Final Chance



HunterofArtemis12 ~The Eighth Wonder of the World.

Rated
For now, I'm rating it G for General audiences but I may change it as I go

Story
Alexandra POV 

I'm running as fast as I can. Two more bases left. ''Run! Run! You can do better than that! ''A voice chants in my head.

I pump my legs, swing my arms. I'm almost there! My left foot hits the gravel and I skid to a stop, sliding into home base.

The ball sails into the catcher's mitt a millisecond after my foot touches the plate. Ace.

The reff nods at me, he knows I've succeded in another home run.

My shirt is now grimy with dirt, I cough as puffs of gravel rise up in tiny clouds.

The crowd rises to their feet screaming my name, like a chant. "Keyes! Alexandra Keyes!"

I stand up, brushing off my shorts and tugging at my jersey. "Keyes! Keyes! Keyes!" The audience roars, clapping their hands together and stomping their feet against the metal bleachers. I smile, I can't help but bask in the glory.

Then, out of the corner of my eye I see one of the male referee's pick up a baseball bat and start in my direction. I turn back to the crowd.

I can see my mom with David in the front row, waving at me and shouting my name along with the others. Where is my dad? I search the crowd. There he is, by the stairs talking on his phone again. He must have had a meeting. Something like dissapointment fills my stomach, but I brush it aside. ''Be grateful he even came this time. ''I remind myself.

That's the last thing I remember thinking, right before a sharp pain burrowed through my skull, a loud thwack could be heard from up in the stands. I crumpled to my knees, my hands going up to defend my beaten skull and then...black, blacker, blackest. Gone.

Teresa POV

The golden fields were alive with music. Saytrs danced around, playing their pipes, smiling merrily. Chiron was trotting around, chatting with demigods and offering them lemonade. Campers walked around socializing, swimming in the lake and riding pegasi in the air. Everyone was having a good time.

My best friend Logan wanders up to me and sits down in the same patch of grass. "Teresa..." He began as he hands me a cup of lemonade he got from Chiron. "So I wanted to go flying today right? But the other campers got there first and now I don't have a pegasus to ride."

I raise an eyebrow. I know where this is going. "You want me to give you a lift and drop you into the lake again."

Logan smiles sheepishly. "One more time? Please?" He puts his hand on my knee. "Teresa, I gave you that magical flute. You owe me."

I slap his arm playfully. "That's what you said last time!" But I sigh and stand up in sync as Logan does as well. "Alright, high up for maximum free fall, low for less water splash or medium so you can cannon ball and splash the Aphrodite kids?"

Logan grins, and I already know what his answer will be. "Definately Aphrodite. Give me a push as I go down for double the splash."

I nod and Logan fits himself into my arms. I rest my ching on his shoulder. "All clear for dispatch," I laugh and spread my wings out to their full five feet extent. Yes, you heard me right. I said wings.

We launch into the air quickly, Logan shouting at me over the wind. "Spin!" He pumps his fist in the air when I do dive into a spiral. "Yeah! Tes your awesome!"

I blush, I don't know why. Logan's called me Tes since the first time we met, which was when we were eleven.

"Alright, now down to the lake." I move my hand a little to gauge how much distance. I'd need to make sure my wings didn't get wet, or I wouldn't be able to fly for a few hours without drying them out.

We rise up, passing surprised pegasi and then I abrutly turn and shoot back down towards the earth. Forty feet.

"I LOVE THIS!" Logan screams as we rip through the wind.

Thirty feet. The ground is getting closer. "I know!" I shout back to my friend.

Twenty feet, so close. I start to move my wings in, so I can curve and Logan to jump off.

Ten feet. "NOW!" I yell and Logan pushes off of me. I slam my feet into his back, trying to shove him down faster. Crap, we almost missed the water. Another three feet and Logan would have actually landed on an Aphrodite kid.

''SPLASH! ''Logan faceplants into the water, then pops back out pumping his fist like a typical guy. I glide to the other side of the bank and tuck in my wings.

"Ugh!" Drew from Aphrodites cabin screams in outrage. "My make up is ruined!" She glares at Logan and I. "How DARE you!"

Piper looks up from the log she was sitting by, on the side of the river. I regret getting her wet, Piper is one of my good friends. She laughs and rolls her eyes at Drew. "It's your fault for sitting next to the lake. You could move," She suggest helpfully.

I stiffle a laugh myself.

And then I feel a cold tingly feeling up my spine. It's distant like I can't pin point exactly what it is. But it's there. And then bam I fall forward crashlanding into the water, my ears ringing with evil ancient laughter.

Alexandra POV

I'm completely, ''soaked. ''How did this happen?

I open my eyes and immediately open my mouth in shock, which is a mistake. I'm underwater, and I think I'm drowning. Water gushes into my mouth, I scream and try to swim- which is another problem. I never learned how to tread water.

I kick upwards, catching a rock and trying to stand up. How did I get here?

Completely humilated, I grab the branch of a tree and pull myself out of the water. Rusty dark laughter fills my ears. ''Enjoy the game. ''

I narrow my eyes and look around. Everything is so ''bright. ''Birds chirp all around me, flying horses zip through the air and wet pretty girls smirk at me.

Wait- wet pretty girls? I know thats not the first thing I should notice, like the flying horses, but I've had a lot of popular girls laugh at me. The kind that have no athletic talent, the people I never cared about.

A feather drifts into my face and I lurch backwards, collaping back into the water, spluttering and screeching. And then, my back feels suddenly way heavier than it should.

"What the hell?" I mutter and grab the rock I'd stood on before, it's much slipperier. I stumble and then put my hand on my back. Water is dripping from weird places.

And no, not like that weird place I mean, from these large feathers someone attached to my back. I glare at the beauitful girls who are giggling and pointing. One of them, sitting on a wooden log starts to make her way towards me, biting her lip in sympathy. Maybe not all pretty girls are horrible, it's clear she wants to help.

I clamber out of the water, then reach back to yank the feathers off of me. ''Holy sugar iced tea! YOW! ''

Someone glued these feathers on REALLY well.

The girl approaches, she's way prettier than the rest with choppy uneven hair and tiny braids and feathers parting it. It looks good, she pulls it off.

"Teresa, stop tugging at your wings. You could break them," She grins at me and gently pries my hand off my feathers. Wait- WING?

"Uh....sorry." I stammer my eyes drifting to my back. Holy friole, wings.

"Stop being shy! Logan wants you to take him for another spin," She punches my arm carefully. "I promise Drew won't bite. If she does, I'll charmspeak her the best I can. Chiron wants you to fly up and attach the torches to the top of the pavillion if you can, by the way."

I almost take a step back. What the heck is this girl talking about? ''Charmspeak, spin, Logan, fly. ''Words spin through my head, dancing with my thoughts then drifting away before I can identify them. It's like she's speaking Enlish, but not.

"PIPES YOU OVER THERE? PIPER?!" I hear a male voice yell from somewhere the hill. The girl I'm talking too turns and grins as a blonde haired FINE looking boy comes over the hill.

So, her name is Piper. I wonder what his name is, that good looking hunk right there.

"I have to go," She smiles at me and flashes the blonde boy a smile. "Jason promised to take me down to the stables to ride with Annabeth and Percy."

I blink. What just happened??? Annabeth and Percy? That hot boy is called Jason?

"Oh that's fine," I say sweetly. "I'll be here."

Piper starts sprinting up the hill. "Catch you later Teresa!"

I don't register that she called me Teresa. I push a lock of brown/red hair out of my face. I don't register that my hair is a different color, or that I have wings. I'm too busy plotting to get into the stables to spy on the cute guy and his supposed girlfriend.

Teresa POV

Beep. Agh, my head. ''Beep. ''Voices, echoing off the walls and talking everywhere.

"...Ever play softball again..."

"If she finds out..."

"Physical therapy?"

"...Life changing...ruin career..."

I catch tidbits of words flying around. What are these people talking about?

My eyes won't open, it's almost like I'm paralyzed. I try to sit up.

"Quiet. She's moving." A male voice, one I don't recognize.

"Logan?" I groan, forcing myself to sit up. He has to be here, I know he wouldn't leave me.

My eye lids peel open and I'm blinded by excrutiating light. I snap my eyes shut, and then slowly poke them open once more. The light isn't as harsh, I've adjusted.

"Alexandra, sweetie. Don't strain yourself. Lie down."

I'm sweating, it's so warm in here. "Too hot, so hot..." I mumble. I can't even think about the name she just called me. Why would anyone ever want to call me sweetie? I'm a freak in the mortal world.

Who are these people and- ow. My head hurts so much. I'm sweating like crazy, my heart beat seems to have quickened.

I hear one of the people yell for them to take my nightgown off. No! I can't expose myself to humans- I know these aren't demigods. I'm in a hospital, how I got here, I'm not sure. Maybe Chiron took me here after I fell into the water...no. We have nectar and ambrosia.

If they see my wings, it'll be over. When I worked at the circus, the Mist didn't hide my wings. Chiron doesn't know why, or won't tell me why.

I can't. I can't. I can't.

I breathe in and fight back against the arms trying to strip me of my clothes. No, no, no. This must be a bad dream, I have to wake up.

They pull off the nightgown. I'm not naked, I realize. Strips of gauze have covered my cleavage, I'm wearing a pair of what appears to be spandex. It's too short for comfort.

But, still. The air, it feels so good. I stop sweating long enough to realize that my back feels....lighter.

My hand crawls to my back, my fingers trace my spine. I reach up, and up and- I gasp and my hand jerks back. I nearly fall off the bed.

"What wrong Alexandra?" A man reaches forward, supporting me then forcing me to lay back on the pillows.

My forehead is sweaty, realization has broken through my already shattered mind. A nurse smiles at me and then tells the man that I'm going to be a little unsteady for awhile, but I won't have to stay over night.

The man nods, his face is friendly enough. A woman clutches his arm and wipes a tear from her eye. They must be married.

But, I'm not really thinking about any of that. Everything has changed, ''everything. ''I don't have wings anymore.

Alexandra POV

It takes me awhile to pick myself to the stables. One, my wings are soaking wet and drag me down everywhere I go. I've collected a lot of twigs and dirt in them, on my little adventure.

Crap. Oh and I don't even want to think about how these stupid fake wings got attached to me. My head hurts, maybe I misheard Piper earlier when she called me Teresa. Maybe she said Alexandra- there isn't that much of a difference in the names right?

I must have had water in my ears.

That's it.

That's what happened. Stop looking at me like that.

I hike up my sun dress (how did I even get into this ugly garb) and march over the hill. There- the stables are tall.

They're really well built, way more skilled than anything I've ever seen. Huh, weird.

And oh look- theres the blonde boy, Jason. My eyes follow him as he sadles his horse (someone glued stupid wings to them too, what jokers) and Piper laughs as his foot slips and he faceplants to the ground. I stiffle a laught myself- that was adorable.

And then someone else enters the scene. A handsome black haired boy with sea green eyes- I can tell from this distance. Holding hands with him is a curly blonde haired girl with furious grey eyes. I can tell by the way they move, that they know each other very well.

They must be Percy and Annabeth.

I sigh, is every boy so cute and out of my league? And since when did I start paying attention to boys? I've always been a serious athlete, working on my career for softball. I never had time to date or engross myself with guys, although many had asked me out over the years.

Something was different about Jason and Percy.

I sprinted toward the stables and ducked behind a board.

"Yo, Jason, bet I could dominate the air better than you." Percy jumps onto his horse easily.

Dominate the air?

"Not a chance, Jackson. Eat my wind currents." Jason replies, raising an eyebrow. He magically floats up off the ground and lands on his horse.

Okay, must have been a heavy wind there. Yeah, that's it. It picked him up and put him on the horse.

"Shut up, both of you." Piper tosses her braids behind her back and strokes her horses neck. "Can we fly already?"

The blonde girl- Annabeth kicks her horse and they take off running. "Catch me if you can!" She yells over her shoulder.

Wow. They're going too fast- they're going to run into that tree.

The horses lift their fake wings and jump into the air. They can jump really high. They don't come back down. I blink, rub my eyes. What the flipping heck just happened?!

I trip overmyself and look into the sky. THE HORSES ARE FLYING IN THE AIR. The teenagers act like they have no problem with it, just ride around and laugh, teasing one another.

What, in the name of Zeus? And wait...why did I just say that? Who the heck is Zeus?!

My fake wings have dried, it didn't take as long as I thought- maybe its because I kept moving them to get the wind into them.

I've come to a conclusion. They're not fake. I have wings.

Teresa POV My heart beat quickens, adrenaline surges through my veins. Oh gods, oh gods...they cut off my wings!

I push myself off the bed in one easy bound, ripping IVs off my arms as I go. Nurses turn around in surprise as I barrel through the man and woman standing there and race for the doorway.

I'm not waiting for the Police to show up, I don't know where I'm going- I just have to get away.

'''WIP Comment and tell me if you like it. I decided to try a different style of writing. '''