Minotaur Beef Anyone?
New York. High building with view of Manhattan. Floor to sky windows. I could see everything if I wanted to. Had enough of these fragments? Me too. Achilles Jackson by name. Better known as A.C. Juvenile delinquent, dyslexic, and ADHD by reputation. The sounds of car horns reached my ears. Ah Manhattan, gotta love it.
I wasn't to bad looking. Nice tan, no gaps in my white teeth, emerald green eyes, messy raven black hair that reached to the top of my eyes, it was hard to comb, and I was pretty muscular too. All in all, I wasn't to bad looking for a 14 year old.
Summer. Awesome. A storm was brewing, the wind had already started. If the stories dad and Mrs. Annabeth Jackson told me are true, somebody powerful was furious– or of course, they were just stories. The wind pushed on my window so hard I was afraid the window might break. Fear. Not a day had gone by that I felt fear since dad and Annabeth left.
Where they went has yet to be explained by my mother. My mom, Rachel Elizabeth Dare, actually seemed happy that dad was missing. If I asked why, she would say, "It gives us a time to hang out more." After that I would try my hardest not to scream, "You're glad he's gone you hated him and now he's gone. I don't love you like I love dad!" I would simply nod, go to my room, and play Grand Theft Auto. Being the son of a billionaire actress has its advantages.
I would also wonder about that watch that was sent in three days after my dad went missing. My mom wouldn't let me touch it much less look at it. I sighed. That was then this was now. Lightning ripped across the sky bringing me back to the present. It felt like a warning.
I stood up. Even up this high I could see it. It had a body like The Hulk, Juggernaut, and Hercules had given their muscles to this thing. That wasn't the worst part. Its head belonged to a bull and it was wearing a loin cloth. Yuck.
Wait.
Man's body and bull's head. Voices seemed to say. Had I seen this in a movie? Read it in a book? Where? Think something a little closer to home. Mr. Brunner. The voices swirled around me. What was Mr. Brunner talking before break? Greek mythology. But what was that thing outside? I was too scared to think.
I slid to my bathroom and studied myself. I should just leave my hair down, but then I might not be able to see. So I slapped on some gel and fixed my hair like Roxas from Kingdom Hearts.
I threw on some dark denim jeans, they were tighter than I liked them –mom must've tried to do the laundry again– a white shirt, and a black sleeveless pull-over jacket and my favorite pair of shoes, my black Nikes. I looked out the window again. It was gone. Creepy.
I crept through the halls to hear someone crying. I tiptoed closer to the door. My mom was sobbing and I mean heartbroken, gut wrenching sobbing. (Notice the italicized words.) I had never felt so bad for her. I almost died. Metaphorically of course.
"I don't know what to do Meg." Hmm, mom was talking to her friend, I'm sure you've heard of her. But that's not important. "The things I see . . ." She trailed off.
I could barely hear what Megan was saying.
"Hey it's okay. I'm a daughter of Aphrodite. I know all about that."
What?!
"Yeah, I know." My mom said.
What are they talking about?
"Listen, you must've seen something today. You never call me at night unless something happens to scare you. Yesterday, you saw a man walking a hellhound. How does that work anyway? Anyway, what happened?"
My mom took a shaky breath. "I told you Megan Fox" Uh oh, mom's agitated. She never uses her best friend's whole name. "I swear, the future flashed by my eyes."
"So, are you trying to tell me, you saw the future again?"
"Yeah." My mom said.
WHAT ARE THEY TALKING ABOUT?!
"What did the guy look like? How far was it?"
"It was about two years. And, the guy looked like. . . . like . . . A.C. with really long hair."
I was starting to get freaked out.
"Never mind that," Megan said. "What happened today?"
"The Minotaur was following us." My mom answered.
The Minotaur! That's what it's called. Wait, what?
"That's not good." Megan said needlessly.
"I'm worried," My mom started. "When Percy and I were teenagers . . ."
Megan cut her off.
"How are you holding up by the way? Divorcing is never easy. Or so I've heard."
My mom blushed.
"I'm okay I guess. But that's not the point. When Percy and I were teenagers, he told me about the second time he fought and killed a monster. It was the Minotaur."
For once, Megan was quiet.
"What do you think that means?" She asked.
My mom sighed. "I don't know."
"Well look, get some sleep and we'll talk in the morning." Megan said.
My mom nodded. Then she remembered she was talking on the phone.
"Okay."
"Tell A.C. I said hi." Megan said. She hung up. My mom sighed and turned off the light. I reached up and grabbed the watch. As I left, I heard my mom cry herself to sleep. I slipped downstairs, grabbed my back pack and emptied it. I stuffed it with all my favorite foods, extra clothes and money.
Dude, my mom's so rich; she has money lying around the house. Not change either, 100 dollar bills and such. Nothing less. The butlers never leave. They love working here. Especially in the house.
I went to the garage and evaluated my options. There was my pocket rocket; it was a mini version of a crotch rocket. Real mini. Then, there was my motorcycle. There was no name for it. I had had it made especially for me. It was a crotch rocket but my size. I took that one. After checking the gas and making sure the tank was full, I wheeled it around the side of the house and slipped on the watch.
I waited about a mile before turning the motorcycle on. The engine roared to life and I zoomed down the road at 95 miles per hour. I had no idea what was going on but I somehow knew where to go. Soon, there were trees on the right and left. About 10 minutes away from my destination, the Minotaur attacked me. It came out of nowhere and ran straight at me. I screamed.
It swept its arm across the ground and I barely avoided it. I swerved to the right and hit a ramp made of dirt and leaves. It stood up and swung its fist at me. Two years ago, I had learned a couple tricks on a motorcycle, bike, and skateboard from Tony Hawk, so it was easy for me to barrel roll out of the way.
The motorcycle landed with a thump. The Minotaur turned around and rushed straight toward me. I fully opened the throttle and raced down the dirt road. I looked up and found the monster directly parallel to me. I suddenly leaned on the right handle bar and cut through the woods.
I didn't even look back to see if it was caught up with me and I didn't have to. I could hear the trees being smashed apart as the Minotaur raced after me. It took all my concentration to focus and look for branches and dips in the dirt so I didn't crash.
The crashing of trees was getting louder. Up ahead, a hill could be seen. It was getting bigger, but not fast enough.
Soon, I was at the foot of the hill. The air pushed on my face relentlessly as I flew into the air as a result of the Minotaur catching up with me and smacking the back of my motorcycle. I landed in a heap. The motorcycle hadn't come out of the air yet. The Minotaur towered over me and raised its fist.
"Press the button on your watch." A voice that sounded a lot like my father's said in my head. I complied. I raised my hand and pressed the button as the Minotaur's fist came down. I was expecting a light to come out and disorient the monster. That is not what happened at all.
A shield spiraled out and met the Minotaur's fist with a loud clang. I pressed the button again and the shield spiraled back into the watch. I rolled away from the beast and tore up the hill. It ran after me. As I neared the top of the hill, I saw a large pine tree. And what looked like a dragon curled around the base of it. Something golden glittered above it. I looked back. The motorcycle was still in the air. Believe me, the Minotaur was strong.
It ran at me and I turned my attention back to it. I almost forgot about the dragon. At the last second, I jumped to the side. I was certain now that I was about to die at the hand (and mouth) of two things that aren't supposed to exist. No, I was not about to die. I pressed the button on my watch. The shield spiraled out.
The Minotaur ran at me. I did the same, and then jumped. I cocked my arm back and hit it squarely in the face with my shield. It stumbled back into the huge mouth of the dragon. One crisis averted. It turned its attention to me. Then it went back to sleep. Golden dust blew in the air from its mouth. I sighed grateful. The motorcycle landed right next to me.
A loud explosion ripped through the air and my eardrums. I raised my shield, but not before I got impaled by a long part of the pipe. I had gotten sliced by something else too. There was a long cut on my side leaking blood.
Sound didn't register. I couldn't hear the crickets anymore. My vision blurred. I couldn't see the stars because the world was spinning in very psychedelic circles. I couldn't feel my legs anymore. Is this what it's like when I die? The world faded. I closed my eyes. I would miss so many things. Skateboarding, competitive eating, sno-cones, Ford Mustangs, video games, competitive eating, Harleys, Bart Simpson, movies and competitive eating. Have I said that yet? I passed out.
