Hello, this is bluebinder. This is just something I've been working on for the past few months and I thought someone might enjoy it. I'll post around once a week or so and if you have feedback or suggestions, just comment. Thanks!
I laid on my pile of blankets and stared up at garage ceiling, thinking about everything and nothing at once. Staring at the clock, I saw that only minutes had passed since I last looked at 1:05 am. Rolling over for what seemed like the millionth time, I sighed and slowly closed my eyes. I let my thoughts and imagination wander, hoping it would help me relax, but just as I felt myself drifting off, a loud crash brought me back to my senses. I sat up quickly and scanned the area while groping for my trusty flashlight and praying that the opossum hadn't returned from the week before.
I shined the beam of light around frantically, attempting to find the culprit of the intrusion and discovered something completely unexpected; a boy was standing in front of the door that led into the house. He looked irritated, around my age, and was of average height, but skinny. He wore black jeans, a skull shirt under a thick aviator's jacket, and an odd-looking skull ring.
Adrenaline coursed through my body and fear overtook rational thought in the face of danger. He could potentially be a thief or a murderer or any other terrifying criminal in between. Once I realized I couldn't flee because he was in front of the door, my fight response took over and anger replaced fear. 'How dare he' I thought to myself. 'He's in my space and privacy.' I grabbed the closest blunt object I could find, which happened to be an old lamp they had intended to throw out, and held it up, ready to defend myself; ready to win at any cost.
"What are you doing in here," I hissed angrily, trying not to be loud enough to wake my foster family. I knew I probably wouldn't win in a fight since he was larger and more menacing, but I was willing to put up the fight of my life and the lamp helped raise my confidence, if only a little.
"What are you doing in here," he yell-whispered back, exasperated. "This is the garage and it's like one in the morning!"
My anger was slipping away as reality set in and I realized this boy could hurt me in ways I probably couldn't even imagine. "What do you want" I asked, accidentally letting some fear slip into my voice. I cleared my throat. "And how'd you get in here? I'm not going to let you steal anything if that's what you're after." I tried to sound confident, but he knew and I knew that I was faking it. I came closer with my lamp, now using it like a fencing sword, trying to back him up. Looking irritated, he held up his hands, indicating a truce, but I knew better. He quickly glanced out of the garage window and his face suddenly turned serious.
"Look, I'm not here to steal anything but we need to go, and soon." I must have been making an "are-you-crazy" kind of face because he added "and yes, I'm for real. My name's Nico and I'm going to take you somewhere safe. It's called Camp Half-Blood."
"Safe," I interjected, giving an exasperated laugh. "From what? A thief breaks into my garage and tells me I'll be safe if I go with him? Yeah right. If you don't leave right now, I'll go inside and tell my…," I pause, "parents you're here."
"Your name's Laura, right? Laura Carson?" Nico began sounding desperate and rushing his words, like he was in a hurry. "You're thirteen, and you live with your foster parents. You've run away from four other homes and been kicked out of three schools."
I was shocked and frightened at the same time. This complete stranger knew things about me that I had only told a handful of people before. My voice began to break with fear and anger
"How do you know all of that? Have you been following me or something? Or did you get to one of my old friends?" Tears started streaming down my face and I gripped the lamp harder. Terror filled my core and I was starting to become hopeless that anyone was coming to my rescue. "What do you want?" I whispered.
"Have any weird or odd things ever happened that you couldn't explain?" he continued, ignoring my many questions. "Like maybe monsters or teachers that have tried to attack you? And that's when you get kicked out of school, right?" I nodded, but I still didn't know how he knew any of these things. I was also extremely surprised that someone seemed to believe my accusations for once. "Do you remember the Greek and Roman gods you learned about in school?" I nodded, not knowing why I was entertaining his conversation. "I know it sounds crazy but they're real and you're just like me and everyone else at this camp. We're called demigods, you have powers, one of your parents is a god, and I think I know who it is. But we need to leave. Now that you know about it, monsters can target you ten times better now. Plus, something was already coming." He looked around, seeming anxious and like he was ready to leave.
I was about to say something like "you're insane" or "holy shit, get out of my house" when I noticed a car alarm going off down the street. We stood completely still for a moment or two, both noticing it and looking at each other, anticipating something; anything. Nothing happened at first but then I heard a noise outside.
The garage door was violently torn from the house with the earsplitting sound of metal on metal. I covered my ears and closed my eyes and when I looked back, in its place stood a giant, and I mean a literal giant. He was at least eight feet tall with terrifyingly sharp teeth and wore basketball shorts. I had no idea what this thing was but I did know one thing; that I was scared out of my mind.
As I stood frozen in fear, Nico unsheathed an all-black sword that I had failed to notice before now. All I had to protect me against this giant was a puny little goth kid and a lamp. I was doomed.
"What is that thing" I asked Nico as I scooted closer to him. If I had to go with someone, it'd be him.
"It's a Laistrygonain, a man-eating giant." His voice was cold but the winter air now coming into the garage was colder. I shivered and tried to cover my jacket-less limbs.
The monster laughed and the noise reverberated within my bones, shaking my core. "You think you can defeat me with that little sword? We Laistrygonains can't be destroyed so easily. And I am not here for you, boy, but if you stand in my way, prepare yourself for death."
Reaching into the yard, the monster uprooted an ancient oak tree like it was a little daisy and was about to throw it on the garage, crushing us, but Nico grabbed my arm at the last second, pulling me outside. The tree came down with a deafening crash and the entire garage was demolished instantly. The ringing in my ears made me dizzy, but I didn't have time to recover before the Laistrygonain grabbed a street light from its post, sending sparks flying. He swung it like a baseball bat and instincts I didn't know I had took over. Nico and I dropped to the ground, narrowly missing the swing. While we were getting up, the monster, who was a lot faster than I had anticipated for him being that big, snatched me up by the midriff and squeezed and shook me. Stars danced in my vision and I tried to keep from blacking out from fear and pain. I dropped my lamp and the giant laughed. His breath smelled like rotting fish and gummy bears, which made me nauseous. He brought me closer to his face and stared right at me.
"I've been looking for you for days, Laura Carson," he growled, "and now I may bring you to my master to be rewarded."
A strange feeling began in my core and raced its way up to my fingertips, leaving behind an icy cold trail. A moment later, a chicken bone flew into my hand and to say that I was thoroughly confused would be an understatement, but I had no time to think. I took the bone and jammed it into one of the giant's eyes. He dropped me and howled in pain. I fell seven feet to the ground and attempted to break my fall with my hands. When my right hand met the ground, I heard a sickening snap that reminded me of breaking a twig, but unfortunately, it was my wrist breaking. I howled in pain and rolled over on my side, but I noticed how quickly the monster was recovering so I rose to my feet and scrambled over to Nico. I was shaky and out of breath and my wrist seared with pain, but other than that, I was okay.
The boy held out his hand, palm down to the ground and for a few seconds, nothing happened and I began to wonder why he was wasting time. After a moment, the yard began to rumble like an earthquake and a giant rip opened in my foster parent's front yard. Skeletons clamored out of the hole and advanced on the Laistrygonain with swords and spears from all different time periods. He put up a good fight, kicking and throwing things at them, but he was soon outnumbered. He fell and the undead hauled him towards the crevice. The sounds of his threats, pleas, and terror filled my ears as he was dragged into the trench. The rip closed, leaving behind no evidence; like nothing had even happened. I didn't notice until then that tears were streaming down my face.
We stood in silence, waiting for something to break the tension and police sirens in the distance did the trick. I saw neighbors beginning to look out of their windows to investigate the commotion and I started to get worried, so I looked at Nico, expecting him to have an answer or explanation or plan, but he just looked exhausted. Sweat lined his forehead even though it was a late December night in New York and he looked like he was going to be sick and pass out any second.
"We should go. Two demigods of the big three will only attract more monsters." He was panting with every breath.
"Where are we going to go?" I asked, exasperated and irritated. "We can't drive and the police will be looking for us since the yard is a complete wreck and the garage is destroyed." My panic was setting in. Everyone was going to blame this on me since I was the problem foster child. I couldn't let that happen. I began to look around for an escape route but Nico placed his hand on my shoulder, leaning heavily on me. I winced as I moved my broken wrist to help him. I used my other hand instead.
"We're not running. We're going to shadow travel, but I can't take us far. I need to rest."
"'Shadow travel?' What's that? And where are we going? I can't just leave my family." I started to ramble, thinking of everything bad that could happen including ending up in juvie, getting killed, and being left with my foster family and a broken house.
"You'll have to trust me, but we have to leave. You're one of us now."