The Afterlife (HoO Fanfiction)

A Meeting With the Enemy

~Rachel~

I had lost track of time. Days and nights were the same here and I had lost count of how many days I had been stuck in a cold, dark, and damp cell. Even the meals (if you could call what I was eating a meal... It was more of a light snack) were not brought to me on a regular basis. I knew this because sometimes my stomach hurt so much from hunger that I couldn't sleep, and other times I barely felt the need to eat when another plate was brought to me. Therefore I started to ration myself and stretch my meals for long periods of time. I was not starving per se, but I noticed that my ribs were sticking out more than usual.

I also felt guilty, because desperation became more and more my default mindset. There wasn't a lot of stimulation. I had no one to talk to, I could not see any kind of way for me to escape, and I didn't even see the light of day. My thoughts often wandered and I started to resent my friends. As the days passed, I started getting mad at them for not being there to rescue me. Then I remembered that they had no idea of where I was (me neither, as a matter of fact) and that they also had issues of their own. So I was feeling more miserable.

There was a jingle of keys in the distance. My hearing grew more acute since I was in this cell, so I could hear someone approaching long before I could see the person. Without surprise, it was Julian. He was the only person in this prison that I ever see, really. His electric blue hair was messier today. He was in dire need of a haircut. Or an encounter with a comb. A mischievous light was shining in his eyes, still, he looked tense.

"Rachel," he said. "The boss wants to see you."

I was surprised. At last, I could get some answers. I could try to make sense of all of this, find a way to escape, maybe communicate with my friends! Julian took out of his pocket a piece of cloth and handed it to me.

"Put this over your eyes."

I decided to do as Julian asked. Since he offered to help me escape, I trusted him. I put the blindfold on but did not cover entirely my eyes. I could still see my feet. However, the piece of cloth grew magically and tightened over my eyes. I heard Julian chuckle.

"Now don't play any trick on me. The boss will not like it. I'm coming in now to tie your hands."

I heard him coming into my cell. He took my wrists and tied them with a rough rope. He seemed to know what he was doing because once he was done the knot was unmoving. Julian placed a hand between my shoulder blades and pushed me gently forward. Then we started walking. I stumbled many times on the uneven floor, and every time Julian caught my arm to keep me from falling. I was completely disoriented and I felt like I had been walking for hours. Sometimes, I felt a breeze, a bit of fresh air. Maybe my mind was sticking me, but I could bet I felt the heat of the sun on my skin.

Then, Julian caught my arm and brought me roughly to a stop. He pushed on my shoulder, forcing me into a sitting position. I was glad to feel something like a chair to break my falling. I felt my hands being untied to be tied again to what was definitely a chair. Lastly, Julian took off my blindfold. I was seated in a sort of office. The walls were made of expensive-looking, dark and carved wood. There was no window, but the thick carpet felt like soft moss and pine needles in a forest. There was a massive table at the center of the room, behind which was seated a man. Actually, he was sprawled in a chair, one leg over the armrest. He was looking at me with a mix of curiosity and wickedness.

The man was wearing a black three-piece suit. His hair, messy and shoulder-length, was black except for one silver-white strand. This reminded me of the one Percy and Annabeth had. I had a hard time understanding if the man before me was a divinity or a regular mortal. He didn't have any extraordinary energy coming from him, but his eyes were unsettling. They looked like they were burning. His skin was white, but not metaphorically. It was white like a sheet of paper, like snow, like the froth on the waves.