Chapter One
Percy POV
I was tearing through the woods in Central Park, my seven-year-old feet trying to put as much distance between that horrible place, that prison, as possible.
I could remember her screaming crystal clear, the rope burning her skin as my mother Sally Jackson, undoubtedly one of the kindest and most beautiful women in the world, was killed before my eyes.
Flashback
I was walking down the hallway on our floor when I heard screaming coming from what seemed like our little apartment. I slowly broke out into a run, and skidding to a stop in front of our door.
I tried the handle, but it was locked, so I fumbled with my key a bit to try to get in there. Another round of screams came, this time slightly muffled, and I was sure that they were coming from our apartment.
I finally turned the lock and left the key in the door, rushing towards the terrified, pleading screams that were undoubtedly coming from my mother inside her bedroom. I dashed through the open door, and saw something that I would never forget for the rest of my life.
Sally Jackson, my mother was tied down to her bed, being raped by Gabe Ugliano, my stepfather. My mother was gagged, and had tear tracks streaming down her now bruised and cut face.
She caught sight of me and told me with her eyes, 'Run'.
I tried to get to her, to try to help her, but I wouldn't move an inch. Smelly Gabe, as I called him, caught sight of me and cackled with pleasure. He had a smile of satisfaction as he menacingly brought out his signature smoking lighter. My eyes widened as I saw the ropes that held my mother down were doused in some kind of liquid.
I ran up to Gabe and tried to push his sweaty body away from my mother, but he just chuckled and shoved me back towards the door. He gazed at me with eyes that danced with the spark of a madman as he held the lighter out to the ropes. They immediately caught fire and raced up and down my mother's once amazing body, and soon she stopped screaming with agony as she shuddered, and stilled.
I looked up from my lap that was painted with tears, and saw Gabe start towards me.
"Sally was fun while she lasted," Gabe said, his speech completely normal and not slurred as usual. "But now I think that I will have a little fun with you."
I looked up and saw red. I screamed with pure rage, and felt a huge pull in my gut as the entire pipe system exploded simultaneously. The water washed over Gabe, and formed into a shaky bubble around him.
My eyes widened as he clawed at the water, slowly was losing air, trying to swim out of the bubble, only to have it follow his every move. I felt the pull in my gut disappear, and the water fell onto the ground, leaving a naked, wet, and shaking Gabe gasping for air.
I took one step back , then another, and then I was sprinting as fast as I could out of the apartment, then the building, then found myself racing through trees in Central Park.
End of Flashback
I blindly rushed through the forest, my eyes blurred from the tears that had not stopped flowing since my mother had been engulfed by flames. I slowed down until I collapsed onto a park bench, feeling like I was going to throw up. I swiveled my head from side to side, to see if Gabe had somehow followed me in his hideous bright purple '78 Camaro, a name that he had beat into me if I didn't say the right name.
But what I did see was a sight that made my blood run cold. Fifteen feet away, there was what looked like a huge dog with teeth like razors, and beady black eyes staring straight at me. It crouched down on all fours, preparing to attack me.
I immediately turn the other way and ran, hoping that I could outrun this - this thing even in my tired state.
I was running down the path when I saw two people, a man and a woman, conversing about… archery? The man had blonde hair and was around 6'2 and was well toned, almost like a swimmer or archer. The woman had auburn hair and was short, probably 5'8. But what startled me the most was her constantly swirling silver eyes and his practically glowing blue eyes.
I was running at top speed, yelling to them, "RUN!" I tried pulling the man, who looked at me with a confused look on his face, while the woman pulled a bow out of thin air and shot the dog, who had just rounded the path's turn, and I watched as the beast erupt into golden dust.
After the exhilaration of the chase, I collapsed, and the man caught me, laying me down into the soft grass. The man and the woman looked at each other, as if they were having a mental conversation, and they said one word to each other as my world faded into black: "Half-Blood."
