The Jacksons (completed): Book 2 - Percy Jackson Fanfiction

~ Chapter Fourteen: ESME

Chapter Fourteen

ESME

The pink sectors. Birds and snakes.

That was an understatement.

A huge hybrid between a snake and a bird stumbled out of the first pink sector. It was the size of a roadtruck, with the head of a bird and body of a snake. Its beak was full of razor-sharp fangs that looked to be dripped in venom. Its wings thrummed viciously to the rhythm of its rattlesnake tail.

My fingers trembled with fear. I took a deep breath and spread my arms out, and imagined a force field exploding from my palms. Nothing happened.

"Come on, Esme!" I heard a muffled voice shout. I looked up and saw Zarah waving. She was forcing a smile, I could see.

"This isn't fair!" Mum argued. Trust her to put up a fight. "None of the other Bornes had to go through this, not even Nero!"

I couldn't tear my eyes from this monster as it took a step closer. "Help," I squeaked. Then, louder, "I can't do this!"

There was no reply. The snake-bird - the Snird, I christened it - lunged forwards, tail poised in my direction, fangs bared menacingly. I felt its razor-sharp claws thrash my face and blood trickled down the left side of my face. Gasping from the pain, I threw my arms out again and felt myself flying backwards across the room, slamming into the wall with harder force than the first time.

I should've broken my back in a hundred places, but the familiar violet-coloured sphere encircled me and cushioned around me. The Snird snarled and poison jetted from its tail in my direction. It burnt against my force field. I could feel my protection slipping, sizzling beneath the poison.

I rolled forwards in the sphere, like those bubbles that you roll on water. It felt like that. I concentrated hard and watched as the Snird's eyes glazed over and searched sound the room. I'd successfully turned invisible.

My sphere collided with it and knocked it over. The Snird was squashed beneath the field. But how could I kill it?

A chorus of grounding noises sounded. The other three sectors of the pink wall opened and three more Snirds entered the room. I couldn't hold against four of them. The first Snird was already wriggling out.

I was gonna be torn to pieces. Shredded into chunks. Made mincemeat by Snirds.

"Think, Esme, think!" I muttered furiously. I was armed with just my powers and my outfit... outfit...

I fingered one of the tiny blue bobbles. It felt smooth, like a pearl. I tugged. It came off easily, and expanded to the size of a two-pence coin. Not knowing what to do, I released my shield as the Snird escaped and lunged at me. I ducked and threw the bobble at the monster.

It sizzled under the touch and disappeared in a cloud of golden dust. Faint cheers echoed the room as I repeated the attack on the other three Snirds. I panted with relief, knowing I'd only used up a good half hour or so.

The klaxon wailed and I assumed I was going to get a break, but all four of the sectors opened and a wave of weapons were unleashed towards me. I released my force field just a split second before I was skewered like a kebab. Swords and javelins clattered against my protection and I felt them denting it, piercing their way through. An arrow lodged itself into my calf, causing me to cry out in pain. But the attack stopped after ten minutes or so, and the whole of the blue section immediately launched into action.

Despite being perhaps the most horrific way to die, the lightning bolt and tidal wave were fairly easy to overcome. I just floated about in my little sphere, totally invisible, whilst the water crashed around me. That took longest, though, almost two hours. And the time wasn't wasted; I had to cover up gaps in my shield, be careful that the beak of a remaining dead Snird didn't penetrate the tough elasticity surrounding me.

Then came the orange. Monsters.

To be honest, I can't remember it much at all. Just hundreds open hundreds, thrown towards me in swarms. I picked up a fallen sword, thick and silver with a leather-grip handle, and sliced and diced and minced every single raging beast that came in my direction. Everything perished. In what felt like days, weeks, months, it was over. I was left standing by piles of golden dust, blood splattering my clothing, not knowing whether or not if it was mine or theirs. Presumably mine.

There was noise, noise everywhere. People streaming in from upstairs, down into the strange metal room. I fell into somebody's arms, weak from exhaustion. Another stroked my hair whilst someone bandaged up my left leg and removed a piece of Celestial bronze from my hip. But the most comforting, the only sense of warmth aside from my hot seeping bloody, was the grip on my hand. I looked over, my vision fuzzy.

Someone with scruffy black hair and a backwards baseball cap.

Who was that again?

*

'Zarah, have you seen my shirt?'

I brushed my blonde curls into a topknot and pulled up my dark jeans. 'Zarah?' I called again.

The dormitory we'd been moved into was average-sized, just about right for two teenagers girls. Mine and Nero's fourteenth birthday had been and gone, not that it had mattered. It had been a week since my initiation test. I still didn't know why we'd done it. But we had, and I'd lived. That was the main thing.

Where had Zarah gotten to? I checked the bathroom, but she wasn't there. She wouldn't have gone through the facility without me. We were too tight.

I had to make do without my shirt and instead pulled on a navy sweater over a white Fallout Boy t-shirt. Then I laced up my Doc Martens and applied my minimal makeup. The dark scratch over my left eye was still prominent against my pale skin. The Snird's claw still imprinted on my mind...

And I still had that goddamned awful red welt across my cheek.

Absentmindedly, I rubbed my right leg. There was a permanent inch-deep scar in my calf, the arrow having just missed an artery by about three centimetres. It no longer hurt, but it still bothered me.

And my hip was better, too. A piece of a monster's armour had ricocheted a weapon, which had lodged itself between my hip and gut. I also had a couple of broken ribs, but Will had almost fully healed them now.

The past week had been slow. I'd gotten used to the facility. There was a lounge for the Bornes directly below our dorm. Joey and Lucas boarded across the hall, and Adam and Nero had the conjoining room next to ours, with a door to separate the two.

Adam. I hadn't spoken to Adam since...

No. I didn't want to remember what had happened. Not anymore.

Sighing, I pocketed my mobile and left the room.

Only to be hissed at.

***

Sorry it's been so long! I assure you I will get another one up soon. These past few weeks... I just can't explain. They've been awful. But now I want to write more than ever.

Hope you enjoy.

¤ Dedicated to booknerd1234567890. Check out her PJO book ¤

¤ If you want a chapter dedicated to you with a recommendation, inbox me ¤

~ Lauren xx