Solangelo One Shots

Hell House(p1)

This probably won't be a trigger for anyone but this will contain mentions of kidnapping so I'm going to put this up here, just in case.

Will's POV

"This is stupid," Will muttered, dropping his sleeping bag on the floor and watching a single translucent spider scuttle out from the floorboards. "This house is stupid, this dare is stupid, Annabeth and Percy are stupid for making us do this."

"Come on, it's not too bad," Nico said with an eye roll. "It's one night, like, twelve hours. And besides, are you telling me that you're not actually excited to be in here? See if the rumors about old man Artie are true?"

"The only thing I want to do is go to sleep and wake up and leave," Will muttered. A gust of wind howled through the house, ripping past shards of glass hanging from their last limbs off of the window frames and into the house, swallowed up by the darkness that threatened to engulf them, too.

"Well, too bad because I have our entire night planned out," Nico grinned, pulling a board game box out of his backpack and dropping it on the floor. An eye stared up at him, its piercing gaze sending shivers up Will's spine. "We're finding Artie, tonight. We have twelve hours, that's plenty of time. We'll talk to him, figure out where he's buried and see if the rumors are true."

"Ew," Will spat, spraying bug spray on top of his sleeping bag and brushing the dust from his shoulders. "I don't want to do any of this, Nico."

"Well that sucks because you have to." Will whirled around at the sound of a third voice, his heart threatening to jump out of his chest. Annabeth and Percy appeared from the shadows of the rooms surrounding them, twin gleams in their eyes as they surveyed the meager set up, the dust that had fallen on top of Will's sleeping bag and the book on ghost hunting that Nico had pulled out of his backpack. "Remember the deal. Twelve hours, no technology, no contact with the outside world, no sleeping. We got you energy shots." They tossed two five hour energies onto the ground, the vibrant colors standing out against the washed out boards of the house. "Don't worry, you'll be fine."

"Yeah, unless Artie gets to you before the sun does." There was a malicious smile spreading across Percy's face, one that sent a deep chill through Will's body.

"Artie's probably fake anyway," Will said with a hint of uncertainty seeping into his tone. "The legend is that he kidnapped people and held him in a secret basement in his mansion. What kind of person would do that?"

"Artie, that's who," Percy grinned. "Have fun with him. And good luck. You'll need it." Will could see the smirk on his face as he and Annabeth backed through the room, disappearing around a bend. Will was quiet until the closing front door rattled the bones of the house and the structure groaned with the effort of holding people for what could have been the first time in a hundred years.

"What do you want to do?" Nico asked quietly, snapping the band of his headlamp against the back of his skull. He flicked it on and the dark room was hit with a brilliant beam of light and suddenly Will could see everything, the spiders clustered around the corners, the gouges in the floorboards that gave way to pitch darkness, the entrance to the room next to their with the white cloths covering hulking things with sharp edges and liquid leaking out from underneath, staining the floor. "We should explore the house first, right?" He tossed Will a headlamp and he put it on, the elastic band squeezing the back of his head and making it throb. "Come on, in there." Nico nodded at the room to the right, the one with the white cloths that contrasted the thick darkness.

The floorboards creaked underneath their feet as they walked, their steps unsettling the dust that coated the floor in an inch thick layer. Their headlamps illuminated only a small part of the house and the rest of it seemed darker, closing in on them and making Will feel as if he was being suffocated. Their headlamps showed them the vague outline of a table, cabinet doors slightly ajar, chairs missing legs. A shiver raced up Will's spine as Nico drew closer to the cupboard, flicking it open and peering inside. He jumped back as a mouse leapt out from deep inside, landing with a soft thump on the table and racing off into the darkness. Will watched it go, the footsteps echoing throughout the silent room until its tail whipped around the corner and it was swallowed up by the other room. "Will, check this out," Nico said, peering inside the cupboard. "They're all dead."