Ventures Chapter 23

Instructions

Chapter 23 Someone Disappears Into The Void ------ In the morning, we decide to move from the store, before a monster- or worse- Demeter shows up. We walk a few miles, passing stores and whatnot. I feel like there’s something following us, and I keep glancing around. Jacob is walking a bit behind me, muttering. I try to hear what he’s saying, but I can’t. I finally give up on trying to be sneaky and I slow down, until I get to being next to him. “What’s wrong?” I ask, hesitatingly. He looks up, his hazel eyes meeting mine, then darting away. “I- Uh… Nothing, why?” I raise an eyebrow. Jacob looks around nervously. “Y-you don’t believe me, do you,” he asks. I shake my head. “Not even a little bit.” He laughs a bit and I smile. We walked for a bit more, just staring at stuff and saying very little to each other, until there was a major consensus that we were hungry. Havi smacks her forehead. “I can’t believe I didn’t think to bring some cereal!” Me and Jacob glance at each other. We both hated eating cereal for the last few meals. I go to Havi and hug her. “It’s okay, I didn’t think of it either.” I feel her smile and we pull away. Aternus digs in his pockets and pulls out a 20 dollar bill, then gives it to Havi. “I-,” Havi stares at the money and I get the idea she’s never held a 20 before. “Thanks, Aternus. You’re a lifesaver,” she then says to him and he signs ‘No problem.’ I smile. Havi puts it in her sweatpant pocket. “Okay, I’ll be right back,” she says, as we come up to a convenience store. “Shouldn’t we all go, though?” Jacob asks. I nod, “Yeah, I don’t like the idea of one of us being alone.” My brain then wanders to the rule of three I ignored. I told myself that we’ll be careful. This does not fit my description as being careful. Then again, nothing about this quest so far has been examples of demigods being careful. “I’ll be fine,” Havi says with a dismissive wave, “I’ll be back in a few minutes. Don’t worry.” I open my mouth to protest but Aternus gives me a look and I close it. Havi takes that as permission to enter, and she does so, the sliding doors closing behind her. --- A few minutes later, me and the boys are sitting on the curb in front of the store. I keep getting the feeling something is wrong, but I ignore it. Until we hear a crash from inside and I jump up. I run in with the boys on my heels. Inside, I look around and gasp. All the lights are off. I thought it just looked that way from the windows, like if they were just tinted too much. Some of the shelves have been tipped over, candy and snacks are all over the floor. My breath comes quickly. “Havi?” I call out to the darkness, hoping my half-sister would answer. Nothing. Nothing except a glint, like a rainbow from the corner of my eye. I turn in the direction of the glint and see it again, but brighter. Aternus starts to notice and runs towards it, Jacob following. For some reason, I'm shaking. But, I start towards the glint.