Exactly one year had passed from the day he'd left his mother behind, and the now ten-year-old didn't regret it.
This made him feel a bit guilty. After all, he loved his Mom, and she was the best. The truth was, though, was that he now knew for sure that she was absolutely insane. He still wasn't entirely positive what made her that way, but being away from her had been a breath of containment, dangerous air. It hadn't been easy by any means to keep himself alive, but being a kleptomaniac with a dog who was fast and smart worked in his favor. Both of them had seen their share of monsters, but they still managed alright.
We're alive and that's all that matters...Luke thought as he counted out the bills he'd pick-pocketed from the some woman fawning over a sale.
Annoying thumped his tail in approval, as if reading the preteen's mind. He smirked slightly and decided to hit the local cafe, looking at his dog and ordering quietly, "Just hang out here and I'll bring you a burger."
He obeyed instantly, leaving the boy to head inside. It had an old fashioned feel to him, warm like a fire-lite in the home and empty like a sleepy town. A waitress with her dark hair pulled in a loose bun greeted him from behind the counter, and he smiled thinly in return while sitting across from her. She poured him a cup of coffee, raising an eyebrow.
"Aren't you a bit young to be in here alone?" she inquired.
He shrugged weakly, "Maybe."
She just nodded quietly and picked up her notebook from her skirt pocket, "What'll it be, sweetie?"
Luke barely looked down at the menu, "Double cheeseburger with no pickles, then a regular cheeseburger without mustard. Lots of fries with both and a Diet Coke."
The waitress looked around him and, seeing nobody near, inquired, "Hungry, sweetheart?"
He nodded and stared the counter. He was tired of dealing with people- they annoyed him and made him kind of afraid. Every time he got kind of nice they either threw him to the dogs or turned into monsters; he truly trusted nobody. The waitress luckily let him be, leaving him to sink down onto the counter and flutter shut his eyes briefly.
"Kid," a tall, muscular biker growled, "no sleeping here. They'll kick you out."
Groaning briefly, he forced himself to sit up. The man was intimidating enough, but Luke was so exhausted that he didn't give a crap if he was Ares or a god himself. All he wanted was to be able to sleep with somebody trying to rape or kill or rob him, but of course he couldn't. It was pretty much the life he chose to live, and while he loved it, he absolutely hated it.
"You a demigod?" the man asked casually, plopping down cooly beside him.
The boy narrowed his eyes and grabbed his dagger in his pocket, "What's it you, demon?"
He laughed out loud, "Please. I'm not a monster, kid, I'm the war god."
His youthful blue eyes narrowed further, "How stupid do you think I am?" With that, he whipped out his danger and plunged it straight into...the back of the chair.
Ares bellowed with laughter, "Nice try, little demigod. Don't make me take you outside and put you in your place."
A shudder shook his being as he tried to growl, "I...I...I don't want you to help me. All you'll do is use and me and stuff like you do everyone else. Why are you here? Why are you talking to me?"
The war god chuckled briefly, then got a serious glow in his flames that replaced eyes, "I've got a demigod little sister, right? She's not much to fuss over, I guess, but Dad likes to play favorites. He wants you to save her ass before he has too."
Luke scowled, "And what's in it for me?"
"I'll buy your food for you and your dog tonight and you don't die," Ares snorted.
The boy pretended to consider it more than he did. When the gods got involved and started to boss you around, he seriously doubted that he could do much about it. Besides, he'd fought too damn hard to stay alive to be turned into a candle by the war god. Sighing reluctantly, he accepted the payment and shoved some of the food into his mouth, stepping out to feed Annoying.
"What's her name? What does she look like?" he inquired to the god.
He merely swung himself up on his Harley and reeved the engine, "Thalia Grace. She's still at home, but I'll make sure she'll be somewhere in the state forest lines when she gets lost. You'll know when."
The boy narrowed his eyes, "And what if I'm not here?"
"Then you're screwed."
And with a cruel laugh, Ares vanished into the night. Luke rolled his eyes and turned his back sharply, stalking down the road with Annoying wolfing down the last of his diner. Both had full stomachs, but the ten-year-old's heart was hollow and full of despair.
That Thalia chick better come soon or I'm leaving myself.
