The Extinction of Heroes

Chapter 7: We Become Animal Abusers

Brace's POV:

"We're going down, down in an earlier round

And Sugar, we're going down swinging

I'll be your number one with a bullet

A loaded god complex, cock it and pull it."

Fall Out Boy ~ "Sugar We're Going Down"

I stopped in front of my old house, well I guess it still is my house. Mason stopped beside me. It was a small apartment with a bright red door. It has white stickers that spell out: RIVERS.

I hesitate before knocking. Mason never tells me to hurry up, just watches. My hand slowly comes up, then I knock twice. My mom doesn't answer. I know she's there, she usually is at this time.

I pull a key from my pocket, and unlock the door. Mason looks at me.

"Why didn't you use the key in the first place?"

"I don't know. I thought she'd answer," I grumble.

As I walk through the door I almost feel embarrassed. It's a small apartment, two bedrooms a kitchen and a living room (and a bathroom of course). The TV doesn't have cable, just a giant pile of various movies. There's not much furniture, just the necessities. The walls are a faded tan color, but are covered in old drawings of mine or awards or photos of me or my mom.

My mother sits on the couch, watching a movie. It takes me a second to realize it's movie. She looks almost in a trance.

"Mom," I call. She looks up at me. Her eyes widen. She rushes to her feet and engulfs me in a hug. I wrap my arms around her.

She pulls away and looks at me,"Where were you?!"

"Mom, I'll tell you in a minute. I need to go get something," I say. I make my way back to my room. I have no idea what to tell her. There's not much I'm allowed to say.

I pull out a few tee shirts, some athletic shorts, deodherent, and a wad of cash I was saving. I was originally saving it for a car, but this is far more important. It's at least three thousand dollars, but we'll need it for supplies. I stuff it into my duffel bag. As I'm about to leave, I snatch a framed photo of my mother and me.

We are at my old school at Oklahoma. It was my first basketball game, so I was twelve. I was in my uniform, blue and yellow and extremely unflattering, and my mom was there too, looking like a supermodel. Her arms were wrapped around me, and she was smothering my cheek with a kiss. I was laughing, a huge grin on my face. It was a great picture, though I don't remember who took it.

I walk back into the room, and Mason sits on the couch with my mom, watching the movie. I sit next to my mother, and she turns to me.

"So where were you? And why do you have that bag?"

"Mom, I can't tell you were I was, but I have to go back." I say slowly, as if waiting for her to attack.

"What do you mean? You can't just leave!"

"Mom-" I begin, but she cuts me off.

"Are you pregnant? Are you? You're throwing your future away!" she's angry, but she'll never understand.

"Mom, I'm not pregnant. I just have to go!" I say. I'm trying to stay calm, but I'm getting really upset.

"Then what is it? What is so important that you can't tell your mother?" she yells.

"Mom, I can't," I say walking towards the door.

"If you walk out that door now, I will never let you back in."

A lump rises up my throat, but I choke out the words,"Bye, Mom."

+++

We walk back to the hotel. We took a cab but we didn't go too close, just in case. We stopped a mile from the hotel, and there's less than a quarter mile left.

I can't stop thinking about my mom. She hated me. And the worst part is it's completely understandable. I also wonder if she's bluffing. Surely she'll let me back in. If I come back alive.

I also worry about the prophecy. I didn't realize how legit this thing was until now.

A growl brings me out of my thoughts. I turn around to see at least twenty giant dogs.

"Hellhounds," Mason groans. I drop my bag. He pulls out his sword, and I pull out my knives. He made me bring them, said demigods always come prepared.

We tried all the weapons, and being a child of Ares, I was good with all of them. But I especially liked throwing knives. Mason slices through the first one as it lunges, and my celestial bronze knife meets the chest of another.

"Go get help, I'll hold them off until you get back," Mason grunts. I nearly tell him no, that I'll help, but he turns around. I sprint around the corner, near the hotel, but I hear him cry out. I weigh my options. Mason needs help now.

"Percy! Annabeth! Frank! Someone help! There's Hellhounds, tons of them!" I yell, then run as fast as I can to the fight. One lunges at Mason's back. It'll blindside him. He's fighting the one in front of him. He'll never see it. I hurl a knife and it hits it near its ribs. It disintegrates into dust. Mason looks at me as I run up to meet him.

We're side by side now. Slashing and hacking, throwing and stabbing. One rakes its claws across my face. Blood clouds my vision. Everything is blurry, and dizziness takes over. I continue to stab and hack. I hear Mason cry out in pain, and I turn quickly enough to see one clawing his back.

That was my mistake. As I turn back around, one takes me to the ground. Mason falls down seconds later. All I can do is curl up in an attempt to protect myself as I lose consciousness.

+++

I wake up with a killer headache and a hand on my arm. I groggily open my eyes.

Elena is sitting there, tears in her eyes. She looks exhausted.

"You're okay!" She says, engulfing me in a hug. I groan. She releases me quickly. I look behind her. I'm shocked to see all my siblings. They look pretty worried.

"What happened?" I say, raising a hand to my head. It aches as I do so.

"You and Mason got in a fight with some Hellhounds. Nico managed to get the remaining ones down to the Underworld, but used almost all his energy. He passed out. I ran to find help, but while I was waiting I got to try out my new powers!" Elena sounds so excited. I smile but I really just want to be alone.

"How's Mason?" I ask, running a hand through my hair.

"Better than you. You've got a concussion, a pretty bad one at that. And your leg was all torn up when we found you. It's better now, the Apollo kids fixed it,but if you really care, he's over there," Clarisse says, pointing at a bed next to me. Mason is laying down, with Annabeth and another Athena kid. He's asleep.

"But you got a wicked scar!" Dallas says. I nod. I'm not sure how I feel about that, but it must be an honor in the Ares cabin.

I manage to mumble a "Cool," before falling asleep.