creation of sins

chapter sixteen

My eyes widened as he spoke and I grabbed my bag from the floor. I started to speak before he cut me off.

"Might want to take this. I can smell the hounds already." He tossed me a sword and I instinctively caught it, spinning it in my grip before making a dash towards the stairs.

I swear I've never ran so fast in my life. In about forty-five seconds I was making a beeline down Pier 86, despite the shouts of,

"Hey! That's the girl who dived in the water!" and "She stole a weapon!"

I sprinted to a taxi and threw myself in the back, slamming the door closed right after.

"Drive!" I yelled. "I'll tell you where to go!" The man who was driving shook his head with wide eyes.

"You-You have no payment and a sword."

I sprang forward in my seat and slammed his head down onto the wheel, yelling loudly.

"DRIVE OR I SWEAR ILL TAKE YOU STRAIGHT TO HADES MYSELF!" It hadn't occurred to me that moment that these were meaningless threats. His hand slammed down on the radio but before he could yell for help I slammed his head on the wheel again, knocking him out cold. "Asshole." I muttered as I dragged him to the backseat with the sword. After buckling myself in the front seat I hit the gas, lurching the taxi onto the street.

I weaved in and out of cars. I may have dented a few too. I looked at the clock and I could feel the vomit rising in my throat.

6:09 pm, and I had until 6:30. I made it out of the city by 6:16 and I was hightailing it down the empty streets towards camp. I heard the man groan from the backseat and I slammed my foot on the brakes, bracing myself as hit head slammed against the back of the seat. Knocked out cold. Again.

It was 6:24. I had six minutes until someone died, and a ten minute drive there. "dammit!" I screamed as I slammed my fist onto the dashboard, accidentally turning on the radio.

"'cause im happy,

clap along if you

kno-."

I quickly turned it off with wide eyes as I spoke.

"What the hell?" I pressed on the gas as hard as I could until I reached the hill to camp. The taxi stopped roughly and I threw myself out of it. Throwing open the back door, I grabbed my sword and slammed it again. The blinking clock in the car said 6:34.

My feet easily carried me up the hill and I looked around. The forest was silent, until a crashing noise barreled through the bushes. My sword was already drawn as a Hellhound leapt straight towards me. I quickly held the sword directly in front of me as the beast impaled itself. The sword was too deep to rip out, so I left it in the writhing monster as I sprinted under the arch and into camp.

It was Tartarus on Earth. Demigods were fighting each other and the Hounds. The hounds were being taken down easily, not so much the demigods. I scanned the area and spotted Flora battling with Dy. They were both amazing with swords, easily blocking each other's swings and attacks. Flora had a deep cut in her leg and limped forward for Dy, but Dy easily shoved her back. I knew already Dy wasn't aiming to kill.

That's when the scream ripped out of the crowd. My eyes turned to the sound of the scream as I watched Wendy's leg get bitten by a Hound. Her sword slammed into its head and it fell limp, but she was stuck on the ground. I sprinted towards her as I shoved others aside, my vision only focused on my sister.

Everything turned to slow motion as Adrianna stepped out of the crowd and in front of Wendy. I couldn't tell what she said before slamming the blade of her studded dagger into Wendy's chest.

Wendy let out another scream as her eyes went wide and her torso fell to the ground. She was barely moving. Adrianna smiled proudly as she turned around. The smile quickly disappeared from her face as I found myself in front of her, my dagger tight in my grip.

"Bitch!" I screamed as I slammed her up against a tree. "You killed her! You killed my sister!" Suddenly the anger surged through me and my dagger buried itself in her chest, multiple times.

Tears blurred my vision and I couldn't tell if my screams were louder than hers as i repeated the motion over and over again. Time stood still as I slammed the dagger down one last time before a pair of arms wrapped around me and yanked me away. Hot tears ran down my face as I thrashed in the person's arms.

"Cody! Behind you!" yelled Zaq as he stepped in and blocked Julie's sword from hitting both Cody and I in the head.

I was still thrashing around in Cody's arms as I screamed.

"You bitch! How dare you! I'll-i'll-"

My sobs cut me off as my vision went spinning into blackness.