chapter two

The cold air nipped at the girl's skin, Este stood outside in the cold air of Forks, Washington. Her blue eyes trained on the forest in front of her as she tilted her head to the side, trying to decipher the weather and how the day would go. Her chest rose and fell with each breath she took, her hands fiddling with the golden bracelet against her wrist. The two charms make quiet clicks together with each move.

    Her left palm was still wrapped up in a bandage. Which had been the give away to her brother that she had been anything but in bed all night. Her eyes traced the blood across the gauze before back to the door where her brother was walking out of.

"Este," Newt's voice caused her to break the trance that she had fallen into where her movements had been robotic, "What is it, sis?" The hint of concern in his tone caused the girl to rub her un-injured palm against her forehead.

Este adjusted her posture as her eyes raked over her brother before she stepped off of the porch, "Nothing. Just... thinking."

Newt tilted his head, his expression almost mirroring hers as he let out a quiet scoff, "As much as I'd like to believe the very believing lie that you just spoke, I know better than too."

Este rolled her eyes before quirking an eyebrow as she tilted her head to the side, fiddling with the bracelet that was draped around her wrist, "I spaced out, now, it was nothing more and nothing less. It's simply the effects of ADD."

"You're thinking," Newt responded, "If it's about what I believe your mind is going to, then stop."

"The monster attacks around the area are on normal mortals," Este simply responded, "This isn't something we're used to. I don't think this is a regular monster. Monsters typically just go after demigods."

"If it's the theory that you're following with Finn about the Cullen's, drop it," Newt told his sister, staring at the girl, "We are not chasing that."

Este pursed her lips together, "There's something wrong in this town, and you need to understand that too. Because for once we are in a town that we are not the only targets in."

"Gods, Este," Newt was getting frustrated, throwing his hands down as he stalked over his sister, "You're going to get us way in over our heads. Don't you understand that?"

"You know what I understand? Ever since we've left camp, you've tried so hard to distance yourself and make it seem like we are normal, well, we will never be normal."

    There was a silence that fell over the two twins. Newt stood only a few inches taller over his sister, while the girl showed no signs of resignation. Este's blue eyes were firm, as were Newt's brown ones. Two sides of the same coin, yet never on the same side.

"I'll see you tonight," Este simply responded before she slipped into the shadows that consumed her body out of mortal sight.

    The darkness turned Este's stomach in knots, yet not in a way that deterred her. The world around her faded away into nothing as she remained still in the dark. Hiding.

    Eventually she came out, when the rain began to bear down and the sun began to set. The misty smell of Forks filling her nostrils as she stood in the rain before the one home in town no one occupied. On the outskirts in the forest, the one she'd dreamed about. The one she'd been in a few times before.

    As the rain fell over her features, running down her face and hair as she stepped up onto the front porch, Este couldn't help but grin at the home. Her finger drawing over the doorknob before she quickly slid into the residence.

    Her shoes creaked against the rotted wood. Her eyes adjusted to the darkness as she took the flashlight from the side pocket of her bag and turned it on. The light overpowering the darkness as she paced herself through the bottom floor. Her nose scrunched at the heavy smell of rotted wood and dust.

    Este's head shot up as she heard a sound on the stairs. Creak. Tap. Creak. Her free hand sliding over the dagger in her back pocket as she turned off the flashlight before slipping into the shadows of the home. Out of mortal sight and into the place only her brother could see her in.

Within seconds, a sharp blade was now pressed against the throat of a boy who breathed heavily as his back crashed against one of the many aged walls. The girl's piercing gaze narrowed as she tilted her head, almost as if she was warning him before she withdrew. Letting her armed side fall before she tucked her dagger away once more as she let out a quiet annoyed sigh. The boy stayed silent as he watched her do so.

And the girl took note of this, "What are you doing here, Finn?" The girl asked as she rubbed her thumb against her index finger, "And who else happened to come with you? One or two? Everyone?" She then began to question as she felt the stillness in the air.

"It was just me, no one else came along. Your brother...he didn't want you being here alone," Finn commented as the shadows casted over his face, making him nearly impossible to see. But not to her.

Thump, thump, thump. The girl's lips curled into a smirk as she shook her head, "That wouldn't explain why this place seems so lively - so I'll ask again, who else came, and be honest with me. Lying isn't your strong suit."

"How does she always know?" The voice caused the girl's head to turn in the direction of the sound as she raised an eyebrow, "Crap, do you think that she can hear-"

"Come on out, Titus," She called out as the words rolled off of her tongue as easily as she shook her head, "And to answer your question, yes, I can hear you. You are not, in any sense, quiet. I'm going to assume that not only are you here, Titus, but maybe Kaz and Newt as well. Let's add to the stakes - even Elijah and Elyse."

Finn shook his head as the door opened with another long creak, the floor shaking and breaking away with each step that the group had taken, "Elyse and Elijah are outside steaking out. Titus, Kaz, and Newt had hid in the closet. Care to take a gander at which two are in a closet together?"

The girl slipped her hand around Finn's forearm before flicking her fingers around the flashlight in his hand. Pointing the light as she pointed to the curtains covering the boarded up closet, "Hello to you three, might want to find a better place to hide next time. Just a thought."

"How does she know?" Titus ran his hands through his hair in an attempt to get rid of any dust that had come off the fabric, "It's like some weird sense. Like Spiderman."

"Or maybe it's just because she is a daughter of Hades and she can in fact become a shadow, and maybe the darkness gave us away," Kaz nudged the boy's arm as she rolled his eyes, "There's no getting past a child of Hades. Especially when the other child of Hades was with us."

"Yeah, having my brother in a hiding spot with you definitely did not play in your favor," Este remarked as her eyes fell on her brother who stepped out of the shadows, "Not so stealthy."

"And there's no getting past a Devereaux," Kaz raised his finger as if he was proclaiming something, "Both of them, Newt and Este are ruthless because they always know."

"Remember why I - we are here," The girl gave the group a warning look as she looked around, "If you're going to tag along, be useful and preferably don't get us killed," Her eyes drifted over towards Finn as her lips went to turn up, before she caught herself and rolled her eyes.

"Find the book, get out," Newt agreed as he stood with his hands deep in the front pocket of his jeans, "Be quick before any of the cops find us here and get out early enough so we aren't exhausted out of our minds in the morning at school.'

Newt loomed around one of the tables as his eyes seemed to glisten in the shadows, "House of the Ancestors of Andromeda and Perseus, specifically the ones of Alcaeus. Wielder of the adamantine sword, passed down by his father before he became a poet and disappeared into a normal life."

"Not so normal," Kaz pointed towards the books that were covered in a thick layer of dirt and debris, "He went on to become a playwright and over time, his children disappeared into the mass numbers of the world and the godly lineage died out. Or so we believe."

"Better yet, the house our mother was killed in," Este simply responded, her eyes trailing over to her brother as she walked around the table that was covered in dust.

"As there is no knowledge of any of the children or any knowledge of what gods could have been in contact with them," Finn responded, redirecting the topic as he tilted his head, gaze subtly following Este, "And we are here because we need the book of lineage - and if there is any living descendant, we need something more greater than they may realize."

Este nodded her head as she flashed her light over the books, "Yes, that is exactly right," her words carried the tone that she was impressed, "And where would an ancient family hide a book this old?"

"Somewhere obvious, but not so obvious," Kaz was the first to speak as he looked over at Newt with a grin, "Time for my specialty. It's likely that they knew one day it would be looked for - and despite knowing the gods can poof and know, no one of mortal descent could. So, if it's an old book - say centuries old... it'd be masked."

In a way, the group was trying to pull off some sort of perfect heist. Yet, there weren't many variables that they had to worry about. There seemed to be no one around, and they seemed to have not been around for a decade. A little over a decade since their mother had passed, and they were the last ones in that house after. Though, there was the worry about what was trying to find them and who could know about what they were having to dig on. What was slowly crawling closer and closer to the group of teenagers, and what was going to put them on edge.

Este narrowed her eyes as the floor boards began to creak even more, causing her to look over at her brother, "Do you hear that?" She questioned quietly, before placing a finger to her lips, causing the room to go silent.

There was a momentary pause of all movement. Este's finger dropped from her lips as confusion flashed over her features. Bump. Bump. Bump. There was a sound of methodical bumping from somewhere, lower than wherever they were as it sounded like it was below them, but what could it be? Este's twin brother seemed to share a similar look of confusion as he as well seemed to crouch lower, leaning more on one leg. Not wanting to cause more pain to his bad one.

"It's coming from below us," Newt's voice came out quiet, almost inaudible to those who hadn't been waiting for someone to speak, "But not far below."

"What are you two doing - holy Hera..." Finn pinched the bridge of his nose just below his glasses as he watched both of the Devereaux twin's pull out a dagger, "Don't tell me you're going to do what I think-" Before he could finish his sentence, both had dug one end of their daggers under either end of the wooden panel, "Great - destroying this piece of history!"

"Piece of history? This place is a living graveyard," Este responded as she crouched down to help her brother, "This place is just the house my mother died in. Destroying it is going to be therapeutic."

"Since when did you give a damn about history, Carnehan?" Titus retorted as he dug his hands into the front pockets of his jeans as he smirked, rocking on his heels.

Este managed to slip her fingers under the opening with her dagger before pushing it up, causing the wood to begin to split before something smacked against her hand, causing her to draw back quickly, "Shit," she looked at the blood that began to glide down the side of her hand where it already had one open wound, but now two.

"Don't put your hand back under there," Newt gave her a firm look as he rose back to his feet and crouched back down at his sister's side, pushing against the dagger and lifting the floorboard once again, "Finn, or Kaz, wrap her hand until we can get ambrosia or nectar."

"Is that..." Kaz had leaned his head over, to peek at what had been thumping under the floorboards before Newt let the board drop back down, pulling out both daggers.

"A scorpion tail," Titus noted, coming out of his silence as he pulled the boy back, "We need to get out of here, and get Este back so that we can treat that. The tail likely still had venom and the fact that it was Este's left hand means that there's a good chance she has thirty minutes before the venom reaches her heart and causes her to go into shock before having a heart attack."

"Lovely," Este could feel the way her heart was pounding a little faster than it had been previously, and the way her eyes weren't as focused as they had been a few minutes prior, "I need to get out of here."

"Don't worry, we've had worse," Titus tied his bandana around her palm, pulling it tight.

"Way to be positive," Este barely flinched when he tightened the bandana around her wound as the blood seeped into the fabric, "Good job being useful."

"Wish that I didn't have to be. But hey, I am the son of luck," Titus remarked under his breath before he looked at Newt, "Would it be better if you shadow traveled her back, it'd get the nectar and ambrosia to her quicker."

Newt gave a slight nod as he remained silent, worry etched on his features as he kept an eye on his sister, "It could be good or bad - depending on if she decided to pull a one-eighty and spread the effects more with the shadows."

"We need to find the book," Este protested as she crossed her arms across her chest, "So we better be speedy because I'd prefer not having a heart attack. Ironic, I can die in the same house our mother did."

"We'll come back for the book," Newt argued as he grabbed ahold of his sister's arm as he noticed the way she began to sway on her feet, "Don't make that joke. It isn't even funny at this second."

    Este could barely keep her eyes focused on one thing, her throat felt like it was closing up on her and her heart felt like it was going to beat out of her chest.

"We'll catch you guys on the flipside," Newt didn't give a warning before he yanked Este into the shadows with him, only for them to reappear in the emptiness of the home.

"I'm fine," Este argued as she leaned against the counter, barely keeping herself up as she swallowed thickly, "Goodness gracious, Newt."

"Hurrying," Newt grabbed a glass and quickly poured a shot of golden nectar in it before sliding it over to the girl and then pushing the ambrosia chip to her.

Este took the shot back quickly, her hand shaking against the glass before she put the chip in her mouth, groaning as she sat herself on the floor, "My heart feels like it's going to explode."

"How many times do we need to say not to go anywhere alone?" Newt sat down next to his sister, straightening his bad leg out as he looked over at her sideways, "The last thing I need is for one of us to end up dead so soon." He paused for a few moments, trying to keep her talking. "Now, do you think that they'll make it home or do you think Chief Swan will somehow bust them all again?"

The soft sounds of the rain padded against the house, causing Este to lift her head up just a little bit to see the rain hit against the window, as the sky seemed even darker than it usually had, "I'd say they make it home for once, with a warning though. From a deputy," Este then looked back at her brother as she tilted her head, "What do you say?" She swallowed as she rubbed her chest.

The blonde haired boy grinned as he shrugged his shoulders, "I'd like to hope that maybe they make it home for once, Ghostie. Though I know that the chances of that are very slim so, I say they were pulled over and given a ticket."

    The two twins fell into a comfortable silence. Este's head back against the wall as her hand remained against her chest, as if to comfort herself as her heart rate began to slow back to a normal pace. Newt's head was also against the wall, but tilted to face her direction as he kept an eye on her. As he always had.

And nearly a moment later, the door to the home swung open as the thunder roared even louder from the outside, "Well, we made it back," Titus was one of the first back into the kitchen as he waved his hands in the air, doing a small victory dance as he shook his hips, "And Este is all good! Praise Olympus!"

A small huff of air left Este's nostrils as her eyes fell over on the open door frame, before her nose scrunched up as she saw the water tracks that Titus was leading into the house, tracking water through the various rooms, "Did you not think to shake off the water while outside the door?"
"Of course that's what you're worried about, Este," Elyse slipped through the others as she shook her head, a small laugh falling from her lips as she then grabbed Este's formerly injured hand, kneeling down on the floor in front of the twins, "How does it feel?"

"Better now, one more round of nectar and ambrosia and it should be fully healed," Este answered as she nodded her head in place of a smile towards the girl, "Since this was worse than the other cut. Now I won't have anything to deal with tomorrow."

"Did you get pulled over by anyone?" It wasn't a second later before the question left Newt's lips as he got up before going over and leaning on Kaz with a grin, "Come on, let us know."

"No," Elijah couldn't help but laugh as he wrapped arm around Elyse, "We did not get pulled over. Sorry, you've lost your bets that you placed. Don't deny it!"

Este rolled her eyes as she began to fiddle with the charms on her bracelet. Looking over at the group before rolling her eyes, a small look of amusement resting on her usually cold features. Ridiculing herself for being so ignorant when it came to the movement under the floorboards, of course there was some sort of defense for the house. After all, the line was supposed to stay hidden.

And maybe that's how it would remain.