Hey! This is my first story! Please review and don't be too harsh! I really wanna be a writer and Percy Jackson books are my favorite books, so why not start here? Thanks guys!

DISCLAIMER!: I don't own the Percy Jackson series (unfortunately). All credit for scenes and characters that aren't mine go to the rightful owners.

Chapter 1

I opened my eyes and embraced the sound of beeping. I was alive, at least for now.

"She's okay!" Nurses and doctors sighed in relief.

I was okay. At least I hoped. Or at least I thought I hoped. I tried to wonder if things would be better if I just joined who ever controlled all this faster than he intended. That the next time I was in this situation… Maybe my reflexes could work just a little bit slower. No. My mother would never let that happen. If she truly hates me, she'll make sure I keep living this hell.

"It's okay, kiddo," I heard a doctor say; "You just got hit by a car. Some ruthless, reckless driver. You'll be okay."

Yeah. Until I get 'hit by a car' again. That wasn't what happened. Not even the slightest bit. Every witness had different versions, as if they're all lying to keep the prosecutor safe or something. Some say I got hit by a car, some say I had a heart attack or some kind of heat stroke. The closest would have to be the lady who said some scumbag hit me in the face with a bat. But I knew what happened. A one-eyed giant had hit me with a club. He would have got me in the face, but I went all armadillo to protect my vital organs. Heh. You all think I'm crazy don't ya? Well it's the truth.

After several more hours of being in the hospital, they called my care taker to take me back to my home. Whenever they tell me that, they expect me to be all jolly, and, like, jump for joy or something. Pfft, yeah right. Mrs. Melonie walked in a claimed me.

"Oh, Sweetie! You're okay!" Her and her flab wobbled over to me, she gave me a big smooch on the cheek, "C'mon! Let's go home!"

Mrs. Melonie was extremely obese. At this point, I couldn't be polite by saying she's a little chubby or kind of big, because I'd be lying. She wore a large pink muumuu and slippers. Most people would assume she rushed over here without changing, but she just always dresses like that; they don't have XXXXXXXXXXL skinny jean or blouses. Even if they did, it'd look pretty gross. She had a quadruple chin and a neck so big you'd mistake it for 5 layers of skin colored turtle necks. She had a large, unnatural gin on her face; as if she wanted to kill me but there were too many witnesses. The truth was that she hated me. But she could fool anybody. No matter how hard I try to convince a person. She can look so worried or so caring that any random person would think I was in good hands. Heck, I thought that the first time I saw her act. But that's all it ever was; an act.

She dragged me through the snow and into her car. The moment we entered, things changed.

"You annoying little runt! How dare you go to the hospital again? What did I tell you?" She shrieked as her stubby leg stretched to the gas pedal.

"Yeah, 'cause I totally planned to get attacked," My sarcasm seemed to just anger her more.

"Don't give me sass!" She glared at me through the mirror, "Do I have to have someone walk you everywhere to make sure you don't jump in front of cars!"

"I didn't—,"

"You're just a bucket full of lies, aren't you?"

We pulled into the drive way of a simple big white house. But it wasn't my house. And it never will be. Mrs. Melonie isn't my mom, but she definitely cares as much. Or should they both hate me the same? Yeah, that makes more sense.

"Go to your room you insufferable little wretch!" She shrieked as she plopped onto the couch and flattened all of Ty's action figures and almost him.

"Ack! No!" He shrieked.

Mrs. Melonie looked around as if a ghost had just spoken and then realized it was just Ty, "Scram!" She shouted, and scram Ty did.

"C'mon," I told him, "let's go upstairs."

I walked Ty upstairs and we entered our tiny room. Ty looked up at me with his big eyes. He was such a cute kid. About eight years. He had curly black hair, and big green eyes. At the moment he had a large smile that spread across his face. I liked to see him smile, but that was rare considering our family situation. Ty wasn't my legit brother; he was my adopted brother. Mrs. Melonie only got us for the money she gets every month to 'take care of us'. But instead she spends in on liquor, junk food, and clothes. But in all honestly, if she isn't going to use our money for us, the least she could do is spend it on liposuction or something. Seriously, the lady takes up the entire couch and eats her body weight in Doritos every hour. Right now, I'm eleven. That has got to be old enough to run away. But I couldn't leave without Ty, and it'd be too dangerous to bring him. I mean, If I get spanked by giants in the middle of the street, imagine what could happen in a forest to Ty.

Tyler Fernandez. That's his name. When you live in our kind of situation, you respect what you have; even if it is just a name. And by that, I mean we're glad our last names aren't 'Melonie,". My name is Ariana Stone. People are weird when it comes to my name. They pronounce it 'Arine' or 'Arna' and stuff like that. AR-E-AN-A is how you pronounce it. But some people have issues with that. They ask to call me 'Aria' since it's about the same, but I always say no. There's only one person who gets to call me that.

"Aria," He asked quietly, as if someone was listening, "Can we leave?"

"To where?" I laughed, "The kitchen? No way, I don't wanna lose in the junk food again."

Ty didn't smile. "First of all, that isn't something you joke about. That was the worse experience of my life!" I started to laugh, "Second, no. I mean…to an actual place…Somewhere where we don't have to play second fiddle to barbeque chips."

"Heh. I wish there were a place like that, kiddo," I told him, "When we find one, we can run away to it. I Promise." He smiled at me.

I left Ty to go to the bathroom. I took a look in the big mirror. My hair was extra wavy today. I had blonde hair and a few dark brown streaks. And, no, I didn't dye it. It has always been that way. It reached to just below my shoulder. I had startling blue eyes. That was usually the first thing people notice about me. I had soft, light pink lips, a freckle right under my left eye, and purple star earrings; the only birthday present I've ever gotten. The adoption agency told me I had them on when they found me in front of the building. I'd always assumed it was from my parents. I finished up in the bathroom and headed back to our room.

"G'night Ty," I walked to his bed and gave him a kiss on the forehead.

"Wait," Ty said, "Just to be clear, the second we get a better option—,"

"We leave." I assured him.

"'Kay," I could see him grinning in the dark, "Night, Aria,"

Usually, Ty woke me up in the morning. But that wasn't the case today. I woke up by myself, and thank God it was a weekend, because I woke up at ten-ish. I stumbled out of bed and to Ty's bed.

"Ty," I called, "Get up,"

I tore his sheet off to find that he wasn't there. I started to get worried. What if he left to find a 'better offer' so we can leave? I shook the sleep off me and hurried down stair.

"Ty?" I called again, looking around, "Ty! Where are you, bud?"

I walked into the hall and checked all the rooms. Where was he?

"Mrs. Melonie!" I cried, running down the stairs to the living room. Mrs. Melonie was on the couch in the same position and the same clothes. "Where's Ty? Where is he?"

"Who?" She asked, to my surprise. She didn't look drunk or hung over or anything.

"TY! The little boy you adopted three years ago!"

"Oh…Him." She said uninterested, "He said he was going to…Um…—,"

"Mrs. Melonie!"

"I forget!" She yelled back at me, "I can't remember EVERYTHING about your miserable lives, you selfish little brat!"

I started shaking with anger. It was enough to not care about me what-so-ever, but Ty was a whole different story. He was so young and innocent. He deserved better… I was going to make sure he did.

"You…You insufferable, indolent, obese, pathetic excuse of a mother…"

"What?" She looked at me, rage dancing its way into her eyes, "How dare—,"

"Ignorant, crude, pitiful, giant witch!"

"You little brat!" She screeched, "I took you in! Gave you a home!"

"You gave me hell!" I yelled back, "it's bad enough you treat me like that, but I won't let you ruin Tyler's life!"

"You—,"

"Forget it!" I yelled at her so loud her face seemed to sink into her neck flab in shock, "I hate you! I hate this! I hate all of it!" I got so mad I balled my hands into fists. "I hate you and your junk food! Your beer and stupid TV operas!" Mrs. Melonie's eyes opened in shock, a purple light shining in them. "I'm not going to take this anymore! Me and Ty—we're gone! I'm gonna go find him—because I care—and we're going to find somewhere where we don't place second to inanimate objects!"

"I'm sorry!" She shrieked, "Just—just don't kill me!"

At first I didn't know what she was talking about. She looked as if I had a gun I my hand or something. But then I saw it. How'd I miss it? Everything—the TV, the carpet, the coffee table—had turned to stone. I glanced at my hands and screamed loudly. They were glowing purple and had purple mist looming off them. What was happening to my hands?

I looked at Mrs. Melonie one more time—she looked like she was going to wet herself—and without thinking ran out the door. I didn't know where I was going. I just ran; up the street, down the dirt trail and into the forest. I sat down by a big tree and hugged my knees; placing my head on top of them. How'd I do that! Better question, why'd I run? Now I'm going to definitely look guilty. I should have stayed and said it was an accident and…And what? Become a test subject for a bunch of creepy scientists because I did the impossible? What was I going to do now? Mrs. Melonie must be on the hone right now, reporting me, calling me an insufferable witch girl. Any minute now they're going to see the house and hunt me down. I needed to get out of here. I needed to get far away from here No—I needed Ty first. I promised we'd run away together. But how could I find him before the police found me? I had to—somehow. Suddenly, my stupidity dawned on me. I ran away in Pajamas and slippers. What idiot does that? Now I was going to freeze to death tonight…Forget tonight, I was going to freeze by this afternoon. I stood up and fought hard against my tears. This wasn't the time to cry. I turned around and bumped into something hot.

"Ouch!" I jumped back, but I clearly burnt my arms.

"Sorry, Dearie," Something replied in a screechy voice, "I didn't mean to burn you. The kill is so much better when the meat's raw."