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

~ Chapter Eighteen: NERO

~ Chapter Eighteen:

NERO

My head was swimming. I climbed up off of the floor, clutching a radiator on the wall for support. The gas burned my throat.

My eyes were blurry but I knew Esme wasn't there. The swearing and cursing and apparent biting had stopped a while ago.

Plus, Adam was dying. I had to get to him.

I hauled myself right up onto my feet and staggered down the corridors. Uncle Leo's office was just around the corner. I think.

I bumped into someone and, as I was still so weak, collapsed to the ground. The person helped me up.

I was staring into the inquisitive eyes of a tall slim boy with curly auburn hair and funky square glasses. He had hearing aids and a square box taped to his left leg.

"Er..." I thought hard. "Er, Lucas, right?"

"Right," the boy said calmly. He handed me a similar box to his own from a pocket. My friend from school had one so I knew how to sort it out.

"Where's Leo?" I said into the little mic.

"Is there a problem?" Lucas asked.

I nodded. "We're... we're two Bornes down."

Lucas' eyes widened. "What?"

Someone came up behind Lucas.

"Boys?" Leo looked hyperactively excited in a long white lab coat with bright-pink gloves and his hair sticking-up. His dark skin was covered in black oil smudges and strands of his hair were alight with tiny orange blobs.

He saw my face and looked at us. "Where's Joey? Esme? Adam?"

"Joey's in our dorm," Lucas said, reading Leo's lips. "He's practising his powers."

"And the others?"

"Esme's gone," I said, my voice cracking as I began to sob. "Adam's dying. I've screwed up, Uncle Leo. I... I couldn't protect them. Either of them."

Despite us being strangers, Lucas suddenly hugged me. It lasted a second, maybe two, and then Lucas pulled away,  but I needed it. I needed it bad.

Leo stood dumbfounded. "What?"

I wiped my eyes. "I was with Adam. He was asleep. He's... he's been having nightmares. Real bad nightmares."

Leo paled. He looked terrified.

"I used my power to look into his mind." I didn't want to go into details. "He was remembering something, when he went to see Esme when she was ill. I pulled out and felt the heat.

"It felt like, like... I don't know, like he was using his power to fry his brain."

"What about Ezzy?"

"Esme?" I sighed, burying my tear-stricken face in my hands. "I came out of my dormitory to fetch you guys. I ran into Esme in that corridor. She was choking."

"Choking?" Lucas repeated.

"A gas attack. It filled the whole corridor. I heard these voices, heard Esme's screams." My head ached with the memory. "I tried, guys. Please. I tried to save her."

Leo came and put his arm around me. His voice soft, he said, "What happened next, Nero?"

"I heard her being taken away, out of the facility, screaming bloody murder. I tried to get into the attackers' heads. It was too hard. I couldn't get into so many, there were at least ten. Another scream but not hers, not Esme's. A man's. He shouted his hand was bleeding. She'd obviously bit him."