Down in Flames [OC Demigod Fic]

Chapter Twenty-Two: "Two Visions"

Pearl sighs heavily and throws a pillow at Dennis, but it passes straight through him and hits the wall. "For the last time, get out!"

He purses his lips into a pout. "Come on, I thought we could have a slumber party!"

I roll my eyes and tuck myself further beneath the covers of my hotel room bed. "Tell him we need our beauty rest," I murmur.

"Yeah, what Sabine said. Ghosts may not need sleep, but living people do," Pearl reminds him, in case he'd forgotten that during his time in the Underworld.

"Fine. But can I tell a short bedtime story?" Dennis piped up. "I know a few ghost stories..." When neither of us laughed, he softly adds, "Badum tssss."

"Once upon a time, Dennis left the girls alone. The end," the annoyed Pearl said curtly. "Goodnight, we will see you bright and early tomorrow morning."

"Looking forward to it, treasure," Dennis gave a cheesy grin, his figure fading as he glided towards the door.

I prop my arms on my pillow and look over at Pearl, who is calmly tucking herself into her queen-sized bed. "Why so anxious to get rid of him?"

"He gets annoying after a while. It's not that I hate him or anything, it's just..." she runs a hand through her silky blonde hair. "I feel like I can only handle Dennis in small doses. Today was a major Dennis overdose."

"Finally, someone put it into words," I laugh lightly. My eyelids are already feeling heavy. "We should rest. Who knows what tomorrow will bring."

She nods. "Goodnight."

"'Night, Pearl." The covers feel cozier as I drowsily drift off into sleep.

Do demigods always have crazy dreams while they're asleep on a quest?

If so, I am no exception.

I am suddenly shifted back to Grandma Jean's house. It is late in the evening, and she is sitting with a couple of men, the three of them talking in hushed voices.

"They have to be connected," the younger man says, persistence in his voice. He plops a magazine he had be reading onto the coffee table and leans back into the sofa. It is a issue of People magazine, with my mother's picture on the front. In bolded letters, the headline shouts at me, 'AUTUMN RAIN STAR GOES MISSING'. Autumn Rain is a romantic flick my mother was in that came out last fall. Though I found it incredibly cheesy, the film became relatively popular. Below her picture, the caption says, 'Amalie's shocking disappearance leaves police puzzled'.

"She left without a trace? No warning at all?" Jean asks softly. She looks completely drained; apparently the Fates think her daughter running away from home wasn't enough.

"Noel is right, dear," I assume that my grandfather Warren is the one speaking now. "They must be connected." The younger man, I recognize now as my uncle Noel, nods in agreement. His messy curls bob up and down as he does so.

"Both of Sabine's parents have gone missing in such a short amount of time. This is too serious to ignore."

"We have to warn her," Warren says in an alarmed voice. "Wait. No, we shouldn't warn her, because that will only make her paranoid..." Warren is obviously at war with himself. "But we must tell her, or she might go missing next. Yet, we shouldn't—"

"Warren, don't stress yourself over this, please," Granny Jean calmly tells him as she rests a hand on his arm. Warren's inner conflict reminds me of my own. It must be hereditary; I remember that he is a son of Janus, the god of crossroads.

"Don't worry, dad," Noel says in an all too optimistic tone. "I have a plan."

Before I have the chance to hear this brilliant plan, I am whisked away to an entirely different atmosphere.

The cold immediately seeps into my bones, sending a chill through my body. My eyes haven't adjusted to the darkness yet, but footsteps coming towards me echo throughout the room.

"Patience," says a voice I know all too well. It's Rhodes. He enters from the corridor carrying a lantern to illuminate the room. From what I can see, it seems to be a storage room, filled with shelves, chests, and boxes of things; books, weapons, relics, trinkets.

Following Rhodes inside is a man who looks about ten years older than him. He is tall and well-built, wearing what looks like a hunter's uniform. On his rugged face he wears a cruel expression; this guy looks like the Underworld's scarier version of Gaston.

"How can you say patience when you let the girl slip through your fingers?" The man grumbles.

Rhodes sighs and sets down his lantern. "Zagreus, brother, you know all too well why I couldn't have captured her there. The ghost is too clever. I had to make it look like I'd had a change of heart, so I may gain his trust again."

Zagreus picks up a bow and arrow from a rack of weapons, nocking the arrow with ease. "I fail to see how befriending the ghost is beneficial to father's plan. He is but a puny demigod, not to mention he's dead." He lets the arrow fly and it lodges itself into the wall. Rhodes doesn't even flinch as the arrow whizzes past him.

"He's not just any ghost. Believe me, I can guarantee Sabine will not make it back to Camp Half-Blood."

I gasp aloud when I hear my name. Zagreus perks up his head, and my heart beats faster. He must have heard me. The panic is short-lived; he soon returns to his usual posture, retrieving his arrow from the wall.

"You're on thin ice, Makarios. Father knows you aren't reliable. You never have been. That's why he trusted me with kidnapping an Olympian. And did I fail him?"

"No," Rhodes mutters. "Took you a while to track the mortal, though."

Zagreus roars, "She was well hidden!"

"How well can a movie star hide?" A sickening smile plays on his lips, and I feel myself slowly sinking into despair. Both of my parents are in the hands of Hades, and Rhodes was a part of the plot all along.

"You have until sunset to bring Sabine, or I'm going to send her."

"Her?" Rhodes' voice soars up an octave. Whoever this mysterious 'Her' is, I have a feeling I won't want to meet her. "That won't be necessary." With that said, he grabs a box from a shelf near the back of the room and trudges back down the hall. Zagreus takes the lantern he had forgotten and scowls as he leaves the room also.

I am left in the pitch black, and my vision fades into nothing.