heavy bones [jason grace]

0. i get back up

Her fingertips were bleeding.

The skin was raw, her nails lost somewhere in the hardwood a few inches away from her face. Tears leaked from the corners of her eyes. She bit down hard on her bottom lip to suppress a sob. She kicked out, but there wasn't enough room for her to get much power in her kick. It was uncomfortably warm. She fought sniffles. Sniffles took up extra air and she only had so much left.

She banged on the lid. She couldn't see anything, but she was fairly familiar with her surroundings by now. She was starting to get light-headed. How long had she been in there? Her mind was blank. She couldn't remember who put her in here or what life was like before this. She couldn't remember her name. 

She was running out of oxygen. 

She couldn't form a coherent thought, but she knew she was terrified. She didn't want to die. She wanted out. She wanted out. She thrust her hands out, hitting the lid with everything left in her over and over and over and over again until she was on the brink of passing out.

And then, just as she thought all hope was lost, she hit the lid one last time and rainbow light exploded from her hands.

The lid was ripped off its hinges. It landed somewhere on the other side of the room. She took a deep breath of air and, feeling strangely heavy, climbed out of the wooden coffin handcrafted for her especially. Lights danced in her vision. She rubbed her eyes only to discover lights really were dancing. Rainbow sparks, just like the ones that had beamed from her palms, hung in the air, flickering in and out of existence. She stumbled up the stairs, the sparks guiding her through a dark house.

She pushed the front door open and hobbled down the lawn to the sidewalk. The sidewalk seared her skin, fiery from soaking up the summer sun all day. The lights circled her head like a halo. She fell to her knees. She couldn't find the strength to wince as the rough sidewalk scraped thin layers of her skin off.

An old woman squatted down in front of her. She had no idea where the woman had come from, but the woman was there now and she supposed that was what mattered. Her gaze latched onto the sliver of ground between them, freckled with grass.

The old woman scowled, her veins bright against her translucent skin. Her lips were thin and cracked as she asked, "Are you going to stay down or get back up?"

In the house behind them, the very same house she had come from, a light turned on and someone started shouting. A neighbor across the street pushed their curtains aside and peeked out to see what all the ruckus was about.

The old woman sighed like she was wasting her time. "Well?"

She ended her staring contest with the ground. The old woman was gone. She let her hands fall to either side of her. Her fingers still bled slightly. She pushed herself off the ground. Her legs quivered like plucked violin strings but still, she stood on them. The shouting got closer. Her head hurt like a bitch.

A hand grabbed her wrist and whipped her around. Her gaze met collarbones and she knew this person was the one who put her in that coffin. Her eyes narrowed. She raised her free hand, ignoring the tugging on her arm and let the warmth gather in the palm of her hand. The rainbow light came back and the person's hand left her arm. The odor of singed skin and hair wafted past her nose. The person would never bother her again now. Her hands hung at her side. Blood dripped from her fingers. The neighbor across the street screamed.

She clenched her fists. "I get back up."

*

olivia rodrigo as cordelia yorkes

julia lester as erin beesley

peyton kennedy as lacy morton

madison hu as miranda gardiner

sofia wylie as taylor james

*

in honor of the incredible news that we are getting a percy jackson tv show on disney+, here is a new fanfic based in the riordan-verse!!!!!