You know you love me

Chapter Four

Percy POV

I ran through the dark hallways twisting and turning at every new pathway that arose. I tightened my grasp on the soft hand I was holding pulling harder as I hastened my pace. I only dared to look back for a second to see the layering blonde curls and fierce gray eyes of my companion in the labyrinth of hallways.

Only after ten minutes of taxing running did I dare duck into a room to stop for us to catch our breaths. I was sure we only had minutes before they caught up to us but I needed to get my barrings.

My eyes darted around the room in an attempt to find anything that would give me a clue of where we were. The room just looked like a normal office with papers scattered across the desk and an old filing cabinet in the back. Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted a bulletin board leaning against the wall behind the old desk. It didn't have much on it only a couple of notes and agendas, but it helped me figure out that this was an intern's office, which meant that we had to be in the far corner of sector seven.

Just before I was gearing up to leave I heard Annabeth ask, "Percy, what's going on? What do those guys want?".

All I could truthfully say was, "I don't know".

With that, I grabbed her hand and dragged her back out of the room. We took a left, then two rights, and another left. We made it to a long hallway and dashed to another side. There were only thirty-five feet until the exit.

Thirty. Twenty-five. Twenty.

Suddenly, the door burst open in front of us and ten people streamed inside. At the other end of the hallway, our pursuers rushed into the hallway angry and armed. I could feel Annabeth's back pressed against me and she stood ready to fight. All I could do was brace myself.

Minutes past.

All you could hear was the rough breathing of both groups as they stood ready for a dog fight. The silence was so sharp it felt as though my body was being cut by the glares of the group in front of me.

No one dared move. Everyone was waiting. Waiting for the command. The first shot. Anything.

It felt as though if someone shifted the wrong way all hell would break those.

A strong voice from the open end of the hall rang out. "Let's end this, Athena," the voice said.

My head started pounding and the scene started to wake as I felt myself jerk into an upright position. I was panting hard and could feel a chill run down my spine. I was doused in a cold sweat and felt feverish. I shook my head trying to clear up the scene I had just seen but the dream was already fading from my memory. I took a few deep breaths before slowly lowering my head back down onto my cold pillow. I stared at the blank ceiling trying to replay the dream over again in my head.

Why were Annabeth and I in trouble? Who was chasing us? Where were we and why did I seem to know the place so well? What had I gotten us into this time?

As thoughts and questions scrambled together in my brain, I rolled over in my bed and looked at my clock.

It was 4:09 am. Great.

Well, I wasn't going back to sleep anytime soon. So reluctantly I pulled myself out of bed and made my way down to the kitchen. I grabbed a cup and poured myself a cold glass of water without even thinking. My body was just going through the motions as though I was still in a trance. I didn't even notice the dim light in the corner illuminated my Father's face and the work he seemed to be doing until he cleared his throat to get my attention.

I quickly spun around awoken from my daze. I muttered a hoarse, "Good morning" before taking another sip of my water.

He flashed a concerned smile at me before replying, "As to you. If you don't mind me asking, what are you doing up so early Percy? You should be sound asleep."

I didn't feel like retelling my dream to my father because he would want to know every detail, what it meant and why I think I hand it, but to be honest I had no idea. So I simply said with a shrug, "Couldn't sleep."

My father furrowed his eyebrows but seemed to dismiss the subject. We stood there in silence for what felt like an eternity before he cautiously said, "Percy, things are going south at the agency. Agents keep disappearing and hundreds of thousands of dollars of equipment have gone missing. We think it may have something to do with the O.I.B. but we can't be sure. It would really help if you..."

I cut him off right there. I could feel the anger boiling in my stomach and I had to resist the urge to start telling him off right there. I responded trying to hide the rage behind my words, "I told you two years ago that I was done being your little spy puppet. I don't want to do your dirty work while you sit in your office sipping your overpriced tropical smoothie. Wake up, dad. You are the A.S.I.S's head agent so pull on your big boy pants and solve your own problems."

I set my glass on the counter and hurried out of the kitchen. I ran to my room through on a pair of shorts and grabbed my phone and my keys. I ran out of the front door slamming it on my way out. As I left I heard my dad calling to me but I didn't care. I wasn't going to talk to him about this. I was down with the spy business. He knew that. My friends knew that. I don't want to hear about it.

I quickly got in my car and drove to the only place that ever calmed me down. If I was going to clear my head before my date tomorrow I needed to feel the sand between my toes and hear the waves crashing against the shore as the water folded over itself like a neat velvet sheet. I wanted to feel the sea spray in my hair and the salt settled on my skin.

In a matter of minutes, I was trudging through the sand with my surfboard in hand on Santa Monica Beach.

There was something about the water that made me feel whole. It was like a part of my person was torn away whenever I was away from the ocean. The water made me feel like a king in control of my own future.

With that, I threw myself into the water numb to the cold. I was going to surf until I passed out. And by the gods, I was gonna look awesome doing it.