A Movie and a Few Monsters -Private-

"Sounds like a plan," Taylor agreed. Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted two huge boys a distance away. She didn't really pay them any attention, until Zach pulled her away. She ran along with him, bewildered. "What? Why?" she asked quickly, trying not to stumble. "Is it another rival gang?" she continued to ask as the two of them got out of the park.

Taylor was slightly shocked to hear that the boys were gods. She never actually thought they would meet a god in their human form. Taylor fell into an abrupt stop when Zach collided with someone... and her eyes widened a second later when she realized that the boy was one of the gods Zach was talking about. She backed away a step, still gripping Zach's hand tightly, and shut her eyes immediately at his warning. Closing her eyes would at least overcome the temptation of looking into Phobos' eyes. Taylor was trying to step back when she felt Zach's hand go slack in her own and heard a muted thump. Opening her eyes a little, Taylor saw Zach's form on the ground.

"What the--Zach?"

Squinting through half-closed eyelids, Taylor crouched beside Zach. She started to shake him vigorously to wake him up. "Hey! Tarzan! Wake up! Come on!" she said with every shake. Taylor turned her head slowly to look at Phobos' feet. "What have you done to him?" she asked defiantly, her voice slightly higher than usual.

It was a nightmare.

Taylor found herself surrounded by darkness. Black was everywhere. Taylor felt like she was blind. Then suddenly, some white light came from afar, like light at the end of a tunnel. Taylor started to walk towards it, but then the light started to blink. She stopped, confused, until she saw the limp and pale body of her dad lying spread-eagle in front of her. The blood drained out of her face as she dropped to the ground beside him. His glassy eyes stared at nothing in particular. Taylor touched his face. It was deathly cold.

Taylor started to shiver uncontrollably. She tried to scream, but no sound came out. As soon as she opened her mouth, the body seemed to morph into Zach. His face was pale like her dad's. His chest was stained with blood, looking exactly like in the movies earlier. The only difference was that this time, Zach wasn't breathing.

Taylor's breathing turned into uneven gasps as she knelt on the ground, her glazed eyes fixed on the body beside her. Her trembling continued to worsen. She couldn't move. She was paralyzed in fear.

Then in one blink, the image was gone, only to be replaced by Zach tackling Phobos to the ground. Taylor was still kneeling, her hands planted firmly on the ground in front of her. Her head was bent low, eyes staring fixedly below. That image... It unnerved her greatly. It seemed to be planted in her mind. The dead body... morphing continuously between her dad and Zach... It was too gruesome, but she couldn't get it out of her head. Taylor was practically frozen in fear.

The feeling of Zach's arms around her snapped Taylor out of it. Well, at least a little. The image hung over her like a cloud, fading but still there. She took a few deep breaths, trying to banish the image out of her mind, but to no avail. Taylor didn't feel like a sixteen-year-old girl at that time, seeing her dad and Zach like that. She felt like a preschooler who was scared of lightning, but trapped in a thunderstorm. It was a feeling she very rarely experienced. Taylor couldn't even remember when was the last time she had that feeling, if ever at all.

Taylor buried her face in Zach's chest. She clung on to him, still slightly shaking out of fear. He was there. He was alive. But gods, she couldn't get that vision of him dead out of her mind. She tightened her grip on his shirt, felt the not-so-steady rise and fall of his chest. "Z-Zach," she stammered, her voice barely audible.

Taylor could already tell that she was going to have nightmares when she slept tonight.

Taylor regained her composure after a few more moments. She can start speaking like normal now, but no doubt she was still greatly affected by the vision. Taylor pulled away, looking up at Zach and saw that he was trying to calm himself down as well. Taylor frowned.

"You okay?" she asked anxiously. There wasn't a doubt in her mind that Phobos used his godly power on him too. She started to rub a tense spot on his shoulder to try to relax him. That was what she used to do on her dad if he was tense. Her dad... lying lifeless on the ground... Taylor closed her eyes suddenly but reopened them after about two seconds. She was tired, and it showed on her blue eyes.

Taylor hugged Zach back, squeezing him tightly. He's alive. He's alive. No, he is not going to die, her mind chanted to calm her down. It worked a little. She smiled at him when she pulled away. "Let's go. Your friend... Eli, right?" she said, trying to bring up another topic. She wanted to forget this so badly. "What's he like? Or is he a she?" Taylor added. She was too messed up to tell if Eli was a boy or a girl name. Oh gods, her brain was so out of order at the moment.

Laughing along with Zach, Taylor stepped inside the apartment, looking around. She was surprised to see it so clean. Well, from Zach's description of Eli, Taylor assumed that the apartment would be somewhat messy. She glanced around, noticing that the place was empty.

"And Eli's okay with us just barging in like this?" she asked, following Zach towards the couch. She kinda jumped on it, bouncing a little. She jumped again, making it bounce more. Taylor liked bouncing. It reminded her of her childhood when she kept on jumping on the bed.

Taylor smiled lightly at the compliment. "Thanks," she said as she twisted around to face Zach. She played with Zach's short hair for a few moments. Zach better not get a haircut. Well, Taylor was fine with it if he wanted to, but she thought that his current style fits him better.

"So, this Eli... he's a demigod too?" she asked curiously, looking into Zach's eyes. Before Zach could reply, a click was heard in the room and the door opened, revealing a boy Taylor didn't recognize. Probably one of Zach's friends, she thought as she returned to a normal sitting position on the couch.

Alright, no one was going to punch Zach like that without any reason. Taylor jumped to her feet and snatched the nearest thing she could reach--a TV remote. She brought the remote down on the stranger's head with as much force as she could muster. Whack!

"Just who the hell do you think you are?" Taylor demanded, holding the remote defensively in front of her. Gods, it seemed like every guy they ran into wanted to beat Zach into a pulp. It was getting in her nerves, and especially with the image Phobos had showed her, Taylor wasn't going to let any of the boys get away with hitting Zach.

"What? What night? What is he talking about?" Taylor started to ramble, confused by the sudden turn of events. She widened her eyes when Mike thrust a blade forward. The TV remote in her hand paled in comparison to the knife Mike used. Taylor quickly looked around.

Time to be resourceful, Taylor, she told herself as she threw the remote as hard as she could towards Mike's face. Without seeing if it hit, Taylor took the vase on the center table. It was slightly heavy, filled with water. Water. Taylor ran towards Mike and slammed the vase on his head, covering him in water and some flowers.

Thank the gods for ADHD. With her battle instincts, Taylor drew her stomach in when she saw Mike thrust his blade in her direction. Before the blade could even touch her though, Zach struck Mike on the arm. Taylor winced as she heard a sickening crunch in the room.

"I'm alright, he didn't get to hit me. Than--" Taylor cut off when she saw Zach's eyes. "What happened to your eyes? Why are they brown? Aren't they some kind of blue-green before?" she started to ask, confused by the sudden change. Then Taylor saw, out of the corner of her eye, Mike struggling to stand up and aim something shiny and gleaming into Zach's back...

"Look out!"

Taylor shoved Zach out of the way, taking the knife on her left upper arm. She let out an exclamation of pain. Oh gods, getting stabbed really hurt. Her eyes squeezed shut as she felt blood gushing out of her arm.

Taylor stumbled to the nearest sofa when Zach started to walk to the kitchen, with one hand gripping her left upper arm. She barely knew anything about first aid, but at least she knew that she was supposed to stop the bleeding before she lost a lot of blood. Her eyes followed Zach as he went to the kitchen.

Zach just took a beating for her. Taylor guessed that he needed the first aid more than she did. Well, at least that shady Mike guy didn't kill Zach. Or else... Taylor did not want to think about it. She looked down, only to see that the sofa was now stained with her blood. She cringed as she stood up. Taylor hoped Eli didn't mind the mess. She made a mental note to clean it later when she and Zach were patched up. Taylor took a few moments to realize that her legs were walking on their own, bringing her to the entrance of the kitchen. She looked at Zach and bit her lip. Gods, he must be in pain. A lot of pain.

"You need that first aid more than I do. Let me patch you up," she said softly, noticing some discolorations on his skin where Mike beat him up. She walked up to him. Then she paused and sighed. "Okay, honestly, I have no idea how to do this. Wish I paid more attention back in camp," she chuckled lightly, her voice much softer than usual. "Tell me what I need to do?"

Taylor winced every now and then, her other hand continuously gripping and releasing the arm of the couch at the pain. To distract herself, she turned to just watch Zach work. He was really handsome, being all serious like that. Taylor also noticed that his eyes had turned back to blue-green. The brown eyes were probably a Demeter-kid-mode or something, much like her eyes when she went into freeze-all-the-liquids-in-sight mode. Taylor accepted the piece of ambrosia and popped some in her mouth, and then just before she could ask Zach to eat some, he already passed out on the couch. Smiling lightly, Taylor look at his peaceful face for a while. She fixed his bangs before landing a soft kiss on his forehead. "Thank you," she whispered to him, but she doubted he heard her.

Taylor got up the couch, careful not to wake Zach up. She knew that she ought to be cleaning the stain off the couch, but of course that would be impossible with him sleeping there. Taylor then had an idea and went to the kitchen. She scanned the shelves, grabbing random food items and setting them on the kitchen counter. She grinned as she looked at the items she gathered together. Well, time to put her cooking abilities to the test. A half-hour later, the apartment was filled with the aroma of chicken and other spices Taylor not-so-randomly added. Another half-hour passed, and Taylor finally poured the hot soup into a bowl. She took a small taste. Well, it tasted nice. Her dad's cooking was still better though.

Humming quietly to herself, Taylor placed the steaming bowl of chicken soup on the dining table. After covering it up, Taylor then sat on one of the chairs. The last thing she remembered was hoping that the soup wasn't cold when Zach woke up, before burying her head in her arms and dozing off.