Chapter 1: Left to My Own Devices
I roll over in my bed and scratch my nose. I'm half awake, but when the rotten stench hits my nose I sit upright.
"What the hell?" I ask myself as I pull on my slippers. I open my bedroom door when the scent plagues my nostrils. I have to hold back vomit and cover my mouth and nose with my hand.
"Mom?" I called. No response. What smells so bad? I think to myself as I tiptoe down the hallway. When I turn into the kitchen, the scent is at its worst. When I look down to the floor, it takes all of me not to scream and faint. There, on the floor in a pool of blood, was my mother. She had what looked like claw marks down the front of her body and across her neck. It was very clear she was dead. Tears began to pool in my eyes.
Who did this to you? "Oh my god…" I said. Just as I started walking towards her, a noise sounded from the living room across the apartment.
Carefully, without making any sound, I grab the largest butcher knife we have, along with the lid of our largest metal pot to use as a makeshift shield. As stealthily as I can, I walk into the living room. For the second time this morning, I almost faint. Sitting on the ledge of our couch was the ugliest, largest, wrinkled bird I'd ever seen. It was grey and almost as tall as me. It looked as if its wingspan would cover the entirety of the couch. I didn't dare move in case it decided to pounce on me.
"Where is it?" it squawked. My eyes grew big and I had to shake my head. Am I going insane? It just talked to me…
"Wh-what?" I managed to squeak out.
"The axe! Give it to me, you awful girl or I swear," it said. I must be dreaming. I thought to myself.
"An axe? This is the 21st century I don't know-" I cut myself off. I'm talking to a bird. I guess the bird didn't like my justification, because it started to jump off the couch and come towards me. Huh, I thought, it's taller than me. Trust me when I say it didn't take me long to turn around and run to the kitchen. Unfortunately, the bird thing followed me there.
"Your mother wasn't much help. Don't make the same mistake. Just give me the damned axe!" it screeched. The wrinkled creature extended a talon towards me, attempting to inflict some kind of harm. As if my muscles knew exactly what to do, the butcher knife came down onto its claw and took it off. The bird screamed with pain. "You've done it now, girl. Prepare for your death. And I assure you, it won't be as quick as your mother's."
The bird's wings extended into their full span, almost the length of the room. I had no idea how it could possible fly in our tiny apartment, but here we are. It started advancing. I held the pot lid up to my chest and held the knife in front. The bird reached its other claw up to my face and swiped, splitting open my cheek. I saw stars, but my muscles only fired up more. I was stunned for a second before red hot rage coursed through my veins. I screamed and charged at the bird. Adrenaline rushing, I pushed the shield up into its ugly face and stabbed it in the chest multiple times until it fell to the ground. It still struggled underneath my grip so I straddled it and kept stabbing the creature with my knife until the floor was slick with blood, and the monster stopped moving.
It wasn't until now that I realized I was crying. I got off the bird-thing and dropped my 'shield'. I backed up into the wall across from it, watching it. I wasn't sure it was dead. I looked over to my right and almost screamed again. I had forgotten my mother was lying there on the ground. I dropped the knife, my fingers dripping with blood, my clothes splattered in it. Whether it was my own or the bird's, I didn't know. My cheek burned. I put a hand to it and realized blood was streaming from the wound. It stung the more my tears streamed into it. I crawled over to my mom and placed my hand on her cheek.
"I'm so sorry" I cried. "I don't know what happened. Why is this happening? I don't even-" I heard a rustling on the other side of the kitchen. Fear coursed through me. I got up and looked over the island, and saw the bird start to move again.
"How… how are you not dead?" I whisper to myself. Against my will, my feet carried me over to the creature, and stomped on its head three times until I heard a sickening squish.
/\/\/\/\/\
The next thing I knew, I was walking down the streets of Boston, trying to hide my face and clothes. I'd left the bird and my mother on the floor of our apartment. I ran to the park and hid under the bridge, where a ratty sleeping bag and litter was laying. My adrenaline was completely gone now and I started to bawl my eyes out like a new born baby. I held my knees up to my chest, rocking back and forth repeatedly whispering to myself, "It's not real, it's not real."
The sleeping bag began to move. Terrified, I looked around of any kind of weapon, and found a large stick that was pointed at the top. It looked almost like a spear. I pointed the spear at the bag, when crazy blonde hair started to come out. Relieved, I realized it was a boy around my age. I let out a huge sigh and dropped the spear. I probably looked like a lunatic, covered in blood and holding a spear in his face. The boy quickly climbed out of the bag and backed up, looking me up and down trying to determine if I was a threat.
"Who are you?" he asked cautiously. I tried to say something, but all that came out were sobs. I must be going into shock or something because all I could manage was "It felt so real, but it can't be real. Oh god, what's happening? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god…" It wasn't after a few seconds I realized the boy was right in front of my face, holding onto my shoulders. I quickly backed away. "Don't. Touch. Me." I said.
The blonde backed away with his hands up to show he meant no harm. "I just want to help. Your cheek looks pretty bad. I know a guy who can help you. Would it be okay if you came with me?" he asked. My pulse quickened. I didn't want to go anywhere, especially with a stranger. I guess he saw it in my eyes, because he let out a breath and held out his hand. "My name is Magnus. What's yours?" I eyed his outstretched hand and held out my own. "Sydney," I said. We shook hands, but I yanked mine back quickly.
"Okay. Do you want to tell me what happened? Or did you just want to get your cheek checked?" I was silent for a minute, but decided to just go get my cheek checked. It was at this point in the day that I realized that A) I was still in pajamas, B) I was wearing slippers, and C) I had no bra on.
Perfect.
We left the safety of the bridge and went to the other side of the park, where a strange man with a candy striped scarf was waiting. He made a bunch of hand motions I didn't understand, but clearly Magnus did. He nudged me up to the strange man and introduced him. "Sydney, this is Hearth. Hearth, Sydney." Magnus glanced at me. "He's deaf, so he communicates with sign language." I nodded quietly while Magnus directed his attention back to Hearth. "She had some trouble earlier, and she needs her cheek fixed up. Think you can do it?" he asked. Hearth made a bunch of hand motions, and had me sit down. He had a bag filled with different basic medical supplies. How and why and homeless guy had all that stuff beats me, but I'm thankful he does. After about 20 minutes, my cheek is all bandaged up.
"Um… thank you," I said to Hearth. He made more gestures and handed me a damp tissue. "Uh…" I looked over to Magnus.
"It's to wipe your face… You, uh, have some dried tears and blood. Um… are you sure you don't want to tell me what happened? Like why your clothes are also covered in blood? And your hands? You're not a serial killer, right?" he asked jokingly. I shook my head no. I wiped my face down with the tissue and was shocked at how caked my face was with gunk. I walked over and sat underneath a tree behind the bench Hearth had me sit on. Magnus followed me. I held my head in my hands, sighed, and told him the events of the morning. When I was finished, I saw another man had come into the shadows, standing next to Hearth.
"That's Blitz," Magnus said. Then he looked at me. "I'm sorry that happened to you," he said. "So you just left her?" I nodded in shame.
"I had no idea what else to do, so I just… ran." I said. Blitz looked down at me confused.
"You said some kind of huge, wrinkly bird?" he asked. I nodded my head when two huge shadows landed on the bench behind Hearth and Blitz. My eyes grew wide when I realized what they were. None of the civilians around the area seemed to notice the two large wrinkly bird things, except me, Magnus, Hearth, and Blitz. Magnus was pulling me up to my feet while Blitz was screaming at us to run, with Hearth frantically signing away.
"What?" I yelled. I couldn't imagine leaving these people I'd just met with the monsters that had murdered my mother. "Come on, let's go to your apartment and pick up some stuff!" Magnus yelled as we sprinted through the park, leaving Hearth and Blitz to deal with the birds. I could hear them squawking for an axe. What the hell is up with this axe? I wondered to myself as we sprinted to my apartment.
/\/\/\/\/\
We were standing outside my apartment door, but I couldn't convince myself to open the door. "I… I can't." I turn away, crossing my arms. Magnus pushed open the door and gasped. I could only imagine him seeing my mother's mutilated body on the ground.
"Hey, Sydney… Come in here." He called. Reluctantly, I walked into my apartment and gasped myself. There was nothing on the ground at all. If it weren't for the blood stains from my mother and the creature, I would have thought I imagined the whole thing.
"Just stay here, I'll be back in a minute." I turned down the hall into my room and picked up an old backpack. I changed into some jeans and a black t-shirt, with socks and combat boots. I had a feeling I'd be running for a while. I filled the pack with essential toiletries and a change of clothes and met Magnus back in the kitchen. He had a bag filled with food.
"Ready?" he asked.
"Ready for what?" I replied, confused.
"We're leaving…" he said it like it was the obvious answer, and I was stupid for not putting two and two together.
"We just met like an hour ago and you're prepared to just run off with me? I honestly don't know what the hell is happening, but I really don't want to drag you into this too…" I trailed. Magnus spoke through the silence.
"It looks like you'll be needing some help from a friend after everything that's happened today," he said. I smiled slightly for the first time today. We each carried a bag and left my apartment behind, never looking back. We ventured off into the busy streets of Boston and were left to our own devices.
A/N: Hey! I hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter! I have so many ideas on where this story is going! I love all the characters Rick Riordan creates, and can't wait to put my own spin on them! Please give me any feedback you'd like, and keep your eyes out for the next chapter!