Starting With Nico
"Hello?" Maia shouted into the dark alleyway, she would have sworn she had heard something there. She pushed her wavy black hair out of her face and peered with her dark brown eyes into the darkness. Taking a deep breath, she stepped into the street and searched for the source of the noise she had heard, was someone hurt?
"Hello?" she called again. She'd reached about the middle when her toe hit something soft, her eyes finally adjusted to the darkness and she could make out the shape of a boy lying on the ground, his dark hair nearly covering his dark brown eyes. He was half-conscious and his face was pale. As she searched his body for the cause of his weakness, Maia found that there were 3 large gashes running down his arm. He was bleeding profusely and Maia looked away, she didn't like the sight of blood.
The boy opened his eyes wide and whispered, "Who are you?"
Maia came to her sense and immediately opened her backpack and took out her first aid kit, "Maia" she whispered back. She took out a roll of bandage material and after washing his wounds with water from her bottle; she began wrapping the material around his arm. He was silent the whole time, his face grimaced with pain. After a while the bleeding stopped and she helped him sit up. "Thank you." The boy said.
"Your welcome. What's your name?" Maia asked.
"Nico"
"And what are you doing in a dark alleyway in the middle of the night, bleeding nearly to death?"
"I can't answer that."
She looked over at a pile of golden dust in the middle of the alleyway, "Does it have anything to do with that dust?"
"You can see that?"
"Yeah, shouldn't I able to?"
"No, mortals shouldn't be able to see it."
"I'm guessing I'm not a mortal then?" she joked.
He frowned, "I'm not joking."
She became serious, "I've seen a lot of things, I don't think I shouldn't be able to see."
"Like what."
"You probably think I'm crazy, but monsters" she whispered.
His eyes widened, "I'm guessing you're a clear sighted mortal then."
"And what are you?"
"I can't tell you that either."
She didn't look offended, just understanding and nodded. She sat, leaning on the wall next to Nico and looked into the darkness. Her head drooped and she fell asleep, her head fell on Nico's shoulder. He tensed, but as a wave of warmth rushed through him, he relaxed. Suddenly Maia stiffened and started thrashing and screaming, "NO Mother! STOP IT! Don't! Stop! Help me! I Didn't! I Didn't DO it!"
Tears were streaming down her face and Nico was scared, now what was he going to do? He caught her arms with his hands, to stop her from thrashing, and she slowed to whimpering, "Please, please. I swear, I didn't do it. Please believe me!" Nico was telling her to wake up and letting go of her arms, he shook her by her shoulders. Her eyes fluttered open, she stopped talking, but tears were still streaming down her face, "I'm sorry. I scared you." She whispered. Not sure he was doing the right thing, but he reached out and wiped some of the tears from her face. "It's all right. But are you OK?"
"Yeah, I'll be fine. But I should be going." She stood up. "I still have ground to cover."
"Where are you going?" he stood up as well.
"Running away, to New York. My cousin lives there, and I think he'll accept me, I'll work and maybe he'll let me stay at his place."
"Work? How old are you, 14?"
"15, I'm guessing you're around the same age."
"Yeah, I'm 16."
She nodded, "Bye, I hope you heal fast. Don't get hurt again. Maybe we'll see each other again" She turned and began to walk away. Nico didn't want her to leave, he wanted to see her again, if she had to. "Wait!"
She turned, surprised and asked, "Yes?"
"Who's cousin are you?"
She eyed him suspiciously, "Percy Jackson, from his mother's side."
Nico looked astounded, "Percy?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I can take you to New York." He held out his hand to her, "And it'll be really fast"
"I'm sorry. But to me you're a stranger, I can't go with you."
He looked hurt, "You can trust me."
"Why? How?"
"Because I'm your cousin's cousin, from his dad's side."
She smiled, happy to be able to trust him, she walked over to him and took his hand. Instantly, a wave of tingling warmth rushed through her, she blushed. They walked nearly to the wall and without warning they plunged into an even darker darkness, her grip tightened as she heard sounds and cold winds blew through them. He squeezed her hand back, and she calmed down a little. It was only seconds, but it felt like hours. Presently they were standing in front an apartment, Maia shivered from the cold, but smiled, this was her cousin's house. Sally was more like a mother to her than her real mother, she was so kind and understanding. She adjusted her backpack, and looked over at Nico, "Should we go in now or wait till morning?"
"I think we'll wait for the morning." He pulled her by the hand into the garden shed, where there were spare mattresses. They set up and lay down. Just when Nico was about to fall asleep, Maia said, "Nico?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you."
"Thank you."
She smiled and fell asleep. One day she'd learn to trust people. Starting with Nico.
Thank you for reading! I hope you liked it!
~Mahi