Xenomorphic

Chapter 4: Death Matches

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Luke Castellan shot up screaming from his sleeping bag, startling awake his long-time companion, Thalia Grace and their newest addition, Annabeth Chase. The two reached for their weapons, Thalia producing a bronze spear and Annabeth pulling out a dagger of the same color, both of them whipping their heads around wildly, looking for monsters.

It wasn't the first time either.

After confirming they were safe, they both turned to Luke's sweat-soaked form, understanding in their eyes. "Nightmare?" asked Thalia. Luke flinched at her voice, as if he just realized she was there. "Luke?" The Son of Hermes whipped around to face the youngest. Annabeth shrunk under her idol's frantic, bloodshot eyes.

When it dawned on Luke that he had scared her, he came back to reality. He pulled the child into his arms, comforting her in the same way a big brother comforts his little sister. Thalia looked on with concern. What had Luke dreamed about that had him so terrified?

"I'm fine, Annabeth. Just a bad dream is all." The blonde was unconvinced. So was the Daughter of Zeus, "Luke," her voice was hard as ice, "What did you see?" Luke knew better than to argue when Thalia used the voice.

He let go of Annabeth so he could begin his recounting of the horror he just witnessed.

"I was in some kind of facility, run by mortals. There was a boy, he looked about your age, Annabeth." The girl's eyes narrowed. Luke continued, sadness evident in his voice, "He had a light tan, but," he hesitated, "His skin was covered in scars." The girls gasped.

"He had black hair like yours, Thalia. His eyes were green...like the color of the sea. I know it was a dream, but...I could smell him," he looked straight at Thalia, "He smelled like the ocean." Her electric blue orbs nearly fell out of her sockets. Annabeth asked the obvious, "You think he was a son of Poseidon?" Luke nodded his head, his eyes grave.

"Yeah I do. But what happened next makes me question my assumption." He paused, thinking about if he should go into detail about this. Annabeth's impatience made the decision for him, "Well? Out with it."

Luke sighed, a small grin on his face, 'Never change, Annie, never change.' His smile faded as he began again, "The boy was sitting in a dark room. It looked more like a cell, actually. Anyway, the door was opened, and a man entered. He didn't wear a shirt, he was ripped, and he kinda looked like an animal, all things considered." Annabeth giggled and Thalia rolled her eyes. "The boy killed him." The girls' amusement was abruptly ended with that statement.

Annabeth asked a tentative question, "How...did he...kill him?" Luke was staring at the ground, his face illuminated only by their dying fire. "The man ordered him to get up, but he didn't. The man got annoyed and waked into the room, and reached his arm out to grab the boy. Kid promptly snapped his wrist and double-punched him the stomach hard enough to make the man cough blood." Annabeth interrupted, "Wait, wait, wait, wait. He just snapped a grown man's wrist and hit him with enough force to rupture his internal organs?" Luke only nodded grimly, "That's not even the worst part. The man had doubled over the kid's back. So, somehow, the kid lifted the man...and slammed him head first into the floor. I felt the man's neck snap." Annabeth looked horrified and Thalia was shocked. "So you're telling me...that a little kid, that's about Annabeth's age...picked up a 200-plus lb. man...and then slammed that man into the ground, hard enough to snap his neck?" Thalia's disbelief was palpable.

"That wasn't all he did either. There was a man in a white coat waiting outside the door. He said something about augmentations, but I have no idea what he was talking about. He and the boy walked through the halls of the building, then they reached a giant gym, where a bunch of other guys in white coats were waiting. They had him lift weights." Annabeth's ADHD made itself known once again, "Impossible. No one my age could lift weight, it would stunt our growth." Luke only chuckled humorlessly in response, "Believe me Annie," she pouted at the nickname, "I don't think stunted growth is on his list of concerns. Whatever these people did to him, it's unnatural...even by demigod standards." He looked at his companions, "He was easily moving weight that grown men couldn't do."