Thalia is cool and all, but I can't just trust her without knowing who she is, she's a complete stranger to me, I don't care that these other people trust her, I have to see for myself. "Can you talk yet?" Thalia asked in a concerned tone, I nodded but didn't say anything. "Then do you mind telling me your name?"

I guess I can tell her that much, since she's helping me and everything. "Katrina...Katrina Young..." I said quietly, she smiled, like she's happy that she finally got something out of me, "Nice to meet you Katrina, I'm Thalia Grace." She said and continued walking, we walked for about two hours without talking, even the others weren't talking, I have a feeling it's because of me.

"So..." Thalia said at last, "How old are you?" She asked, I didn't answer for a couple miles, "I'm eight..." I said and went back to being quiet, I know they're helping me and everything but like I said I just can't trust them, it takes a lot to get my trust, that can take a few days to a few years depending on how you approach me.

I don't know why, but Thalia seems to like talking. "Katrina, before we found you, what happened?" Thalia asked cautiously like she was afraid I would break or something. "Some monsters were chasing me, but I did this to myself, but it was an accident." I told her, answering that kind of question isn't much I mean like they said they've been through what I've been through, probably...I'm still debating if what they told me was true or not.

Well Thalia seems to want me to believe her, actually she's the only one who wants me to believe her the others aren't really as talkative as her, "You don't sound like this was the first time, you've been chased by monsters before." Thalia noticed.

Damn I was hoping she wouldn't have noticed, I sighed I guess I may as well tell her. Heh it's funny, I spent so much time telling myself not to trust them yet here I am talking to one of them like we're friends.

"I've seen them a lot actually...Almost four years have passed and I still see them, they hide as a teacher or even a student. But they all end up as monsters, in the end I mean, every single one of them tried killing me, but they all failed. I don't know why they're so interested in killing me, but I'm tired of it, next time I'm going to show them what I'm made of..." I explained to Thalia, I started to sound scary, I mean I sound like I might actually murder someone.

Thalia smiled, "We all want that, and some of us had it worse, like Annabeth over there, Luke and I found her in a dark alley, scared and alone, but we helped her. Now she trusts us." Thalia said.

I sighed, "I'm sorry for not trusting you and everyone else, but like you said, some others just go through these things worse than others. Have you ever watched your little step brother turn into a monster? Right in front of you? It's not a very pleasant sight, plus that same little kid, I spent two years with, he just went poof right before my eyes, and there is more...A lot more."

I was four years old when I killed my first monster. The way I killed it was by using sheer force...But I don't know how I did that since I was just this weak little girl. Everything is kind of blur but I remember ripping it's head off and vomiting a lot.

Trust is something you have to earn, that is what my teacher taught me when I was in day care because my mom was busy, she usually teaches me but she also had things to do, so she took me to a place our neighbours recommended to us. I don't remember what it was called, but after what happened I made sure to remember that I would never go back there.

His name was Tai Wong, he was this nice guy that decided to help kids with their English, he was good with it, and since he was so nice I was easily lured in, and I'm not going to lie I may have had a little crush on him. But that was back then, now I despise him.

"So Katrina, do you know the ABCs?" Mr. Wong asked. He sounded so calm that he made me answer honestly. I shook my head, "My mom was going to teach me...But she was busy." I said to Mr. Wong.

He smiled brightly, "That's alright. I'll teach you, so you can surprise your mother. Does that sound like a plan?" I laughed and nodded, "Yeah!"

Mr. Wong said it out loud so I know how the beginning goes, " E..." He continued all the way to "Z" Once he was done he asked me if I wanted to give it a try, I agreed and tried my best.

On my first try I got it right, to be honest it was really easy. I probably could have learned that on my own. "Nice job Katrina!" He exclaimed, "How about some pronunciations?"

Ah man...I'm not exactly big on how to pronounce words, since I am a kid after all. He noticed that I hesitated, "We'll start off with some easy ones, okay?" Mr. Wong said gently.

I nodded but I still wasn't as excited as he was, "This one you should know, 'F-un' can you pronounce that and give me an example too?" Mr. Wong asked, I nodded reluctantly, "Fun, the kids went outside to have fun." I said, he nodded approvingly, "Great job! Okay let's try a hard one now, 'Reluctant.' You can give me an example if you want." He said and stared at me.

"Re...Re-lunk-tant...It means..." I stopped and blushed, I can't remember what it means and I think I said that wrong, even though I probably did say it wrong and didn't know what that word means, Mr. Wong still gave me credit, "Nice try, for a kid your age you're actually pretty smart, for the time being we'll stick to easy words. That sound good?"

I nodded, "yes sir! I'll try my best!" I shouted happily, "Awesome!" Mr. Wong said excitedly. He's not really my teacher but he may as well be, since he helps me out more than the other teacher. He's a substitute teacher.

For the rest of the week we practiced pronouncing words and he even helped me when I didn't know what that word meant.

And also he helped me with my spelling that continued for two months and then...He taught me about trust and loyalty. He took me to another room, and at that time I trusted him with my life, only because he helped with so much, my mom was impressed with how well I was doing in school so she let me stay the rest of the year. All the hugs I gave her surprised her, but she didn't hate it.

June 20th 1998, the day before my fifth birthday, I thought Mr. Wong was going to give me an early gift, but I was mistaken, "Then why are we here?" I asked with a puzzled look.

Mr. Wong smiled, but he looked kind of sad, "One more lesson before your birthday and my last day here." He said, I froze, "You're kidding...Right?" He shook his head sadly, "The principle noticed I was giving you a lot more help than the other children, and well...He took it the wrong way and he fired me on the spot." He explained to me.

I'm not sure how much I got out of that, only that he got fired, which I'm pretty sure meant that he couldn't work here anymore, "But...I can't learn all the other words without you, and- And I still need some help with my math and science and social studies...And-

"I'm sorry Kat, but I can't help you with those, I no longer work here. You're going to have to rely on Ms. Taylor. And now for that last lesson..." He said and trailed off, I felt like crying I mean Gezz how about a heads up next time...dammit, "I don't want this to be my last lesson with you..." I cried silently.

Mr. Wong smiled gently, "You're going to have to trust others more, because like everyone else I won't be here forever."

I frowned and looked up to him, "Trust…Others?" I realized I never had any friends, I thought about it, but I was too shy, "But what if they don't trust me?" I asked. "Well then that's their loss, after all…" His smiled turned into a crooked one, "They don't know what you're."

"What I am…?" I said nervously, he looks kind of scary…He turned and said, "Katrina, this lesson is about trust, do you trust me?" Mr. Wong asked. I nodded, "Of course I do!"

He smiled like he just finished some mission, "Really? Then if I asked you to join a cause, you would do it?"

"I-

Trust is something that is earned…That's true…But, right now…That trust is crumbling, "A-A cause?" I hesitated. Mr. Wong nodded, this room had windows with blinds that blocked out light, the shadows made him look evil, "Yes." He said, his voice just went from a happy tone to a deep serious tone. "A cause to bring my Lord back to this world."

He sounds like a…Monster of some kind. "Lord, w-what l-lord." I stammered. He kept closing the blinds, it was almost too dark to even see him. "His name is Kronos, Lord of time. What do you say?" He asked in an even deep voice. I started to feel scared, "I…Don't…" I tried backing up to the door, "Where do you think you're going?" He whispered.

I fell to the ground, this can't be happening. "M-m-m-Mr. Wong, I would like to go now!" I screamed. "Oh? To where?" He asked.

That's right…Where would I go at this point? Home? My mom wouldn't believe me, and no other teacher would either. "Away from here…" I said, although I'm not sure where else I would go after that. "Then what?" He said. I ran to the window and pulled the blinds down, "I don't care! Anywhere but he-

When I turned to look at him, he was hideous. "Aww, what's wrong?"

I was too stunned to speak or move, "I'll ask you one more time, would you like to join?" I gulped, "…No!" I yelled, "I will never trust you or anyone ever again!" After that, it was a blur, I just lost control. When I came to…I was holding the head of a monster, I screamed and threw into a corner, and then I looked to my right and saw the body of a huge monster. I stared at it wide eyed. I did that? But then I started to feel sick, my hands were covered with purple blood, I started shaking, "Oh, god…oh god…This-

I vomited on the floor and that continued for five minutes, I sat in the room all alone, crying for at least an hour, that day…I promised to never trust anyone but myself. I don't care if they're nice and a lot of other people trust them. I'll never trust you.

Back to the present, Thalia was said we were going to set up camp and then keep going in the morning, Grover was the only one who wanted to keep going, saying that he smells something bad coming…I was afraid he was right, but seeing as everyone thinks differently, I decided to rest for a bit, Thalia helped me sit down, I sighed, "Thanks Thalia, for helping me walk."

She nodded and smiled, "No problem…" I looked away, and stared at my foot, this sucks.

Thalia walked in front of me, "Seriously, what's your deal?"

I averted my eyes, "None of your business."

"None of…We helped you!" She shouted, "Yeah, I'm grateful for that, but I don't really know any of you, and for all I know, you could all be monsters, so excuse me for not trusting you guys, didn't I already say this? And by the way, don't try to pry."

Thalia looked like she was going to slap me, heh, not like she could. "Whoa! Let's just calm down." Luke came over and walked in between us. "I'm calm. It's her, she won't leave me alone."

Annabeth came to check what was going on, Luke was holding Thalia back, "She can't do anything to me, none of you can." I blurted out.

"You're only making things worse, can you please stop?" Luke asked. I shrugged, Annabeth was glaring at me, "What?" I asked angrily and sighed, "I apologized already, so just leave me alone."

She walked up to me and said, "Y-You're being rude to them a-all they want is for you to trust them, and I can confirm that they're not monsters!" She was staring me in the eyes. She's a good little kid, but she'll soon find out why I don't trust anybody.

This one is a little shorter than the last chapter, but oh well. I guess I'm back early, (yay, no one cares)

Thanks for reading! I hope you all have an awesome weekend!

Rilurz~