Chapter 16 || Annabeth

                                    

                                          
Annabeth didn't have a very peaceful night.
                          
She was reliving the moment Percy had collapsed with the curse of poison in him. The way he had paused. She should've been there sooner. Percy doubled over, falling to one knee.
                          
Annabeth relived her panic at that time, watching him fall like that. She had held him, hoping it would help. She was foolish to think it would.
                          
"Something happened..."
                          
No shit, Sherlock! she thought to herself as she raced after the seaweed brain.
                          
Bursting through the doors, she was with him on the floor again, hoping her grip on his body would loosen pain's grip on his. It didn't. Blood. His blood. It splattered all over the white tiles. The shining surfaces didn't take away from the crimson pain she was feeling as horror filled her senses. 
                          
The shouting, the screaming, the other panicked voices... they were all drowned out as all Annabeth could hear was her own painful breaths. She tried to grab his hand as if to say "it'll be okay", but she panicked even more when he didn't squeeze back. But this time, there was no infirmary. The whole room disappeared until all that was left was her and Percy's body in darkness.
                          
Evil laughters rang through the space as the hairs on Annabeth's neck stood up. Her gray eyes darted around, trying to find the source of the voice. She tried to grab her dagger, only to find it wasn't strapped in her belt like it normally would've been.
                          
"H-Hello?" she called.
                          
"Time, daughter of Athena..." the voice cackled. "Something you thought was infinite! HAHA!"
                          
"What do you mean?!" Annabeth demanded. She was furious that someone could laugh about something that was obviously serious.
                          
"Always so eager to learn..." the voice went quieter. "Just like your mother. But she'll learn her mistakes when it all goes down. You'll learn your mistake when he's gone."
                          
"What do you mean?!" Annabeth asked again into the darkness, but no one replied.
                          
She sighed, sitting back down onto her knees. grabbing Percy's hand, she almost pulled away when she felt nothing but ice traveling up her whole arm. Turning him over, she felt tears already flowing down her face. Percy's sea-green eyes gazed sightlessly at nothing, devoid of any life or regular mirth she'd see in them. His mouth was open in a small 'o', blood staining the corners of his mouth.
                          
"NO!" she screamed, shaking him.
                          
His head only lolled, his limp limbs flopping as she tried to revive any source of life left in her boyfriend's body. There wasn't any.
                          
"NO! PERCY!" she cried.
                          
She closed her eyes again. No, no, no, this wasn't happening... But when she opened her eyes, he was still there, his sea-green eyes glassy and unfocused. Somehow, she couldn't find the strength in her to close those eyelids and get rid of the haunting image.
                          
"PERCY, COME BACK!" she yelled. "PERCY, YOU SAID YOU WOULDN'T LEAVE ME NO MATTER WHERE YOU WERE!"
                          
"But he did..." the voice was back.
                          
"What do you want?!" Annabeth shouted up at it. "You killed him already!"
                          
"Don't worry, daughter of Athena. When he dies, you won't even see it coming. Then, you'll realize what mindless idiots you all are when the stakes were listed on paper."
                          
"On paper?"
                          
There was silence. Then, the voice spoke again.
                          
"I have said too much... But remember. You will die."
                          
There. Annabeth was alone. But a part of her wanted the voice to be back. So she could take her mind off of the one thing that was making her die inside. Percy's dead body. His face turned to her as if he was still alive, but one look at his face told her that he was dead.
                          
"You did this," he whispered before Annabeth gasped awake in her bed.
                          
Percy's words still rang in her head. Even if she was still in her frog pajamas and her hair was a rat's nest, she shoved her way out of bed, sprinting over to Percy's room. Dashing in, she grabbed his hand, sighing in relief when she felt a pulse. Looking at his face, she could feel a tear rolling down her cheek. He looked so peaceful in sleep.
                          
Suddenly, a sharp, pained groan burst through his lips as he jerked violently in the cot. His head lolled to the other side as he shook slightly.
                          
"No..." he moaned, trying to grasp out at something before his hands fell limply at his sides.
                          
Annabeth could only sit there, feeling utterly useless as her Seaweed Brain lived alone in unconsciousness, constantly at pain. She gasped when she saw what had happened overnight. His neck had a ring of red around it, pulsing blood. Burns were on his arms and legs, one on his chest. And on top of that, there were bruises and cuts forming there, too, a nasty whip-mark on his back.
                          
She touched them, putting a hand to her mouth. Suddenly, Percy spoke again.
                          
"Fourteen days... Till I'm dead... 104 days... since the curse started... 2 weeks... 2 weeks..." then, his mouth shut and nothing happened.
                          
She could only find herself shaking as she slowly took Percy's hand in hers.
                          
2 weeks... 2 weeks... Fourteen days... 104 days... This was all time...
                          
"Time, daughter of Athena... Something you thought was infinite! HAHA!" the voice rang in her head.
                          
Time. Something she thought was infinite. Well, time was infinite. It went on and on forever... but that didn't seem right.
                          
Till I'm dead... Percy had groaned.
                          
But the curse didn't kill their victims, right? They'd just die from the pain. It wasn't like he'd die, but the sooner they got the cure, the sooner he'd be out of his pain. They had time.
                          
Then, it clicked.
                          
There wasn't anything sunshine-like in life, was there? Nothing for them? NONE. They had a time limit.
                          
Fourteen days... till I'm dead...
                          
Two weeks until Percy would die. 2 weeks. Then, they'd lose Percy forever. All of this sunk in and Annabeth found herself screaming into the halls. Because no one but her knew.
                          
"EVERYONE WAKE UP!"