The One-Seven

Chapter 18: And The Award Goes To

It took about an hour before Percy had been able to free himself from his colleagues and he finally managed to get back into his car. Part of him wanted to just go home and sleep. It felt as though he hadn't slept in days. But Meg was still floating around somewhere, and while some of the ingredients she needed were hard to come by, it likely wouldn't take too long before she got what she wanted. So he left the precinct and made his way over to the apartment complex where Meg's older sister sometimes resided.

The apartment was an upper-crust complex, in the nicer part of downtown complete with a gate guard.

"Something I can help you with officer?" The guard asked as Percy flashed his badge. Percy reached into his coat pocket and withdrew the photo of Meg.

"She been in here recently?" He asked. The older man squinted as he took a look at the photograph,

"Yeah, she's Olivia's sister. She's been staying up in her apartment for the last few days. Said she was on a break from school or something." He rolled his eyes, "Hasn't been here all day though. She a runaway then?" He asked and Percy nodded. The guard let out a snort, and lifted the gate for Percy,

"Good luck officer," He said with a tip of his cap. Percy gave the man a thankful smile, and drove into the lot. He parked the car in an open space, and found the apartment on the first floor with relative ease. He didn't feel anyone on the inside, and after throwing down a veil of mist to hide him from mortal eyes, he pulled out his lockpicks, only to pause and frown,

"Fuck," He muttered to himself, the doors were locked with electronic locks, and couldn't be picked.

Sighing in annoyance, Percy decided he was over doing things the proper way. Trusting in his mist-veil, Percy leaned his shoulder into the door, and with a minor use of his abnormal strength, he broke the lock of the door. Pushing the door open, Percy strode into the very nice-looking apartment. The furniture alone probably cost more than what Percy paid in rent in an entire year. He walked through a small hallway into a beautiful and lavish living room, there was a large flatscreen against the wall, a small bar by the kitchen, and an enormous sofa against the wall. In front of the sofa was a small glass table, and on the table was a smattering of collected herbs. Percy recognized bay leaves and calendula flowers, but saw no sign of the acacia powder. Not a surprise, of the herbs needed, it was by far the hardest to come by, but that didn't mean that Percy couldn't make Meg's life a little more difficult. Percy grabbed a waste bin and placed it by the counter, then he jogged back down to his car, and grabbed an old matchbook. Once back in the apartment, he disabled the smoke detector and set about collecting the leaves into the bin. When all the herbs were collected, he lit a match and threw it into the bin. In a matter of moments, the plants went up in flames and dark smoke started pooling around the room.

He was torn about what he was meant to do next. The girl had to come back to the room at some point. But he didn't know when she would even be back, and while he could stay the night in the hopes of catching her, he would much rather sleep in his own bed. Sighing, he reached into an inner pocket of his coat and withdrew a piece of chalk. Walking over to a painting on the wall by the front door, Percy removed the picture from the wall, and inscribed a small sigil with the chalk. Pressing his palm to the symbol, he channeled a bit of his divine will into the symbol, and it glowed brightly for a moment. The glow disappeared, and Percy replaced the painting.

It was a relatively simple enchantment, one he'd learned a few years previously. It was simply an alarm of sorts. When someone entered the apartment and passed by the marking, it would alert Percy and he could simply vapor-travel to the desired location. While Percy detested using his abilities, he was willing to take the minor blow to his pride if it meant keeping the kid from doing something immensely stupid. He was on his way back to his car when his phone buzzed. Percy swore so loudly that the gate guard actually turned to look at him. Waving him off, Percy pulled his phone to his ear,