Stark's Protective Daughter (S.P.N.D. Book 5)

Chapter 11: Fighting A Skeleton Army That Just Doesn't Want To Die Again

***

I opened my eyes to chaos.

I was back on the Princess Andromeda with my friends and my enemies. The memories came flooding back. The Party Ponies and Luke. Along with what is going to happen.

Against my will, I ripped off my right glove and grabbed the arm of the man behind me. As if rehearsed, I reached back with ease, using my other arm to push the barrel of his gun away from my back and to the side. He fires but I watch out of the corner of my eyes as the shadows stop the bullet before it can hit anyone. I watch in horror as I pull up the man's sleeve and grab his arm.

Before my eyes- once again -he froze. Time slowed as he fell to the ground, limp. His glassy eyes met mine, and I studied his face. I didn't have time before with everything that happened.

It is hard to tell if he really looked like that before, or if it is only like this because I'm in a nightmare. He looks like my dad in photos of him in his early twenties when he took over Stark Industries. Brown hair and eyes, free from wrinkles and scars. It is almost identical, and I freeze. Everything around me goes silent, me tuning it out as everything tells me that I just killed my father.

I fall to my knees but I don't feel it. Tears prick my eyes, and I feel them fall down my face. I don't care enough to wipe them away, instead of letting them stain my face.

Someone puts a hand on my shoulder and I grab their hand with my bare one. I turn around and it's Percy who I am holding. The next thing I know is a pained expression spreads across his features. His green eyes shine with realization and hurt. Too late I take my hand away and one of my oldest friends collapses on the ground.

Time freezes as the realization comes to me: I just killed my friend. I just killed one of my best friends.

"Look at what you have done." A familiar voice calls out from amidst the frozen crowd. I don't bother to look up, knowing who it is. The man I have hated for as long as I can remember.

Pitch Black.

"Why?" I choke out, kneeling beside my friend's body. Unconsciously, I reach up and brush the black hair from his eyes. Tears keep coming down my face. "Why?"

Pitch stands above me. A cold hand reaches down and brushes my face, wiping away a tear with his thumb the same way my dad would. I look up at him in anger at what he made me do. What he made me experience. It was all horrible.

"Why would you do this to me? Why would you do any of this to me?"

His next words chill me to the bone. "It will only make you stronger."

***

I sat bolt up in the Lamborghini's passenger's seat. Grover was shaking Percy and my arms, saying: "It's morning. The train's stopped. Come on!" Percy slowly woke, muttering something about Riptide.

"You're alright." I mutter, half to myself and half to Percy. If it weren't for the horror of what I had just done in my nightmare- I would hug him and start crying.

Remembering that, I tried to shake off my drowsiness. Thalia, Zoe, and Bianca had already rolled up the metal curtains. Outside were snowy mountains dotted with pine trees, the sun rising red between two peaks.

***

We'd arrived on the outskirts of a little ski town nestled in the mountains. The sign said WELCOME TO CLOUDCROFT, NEW MEXICO. The air was cold and thin. The roofs of the cabins were heaped with snow, and dirty mounds of it were piled up on the sides of the streets. Tall pine trees loomed over the valley, casting pitch-black shadows, though the morning was sunny.