The Evil Inside

Chapter Nine - ALEX: Annabeth's Adventures

‘Trouble’. Spelt A-N-N-A-B-E-T-H. No, honestly, it’s true. Ask anyone. Including, now, my parents.

There are a lot of ways to screw up and when it comes to listing them, I know one person who could do that easily - my big sister. So what had Ani done this time?

Apparently, broken curfew. Which, essentially, was always going to happen. The thing with Ani is that if there is a rule, she feels obliged to break it. Go figure. 

My whole family, bar Luke who didn’t particularly care what happened to anyone except himself, sat huddled under a blanket on the sofa at eleven o’clock at night, waiting for Ani to come home, wondering where she was because her presence was required two and a half hours ago.

Fifteen minutes later, Hanna dozed off in my lap. Quietly, I picked up Jaffy from the floor and placed him in her arms. Her sleeping self wound her small arms around him and held him tight. I smiled to myself; even her subconscious mind loved him. Did all people’s minds do the same thing? To love something enough that it didn’t matter whether we were awake or asleep?

Ani finally made her entrance at quarter-to-twelve. The door clicked shut behind her as she drifted into the kitchen, humming to one of her favourite songs while it played from her headphones.

She was tiptoeing up the stairs when Mum decided to pounce. Her countenance was an embodiment of fury as she dragged her fourteen-year-old troublemaker into the living room to face the music.

“And just where do you get off coming home at almost midnight, Annabeth?” Ani’s real name was only ever used by strangers who didn’t know her, supply teachers who read it off the register, and our parents when they got mad at her. “ We’ve been out of our heads worrying, young lady!” Yep, so out of our heads that Luke’s been upstairs for an hour on his phone, I’d played a million games of chess with my dad and Hanna’s in a deep sleep.

Ani still hadn’t taken her earphones out. She was nodding along to the music that was playing – until Mum cut the wires and yanked them out. Obviously offended but still trying to act cool, Ani sauntered over to the sofa, winked at me and then closed her eyes. I shuffled Hanna into a more comfortable position and then started to carry her up the stairs.  As I left the room with my little sibling, I could already see Ani falling asleep to the lecture about responsibility that she should have been receiving.

Gently, I tucked her under the duvet. I perched myself sleepily on the edge of the bed, watching her sleep as she breathed heavily in and out, inhaling, exhaling. It was timeless; I didn’t know how long I’d been there. The peace I had felt at this moment was soon wrecked when I heard Ani come up the stairs. Giving Hanna another quick hug, I turned the light out. The only source now was the night-light beside her bed; it made her face glow and she looked kind of un-earthly. I closed the door and padded down the corridor until I was standing in front of Ani’s room

When I knocked, the reply I had been expecting came – silence. Followed by another knock from me. Accompanied by a “Go away!” from Ani. I entered, cautiously I might add – Ani had been known to flare up at people who set foot in her bedroom without permission. As I poked my heads around the door, a half-changed Ani glared at me, furiously. Then “Oh, it’s you Alex. Come in.” Ani resumed her metamorphosis from Goth-glamour-girl to Winnie-the-Pooh-pyjama-girl-ready-for-bed. I averted my eyes, politely and sat down on the dressing table, knocking over her black nail varnish, black eyeliner and black lipstick in the process.

Apprehensively, I cleared my throat. “So, what were you doing out so late, An?”

She shrugged nonchalantly. “Just stuff.”

“Why d’ya do this sort of thing? Just to irritate Mum and Dad? Wind them up?” She lay down on the bed, and patted the space next to her, indicating for me to come and sit down next to her.

“Alex, life is boring.” I started to protest but she cut me straight off, “Don’t give me that look, li’l bro. It’s true. Homework, school, maths…” I couldn’t argue with that. “There is no adventure. That’s why I do this. All of this stuff.” I looked at her with new respect. “Alex, promise me, if you ever get a chance to have a real adventure, not like my self-made ones, real, that you will take it.” She smiled, suddenly. “And of course, involve me.”

A grin somehow found its way onto my face as I wandered out of her room. “Alex, wait.” I stopped and slowly turned around. Pyjama girl had come out of her room. She lowered her voice, so as not to wake Hanna. “Why did you come into my room? Did you want to ask me something?”

I frowned, making it look like I had no idea what she was on about. “I did.”

“Don’t give me that fake frown. I’m your sister, I know you better than you think. You came in here to ask me a question but you lost your nerve to ask it. Am I right?”

My shoulders slumped and I sighed, “You’re right.”

“So lets go into your bedroom and then you can say what you wanna say. Okay?” It wasn’t okay. Then again, Ani clearly wasn’t giving me a choice. She more-or-less pushed me towards my room. Admitting my defeat, I sat on the bed. Ani, always making herself at home, kicked her slippers off and lay on the floor, spread-eagled.

“Sooo…” she prompted, “What’s up?”

“Kate.” And even though really I just wished that Ani would just go away, and I really regretted setting foot in her room in the first place, I kind of wanted to tell someone. Everything. So I did.

“Alex… “ I sat up straighter, listening intently. Ani was a relationship expert. “Please don’t freak out. It’s just a suggestion okay?” I nodded, impatient. “ Did you ever think that, rationally, the reason that Kate doesn’t want to tell you who she likes is because that person is you?” Seriously? What kind of question is that? I didn’t think of Kate that way… did I?

Before I could retaliate, Mum’s footsteps were heard on the stairs. Ani held up her hands in an ‘I surrender’ sort of way, gave me an apologetic smile. “Think about it, Alex.” and slid out of the room to creep silently across the corridor.

Leaving me standing stock still thinking way too hard.

Hugging my knees tight to my chest, I lay in my bed, recalling the day’s events as I often did. Suddenly, I remembered Hanna and Jaffy and a thought came to me.

Bounding out of bed, I grabbed my camera and set it up on the other side of the room. And no, I’m not going to tell you the reason why. As Ani said, however infuriating this may be, “Think about it.”

A/N: Hey, don't you guys like the name Annabeth? such a pretty name...

and yes, i did name this character after the Percy Jackson character.