had come to visit and he had looked so weary and tired that I had reconsidered. I was allowed to bring guests as I was supposed to be _the _Frederick Chase's daughter. He had first stared at me blankly when I had offered him to come along with me but then he had smiled his most charming complete, almost shy, smile and had said yes before instantly falling asleep.

Now I looked at him. He was wearing a fitting Black T-shirt and normal blue jeans. His hair was sticking in every possible direction and even though his lips weren't curled up, I could see in his glinting aqua eyes that he was amused. Why would he be...?

I looked around and found out why. All the girls, All the _freaking _girls from my school were ogling at him. Even Mrs. Mebbins and looking at him, then blushing, and then looking at the ground then again looking up at him and so on. That annoyed me a hell lot more than it amused him. Then Drew walked past me. She obviously 'accidentally' bumped into my shoulder and then turned around with a fake apologetic look. I mentally cursed her. What's her problem? Percy isn't the last boy on earth.

" Oh I am so sorry Annabeth! Please forgive me!" Her eyes slide over me as they fixate on Percy. She takes his figure in, almost hungrily. I expect Percy to flinch and wither from discomfort but he just stands still and looks coolly at her with one eyebrow raised.

"But you know Percy..." She lazily lifts her hand and brushes it down from his shoulder to his wrist as she says, "You could have more fun... with me."

My flesh burns. I could already imagine Percy accepting her offer. There was nothing binding him to me anyway. I was the one who was hopelessly addicted to him, not the other way around. And no matter how disgusting Drew was from inside, she was beautiful with brown wavy hair, tanned skin, brown eyes and an overly curvy bodice. I was pale and insignificant in comparison to her. I looked away to where the other students were hiking their way to the resort which was now in the line of my view. I liked the resort not only for its luxuries, but also for its discrete architecture. It's like an old Japanese temple with a dome. I know it sounds odd but it's all beauty to the eyes. It has two floors and over three hundred rooms with a kitchen on each floor and a sitting area. A pool in the backyard with a tennis court and a huge garden. In short it is a perfect home for a large joint family.

I sped up and left Percy and Drew to whatever they wanted to do. As my fingers slipped from his I felt a racking jolt, a desperate want, a helpless fire that refused to die down. As I reached the co-ordinator I took the card to mime and Percy's room. I'll ask them to switch mine and Drew's room later.

I was on the verge of exploding. I pushed open the door to my huge room and shut it with a loud bang behind me. I sat on the edge of the bed and brought my knees closer to my chest.

Why did I leave him there!? I should have said something! I ruined the slightest chance of him coming after me! He must think I am pathetic. Wait! I _am _pathetic.

The door opens with a little swoop and closes almost instantly. I feel him before folds his hand around shoulder, his wrists against my thumping heart. My head is flooded with the same feeling of being in danger and the same time it feels his infectious electricity which my skin now conducts. He breaths against the crook of my neck, making me shiver. Then he softly presses his cool lips against my neck and I tilt it to give him a wider way in. I had changed into my strapless night top and short shorts earlier. He makes his way down to my hand and when he reaches my palm, he takes it and makes his way around me so that he is on his knees on the floor facing me, the back of my palm pressed against him lips.

I feel like I am burning from his touch but at the same time when I look into his blue-green eyes, I feel like I am drowning.

"Hey." His says simply. It makes me blush as I avert my eyes away.

"I see you are not with _Drew_." I didn't mean for the last word to come out so bitterly but it just did.

"Why would I ever do that?" He questions and I reply in a rather harsh tone without even looking at him. I regret it immediately. I didn't even know why I was being so insecure as I said,

"Why wouldn't you? You don't really have any reason to always stick to me."

I feel his cool fingers under my chin, slightly tilting it so that I am facing him again. The way he looked at me... made my heart lurch. My hunger, my want seemed like a child's desire for a new toy in front of the wildness and desire in his eyes. But I could see the threads of restraints in his smooth face and the way his jaw seemed to be tightly locked together, the way he was so tensed up, the way his voice became thick when he spoke,

"Because I want you..."

"Why?"

"Because I... You..." He gulps before speaking again. The way the bob of his neck moved when he gulped increased the temperature of the room further. He was so attractive. I simply... wanted him.

"Because I think... I... you won't understand."

The world stops abruptly around me. I search his face for a sign of humor. But there is none. What is he trying to say? What have I not noticed? What would I not understand?

Then I remember all those sideways glances, touches, kisses, feelings everything. Now that I excluded the fact that he wasn't doing all that just as a favor to me, He suddenly didn't seem so distant. Rather, he seemed close, too close.

I whispered my next words without thinking,

"Make me understand."

He stood up slowly and pushed my shoulders to lay me down on the bed. Then he leaned down with his arms pinning to the soft mattress of the be on either side of me. He looked into my eyes and I looked into his. That was it, his restraint was gone. His pressed his lips against mine. At first it was slow and testing but it got more heavy and more serious as the moments passed. I had missed the way his tongue used to push against my lips and my tongue but now I was trying to explore every bit of his mouth as I wound my hands around his neck and pulled him down. His hands collapsed as he hadn't expected me to be so rough but then his put his hands on my waist. His grip was tight, tight enough to make me give out a muffled moan, tight enough to leave marks on my skin tomorrow.

His hands snaked under my shirt and brushed the clasp of my bra as he continued to push me further into the bed. My fingers knotted his thick messy hair as the way his hands wandered against my skin ignited me. Hi lips moved to my neck as he pushed the top over my head. I felt like I was in a daze as his lips kissed every bit of my exposed stomach. My fingers fidgeted around the hem of his shirt and he gave out a small groan as my fingers brushed against his skin. I smiled a little and pulled his shirt above his head. I gasped when I saw his naked well-built and toned torso. I know I have seen him like that once before but those memories were frazzled by alcohol and I knew that he didn't as much as lift his finger the last time we were together like this. I traced his muscles with my fingers before looking at him again. His expression was pained. Like he was stopping him self with great difficulty from having something he so badly wanted and... needed.

I didn't want him to hesitate. I wanted him. I wanted all of him right then and there. So I plopped my self up and kissed his lips briefly, then I kissed his cheeks, his forehead and his nose before kissing his lips again. I could feel his walls weakening and he kissed me back with a new found hunger. I pulled him closer. I wanted to feel his skin. Even though his skin was cool, it managed to burn through mine. I wondered if I loved him back, but my heart was too filled lust to answer impartially. I felt like I more than loved him in that moment... and that was good enough.

In a matter of minutes all out clothes were discarded on the sides of the bed and the floor. I hadn't even taken in the appearance of the room in my self scowling earlier but it seemed so insignificant now. Percy turned me over and pressed his lips against my back. I shivered under the sweet pleasure. My skin was on fire under his cool lips. I never understood how he did it. How he made me wanna yearn for him. He made it feel like the world 's a hazy mob and he is the only substantial thing that I can hold on to. Like my sanity and soul would slip out of my fingers if I let go of him. I didn't want him to go. I can feel through his touch that he was on the edge, stopping himself from crossing some invisible line, holding his this identity together. I wished he would just let it all fall and stop trying so hard to be gentle and caring when I could feel that it was not in his nature. I thought about what I could do to provoke him. I wanted to see his real face. And tonight I was going to.

I tilted myself a little so that one of my arms were pressing into his chest and the elbow of the other one was holding my weight by pinning down on the soft mattress. I kissed his broad shoulder and was greeted by a surprised halt from him. He turned me completely so that I was laying on my back facing him. His eyes were as conflicted as he made me feel. He was holding back. His eyebrows were pulled together in a cute cringe as he said in a husky voice,

"Annabeth... don't"

I grinned a little. That effected him. I always seem to affect him in ways alien to me. I could understand why his doings bothered me as he had become my new drug, my substitute for cutting my self. But was that it? Is it all that he is? I lift my hand and trace his muscles from his chest to his stomach. He takes a sharp breath in.

I look at him. He looks back at me. And something changes. His eyes... they glow. They were luminous in the dark room. How were they glowing? His hair appeared to be more wind-blown, specially from his forehead, they were sticking out with streaks of grey in them.

And like that... it was gone. His eyes were back to their normal intensity of blue-green. It was as if I had almost imagined those glowing orbs and grey streaks before. Almost.

The look of uncertainty on his face made me change my train of thoughts. I rose up and kissed him. I fell back on the bed with my arms around his neck and my lips locked with his. And after that finally everything became... hot, painful but at the same time beautiful. I had never thought about what completion was. But at that moment I felt it... it seemed like the most perfect thing of the world. My back arched up to him as by breathing labored. A moan escaped my lips as my nails dug into his bare shoulders. He grunted a little with his head buried at the crook of my neck.

Things like Dahlia, Dad even Mom's death ceased to matter at that moment. After about forever when he collapsed beside me and pushed a strand of sweaty hair out of my face. My heart was racing at a speed of a mile per minute and my breathing was irregular. I extended my hand and placed my open palm on his chest. I giggled as his heart hammered against my hand. He yawned and wound his hands around my hips and pulled me closer to him. I pressed my now flushed cheek against his cool chest and smiled one last time as his heartbeat gradually slowed and his breathing got even. I peaked at him by tilting my neck slightly.

He looked so young and peaceful with his eyes shut close. I made my way up and pecked his nose one last time before burying my face in his chest and falling asleep.

* * *

That night I dreamed about being chased by a demon who appeared to be human but had striking grey strands in his windy black hair and he also had... glowing sea-green eyes.

**Sorry for the late update guys! So what do you think Percy is? Is Annabeth just stressed out and imagined that whole thing? What does her FREAKING dream mean? Percy could never hurt her... could he?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Annabeth**

One person can fall in love truly with only one person in a lifetime. That is what my mom used to say. I used smile sheepishly at her and ask her to quit it as I was too young for love. I still remember how she used to laugh at that and say that no one is to young for true love. She used to tell me how lucky she felt to have my dad in her life, how completely and irrevocably she was in love with him and that I, their only dear daughter, was a sign of their intense love.

I wonder what she would say if she saw him waking up with Dahlia now-a-days instead of her. What form of true love she would make? And why am I so worried about true love? I can't be falling for him and that too that hard... right?

* * *

I woke to sunlight streaming in my resort room. I stretched my arms out and yawned loudly. The room same as each years. A big fluffy bed, a forty-four inch flat screen T.V. Two doors joining the edges of a wall and leading to a small room (The size of a garage) for wardrobe, A full body mirror, A balcony leading to a dining area with a microwave in the left and a simple bathroom. It was not like the rooms and suites that I would book on my normal holidays but it wasn't unpleasant at the least. As Percy wasn't a registered student so I would have to share my room with him.

Speaking of Percy...

I looked around the room but couldn't find him. I touched the spot near me. It was still warm, he must have gotten up just a few minutes before me. But where is he? My question was answered by a soft hum of running water. He was under the shower. I pulled the sheets up to my chest and realized that I had nothing on. I quickly grabbed my clothes from the tilled floor and pulled them on hastily. All the time I was blushing like a fresh tomato. I remembered everything from last night vividly. It was all there unlike last time. I couldn't believe what had happened yesterday. I knew that I had somehow provoked him to do it but still...

I grimaced as my sore thighs and stomach hurt when I bent to pick my shirt up from the floor. I was fully dressed if not for the top that is. I was just about to pick it up when I stopped. A black T-shirt had caught my attention. I tiptoed my way towards it and picked it up and sniffed. A smile crept up my lips. It smelled like the ocean... just like Percy. Before thinking ten times about it I pulled it over my shoulders. It was big. My shoulders were nowhere near as broad as his and my muscles were non-existent. Yet I liked it as it wasn't smelly or warm like people's shirts usually were. Rather it was cool. Just like him.

"What are you doing with my shirt?"

I snapped out of my trance and looked at a perfectly bare-chested Percy. My cheeks heated up. He was only in his grey trousers. I hadn't even heard the bathroom door open. I stared at his torso. It was toned, not in a huge bulky way but in a fine and handsome one. His chest was pale. I noticed that the color of his complete skin (As much as was visible) was uniform. It was like he had never seen the sun. He caught me looking and cracked a smile which stretched only one of his cheek. I quickly looked away. Embarrassed at being caught. I lifted one of my shoulder as if to say -I-am-the-structure-of-innocence, when there was a tap on the door.

Uh...

"It's okay you don't have to open up! I am just here to inform you that today is the free exploring day. Wash up and come down in twenty minutes." Whoever the person was, probably a chirpy boy, went to the next room for relaying the same message. I went to the bathroom and turned the shower on.

Cold water trickled down my chin and my warm cheeks tingle. I sighed. I still couldn't believe what had happened last night. I remembered each and every detail and yet it seemed so impossible that Percy would ever hold me or touch me or kiss me like that. He was over the edge last night. He was trying to force himself out of there but was failing to do so. Why would he do that? What is it that is tying him to a simply annoying and disturbed teenager like me? I wish I could read his mind. To know what he thought of me.

I applied soap and rinsed it off under the shower and shampooed my hair as I was quite sure it had become an owl's nest. I blow dried my hair and rubbed my self off and reached for my clothes. Uh-oh.

My old clothes were lying wet on the floor and my fresh ones were out in the room in my bag. I contemplated asking Percy to get but my cheeks heated up on the though of him seeing my Daffy duck shorts. No judging! I gulped as I wrapped the towel around me and slowly opened the bathroom door and stepped out of it. Percy had pulled on a smart blue T-shirt and was wildly typing away on him laptop.

I tried to be as quiet as possible but the moment my foot landed on the floor tile his head jerked in my direction. Fast reflexes. I wish they had let it go easy this time. My face was burning as I was nervously rubbing my right calf with my left toe. He looked away, I think I caught a tiny bit of red on his cheek as he dived in his laptop again.

I quickly grabbed some clothes and dashed back inside the bathroom. Even after everything that had happened... I felt more nervous and flushed around him. I didn't know what to make of it. So I took one deep breath and pulled my clothes on. A pair of brown half-pants and an orange tank top. I guess it could have been worse. I clasped a thin sliver chain with a crescent moon, a keepsake from my mother, around my neck and walked out of the room as Percy threw my sneakers at me. I caught them mid-flight and looked at him with one eyebrow raised.

"We'll be late."

I nodded and put them on and just as I was going to declare that I was good to go Percy slipped his hand into mine and pulled me on with him. I looked down to our linked hands and then up to see the back of his head before tightening my grip on him. Suddenly, I was no afraid of people... of all those backstabbers like dad and evils like Dahlia. He had kind of become my personal momentary ward against all the negative in the world. My heartbeat raced and my face hurt with the too big smile it was accommodating for the first time in a very long time. My face was flushed by the time I realized that we were running down the back entrance then down the hill. We were supposed to gather up by the main lawn for some kind of nature watching or something.

"Where are you taking me?" I had to speak louder than usual because outside the morning air was frosty we were running quiet fast.

He tilted his head slightly to get a side-ways glance at me and said, "You'll see."

As the roads narrowed into paths of loose soil and pebbles we stopped running and instead, Percy pulled me close to his side as we continued to walk. As my upper arm was pressed against his chest, I could feel his rapid heartbeat. I blushed as I realized that mine must be beating at the rate of a mile per minute. I noticed all the side-way glances he gave me and how he never let go of my hand. It was all too clear but not near enough to grasp. What was it? I could hardly explain the sweet and warm electricity emanating through our tangled hands up my skin. Now there was this crazy light feeling in my heart that adored the state of dilemma of danger and want which he radiated.

I realized I loved that feeling and now I had become so used to it that it didn't bug me any more. We finally stopped in front of a little spring falling into a clear blue lake from one of the low surrounding hills. Everything was so green and the water was deliciously blue. My first instinct was to run down to the lake and splash around in it. So I tugged on Percy's arm and pulled him down to the lake. His eyes widened as we fell inside the lake. For a moment I thought his clothes remained dry but then he broke the surface of water after me, squatting away a lily pad and his shirt and hair were dripping wet.

I laughed. That too hysterically and splashed more water on him. He let out a light and beautiful laugh of his own and grabbed my wrist playfully. Them his eyes focused on mine and just when I got all worked up with the thought that he was going to kiss me he slowly and cautiously guided my hand behind his back and placed both of his palms on my hips. I quickly wound my hands around his neck as he said in his best bale teacher voice,

"Now Annabeth, let's see how much of a lady you are."

Then he stepped to the side in an attempt to dance but I slipped on the frictionless muddy lake bed. I fell into him but his arms further wound around my waist to keep us from falling. I couldn't help but laugh.

"Turns out I am slouchy lady sir."

He grinned at me and I went for another turn of laughter.

"Okay let's try again." I said after I had almost calmed down. The big, bright smile on my face just refused to go away.

Then time when he took a step I slipped again but my fingers dug into his skin a little as I managed to balance my self. After that he moved in a sharp angle and I went crashing down, this time towards the water. Percy caught me again as the tips of my ears barely touched the surface of water. We laughed again and my fingers traced the almost visible lines of his torso through his shirt to his heart. It was getting faster and faster every passing second. Yet he was smiling at me, sheepishly. I threw my head back and laughed, my cheeks coloring up by the minute.

"Your dance is too lousy miss! What do you plan on doing for the upcoming ball?" His tone was downright mocking. Which made me laugh harder.

I made an 'O' shape with my mouth and tried to pull the look of utmost horror," What? Such a disgrace young master! No place there is on this land where I could hide these unworthy steps."

I meant it to be as funny as his comment was but by the time I realized my slight slip up a sly smile had already made it's way up his face.

"I am your young _master_."

I gulped and tried to shake my head from side to side to say no. But somehow I managed to slip, ending up in his tight embrace. He laughed. I felt his chest move beneath mine as he did that making me giggle.

He pulled away a played with a wet, golden strand of my hair. Then his eyes shifted back on mine with an almost evil glint as he said,

"So, wont you kiss your young master?" He asked nonchalantly.

"If that is what you wish for _master_." I said coyly but failed to keep the sarcasm out of the last word. _  
_

He smiled slightly as he leaned down, his hands still around my waist as mine were around his neck. His lips touch mine almost too gently, burning my chest into tendrils with desire. Then slowly his watery and salty lips started moving against mine in a perfect lock. I licked his lower lip. It tasted perfect. My heart felt light with the feeling of contempt and a small alarm of danger which I could now embrace to. I somehow knew that being so close to him would prove dangerous for me in the near future but I didn't care. Right now, in his arms I saw the world lightening up. I felt safe. Although the water made his already cool skin quite cold it sent shots of warm current through me. At that moment I wanted that kiss, that embrace to last forever. To be forever in his arms sounded like a wonderful thing.

That's when I realized something.

Percy broke the kiss almost to soon and pressed his forehead against mine and sighed. Then he took my hands in his and looked me straight in the eyes. His lovely sea-green eyes were smiling along with his lips but the smile was almost... sad.

I wanted to ask why. What could possibly bother him at this perfect moment? I couldn't possibly let it ruin the situation now. After all I had just realized that I was...

"Annabeth." Percy breathed my name out and the way he did it made me nervous. He is going to say something. Something serious. Something which he had possibly never said to anyone before.

"Annabeth I am in..."

My hand instinctively went to my chest, just beneath the hollow between my collar bones. Something was missing. My mom's chain. I looked around frantically.

"What's wrong Annabeth?" I heard him ask me.

"My mom's chain. The crescent moon one! Which I was wearing this morning! I cannot find it!"

I knew I was ruining the moment after deciding to not ruin it and that Percy might never come up to me and say those words which I thought he would and strongly desired for him to say.

He lightly placed one hand on my shoulder and slowly turned me around and pointed at a an almost dull silvery glow. It was mu mom's chain. It was right there, just a few meters away. I started to move towards it but Percy stopped me with his firm hands on my shoulders.

"You stand right here. I'll go get it and then... I'll finish what I had to say... okay?" His green eyes were soft as he leaned down and pressed his lips to my forehead and in a graceful way dived towards the chain. I watched him. His strokes were too graceful to be real. They entranced me.

I felt as it some one whispered my name.

"_Annabeth" _

There. It called again. It was my mom.

_"Annabeth"_

My dad.

I wiped my head around and my eyes landed on a lotus. Although there were leaves and pads scattered around the lake there wasn't any flower and certainly not a lotus this pink and brilliant. Where did it-

_"Annabeth" _

Came the voice of my parents together.

Maybe the flower had been there all along. I had been just to busy to have noticed it before? Busy doing what? With whom? I couldn't quite put it all together. And there was the perfectly pretty lotus.

So pretty. So beautiful. So... alluring.

I should get it for my father. When I present it to him he would finally understand how much I loved him.

Love? Why does my heart ache and lurch when I think about it. Why-

I should hurry up and get that flower or someone else might take it.

I started walking slowly towards it. I pressed my feet to the muddy floor of the lake to keep from slipping. Just a few feet further. I can finally push that devil out of my father's life and claim all his love and time as mine.

Why does every mention of love fires my heart up? I cannot think about it now. Only the lotus matters. Almost there, I am almost there-

I lose the ground beneath my feet and with a sudden lack of solid my feet thrust me towards the water. Deep into the water. I kick and trash and try my best to swim but something is too strong and pulling me down. My head dips under water. I struggle out and scream,

"Percy!"

And then I am under the water again. This time my muscles give away and I let myself be pulled. Tears escape my eyes and float above my head. This couldn't be the end. No!

Water fill inside me any burn my lungs as I try to kick my way up but all in vain as my legs barely move.

_"Annabeth! I'm coming. I am coming so hold on."_

I felt like Percy was speaking directly into my head as slowly black spots started dancing around my vision.

_"ANNABETH!"_ I feel him scream in despair as I drown.

I smile slightly as I open my mouth to say the three words which would have conveyed my earlier realization to him but only more water rushes into my mouth. I slowly feel light headed and think about it strongly and wish for him to hear me somehow.

"I love you."

I close my eyes as everything turns black and ice-cold.

**OMG! What is going to happen to Annabeth? Who put that blasted lotus there? I already hate that person! Do you think Annabeth is gone forever and Percy would have to live sadly with just her memories and bucket of wishes? I want to know all about what you guys think! And sorry for updating after a life time. My grandpa's been hospitalized so I had to leave for my hometown for about two weeks. I hope you liked this chapter though. Tell me what you think and if this stuff deserves to be continued. Ciyo!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Annabeth**

Everything was calm and quiet. Even if someone had dropped a nail in... wherever I stood, the sound produced on it hitting the ground would have echoed for miles.

I have never tried drowning to death before. I feel silly about it now. It would have been more easier, faster and painless than cutting myself. I felt like shaking my head at my stupidity but that was the thing. I wasn't able to feel my head or my arms or my legs or anything else. I remembered my mom's warm embrace and her strict but loving attributes and her rare laughs but frequent soft smiles. I missed her.

But something in the left side of my chest hurt. I could feel it clenching, squeezing... crying out for someone. Yes, I could see his mess of a black hair and beautiful aqua eyes all set perfectly with his devilish grin. His pale skin, perfectly strong chest, broad shoulders, strong but not huge arms and long slim legs... cool to touch but fiery for me. His pointy canines were doing wonderful things to his image. They, along with his perfectly long and angular nose along with his slender-long fingers made him look more sharp.

Suddenly a thrumming cut through the eerie quietness. It filled my ears with its rhythm. It's beat was rapid and a bit hysteric and it filled my ears.

As Percy's image started to disappear I realized that I wasn't dead. After recollecting his profile...

My heart was beating again.

* * *

I woke up with a burning lack of oxygen in my lungs. Were was I? What had exactly happened? All I remember is water... lots of it and a beautiful otherworldly lotus. I sat up and rubbed my eyes. Light was streaming in through the window in front of me and was falling directly in my eyes. After a moments of squinting and rubbing, I finally managed to open them up. I was in a hospital room with a different tubes and equipments attached to my left side. A plastic oxygen mask was supplying oxygen to my system. I wondered why I felt so breathless then.

I realized that I had held it while I was coming around. So I was alive? It seemed too fictitious to be true. I could gaze up at the white ceiling with chipped plasters and air vents. The walls were white and bare and I seemed to be in my own ICU room as everything was freakishly clean and the temperature was cold. How long had I been out? Have I missed anything important? Most importantly where am I supposed to be? If I could remember correctly then there isn't any hospital or even a clinic under a five-hundred kilometer radius of the School's Vacation resort. Though it had been my first visit to it along with my school I had almost always visited it along with my mom. That's why I remember numerous things about it. It doesn't feel comfy or anything like that now. It has become just another place.

I wondered who had saved me? I was missing something... someone very crucial... very important and very close to my heart...

Percy.

He must have saved me. There was nobody else anyway around there to howl me out. I briefly wondered what had pulled me down back there... it had felt stronger than gravity. And Percy saved me. Again. And he was about to tell me something... something which he had summoned up all his courage to deliver to me. And I had ruined it all. After he had splashed around in the lake with me and showed me a really good time in a long period... After he had made me realize that I wasn't simply just addicted to him- that I had somehow fallen for him- I had ruined everything by loosing my bearings to a pretty flower. My shoulders slumped. I felt pathetic. He had looked so right and so... charming back in the lake and I... I couldn't even think about it. I think I deserved being drowned to almost death for interrupting the perfect, beautiful atmosphere that he had created back then.

While I was at the middle of my self loathing, the doors to the ICU opened and a tall blonde man with shiny blue eyes stepped inside. His skin had the glow of the sun and his teeth were blinding. He was carrying a register with him as he stepped towards my hospital bed. His white coat almost touched the ground as his graceful stride brought him next to me. His stethoscope was hanging around his neck like a... serpent. I felt weird as he neared me. He didn't radiate fear at all in fact he was all bliss and happiness. Like a shining star. The closest one to earth.

"Hey Annabeth. How are you feeling? I am Apollo you doc." He said with an easy air coated with an easy smile.

I hadn't realized it before but as soon as he asked about my health a sickening sore sensation started clogging me up. I wasn't well. My body hurt without any movement. I clenched my teeth as he checked my pulse and scribbled something down on his register. After that he called for a nurse who took my oxygen mask away. Instantly, I was at a loss of air but then she fixed a nasal tube. She gave me a sympathetic look before closing the doors behind her. What was she so sad about? My ill health or my assigned doctor? From the looks of it Apollo appeared to be pretty skilled but as we should never judge a book by it's cover I let that thought slip.

"How long have I-" I stopped for catching my breath but Apollo seemed to get the message.

"Two days. Your lungs were almost completely logged. It took some time for your parameters to get stable but your a quick healer. Your class mates brought you to this city hospital... if you were wondering."

"My classmates?" I asked in surprise. Why would they take me to the hospital if Percy was there?

"Yeah... they found you lying floating on the shallow side a nearby lake... do you remember anything." He asked the last part too cautiously. I looked at him through cloudy eyes. He was staring intently at me, his gaze unwavering, as if waiting for me to burst out horns and wings and fly off to the world.

"What about-" I paused to breathe then continued, "Percy... a boy with sea-green eyes and-" breath "black disheveled hair."

I guess that much detailing was enough for someone to recall Percy's image if they have ever seen him. He is unique. His profile can imprint itself even on the dullest minds. There is something about him... so otherworldly and so... so right and wrong at the same time that I... I guess I couldn't help but fall in love with him. He is so different from any other person I have ever met. He just... dangerously makes everything right.

"I don't remember seeing anyone of that sort with your group." He replied a bit to soon. I looked at him in a new light of suspicion. Was he possibly hiding something? Why would he?

"Anyway," He said while readjusting his easy air, "You'll be good to go in a weeks time."

With that he was gone. And with him went all the warmth from the room which I had not noticed before.

* * *

My driver drove me off to my mansion. I kept thinking about Percy. He hadn't called me once. He didn't even come to see me in the hospital. Or so what it appears. Every morning when I woke up, someone suspiciously unknown would have already placed fresh blossoms of bluish hydrangea bedside my table. I had never really thought about what kind of flowers I liked but on seeing those adorable blue flowers... I decided to like them to my heart's contempt. Something about the way they were blue and the fact that my dad doesn't really care about me and Dahlia would rather celebrate when I die... I cannot see anyone bringing those flowers for me with utmost care as every single one of their petals and leaves always remained in place. It had to be him.

I stepped out of the car and as it stopped outside the steps to my mansion's huge porch. I sauntered my way to the living room and heard voices. It was Dahlia.

"But Rick! You don't need to coddle her! She is just fine! Has a tough skin that one I tell you."

Rick? Frederick?

I stop dead in the hallway as she continues to rattle on with her nonsense. My dad had called? And he wanted to speak to me...?

I dashed forward and snatched the phone from Dahlia's claws and turned away. I carefully pressed the house phone to my ear, as if it were as precious as gold.

"D- Dad?" I asked meekly.

I expected him to be indifferent and annoyed at me for daring to take the away from his dear mistress and speak to him. I braced myself for his cold words and mentally slapped myself for being so rash. I desperately wished for something like an earth quake or flood to happen so that I would get a valid excuse for dropping the phone. I wished that Percy was with me... holding my hand with his strong one and comforting me just by his presence.

"Annabeth?"

His voice was surprisingly tight with emotion. I hadn't expected that. I wasn't prepared for it. Small pearls of tears started to pool around my eyes. Did it mean that he still loved me? Still valued me?

"Annabeth honey how are you? Are you hurt?"

_Hurt? _How can he even ask that of me? All this time he had ignored me not spoken to me and now suddenly, when I almost died and came back, he remembered that he is indeed my father. Anger flared up inside me. What proof do I have that all of this is just not an act. That he isn't sitting in a big press conference full of reporters and pretending to be a caring father just for looking good in front of the media. I could already imagine tomorrows headlines,

**Famous Dr. Frederick Chase loves his daughter more than his multinational company.**

I snorted before replying, "I am fine. Thank you for asking... Dr. Chase."

"Annab-"

I tore the phone away from my ear and handed it over to Dahlia whose earlier anxiety over me talking to my dad had vanished. She looked quite pleased at the way I had answered my father back. Of course she wanted me disappear from her sweet life but that was not gonna happen soon and under the light of that knowledge this small piece of silver had lifted her spirit.

I ran up the stairs to my room and closed the door behind me. I missed Percy so badly. My heart was literally aching whenever I saw or thought of anything minutely close to him and before this I hadn't realized that all the things I see and think about are always in a way or other related to him. When did I get so attached to him? I answered myself on a reflex instinct- from the moment I first laid my eyes on him. He had slowly become like a drug to me and now that he was missing and not even picking up my calls... let's say I was going insane.

I messaged him for the nth time but there was no reply. Okay. There is nothing to worry about. He is going to be fine.

The image of a bloody Percy kneeling on his knees, falling, in front of me flashed through my mind's eye. I had seen it before when Orphy had touched me for the first time. Why was I suddenly remembering those awful details. Those where illusions... right? I couldn't quite convince myself. What if I was the only one who had got out from that lake and Percy had been pulled down by that mysterious force then by now he would be...

I put both my hands to my ears and shook my head vigorously. I couldn't think like that specially about him. He was... he was... No. He _is _alive and kicking somewhere like in where ever he lives. _  
_

With a jolt I realized that I had never been to his house even though I had helped him sneak in inside mine and couple of times. I wondered what kind of a house he lives in. An apartment? A house? I think he mentioned something about living in a condo but I don't really think he elaborated anything else about it. I slumped into the rocking chair of my room and swayed back and forth. My room was... well mine. It had a huge king sized bed, a whole white dresser like the one you see in all time rich movies and two huge doors leading to my wardrobe which was yet another room in itself and my bathroom was almost as big as my room with a big bath tub with all-functions installed in it. One of my bathroom walls was completely a huge mirror with designs engraved on it and my sink was huge and my small bathroom tiles were creamy and reflected a beautiful glimmer when light fell on it. My room's tiles were big, white and clean and my most prized possession, my book rack, was completely filled with all sorts of books.

I walked up to it and pulled out one of my all time favorite:Angels and Demons by Dan Brown.

It was a fat book alright, one of the books I loved to read. I don't know why but I started to read it again in the vicinity of my room. The part about the fallen angels and demons gave always fascinated me but today I felt restless as I read them. It was like I was trying to find something I didn't know about.

I shut the book and put it back as my mind went back to Percy... where is he?

Jason. He would know. He is the closest to Percy. I got up and ran down the stairs and sighed with relief when I saw the driver hovering about and asked him to get in the car. He didn't ask questions and Dahlia wasn't someone I would care to inform about my whereabouts. I remembered the address and asked the driver to press on the gas paddle and pull his pace up. He looked at me with fright but obeyed. As soon as the Mercedes stopped outside Jason's building I jumped out of it and ran up the stairs to his floor.

His door was open but he was nowhere in sight and neither were Piper or Orphy. I frowned when I saw someone unexpected standing there. Her pitch black hair brush her shoulders as he pale skin let me look at on of her blue nerves. She was wearing a black aviator jacket over a black capre and a death-to-barbie T-shirt. She was staring at a picture on Jason's clustered wall but as soon as I took a step in, her eyes fell on me. There were the same blue as Jason, just a lot more intimidating. She radiated the same kind of chill and fear that Jason did but his aura was like a gush of wind but the girl, who was in front of me seemed to be crackling with electricity.

"You are?" She asked in a flat voice.

"Annabeth. I am Jason and Piper's friend. You?"

She raised her eyebrow slightly before responding, "Thalia Grace. Jason's older sister."

They didn't look anything alike. Completely different. Where were Jason and Piper anyway?

"Um... so do you know where your brother is?" I asked carefully as Thalia emitted a vibe that clearly stated -don't-mess-with-me-if-you-want-to-see-tomorrow's-sunrise.

She cocked her head up and replied, "No. I just let myself in."

"Do you know Percy Jackson?" I blurted out before I could stop myself. My cheeks turned hot as she jerked her head around to look at me.

"He is my cousin."

Okay.

"Do you know where he is... Y-you see he is my therapist and recently it has been very difficult to get in contact-"

My babbling was cut short by her as she said, "Even if I knew I wouldn't tell you."

"Why?" Fresh tears and a dangerously hot wave of anger started to take me in. I knew she wanted to convey that I was a perfect stranger to whom she obviously not confide but I AM no stranger to Percy. I _have _to know about him.

She looked at me with a razor sharp glare and the amount of fear she radiated increased by an awfully big octave.

"Get out."

With those two words I found herself driving off to my own mansion for the second time that day with only Percy in my mind. I rested my elbows on my thighs and put my face on my open palms. I would have done myself a favor with just reading Angels and Demons in my room but I had to push myself. Then suddenly like a loud firecracker a memory triggered in my brain.

Angels and... Demons.

_"I'll tell your new miss important what a monster you are!"_

Aren't monsters a synonym for demons... Was Rachel not using it just as a simile back then?

I knew that my speculations could get me transferred to mental hospital but I couldn't shake the feeling of heaviness about it.

I asked my driver to take a turn for the Dare's manor. I had to meet Rachel Elizabeth Dare.

**Annabeth is so close to the secret about Percy now! Can you guys guess what it might be? I am open for wonderings. Stay tuned people. You guys are awesome!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Annabeth**

I have never fallen in love before. If I knew that it would hurt all this much then I surely would have looked out for it. For Juliet loving Romeo had been everything and even though I had thought that it was too stupid of Romeo to rashly assume that Juliet was dead and kill himself, now I could almost feel his anxiety at being left behind by his love.

I felt cold and alone and... miserable... all at once.

* * *

My car stopped outside a huge summer house. It was unnaturally warm and nice there in the middle of the cold winter of November but my heart was unsettled. What was I chasing after? Did Rachel really know something useful? Would she ever tell me even if she did. Well if she didn't speak willingly then I would have to figure some other way out. I took a quick look at her summer house and found that it had a swimming pool up front and a small greenhouse behind it. The house was a bright sunny yellow and I didn't get a chance to ogle it or go inside it as I spotted Rachel by the swimming pool in a lip lock with... was that Luke Castallen?

I should have been sensible enough to give them some space and come back later but my senses had gone dead from the moment Percy had vanished. I jogged up to her with my fingers curled up in tight fists and cleared my throat. Luke was the one to push Rachel away. He was all golden and handsome as always and his blue eyes trickled as he looked me up.

"Is she the friend you had called over to _join _us?" He asked Rachel who was looking pathetic in a red lacy two-piece swimsuit while Luke was looking rather bright and handsome in his shorts and Hawaiian T-shirt. I frowned at him. His thoughts disgusted me but I kept my mouth shut. This was my first time seeing him in person and I had no intension to hold a chit-chat session with him. I had come here to know something very important and I would surely...

And then his blue eyes locked with my grey ones and I stood there, frozen. Even though it was only for a second, it had left me feeling cold and highly unpleasant. As if he knew every inch of my being. I felt disgusted at the thought of it as it had felt like he had touched me with his gaze. I felt like shivering and running away to the space below my bed with the covers on top of me but the memory of Percy once hiding below that same bed to avoid an encounter with that wretch Dahlia made me hold my ground. That solidified my nerves and I tapped a dazed Rachel on her shoulder. She turned towards me with saliva running down her face which made my stomach twist in a bad way. From my periphery I could see some of her guards looking at me suspiciously. I swallowed hard and said,

"Hello Rachel and... you too." I nodded towards Luke who was looking at me quizzically. I wondered how I must have looked to him, shamelessly interrupting him when he was busy making out with his girlfriend. I avoided his gaze as I said,

"I know you are busy but Rachel do you have a second?"

"Who are you?" Rachel seemed to be coming down from wherever she had been as she stood up. Her skin was tanned and her figure was attractively curvy and her frizzy red hair went too perfectly with her bright green eyes and freckled face. I wondered why Percy had not fallen for someone like her. She was just so... pretty. And as though her natural beauty was not enough, she had perfectly shaped and manicured nails and just the right amount of makeup on. I don't really think she needed that layer of makeup but then she could do whatever the hell she wanted to with herself.

"I am Annabeth Chase." I said slowly. Her expression darkened and her lips twitched.

"I know you! You are the rich kid who joined TSA about the month ago! I always wondered if you were just a normal trophy kid with the habit of being quiet and wearing baggy clothing all the time." Luke spoke up as Rachel's face turned an ugly shade of red and green.

I gave him a meek smile before turning back to Rachel with big pleading eyes. If she knew something then I had to get it out of her.

"Why do I get that feeling that I exactly know who you want to ask about?" She asked through her teeth.

"Because there is only one person who is common between us." I spoke up before I could stop myself. The logic was so obvious that I had been tempted to add _duh _with it but thank gods I didn't as clearly Rachel had expected to hear something along the lines of _'because you are beautiful plus intelligent' _or most probably, _'OMG Rachel! How could you tell?'_

"I am sorry to say that I have nothing to tell you except the fact that he is off limits for every human girl on earth." With that she pulled on her bathing robe and turned towards the green house. I jogged to keep up with her as she was almost running.

"But that day in his clinic I overheard you calling him a monster." I reminded her.

She stopped abruptly for a millisecond but then picked up her walking-run again.

"I suppose you are free to call the boy who turned you down without a second thought whatever you want." She said as she folded her arms in front of her chest. They were shaking.

"But the way you said it-"

"Shut up you filthy eavesdropper!"

"Hey!"

"Calm down ladies." came Luke's voice from behind me. A pair of cool hands clutched my shoulders and sent a sick shudder down my spine. I quickly wriggled out of his grip. I expected him to look offended but even if he was, he didn't show it as he sauntered up to Rachel and pushed her open hair to one side of her shoulder and whispered in the other. His actions reminded me too much of Percy... he had done the same thing to me when we had first met. I could guess why Rachel went after him after Percy had rejected her. I looked away and stared at the blue sky as I wondered how it was so warm here. Luke was really quiet and I couldn't pick up a single word of what he said to Rachel.

Rachel looked at me with a twisted smirk and said in an icy cold voice, "You are right. I would love to see how the great Perseus will react after his sweetheart would become too afraid to even look at him."

* * *

Luke went back to the pool as Rachel led me to the greenhouse. I felt grateful towards Luke for saying whatever he had whispered into Rachel's ears as that had successfully convinced her to help me. I turned towards him and smiled politely to say thanks. He chuckled as he winked at me. He was beyond cute. But I couldn't help but compare him with Percy. How his black hair looked more lustrous and attractive than his dull blonde one. How Percy's eyes could easily overshadow Luke's blue ones and how utterly inviting and captivating Percy's lips were. How his strong arms would wound around me and hold me till I calmed down from a fight with Dahlia, how much...

By the time we entered the greenhouse I was so lost in my chain of Percy-thoughts that I hadn't realized that the daylight was gone. The green house was filled with tall tropical trees with big green leaves and a few rare flowers. I caught sight of a bunch of ghost orchids here and big blossoms of corpse flower there. The way they were all somehow related to death... unsettled. I looked at Rachel, the way she stood with her arms crossed and the way she tapped her feet on the ground in an almost erratic rhythm. She looked impatient, as if she had to dash out and save the day. The green house was so dark that Rachel had to switch on a few more lights before finally facing me.

The way it was dark and the way the flowers were related to the dead... creeped me out but I kept my mouth shut. Rachel may as well be obsessed with the dead but I want to know about someone who is very much alive from her. Or is he? Of course he is! I didn't even know what had suddenly gotten into me. Just after read Angels and Demons, a book that I had read a million times, I had had this crazy urge to interrogate Rachel.

"Ughm."

She cleared her throat to draw my full attention towards her. I stood there in attention, waiting for her spill everything out. But she stalled around and took her own sweet time. I was about to snap at her after a few minutes before she said,

"What do you think about my green house?"

I knew she wanted to hear something like 'it's wonderful like Eden!' but I replied truthfully, "It's too dark."

She chuckled menacingly, "Just like a deep-deep sea right?"

I shivered at the thought of drowning in a deep-sea. A lake had been enough for a life time.

"Anyway, what religion do you belong to Annabeth?"

I scowled, "I don't see how it is relevent. If you don't know anything-"

"Just answer me without prying will you?" Her voice was sharp. I jerked my neck back in an act of defiance and answered, "My father is a follower of Ancient Greek religion."

Rachel snorted at that then turned so that her back was to me, "Ever read Bible? The Herbew one?"

"Of course I have!"

"What do you think of god in there then?"

"I don't know why you are asking all these questions. Are you trying to turn me?" That would be useless.

"I could care less. Anyway, do you know that when Satan defied God along with his top generals and angels what happened to them?"

I gave her a quirked eyebrow before replying. I didn't know where she was getting at but I was excited.

"They were banished from heaven circles... nine actually with Lucifer or Satan as you call him, in the center most one."

"Who were his minions or the the god-knows-how-many princes of hell?"

"They are all demons, um... Beelzebub, Mammon, Maxine, Asmodeus, Satan, Belphegor and Leviathan." I counted them on my fingertips. The last name left a chill through my spine. He was not only a demon, he was also associated with water bodies. The thought of Leviathan being the one who had been pulling my leg in the swimming pool made me wanna run and hide even if I knew he wasn't real. But something about that name stirred up deep emotions inside me, they were so deep that they left me kind of puzzled.

"One last thing, what were all the banished angels called before some of them turned to demons after Satan. I am impressed to see that you know the whole bible by heart."

I knew she was taunting me, my cheeks grew brighter as I slumped my shoulders.

"Fallen angels?"

"There you go! Now get out of here!"

"What does this even mean? You just made me repeat a bunch of stuff that I already knew and-

"Your lover boy is a demon... or at least was, I don't know what his alliance is."

I gulped, "You are insane. Angels do not exist."

"I don't care if you believe me or not really. You asked for what I knew and this is what I know." She said while placing her perfectly manicured hands on either sides of her hips. The greenhouse grew darker and nasty shadows fell on her face. Her green eyes looked darker and more menacing as she smiled at me crookedly.

"Do you want to know Percy's demon name?" She said in a slurry as she flipped her red hair behind her shoulder.

"You have lost it. I am out of here."

With that I turned around to head for the exit but she grabbed my wrist. I turned towards her slightly with an annoyed look and tried to jerk my wrist away from her hold but it was too tight, I was pretty sure that it would leave marks.

"The demon of deep seas... a general of Satan, the strongest one at that... I heard that you almost drowned to death in a water body when you were playing hooky with Percy... I wonder if that was just an accident... you know because Percy is..."

She trailed off. My blood ran cold under her grip. My rational brain kept on reminding me that there is nothing such as an angel but somehow in my heart and soul I was drinking in all of this. But this all has to be wrong. Percy doesn't have any wings or any angel like powers and he-

He had magically healed my wounds after the first night we had sex. The second time, just for a moment, his eyes had glowed and grey strands had appeared in his suddenly wind blown hair. I remembered him speaking in my mind the time I had drowned. I thought I had imagined it all but now the words replayed back in my head too clearly. And the way he had walked on the marshy submerged lake bed... as if it were just another tiled floor...

The discovery was shocking but all those crazy things screamed that he wasn't human. That he wasn't of this time or life. He had to be a supernatural being. Or I had to be totally crazy to even consider the possibility of him being a fallen angel or worse... a demon as per Rachel. If the clues she gave were right they Percy surely is... Did he try to kill me back there in the lake? It couldn't be. If he had wanted to kill me then he would have not wasted all this time and killed me already as he had had a million opportunities before when we used to be alone. Or was he waiting for a water body? So that he could drown my corpse and no one could ever figure out how I died and he had taken me their without telling anyone anyway. But his voice had been so frail, on the verge of breaking and frantic and the way he had laughed with me and looked at me... all of that couldn't be a lie. Right?

And if all of Rachel's speculations are to be considered right then...

I have fallen in love with the demon of deep seas... Leviathan.

**The big secret is out! So what do you guys think huh? Next update would be next month as my exams have started. I hope you guys liked the chap. Tell me if I should continue this theme!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Annabeth**

Fallen. That is what happened to all those evil angels who had tried to over throw god. They fell from the heaven with all their charms but no grace. They had all followed Satan and his generals or the princes of hell. One of the most powerful of them was Leviathan, who had the capability to even torment the arch angels.

I had always been fascinated by their stories, specially by the Arch Angel of light Uriel. She was the wisest of them all and how she was the one responsible to inform Noah about the great flood. The dark stories about the demons, on contrary, had always scared me back then. I had been frightened to death when my mom had narrated the story about the battle of Leviathan and Michael. I had been four at that time and my mother was an awesome story teller. She could make you believe that she had been there when everything had happened.

I had grown up to believe that those angels were just myths created by our ancestors to strive us away from the evil within us but I wonder if that is just all.

* * *

I was sitting inside the Max Town church which owned about five-hundred acres of land. It is a beautiful white structure with a flower garden surrounding it and overlooking the mountain, there was this peculiar structure which eerily duplicated the church but as it's structure was frail and unpredictable, a new church was built at the foot hills of the mountain, beside an old pre-civilized well the size of a twenty feet pond.

I used to come to the countryside a lot with my mother for her surveys but as I grew up I got more and more... distant from here. But I still remembered the way I used to run around in the flower garden and pluck marigolds before being chased away by the little bot who used to work here as a guard. I wondered what had become of him. He was surely smart and kind and all. He had had striking grey eyes and blonde hair just like me and my mom and even though I wasn't sure... I think people around the country including mom used to call him Mal. Mom used to just adore him, leaving me childishly jealous.

I pulled the stained bookmark out of my pocket and stared at it. Nothing was making sense at that moment. Neither the Percy-a-demon theory nor the strange characters scribbled on the bookmark seemed possible to comprehend. I gave out a loud sigh and slumped back on my pew. This was absolutely tiring. The church was empty as all the people around here were surly busy with their jobs right jewels on the big cross glowed as warm sunlight filtered the inside of the church, making it look more brighter and happier. The glass paintings on the windows became more prominent now as I caught one depicting the arch angels. They were beautiful of course and the sunlight made their white wings shimmer. A small smile formed at my lips as I imagined what it would be like to fly.

I quickly dismissed that thought and pocketed the bookmark as I got up to leave. A cold spark wreaked my veins as a nervous flurry of huge tropical butterflies entered my body. I spun around just in time to see him disappear around the hinged corner of the ornate front door. His black hair was sticking out to all directions as usual. I wasn't able to catch his eyes but I could have sworn that they were flashing with emotions. He had not expected me to come here,

I hurried after him at once but then stopped in my tracks. What if he was trying to lure me to some trap? There was no guarantee that he was totally harmless after all. I bit my lips in confusion. The possibility of him being a demon seemed absurd but at the same time it seemed true. My nerves tingled as the memories of his skin over mine rang inside my mind and I found myself following him without another thought.

The area around the church was vacant except for crop fields. Cold wind lifted my loose blonde hair as I turned yet another corner. He was almost as fast as light but he seemed the turned the corner of fields and brick separation walls just after I turned to that particular street. Soon he quickened his pace which seemed impossible but I sure had to sprint to keep up with him. Where was he going? Or rather, where was he taking me? I was afraid of it. I could guess a few perfect places for murder but I couldn't pin point anyone of them. I considered calling out to him but that seemed futile as I could's barely see the back of his head.

Finally he rounded one last corner, as the fields turned to give away the trees of the nearby forest, and came to halt. I bent down and grasped my knees as I panted. I wasn't used to running around an uneven muddy path for about forever everyday. Finally I looked up and swallowed. We were near the huge well. Calling it huge was an understatement as it was more than huge... it was massive. It seemed to come from another civilization entirely, surrounded with huge trees with massive leaves. The stone barrier encircling it was broken at places and totally absent at few points. Percy seemed to find it perfectly safe to lean against a huge chipped stone. One wrong step and he could be lunging to his death as the well was filled with dark water. It seemed depth less which did nothing to reassure me about his motives.

_"A demon." _

The words bombarded my brain and I shook my head to get rid of them. Rachel is crazy. But what is Percy doing here? Did he come here for me? My cheeks flushed slightly as I took in his appearance. His white skin looked like marble under the dark shadows of the tree. His eyes looked like frozen cold stones, devoid of all emotions as his tousled hair moved with the wind slightly.

I didn't like the look in his eyes. It was the first time I had seen it and I already wanted it to go. I waited for him to speak first but the only thing he did was staring at me with his solid aqua eyes. His perfectly shaped jaws were set together, his dreamy lips set in a firm line.

I played with my hair as I waited for him to speak but when he didn't after a long time I sighed and lifted my eyes to math his gaze.

"What are you doing here? Are you... Did you follow me?"

It seemed like a pretty good question to ask but that made him smile slyly. It didn't reach his cold eyes.

"Seems like the opposite to me." He said He crossed his arms in front of his chest.

"You know what I mean." I said as I copied his movement.

"You seemed to be too interested about things that are none of your business."

Those words were so calm and sharp that they hit me like an arrow through my heart. Was he trying to say that he was none of my business? I had to tell him how wrong he was and what he had come to mean for me. I had to ask him to be a little less secretive about himself as I didn't want to dig around him but I had to because I wanted to know him.

"Well I was concerned about you sudden disturbance." I said instead.

"And what did you learn?" His voice was almost a whisper as he said those words, his eyes were no longer on me but on the ground beneath his feet.

"That you are not human. That you are supposed to be some sort of bad ass water demon." I gave out a little nervous laugh when I said that.

"And?" He raised his eyes just a little bit.

"And what?"

"Come here."

"Why?"

"You are afraid." that was more like a question than a statement. I balled my fists as the conflicted feeling that usually arise around him filled my stomach.

I took a few shaky steps towards him and just when I was a hand away he grabbed my wrist and turned me over so that I was sitting on the mossy stone with my legs apart on either side of me and he was standing between them. He was so close. Too close for me to keep a straight mind. I felt like caressing his raven black hair or wounding my legs around his perfectly slim waist and touching my lips to his. But I stayed still because the surface on which I was sitting was surely friction less and I was in a danger of falling inside the deep dark well. Percy's hands were on either side of me... sort of caging me in. I glanced over my shoulder at the depths of the well and gulped. I didn't have to take a fall to guess that it could kill. I would drop like a stone and die here for all I knew. I turned my head back at him and raised my eyebrow. Was he out of his minds? Or did he want to kill me?

"And do you think it's true?"

I blinked. I had completely forgotten about our brief exchange earlier. The thought of it filled me with dread. What if he really was a demon?

"Should I?" I asked in a low voice.

"I didn't ask for a question for my question." He replied in that deadly calm voice of his.

I looked into his eyes. They gave nothing away, they were as vacant as they were cold. As I stayed silent he bent down a little. His cool breath hit the base of my neck making me blush slightly.

"I thought those stories were made up in old days to explain the things that could not be explained like light, rain, thunder as science hadn't existed back then."

That's what every normal person on earth would think anyway. It was the most logical explanation. Why would a kid of today think that light is a gift of Uriel? We all know that the various rays of sun travel through vacuum and enters the earth's surface in about eight minutes and further more there are different ways of artificially generating light. The same goes for the other natural stuff.

"Have you ever touched Orphy?" Percy's voice had changed. It had adapted the trills and patterns of a concerned teacher.

"I-I have." I said recounting what I had seen when I had touched him for the first time. The image of a bloody Percy wrecked my mind and I felt like hiding him in my arms so that we could escape that gruesome scene. But I knew that it would be insane. He wasn't going to jump in a battle of bullets or swords in an instant... right?

A ghost of a smile graced his lips as he said, "You saw something?"

I gulped yet again and nodded. I waited for him to call me crazy or say that my mental condition has worsened or at least ask what I had seen. But he didn't do any of that. His shoulders sagged and he pointedly stared across my shoulders at the cold dark water of the well. What was he trying to prove? Was there anything wrong with me or the world?

"Percy... what are you trying to say?"

"Nothing."

His blatant reply made me roll my eyes. I knew that the situation called for and 'Hey could you let me down please' but I couldn't help it. He wouldn't have certainly followed me up to Max if had nothing to say.

I got a little bolder and maybe the fact that I was slightly annoyed at him helped. I gripped both his shoulders tightly which made him jerk and look up at me. Bad move. Our noses brushed and instantly our eyes traveled to each other's lips. He could have kissed me sweetly and said that he was just trying to scare me or that he it was some practical joke but none of those good things happened. His eyes lifted back up to mine while mine lingered on his lips for a few more seconds. The tension and the fact that there was only a gap of five millimeters between us was crackling. I could feel my burning desire for him ignite inside me that I felt safe and afraid consecutively.

The back of his fingers traveled up my neck brushed the side of my left cheek. My skin burned on contact. I could feel myself reddening up with the slightest touch. He moved in closer to my and I closed my eyes and tilted neck. His first kiss pressed against the soft skin just below my ear, making me shiver. He kissed me again on the stem of my neck and my grip tightened on his shoulders. His kisses were slow but full of heat, enough to make my heart go balista to melt me and make me feel like a burning candle. When he kissed the crook of my neck my fingers slid from his shoulder to knot around his hair as a sigh escaped my lips. He pushed the sleeve of my dress down and continued to burn me with his kisses until he reached my shoulder.

He pulled back and looked at me. His eyes were failing to keep their cold facade and the warmth in them was leaking out but he was trying hard... trying hard to push me away...

"What wrong?" I cupped his cheek with my hands. I could feel his heart beating a mile a minute in symphony with mine. His breath was uncharacteristically cool when it touched the tip of my nose as he let out his deep breath.

"What would you do if I turned out to be a demon. A demon who had tormented others in his past?"

My eyebrows scrunched.

"Why would you be-"

"Just suppose. Would you run? Be afraid of me?"

Any sane person with a right mental balance would. But I doubted if that could go for me. What part of my life way sane and pretty even if there weren't any angels?

"I wouldn't."

His jaws tightened.

"Why?"

I graced his cheek with my thumb as I said.

"Because I love you. I refuse to accept that I have fallen in love with a heartless demon of sorts."

And just like that he took a step back, his eyes wide, taking me in as if for the first time this morning. My hands slipped from his face and fell at my sides. They craved his warmth but I made no move except just staring at him pointedly.

"You what."

"I love you."

"You are out of your minds?"

"I know."

"That's not what I-"

"Anything you say won't change the way I feel about you."

He looked at me through narrowed eyes and in a flash was back at his post of caging me.

"I could kill you in an instant. I am Leviathan. I know that you know that. I also know that you don't like him. He is a villain for you and every other human."

My fists landed on his chest and I practically yelled at him.

"Are you stupid or hard of hearing. I said I refuse to believe that my first love is heartless. Even if you were cruel once... "

I couldn't say it. My mind loved facts. And it played those of me drowning in that lake earlier. All those cruel stories about Leviathan. Even if he was Leviathan which seemed impossible.

"If you think you are an angel then I suggest that you-"

"Are you afraid of me. Do you think I could kill you?" He cut my sentence mid way with a surprising question.

"No" I replied too soon without thinking.

His face broke into a sly lopsided smirk and his pulled me close to him with my face buried in his chest and his strong arms around my waist. He lunged down the well as my screams filled the quiet forest air.

**Long time no see guys. I am so sorry for taking forever to update but exams tie you up too tight. But tell me if this chapter was any good and if you guys still have the patience to read more of this.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Annabeth**

Humpty Dumpty sat on a wall

Humpty Dumpty had a great fall

I felt like Humpty Dumpty at that moment. I was having the greatest fall of my life. I wondered how Humpty Dumpty must have felt when he fell from the wall. Shocked? Maybe. Hurt? Most likely. Terrified? Certainly.

* * *

My hands were wrapped tightly around Percy. My nails were digging into his back. I could feel him bleeding from those punctures but I was too afraid to loosen my grip. My mind had gone completely blank. The only thing it seemed to process was-

_I am going to fall!_

Which was painfully obvious. Should I die like this here? Was Rachel right when she hinted that Percy was a heartless demon? And suddenly just like that a half of my mind waged a war with the other. The first was calling him a sick cold-blooded murder who needed therapy himself while the other part of it accepted that he was a demon and meant me no harm. The first part was rational while the other part was love-sick. It liked the way I was practically glued to Percy with my ear pressed against his heart which was beating as wildly as mine but I doubted that it was affected that way by the twenty feet fall. Where as my heart was hammering in my chest from our super close proximity and from the way we were dropping down like stones.

The other thing that made me think that he was not afraid to fall into the well was the was his arms were around me. Their grip wasn't nearly as tight as mine. They were light, as if he was making sure that I wasn't hurting. His fingers were curled in a fist as he was stroking my gently with his knuckles. My hair was flying upwards and hindering my vision so I was not able to see his face.

Finally my ears popped indicating that my time on earth was up and I was going to hit the water really hard. I squeezed my eyes shut and tightened my grip around Percy to the point where his blood circulation must have stopped. I realized that I had bitten my lower lip when I tasted the salty-rusty blood coming out from it. I tried my best to brace myself for the end.

I felt nothing.

Maybe this is how death is supposed to be. Painless and sudden. We cannot feel it happening it just happens. There is no way that I had survived that fall. This must be it. This must be death. My sole must be detaching itself from my body and-

_"Open your eyes Annabeth."_

an eerily familiar soft voice instructed me to un-lid my eyes. Was it god? Was he asking me to face him so that he could judge me? I wondered if my good deeds weighed over my bad ones or whether it was the other way around. I had always found a way to hate everything around me maybe that negativity wasn't going to help me now. I was going to be punished for my sins, I couldn't stop my mother from committing suicide, and I was going to be looked down upon because of my mistakes.

My breathing grew heavier as I slowly opened my eyes. I wasn't standing in front of god in his judgement hall. In fact I was floating underwater with slimy weeds covering the bricked walls of the old well and a few small fishes. I was breathing. But my breathing hitched when I saw him.

He was wearing a loose white pant which was rolled up to his knees and a double XL sized white shirt which was clearly too big for his frame and was floating in the water letting me peek at his well toned pale stomach when it floated up. I could see that his hair was a bit longer than I had thought it to be as it floated around his forehead and neck. Water shimmered and took wing like shape behind his back. They were huge water wings with intricate designs of feathers on them and their distinct outlines shined with a blue light while the inner parts just shimmered. Those wings were the most beautiful wings I had ever seen and to be honest they were beyond my imagination. I wanted to touch them but my hands had slid off Percy's back and were pressed against my chest in fists.

His skin was glowing faintly and his eyes... They were a brilliant sea-green. They were literally glowing with light. They had become luminous somehow and were really... beautiful. So were his perfectly angled jaws and his lips which were curled to form a sad smile. He had become so beautiful in a matter of seconds that it was impossible for me to process anything else or take my eyes of him. The vibes he was emitting were so other worldly. They promised to destroy but also to protect. I felt like smiling a little as that was always what being near him had felt like. I have always been unsure about weather he was harmless or dangerous. I guess he is both.

I opened my mouth to speak but no voice came out. I looked at Percy questioningly. How had communicated to me earlier?

_"Just direct your thoughts at me. I'll hear them."_

Direct them at him? Okay.

_"You are beautiful."_

My voice was broken and irregular like bad radio signal but Percy got it alright as he threw his head back and his laugh echoed in my head. It was good to hear. When was the last time he had laughed so openly? I surely wouldn't know that.

_"If you had been... that friend of yours what's she called? Dew! If you had been Dew I can swear that you would have thrashed and kicked to get free of me."_

I rolled my eyes at his memory and scoffed,

_"It's not Dew, it's Drew! And she can never be me so if you are disappointed that I am not terrified of you appearance then I am sorry to say that-"_

_"You should see yourself right now. You look so determined and brave and beautiful with your grey eyes shining. You are the one who is beautiful Annabeth."_

But he cut my rambling. I had never thought it was possible to cut someone's thoughts but then again I had never believed in demons and angels either.

Demons and angels!

My eyes grew wider and the next question came out in a rush.

_"Youareanangelorademon?"_

His eyes scrunched together as he gave a carefree smile and said,

_"Slow down Annabeth!"_

I took a deep breath of water and decided to wonder about how it was possible later.

_"What are you?"_

Percy's eyes strained a bit as he looked at me. His hands slid across me to pull me closer as he held me in an embrace. He smelled like water lilies I decided.

_"Let's go up to the surface." _His voice was like a whisper in my mind. Were we going already? But before that I wanted to-

_"WAIT! Can I- can I touch your wings?" _My voice was still not crystal clear like his though it would work.

His cheeks reddened in a lovely blush as he tilted his neck to his side and said in a timid voice.

_"Go ahead."_

I slowly stretched my fingers and moved my hand towards one of his wings. I could feel his body stiffen against mine as my hands lightly. My fingers passed through them as they would have passed through normal water. I pulled my hand back immediately.

He gave a low chuckle and rested his chin on the crook of my neck and sighed. I wonder if he could sense the electricity from his skin travelling down mine.

_"They are just a projection of the real wings I used to have earlier... They help me to swim better than any aquatic animal... My real wings were slashed and burned when I was banished from heaven."_

My hands dropped to my side. So Rachel was telling the truth. He was a demon after all.

_"I was banished because I was one of Lucifer's strongest commander, one of the seven princes of hell- Leviathan. If you have read the christen religious books then you would know that I am a demon of deep seas. A demon. Who has destroyed many and had even tried to destroy the archangels."_

I was frozen in my spot... drinking in whatever he was telling me. Something in me, probably my heart, urged me think that he is not the same Leviathan anymore.

_"So god was basically offended and as a punishment he had banished all those who had helped Lucifer or Satan I had used to call me long ago. Of course the seven princes were the first one whose wings were plucked and who were thrown to the earth. We still resented god and schemed with Satan to overthrow him deep down in the circles of hell."_

He stopped for a moment and then continued.

_"We found a way to the surface of earth. The banished angels who sought redemption became fallen angels and as a mercy from god regained their wings in some natural form. But the demons didn't budge. They eloped with the human women and gave birth to nephilims to make an army for overthrowing heaven. I was one of the demons..."_

_"You have **kids**?" _I asked incredulously.

_"No! I wouldn't say that I hadn't touched any women back then but I didn't father any nephilim born."_

I relaxed a bit to which he laughed.

_"What?" _I could feel my face burning.

_"Nothing. So anyway the arch angels were asked to wipe out nephilims but they are still there... like Orphy, they have some distinct power."_

_"Jason is also a demon?" _Somehow I had seen this coming so I wasn't all that surprised.

_"No he is Lix Tetrax - fallen angel of the wind. And his sister Thalia is Barachiel- Lightning of God. She is an angel of heaven and was even an archangel at the time of Eastern Orthodox."_

He went quiet after that. But I needed to know more.

_"So you are an evil demon?"_

_"I am a demon alright but after the nephilims were killed I... can't say I changed but there was this kid Amor, He was a good kid... he just wanted to live. When he died... I was furious at god for his cruelty but then Amor said that he would not have suffered this fate if his father, Satan, hadn't used him as a tool against god. Before that I had never thought of myself as a tool used by Satan. But the more and mire I thought about it the more I realized that Amor was right. I was nothing more than a tool, a powerful tool alright but still a tool. I distanced myself from Satan and made a horde of enemy."_

His hands tightened around me by a fraction as he kicked at the water. His wings surged downwards and we soared up. We broke the surface and I took a shaky breath to test if my lungs were still working.

"I didn't join the fallen angels because I had no interest in redemption so I remained a demon but I got my wings back as a week projection underwater."

His chin was still on the crook of my neck and voice outside water was a barely audible whisper directed to my ear. We were dry and too close. The heat from his closeness was seeping into my skin, burning my insides. He was back in his earlier attire.

"That's all okay but," I pulled away slightly from his embrace with my hands on his shoulder and and looked up, "How are we going to get out of here? I mean falling twenty feet down was easy due to gravity but rising up from here with an angel without wings is going to be a bit difficult."

His eyes shined mischievously and put two of his fingers between his teeth and gave out an ear shattering whistle. I was tempted to cover my ears but resisted as I was sure I would be dripping wet in a second if I lost contact with his body.

The sky darkened over head as I looked up. My eyes widened in wonder as I saw a midnight black unicorn with a dazzling horn and black feathery wings, circling the sky just above the entrance of the well. Were unicorns supposed to exist? I wasn't sure about anything anymore.

"AMOR!" Percy yelled and the winged unicorn or Amor came down towards him with blinding speed.

"Hold tight!" Percy instructed as he wrapped one of his hands around my waist and with the other he caught Amor's neck and leaped. I couldn't believe that I was soaring outside a well on a flying unicorns back.

"Are unicorns supposed to exist?" I screamed as the the air rushed past me.

"What?" Percy mouthed, or it seemed that way as I couldn't hear him above the roaring air.

"ARE UNICORNS SUPPOSED TO EXIST?"

We had come out of the dark dingy well and now Amor was flying over the fields of Max Town with his wings spread wide on either side of him. Percy was stroking his head lightly with one hand and his other one was resting on Amor's back casually. His body was tilted back and he was dangling his legs on either side of the unicorn with a carefree air which screamed that he did this everyday. While I was clinging on to Percy for dear life afraid that if I moved I would slip and fall or twist a wrong feather on Amor's body and make him angry.

"No. But Amor had the gift of creation. A very rare gift, come to think of it no nephilim other than him had ever had that gift. He fairy tales about unicorns and was fascinated with them. So after he died I named this baby after him." Percy patted the unicorns head and it surprisingly _neighed_ happily.

* * *

Percy dropped me off in my room through my window. I saw him petting Amor before finally looking at me.

"Are you going to be okay? Is anyone home?"

"No." I said remembering that Dahlia had gone for some tea party.

Percy's eyes widened. He jumped down Amor's back and landed gracefully on the tilled floor of my room.

"I'll see you later boy." He said and waved at Amor who turned and flew away to where ever he lived maybe.

"Is this how you have earlier managed to get inside through my window?" I asked as I played with my hair aimlessly.

"No. I had climbed up to your room." He turned back with his hands behind his head and yawned before saying, "Can't leave you alone. Something is after you. I think it is because of me."

But I wasn't listening. His back was bloody from where I held him too tightly, my nails must have dug in deep. I took a step towards him with a handkerchief in my hand.

"You are hurt! Let me-" He turned around abruptly and swatted my hand away. I looked up at him with hurt eyes.

His eyes were wild and his hands were shaking.

"What's wrong Percy?" I slowly raised my fingers to touch his face and when he didn't freak out I lightly placed it on his cheek.

"This is impossible!" He breathed. He shed his shirt off and stood sideways in front of the mirror.

That's when I was it. Long angry scars running down his back. They seemed fresh. He lightly stroke them with his fingers them winced.

"Percy!" I ran up to him and took his face in my hands. He was looking paler than usual and his eyes contained that sad look.

"What's wrong? How did you get those scars?" He didn't speak. But I could feel him loosing his temperature as his eyes started clouding. Something wasn't right. He didn't have those scars before. What could have happened? Whatever it was I could tell that it hurt him. So it was obvious that it also hurt me. How could I possibly help?

I stood on my tiptoes and pressed my lips against his with my hands still cupping his face. At first he didn't move but then he placed his hands on my waist and kissed me back. His lips were salty like the sea as usual. Kissing him felt like floating on a cloud over a golden hill. It melted my mind and made me want to kiss him more passionately.

He broke the kiss and pulled me closer. I carefully wrapped my hands around his neck avoiding his scars.

"They have realized that an archangel has been killed... They think that I have committed the murder so they have marked me." He whispered into my ears.

I stood there terrified. What were they going to do to him.

"Which archangel?"

"Probably Lady Uriel. She hasn't been seen since last two years."

Last two years... that's when my mother had-

"What are they going to do to you?"

He laughed sarcastically before saying,

"Destroy me of course."

I felt like screaming and jumping inside that well all over again. This time I didn't want to survive the fall.

**Hey guys how did you like this chapter? Tell me what you think about it! Who do you think has killed Uriel?**


	13. Chapter 13

**Annabeth**

I wonder what it would have felt like to be deficit of a heart that could fall in love. Would world appear as a better place if it were so? I might have not started cutting myself in the first place if I had not loved my mom so much. I would have been normal... almost. But what would I do if I were to loose the person I am addicted to, the person I fell in love with? The one who sent sparks down my skin with a single lift of his cheek and made my skin burn with a slight touch or make me blush by just being in the same room. If he were to die then I would surely be tempted to follow in his footsteps. Because when I fell in love with him I lost myself to him completely. I have come to be nothing without him.

So would it have been better if I hadn't had the power to love at all?

* * *

He lay on his stomach beside me on my bed. His back was still exposed with those angry slash marks. He had changed into cotton pajamas few minutes ago without me even noticing. His cheek was pressed against the pillow and his eyes were close as he was fast asleep. He didn't dare to turn on his side. His wounds were hurting him big time. They would start bleeding every now and then.

Like right now. Thin channels of blood were trickling down his scars again. I quickly got up and grabbed a wet towel. I lightly touched its surface to his wounds. I could tell it hurt him as his eyes scrunched and his grip tightened on the sheets. Another dab. This made him grit his teeth. I sighed. The sight of blood had never unnerved me but seeing crimson blood running down Percy's beautifully carved and soft white skin crunched my heart. From time to time as I cleaned the blood from his wound, he would twitch or let out small moans.

Right on que he let out a strangled grunt. He was awake and was trying his best to not scream and draw Dahlia to my room. For the first time in my life I wished for my dad to call Dahlia to him. I didn't want her here in the same house as Percy. I know this sounds stupid but I was afraid that the moment she would come to know about Percy she would do something horrible... I wondered if she had something to do with my mom's suicide. I shouldn't be afraid. Percy is a strong ancient angel after all, but still, the image of a bloody him falling before me still haunted me. All the nephlim borns have some sort of power according to Percy. Was Orphy's power that of foretelling the future?

But in the vision I had also seen my mom who was dead. So maybe it has a hidden meaning to it... like a prophecy or a puzzle? Or maybe it was a warning. Warning me that things to come are somehow related to the past?

"Annabeth!" There was a sharp knock on my door followed by Dahlia's shrill voice calling out my name.

I quickly got up and looked around. It was a good thing that I had locked my door but I have to answer her. What if she tries to come in? She would surely ask how Percy got that heavy wound even if she undermines the question about what he was doing here in the first place?

"Open the door! Where have you been all day? I was starting to think you ran away with some lover of yours!"

I flinched. I turned towards Percy who was looking pale in the moon light. I had turned off the lights earlier at his request. It seemed as if the scars were somehow making him sick. It was as if they were pumping poison into his blood stream.

He tried to get up but he doubled over himself and fell face first on his bed.

"Annabeth! What are you doing? I know you are in there I just heard you make a noise! If you don't open up right away I'll ask someone to break your bedroom door!" Her voice was angry. I wondered what had pissed her off so much.

"Uh- I- I am not dressed!" I said quickly as Percy tried to move but his muscles were not helping.

"I don't care!" She yelled back. Gods! Couldn't she just leave her you-are-good-for-nothing lecture for tomorrow.

"I do! I'll be out in ten minutes!"

"Make that five or this door is going down!"

I heard her angry and loud footsteps tottering down the stairs. Something else has also happened around her for which she has become so angry. She is just trying to get it all out on me but I guess that's how it has always been. Whenever something wrong happens in her life she, by default, blames it on me.

Percy stood up with great reverence. Sweat was glinting on his pale skin as he was breathing heavily. A single thin strip of blood trickled down his side. My hands went to clutch at my chest as Orphy's vision came back to me. Was this what he had predicted? No. I didn't know how I knew that but I just knew that the worst is still left to happen.

"I... a-am so-sorry Annabe..th" He said in between gasps he gritted his teeth and clutched the raised side of my bed to stand straighter.

"I mu-must be looking pathe-tic." A ghost of smile crept over his lips as he turned towards the window.

"Don't even think about jumping off the window until you have a death wish!" I said while running to his side and clutching his arms and shoulders to steady him.

"I wouldn't die. These scars would torment me without killing me. The sounds of my anguish and agony would lead the angels of heaven to me for doing the killing. That's how it used to work when I was up in there." He said while looking up at the sky through the window. His eyes were burning with hate and for a moment I was afraid, afraid that he still hated god and wished to overthrow him, afraid that scar was burning up all the humanity he had collected over these years and making him a demon once again.

The way his skin was burning up with eminent fever drew my mind out of its revive. I noticed that his face was flushed and that he was starting to lean on me more by the minute.

"I have to go." His voice was lower than a whisper and I was amazed that I had even managed to catch what he had said.

"Yeah right! You are out of your minds you stupid _wingless_ angel. Your are just going teleport painlessly to where ever it is you wish to go." I didn't mean to snap at him but he was just being so... so tough.

"No I am gonna get Amor to take me home." He said while leaning over the window ledge which wasn't hard for him as he looked ready to lean and fall. I wondered what was happening to him. Was he going to be all right? As if he had read my thoughts, he said

"Don't worry Annabeth, I have lived alone for about a millenia."

I nodded, Percy gave out a feeble whistle to which there was a shrill reply. Slowly the sky outside the window got darker as the huge unicorn came into sight. He slowed down a few feet before the window and finally perched on the window railing. He took one look at Percy who had called him. I could swear that his beady red eyes were ready to flood. He lowered his head and nuzzled Percy's neck.

Percy gave out a short laugh and patted Amor's head in response. As he was about to fumble on the unicorn's back I caught his wrist. He took one look at my strained face and leaned down and pressed his lips on my cheek. I could have been a peck if he had not lingered there for more than ten seconds. It could have been a peck if it hadn't made me blush beet red and sent sparks of thunder down my skin. It could have been just a peck if he hadn't been the one to do it.

"I'll be just fine. Here." His, with I had caught, slid to my palm and squeezed it. The his hand was gone. I was always used to his skin being inhumanly cool but the way it was burning up now...

Amor soured into the cold night sky with stars clinging to it. I hadn't realized that the moon was almost full until Amor took a sharp turn and stopped right beside it so that Percy was facing me. He was kind of laying-sitting on Amor's back, his bleeding was no where near stopping. He tried a toothy grin and waved at me. He miserably failed at both but that made me laugh alright. I waved back at him as Amor kicked the air to fly again.

I had noticed hoe Percy's eyes were reflecting the moonlight. At that moment they had become those beautiful luminous sea-green orbs again.

And then they were gone. I walked back to my bed and fell into it. I couldn't believe I had just let him fly away. I wondered if he were afraid of travelling through the sky being a water demon and all. But I guess that would be stupid as he seemed quiet close to Amor.

I walked back to my bed and literally fell on it on my back. I raised my fist and looked at it from a distance. It sure was small, smaller than Percy's...

Something crunched. I squeezed my fist again.

_'crunch'_

I slowly opened my fist to find a ball of crumpled paper in my palm. A smile crept up to my lips. Percy must have slipped it in when he had held my hand earlier. I carefully unfurled the paper and looked. My hand went to my mouth to suppress my laughter. His handwriting was awful! It was as if a thousand ants had scribbled on a crumpled white sheet of paper. It was immensely difficult to read. I took the paper and walked to my table and switched on my table lamp. It was a bit better under the lam light. It read-

_Percy's appartment_

_no 13_

_13th floor_

_Pears Tower_

_Old Town_

He lived in the near by city. It was a bit far but what was my personal car for? I quickly picked up my purse and smeared some lip gloss on my mouth to look presentable and pulled on my long brown coat. It had grown bigger, meaning that I had lost some wight. Wow! I had not even noticed.

I dashed down the stairs and in my blind hurry I crashed into the one and only Dahlia.

"Where are you off to again?" She asked icily.

I steadied my self by grabbing the railing for support and looked up at her. If I had lost a few killows then she certainly has gained a bunch of them. I wondered what she might have eating these days. Must have been highly calorific.

"I am off to see... my therapist."

That was the exact truth.

"At ten at night? Are you going for a therapy session or something else. I have noticed how quickly he has grown on you like an organ."

My cheeks tinted pink at that. He sure had grown on me like a vital organ, one that I couldn't live without. I loved him too much. I wondered if he loved me back. He has never said it though but the way he acts around me sure give me the hints that he-

"I want an answer!" Dahlia was annoying me by then. I crossed my hands across my chest and looked at her coolly. She has crossed the limits. She has to be reminded that it was _my _house where she was standing.

"I have not have a session in a while since he was busy, besides I don't really have to explain myself to you."

Her face went red with anger. I smiled smugly. Serves her right!

"You insolent-"

"This is my house Dahlia! I can do whatever the hell I want to and I can go whenever and wherever the hell I want to. I. Won't. Report. To. You. You are not my mom." I let it all out. I guess by now she understood how much I hated her guts. Well from the dumbstruck look she had it was clear that she had got the point. I side stepped her, bumping her shoulder intentionally, and smartly stalked towards the yelling over my shoulders,

"Mr Driver Sir! I have got an address for you!"

A petty man in a navy blue uniform came running to my summon and saluted me.

"Yes Madam."

I grinned as I handed the paper to him.

"Let's be off."

* * *

The neighborhood around Percy's place was surprisingly decent. I had actually expected a cryptic area with shady people but I have to say that it was clearly not the case. There were showrooms and small candy shops everywhere and it was a forty minute drive from my home. Couples were holding hands and roaming the streets while a few kids were running around even at this hour of night. In short the area was quite lively. The street lights were oddly neon and the roads were neither too wide nor too narrow. They were perfect, like everything else there.

My car pulled over before a tall fifty story apartment. He lived in the thirteenth apartment of thirteenth floor...

He is really lucky I guess.

I hit the top button of the elevator and waited patiently. The elevator was coming down from the thirty-eighth floor. Just my luck! I looked around the lobby and noticed that there was no guard or no one else around for that matter. Weird. Something seemed... familiarly cold and off... the parking area was quite stuffy even though I was sure there was underground parking there and the apartment bill boards had hand-made posters about different events. It seems that yesterday they had a karaoke night. The lights went off all of a sudden and then in a matter of seconds they were back up again. I turned in a circle to see if anything had moved. Nothing had moved at all. Everything appeared eerily normal.

_'Ding'_

The sound of the elevator reaching the ground floor made me jump off my skin. I don't know why I was looking out for trouble but I just couldn't help myself from being on guard. This apartment was unusually quiet for the hustle and bustle of Old Town. It gave me the cryptic and shady feeling which I had been looking for earlier in the streets through my car. But everything just seemed so... right that it felt wrong. It was like a false stage was arranged and set for a play to begun.

I entered the elevator and punched the button to the thirteenth floor.

The lift started moving with a slight jerk. The momentary loss of gravity made me move back a little but everything else was picture perfect. I placed my palms on my face and gave out a huge sigh. I had been over thinking. All this crazy stuff about angels and demons were sure enough taking a toll on my sanity. There was no one there on the ground floor lobby as either people were asleep or they were roaming around, hands in hands, on the streets. That made perfect sense. I had just been overworked I guess. But the air was cold for sure.

"Yes Princess!"

I turned around swiftly. I could have sworn that the elevator was empty when I had stepped inside it. Besides the deadly cold and dark vibes that his person with blonde hair and blue eyes was emitting was making me nauseous. I took a step back with my arms around my body. The temperature had dropped suddenly.

"What are you doing here... Luke?" I shivered as I called his name.

He grinned slyly before saying,

"I'm here to make small talk."

**What is going to happen? How is Percy doing? What the hell is Luke after? I am going so crazy with excitement! Guys please tell me what you think!**


	14. Chapter 14

**Annabeth**

Options. Different people seem to have different options. I don't seem to have many. Either I could embrace the fact that I fell in love with an angel who used to be a demon or I could turn away, turn away at this very instant and keep the normality that he had sparked in my life. There was no point in feeling normal while being around someone far from normal right?

Then why does my heart threaten to stop its involuntary action when I think of leaving him behind in his dark world to survive?

* * *

I took one uncertain step back. I could have sworn on anything and everything I had that Luke hadn't been standing there a moment ago. But that meant he had appeared out of thin air which was next to impossible unless...

I got that gut wrenching feeling that I get whenever I am near Percy or Jason who are both angels. But the individual vibes they give off is vary different... it's like they have a signature while have other mutual things. So that particular cold and chilling vibe was there in Luke too along with his signature... that is brightness? I don't know why but I felt awfully near to something very bright. I couldn't see it for sure but I could feel it's energy and heat and picture it before me the moment I closed my eyes. It was like brilliant sun, burning with beauty and malice.

It was strange and even if added to his charms... it made me want to punch his jaw hard and make a run for it while he was busy nursing his face. Something told me that my fist wouldn't be quick enough to hit him so I stayed. He most probably was an angel and I certainly had an alarm system for detecting them. I wondered if every human had it. Maybe some realized they had it and some didn't. That must be it because as far as I know I am nothing more than an average human. Unless my ash-hole father turns out to be some sadistic ghoul.

"You want to talk to me?" I asked.

Luke made a 'duh' expression at that. Obviously there wasn't anyone else in the elevator except us but I didn't know weather it was a good thing or a bad thing. I had just noticed that the elevator had stopped. I punched the 'open door' button again and again but the door wouldn't budge. The screen showing the current floor had gone blank and no buttons were glowing on the button pad. I gulped and took a step back. The walls of the elevator were adorned with mirrors which strangely didn't reflect me but just reflected Luke. It was as if I was too dull for the mirrors to see past Luke. Which was absurd.

"Hey there Annabeth! I'll be straight. I really really like you a lot." He said in a happy-go-lucky voice.

What? I didn't even know what to say to that. My mouth was open for sure and my eyes were busy being wide and staring at him in utter horror. Surely he was joking. Surely he was here to tell me that Rachel was angry at me for not getting thrown away by Percy... that's right! What about Rachel? They were totally eating each other's face out that day in her summer house.

"Oh if you were thinking that Rachel was my love of life or something like that then I would be more than happy to inform you that she isn't." He grinned at me after he said that. The glint in his eyes were expectant, it was as if he were waiting for me to run to him and fling my arms around him and tell him how much happy I was to hear him say that. I didn't even budge which gained me an annoyed look from him.

"C'mon Annabeth! What dose a guy need to do? Isn't telling you that I love you enough for you to get in the same bed as me?"

"What the hell are you saying? I barely know you!" I exclaimed in my defence. I could tell that his promises of love for me were empty and hollow from just the way he threw them around so easily.

He yawned and stretched before answering, "How long did you know Jackson when you went down the road with him?"

My eyes widened further, even if that were possible. How did he know all of that? That's before he had even known that I had existed. No. We have been going to the same school for months. Could he have been stalking me? But how? How could he have...

"Stalking you? You could say that. I have been watching you since the day you stepped foot in that trashed school anyway." He took a big step towards me which made me move and bump my back against the mirror. I looked around for a sharp object... anything would have helped... a loose screw or a needle or even a shard of glass... I didn't even have my purse on me... My coat buttons! They were of huge flower shape with sharp, pointy petals.

My hands moved to the lowest button on my coat and started fiddling with its stitches. It was sewn tight all right.

"That's different." I have to keep his attention away from my hands, preferably to my face. For some reason I knew that I could only shake him off if I were able to draw blood from him. Just hitting him with my fist won't be enough.

"Different?" He frowned as he took yet another impossible step towards me, "how?" He was standing too close to me, to close for my liking. His breath was mixing with mine which made me turn my face to my side slightly. This seemed to amuse him. A sharp but hot sensation invaded me as I felt his slick finger running the length on my neck to my collar-bone and then back again, repeating the cycle slowly. I felt like I was being touched by a bulb with was ready to malfunction and electrocute me to death. But his touch reeked of evil somehow. It made him somehow dark and deceptive and... unworthy. I felt like he was detached from that brilliant light, that it was not his but of his invisible companion which was insane. I was sure that I was going insane.

"Such beautiful skin you have... Annabeth. I want to see it all. No... I _will_ see it all!"

With that he leaned closer. My breath quickened. I started fidgeting with the ties of the button more rashly. My breathing was becoming shallow and my palm was becoming sweaty to top it all. Only a few words played in my mind like a broken tape recorder.

_come off! come off! come OFF!_

And finally as his lips just barely nicked the skin on my stretched neck the stitches came undone. I gave out a sharp cry and jabbed the sharp petals of the button in his neck. Blood gushed out on impact. Luke flung back from me clutched his neck and screamed in agony. This seemed to break his influence on the elevator as the display blinked to life again, showing that the elevator had reached the tenth floor. So it was moving all along huh? Luke had just created an illusion.

I punched the open button and ran out of the elevator before it's door had barely got the chance to open up completely. I ran up the stairs. Percy was just two floors away. I could run up to there. I ran for my life with every ounce of strength I had left. For some reason the stairs seemed endless, they just seemed to stretch on and on for ever.

"ANNABETH!" An angry growl bellowed up after me. I didn't turn back. I just kept running forward.

"YOU BITCH! COME BACK!" Came another was of angry shout, nearer than the first one, he was following me and he was catching up.

I skipped the last two steps and stumbled over the landing of the thirteenth floor. I looked around frantically. Where was apartment no. 13? There! Just around the corner behind the potted bushes of water-lily stood, there was a door with the number '13' plated bold in golden on top.

I took a deep breath and ran towards it.

_SNAP!_

Luke caught hold oh my wrist, or he rather broke it. Pain surged through my left arm and I bit my lips to keep myself from screaming. I herd him laugh from behind me which made me sick to my roots. He must be the true devil. He had to be! He twisted my wrist sharply making me give out a strangled cry. Beads of tears were clouding my eyes and I hated myself for being caught like that. I hated myself for not having a brilliant plan. Now he was going to kill me. Or worse... he would actually force himself on me.

A single stray tear fell from my eyes. I would rather die than submit to him. I brought my good wrist to my mouth. I hoped my canines were sharp enough to tear my veins or at least cause huge blood loss.

"What the hell are you-?"

Just as my teeth sank in my skin... the lobby became blue. Or it glowed blue like the inside of an ocean. The color soothed me down somehow as I felt strong arms circling my waist and pulling me towards them. My face got buried in something strong and familiar. It was Percy. I could tell by just the uncertain feeling that had developed in my stomach from the moment the corridor had started glowing with an ethereal blue light. I felt my self relax in him. He was wearing an overly big white full T-shirt which was flapping about him due the up thrust of all the energy he was emitting. I tilted my head slightly to look at him.

His blue-green eyes were murderous. It scared me to hell because at that moment he was not my love my angel but an angry prince of hell, who was hugely focused on destroying his opponent.

"Leviathan." Luke said with a smirk but I could see that he had moved back. Everything about him felt rotten and evil and dark about him now. That brilliant light had deserted him. He was not so sure of himself now.

"Beelzebub." Percy muttered through his teeth.

"Buddy! Do you remember how we were the first one to fall from heaven along with Lucifer? We want you back Lev. Luce has already gather the six. If only you were to come-"

"Go back to hell!" Percy said icily. A blue sea-serpent coiled at Luke who yelped before jumping back.

"That human you have there... Luce wants her, she is really fertile, you must know that... one seed of Luce inside her and the most powerful weapon to overthrow god would be formed. Don't you desire that?"

I looked back at Percy. He looked passive. What was Luke saying? What was all that about?

A blinding bolt of lighting fell on Luke. Even though he dodged in just in time, a part of his clothes were incinerated. There was a huge misshapen hole in the floor to deep inside the earth were he has stood before. The hole building shook as another bolt followed.

"Barachiel!" Luke sneered as he jumped off the lobby in one clean swoop.

He was soon followed by a thundering Thalia, who glared at me as she passed, saying, "Percy you fool! Get inside your house!"

And then she was gone, chasing Luke around the place while trying to strike him with her lightning bolts.

The blue light went out like a candle flame as Percy collapsed to the floor. His face was sweaty so was his shirt. His back was bleeding again. I clutched his arms tightly, ignoring the burning pain in my right wrist. Percy's breathing was high and irate. That blue thing had surely taken it's toll on him. He was hurting... again.

I knelt in front of him while still clutching his arms.

"Hey? Percy, is your door open?" I asked softly while brushing his thick black bangs from his eyes. They were sticking to his sweaty forehead.

My finger tips brushed against his glistening pale skin. He was burning up with fever again. This must be bad. His temperature was surely soaring above average healthy angel body temperature, about which I had no idea about.

He just nodded to my question. Then he took my right wrist with shaking hands and brought it up to his lips. I didn't realized what he was doing. He was handling my wrist so carefully that it barely hurt. And then as soon as his soft but hot lips touched my wrist, the pain was totally gone. It had gain a swollen reddish structure before due to it's fracture, but now... it was back to normal. I remembered how all my cuts had disappeared after our first night together. It must have been him back then.

The grey tiles of the corridor felt cold beneath me as Percy slumped into me like a rag doll. My arms instinctively went around his back to steady him. His looked so week and frail that it hurt. My newly mended hand went up to stroke his hair. He was doing anything he possibly could for me while I could do nothing for him. I felt so pathetic and helpless at that moment.

"Why? Why did you fix my wrist when you knew that it was going to affect you?" My voice was muffled by my choked sobs. I put my chin lightly on his head and it bent down a bit to move into my chest. My cheeks brightened up a bit at that but I let it pass.

"I- I couldn- couldn't let them kno- know wher- where to hi- hit me s- so that it would real- really hurt." He managed with great difficulty.

I was taken aback. Percy had never said anything like that to me before. Even if he had just indicated it... his words reached my heart and warmed it to its core. My heart felt like molten chocolate... dripping with caramel. I had always know that I meant something to him but to hear him say it is another thing. It makes me feel... like a bubble filled with hydrogen gas... ready to erupt. I could feel that my cheeks had heated up. Maybe be Percy wouldn't be able to say those three words back to me ever, but this was his way of saying that he at least cared for me.

"You mean-"

"I cannot say it, you don't say it too. It's a sin for me to feel that way." His voice was too low to be even classified as a soft whisper.

The way he said that what ever he felt for me was sin burned something inside me. I was angry at my frail first love. Of all the things that were sin on this planet... I was sure his feelings of likeness were not one of them.

"Percy-" my argument was cut down with a whimper.

"I lecture you later about this. For now lets get inside your apartment."

Percy nodded weekly as I flung one of his arms around my shoulder and circled one of mine around his waist tightly. Percy leaned on me completely as we stumbled for balance. Once we were almost stable I took another one of those deep breaths and took a tentative step forward.

_'thwak'_

Something dropped to the floor. I really didn't care about whatever it was because it I stopped to pick it up the next thing to fall would most probably be Percy. But by the time I had decided to take another step, Percy had picked it up already. When did he...

His eyes were scrunched together as he looked at something on the display.

"Who is she?" He murmured.

I shuffled a bit closer to him and looked into it. It was lock screen, It was a picture of a toddler I with my mom. She was smiling brightly for the camera. Her curls were long and beautiful, her grey eyes sparkling.

"She is my mom." I said simply. Now a days looking at her pictures didn't drive me crazy anymore. So I had decided to man up and set this picture as my lock screen.

Percy looked at me and winced before saying, his beautiful aqua eyes almost closed with pain, "That is Lady Uriel Annabeth, l-light of god."

My laughter filled the empty dark corridor.

**I know this chapter wasn't much but I really want to wrap up this story soon. Tell me how you guys felt about this chapter?**


	15. Chapter 15

**Annabeth**

Sometimes it is hard to distinguish truth from lies. A lie repeated a thousand times succeeds to kill the frail truth. But even if the truth is frail in itself, when said out loud it gives tremendous strength to the person. But what if you know only the lies and not the truth? And what if that lie was everything your world was practically based on? A simple truth could shatter them all, break your life into a million pieces of fine shards, impossible to join together again.

So I wonder, which is better? The truth or the lie?

* * *

We were going down the heavy traffic to Jason's little apartment. The day was grey and the cars were in such a rush that it seemed nearly impossible to get there. The sun was almost about to set and and the day temperature was rising, slowly, levely. I stared out of the window as a bug black car swished past me in a flurry, leaving a trail of dust behind it. Our car seemed to have all the time in the world as it went at a speed of about a centimeter in a minute. On the left in front, Thalia was getting impatient. I wouldn't blame her. I had driven with Jason before and back then his pace had been good. But today, it seemed like he wanted Thalia to strike him with a thousand volt lightning bolt. She was drumming her fingers on the dash board and tapping her feet in an irregular rhythm. Her momentary glares didn't seem to unnerve Jason but somehow encourage him more. If it were me, I would have never provoked those electric eyes to peer into my head again.

Beside me, lay a pale and sweaty Percy. Thalia had almost wanted to shut him in a jar for being so fool hardy earlier and for a horrible moment I had believed that she would. After all if there are angels in the world then there could be a way of putting people inside jars after all... right? Anyway, she had asked him to sleep and had even tried to drug him into it but Percy had come out to be more intelligent than her. When she handed him the glass of water with sleeping pills in them he deliberately shook him had and dropped the glass and looked back at Thalia with a week smile saying, 'Woops! Too ill to hold a glass!'

As for Thalia. She had muttered what a hopeless case Percy was all the way down to Jason's car. She had practically freaked when she had seen that he was going to be our driver. At that time I had wondered why but now I clearly understood what was bothering her.

"Do you have any other picture of your Mom?" Percy breathed almost inaudibly.

My mom was supposed to be the arch angel Uriel, light of god. I knew that was absurd. I had practically lived my entire life with her and I would surely have noticed if anything was weird about the woman who raised me. But then everything is turning out to be so... different. I don't even really know who I am anymore. I could be a normal human like I have always believed or I could be a Nephilim as Percy suspects.

Across from the seat Percy slid his fingers into mine and gave my palm a week squeeze. I turned my neck and looked at him... I looked at him really harm. His neck was craned to the other side from me as he gazed out of the window at the passing traffic and pedestrians. I didn't really know if I should feel grateful about his habit of putting everyone else before him or cry out in frustration because of it. Yesterday he could have ignored my broken wrist and let it heal normally but He just had to heal it and loose more energy or whatever it is that keeps an angel going. I looked down at our joined hands and rubbed my thumb on the back of his palm. His temperature was down a little. Yesterday it had gone up like anything. Thalia had sworn that she could have fried eggs on his forehead. Well, for the record I had been too frightened to get her joke back then.

Now as I looked at the way his black hair curled up on his neck slightly I could clearly see the contrast between it and his skin. Even though he had been pale before, he had had a radiance which had made him look otherworldly handsome but now that the radiance has been drawn out he looks... just sick, really sick like someone suffering too much. It pained me think that Percy was surely innocent. A part of me wished that my mom was Uriel. If that were true then I could tell them that she had committed suicide... if that were possible. I had always found it strange though. My mom was standing on a high roof when she decided to kill herself. Why didn't she just jump off? Why did she cut herself? Wouldn't that have been less painful and had more chances of dying?

The car stopped abruptly and I was thrown forward as my forehead smacked into the seat in front of me. I squinted, blinking back tears and rubbed my forehead with my free hand. Percy groaned from beside me and I quickly looked at him. His back had his the door. His eyes were closed and his forehead was scrunched together really tight. I carefully slipped my arms around his back avoiding his scars and pulled him away from the door. His scar had already started bleeding again and he was clearly no enjoying it.

I turned to glare at the drivers seat but realized that Thalia had beat me to it as she had somehow managed to tackle Jason in the closed place. He grunted incoherently but but Thalia had her arm against his neck.

"He didn't see the bump Thalia." Percy said weekly against me as now his head was resting on my shoulder, his mace was buried in me... sort of.

"That's barely an excuse to-"

"That' s good enough Thals. Let's just go. Apollo is waiting." Percy let out a sharp breath when he was done which made me give him a worried look. He looked at me with his tiered sea-green eyes which looked ready to drop. I could feel my breath catch as he just looked and me and gave me week -I-am-all-right- smile. His hair was sticking to his forehead just above his eyes and his skin was paper white and he looked thinner but I could have sworn that he had managed to look totally gorgeous even like that. Specially his eyes...

In a trance, I lowered my head, nearing his lips to steal a kiss. His breath was warm, I could feel it on my lips as he tilted his slightly. I moved in closer and barely touched his burning lips when Jason started the engine again. I instinctively pulled Percy in for a really tight hug so as to reduce the shock.

"Jason!" I complained out loud.

"Nice save Annabeth!" He chimed but shut up when Thalia drew out a dagger and started tracing it's edge.

"I can't breath." Percy mumbled and I quickly thrust him back at an arms length.

"S-sory!" I stuttered.

My cheeks heated up as I realized that I had just almost kissed him. I know it's silly because it was just a kiss and we had done a lot more than that before but I couldn't help it. Ever since I found out he wasn't like me that he was an angel everything about him just started to feel more intense and new. I felt like I had never been touched, never been kissed before meeting him as an angel. I barely knew him and that made every proximity to him felt even more new. Maybe because now I am seeing him like he really is, an anguished angel, I feel a new attraction to him. My past scandals with him seemed like with a whole different person, with someone I only wanted around because it kept me sane. But when I saw him in his glory with his wings back then, It was like I was meeting him for the first time even tough I already knew I was in love with him.

"We are here!"

Jason parked into the parking lot of his studio apartment a lot more carefully than usual and let out a nervous whistle.

" I kind of don't like the idea of Piper being alone in there with Apollo. I mean he is not the most decent angel after all."

"Your pretty wife is alright. Let's get down." Thalia snapped as she pushed open her door and came around to Percy's side to help him out.

"I'll be fine by myself." He grumbled.

"Don't you dare start your -I-am-a-superman- act. Jason! Help him up. Let's go upstairs Annabeth." Thalia was busy stacking her dagger in as she moved towards the elevator door.

"But Percy-" I said, looking from her to him and then back again.

"He'll be fine." Jason grinned at me as he opened Percy's side door.

I nodded and quickly walked away to catch up with Thalia. The lift was already there, open and waiting. I gulped when I looked at the mirror inside it. This one reflected me back but still... that episode with Luke was still fresh on my mind. I was really embarrassed when Thalia took one look at me and let out a sigh.

"Let's take the stairs, The boys would need the elevator when they get here."

I nodded. I could have agreed more actually.

* * *

It was him, the doctor I had seen back at the hospital were I had been admitted after I had been drowned. I guess he had introduced himself as Apollo but I had just not remembered. He was sitting across from Piper, who had a sleeping Orphy in her arms, in a bright yellow shirt and military pants. His blonde hair shone along with his eyes which kinds of reminded me of that bright presence last night. But... was he really an angel? I just didn't get that gut feeling which was a must around Percy, Jason and Thalia. Everything about him just seemed... normal.

I stared up at him. He gave me a wink before brightening up as he glanced across my shoulder.

"Perce!" Then his eyes widened as he saw Percy's bloody back and snapped his fingers. Instantly I could see Percy's facial attributes relaxing. I wondered if his scars were gone. He winced as he slumped down on the couch. No, it was still there.

"Thank's man." He mumbled.

"Ah! It's perfectly fine."

"So anyway Ralphy!" Thalia said as she crossed her legs and sat on the center table. Her intent blue eyes trained on him. "Hows the arch angel party?"

I looked back again at him. And then I felt it. His vibes were skilfully concealed somehow. It was like there was a think vale separating it from my senses. He tilted his head to a side and chuckled. He looked like someone close to thirty but not quiet there. His teeth were just as bright as his eyes as he flashed them around.

"I thought your name was Apollo." I blurted out.

He looked at me with a curious look and said, "Well so it is. But in heaven I am called Raphael, as you might have heard a million times in bibles and churchs, 'It is god who heals.' Well that's me. The super healer."

"You could heal Percy?" I asked hopefully.

Apollo looked troubled but when no one made an attempt to change the subject he swallowed and said,

"You saw just now didn't you. That's the best I can do for him. Those scars are-"

"What are the arch angels planning Apollo." Percy cut in a bit firmly.

"But-" I almost protested.

"We don't have time for it Annabeth." He looked at me with his sea-green eyes again. But now they were not tired in the least. They were alert. I could feel that he didn't want me to know about his scars or maybe just didn't want them to be up for public discussion. He looked away as Orphy stirred and Piper quickly started patting his chest lightly. A strand of her hair escaped her ponytail. I had barely noticed her all this while but she was looking as scared as I felt for sure. Her normally volatile eyes were fixed at a murky green and grey. She was biting her lips from time to time and glancing at Orphy every now and then. The poor baby looked as adorable as ever as he sucked his thumb in his sleep.

"That's exactly what I want to know." Thalia brought my attention back to Apollo.

He pointed his finger at Percy and said in a monotone,

"They want him dead."

Percy smirked before wincing and looked up at Apollo with gleaming eyes, "Anything else?"

But I didn't want to listen anymore. I tuned out as he started telling Apollo about Luke's last night's visit and how my mom could be Uriel.

My mind was to busy freaking out. Percy would die? He would leave me too wouldn't he? I wonder if dad had done the right thing by deleting me from his life. At least he is healthy and alive. My nails dug into my thigh.

"There is no way the Michael is going to believe she committed suicide. Even you don't believe it." Apollo said after a moment.

"I know. But it's not just about me. They have always wanted to kill the princes of hell. But if they get a hold on me then they will know about the two Nephilims I know." He took a quick look at Orphy and then at me. His eyes lingered on me as he said,

"You know what they do to Nephilims. Even if they kill me-"

"Stop it!" I heard my voice ringing. I was looking down at the floor, my hair cascading my face.

"Annabeth-"

"Just stop saying you are going to die because I- I just can't stand it. I don't even know why I am here." I stood up abruptly and and walked out of the door. I knew that everyone was looking at me but I just couldn't sit there and listen while they all took it for granted that Percy would die. I walked around the floor and finally stopped at a spot where I could see the last rays of the sun going down. I felt like screaming but I knew no voice would come out even if I tried.

I felt him coming as the sweet feeling of dilemma invaded me. I didn't turn back to look at him. Even he believed that he would die and the more and more I looked at him I felt like that this wasn't permanant, that if I looked at him again, he would fade away.

I looked at the dusk sky as Percy wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me in.

I wished he would say he would be alright and that he would stay for ever but he didn't. All he whispered in my ear was a,

"We have a plan."

**I really need a beta reader. So if anyone's interested so please PM me. Guys I don't know much about this chapter but what do you think?**


	16. Chapter 16

**Annabeth**

I have always had a plan. Those plans always minimized losses and increased the chances of victory. I have always come first in class and races and stuff because of it. In group activities I had really not cared about who suffered because of my plans unless and until the outcome was in my favor. Nobody ever blamed me of course. After all it always ended in a win-win situation.

But now... there is just one plan that I am afraid to contribute in, there is just one casualty that I'm afraid to overtake, there is just one thing I want to protect dearly in the crown of important things. I wonder if this plan won't not end in a win-win situation and I might lose even after a major victory. You might think that I am talking gibberish but to be honest... you'll understand this in some point in your life when you would feel like something is slipping out of your fingers because of something that you have done.

* * *

Walking inside the school felt like walking inside another world. Everyone seemed to carefree and so... normal. That's it! Everything was just so damn normal that it felt abnormal. Boys hanging by the cheer leaders lockers and girls giggling and gossiping about the 'it' couples and baseball players, few nerds here and there messing around with books and bumping into people, the student's council distributing flyers and pinning and un-pinning display boards... Everything made me feel like bailing and running away. None of my newly made friends went here. Why should I even bother?

"Annabeth." A curt voice called which made me turn around.

"Reyna!" I said with somewhat a smile.

She was trying to smile too but was failing at it. Her no-nonsense blue sweater over her white shirt and pressed black jeans screamed authority. She had her hair pulled back in a pony tail and was looking intently at me. Maybe she just wanted to say a few words like a normal friend would say to a friend. But it was not at all like her to say girly sweet things although it was totally like her to try to say them.

"I haven't seen you around lately. Have you been sick?"

Worried sick for my stupid- was he even my boyfriend? Anyway, worried sick for him and his stupid suicidal plans. I had disagreed with all of them right away but the others had crushed my voice. Jason and Piper were sorry and I could tell by the look in their faces but they were more concerned about Orphy who would be totally saved by this plan of theirs. I mean of course they want to save Orphy, why wouldn't they? He is their son but that doesn't make me any less angry at their decision. They just simply nodded their heads and simply agreed to it all.

I managed to curl my lips up in a smile and hoped that it didn't really look like a sneer.

"Yes. A little off beat I suppose."

Reyna nodded knowingly. There was something going on in her mind and I could just feel it.

"What is it?"I asked as I checked my timetable. I guess it is impossible for me to remember it forever.

"Nothing... It's just that Luke Castellan has been gone since the day you were gone and it's just not that Annabeth. Even in the past when you have taken leaves... Luke had always skipped school on those days. I wouldn't be surprised if he showed up today."

That's creepy. Sure he was a demon but was he like spying on me? Or was he looking for the right moment? I guess he was but what for? I had to figure it out. If I were to get anywhere close to the matter and making a better and safer plan... I had to know as much as I could. he had called me very fertile now hadn't he? As much as it disgusted me to even think about it there was something in it. I knew I should have talked to Percy about it but that wouldn't be enough. Even if he was once in their ring now he was out of it. He could only deliver old news, I needed fresh ones. What better place to start looking than Luke's house? The only problem here arises is... where does he live exactly?

That's when my attention turned back to Reyna. Of course!

"Hey Rey, is the cultural secretary's post still open?"

Reyna shook her head a little sadly in denial and said, "I knew you would come around soon but it's already filled up. But I'll let you know as soon as there is an empty spot in the council."

Well that's very nice of her but I needed Luke's address now!

"Rey listen." I turned towards her and pursed my lips and recited the best way to ask her of this.

"Luke's been creating a lot of problem for my..." boyfriend, "...friend. I think his leaves have something to do with it."

Reyna looked at me with her sharp brown eyes and considered this for a moment.

"For all we know Annabeth that I could just be being skeptical. This all could be a big coincidence."

But it's not! I felt like shouting at her putting some sense into her brains. Even after I just told her how he was bothering my friend how could it be a coincidence? She couldn't be that dense.

"Look Rey, I don't know much about him but a very little. He is part of some really bad gang. I need to find out more because this friend of mine... he has decided to let himself be the goat for... I can't say good but he has decided to practically throw his life away but I think if i am able to find out a little more about Luke's gang then I could make a difference."

Reyna nodded her head swiftly while taking it all in but the next things she said were... well, expected and irritating.

"I think you should inform the police."

Not a chance!

"I cannot! Can't you see! Luke is in this school for just-"

And that's when He entered the hallway with a very dazed Rachel by his side. There was something different about her though. The mob of cheer girls and football jocks obscured her but I had had enough time to see her and identify the changes. Her face was practically glowing with love for Luke as she stared up at him in awe. I had seen them making out before but she hadn't been in deep, true love with him back then? What could have changed in a matter of a week or more? I could also see that she had put on some weight. In just a few days?

"See, there he is! I swear if I go back home right at this moment he would also take a sick leave!"

Reyna stared at the possession while saying, "Dare looks a bit different."

"I need Luke's address. I have to snoop around his place right now and Reyna you can totally help me!"

Reyna looked at me but shook her head, "Even if I did give you his address he will notice that you are gone and would follow you if that's what he has been doing lately. if he catches you in his house, literally in his territory, the worst of all things will happen to you."

I shuddered a little. It's not like I hadn't thought that through but i at least had to try! I wish I had a doppelgänger- Wait! I do have one who is just in a circle of hell! That's what the legends say. And if they were right about the angels then they had to be right about the doppelgangers. I just have to find a way to summon them.

"I need a little time. Like a an hour and half at the least. Can you cover up for me and find Luke's address by then?" I asked pleadingly. Even though she wasn't a powerful angel I needed her then. This task would never happen if she refuses.

"One condition." She said while she straightened further.

I bit my cheek and asked the obvious, "Which is?"

"I'll come with you."

My eyes widened as my voice lashed out of my throat, "Reyna it' too dangerous!"

Her eyes shined with determination as she said in a firm bossy tone, "Take it or leave it."

I felt like stamping my foot in frustration. Taking her up with me could turn into a disaster. She could be dragged into this mess called my life and bad things would surly pursue her. But Percy's life is on the line too. I cannot do this to Reyna who was just saying this to look out for her friend. But yet I did.

"Fine!" I sad quickly.

A host of a smile ebbed at her lips as she turned around and walked away towards her office.

"Meet you in one and a half." She called back as she disappeared behind the corner.

I just stood there, thinking about what a horrible friend I was... maybe even worse than an enemy could be.

* * *

I couldn't believe that I was standing in Percy's apartment, looking into his collection of books stealthily while he was in shower. I had to be quick. I had stupidly imagined that these would be fat books with hard cover bindings with their names printed on their spines. But those books which had their names on their spine were books on psychology. They read- How to know what a child is thinking, how to know a person's momentous desires, classification of different mindset... and so on.

Of course. He was a freaking doctor for mad people and likes. That is exactly the kind of books he would be reading. But then there were these leather bound manuscripts. They were the dustiest but also the most properly preserved. They looked just like normal pages, yellowed with age, stacked up in sections in brown jackets which were tied with a sturdy white thread. Those could be the things that I need. But unlike the medical books, they had nothing written on them.

At that precise, the sound of a spray of water hitting synthetic tiles stopped. Percy had turned off the shower and was probably rubbing himself dry. Next he would put on his overly big T-shirt and track shorts and come out of the wash room with his damp hair. He would be a sight but that meant I had less than five minutes to pick my poison.

I looked at the manuscripts in frustration. There were about fifty of them there and I wasn't even sure if he had something of the sorts for summoning a doppelgänger or even if they were really manuscripts. I always get vibes for angels I just wished I got something to pin point this one book. But there was nothing... just a jeering emptiness.

And just when Percy's bathroom door clicked open in the next room, my hand went ahead on its own and picked up a manuscript. I was glad that I was wearing my windcheater on my grey slacks and red tank top. I quickly pocketed the thick bundle of manuscripts. I wondered why I had picked it. But I just had and now I had run out of time for experiments.

Percy walked in in his little study and looked at me curiously as he harassed his soft, damp hair with his towel. He was dressed just as I had assumed and for that one moment I was thankful for my uncontrollable attraction to him. This put the latest theft out of my mind or else I would have surely acted stupid and Percy thanks to one of his 'how to' books would have seen right through me.

He kept staring at me and to be honest I couldn't stand it because my body was heating up just by his gaze.

"Okay what?" I said, finally reaching my boiling point.

A sly smile crossed his face as he slowly limped up to me. He was paler than ever but thank the gods he had not lost further weight. He put his hands on my waist and pulled me closer towards him. I couldn't tell that whether the heat that stabbed me was my reaction to his touch or was that his body temperature. He lowered down so that his lips were on my ear and whispered,"Shouldn't you be at school?"

His breath was hot. I remember it to be cool before but now it was burning but it stilled chilled my skin in the most exciting way. It was as if my body adapted to love the changes in his.

My breath hitched.

"Couldn't you have said that from there?" I pointed out but didn't sound so smart as I was barely breathing like a normal human.

I could feel his lips stretch into a complete smile as he said,"No."

"No?"

"Definitely."

I stood still or well tried to but failed as his fingers got rid of the windcheater and slid the strap of my tank top and bra just a few inches above my elbow. I looked into his eyes as he looked into mine and then he lowered his head and kissed my shoulder. His lips were slow, teasing and maddeningly charged. I threw my head back as a loud moan escaped my lips. I hadn't realized how I had longed for him to be close to me. As he kissed me further climbing up my shoulder I felt him grow faster as he gnawed at my skin leaving bruises. His arms encircles my waist as he pulled me closer and at the same time shoved me up against the wall. My fingers found their way to knot his hair and push his head deeper into my skin as his kisses grew more feverish and wild.

A soft moan escaped his lips as I wound my flimsy legs around his waist pulling him yet deeper into me. And then finally as he rose up to my jaw I used a bit of my strength and pushed him away from my chin only to crash my lips on his. The kiss was not the least innocent, it was all teeth and tongue and filled with passion. It was as if we were making up for all these days we had stayed away from each other. When he had said that he did not deserve me I had been frightened with the thought that he would keep his distance. But even if he had planed to do so he had clearly failed which was perfectly fine with me.

His kisses traveled south as he pushed down my red tank top further uncovering my plain white bra. He was busy trailing me with kisses and moaning into my skin as I was busy moving my head against the wall erratically and moaning his name out, all thoughts of raiding Luke's house forgotten.

But then he stopped. I looked down at him in confusion, wondering what had made him stop and realized that my phone was ringing. He fished it out of my pocket and grinned at me before he answered it. I rolled my eyes at that. As long as it wasn't Dahlia it was okay and she rarely called me.

"Hello?" he said the most politely making me raise my eyebrow at him.

"Who is this?"

We were still practically on each other so I could hear Reyna's frantic voice when she heard a male voice replying. She must have thought it was Luke and had freaked out. Was Luke out of the building? Shoot! I had to snoop around in his place!

I gently pushed back Percy who was busy answering the phone and pulled my tank top up. Actually I was sort of interested at knowing how he was going to answer that, 'Who are you question'. would he call himself a friend or-

"I am Percy, Annabeth's boyfriend... who are you?"

I swear my cheeks turned red at that. What must Reyna be thinking about me? Well of course only -Annabeth went out to fool around with a guy who she just realized was her boyfriend while she put me to work.

"I am Reyna from school. Can you ask Annabeth to hurry back? She is urgently required here in about thirty."

I checked my watch. She was right my one hour was up! Only thirty minutes were left. I hurriedly got into my windcheater and took my phone from Percy as he ended the call.

"What's up in school?" He asked, a bit put off.

"Just unangelic boring stuff." I turned around once I reached the main door to look and him leaning against the wall. His hair was a lovely mess as he stared intently at me through his razor sharp eyes.

I couldn't help it. I walked up to him and pressed my lips against his softly just feeling their softness and the electricity they sent through my body. He leaned into it and opened his mouth under mine eagerly. After about two minutes as we parted for air there was a soft smile on our faces. I pecked his lips one final time and went flying down to where my car was parked.

Now I just had to summon a doppelganger and break into Luke Castellan's house.

**Tell me what you guys think!**

**Beta read by RachelChaseJackson**


	17. Chapter 17

**Annabeth**

I had never imagined that I would ever perform something as illogical as a spell. A lot of things had lately been illogical in my life. I had never imagined before that I would need a counselor for my mental state. I had never even dreamed about meeting an angel as beautiful as him. But I have and I don't plan on letting go.

I just hope that someday I could look back at all this with a contempt smile on my face while holding his hands tight and firm.

* * *

I drew a large pentagon and drew the strange symbols which were drawn on the book. I had somehow managed to pitch the right book off the shelf. I wondered when Percy would notice that a book had gone missing from his shelf. He had no reason to check right away. I had been very careful about it all. He might be thinking that I must have ditched school to make out with him. I hadn't but I was glad that I had. It had been so long since I had kissed him. Right back then when our lips had met my heart had almost stopped with desire. I could still hear my blood pounding in my ears and my cheeks burning hot and red.

I shook my head to clear it off of all Percy feelings and set to work. I had to light some candles after cutting their bases a little. I frowned. Then how was I supposed to make them stand? I wasn't even sure if this was going to work. I couldn't understand a single thing written on the book. It wasn't english I was sure of that much which really didn't help. How was I supposed to chant anything? Was I even required to? I had no idea. I just instinctively drew the pattern on the ground of my bedroom and made sure the door was locked.

I sat up and studied my handy work. It looked perfect, thanks to all the engineering drawing I had done last year. It was electronical now but I had still learned the old ways. Pretty useful stuff. Next I cut the edges of the candles and barely balanced them on the ground. One soft breeze and my room would go up like a bonfire.

After the whole picture on the book was right in front of me in reality. I stared at the flickering candle, the sharp chalk lines. the snaking patterns. Nothing happened. Maybe I was needed to say something but what? As far as I was concerned everything written in that book was in gibberish.

"Um... Hello? doppelgänger? I am waiting." I said in a sing song way.

Nothing. My phone beeped with a notification which made the situation even worse.

"I should have known that all this was absurd!" I muttered as I grabbed a cloth off my desk and bent to wipe down the markings. That's when the candles fell.

Or so I thought. But they flipped over and rose up. The cloth dropped from my hand, my mouth hanging open as I stared up. I had never imagined myself wearing combat boots and a mini skirt below a rainbow bikini. I slowly looked up and took the spitting image of myself in front of me with awe. Same curls same skin (smoother without the cuts) same tan... but her eyes... they were completely grey, no pupil. I gulped

"You- you-?"

"Bitch."

I blinked, "what?"

"What do you want? Oh wait, who cares? You are stupid enough to let a creature of hell on earth. Thanks." Even our voices matched.

With that she lifted one perfect brown boot and tried to step out. After a moment her foot was down and her head was turned towards me. I would have guessed that she was glaring at me but with those pupil less eyes... it was hard to tell.

"That water demon's circle? Where did you get this info from?"

So she couldn't get out or hurt me. I squared my shoulders and steeled my eyes. I couldn't let her see that I knew nothing about this.

"It is me who had summoned you... after subduing the sea demon Leviathan."

Her eyes widened and all nonchalance slipped from her face.

"That's impossible... especially for a puny, powerless, worthless-"

"Then how do you explain one of his most sacred and not to mention secret thing in my possession?" I asked in a bullish tone as I carelessly waved the book in front of her and threw in on top of the bed. Her eyes followed.

"Well?" I said after a moment and she eyes snapped back at me.

"I'll do whatever you want okay, just let me go after that."

This was turning out to be easy. It seemed like we had only our appearance in common. I would have never fallen for such empty words.

"Okay, You need to pretend as me and go to my school if you want to live. Got it?"

She nodded then frowned.

"What about my eyes?"

I agreed with her. I opened my drawer and looked around for something, anything. Then I found them. The giant goggles that I mom had got for me from the fair once. I threw it at her.

"Put it on."

She dutifully obeyed. The sun glasses covered most of her face but I had to say, she looked pretty.

"Now what?" She said as she checked it out on the mirror.

"Now we play dress up."

* * *

Reyna nudged me as we walked down the down town region. The area was a slum and it was coming out to be really difficult to locate Luke's house. I wondered if Luke had supplied the school with his real address. The area was covered with masses of people, small shops of all kind, hawkers, big doods with bikes and all. My doppelgänger was probably in maths class. I wondered what she was doing? Was her not being able to answer even a single question affecting my grades? Has Percy figured out that the book was missing?

All such thoughts jumped around in my head as I looked around everywhere. There were flyers shops, very narrow streets and even the drainages were open at few places. The whole place was a mess. It was inhabited by the poor section of the society, a place I had rarely ever been to. It was maze of narrow streets and all kinds of minorities from chinese to korean to arabi.

"Look there." Reyna pulled me to a side and pointed towards a pair of black painted window above a flower shop.

"He lives above Kazuki's Flowers. And that is the said shop."

I looked at were she was pointing and sure there it was, KAZUKI'S FLOWERS, written in bold with a flowery background. I looked back at Reyna. SHe had her back back slung across her shoulder while I had had enough time to ditch it at my house. Her white top was escaping from her blue jeans and so were a few strands of hair from her long braid.

I turned my attention back at the flower shop as guilt burned down my throat. Was this the right thing to do? To drag Reyna along with me... what if something happened to her? She was the only person I could call a friend in my school.

"Look Reyna-" I started but she was not one to listen.

"Let's go up there before anyone sees us."

She was right. No body was bothering us in the crowd but that didn't mean that anyone wasn't watching. For all I knew there could be a hooded spy somewhere around here, waiting and watching my movements.

"Okay."

We made our way to the flower shop. It was decorated with pots of wild as well as ornamental flowers and creepers and was indeed a good sight for sore eyes. A steep narrow stair case was visible from it's side which led to the floor above. That was where we needed to go.

"How may I help you young ladies?" A middle aged women with black hair and narrow slitted eyes walked up to us. She was wearing a long blue frock which was drastically contrasting with her pale white skin. I noticed that her nail paint was golden, the exact same color of the chop sticks which were holding her bun together. She greeted us with overly friendly smile, clearly expecting us to buy something.

"Ugh we-" I stuttered while devising the best way to shake her off our backs and to refrain her from noticing that we were headed upstairs.

"Th-is- Is this the shop you were telling me about Annabeth? It is amazing!" I was surprised to see Reyna come up with something that too something so brilliant. I had known her to be socially awkward but clearly... she had changed. I had been the one who was not paying attention.

And at the right moment my phone rand. Percy's profile flashed on my screen as I fished it out.

"Who is that?" Reyna mouthed.

I looked at her, then at the shop lady and then back at her and said,

"Oh it's Just my boyfriend," A pause, "Actually he was expecting me to be home and face time with me. He is the overly jealous type you know."

I rolled my eyes and flipped a strand of my hair behind my back. Well Percy is my boyfriend, the rest of the lie was a... lie

"So he would really flip if he saw that I wasn't home when I had said that I would be. So Reyna... maybe we could come back lat-"

"No No No!" the lady perked up as dimples digged her cheeks. "I have a studio apartment just up above. You can sit on the couch and chat while your friend relishes our most beautiful collection! I am sure your boyfriend will not object."

"Will that be okay for the person who lives up there?" I asked with as much concern I could muster.

"Oh no!" The women waved her hands and dismissed my question and took my hand to lead me up the stairs.

"You wait down here I'll be down soon." She said to Reyna.

"I'll be right back Rey."

Reyna nodded, her eyes shining in the sun.

"Be careful."

I smiled at her, glad to have a her there at that moment.

"I will be."

* * *

As soon as the lady closed the door behind her I set to work. Luke's house was a mess. Clothes and bottles of alcohol were littering the floor. The lady had actually apologised for it. He had a straight cut couch facin with old plates unwashed in a sink. He had only one more room which was his bed room with a bathroom attached to it. The whole place smelled of booze and old bandages and trust me when I say that feels totally gross.

I put my hands on my waist and looked around again. Where to start? There was a small cupboard in his kitchen. I decided to open that. The first thing to fall out of it was a thong and then a whole big box set of... protection. I quickly scooped the things up (being careful to avoid the thong) and placed them back in the cupboard.

The next time my phone rang I jumped three feet into air. Even if this place resembled a dwelling of a normal hormone ridden teenage guy, it still had its creeps.

I was clutching my phone in my hand all thins time and only noticed it when it rang again. I sighed. It was Percy. What was up? He was calling for the second time. I touched the answer light on the screen and pressed the phone against my ear.

"Hello?"

"Hey Annabeth. Are you okay?" He sounded excited.

"Yeah."

"Where are you now?"

"Uh- um- at school?" Lying all out to him was harder than I imagined it to be. When did things change so much?

"Cool. I'll pick you up. There is something I want you to see. Just you and me."

The last thing was said in a whisper and all my nerves screamed at me to take the earliest train or bus to school. I wanted to see whatever he had planned for me. But there had to be a different meeting place.

"Not at school. From the library down my place."

"The one where you got arrested?" He chuckled.

"I wasn't arrested!" I defended.

"Call me when you get there. around seven."

"Okay."

He hung up. I sighed. A stupid girly smile crept up my face. What could he have planned?

A small mice jumped down from the rack above the T.V. and a tabled dropped towards the ground in its wake. It dropped to ground as I stared at it. For some reason frozen in place. The phone beeped as someone's voice mail spoke up.

"Luke! I wasnt that fawn of that Uriel you killed before sundown. Alive."

I stared at the tablet. Stunned I was but I didn't know why. The message said Uriel's fawn. It wasn't related to me. And yet I knew it was about me. I just did.

"Well, Well, Well that makes my job just so much easier."

I turned around to face the glinting blue eyes of Luke. And yet my again my instincts where proved right. I wasn't a human. I wasn't something I had always thought I was. I wasn't normal. I had thought that Percy was so alien and that he was from a totally different kind. But now I was here, getting to know that I was half of his kind. I couldn't process anything because I wasn't in a condition to.

So I couldn't see Luke when he moved. He punched my stomach hard and tossed me down to the floor. Another blow hit my head and everything went tumbling down. I think I screamed and I think I caught a glimpse of Reyna busting open the door. But I wish it was all a dream. I didn't want her to get caught up with Luke. It would be the last thing I want.

As the world grew darker only one very silly thought played in my mind.

I wouldn't be able to see the thing Percy wanted me to see.

**I know this is not at all much and not at all edited but that't all I could do. Tis story had given me an enemce writer's block and different ideas at the same time and made me confused and frustrated as hell. But I love writing it any way. So please please please tell me how this was!**


	18. Chapter 18

Sometimes life isn't what you thought it to be. Most of the time it ends up in a good way even if that's not what you have had in mind. It's hard to remove the strings of pain from the fiber called life. One can only wish for more happiness and less sorrow.

I wonder what my fabric of life looks like.

* * *

"Her body is rejecting the process violently! We are failing to impregnate her"

"Why- how-? Who would dare-"

"Leviathan!"

"That traitorous sea fish!"

I puked my guts out again as my exposed lower body shook reverently. My limbs were tied and parted a strange kind of tube was going straight to my womb. From what the doctors were muttering about I gathered that I wasn't the only one they had tried this upon. It was not human technology as no normal human equipment could was strong enough to carry any piece of a demon as strong as Satan.

"Try it again!"

Luke seemed to be unaffected by my screams and the trails of blood leaking out my mouth.

"But sir-"

"One more time... for today."

The bald doctor with square glasses gulped. His pitch perfect white coat was now creased and his hands shook like a roller coaster.

The lab was too dark for me to see anything else that the steel platform on which I was tied and the blank grey roof above. Whenever I mustered enough energy to even turn my head ever so slightly slightly I saw Luke's frowning face. Every time I looked his frown kept getting deeper and deeper. They had already tried to impregnate me with Satan's child twice but had failed. It had hurt worse then being skinned alive and now he was barking at the bald doctor to do it again.

"Stop it"

I whispered weakly but no one listened. Baldy made some adjustment on the other end of the tube which was connected to a pressure regulator and a computer. After seconds fire started climbing up through my lower body. My back arched up and I bit my lower lip to keep from screaming. Then the pain vanished.

Baldy looked wide at the computer screen and turned to Luke.

"Well?" He snapped.

"It was a success this time."

A huge grin broke out on Luke's face as he finally turned his gaze on me.

I was breathing hard. I couldn't believe what Baldy was saying. This couldn't be real... This just couldn't be-

My insides twisted in the ugliest way ever possible and blood rose up to my throat. My vision blurred with sweat and tears and my body moved up and down all on it's on. This time I couldn't hold back my scream. It hurt too much. My head was going numb from all the jerking I felt like an exposed nerve sitting on running electricity.

"What's happening?"

Luke's voice looked frightened... just a bit.

"The process failed again-"

"Do something!"

This time he was definitely frightened. He rushed to my side and grasped my hand. I wanted to pull away so badly but my body wasn't under my control. It was moving up and down and hitting the sides of the platform.

"Yes! Yes!"

With a harsh pull the tube was out of my body. I jerked around a few more times becoming still again.

Luke's fingers dug into my skin as he glared at the doctor.

"You fool! You could have damaged her! Who pulls out that darn tube out so blindly"

I crossed my legs and squeezed my eyes shut and tried to stop my racing heart. Nausea took over in seconds and I was puking into the trash can on my lap again. I wondered how it had survived all the jerking and flailing.

"I am very sorry sir but I think we have finally found the right vessel."

Luke snorted as he patted my back, "You think so? After she rejected the process thrice?"

The doctor scribbled something on a paper before looking up at Luke again.

"The technology is at flaw. And also her body is in sync with her unwillingness to reproduce Satan's heir. Strange things these nephlims are. So different from humans but I haven't seen one like her before. The nephs you tried to impregnate died after the very first try. The humans died instantly. She has survived it thrice now."

Luke laid me down on my back slightly and reached for the rope tying my wrists.

"I wouldn't-"

The doctor started to warn but Luke waved him away, "She is too weak to move. Ask the maid to prepare a wheelchair and also to bring in a robe. She might catch some infection like this."

The doctor nodded and pressed a button on his ear piece and mumbled some instructions as Luke untied me.

He was right about one thing tough. I was too weak to move so running away was out of question. But I had to ask him still.

"Neh-Nephlim?" I managed.

Luke's blue eyes sparked with that cruel glint before he quickly looked away, "Offsprings of an Angel or a demon with a human. No wonder your mundane father dislikes you."

Annabeth's heart thudded with fear as her senses came to full focus. She could feel malice seeping out of Luke like always but that skin crawling presence was their again. It was chocking and dripping with darkness and an unearthly malice.

Soft footsteps echoed down the hall and the low moans of wheelchairs filled my ears as a woman with a very familiar bob came into view.

Dahlia.

My eyes widened and anger flared up inside me. I had suspected her of killing my mother before but now I was sure of it. Her glowing eyes and her condescending look made me want to smack her hard across her face.

"Take her away for now Sylvia." Luke said as he snatched the robe from her hands and carefully draped it on me. He pushed my sticky hair behind my ear and whispered in a sick singy-songy way,

"Take good care of Satan's little baby maker."

Dahlia and Luke's laugh filled the sinister hallway. As they slumped me down on the freezing wheelchair.

* * *

The room Dahlia wheeled me into after cleaning me up was more bright than morning itself. I soon realized that the three walls in front of me were glowing white screens.

Dahlia or Sylvia chuckled and leaned down to come at my level.

"You seem to be unwilling to harbor Satan's heir. Well..."

She clapped once and the screens flickered to life. It showed Percy in an apartment, talking to a middle aged man. He was wearing a blue buttoned down shirt and neatly pressed black jeans. His elbows were on his knees and his fingers were laced together. His eyes were their usual brilliant green and blue.

Dahlia smirked, stretching her red tinted lips in that process.

"Doesn't he look better that when you last saw him?"

I looked more closely and realized that indeed he looked better. A stray smile found its way across my mouth. He was still a little bit thinner but the paleness from his skin was gone. His eyes were more focused, more calculating than they had been in weeks.

"You know the reason for his recovery? The archangels are loosing track of him."

I sat up a bit straighter at the mention of the archangels. I remembered that Percy had said that my mother was Uriel when he had seen her picture. Back then I had thought that it was just some kind of freakish mistake but now it was clear that my mother, Minerva Chase, was Uriel. And that she's dead. Faded... all because of Dahlia for sure.

I mustered all my energy and spoke up,

"I don't see why you're showing this to me. Are you trying to make me feel good? I'll not lie, your trick is working but it won't make me want to do what you think you have in store for me."

I was breathless after saying all that but I was glad that I had. Showing me Percy wasn't going to put me on my knees. And that's when my brain argued with me. Surely Dahlia realized that too.

In horror I frantically scanned the screen again. Nothing. I started to turn away again when I saw Percy move. He stood up abruptly and raked his already messy hair with his fingers. His forehead was starting to sweat.

Dahlia paused the scene their and walked behind me and gripped the handle of my wheelchair.

"How does he look now?"

"This is fake." I breathed out.

There was no way Dahlia could do something to him... no way

"Luke just gave the council a hunch of where he could be. They'll follow in deeper now. But not to worry. Leviathan is not so easy to track. Even if he stays at the same place for eternity."

My next words were shaky,

"So?"

I couldn't take my eyes off the screen. My heart ached in very strange ways. It twisted and withered. I would have chosen that blinding fiery pain from earlier anytime over this.

"But I wonder what would happen if we tell the council about his exact location. He'll not go into hiding now. Not when we have his precious love in our clutches."

I grounded my teeth together. I couldn't- wouldn't scream or cry or even sob in front of her. I have to stay strong I have to think... she has to stop talking- she-

"Then Leviathan could say hello to your mother in whatever afterlife angels have."

Then she put her talon like fingers on my shoulder and gripped hard as she whispered,

"Did I say afterlife? How foolish of me! Angels or demons don't have any afterlife, they just..."

She giggled and a whimper escaped my lips,

"...Vanish!"

This video had to be fake. But what if it wasn't? What if he could really just-just... go away without anyother trace or promise to meet up even after death?

"I'll do anything."

I choked on my words but that was the best I could do. And I would go through all that pain and fear again if they promised to-

"How can I trust you though?"

"What?" Dahlia asked, confused as if stepping out of a daze.

"How do I know that you wouldn't tell the archangels about him if I go with your plans?"

Dahlia drummed her fingers on the back of my wheelchair for a minute before focusing on me again.

"You can ask for a wish from Satan on your wedding night. Everyone of his brides is allowed one."

My throat went dry.

"W-what?"

Dahlia's lips hitched up as she announced my death sentence,

"Of course! the doc thinks that if you are willing then the best way to produce the heir is... if Satan impregnates you himself. What technology could be better than his own embodiment?"

My chest tightened but I stayed perfectly still. This was all I could do for him. And I would.

"And this wish he would agree to grant would be absolute?"

"Well no but he'll do it if you agree to give birth to his child. Just for that." Dahlia chimed.

"I love you." I murmured at the frozen picture of Percy.

Dahlia smirked at me but stayed quiet. My hands went up to my heart as I decided to save the person who had saved me. Who had pulled me out from that night on top of that building when my mom had died. I held the tender way he touched me, the way he kissed me with his eyes closed tight, the tasted me and sometimes bit my neck where I'm ticklish. Most of all I remembered his vibrant sea green eyes as tears fell down from my own.

This was worth it. He was worth it.

"I'll do that then."

* * *

**I'm sorry for the long wait but life's crazy folks. Please tell me how this was!**


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