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I'm A Disappearing Act Done Poorly

Pizza, a Stroll, and an Icy Farewell

Nico
“So, what sort of pizza do you want?” Eloise asked, her green eyes staring at me with curiosity. I shrugged, “Anything you want, so long as there are no anchovies.”
“Aw man, I love anchovies!” Leo said, making a disappointed baby face. Colette smiled and patted Leo on the hand. Leo blushed as sparks flew (literally) and he combusted into flames. Eloise’s eyes widened, but she didn’t freak out that much.
“Um…does that happen a lot?” she asked brushing a strand of loose brown hair into her ear.
“Oh no, that only happens when he gets excited like a little puppy.” I replied. I know it sounded mean, but I was getting really uncomfortable with all this lovey dovey stuff.
Leo scowled at my response, giving Eloise an apologetic smile. “Sorry about Captain Killjoy. He’s just grumpy ‘cause he didn’t get enough sleep.”
“That’s because someone begged me to come on some epic adventure with him.” I said, not even trying to hide the irritation in my voice.
Eloise must’ve sensed an argument coming, because she quickly intercepted our conversation. “How about I order a nice cheese pizza? Colette?”
Colette glanced at Leo and me, our gazes cold and steady. “Ah yes, I zink that sounds délicieux.”
“Uh…are you guy’s fine with that?” Eloise asked
I suddenly realized how rude we were, starting an argument in front of two people whom we’ve just met. I mean, just because my dad is Hades, doesn’t mean I have the excuse to be a complete douchebag. I cleared my throat and withdrew from Leo’s harsh gaze.
“Sorry. Uh yeah, that sounds good. Leo?” I asked, hinting in my tone that we should finish our argument elsewhere. Fortunately, Leo got the point and he too, removed the annoyed look on his face. “I’m all for it.” He said, finally returning to his happy go lucky personality.
“Good.” Eloise replied, a look of relief on her face, probably glad that Leo and I didn’t start some “all-out war” or something. Please, I’m above that sort of thing, and after the war with Gaea, warfare was the last thing I wanted in my life. Right now, a cheese pizza seemed pretty good.

We stepped out of the restaurant, our stomachs full and our moods lightened. Leo and Colette were sharing some pretty corny jokes with one another, laughing and occasionally glancing at each other and blushing afterwards. I felt kinda uncomfortable, so I tried starting a conversation with Eloise, who seemed just as nervous as I was.
“So, “I said trying to keep my voice nonchalant, “your dad’s Apollo…so your mom’s mortal?”
Eloise smiled, little dimples forming at the sides of her mouth, but her green eyes had a sort of melancholy in them. “Yeah. She’s…not really here.” I could tell she was trying to sound casual but I could hear her voice cracking. Being the son of Hades, seeing people lose their loved ones, and losing some myself, I could easily tell what “not really here” meant.
“I see.” I said, not bothering to say sorry. I know from experience that a sorry doesn’t compensate for the loss or the pain.
Eloise smiled, “I’m glad you decided not to apologize, “she said as if reading my thoughts, “but I don’t mind really. I never knew her. She died when I was born. I was raised by foster family to foster family, being ridiculed and labelled as a freak. And the monsters I saw that they couldn’t see. I couldn’t take it anymore. I left my last foster family and found Camp Jupiter. Or I guess Camp Jupiter found me.” I wanted to know more, but she didn’t continue from there.
“I lost my mother and my sister. My mother…well, I guess I knew her. My dad made me forget about her. As for my sister, she was the only family I had left. Losing her was worse.”
Eloise nodded, not pressing for details. Then she reached for my hand and squeezed it hard, then let go as quickly as she reached for it. I felt my face burn with a prickling heat. No words were spoken from there.
Then a voice interrupted the silence.
“Eloise dear! Over here!” And a woman who looked to be in her late 60’s came jogging towards us in her running gear. She had blond hair streaked with strands of grey hair, a kind face lined with wrinkles, and eyes the colour of caramel. Then a yellow blur brushed past me, tackling Eloise and covering her face with…dog slobber. A burly golden retriever gave Eloise a big lick is the face, wagging its tail vigorously. Eloise was laughing, trying to form words, “Okay, okay. It’s good to see you too Maximus. Down boy, down!” she said trying to control her laughter. The old woman was laughing, “Oh dear, he really likes you, doesn’t he?”
Eloise stood up and brushed herself, chuckling all the while, she finally looked at the woman and smiled, “Nice to see you Mrs. Watson. Where’s your husband?” she asked. Mrs. Wilson gave another hearty and carefree laugh, “Oh, you know George; he prefers sitting in a bench rather than taking a nice vigorous jog. Hmph, if you ask me, he needs the exercise more than I do.”
“Aw, don’t be too hard on your husband Mrs. Watson; I’m sure he’ll decide to jog when he wants to. After all, you’ve got Maximus,” Eloise glanced at the huge dog, “I think he’ll give you one huge routine of vigorous exercise.” Mrs. Watson just seemed to notice me, “Oh my. Is this your boyfriend Eloise?” she asked. I felt my face burn hotter than the sun, but Eloise seemed to keep cool, she just shook her head and smiled, “Just a friend Mrs. Watson. This is Nico di Angelo, son of Hades.” She replied lightly. For some reason, Mrs. Watson seemed disappointed, but hey, it’s not my fault we weren’t what she thought we were.
“Well, alright, if that’s what you say. My dear, do you mind doing me a huge favour?” Mrs. Watson asked, “Would you mind watching Maxie and taking him for a little stroll around just until I find George. Is that okay with you?”
“Of course Mrs. Wilson, I’d be happy to give Maxie a walk.” Eloise replied.
“Oh that’s wonderful!” Mrs. Wilson let Eloise take hold of Maximus and handed her a yellow plastic zip-lock pack, “These are Denta-Chew. Their Maxie’s favourite. In case he gets hungry. I’ll be back in an hour or so. Thanks so much dear!” And with that, Mrs. Watson waved good bye and jogged away.
“Nice lady. Is she a demigod?” I asked.
“Yup. Daughter of Ceres.” Eloise stroked Maximus’ head and started walking, while I tried to follow and catch up. Eventually she sat on a bench and unclipped Maximus’ leash, letting him roam around by himself. I was about to take a seat next to her, but a big and burly guy beat me to it.
Eloise seemed startled and annoyed at the same time. “Um, I don’t mean to sound rude but…who are you?” she asked.
The guy gave her a suave smile that might have made most girls scream and faint. But Eloise didn’t seem impressed. The guy seemed to be our age, 15, dressed in reebok sneakers, faded jeans, and a simple tight fit white t-shirt that showed off his muscular physique. He had scruffy ginger hair and blue eyes. I guess most girls would find him attractive in a rugged “football player” sort of way.
“The names Peter. That’s all you need to know. And you?” he asked.
“Eloise.”
“That’s a pretty name.” He said, winking at her. Then he outstretched his hand and grabbed a Denta-Chew from the zip lock pack, tossing it into his mouth like a commercial model. He got another piece licking his teeth and tossing it into his mouth. I don’t know what Eloise felt like, because her face was impassive and hard like stone.
Then she placed her fingers I between her lips and whistled, I watched as Maximus ran to her his tail a yellow blur. She calmly clipped him to his leash, and faced Peter. Astonishingly, she gave him a polite smile, “I hope you enjoyed those little Denta-Chews Peter. They’re Maxie’s absolute favourite.” She gestured to Maximus, his tongue lolling out of his mouth. The look on Peter’s face was priceless. Eloise gave one last smile and bounded off with Maxie by her side. I ran after her, stifling a laugh. She looked at me and started to laugh as well.
We found Leo and Colette by the little Tiber; both of them seemed cross with us.
“Where ‘ave you been?” Colette asked
“Yeah, we thought you got abducted or something.” Leo said, he sounded more annoyed than angry though.
“We bumped into Mrs. Watson and I took Maxie for a walk.” Eloise replied.
“Speaking of Mrs. Watson,” I began, “here she comes now.” Eloise turned, and sure enough, Mrs. Watson was jogging towards us, and this time, a plump old man with a square face, grey hair, and glasses, sporting Birkenstocks and a sweatshirt with running shorts was accompanying her, though it looked like he was having difficulty catching up.
“Oh Eloise thanks so much for watching Maxie!” Mrs. Watson said, smiling as Eloise handed Maximus back to his owner. “Next time, could you slow down a bit Caroline dear? This man is going to have a heart attack because of your regimes.” Mr. Watson grumbled, clutching his chest. Mrs. Watson rolled her eyes, “Well maybe if you exercised more, you’d complain less.” And with that, Mrs. Watson waved goodbye, slipped her arm into her husband’s, and with Maximus leading the way, they jogged back to wherever they came from.
“Leo, will you be staying overnight?” Colette asked a hint of hopefulness in her voice.
Leo smiled, “Actually, yeah, I’m thinking of staying her in Camp J for a while.” He turned and faced me, “What about you bro?”
I shrugged, “I don’t know. I was thinking of heading back to the Underworld to check how things are running and how my dad’s doing.”
Leo shrugged, “Alright man. Whatever floats you boat.” Colette smiled at me, “Why don’t you stay for one more night? I’m sure—”
“It’s okay Colette; let him go where he needs to go.” Eloise cut her, “I’m sure he has important matters to attend to.” She gave me a small smile. I returned it.
“Bye guys…it was nice meeting you.” I said.
“And you too, Nico. I hope we can meet up again.” Eloise replied, and I felt my heart racing for just a fraction of a second, a sensation similar to eating something way too spicy, or maybe after sprinting a whole marathon. That was really weird.
“See ya bro.” Leo said, giving me one of his nutty grins.
“Oui, au revoire Nico.” Colette said, but she glanced at Eloise with a slightly disappointed look in her face.
I took one last look at them, gave a small nod, and disappeared into the shadows.
But before I was completely engulfed in the shadows I heard a voice, soft, icy, unkindly, and taunting, chilling me to the spine; goodbye Nico.

Notes

Third chapter guys! I really hope you can spare some time to comment on the story and give some helpful suggestions for the next chapters ^_^ Thank you for reading!

Comments

Come on don't let it end!!!!!

Keep writing! Really good so far!

Phoebe Phoebe
1/16/14

Keep writing! Really good so far!

Phoebe Phoebe
1/16/14