Sign of the Times

Even when you hit rock bottom, there is still a long way to hell

Have you ever gotten out of one bad situation and thought, hey that wasn't so bad! but then immediately get thrown in one about 10 times worse? Yup. Except that has happened to me about forty times in the last week. 

Oh no! My mom died. Life can't get much worse!

Oh no! I'm stranded at sea. Life can't get much worse!

Oh no! I'm a guinea pig on a witches island. Life can't get much worse!

Yay! I was saved from the island. But just wait!

BOOM. Oh no! I was saved and stuck with the son of the person who killed my mom. Life can't get much worse!

Oh no! A giant cyclops is trying to kill me. Life can't get much worse!

Yes! Life got worse! Now I was being thrown in a dark room while all the other people I had met were being slaughtered. Oh, and I was being shipped off to help fucking Kronos rise again?

My mom was right when she told me that a child of Hades can never have a happy ending. She also said that even when you hit rock bottom, there is still a long way to hell, so maybe she was rather pessimistic.

I could hear Annabeth yelling, "Luke! Luke stop!" in between her loud sobs while Grover and Tyson were yelling, "Get him Percy! Get him!" Meanwhile, I was just quiet, waiting to hear someone scream out that one of them was dead.

I just wished I were home. I wish I were back in my childhood bedroom that was painted pink. The one I lived in before it was miraculously stuck by lightning and burned down along with everything I had. 

The next best thing was the park where my mom and I lived for a while, sleeping on the bench and waiting for a miracle. I just want to go back there, back to when I was with my mother. 

While I was dreaming about going home the ground beneath me began to melt away. I tried to get up but wherever I put my foot seemed to disappear immediately. I tried to scream, get anyone to help me, but it was too late and I fell into the darkness. 

I pinched my eyes closed, worried about what would happen if I opened my eyes. The wind blowing against me was like if you flew in a plane without a roof on. Then it stopped. 

I opened my eyes and looked around where I was. The park.

Everything looked different. It looked newer, cleaner, more colorful, but this was the park. Kids were swinging on the swings and sliding down the slide.  Parents were sitting on blankets, reading books and watching their kids play. It was all the same.

I felt the tears running down my face when I saw a kid crying because their knee was bleeding and her mom gave her a kiss on the head, reassuring her it would be alright. 

"What the fuck?" A male's voice said. I turned to see an adult looking down at me. "Linda! Get over here and call 911!" He began untying the gag around my mouth and hands, asking if I was okay. I nodded but everything was not okay.

Percy, Annabeth, Grover, and Tyson were all probably dead somewhere. 

"I need to go," I said, standing up. Firm hands were placed on my shoulders.

"No, you need to stay and talk to the police. We need to find who did this to you," the man said. A crowd began forming. 

"No, no, no. I need to go. I need to- oh shit where do I go? How did I get here? How did I . . ." my voice trailed off when I saw him in the background. He was just a normal person in a black suit but without a doubt, that was none other than Hades, Lord of the Dead. "Shit."

I turned the other way and pushed my way through people trying to stop me. A police showed up right in front of me telling me I needed to stop and go with her. I wasn't listening though. The tears were coming out harder than ever. I kept running.