A/N: I do not own PJO.
CHAPTER 2
I climbed down the tree as quickly as I had climbed up it. There was no way that I was staying there, because the monsters might come back. I checked the time on my watch. It was midnight. There was no-one around, and I was left in the deserted schoolyard. I didn't hesitate in running away.
As I bolted through the pitch black streets towards my house, several thoughts crossed my mind. 'What if the monsters follow me home? What if they try to kill Mum and Dad?' No. I couldn't let them be killed my monsters. There had to be another way.
I reached the front porch of my house and came to a halt. I carefully bent down, and retrieved the extra front door key from under the doormat. I put the key in the lock, and turned it. The door clicked, and swung open. If my parents caught me right now, I would be in massive trouble. I would probably be grounded for weeks.
I closed the door behind me, and slipped into the hallway. Everything looked so much scarier at night. I crept up the stairs. I walked into my bedroom. I was so exhausted. My eyelids started drooping, and my vision became fuzzy. No, I can't fall asleep! I have to get out of here! I snapped out of it, and forced myself to stay awake. I rushed around the room, grabbing items that I would need. I grabbed my phone, a few spare changes of clothes, a torch, and a wad of money. I changed out my school uniform. It was torn everywhere, covered in dirt, and there were a couple of splotches of blood. I put on a black t-shirt, and black jeans. I would need the camouflage if I was going to hide from monsters. I put on a long black trench coat that came down to my feet. It was several sizes too big, but I knew that it would keep me warm. I put on black lace-up boots that came up to my knees. If I had to run away from monsters, they would come in handy. I was almost ready to leave. I tied my blonde hair away from my face into a short ponytail. I grabbed my backpack, and my bow, and headed out of my bedroom door.
I took a few steps forwards, wary of my surroundings. Animals surrounded me, scurrying across the ground, chittering up in the trees, and flying through the air. I was in the wildest parts of the bushland, where a person could easily get lost. The sun had just begun to rise. In a couple of hours, my parents would wake up; they would realise that I had run away. At least I had a couple of hour's head start. They wouldn't be able to catch me easily. If they did, they would just be put in even more danger.
I stayed in the shadows, listening out to make sure that nothing was following me. It was difficult. All of the animals concealed in the trees and bushes were extremely noisy. Great, now I won't be able to tell if monsters are behind me or not.
Most eleven year olds like me would be scared at the prospect of running away from home. They shouldn't be. They obviously don't have monsters on their trail. I would normally be scared about being alone in the woods, and fighting monsters by myself. I would normally cry, and run home or to someone I trust. But somehow, I didn't really feel like doing either of those things.
I continued walking further. The sun was higher in the sky. If I wasn't on my guard, waiting for monsters to attack, I would've thought that it was a beautiful day. The stream that I was walking beside was sparkling because of the sunlight. The birds in the trees were whistling and singing. Everything was bright and sunny.
The day passed by slowly. The sun started to set. Nothing had attacked me all day, and I was glad. I had to find a place to sleep now. I climbed a eucalyptus tree, and set up camp. As the moon rose in the sky, I started to doze off. I was in the highest branch, where nothing could reach me. Or so I thought.
A jolt in the tree shook me awake. I looked down at the base of the tree, and almost fainted with horror. Two giants stood at the base of the tree, and they were shaking the tree trunk like there was no tomorrow. In my case, that might be true; I could fall and die, and even if the fall doesn't kill me, those things probably will. A lump rose in my throat. In my head, I started saying my final goodbyes to everyone I knew. Bye, Mum. Bye, Dad. I thought of my friends, who would probably never see me again. Tears swelled in my eyes, and rolled down my cheeks. I couldn't hold onto this tree forever. Suddenly, the giants stopped shaking the tree, and started smiling at me, their sharp, pointy teeth gleaming in the moonlight.
"Come down, young demigod," one of the giants cooed. I tightened my grip on the tree branch. They both noticed this.
"Demigod?" I ask stupidly. One of them laughs cruelly, the moonlight highlighting all of the scars on his evil face. Why do they expect me to know this kind of stuff?! I've never heard of the word 'demigod' before. They don't exactly teach this kind of stuff at school.
"Half-god, Half-mortal. One of your parents is a Greek God," the other says exasperatedly, like he's told people this kind of thing many times before. I'm not really sure that I want to believe him. How can I have a Greek God as a parent? Both my parents are mortal. I fill with dread. Maybe one of my parents was lying to me. Maybe both were lying to me. That seems so unfair. Why didn't they tell me the truth? I deserved to know, so that I'd be ready when crazy monsters started chasing me.
I feel so hurt. Who can I trust now? Why would they lie to me? More tears are threatening to spill out of my eyes. I blink a couple of times, and the tears are gone, but my eyes are still wet.
"I- I don't believe y-you," I stammer, trying not to cry. I can't show weakness. That would just make me an easy target, and easier to kill.
"All the myths are true," one says to me. I don't want to believe him, but then I realise what's happening. He's telling the truth. Why else would I be talking to a monster? If the myths weren't true, then how could I be talking to these monsters? Wow, I must be really stupid.
"WHAT DO YOU WANT!?" I scream at them through my tears, clearly losing my temper. They both throw back their heads and laugh evilly. The sound echoes throughout the bush. I'm about to lose my temper again. If they don't tell me what's going on, someone is gonna end up with an arrow in their face.
"We want answers- about the gods of Olympus. Apparently, one of them has a strange secret. A secret that has the potential to destroy everything. We know that you know it. Tell us what we want to know, and we'll leave you alone. Fail to tell us, and well, let's just say that you won't have a very pretty ending," one of them said. They think that I know stuff about the gods of Olympus!? I only just realised that they exist about, like, two minutes ago! How the heck can I know one of their secrets already!?
"Listen! I don't know anything, I swear! Just please leave me alone," I said to them. They exchanged a quick glance before looking back at me. I feel like something VERY bad is about to happen right about now. Perhaps they don't believe me.
"I'm afraid that that's not possible, Miss. Alison Striker," the giants said in unison. How do they know my full name? Suddenly, they both continued to shake the tree. I held on, and refused to budge. After about ten minutes, they stopped, and started murmuring things to each other. One of them pulled out a sword from their belt and they drove the blade into the tree trunk. I froze in fear, and a realisation hit me. They were cutting down my tree.
The tree shook violently. They had both started hacking at the tree trunk. The tree was going to fall. The next few moments were a blur as the tree fell on top of the giants, and I plummeted full speed towards the ground.
