Walk With the Shadows [ Percy Jackson OC ]

TWENTY-THREE | Ophelia

OPHELIA STARED UP AT THE BUST OF PALLAS ATHENA that sat over Walden's front door. Perfectly sculpted ivory eyes seemed to bore into her soul as she stood alone, bare feet on old mahogany wooden floorboards, shivering. She hadn't remembered seeing it when they'd gotten to his apartment. Darkness surrounded her, so that only the goddess statue and her own pale skin stood out amidst the night.

They'd followed Walden to his apartment not far from the aquarium. They owed him a great deal, for Alex's shoes and a place to stay and providing dinner when they had little to pay. None of them had expected such kindness after leaving camp.

And yet, Ophelia found herself alone again, standing barefooted with little clothes before the mahogany door. She felt darkness there, and nothing more.

A chill filled the room. Bookshelves and plants faded until all she could focus on was the beating of her heart. Steadily increasing, she wished it would stop. Slow down.

Someone stalked these halls. Ophelia could sense it. She felt icy fingers trail along her neck and shoulders. She spun, grabbing for her dagger. But the Stygian iron knife had disappeared. And so had the grasping hands.

She couldn't breathe. Ophelia looked around. Her heart ached as it pounded. Where had Alex gone? She saw only a ripped leather couch, sparse books, and turning back to the entrance chamber door towering over her, that damned ivory bust of Pallas Athena.

Floorboards creaked. Ophelia couldn't move. Her mouth ran dry as her heart raced. Pounding, pounding ever faster she worried even the neighbors would hear. Ophelia spun around. She held out her hands. She called on the Mist.

Nothing came. Alex had gone. Kitty had gone. She stood alone, a pale ghost amidst a sea of dark and death. Ice filled her veins. She couldn't breathe. She drowned, drowned as ravens screamed above her. Ophelia reached for the bust of Athena. Her fingers, boney, couldn't reach the goddess.

Another creak, another tapping at the wood. Ophelia shook. But she turned, turned away from Pallas Athena until she found herself face to face with a monster twice her size. Skeletal, mummified, with scarlet blood dripping from his mouth, it said nothing.

She screamed.

Warm air filled her lungs as she opened her eyes. Heart still pounding against her rib cage, Ophelia rolled over off her cot of blankets on Walden's oak floors. She could breathe again. She closed her eyes.

Darkness had never scared her before. But that nightmare had paralyzed her. She focused on catching her breath.

Ophelia sat up. She wore shorts and a freshly cleaned orange Camp tee shirt. Walden hadn't restricted them from anything: they'd showered, eaten, washed clothing, even restocked on Cliff bars and a bit of ambrosia he had lying around for emergencies.

Alex lay fast asleep next to her. His blonde hair fell across his face, covering a few of the small scars he'd gotten over the years. Most people never noticed them. But she knew them. Two burns under his hairline from fighting on the Princess Andromeda, the scratch of a Harpy talon near his left ear. He also had a massive scar across his stomach, but Alex refused to talk about it. As Ophelia watched his chest rise and fall,she could see the end of it peeking out from his bunched up tee.