Nico di Angelo and the Survivors

Chapter 10

"HOLY CRUD!"

I jumped out of bed and ran through the hall, bursting into the living room. I sighed as I saw Nico sprawled out on the couch, lazily snoring as his head rolled back.  Shaking my head, I walked over to him and started shaking his shoulders.

"Nico, come on wake up!" I hissed in his ear as he groaned. Blinking, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He yawned and stretched his arms before glancing out the window.

"We left the window open," he remarked as I frowned.

"Yeah, why?" I asked and he stood up and closed it. I made myself comfy on the floor as Nico stared at me.

"You can sit on the couch, you know?" he said while I shrugged.

"I slept on the bed while you slept on the couch.  I know that isn't comfy, so it's only fair that you keep it," I pointed out as I leaned backwards, tilting my head back. Yesterday, Nico had insisted on avoiding Mrs. Caprice's bed. There was an old story I had listened to when I was young about a spirit waiting a day before going into the afterlife. They would take a break and wander around if they didn't die a peaceful or fair death. The spirit would visit it's house and loved ones before taking off. With the look in Nico's eyes and the way he had summoned skeletons from the ground, I could tell he meant it when he said that it may disturb her spirit.

He sighed and ran a hand through his hair before falling back on to the couch. I studied his face carefully. After meeting Helios yesterday, Nico gained a bit of a shine to his skin, not a tan and not that sparkly skin  the movie Twilight had. It wasn't a deathly pale anymore, and his cheekbones were more prominent now, not sullen. His hair became a bit more sleek while his clothes looked freshly washed. We were still wearing our school uniforms, and they felt heavy on me even though I had gotten them cleaned as well. It was a shock to see me hair perfectly even when I went to freshen up in the bathroom yesterday, I expected to see it all messy with some burnt edges.

I shivered as I remembered yesterday. After Nico disappeared, I could hear the shadows still whispering, but I had felt so alone. It really didn't bother me at first, I had been alone for some time now, but a pain erupted in my chest as the time slowly passed by. I was screaming as the shadows enclosed around me, the air was rapidly leaving my lungs while the thick darkness flooded in. It hurt so much, a hundred times worse than that time I started drowning in a community pool. That day scarred me, no one was around since we had come early. My mother and brother were doing their workouts, believing I was mature and brave enough to be on my own. Going to the pool was always fun, they always suck me in and told me to be a good girl while they left, saying if anything bad happened that they'll be there. They never came though. I sunk to the bottom, but with the little energy I had left, I pushed myself up. Spluttering, I got out of the pool and coughed out water, leaning over the edge. Suddenly my brother had come out, with a panicked expression on his face as well as worry in his eyes, but there was something else in his dark brown eyes. It was fear and the words my mother had told me before we started visiting the pool came rang in my ears.

"Your brother will watch out for you by the window. Always."

Slowly I rose up and walked towards him. I knew he was scared. I had many injuries already because of him. When I was barely in Kindergarten, we were walking home and my brother was talking with his brother not even looking at me when suddenly I tripped and went plummeting head first to the ground. The ground was too steep as my hands skidded across the floor while pain erupted all over my face. My brother had screamed as I wept, the tears stinging my face as his blonde friend cried for help. I don't remember how, but my whole face was covered with gashes and bloody streaks. My brother had cried that whole day, wailing that it was all his fault. My dad had kneeled down in front of me, cleaning out my wounds as he patched it all up while my mother calmed down Chris.