Child of Hades {Interactive Story} (PJO/HOO/TOA)

TWO: Nothing Left To Say

It looked like a water buffalo.

It was brown, with shaggy fur covering the top of its head and wrapping around its neck like a scarf. It had a scaly back and shaggy eyebrows. The head seemed to be so heavy that the beast could only look down. Protruding from its mouth were two sets of tusks, twisted like gnarled tree trunks.

"Y/N, let's go."

"I've been taking my pills." I told him meekly. "You saw me this morning. It's not working. And now I'm getting worse."

"Y/N," he stood in front of me. "That thing you're seeing right now... It's not a hallucination. We need to go, now."

"This isn't funny." I told him. He didn't look like he was joking. I quickly checked his clothes. Still grey, not white. If that meant anything, this was Simon. The buffalo - or whatever my mind had conjured up, was quickly moving towards us. As it crossed the road to get into the parking lot, cars swivelled around it. "Describe it to me."

"What?" Simon blinked.

"You can see it? Describe it."

"Okay." I was surprised when he turned back around to look at it. No, he couldn't see it. That was insane. "Eight-and-a-half feet tall, low-hanging head, thick mane," My breath hitched. No, he couldn't see it. "It's called a Catoblepas, Y/N. It will kill us if we stayed here. I thought bringing you to school would be safer. I thought if I got you to school the monsters would go to your house instead of following you here."

You can't blame me for scrunching my face up and starting to cry. Not now, when everything I thought was real wasn't making sense. Simon couldn't see my hallucinations. Monsters weren't real. I didn't know what he was talking about. The thing - the Catoblepas, was only thirty feet away, and Simon was standing between me and it like a shield.

"Look at me," Simon said when I wouldn't let him pull me out of the way. "I always tell you what's real and what's not. Your mom? She wasn't there. I'm here. I'm real. And so is that. You need to come." His light grey eyes were shifting back and forth between my own.

I looked past him, the Catoblepas snorted, and I followed the shape of its low head until my eyes met its. They glowed green, and I suddenly got very dizzy.

"Don't look it in the eyes! Y/N!" But I couldn't look away. I took a breath, and fell into Simon's arms as the Catoblepas descended upon us.

~

I woke up. We were in the back of a very familiar car, and my headphones were neatly in my ears blasting my favourite songs. My face felt hot and sticky, and I heaved a sigh as I sat up straighter. It must have been a dream. I fell asleep in Simon's car on the way to school. Simon's dad sat in the front, and looked at me through the rear-view mirror. He looked almost identical to Simon, except his eyes were a bright forest green, and his skin was slightly more fare. I looked past the mirror and out the dashboard window. I was surprised to see it was dark out. I pulled the earphones out, and noticed Simon watching me.

"Hey."

"Is it night time?" I asked.

"Yeah." Simon nodded, putting a soft hand on my shoulder. He ran his free hand through his hair and took a sharp breath, like it hurt.

"I had a bad dream." I told him. "I don't want to get into it now - I just need to know why it's night. Did I pass out in a class? Fainting was one of the side effects of Clozapine."

"Y/N," He dropped his hand from his shoulder onto my fist that was clenched around my iPod nano. I wondered vaguely if he put it there so I wouldn't be able to get my music back on. It looked like something was wrong. I got a sick feeling in my throat. "What do you remember."