AU REVOIR!² percy jackson

009

❛009❜

THERE WAS NO other sound than the crickets chirping at a distance. the nearby woods were still. no honking from cars from the road. no laughter in the streets at the early hours. especially in a city like san francisco, a peaceful night was unheard of. tonight, there was almost absolute silence. it was too silent.

perhaps mortals weren't able to perceive it, but no saturday night felt quite like this one.

a sense of dread traveled through the wind. the crisp air felt uneasy, seeping into the bones of those who were capable of seeing beyond. the ball was just waiting to be dropped. weighting it's time for the best moment to break the tense cord with a jagged scissor.

bang.

the door of a six year old ivy's bedroom opened abruptly, waking her up. barely blinking the sleep away, her dad had made his way to her.

"come on, ivy," arlo said, pulling the covers off of her. "we need to go." he sounded alarmed, his clothes looked wrinkled and messily placed. ivy was washed over with a feeling of dread at her dad's fear, it being enough to wake her up completely.

"what's wrong, dad?" she asked.

he shook his head, not answering her question while scooping ivy on his arms. arlo placed her on his hip, protectively holding her against him. with his daughter in his arms, he walked out of the room while grabbing her coat and sparkly pink shoes on the way out.

"we need to get to grandpa's house," he said, reaching the stairs and jogging down the three-stories of their home. ivy tightens her arms around her dad's neck for comfort. she didn't understand what was happening. all she knew was that her dad was scared— even if he tried to remain strong for her —but that was enough to scare her.

making it to the bottom floor of the house, ivy could see the traces of her dad getting them ready to go. his backpack covered with band pins was full of stuff and placed on the kitchen counter. next to it was her dad's notebook, which basically contained all of his work. he never went anywhere without those two things, she didn't know why they were so important if they were just a notebook and a backpack.

arlo set her down, looking over his shoulder and out the kitchen windows. ivy stood on her tiptoes to see what he was looking for, but her dad purposefully obstructed her vision by placing himself in front of her.

"we gotta go, peanut," he hurriedly put her coat and shoes on. "we, um, we're just going to stay there for a few days. you'll get to play with jason at the park, like always. that sounds fun, right?"

ivy thought over the prospect of spending time with her friend. her mind thrifted from the fear her father had filled her with to all the fun things she could do with jason. "yeah, daddy," she giggled. "maybe jason will let me put him in a tutu again."

arlo managed to form a small smile. he finished putting her shoes on and stood up.

"let get to the—"

boom!

the house shook at the impact of something big hitting the side of the house. arlo immediately took ivy on his arms, taking cover behind the kitchen counter. pieces of glass flew everywhere from the broken windows. her scream was muffled by her dad, who was holding her so close to him ivy's face got squashed on his chest.

then... laughter. ivy heard deep, horrible laughter from outside of the house. there were multiple people laughing. they sounded absolutely delighted, like santa had come early with more gifts than what they put on their cards.