Enjoy the chapter guys!

Chapter Quote:

"In the eye of the tornado, there's no more high and low, no floor and sky." 

~Francis Alys

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Chapter 5: I’m Blown Away

Derek 

He’d left at three in the morning.  It’d already been turning daylight.  Silena had stirred, but if she was awake, she didn’t stop him.  Derek stopped at a motel and crashed for a six hour nap after driving for twelve hours.  After that, he continued the rest of the eleven hour journey on the motorcycle he’d talked a Roman into giving him.  Apparently saying that it was a life or death matter for another demigod was pretty important to them.

He pulled into the town he dreamed that Penn was in.  He had seen the name of the bar in the dream, and somehow, miraculously, remembered it; before leaving, he’d looked up the address.  Sure enough, when he arrived at the bar and walked in, the bartender that had talked to Penn was cleaning the counter.  He looked up and smiled at Derek.

“Hey there, son.  What can I do-”

The man was interrupted by the door to the bar being flung open.  Derek whirled around and narrowly avoided a slap by a very pissed off Silena.

“What in Hades’ name were you thinking?” she hissed, going in for another slap.  Her brother grabbed her wrists.

“Whoa there tiger.  I don’t think hitting him is going to encourage him to reply to you,” Luke admonished.  He gave Derek an apologetic look.

“How did you guys find me?” Derek asked, shuffling on his feet.  He didn’t like the attention they were receiving from the customers.  There were only two or three, but still, they didn’t need all the attention.

“Cora might’ve forced Antony to track you and then she gave us two-” Luke glanced around at the other patrons.  They were talking amongst themselves but it was obvious they were still eavesdropping.  The Jackson boy lowered his voice accordingly. “-pegasi to get us here.  We caught up with you in Houck but we lost you when the dust storm rolled in.  Talked to our rides and they told us they’d wake us up when they saw you moving again.  And then we continued following you from there.  Listen, I’d tried to stop her from barging but-”

“Oh shut up,” Silena snapped.  She faced Derek again. “Now are you going to tell us what you were thinking?  What in the world possessed you to completely leave us behind?  The girl you’ve been-”

“Enough,” Derek interrupted.  Adding in a whisper, “It’ll freak these people out if they hear what I’ve been doing.  What we all have.  We can talk later.”

His girlfriend’s nostrils flared but she stayed silent, telling him she was going to hold back on yelling at him for now.  The three demigods walked to the bar.  Derek began with, “Hello, sir.”

“Everything okay between you three?” the man queried kindly.

“Just a couple’s argument,” Luke replied with a charming smile. “Uh, would you mind if we ask you a couple questions?”

“Are you part of that girl’s team?” the man answered.

Luke started to say “What girl” but Derek intervened and said, “You mean Penn, right?”

“That’s her.”

“You wouldn’t happen to know where she is would you?  Our phones were stolen.  Looked away for one minute and someone swiped them off our table.”

“She didn’t tell you beforehand?  She went to go see Hallie Argent.  I don’t know why.  No one’s seen the girl in years.  Makes you wonder but you know, can’t do anything when you have no proof.”

“Penn is a… private girl.  She likes to work alone.  Bosses don’t like it but she’s good at what she does so, they don’t really do anything.  Do you know where Miss Argent lives?”

“Well, according to a patron of mine, if you make a right and just follow the road until the fork in the road, make a left and it’ll take you straight to her house.”

“Thank you so much sir.” The trio left the bar and went outside. “So what next?”

“We need to find Hallie obviously.  Wasn’t that the whole point of your trip here?” Silena pointed out, her face emotionless.

“That and to try and figure out what Penn is up to,” Derek said.  The trio began to walk down the sidewalk while they discussed what their next plan of action was.

“Ah crap,” Luke muttered. “I think I might’ve dropped my wallet in the bar.  You guys go on ahead.  I’ll catch up with you.”

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Luke 

Before either Derek or Silena could respond, Luke was already running down the sidewalk back to the bar.  He had a hunch, but he wanted to see if he was correct.  Opening the door, the old man at the bar smiled. “Back again?”

“Sorry sir, I just forgot to ask a question.” Luke pulled out his phone and brought up a picture. “This will sound strange considering I know her and everything but did Penn look like this?”

The man squinted at the picture before replying, “That’s definitely her, with the exception of the hair.  She was brunette when she came in two days ago.  Son, you and your friends don’t really work for her, do you?”

Luke gave him a sheepish look. “No, but we’re trying to find her.”

“She in trouble or is she causing trouble?”

“To be honest, we don’t know what she’s doing, and we need to find out.  Thank you for your time sir,” Luke said before heading out.  He made sure he wasn’t in front of the bar anymore before leaning against the wall and looking at the picture he’d shown the bartender.  Bryn smiled up at him.

“What are you doing Bryn?” Luke mumbled to himself.

“You okay?” Silena’s voice asked gently.  His head snapped up instantly.  He hadn’t even heard her come up.

“Yeah, yeah, fine.  Where’s Derek?” he inquired, shoving his phone back into his pocket.

“Talking to Chiron.  I came to find you.  You didn’t forget your wallet, did you?”

“What gave it away?”

“Your scrunched up face and the fact that I saw your wallet in your pocket as you left.”

Luke sighed. “If I tell you, you won’t believe me.”

“Tell me.  I won’t criticize you.”

“I had a hunch and showed a picture of Bryn to the bartender.  He said, with the exception of the hair when she went in two days ago.”  Silena stayed silent for a few seconds before saying, “So, if Bryn really is alive, and I’m not saying she is, then why hasn’t she spoken to us?  What’s she doing?  What’s she planning?”

“I don’t know, but I had a second dream about her.  The other day, before you woke me up.  She was talking to Hallie, saying she was going to rescue her the next day, but the way Bryn said, it sounded like her distraction was going to be big, big enough that not just Hallie and her kidnapper or whatever he is would see it.”

“The town.  She must’ve meant them.”

“Or bigger.”

“Bigger?!”

“You know Bryn, it’s go big or go home.”

“I… yeah, you have a point.  Let’s go tell Derek about it.  He’ll want to know, if only because it’s about Hallie.”

“Still mad at him for that?” Luke queried, walking with Silena.

“Should I not be?”

“That’s up to you, but just… cut him some slack.  He must’ve kept it from you, from us, for a reason.  Derek doesn’t hide things from us often.  So maybe he just wanted to figure it out or something before he told us.”

“He straight up lied to us about knowing who Hallie was.”

“Must’ve had a good reason though.”

“So you’re defending him?”

“No, I’m just trying to rationalize why he would do it.”

“Since when do you try to rationalize things?”

“Since when do you not?” Silena glared at her brother but said nothing else.  When they rounded the corner, a bunch of people were swarming around someone on the ground.  Seeing the familiar backpack through the cracks of the crowd, Luke darted over.  He pushed his way to the front of the crowd so he could kneel next to his friend who was completely unconscious.

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Derek 

The last thing Derek remembered before being sucked in by his vision was a killer headache after he finished talking to Chiron.  He’d barely taken two steps when he lurched forward, going head-first into the pavement.  He knew he was going to have a nasty bruise when he woke up.

“Clothes- check. Hairbrush- check.  Toothbrush and toothpaste- check.  Makeup- check,” A girl listed off.  Derek turned around.  Hallie was packing a duffel bag so full the seams looked like they were about to bust.  She threw the bag over her shoulder and slipped out of her room into another, the storm cellar.  She dead bolted the door and sat in the corner, murmuring for Bryn to hurry up.

The scenery changed, and Derek was now on a dirt road.  Three people crowded around the hood of a black Lamborghini.  He recognized them immediately: Bryn, Bradley, and Brady.

“Are you sure you’ll be able to control this?” a twin asked.

“No, but I’ll manage.  We’ve already put this off for a day.  We can’t wait any longer and neither can she.  All right, Bradley, you’re going to get Hallie out of there and remember: skirt around my distraction.  I’ll try to prevent it from picking you up.  Brady, you’re watching out for me in case that lumberjack of a Cyclops comes after me while I’m making the distraction.  Bradley, the moment you have her at the car, tell us.  That way I can stop it.  Just hurry, okay?  I don’t know how long I’ll be able to hold it.”

“Hey Adler,” Bradley greeted as the eagle landed on his shoulder.  Derek felt his face pull back into an annoyed expression at the feathery companion.  He hated that eagle…

The bird leaned in towards Bradley, obviously saying something.  His face turned grim as he informed, “Company has arrived in town today.”

“What company?” Brady questioned, swinging his sword leisurely.

The former twin glanced at Bryn briefly. “Derek, Luke, and Silena.”

Bryn froze. “They’re here?”

“Just arrived today and they’re at the bar you went to.  Probably to enquire about you.”

The daughter of Zeus swore colorfully in Greek. “They got here faster than I thought.  Now we really can’t wait because we still have to get Scott before they find out we’re after him.  How are they even figuring out where I am?!”

“I don’t know, but come on, let’s get going!” Brady urged.  The twins sprinted ahead as Bryn spread out her feet, closed her eyes, and held out her hands.  Storms clouds, ominously dark, gathered over her.  A few pieces of hail dropped down, about the size of a pea.  They all avoided hitting Bryn.  Derek sensed movement above him and glanced up.  His stomach dropped.  He’d never seen a tornado in real life, but had seen enough pictures and watched enough television to know that the clouds circling above his head were called a funnel cloud, and knowing Bryn, she was going to turn that funnel cloud into a tornado.  Even though the force of nature hadn’t touched ground yet, Derek knew it was going to be huge.  His friend wanted to make a statement.  To whom, he didn’t know.

“Go Bradley, go!” Brady hollered.  The twin dashed towards the house.  Derek’s vision followed him.  He slid to a stop and banged on the cellar doors.  They opened, revealing a very frightened Hallie.

“Hello there,” Bradley shouted politely. “Here, give me your bag.” She handed it to him and crawled out, her eyes wide with shock.

“How is she- how is that possible?” she demanded, pointing at something behind Bradley.  He and Derek turned around.  The tornado had finally touched down and it was following an armed Bryn down the road.  Her sword shone even in the darkness of the storm.  Brady skidded next to his brother.

“Get Hallie out of here.  Her daddy just woke up and he’s pissed.  Go!” Brady ordered. “I’ll watch out for Bryn!”

Bradley dragged Hallie out of the way as his sister approached.  The color had drained out of Bryn’s face.  The storm was taking it out of her.  She walked into the house, stopping dead center and kneeling with the tip of her sword touching the floor.  She closed her eyes.  Brady stood guard, his eyes flitting everywhere, watching for the slightest hint of an attack.  One soon came.  The Cyclops that had imprisoned Hallie lumbered through the hallway, fortunately in the pathway that Brady was already in.  The twin lunged at the monster, pushing him back away from Bryn who remained silent and still.  What was she doing?  Brady proceeded to push the monster outside.  Just as the Cyclops swung at his head, the twin threw himself on the ground and covered his head.  The scene changed back to Bryn, who lifted up her sword and stabbed it into the ground.  Lightning from all directions struck the dead center of the house, effectively ripping it apart.  By now, the tornado was there as well, sucking up the debris in its swirling vortex.  A massive piece of wood hit the Cyclops, knocking him into oblivion.  When the lightning disappeared, Bryn still knelt where the center of the house used to be.  She swayed in her spot though.  Brady rushed over to her, helping her stand.  The tornado was going back up into the clouds, causing the debris to fall haphazardly.  The two Winchesters walked slowly back to the Lamborghini where Hallie and Bradley were waiting.  The new demigod was holding onto the twin’s arm, staring at her old home.

“Bradley, Bryn can’t drive.  We can’t get her out of here and after that show she just pulled, our guests are going to be on our tails.  We have to drive.  Hallie and Bryn can take the Pegasi.  You drive though; you’re better at it.”

“The Pegasi won’t let a daughter of Hades ride them.”

“Well then Hallie can ride with you in the Lambo and Bryn and I can take the Pegasi.  We still need to get Scott though.”

“Deal.” The twins helped their sister up onto one of the flying horses before Brady got on the other.  Bradley threw Hallie’s duffel bag in the car and got into the driver’s seat.  She hesitantly got into the passenger’s side.  The group took off and Derek woke up.

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“Derek!” Silena shouted when he woke.  He groggily shook his head to clear his thoughts.  He realized that he was slumped against a wall with a horde of people, including his two friends, surrounding him.

“What happened?” Derek groaned, rubbing his head.

“You just fell over, son,” a man explained. “Saw it all happen.  This ever happen before?”

“No, but I haven’t eaten in twenty-four hours,” the son of Apollo lied, “So I think I’m just hungry.”

“Well then let’s get you somewhere to eat then,” Luke offered, lifting his friend up.  The two Jackson siblings led Derek away from the crowd.  Once away from eavesdroppers, Luke asked, “Seriously, what in Hades’ name happened back there?”

“A vision.  Bryn… she’s rescuing Hallie.  But she’s late doing it.  She’s going to-” Derek was interrupted by a scream.  The three demigods turned around.  In all the worry about Derek, no one had noticed the tornado touch down a few miles outside of town.

“Holy Poseidon,” Luke muttered. “Is this what Bryn was going to do?”

“Yeah, which means she’s still here.”

“Which means we can still reach her.”

“We won’t get there in time,” Silena pointed out.

“We have to try.  They had a car.  A black Lamborghini.  It shouldn’t be too hard to find.  You guys have Pegasi right?  Just follow me on my motorcycle but be on watch.  Bryn and Brady are on them too.  Follow them if you can.  Come on!”

Derek didn’t wait for their responses.  He threw on his helmet and started up his motorcycle.

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What do you think Bryn is doing?  Is it even Bryn though?  What’s her game?  And what do you think is going to happen between Derek and Silena? BE SURE TO CHECK OUT THE PREVIEW FOR "UNTOUCHABLE" ON MY BLOG (unknowntrilogy.tumblr.com) Let me know in a review :)