7:00 AM

Piper ran through the snow ignoring the cold. She ran faster than she knew she could, not stopping once to catch her breath. She needed to get out of here. She needed to get someone to help. She needed to do something before they died.

Nearing the front of the school Piper began to sprint. She noticed headlights of a car and despite herself let out a laugh of relief. "Help!" She screamed as she drew closer. "Someone help! Please!"

She ran toward the front door where people stood in coats and Principal Brunner sat in his wheelchair had just walked in the school.

"Piper?" A woman asked.

"Jane!" Piper shouted running and pulling the surprised woman into a hug. "Oh my god! I have never been happy to see you before!"

Jane pulled back from their embrace kind of uncomfortable. Then she noticed Piper's strange appearance. "What- what are you covered in?"

The smile melted off of Piper's face and she began speaking hurriedly. "Blood. They're dead. You've gotta call the cops! They're being held hostage in the Spanish room! There's someone else who moved Leo's and Percy's bodies too! I don't know who it is but its Thalia, Will maybe? or maybe Luke or even Hazel- no she wouldn't shoot her brother. She didn't know about it either."

"What are you talking about?" Jane asked her.

"Bodies?" A brown haired woman echoed. "Percy's body?"

"You have to call the cops!" Piper screamed. "They're working with the Titans and people are dead!"

~~~~

"No. No. No!" Luke shouted kicking a desk to the side. He took a breath and looked back to the students sitting on the floor. "They aren't here yet..." He murmured. He walked closer to the group and grabbed Nico by the back of the shirt ignoring the yelling he received before countering it with a threatening wave of his gun.

Nico coughed up blood as Luke pulled the smaller boy away from the group by his shirt. "Hope you- you know I've always- h-hated you..." Nico told Luke with a glare.

"I can live with that," Luke said dragging him over to the fire escape. He put his back to the group for a moment to heave Nico out the window. Thalia quickly looked to Will who nodded. Without a second thought the two grabbed Luke from behind. Nico fell onto the fire escape and down the steps banging his head and knocking himself out. Meanwhile Will fought for control of the gun. The gun fired once and Hazel screamed as the bullet embedded itself in the wall beside her head.

~~~~

"Why the fuck are we standing here?" Piper shouted at the adults. "Did you not hear me? People are dead?"

"We need to wait for the police," Jane told her patiently.

"What happened to Percy? I'm his mother Sally," the brown haired woman asked Piper.

Piper shook her head and turned her gaze to the floor. "I'm sorry."

The woman sunk to the floor. "But who...?"

"Who else is... hurt? I'm Annabeth's father Frederick..."

Piper continued staring at the floor as she quietly answered the question. "Percy, Leo, Jason, Annabeth... Rachel, and Nico was shot as I ran- I think Frank was too..." Piper said nothing as parents gasped introducing themselves and demanding to know more about their children.

"Who killed them?" A man- Zeus- asked.

"How did this even happen?" Another woman- Mrs. Dare- sobbed from where she lay on her husband's shoulder.

"It- it started as a prank..." Piper said slowly. "Just to freak people out, no one was supposed to actually die-"

"So this is all a prank then?" Will's father- Apollo- asked sounding semi relieved.

"It was at first... and then... Percy he- he actually turned up dead... We tried to get out but um... We didn't have our phones. They were locked in the safe... And the doors were all locked... Windows wouldn't break... I just got lucky and smashed the right window..."

"Wait where was your phone?" Jane asked her.

"In a safe."

Principal Brunner awkwardly coughed bringing attention to himself. "I had locked their phones in a safe to promote them to talk to one another."

"But who killed them?" Hermes- Luke's father questioned.

Piper shook her head. "All I know is that Annabeth was part of it-"

"What she wouldn't!" Her father interrupted.

"I'm sorry," Piper said tears starting down her face. "She killed herself... And left a note... She said she did it cause the lives of her family members were danger... And then there is someone else. I didn't get to see who pulled the trigger. But the only ones left who could've done it are Thalia, Will or Luke..."

Parents started to question and yell at the crying teen again when police siren blared. A few moments later half of a dozen police cars sped up the school. An officer jogged up. "Can someone tell me what happened?"

Piper opened her mouth to once again recount the horror show of the night when a shot rang out and scream sounded throughout the school.

~~~~

Will grabbed Luke's hand again and the gun fell from his hands but not before it went off again and Hazel screamed again, this time holding her eye as blood poured down her face and into her screaming mouth.

Will grabbed the gun and held it at Luke in shaky hands as Thalia pinned her boyfriend to the floor and glared at him. "You never answered my question. Why?" She screamed over the sound of Hazel's sobbing. "Why would you just decide to kill everyone?"

"When the Titans tell you to do something you to it," Luke responded quietly. "Even cross of a list of names."

"Why? What could the Titans possibly want with some random teens?"

"Not the teens. Their families. Off the kids to shake the family and then Lord Kronos gains control. On the list there was a choice, Nico Di Angelo, Hazel Levesque, or both. Hades Di Angelo controls the jewelry business as well as one of the biggest banks. Rachel Elizabeth Dare, Dare Enterprises is buying up the city could become a threat in coming years. Percy-"

"Percy doesn't have money," Thalia interrupted.

"His father does. Yes he just lives with an abusive prick his mom and younger brother but his father Poseidon Olympian is the owner of Neptune shipping. Controls the majority of imports and exports in and outta the state. Next on the list was Jason Grace or Thalia Grace or both. Since Zeus Grace runs the biggest electric company in the city and is quickly spreading across the country."

"And Annabeth?" Thalia asked quietly.

"I needed help. Couldn't do it all myself... She wasn't supposed to get hurt."

"What do you get out of all this?" Frank demanded from where he held Hazel tightly.

"I work directly below Kronos," Luke answered his eyes never leaving Thalia. "They call me his host."

Thalia opened her mouth when a faint buzzing of a phone could be heard. Thalia felt around Luke's jacket before pulling out his small phone. After glancing at the others she slowly answered it and put it to her ear.

"Put it on speaker."

Thalia slowly did as she was asked.

"Castellan," the voice greeted.

"Nakumura," Luke responded recognizing the voice.

"Hello all!" The voice- Nakumura said sounding eerily carefree. "Ethan Namumura here! I highly doubt you all remember me. I got kicked out in the first days of my sophomore year. Anyway, to cut to the chase. Cops are here they'll be up there soon enough. I've already taken my leave from the school but I would like everyone there to know that you should never mention my name."

"And if we do?" Will challenged.

"Well..."

A moment passed before the gun was forced out of Will's hands and fell to the ground. Slowly Will bent down to inspect it finding a bullet lodged in the side.

"I'm a sniper," Ethan told them all from over the phone. "So yeah. That's what will happen."

"What do you want Nakumura?" Luke asked tiredly while the sound of footsteps echoed in the hallways below.

"Well it seems mister host that you've forgotten a cardinal rule of the Titan's organization. And as you're second in command it is to remind you of it and it's penalties. Do you know what it is you forgot?"

"What?"

"Secrecy. And do you remember the punishment for it?"

Luke's eyes opened wide and he shoved Thalia off, she fell to the side surprised and the phone fell onto the floor. Luke tried to run for the door but he wasn't fast enough.

In less than a second a bullet pierced the back of his head and he fell down motionless.

The rest in the room sat watching and screaming silently. Way too scared and too stunned to make a sound.

"Well my work is done as long as you guys can follow that rule that is."

"How long have you been working with Titans?" Hazel demanded coming out of her stupor.

"Years."

"Then why? Bianca was you're best friend wasn't she?" Hazel screamed at the phone while still holding her eye.

"She was. She was killed because I failed at a job. Something I won't do again," he replied his voice turning bitter. He could be heard taking a deep breath before he spoke again. "Oh and Thalia?"

Thalia didn't respond but slowly picked up the phone.

"He did it for you. It was either do as he was told or he'd watch you be tortured. It's almost sad really,
loved you. So much so that he killed your brother. Ironic isn't it? Ah, it seems you have all truly learned what it means to love and to lose. Glad I could help educate you. So do tell me-"

Thalia didn't wait to hear the rest of what he say. She slammed the floor on the ground repeatedly breaking it to pieces. And each time she brought it down she let out another scream of frustration and anger.

Will meanwhile hurried to the fire escape and on to it. He ran down and grabbed Nico relieved to find the other boy was still breathing. He wanted to pull Nico in a hug but was worried that moving the unconscious boy would cause him more damage.

~~~~

Outside the room Piper led the cops through the traps that had been built before stopping at the Spanish room door. She went to open it before a cop pulled her back and opened the door guns out.

They stopped at sight of crying and wounded students around them. They rushed to help and EMTs soon came in.

Soon enough the students were loaded into ambulances and coroner trucks while worried parents had no choice but to watch.

~~~~

With the tick of a clock twelve hours started
And with many screams and shouts
Twelve hours and seven souls departed.

It was supposed to be harmless
There was supposed to laughter
There wasn't supposed to be such a bloody mess
For someone to clean up after

But that all changed thanks to a lie
It was all just a prank.
No one was actually supposed to die.
But nothing goes as planned at Olympus High.

~~~~

Next up is the epilogue!

-Jaz