Son of Poseidon: the Snake, the Vain, and the Pyre
Chapter 2: Train to Manhatten Monster Free? Yeah Right
I managed the entire thirty-hour train ride without running into a single monster. In demigod terms, we call this a minor miracle.
I was about an hour away from New York City, in this little town in New Jersey. The train had a short stop before pressing on. Nothing special. I could see a single main street that the train tracks ran next to. Across the tracks were a row of buildings: some small Colonials, a convenience store with a fountain, a grocery shop, post office and a tiny white church with a pointed steeple.
At one end of the street was one of those old-fashioned schoolhouses. You know, the ones where there is one big room and all the kids of all ages are taught together. Talk about a recipe for total chaos. It looked like there was a brick add-on to the original wooden building; though based on the stone gargoyles looming over the roof edge, staring down at the pedestrians, the add-on wasn't very recent.
At the other end of the street, was a small health clinic. I couldn't call it a hospital really. It had a rather rusted-looking ambulance parked in the front, and the doors and windows of the building were wide open as if welcoming the outside in. I thought hospitals had to be sterile?
A small, but richly filled flower garden was planted up front. Rose bushes, lilies and gladiolas filled the air with perfume and contrasted the green lawn and lime-green painted building with splashes of vibrant color.
It was a peaceful setting, until a kid charged out of the clinic. Screams and shouts came from inside. A pair of old nurses came out dressed in blue scrubs, with matching paisley hand bags swinging from their elbows as they called out to the kid and gave chase.
The kid I watched, was dressed in a hospital gown, the kind that leaves an awkward draft and leaves your backside exposed. He looked completely panicked, looking in every direction as if trying to find a way to escape. His face was pale, his eyes wide and he panted, as his bare feet beat against the sidewalk.
I wondered what his problem was when I turned to look back at the nurses. I squinted at them, not sure what I was seeing. The white handbags with printed floral patterns, seemed to flicker and spark as if flames were dancing on them. The nurses had to be twins, they looked exactly the same, down to their beady black eyes, heavy case of crow's feet and sharp canines in their glistening, tight smiles. Wait… sharp?
My eyes bulged as their bags erupted into fiery whips and leathery wings erupted through their uniforms and they hovered quickly over the ground on an intercept course for the escapee.
I jumped out of my seat and ran to the door, leaving my stuff unattended. I realized, those two old ladies, were not old ladies. And I had a feeling that kid was a half-blood, about to get thrashed.
I stepped onto the platform, cupped my hands in front of my mouth into a funnel and shouted at the kid, "hey man, over here!"
The kid jerked to look up at me, unfortunately so did the two crazy nurse ladies with whips.
They raised their whips and lashed out and struck the pavement, where the kid's feet had been moments before. The sidewalk seemed to bubble and melt into lava and smoke. They brought their free hands up and bared their fingers, from which glistening claws ripped through their latex surgical gloves. I had a feeling those would work just as well as a surgeon's scalpel.
I concentrated, scoping the scene, assessing my options. A million thoughts running through my head. 'Okay, okay, now what did Chiron say?' I mumbled to myself. 'Weapons… well that was no good. All my stuff was back at camp. Ohh what I would do for a collapsible sword right about now… Use the battle field to one's advantage… I scoped the scene and noticed a possibility. In front of the convenience store was one of those tiny water fountains, those metal boxy-looking things you usually see in schools or in offices.
I shrugged my shoulders and concentrated, pleading that it was running. At first all it did was trickle with a bit of water. I shook my head with annoyance. "That's not good enough, come on!" I felt my stomach dropped as I lurched forward onto the guard rails.
The fountain exploded, sending the metal box of the fountain and the filter rocketing up into the sky. At the same time, a burst of water, like out of a fireman's hose hit one of the old women and sent her flying backward and crashing to the brick wall next to the grocery shop.
The old lady still standing hissed at me angrily as she fixed all of her attention onto me. "Do not interfere with matters of the Underworld, son of the Sea God. Or suffer the consequences!" But before she could say anything more, a whistling filled the air. The nurse looked up and to her surprise, a giant mass of metal, plastic and water crashed down on her like a ballistic missile: the water fountain.
The kid stared at the lady who went splat in disbelief and amazement. "Come on!" I yelled at him, snapping him out of his astonishment. "Get on the train, it's leaving now. We can get away on it."
The kid shook his head and raced up to me. He slammed his feet just when he was close. I thought he was going to leave skid marks on the platform, he stopped so fast. He panted heavily and bowed in front of me, before recovering a bit to look up at me.
His grey eyes looked at me with suspicion and amazement. "Did you do that, err with the fountain and all?"
I rubbed the back of my neck awkwardly and grinned. "Ugh yeah, saw you were in trouble. Thought I'd help you out. Alex here, who are you?"
His eye brows knitted together as he thought about the question. He glanced down at the metal bracelet around his wrist. When he noticed it caught my eye, he pulled down his gown's sleeve to cover it. "Cooper, my name's Cooper." He paused, as he held a hand on his head, as if he had a major migraine. "Thanks, for the help."
I stared at him, he seemed a bit off. Then again, he did just come running out of a health clinic, with a pair of crazy old demon ladies chasing him. "No prob. Do you know what those two things were?"
He shook his head, which made him cringe. And then he jolted and spoke, "two? There were three nurses…"
And as if to correct me, the third demon nurse fluttered down from the sky and landed between us and the door. The train whistled once. One minute, and the train would chug off with or without us on it.
The lady cracked her whip in frustration, "Son of Poseidon, you don't understand…"
I got in between Cooper and the nurse and spread my arms, "I don't know what you want with him, but you leave him alone! Let us through."
She snarled and bared her teeth, "you make demands of the Furies? You interfere with the will of the Lord of the Underworld. You will pa-gah!" All at once, a bird came crashing out of the sky and dove with talons bared at the fury's face. I watched in amazement, it was a white owl, medium sized, with grey eyes, and black and brown striping on its wings and back. It screeched as it tore at the monster's skin and clothes.
I shook the surprise off and grabbed Cooper by the wrist, "come on man, now's our chance."
I dragged him past the flailing lady lashing out with her clawed, free hand and whipping at the owl with the other, trying to make the bird go away. Only when the train began to move did the owl break off from its attack and disappear into the woods beyond the tracks.
The fury collected herself and turned at the noise of the train whistling. She locked eyes with me and Cooper and growled angrily. Even through the glass and across the quarter mile distance, I could have sworn I heard the contempt in her voice.
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