Olympus Drive Book 1: Everything is Fine

Chapter 43

Basil

It's late by the time I get back to the house. Luke goes to his dorms, he has no children to worry about. Just classes he missed. I tell him to go. I'll update the girls. He should check in with his boyfriend this one is nice; he took notes for Luke today.

 Hector already went home the weasel. I told him to wait for me and not use the Underworld to zap himself home but what does he do? What I told him not to do. I give up. Also we're no closer to finding Helen. 

 And I should go back to my children. I wonder if Sam's picked Dean up yet. She ought to have by now poor little scrap I had to give him Jasmine's old clothes to put on this morning.

The house is dark which is not a good sign. It's also quiet which is a worse sign children aren't quiet unless they are getting into trouble.

When I go in I find the house empty and a note on the table. There's loads of duct tape on the floor which means the kids have been having fun that's nice.

The notes says "Following kids. Call me. Stamos" and then he left my friends and not family cell phone. I sigh. What'd they do just bolt? Entirely likely. I'm not excessively worried now, Jasmine can handle most any human, and there aren't a hell of a lot of surviving Titans. It's Helen I'm worried about where is she? Dead in the underworld? And what am I going to tell Thyme? I couldn't find his mom?

The phone starts ringing. It's Vanessa---Luke's classmate.

"You okay?" I ask, picking up. She's texted me before not called. And it's what eight o'clock at night?

She screams. Then the line cuts dead.

"Nessa?" I call it back turning and running out of the house. No car. I start to run down the drive. Nothing. She doesn't answer, it goes to voicemail. What the hell?

I run all the way to campus. I consider texting Luke but I'm not sending my little brother into something that I don't know what's going on. He said he was going to meet his boyfriend that may not be any closer than I am.

I walk right into the dorms and past the RA at the front desk. It's bad that they don't even notice me now.

The second floor is quiet which is good. All quiet no signs of a disturbance what was it some kind of joke? It's not funny right now also I don't think she'd do something like that.

"Nessa? You okay? You called me," I say, knocking on the door. it creeks open. And I'm hit with the horrible stench of blood. Blood and organs.

I step in, slowly, to see her lying there, half on her bed, guts spilling out and in her own hands, as one of her limp hands holds the knife that did it. her phone is blooded and under the bed. The window is open.

Abigail screams, grabbing my arm and dropping all her bags, running into the back of me.

"Call 911---Go call 911," I say, turning her right around. She shakes but obeys.

"What if—what if—"

"She is dead," there's no life left in her I can feel it. All the same I walk over to check her pulse. Nothing. "You need to call 911---I think I know who did this. Ask for Detective Stamos don't let anyone else interview you," I say, guiding her out of the room as she calls 911.

"Wait," she's shaking.

"I need to find who did this," I say, backing away down the hall. Now I have two guesses not at all good. That was not Vanessa's scream. She's been dead for at least an hour her skin was cold. Also those wounds were very self inflicted. But there's no reason she'd do that to herself. Not voluntarily.