Disclaimer: I don't own anything, etc, etc.
By the way this is my first fanfic, so please be nice! It is set about a year after Percy Jackson and the Last Olympian, and uses quite a lot of the characters from Camp Half-Blood. I hope you enjoy it. Please read and review! :P
Chapter One
The air was cold and the night was dark
A young man laughed from within the park
While battle raged in the sleeping city
And the heroes risked—
"Aagghh!" screamed somebody, startling Alex so much her pen scribbled across the page. She quickly screwed the paper up, and stuffing it in her pocket, rushed towards the screams.
"There's this huge dog attacking Mrs Smithton!" someone shouted. Gasping, she joined the group of kids at the bus stop.
A huge ferocious lion - almost nine feet tall - towered in front of the crowd of confused school children, baring its repulsive teeth at them. As it spat and growled, Alex recoiled and watched its heavy tail thump the ground, narrowly missing a couple of teenagers. Older kids ran to get help, while the rest stared in bewildered terror.
Mrs Smithton, a sturdy little lady with greying hair, was coaxing the beast round the corner, away from the children.
"It's alright!" she called to the crowd. "I know him, he's my neighbour's. Everyone get to school!"
Alex's second day hadn't even started yet, but already something bad had happened. At her last school she had been attacked by a half-bull half-man creature, and it had completely wrecked the school gym before she managed to get away. The teachers, of course, hadn't believed her story, and she had been expelled. She had been hoping for a more enjoyable stay at St Mark's.
Her first day had been quite good; she had made a friend and managed to stay out of trouble. Helen, a nice girl from Alex's history class, had shown her around school, and given her advice about teachers. Her honey-coloured hair and warm, kind eyes had made her seem like a good person to trust. Her 8-year-old sister Lucy was also very friendly. They had walked home together the day before.
The crowd had started to disperse when Alex noticed her friends quietly going the opposite way to everyone else. They rushed in the direction of their home with Alex close behind.
The previous day, Helen had explained how Lucy and herself had moved from where they used to live in Shropshire with their father, down to London. It was just the three of them at home, but Helen's mother visited often. Apparently she had an extremely important job in New York, which prevented her from living with them, but did her best to come home whenever she could. Helen had ignored Alex when she asked what job.
When she caught up with them, Helen and Lucy were heading down a garden path, amongst lilies, roses and sunflowers. The cottage in front of them was beautiful, and when they opened the door the smell of cooking wafted through the doorway.
"Helen!" Alex panted, scrambling after them. "Please can I come in?"
"Oh hi!" she replied, surprised. "Um, yes, of course you can!" So Alex followed them into their doll-like cottage. An old-fashioned wooden fireplace stood in the middle of the living room wall, the fire blazing happily. On the mantel piece a photo of Helen and Lucy stood next to a beautiful Greek painting of a young girl.
"Mum!" shouted Lucy in delight as she bounded towards the kitchen. Alex peered through the door and saw a girl around 15 years old embracing Lucy. She glanced back at the Greek painting, certain it was the same girl.
"Helen?" asked Alex, just a little confused.
"Alex, this is our mum. Mum, this is Alex." Helen introduced them, smiling. Alex frowned.
"Alex, do you know who your parents are?" their mum asked gently.
"Well… no, I live with my foster parents," she replied nervously. She was slightly worried about where the conversation was going. Who was this girl? She was sure she'd seen her somewhere before.
"What did you see at the bus stop?" Lucy asked, interested.
"Um, a lion," she answered. Although someone said it was a dog, it had obviously been a lion.
Suddenly the door opened, making Alex jump as Helen's dad Tom came in.
"Ooh hello!" he said cheerfully. "What's happening in here?" He was looking at Alex, evidently wondering who she was.
"We should get back to school, we're already late," said Helen.
"Wait, I know where I've seen you before!" Alex exclaimed. "You were in my dream!" She closed her eyes as the dream came back to her. The fighting, the monsters, the heroes, and then that girl, Helen's mum, watching it all.
"I think we should ring the school to tell them you're ill, before we talk about this," Helen's mum told her. She left the room, and Tom went after her, hands full of shopping bags. Helen, Lucy and Alex said nothing.
What do you think? Please review!!! :)