Title: Two Hours

Genre: Horror/Tragedy

Pairing(s): Percabeth

Warnings: AU, swearing, blood, gore, character death

Summary: Jason Grace received an odd tape from Percy just before he disappeared. Years later, Jason viewed what really had happened.

Part I: the disappearance of an old friend and rediscovery of a most particular tape

Percy handed me a tape after the hospital released him. He looked fine, much better when I visited him earlier that week. I didn't know what had happened, but apparently there had been an accident that killed two other people, his best friend Grover and his girlfriend Annabeth.

While reporters and peers alike hounded him for information, I asked him nothing and did my best to comfort him. It was strange, seeing Percy being solemn, but after the death of his closest friends, I couldn't really blame him. Whether it was trauma or an oath that made him silent, I wasn't sure. I did understand the situation so I invited him to my table at lunch; he would smile at Leo's antics while we laughed, but I knew him better than he thought. Those days of laughter and relaxation quickly took a turn for the worst.

Ten days after his release from the hospital, Percy's facade crumbled right before my eyes. He rushed out of the commons after Reyna asked him about a certain event, and I raised my voice for the first time in three years. After three minutes of verbal abuse, Reyna's tears dribbled down her cheek and she let out a weak sob. My temper died and guilt flooded into my system. I didn't know what had overcame me, but I muttered an apology and went to find Percy.

"Are you okay?" I asked, looking at the pathetic figure curled up under the sink of the restroom. I grabbed a spare toilet paper roll and crouched down next to him. The stank of urine made my head dizzy; I puzzled over how Percy could find any comfort here with the smell and the chance of someone walking in on him.

"I'm fine," he mumbled into his arms. I let out a sigh and nudged the toilet paper roll against his shoulder.

When he refused to accept my offering, I said, "Come on, Percy. Let's get you cleaned up. Reyna can't apologise to you when you're hiding in the men's restroom."

Percy huffed and looked up at me with puffy red eyes and tear-stained cheeks. His nose was also red and wet. I should be disgusted, but I couldn't help but to feel sorry for this guy. I grabbed both of his arms and lifted him up. Percy was unwilling until I pulled him again.

I turned on the sink and dabbled some toilet paper in water.

"You think you're gonna be all right?" I asked for the second time.

He nodded as I started to wipe away tear and sweat from his face. Percy, the bold, funny, and loyal friend of Annabeth and Grover, looked like a child under my care. I whispered comforts to him in the softest voice I can manage until I finished cleaning him up.

"All right, let's head back to the cafeteria," I said, patting his back and smiling with sincerity. He stared at me and pulled something out from his jean's pockets. His fingers shook as he grasped the edge of a...video tape? It was a small tape, designed to fit onto an equally small camcorder, curiously labelled "10-30" in shakey handwriting. The date that Percy, Annabeth and Grover went into that house on a dare.

"Keep this safe for me," Percy said and shoved the item into my hand with disgust marring his face. Hesitant, I nodded and pocketed the tape in my khaki shorts.

We walked back to the cafeteria just before the bell rang. Reyna apologised and everything went back to as normal as it could be. There was still a hint of tension as the last bell rang.

The last time I saw Percy was when he waved good bye. Next day, he was missing. Panic. Frustration. Desperation. I thought I could hear his mother wailing as she was taken away from the dean's office by the security guards that occasionally patrolled the halls and gates.

For the rest of my sophomore year, rumours spread and crushed. I paid no attention to them. I admitted to myself that I was just too scared to do anything about it. I stashed Percy's tape away in the attic, praying to whoever watched over the world that Percy would come back.

He never did.

Then there was my junior year. Nothing happened. I erased Percy from my mind in order to focus more on my schoolwork and tests. Percy didn't come back either. Senior year, I had forgotten who Percy was, and my lingering memory of him was of a missing young man. It wasn't until the summer before my arrival to Stanford that I came upon the tape that Percy handed me years ago.

I cleaned out my attic at that time, savaging what I could and piling things to throw away. I was about to throw away a small tape when a yellowed label caught my attention.

10-30

The numbers struck me as familiar and I stooped to make a third pile for viewing. A few moments after this, and much to my delight, I found a pile of old-fashioned movies from my childhood. Guess today was going to be movie night. My father and mother went out for an outing. A party, they said, but I knew that they just needed some time alone after taking care of me for 18 years.

The oddly silent house without my parents' banterings soon had voices of actors and actresses filling its emptiness. I chuckled at the corniness of some scenes, laughed at hilarious parts, cried at the death of a character, and made popcorns as I went through each one of the old films. I didn't realise until now how silly I was when I grew up.

Eighteen. It wasn't that big of a number, but it was another step on the road of life.

I didn't expect my road to be so short. If I had known what would happen when I found the tape, I would have been praying and making amends.

I managed to snatch a still usable camcorder to match that mysterious tape and connected it to my TV. I clicked play and laid back on the couch with a glass of coke in my hand and a big bowl of half-eaten popcorn next to me.

God, I feel fat.

For the first five seconds, there was nothing but a hollow static on the screen. No sound, just the blinking and ever moving pixels on my TV. I frowned, was it broken...? I just about to get up when a face popped up on the screen.

Percy Jackson. The name popped up into the front of my mind and all of my memories with him rushed back toward me in a blur.

I jumped, startled, but settled down.

"Hey! This is Percy here," Percy said with a big grin. The background was almost pitch black with a few stars spilled onto the sky. He waved with one hand while the other hand was clutching the camcorder. The video shook along with the wave. "So me and Annabeth-"

"Annabeth and I," a female voice said. I remembered the voice as Annabeth, Percy's girlfriend.

"Right, thanks wise girl. Anyway Annabeth, Grover and I are just right outside of that haunted house on Feasting Drive," Percy continued. "We're going in right now to find out what's inside. People say it's haunted, but many came out alive. So us three are going to find out what's really spooking everyone to continue these rumours."

Percy waved the camcorder around, capturing Annabeth's smirk and Grover's nervous look. From the back of the video, Percy told the two to say hi to the camera. They both waved.

"Come on seaweed brain, we're gonna finish this before midnight or our parent'll be worried." Annabeth beckoned the two males over. She approached the house, which was hard to see in the night, but there was a definite outline surrounding the house that refused to merge it with the sky.

I have a feeling that I wasn't suppose to watch this. I wasn't suppose to know about this house, but I continued.

The feeling prodded my mind.