Chapter 6
Of course going by information I had I came up empty handed. I didn't even know when the boy died. He could've died few weeks ago to few decades ago. I instead researched Norse mythology. Why did he show me that rune? What was the connection with the rune?
I grew frustrated really fast, so I decided to go for a walk. Maybe even do some shopping on my way out. Will had told me that Piper suggested we could do some DIY projects for centerpieces to save up some money. I went to a dollar store to see if they had anything intresting we could use. As I browsed the aisles I saw the Fehu boy in the corner of my eye. I looked at the entrance of the store where the boy sat. He sat next to the homeless guy outside the storen. The strange this about the image was the boy put the finger up to his lips as if telling me to be quiet. I exited the store without buying anything. When I got closer I saw that the homeless guy was asleep. Using a red and white stripped scarf as a make shift blanket. I didn't even know what I was doing at the time. I looked at the boy and whispered questions I had.
"What's your name?"
The boy put his finger up to his lips again. Then he put out an open palm towards me and tapped it with three fingers. Then clenched his fist. Then I got lost in sing gestures. I was confused. If the boy was deaf in life, after he had died he would have been able to speak, since physical earthly boundaries shouldn't apply to him anymore.
"Can't you speak?" I asked.
The boy looked at me with painful look. Then he lifted his chin. He put a thumb up and showed a scar I did not see before. The ghost's throught was slit. Someone really wanted to hurt this kid.
"What happened to you?" I asked.
The boy disappeared. I looked around to see if he was still around. I was apparently lucky. The boy stood behind me. He mouthed a word I came in contact far too often for my liking. Killed. Then he disappeared.
I went straight to the Will's work place. I needed him after this encounter. As soon as I saw Will I hugged him. Normally I would try to avoid showing affection in public, but I was too shaken to care how people viewed us. Will calmed me down. He gave me a muffin to eat in the break room and sat with me until I calmed down. Unlucky for me he quickly after got a call to duty so I was alone with couple of his coworkers, that were on break.
"You okay?" Travis Stoll, Will's boss, asked me when he saw me alone picking at the half eaten muffin.
"Oh. Just a rough day." I said, trying to sound like I haven't seen a murdered teenager's ghost just half an hour ago.
Travis sat with me and he tried to talk to me about gardening for some reason. I guess it was his way of trying to distract me from my thoughts, since it was obvious I wasn't comfortable talking about what happened.
When Will came back it was already end of his shift.
"You wouldn't guess who I bumped in in the hospital!" Will said as he picked up his stuff from his locker.
"Who?" I asked.
"Annabeth Chase-Jackson." Will said. "She looks almost ready to give birth though."
"She's pregnant?"
"Eight months along." Will nodded.
I was shocked. I haven't seen nor talk to Percy nor Annabeth since their wedding. Next step was kids, but I was still shook how old I was that a pregnancy among my friend group was normal thing.
"Wait. So are they back in town?"
"Apparently they moved back to be closer to Percy's mom so that they can relay on her for possible help with the baby's new arrival."
"That's wild."
"She invited us to come and visit them during the weekend." Will said. "Are you okay with that?"
"Yeah. I haven't seen them in ages."
"It's for her baby shower. " He said. "So she said to bring Hazel along."
That Sunday, Will, Hazel and I went to the address Will was given with few baby items. Hazel bought a box of pacifiers and couple of onesies with silly sea puns on them. Will and I brought a cute toy of a stuffed owl. I was surprised how big Annabeth was showing.
She greeted us in and we were met with small group of people. Some we recognized, some we didn't. Percy looked somewhat ready to be a father. He joked like a dad already. He bragged how many parenting books he bought. Annabeth commented how he maybe read a chapter of each one. Percy laughed it off, saying all he needed to know about parenting was thought to him by his mom. Sally was as lovely as I remembered her from my childhood. She asked Will and I questions about our upcoming wedding. Percy brought out few games we all were encouraged to play. I didn't understand the rules of most of them, but what I gathered they either had baby pun in the name or were baby themed.
"So do you know if you are having a boy or a girl?" I asked Percy when most of the guests were ready to leave.
I only asked cause throughout the day there was no mention of the gender, nor the reveal. I often found them both cute and outdated tradition.
"Oh. Annabeth wanted to be surprised about the whole thing. So it's all unknown. Even I don't know." He smiled. "And if I can be honest, I really don't care about the whole thing. We painted the nursery light greyish blue. I like it like this."
"What about the name?"
"We've been thinking Charlie? It works for both boy and a girl." He said proudly.
The rest of my week went peaceful, as peaceful as it can be, when a dead teenager haunts my dreams. The Fehu boy showed me the final hours of his life. He was running. From someone. A group of them. Then someone grabbed him. Around his neck he had a pendant. He instinctively grabbed to protect it. He yelled out for them to stop, and to leave him alone. Then he got a knife pressed to his throat, a threat to be quiet. The knife drew blood. The rope that held the pendant around the boys neck and the necklace fell to the ground. The teenager managed to grab the knife from his attacker and turned it against him. The attacker in shock stepped back. Someone from behind them yelled out something. I couldn't hear clearly since I was being dragged in the icy cold water with the boy and his attacker. I looked behind at where the sounds came from. The homeless man who was alseep infront of the dollar store was with another man. Then I woke up. Sweaty and cold.