When she was younger, Lily used to beg her father to tell her about her mother. She wanted to know the story of how they met, why her mother left, what her mother looked like, what her mother's name was. And every time she asked, she was met with the same answer.
"You have your mother's eyes and caring personality, Lilliana."
Lily always thought that was a shit answer.
"Do you know how many women in the world have brown eyes, dad?" Lily would exclaim as she angry tucked back a strand of her wavy, brown hair. Her once caring, dark brown eyes would be filled with fire as she glared at her father.
Patrick Miller would sigh in response and turn back to whatever email he was reading. It wasn't uncommon for Lily to think that her father loved her work more than he loved her. It was foolish though, and she knew it. Somewhere deep within her often told her that her father cared about her more than he let on, he was just scared.
It wasn't until Lily turned eight did she realize why her father always kept her at an arm's length away.
The day had started off normal. Her father walked her to school—he refused for her to walk anywhere without an adult, something that greatly annoyed Lily—and dropped her off at the front door, waiting for her to enter the building before leaving. If there was one thing Lily hated more than not knowing anything about her mother, it was going to school.
Her teacher, Mrs. Finch, had called her dad in for a meeting to tell him that she was dyslexic. Not only did she have to take special classes now, but she also had to take tests in a separate room so that she could take as much time as she needed. Lily wasn't foolish, she knew that the teachers treated her so kindly because her father was an important figure on the school board.
The school day progressed on as normal and, by the time the day had ended, a teacher—one Lily did not recognize—told her that her father was stuck in a meeting and had sent her to tell Lily that she did not need to wait for him. Of course, Lily was ecstatic. To her, this meant that her father was trusting her with the responsibilities of an adult, it meant that he trusted her.
There was a pep in her step as she walked back towards the apartment where she lived. She most certainly would not get lost, she was a big girl. However, the bright smile that never seemed to leave her face, slowly slipped as she turned the corner and bumped into a tall man. Lily stumbled over herself, almost falling, but managed to catch herself. Pushing back her dark blue headband, she peered up at the person who stopped her and furrowed her brows.
Her eyes seemed to be having trouble focusing and it was almost like she was back at school, trying to read the worksheet. Rubbing her eyes, Lily blinked before squinting, her mouth opening as a soundless scream escaped.
The man blinked his one eye at her before his mouth twisted into a cruel grin, revealing pointed teeth that were stained yellow and brown. A rancid smell passed his lips and Lily turned and ran, her backpack swinging wildly with each step she took. She could hear the monster running behind her and her heart rate doubled. There was no way she was going to be able to outrun it.
But what confused her the most were the people around her.
They acted as if nothing was wrong… as if there was no monster behind her.
"Help!" Lily screamed, twisting through the mazes of legs that seemed to block her path, "Daddy, help!"
The people looked down at her curiously, but no one bothered to help her.
Her legs were burning and the pain seemed to radiate throughout her entire body. She knew she wasn't going to be able to keep running forever, in fact, she didn't think she would be able to keep him off for another few minutes. Lily took in a deep breath, her chest aching at the intake, and turned down an alleyway, pressing her back against a dumpster.
The monster's footsteps halted the moment she turned the corner and Lily held her breath, hope filling her as she thought she had finally managed to lose him.
"ημίθεος," The monster growled, and Lily stiffened against the dirty, green dumpster as a cool sweat appeared along her forehead and mixed with the sweat that was already there, "You can't hide from me."
Lily swallowed, her chest heaving up and down as she willed herself to stay as quiet as possible. She waited, crouched down, for the monster to leave and slowly began to count to one hundred. Once she hit the hundred, she would check to see if it was still there.
One
Two
Three
The sun was starting to set and Lily wondered if her dad was looking for her.
Thirty
Thirty-one
Thirty-two
She wondered if her mom would care if she died, that was if her mom even knew where she was.
Fifty-six
Fifty-seven
Fifty-eight
The stars sure did look pretty tonight. Maybe, if she died, she would become a constellation and that way she could always make sure her dad was safe.
Seventy-four
Seventy-five
Seventy-
A scream tore its way through Lily's throat, leaving it feeling raw and tasting metallic, as she grabbed by her hair and yanked up.
The monster seemed to have grown and Lily swung weightlessly in the air. Her scalp felt like it was on fire and her eyes burned from the tears. The monster held her in front of its eye and Lily winced when she saw the same twisted smile.
"I found you," The monster chuckled as it swung Lily closer to its face. He seemed to enjoy the fact that she no longer fought against him and his smile grew, "Goodbye, daughter of-"
A howling scream ripped its way out of the monster's mouth and he flung Lily to the side, her head smashing against the brick building before she dropped to the asphalt with a soft thud.
The first thing Lily noticed was that she couldn't see.
Everything was blurry and spotting, almost like mini-fireworks were shooting off in front of her.
The second thing was that there was a presence next to her.
A soft voice was murmuring quietly to her—or was it speaking loudly? Lily couldn't tell.
She felt like she was underwater as the words slurred and garbled together. She felt the person press something against her head and call out to someone. Who it was, Lily didn't know. Blinking slowly, her eyelids feeling unnaturally heavy, Lily nodded her head at whatever the person was saying.
If you were to ask about what happened next, Lily wouldn't be able to answer.
To this day, she has no recollection of the events that followed. The only thing that she remembers is waking up with a bandage wrapped around her head and icepack on her forehead.
Blinking, Lily slowly shuffled up and looked around, the adrenaline still coursing through her body and blocking out a majority of the pain. Bright embers blinded Lily for a moment, causing her to close her eyes, before she blinked and opened them again, making sure not to stare in front of her.
"You're awake." Lily jumped at the soft, male voice that carried an unnatural amount of tenderness. Turning her head to her left, she blinked as dark blue eyes met her dark brown ones, "We didn't think you were gonna make it."
We.
Lily leaned forward a little, her eyes searching for the second person, the one who helped. The boy seemed to notice what she was doing and he jerked his head to the left.
"Thalia's asleep," He said before holding out his hand, "I'm Luke."
Lily stared at the hand cautiously, not sure what would happen if she touched it as the events of today replayed through her mind.
"We're not going to hurt you if that's what you're wondering." Luke said, sensing the overflowing amount of emotions inside the girl, "We're just like you."
"Just… like me?" Lily repeated, her head tilting to the side, and Luke noticed the splash of freckles across her nose. His heart dropped at her words… she didn't know.
"A demigod," Luke explained and he dropped his hand so that it was resting in his lap, "It's when you have a mortal parent, but a mother or father who is of Olympus. That thing that was chasing you—the Cyclops—it's one of the monsters that kills people like us."
Lily gasped, her eyes wide with fear at Luke's words, "You mean, there are more of them?"
"Of course," Luke nodded, the embers illuminating his eyes and causing them to look darker… almost black, "There are thousands, I bet."
"How are we supposed to be safe?" Lily asked as her hand clenched into a fist, and it was then that Luke noticed the small Daffodil beneath her twist unnaturally.
"There's a camp for people like us. It'll keep us safe and protected from the monsters." Luke said, his eyes flickering from Lily to the flower beneath her hand. He watched in awe as she relaxed her hand and the flower uncoiled itself, looking as though nothing had happened.
Lily chewed nervously on her lip. Her father had always told her not to talk to strangers, but if these people could help her, maybe they weren't strangers after all. Her heart stopped at the thought, her father.
"I need to get home!" Lily exclaimed, jumping to her feet before her body swayed as her world went spinning. Dropping to the ground, Lily placed her head in her hands and focused on the flower in front of her before continuing, "My dad's gonna be worried."
"You can't go back," Luke said, blankly, and Lily looked at him in horror.
"Why… why not?"
"Because the monsters will follow you, and if they get you, they'll get your dad too."
Lily's heart dropped to her stomach and her vision blurred as tears flooded her eyes. She wanted to fight against him, but he was right. She couldn't let this happen to her dad. He wouldn't be able to stop the monsters, especially if there were more dangerous ones. Luke didn't bother to say anything as Lily's brain tried to comprehend everything that happened. It was an hour later before she finally spoke again.
"I'm Lilliana Miller."
"It's nice to meet you, Lilliana." Luke smiled at her, wanting her to feel as safe and as comfortable as possible. Lily, however, nodded stiffly as she stared into the dying embers.
"You can call me Lily."
