I'll be here forever

chapter 44

When the sun came back, I was sad to see the rain go. I considered it a friend, and wondered what it'd give me the next time it came around. This time, it'd given me those three words I desperately needed to hear. I didn't think anything could top that.

Percy had learned that he could dry us instantly, which was a very convenient trick. It saved us having to go steal showers in the closest gym, which was what we had been doing to keep clean. However, it'd left my hair really frizzy, which Percy had made fun of me for, even though it was his fault.

I wonder if other people have felt the way I feel. I wonder if their heart aches for someone, like mine aches for him. And I know that if we were the only two people left in the world, I would be okay, just because I was next to him. I wonder if other people feel that way, too, or if I'm the only one. I wonder if they feel just as empty when they're alone.

We'd walked around Auburn all day, going in and out of coffee shops, diners, just walking down the streets, hand in hand. It was what we did every time we went somewhere new, so it shouldn't have been anything special, but it was. It was with him, and that was the only thing that mattered; his smile, his lips on mine, his very touch.

I've looked back on that day, too many times to count. Every morning when I wake up, every night before I slip into a restless sleep, I wonder; if I had known that was going to be my last day with him, what would I have done differently?

Maybe I would've held him a little tighter. Maybe I would've enjoyed the feeling of his skin on mine a little more than I had. Maybe I wouldn't have taken his bright smiles for granted. There were so many maybes, and no more time. There was no way I could've known, but I still feel like it's my fault. And maybe, just maybe I could've saved him.

If only I'd known.

We were on the drive back from Auburn, driving to our campsite, ready to set up before the sun sunk below the horizon, hoping we might be able to make it before night fell. That was when our car stopped. It didn't sputter, it didn't groan; just... stopped. It came to a sudden halt in the middle of the road, alone, jolting us forward. No other cars were anywhere near on the country road, no one for us to wave down. It just stopped.

"What the hell-" Percy muttered, trying to press the glass pedal a couple more times before opening up the car door and stepping out onto the asphalt. I unbuckled my seatbelt, shrugged the backpack over my shoulders and followed, coming around to see what he was doing. He flipped up the hood and inspected it.

"I'm gonna be honest, I've got no clue what any of this means," he admitted to me while gesturing at the engine in the hood, glaring at the engine like it might suddenly start up for him.

"Why are you looking at me? I don't have any idea either," I protested, tilting my head, trying to make sense of it. The engine and whatever else that was in there twisted and turned in on each other, leaving me baffled.

"Well shit," he mused, then walked around the car to inspect the tires. I went around to the passenger side to check if the car had any guide manuals; nothing. I met him in the middle when he came back around, and his confused face told me everything.

"Tires are fine," he said, mystified.

"So what the hell's going on?"

"I've got no idea," Percy shrugged.

Not a second later, the ground began to shake violently, completely out of nowhere. The car rattled. I yelped and grabbed on to him, digging my nails into his arm. Percy was frozen.

My legs felt like they were jello, all the jolting and shaking. I could hardly feel them. This earthquake was... unnatural. Usually with earthquakes, there's some kind of small warning quake before, but not for this one. This one was easily strong enough to bring down a building, and I was scared. I was really scared.

I can fight a monster, kill it, send it to Tartarus. I can't fight the earth. Stabbing it isn't going to get it to stop shaking.

Percy grabbed my hand tightly enough for it to start tingling, and we stood next to our car, terrified, unsure of what was going on or what to do.

Then the car started rolling backward, away from us. The earth split open under it. We watched in petrified horror as our car sank into the ground, as the earth below it caved inward. As it widened and shook, it swallowed our entire car, and it fell into whatever was waiting for it below.

That jolted me to my senses.

"Come on!" I screamed, pulling Percy away from the growing hole that had swallowed our car, that he was staring at in horror.

He stumbled, and ripping his gaze away from it, and we started to run, run from the shaking earth, run from the growing hole that gave me a feeling I couldn't explain. It was pure hatred. I hated that hole, and I hated the earth, and I hated whatever shit was down there. I hated it more than anything.

We were running, the ground shaking uncontrollably below us, a huge gap in the earth following us. I was determined to get away from it, determined to get away, but then the ground below us opened up into nothingness, and we fell.