Thalia's POV

     I groaned to the sound of my annoying alarm clock going of. I groped around my bed until I finally found my phone, turning it on. Friday, 6:30 A.M.

     I shut my alarm off and got up, stretching. Only one day until the weekend, finally. Senior year wasn't hard, but it wasn't easy either. I put on a pair on ripped blue jeans and a dark navy blue T-shirt with a lightning bolt going across it. I threw on some black converse sneakers and viola. Outfit.

     I put my phone in my back pocket and grabbed my backpack from my desk, slinging it over my shoulder. I grabbed my headphones as I slipped out the door. I ran down the stairs and saw Jason sitting at the table, eating a Pop tart. The other half was sitting in front of him, still wrapped in the foil wrapping. "Hey Jase." I greeted, my tiredness shining through my voice.

     "Morning Thals. You want this?" He asked, gesturing towards the un-touched pop tart.

     "Nah. I'm not really hungry. The accident of last night still makes me a little queasy." I answered honestly.

     "Yeah, that was freaky." Jason admitted. "We'll talk more about it a lunch, but right now we need to get to our bus stop."

      "Yeah. Race you there!" I yelled, running out the door.

      "Hey! No fair!" I heard Jason yell from inside the house. I laughed and ran to the end of our street where the others were waiting. I heard Jason's footsteps pounding behind me and I ran faster, the others noticing.

      "Go Jason!" Leo and Frank shouted, while the rest called out my name.

      I made it there a split second before Jason and he groaned. "Nice try Jase!" I said, clapping him on the back.

      "She got a head start. It  wasn't even." Jason argued.

     "That doesn't matter. What does matter is the case of last night- wait, now that I think of it, Annabeth." I looked at her. "You weren't with my group or Hazel's group. Where were you?" I asked.

     "I went on my own and found a bunch of files from the Asylum patients. I got a few in my bag that were... interesting." She responded.

     "You went on your own?!" I yelped.

     She shrugged. "I'm perfectly capable of self defense. I took karate and a self defense class, remember." She reminded me.

      "Oh yeah. Top of the class right?" I asked.

      "Yep." She stated proudly.

      I heard footsteps approaching behind me and turned around, as well as the rest of us. It was a guy with a dark grey hoodie and ripped blue jeans. His hood covered half of his face so I couldn't see what it looked like, but he had some stubble so he must be over twenty. He approached us, stopping a few feet away. "Did you kids go to the Asylum last night?" He asked. We hesitated.

      "I'm not going to rat you out. Just give you a warning. Did you see a kid in there?" He asked.

     "Um, yes sir, we did." I answered honestly.

     He frowned. "Stay away from him. He lives in the Asylum, and some teens who go in never come out again. Here's one tale for example. A group of teens went in the Asylum, goofing off. They heard noises upstairs and went to investigate. They found that kid, green eyes, messy black hair, crying. Once he finds out people are in the Asylum he cries, luring them into a trap. He killed two, but the last one ran and lived to tell the tale. No bodies were found. That's one of the several killings. He's a murderer. Don't go back, you here me? If you value your life don't go in." He walked away, leaving us in shock.

      "But.. he ran away from us?" I said, turning to face the rest.

      "There were eight of us. Maybe he felt outnumbered." Annabeth offered.

      "I'm going back either way." I stated firmly.

      "Me too." Nico said.

      "Same." Leo agreed.

      "Count me out." Hazel said.

     "So it's just Nico, Leo and I?" I asked.

     "I'm going." Jason piped in.

     "Okay. Any more?" I asked, looking around. No one.

     "Okay. It's settled. The four of us are going." Nico said.

     The rest of the day went on as usual, no talk of the boy in case someone overheard us. Finally the bell to the last class rang, signaling the end of the day. The eight of us meet outside of the woods. "Be careful okay? I'm not positive what that man said is true, but be careful okay?" Bianca told us.

      "Of course." I told her.

      "Let's go then." Nico said, walking into the woods. We had packed a bunch of stuff so we could stay a while, food, water, flashlights, and of course portable chargers for our phones. Leo even brought a go-pro.

      We walked into the woods and got to the Asylum. We walked inside, making sure no police were near. "I don't hear anything." I said.

     "Me neither. We should wait in the lobby so we can watch all four corridors." Nico offered.

     "Good idea." We pushed the big iron doors at the end of the hallway open, walking into the lobby area. I saw the broken step I had broken yesterday while we had been running.

     Leo had a gigantic bag full of cameras and other stuff. He pulled out four large compactable tripods and four cameras, setting them up facing all four hallways. He then put a flashlight on each camera so each hallway was illuminated. While Leo did his thing we made the place comfy as possible.

     We set out a large quilt like a picnic and put our backpacks on it, leaving plenty of space for all of us. "What do we do if we have to go to the bathroom?" Leo asked, walking back from his set up.

      "Uh, good question." Jason admitted.

      "There should be bathrooms upstairs. There may not be water but the pipes still carry stuff down." I told them.

      "Upstairs? Where the 'killer' hides out?" Leo asked, putting air quotes around killer.

     "Hey, you agreed to do this thing. But." I sighed. "If you feel that badly about it, take someone with you."

     "I will. Jason, you're my buddy." Leo said firmly, crossing his arms.

     "It sounds like people picking partners for a project." I told him, shaking my head.

     "Wait, why do I have to go with the girl?" Nico asked.

     "You don't have to be in the same room Death Breath." I told him.

     "Did you see the bathrooms up there? They don't have doors, and they aren't gender specified." He told me, crossing his arms.

      "Hmm. I wonder-" I was cut off by a scuffling noise, coming from upstairs. We all froze, not making a sound, which was hard seeing how we were all ADHD.

       It moved across the hallway above us, heading towards the door the kid was in last night. I could here my heart thumping loudly in my chest, so loud it seemed audible. This was creepy. I heard a door creak and jumped a little, as well as the rest.

       'let's go.' I mouthed silently, pointing to Leo's go-pro. He picked it up silently and turned it on. He held in in his hand as we all stood up. Leo faced the camera up the stairs as we headed up them slowly and silently. How did he get in if all four hallways were under surveillance?

     We got to the top and looked at the door from earlier. It was open ajar, as earlier. I made a fist on my mouth and went outwards, spreading my fist as I did so. 'Should I call?'

     Jason shook his head no, then made a running motion with his hand. Ah, right. He would flee again. We tiptoed down the hallway until we got about ten feet from he door. I turned to face them then made a motion as if I were hugging the air. 'Should we catch him?'

    They pondered for a moment before Nico nodded his head. He pointed to me and made a one, Jason a two, Leo and three, and then himself a four. I was going to go first, then Jason, then Leo, then Nico.

    We got closer to the door, going in order. I heard movement inside, like someone scuffing pacing the room. I held my hands up to the door and pushed it open. The boy's head snapped over to us. "Don't flee or I will tackle you." I threatened. Leo pointed the camera secretly at him.

      The kid didn't move, but stood with wide, fearful eyes. I made my expression more gentle and slowly walking into the room. "Don't move." I reminded him. His expression was filled with fear as we got closer.

      "What is your name?" I asked. He made no attempt to answer. "What is your name?" I repeated, a bit more forceful. He moved his mouth but no sound came out. He cleared his throat painfully, then coughed. He spat a mouthful of blood on the floor. We all flinched.

     "Percy." He croaked out, his voice raspy and rough as sandpaper.

     "How long has it been since you've talked?" I asked.

     He thought, furrowing his brows. "Four years." He responded in the painful voice.

     "We heard a rumor from a man. He said you were a killer." I told him.

     He frowned, not meeting our gaze. "So you've killed before?" I asked. "Why aren't you trying to kill us?"

     "I'm not normal." He muttered. "Can you please leave?"

     "What does not normal mean?" I asked, ignoring his request.

     He ran his hands through his knotted hair with a pained sigh. You could hear something in his lungs wasn't right. "Long story or short?" He asked.

      "We got time." I responded.

     "My mom..." He looked around for something, then picked up his backpack. He took out a file and opened it. "Sally Jackson. She was like me. She died in here." He muttered.

     "She was a nice woman... Got along with everyone, never got mad." He sighed, which ending up with him coughing. "But her evil side got out..."

     "Evil side?" I asked.

     He looked sadly at the file. "Yeah. It's a... curse, you could say."

     "Curse?" Nico asked.

     "Yeah. You aren't going to believe me if I told you everything." He muttered.

     "I promise I will try my best to believe." Leo promised. The rest of us nodded.

     He sighed. "My mom... she was in love with demonic rituals. How they worked, what they did. She preformed some small ones, enough to grab the attention of who she loved most." He looked up at us, staring me in the eyes. "My mom was is love with the devil."

     "He's... real?" I asked.

     "Partially, not the way that you would think. The Christian faith had the Devil in it, but it was just based off what they could translate. They got it all wrong. There is a good figure, which they turned into god. But it wasn't a god. The real story is about two brothers, born by supernatural means. They were intended to be good people who would help the world, but it went wrong. One brother turned evil, the Devil, or his real name, Aklios, and the other was a saint names Gyuin." He explained. I was highly intrigued by this, even if he may be fibbing.

     "My mom was in love with Aklios, but she was a descendant of Gyuin. A pure soul was in love with a corrupted one. Her bloodline being of Gyuin she had a pure soul, most pure on in ages, in love with a corrupted soul. They both fell in love and had a child. Me. I turned up all messed up. I have a good side, the one I am right now, and an evil side. I have always had weird abilities, each one either good or evil. They're like multiple personalities but much worse, like your entire body is being ripped in half. My mom's pure soul was tainted and she turned into something like me. She was sent here for death after she lost control." He took a deep breath, looking up. "If I get angry my evil side takes over and kills. If I'm this, I hate to hurt anyone and I'm very passive. The more my evil side goes off the more powerful and harder to control it gets, so lock myself in here. The problem is teenagers are jerks. So. Are you going to call me insane and run off? It would be better if you did."

      I, oddly, felt protective of him. I believed his story and felt sorry or him. I looked at the others who help the same look of understanding. I looked back at him. "No. We're not. We're going to take you to see our friends. You're going to have a normal life. You can live with Jason and I, or someone else if you want and they agree." I told him firmly.

     "I... I can't." He muttered.

     "Why not?" I asked.

     "It's too kind. I can't accept an offer like that, especially for someone like me. I deserve to rot in here." He said, looking down at the dirty floor. My heart clenched for this guy, he was so alone.

     "No one deserves to rot, even the worst criminals. And I said so, which means you're coming with us." I told him defiantly.

     "But-"

     "Nope. Let's go." I told him, standing up. The others did as well. He hesitantly stood along with us.

     "What will your parents think of you bringing in a hobo freak?" He asked. Poor kid.

     "First of all, you're not a freak, and two, if they don't let you Nico's parent's will, or Leo's. They have the nicest parents ever, and Nico's parents are known for helping the homeless." I told him.

    He sighed, his voice still painful just to hear. "Fine. I'll come with you." He muttered. He put the file in his backpack and slung it over his shoulder. I smiled brightly and turned around, skipping over dramatically towards the stairs.

     Nico's POV

     I watched as Thalia skipped like a little girl in a meadow and snickered. "Leo. You got that filmed?" I whispered. He sent a wild grin back.

     "Heck yes." He whispered back.

     "Are we going to go? This place is freaky. No offense." Jason added quickly to Percy who just shrugged, clearly not offended.

     "So... who's who? That's obviously Leo." He pointed to Leo. "But who's Jason and who's Nico?" 

     "Jason." Jason introduced, raising his hand. He nodded then pointed to me.

     "Nico?" He asked. I nodded once. He kept his eyes on me a bit longer, why I don't know, before adverting his gaze.

     "How do you know we're not joking around, switching our names around?" Jason asked.

     "One of my powers? I can tell when people are lying." He said, looking ashamed.

     "Woah, that's cool. How do you know?" Leo asked wide eyes with excitement.

     "Uh... well... it's hard to explain. You know it movies with the high tech goggles that have the writing on the side?" He asked. Once we all nodded he continued. "I can only see like that. Once I know there name I know everything about them, and can kind of select things to look at, like there emotions."

     "That's cool." Thalia said from behind us.

     Percy remained silent. "So... are we gonna go?" I asked.

     "Yeah." Percy said, then began walking out of the room. We all followed and started down the stairs. I realized Percy was still at the railing around it.

      "You coming?" I asked.

      "Hmm? Oh, yeah." He climbed over the railing and dropped down, landing perfectly in a slightly crouched position. All of our jaws dropped.

     "How did you do that?" Jason asked.

    "Oh. Being a descendant of evil and good somehow left me with really good physical health. I'm stronger than most, and more agile." He explained with  frown. I realized he hadn't smiled the entire time we've seen him.  

     "Okay, you get cooler every minute I'm with you." Leo said, pretty much bouncing up and down.

     "Leo. Calm down." I hissed in his ear so he couldn't hear me.

     "Please. It's a bit overwhelming, sorry." Percy said nervously.

     "You could hear me?" I asked.

     "Oh. Yeah." He rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I have enhanced hearing and sight." He muttered.

     "Oh." I responded. We walked out of the Asylum in silence. We were almost to the end of the wood trail to our houses when Thalia stopped and turned around, stopping the rest of us as well.

     "Percy, so we have kind of a large group of friends. Some of them will be hesitant to trust you, are you going to be okay?" She asked.

     "I guess I kind of have to, right?" He asked.

     "Right. Good." Thalia said and continued walking. We got to the end and Percy moved to the back of the group, hiding behind all of us.

     I saw they were all at the edge of the woods, sitting around smiling. Bianca said something and everyone cracked up. "Hey!" Thalia called. They all turned to face us and they smiled, beckoning us over.

     "Hey guys." Jason greeted as we walked over.

     "Hey, what are you doing back so soon? Did you already find him?" Annabeth asked, unable to hide her curiosity.

     "Yeah, we did." Thalia responded, leaving them hanging.

     "Well? What did he do what happened?" Hazel asked.

     "We have footage." Thalia responded, sitting down along with them. I realized what she wanted to do, along as the others and we sat down, leaving the scared Percy behind.

     No one even noticed him, as they had gone back to there conversation about school as soon as Thalia sat down.

     "Uh, hello?" I asked.

     "What?" Hazel asked, looking over where I sat in front of Percy. Her gaze raised above my face and she looked shocked and scared.

     Everyone else looked as Percy shuffled his feet nervously, looking down. "Why did you bring him back!?" Annabeth yelled. Percy cringed.

      "I told you." Percy muttered, directed at Thalia.

      "Leo, you got the whole thing recorded, right?" She asked with a sigh.

     "Affirmative." Leo confirmed with a thumbs up.

     "Good. Let's go to your house and watch the footage you got." Thalia said, getting up.

     "Cause you're to lazy to explain?" I asked.

     "Exactly!" Thalia exclaimed.

     "Do... do all of you live on this street?" Percy asked in a voice so quiet it was almost a whisper. I looked to where he was looking. Just our normal street.

     "Yeah, why?" I asked.

     "These houses are enormous..." He muttered, looking around.

     "Oh yeah, you're kind of used to an Asylum huh? Well, our parents all own really big companies, so we're kind of rich, but we aren't those snobby rich kids who get everything we want. Well, we kind of get whatever we want." I told him. "Leo's dad owns  world wide technology company, Frank's dad is one of the worlds best military Generals, Annabeth's mom is a world-wide famous architecture designer, Piper's mom is a world-famous model, Thalia and Jason's dad runs an electrical company, and Bianca, Hazel and I have a dad who runs one of the most loaded mines in the world."

     He frown deepened. "Even more of a reason for me not to stay with you. Your parents are big shots." He whispered the last part so only I could hear. "Mine is a demon."

     "Listen Percy, you'll be fine." I told him. I approached him and he flinched. I frowned and stopped.

     "Sorry." He muttered.

     "Are you sure this is the same guy from the rumor?" Annabeth asked, examining his behavior.

     "Positive. Let's just get to Leo's house." Thalia said, skipping to Leo's house.

     Ten minutes later we had all piled onto Leo's bed, except for Percy who was standing behind us, watching the computer screen as Leo worked. He clicked on a file and the video started.

     Time Skip, about forty minutes later, the video just ended

     Everyone was silent for a while. "I... Don't know what to think..." Annabeth said with wide eyes.

     "Think of him like a normal human with powers." Thalia offered, though it sounded more like a demand.

     "I can do that." Hazel said with a shrug. "He was honest about it. We have no reason to distrust him."

     Percy didn't smile, but a small flicker of happiness danced in his eyes, hiding behind the thick layers of sadness and depression. "First things first, as Nico said, we're rich. We need to get you some new clothes and shoes." Thalia said, gesturing to him. He blushed and looked down.

     "Woah, first we should introduce him to the place he's staying. I think it's agreed he's staying with Nico?" Jason asked.

      "Sure." I said with a shrug.

     "Okay, Nico, lead Percy to your house and talk the situation over with your parents. Just... I don't think you should mention him being a demon." Thalia said.

      "Okay, yeah. C'mon Percy." I trotted down the steps of the stairs to the first floor. I saw Mr. Valdez sitting on the couch, watching TV. He turned around when he saw us, then smiled.

     "Hey Nico. Hey Percy." He greeted, which was odd seeing how we didn't run into him and he hadn't met Percy yet.

     "Uh..?" I questioned, looking at Percy, who was giving a confused look at him.

     "Oh, sorry. My name's Hephaestus Valdez. I got cameras running all through this house. Know all about your little secret. Don't worry, I've met someone like you before, but not as powerful. They were a descendant of distant relatives of them." He scratched his scratchy goatee. "Never though I'd meet someone as powerful as you. Keep yourself in check for me, will ya?" He asked before turning back to his TV.

     We got over our shock and I led him too my house. A giant, four story building painted black. It got really hot in the summers. It walked through the door into the living room where my dad sat. "Hey dad, I have something to tell you." I called. He turned around and jumped a bit at the sight of Percy, then his eyebrow rose.

     "This your new boyfriend?" He asked.

     "God dad, no!" I yelled. He gave a sheepish smile.

     "Well-"

      "Before you go any further." I said cutting him off. "He's a kid I found on the streets."

     "Ah. Did you test him?" He asked.

     "Not yet, but look at him. Could he hurt anybody?" I asked, looking at the nervous looking Percy.

     "Still. Test him." My dad told me. "Sorry kid. Rules in this household." He directed at Percy. He nodded understandingly.

     "Understandable." He paused to clear his throat, then he swallowed something down. Probably more blood. "I couldn't believe you took people in that easily when he told me." he said in a quiet, raspy voice. It sounded painful to talk.

      "Ouch. What happened to your voice?" My dad asked, wincing with sympathy.

      "First day speaking in four years." He told me dad, who raised in eyebrow.

      "How long have you been homeless?" He asked. Percy thought for a while.

      "Since I was five." He responded finally. "My mom died during labor and I ran away from my abusive stepdad." He explained.

     He was abused? I didn't know that. Interesting.

      "Ah. Well... uh, what was your name again?" My dad asked.

      "Percy sir." Percy responded.

     My dad nodded. "Well, we have a guest room set up. You can sleep in there if you want." He offered.

      "What about the test?" Percy croaked, his voice obviously sore from talking.

     "Ah, that. Eh, you can take it tomorrow, your voice sounds sore, and I trust Nico." He responded.

     "Thank you sir." Percy said, reaching up and grabbing his throat gingerly.

     "No problem, and call me Hades." He said with a smile. Percy nodded, obviously to sore to speak.

     I lead Percy up the stairs to the guest room, right next to mine. "You want to get some sleep?" I asked. He nodded thankfully. I smiled lightly and opened the door to the room.

     "Not much but it's all yours." I said. He the corners of his mouth twitched upwards for a split second before returning to a frown, but I saw what it look like. He had a mischievous, crooked grin, but it wasn't an evil crooked grin, it was literally crooked, like he was smirking.

      "You know, you look good when you smile." I told him. He looked down and turned a little red at the compliment but I just smile. "Go on, you need your rest." He nodded and walked in before carefully shutting the door behind him.