House of Forbiddens [COMPLETE NOVEL]

20: Annabeth, We Need to Talk

Christine

When I was woken up by Audrey for my next shift, I noticed that Eris had left. Her minions were apparently trustworthy enough to not warrant continuous inspection; that, or Eris was foolish- because I knew a tiny amount of mythology and from that knew monsters to be- how should I put it?- not the brightest. I might as well say it. Most of them tend to be outright stupid. Because of this, and since Eris isn't here to monitor them them, I'm hoping that Christine, Magnus, and I can trick them into either setting us free or allowing us to escape. That is the plan. Or, rather, the end goal, because it doesn't seem like we have a plan right now.

Audrey is about to go to sleep, but considering she's now gotten four hours on top of the five we got last night after we made it to Kaden's house, we should both be feeling much better.

"Since Eris isn't here, do you think we could manipulate them into allowing us to escape or something?" I whispered to her. She just grinned at me.

"Sounds like fun to me. I've actually got an idea; I just didn't wanna use it while Eris was here. I still have my bow, so we could use that as a weapon against her. I think it could also break the lock, but I'm not sure." As she explained this to me, I was incredulous- she had only just now mentioned it? Well, to be truly fair, we really had needed those four hours of sleep. We may be daughters of the night, or whatever, but we're still human when it comes down to it. I grinned back at her.

"Sounds like a plan." I said. Audrey held out her hand for a high five, which I returned.

"Sounds like a plan." Reaching up to the necklace dangling around her neck, she grabs the harp pendant.

With a word in Greek, it flashes a magnificent metallic silver and starts to grow. Eventually, it changes into a different shape I recognize- an elegant, curving, shimmering longbow, entirely formed out of an ethereal silver. She takes hold of it and draws the string back halfway, an arrow appearing in the bow as she draws it back. I'm completely transfixed; I've never seen anything like this before. She takes a moment to aim. Her target is the cloud woman sitting in the corner of the room, who has been mindlessly reading and knitting these past few hours. Since we've tried our best to be quiet, she hasn't noticed us, or even looked up.

Audrey releases the arrow. It explodes from her bow, propelling itself across the room and right into the torso of the could woman's body. She jumps in surprise, screams, but it's too late. The cloud around the hole the arrow left is fast dispersing, and she is left to literally disintegrate, right before our eyes. Her eyes and feet are the last to go before there is nothing where she stood. Magnus' face betrays his astounded surprise, and I was as well. Drawing back the arrow another time, Audrey this time aims towards the lock of our cage. Within a second the arrow connects, and collides full force with the poor lock. It doesn't really stand a chance against a magical bow and arrow. After clambering out and stretching our cramped limbs, I walk over to the chair where the cloud woman had sat and hold up the key to show Magnus.

Walking over to where he is, I deftly unlock it, and he clambers out after us. I also manage to find Audrey and I's phones, which is a huge relief. We walk out the door to find ourselves in downtown Houston. With a sigh, I look around- well, at least we can call to tell Kaden and her dad where we are.

Will

"Annabeth," I said as we walked, "I think you have some misconceptions about Kaden and the people in her house. I wanted to make sure those are cleared up before something bad happens." She nodded her assent. Ugh, where do I start? "Okay, first off, that injured boy wasn't me. He was my brother, Jack," I said. She raised her eyebrows and it looked like something clicked in her mind.

"But then, how do you look so similar?" She asked.

"He's my twin. Simple as that." I shrugged in response.

"Why doesn't he come to camp?" she questioned.

"He has a medical problem that revolves around the gods, it's better for him to stay away." I explained, it was all completely true, I can't lie, but not quite enough to have explain everything.

She nodded and I continued on. "Second of all, his wounds were completely unrelated to those people. They didn't hurt him in any way. In fact, they were trying to help him, and that's partly why I was there in the first place- along with helping one of their missing girls, Christine. She had been injured by a monster," I grimaced, remembering her wound. Annabeth made a small, understanding sound, and I was glad I was clearing this up for her. Thankfully, we had known each other for a long time, and she knew she could trust me. I've spent the past 6 years here at Camp Half-Blood, and over time that's built trust between us. So... What else do I tell her? She breaks in with a question.

"That boy, Ian- he's a demigod, right? Who's his parent?" I paused for a moment, wondering if I should tell her. I'm glad she didn't ask about Riley or Audrey, but still. "He's a son of Persephone," I tell her, and she nods. I think she understands that I can't spill everything I know about them; she hasn't asked as many questions as I expected. We were walking along the edge of the forest, and I paused and turned towards Annabeth. "Do you have any other questions?" I asked.

"Do you think they'll find the missing girls?" She asked after a pause.

"I definitely hope so," I replied, worry twisting my gut. I could only hope for the best. Annabeth nodded. During this lull in the conversation, Percy ran up to us.

"Hey, Will," he greeted me, then turned to Annabeth. The two started a conversation, and I decided that was my cue to go. I had cleared up any problems Annabeth had and assured her they weren't evil. "Bye, guys!" I waved as I walked away. They waved back, resumed their conversation, and I went off back towards camp in search of something to do.

By: Nightsong