The Crown of Kronos: Chapter 22

Charlie's POV
Way to bringing me an early death.

I tried to be calm for my dad's sake. But he was shaking so hard, and his mouth was partly open from the shock.

"Hey Dad." I prodded him. He didn't move.

"Dad, for ZEUS' SAKE, PLEASE!" I cried, and my tears fell out. Victoria jumped next to me and patted my back. Zarana whispered comforting words. Alex bit her lip but nodded encouragingly at me.

"Hey guys, listen." Zarana spoke out loud. I sobbed quietly while the others looked up.

"Maybe it's a, um, you know...." Her voice faltered as she tried to find the right word. "A dream sent by the enemy to frighten us-" But she didn't finish her sentence.

"You saw Thanatos." I whispered.

Zarana's eyes widened. "Yes...." She answered. "How-?"

"I had the same dream yesterday." I explained. "Z, when Thanatos appears to you in a dream, showing someone's death., it's no joke. It's the real thing. No preventing it."

I looked out in the window. It was sunset.

My dad's eyes widened in horror, and he fainted.

The car lurched. I punched the auto-pilot lever a few times, and the button beside it blinked, then glowed.

"Hey, the auto-pilot's working again!." Alex cried, a glint of rejoice in her voice. But I looked at her sadly and she turned sober again. I helped my dad lean against his seat.

Then Alex snapped, smiling.

"Maybe you-" She pointed at Zarana, who raised her eyebrows. "Had that dream because you-" She pointed at no one, but she continued, "You, Charlie. Uh... where was I?" She laughed half-heartedly.

"Uh, when I had my dream." Zarana said.

"Oh yeah. Right." Alex exhaled deeply. When she opened her eyes she was excited. "Charlie will die. No, that is not the real thing, Charlz! It's just a prediction. We can block it."

"No." I said ominously. "You can't" I tapped in my screen for a can of Coke, but what appeared was a Diet Coke instead of Coke with caffeine. I sighed and took it.

"Zarana's been sent a dream so you can block what's happening bad."

A flutter of hope ignited inside me. I smiled weakly.

"Well, Alex." I said. "You made sense."

"I know." She said smugly.