Jason Grace: After the Burning Maze

Escape (Bridge Chapter)

Hey everyone! This chapter is just a bridge between the last one and the next. I tried writing the last chapter all in one go and ended up with 3,000 words! (Lots of  drama happens) So here is about 700 that I hope will help break it up. The last Chapter will be up within 24 hours! 

"Is she asleep?" Scarlett looked up from her makeshift raft while I rubbed my eyes.

"Yeah, I just put her down." I swooped down to give Scarlett a quick peck on the cheek but she backed her head away and made a face.

"I'm sweaty," she explained and went back to her work. I frowned a little and watched her hammer away at her 3-year-old project. The raft was almost done by now and all we needed were a couple more branches and more tightening rope. Though it seemed strange, there was a surprising amount of trash that flowed through the Acheron, available for us to choose from.

"Plastic," Scarlett mumbled. I quickly scooped down and passed her an empty Gatorade bottle. Biting an old zip tie in between her teeth, she positioned the bottle on the bottom of the raft to help keep it upright and floating. Tugging on the Ziptie so tight her fingers turned white, she secured it in place and wiped her hands on her once white dress.

"Awesome," I mumbled as she approached the banks of the Acheron to splash water on her face. As she jogged back up the little slope, she tossed her towel to the side and slipped her hand into mine, the two of us making our way back to the barren tree.

Underneath it, Rosalie was sleeping peacefully in a small cradle of dried leaves. Scarlett bent down and gently removed a strand of fallen hair from her face as she watched the calm little spirit sleep. Unexpectedly, a tear dropped from her eye onto Rosalie's face and with an awkward laugh, she wiped it away.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked, bending down,

"Yeah," she laughed, "It's just, this is the last time I'll be able t-" she cut herself off abruptly and stared at me with her mouth gaping. With a shaky breath and trembling hands, she continued, "It's the last time I'll be able to come home from work and see her sleeping."

"What do you mean-"

"Whatever. It was a weird thought anyways." she smiled and struggled to reach my eyes. "I guess what I was trying to say is that we've built ourselves such a nice little life here in the recent 3 years since Eleanor left. It's going to be hard to relocate again."

I shrugged casually, "I don't know about you but I'd give anything to get out of this place. I'm so sick and tired of it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

She met my eye successfully this time and flashed me one of her signature smirks, though this time it was a little different. A little more genuine, a little more emotional, a little softer.

"We should get to sleep," she pushed herself off the ground, "There's lots to be done if we're to finish the boat by tomorrow."

"Yeah," I nodded, "Yeah, your right."

I helped her wrap up in the burial shroud but this time, she fastens the buttons and ties the rope all by herself. As the winds howl and Scarlett shivers in my arms, we keep little Rosalie right between us. She squirms in her sleep and wraps a hand around Scarlett's finger. The 3 of us hold on to each other as other spirits around us wail as their souls are torn from Asphodel. Scarlett and I connect our eyes and push through our last night in Asphodel.