Annabeth (A Wish Will Risk Everything) by Abstract_lover

I watch as a few rain droplets splatter on the glass window. My hands curl around the hot mug of coffee and slowly bring it to my lips. The hot liquid burns my tongue, and I quickly put the mug back down on the table. I bite my tongue in the hope that the burnt taste will go away.

Today is Halloween, and I was invited to a party at my ex-neighbours house. I don't want to go. Why? You ask because it will remind me of him and many other unpleasant memories. My mother wants me to accompany her because she still lives in the old house next to that mansion.

I grew up in a small town near the coast. My house was a small cottage next to a huge mansion owned by the Greenwoods. My mother is still friends with the owner Olivia Greenwood. She was a friendly woman whose husband had died in an accident leaving her with a huge estate to manage and an infant to take care of.

Her son, Dillon was two years older than me. Mom says that we used to play together until he pushed me down the swings and I never wanted to see his face. I don't remember him pushing me down, but I do remember his jet black hair and deep brown eyes. He was a handsome boy, and many girls from school had a crush on him.

However he never cared much, either he used to be in the music room playing the piano or in class doing work. He seemed to befriend me but other than the few talks we shared on the way back home, we did not communicate much. That was until he died.

I hear footsteps which bring me back to earth. A waitress appears and gives me the bill along with a fortune cookie. I pay for the coffee and leave with the fortune cookie. As I march through the streets, I break open the cookie and read the fortune which says that a wish of mine will be granted.

I scoff at that and throw the paper away. Wishes don't come true, not in my life.

* * *

I spent the rest of the day travelling back to my hometown. My stomach tingles with excitement but with fear too. Something in my gut tells me that I was going to be surprised. To block out the tingles, I listen to some groovy music. It lifts my mood a little bit, but the tingles do not go away. I close my eyes and lean on the window.

"Hey!" I hear someone say.

I open my eyes and notice a man sitting next to me on the bus. He has deep brown eyes with black hair. A sick feeling creeps up my neck as he stares at me, waiting for me to reply.

"Hi," I say and look away.

The man has the same deep brown eyes like Dillon, the same eyes that I saw go blank when he was run over by a car. I had seen some type of glint in his eyes when blood trickled down his forehead. I scream his name over and over again, trying to bring him back into conscious but with a sardonic grin plastered on his face, Dillon closed his eyes and died.

Sometimes I see that same face in my dreams. No matter how much I try to forget about his death, his face appears back in my dreams to haunt me. Everyone says that I was traumatised by it and I still am.

What if Dillon had not died that day when we were walking back from school. If he was alive, perhaps maybe I would have a chance to tell him about my feelings towards him. Sometimes I wish that Dillon would come back, like now.

* * *

Everything is the same I notice as I walk down the road to my house. The same big olive trees around with green grass everywhere. I pass by the mansion that Dillon lived in once upon a time. Roots have sprung through the gravel way to the door and the once silver metal gates that shined brightly look dull and lifeless.

Same goes for the mansion, the light chestnut colour that was supposed to make it look bright instead makes it looks creepy. Then I see the same plain brick face house with plants on the porch. Outside I see my mother and the last person I would want to see Olivia Greenwood.

My mother's once brown hair has faded to a soft grey like her eyes and Olivia has her black hair pinned up with the silly puffy black dress. Finally, they notice me.

"Annabeth! You came," my mother exclaims.

"Yes I did", I reply and hug her.

"I'm happy you could make it," Olivia says, "your mom and I have to stop by somewhere, why don't you get comfortable".

She hands me a bundle of keys, and awkwardly I push the key in and open the door. As I step into the house, I am reminded of Dillon. The furniture in the mansion was a dark brown, and the grand piano that silently sits in the hall reminds me of how he played the piano break times. I leave my handbag on the table and look around.

There weren't many decorations which left me baffled. If they were going to hold a party then why were they no preparations being made but I don't bother about it. I drop my handbag on the table and walk to the kitchen to have a glass of water.

I fill the glass full and gulp it down. As I put the glass down on the table, cold wind blows from the window and go to close the window. As I open the latch and about to pull the shutter down, a hard and rough hand clasps mines and pulls it hard. I am yanked forward but I try to pull myself back with my free hand that's holding onto the corner of the table.

I try to pull free but I'm not able to. I risk letting my free hand go and slam the shutter on the hand. The hand doesn't budge as I hit the shutter on it. After blood starts oozing out from the hand, it lets my hand go. Hastily, I close the shutter and shakily walk out from the kitchen.

My stomach feels twisted and shaky. My heart was in my throat, and I gasped for air. Scared was an understatement, I could hear my heart beating fast, and my limps wobbled as I made my way to the couch and clutched my blood stained hands. I felt like puking, but I pushed the food down and opened my handbag.

I took out my phone and earphones to listen to instrumental music that will calm me down. I fumble through the bag for it but as I take it out, my phone falls down on the floor. I pick it up and try to snatch my earphones but I don't find anything. My earphones were on the table just now, where could it vanish in one minute?

I look around for it but don't find it anywhere. I bend down to look on the floor by the table but suddenly a cold metal cord is pressed down on the warm skin on my neck. Air is blocked from entering my lungs and I start wheezing. My hands try to pry the cord away from my neck but the attacker pushes it harder, leaving me gasping for air.

"L-l-let-t. M-me. G-go-o." I wheeze.

I start seeing stars and that's when I know I am about to die. I was too young to die but what was left of my life anyway. All my colleagues thought I was just a plain and boring woman who loved her work. I was not that boring, most of the times I kept to myself and what was wrong with that? Well now it doesn't matter, I'm going to die anyway.

That's when the cord is pulled away from the neck and I am left on the floor gasping for air. Blood oozes out from my neck and I crawl to find a first aid kit box. Slipping in and out of conscious, I find a kit in a drawer and taking my time, I bandage my neck.

Despite my pitiful condition, I can hear a piano music playing. It was the same tune that I used to hear Dillon playing, and that makes me scared for life. The music seems haunting, and I scream for the person to stop playing. After a while, the music stops playing, and I hear footsteps approach me. I see him; I see Dillon in front of me. A sardonic smile is etched on his face, and a mischievous glint gleams in his eyes.

"You miss me?" he says, crouching down.

***