Puppets (Percy Jackson AU)

Steph

Here we go, guys. The final chapter.

Sorry for the wait; there was and still is a possibility that a friend of mine and I will act out this chapter as I have turned it into a script.

By the way: slideshow and playlist are in the process of being made.

I hope you enjoy it. I'm near tears at the moment, because, well, I don't want this to end.

Allons-y, darlings.

[23]//STEPH//

Truth be told, Steph was terrified.

That whole monologue about her death at the coffee shop, and all the laughing and sarcasm? Faking it. As soon as she was out of the girls' sights her hands started shaking uncontrollably and she almost broke down.

She was scared. God, she was only fifteen, and facing her death. As in, dying. As in: Never. Coming. Back. Was she supposed to be perfectly fine with dying? She didn't have a back up plan because she had no way to fake her death. She didn't even know how L would kill her. The only way to fake her death would be to pretend to kill herself, but the oh so powerful L would see right through it.

Steph wasn't a mastermind. She was just a girl, and she wanted to stay alive for as long as she could. She was supposed to be flirting with guys and texting her friends and going to Starbucks wearing her new cute scarf. Not figuring out who stalkers were and analyzing and dying.

The night before everything went down, she stayed up marathoning TV shows on Netflix with a supply of ice cream. Nothing really mattered anymore, did it? All the hard work she put into school was pointless. Her failed science test never really mattered. She didn't even have to worry about trivial matters, like where she would go for winter break or how much she would have to exercise to burn off the ice cream. She didn't have to worry about cleaning her room or whether or not to buy that cute but super expensive shirt. None of that mattered in the long run, did it? It just came down to the facts.

And the facts were saying that she didn't want to die. She thought she had a lifetime for cleaning her room and debates with herself over expensive shirts. She wasted it all away on the trivial matters.

The next morning after her night of not sleeping and watching Netflix and worrying, she got prepared. She went to the auditorium early, starting to set up backstage. She programmed her slideshow to play at a specific time that no one could change, just in case she wasn't there to start it herself.

"Hello, Stephanie." The calm, eerie voice came from behind her. She didn't turn, but stiffened slightly, on the verge of panic."Aren't you going to answer me, darling?"

"The slideshow is programmed to start in five minutes." Steph said, her hands shaking. "Game over."

The other girl let out a tinkling laugh. "Oh yes, but can't I just end it all now? Kill you, just like you were fearing?"

"Shut up," Steph said, her back still turned.

"We have about five minutes, don't we? Why don't you explain exactly how you found me out, sweetie?" She giggled quietly.

Steph whirled around to face the girl she had found out. She used as much force as she could to slam her against the wall and put her arm across her throat, so she was trapped.

"How hostile." She said, not seeming at all uncomfortable. She sighed, smirking slightly.

Steph looked at her. How could such an innocent looking girl be some kind of murderous stalker? But that's how she got away with everything. Stay in the background, observe, look innocent and find out everyone's dirty little secrets.