Dreams (A PERCABETH AU)

Chapter 12- Screams In The Night

Piper POV

Then she went limp in his arms. The life drained from her like clear water from a sieve. I clasped my hand over my mouth in shock, feeling the tears running down my cheeks.

Never. Never had I imagined that such an innocent, sweet girl would come to an end like this. It just wasn't right.

She lay across the floor, limp as a rag doll. Only a few metres away was Silena, her skin deathly pale like ice. Neither of them moved. Neither of them breathed.

My heart began to collapse on itself, crushing me from the inside-out. And the pain—it was too much for anyone to bear.

I muffled a screaming cry against the duct tape and gripped my stomach as I keeled over, still on my knees. My eyes scrunched shut and I trembled through my sobs. Jason's arms came around me but nothing helped. It wasn't just because there was a gun still pointing at my head but because my two best friends had just been killed right before my eyes.

I would never forget this. It would haunt me for eternity. There last dying breaths would be in the back of my mind every time I went to sleep and every morning when I woke up. This couldn't be undone. The fates had taken their life forces and snipped at the very strings of their hearts.

When the cops came barging in, I didn't feel human enough to pay close attention to what was going on around me. Everything was so loud and yet quiet in my head. I think I saw the guys behind me running away but I didn't look at them, I was too busy looking at Percy.

He'd only looked away for a second. For one second. And then she had gone.

My heart ached as I saw him turning back to her with such hope in his eyes as the paramedics came in. Jason had managed to text Thalia, in secret, and ask her to call 911. Percy had thought that maybe she would make it but his face fell when he saw her—eyes closed—not moving.

She had gone. Gone like the wind.

The look in his eyes was enough to break anyone's heart. I had never seen Percy love someone like he loved Annabeth and the sheer agony and despair on his face was too much for me to bear.

Song Tribute: [The Rest of My Life – Hans Zimmer]

"Annabeth?" He whispered, shaking her gently with a hand on her cheek. "Hey. Hey. Annabeth, the paramedics are here. We're gonna make it... Annabeth?"

With every word he spoke, his voice got quieter and quieter and weaker and weaker. I knew he was slowly realising she was gone but he still held onto her.

"Breathe. Breathe." He said in a soft, pleading voice as though he could lure her back into this world. "Hey." He whispered. "You're okay." He nodded as if trying to reassure himself. "You're okay. Annabeth...please." He whispered through a sob.

"Stay with me." He pleaded over and over again through his tears that stubbornly refused to fall. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rafael falling to his knees and burying his face in his hands.

I had never known anger like I had at that moment, staring at the guy who had caused all of this. With a shudder, I turned back to Annabeth to see blood slowly sliding from her nose and gasped in horror.

"Annabeth!" Percy cried, panicked from the sight of the blood. "No, please!" He sobbed. "Ple—ease."

Then he went quiet.

When he lifted her up to press her head deep into his chest, under his chin, his breathing came out as ragged gasps. His shoulders shaking but his hand never left her hair. He held onto her, refusing to let go and finally, a single tear slipped down his cheek.