IT'S FINALLY BEEN REWRITTEN!
Chapter 2
"Life puzzles never make sense to most."
When Rox had been four she'd gotten a glimpse of a black dog, or what she thought was a dog. It had been about the size of a rhino, and so Rox had taken to calling it Franken-Dog. She hadn't really been able to see more than that, though she tried to follow the Franken-Dog because she thought it was cute and wanted to play with it. But she never found it and hours had passed by, so she went back to the playground – which she was supposed to have stayed at – and got grounded by Mrs. Oswell for not staying there.
Then, when she was seven, Rox decided to go for a late afternoon walk. Grated, it wasn't exactly one of the best ideas she'd ever had, but it'd seemed like a good one at the time. But when a gang of older kids, who she knew had gone around the area beating younger kids, had walked towards her, she went into hiding. Rox had searched the area for any hiding spot, until her gaze met that of a peculiar shadow, almost reaching out to her. Mrs. Oswell had found her then, and while the shadow retrieved and the gang of kids went the other way, Mrs. Oswell grounded her for walking outside near curfew without an adult.
And then, at the start of the school year, she met Charon. It hadn't seemed weird at the time, but now that Rox had been at the museum and seen the Mrs.-Dodds-turned-bat-hag, she wasn't so sure anymore. After her talk with the likeable man Rox had hurried back to the orphanage – which she had stayed at for the break -, though she still hadn't made it before curfew and ended up being grounded.
For the umpteenth time.
She seemed to get grounded a lot, even now she still got grounded from time to time when she couldn't hide all her troublemaking and mischief. And as the head of the orphanage, Mrs. Oswell could do as she saw fit.
Mrs. Oswell wasn't unkind, though she was strict and maybe a bit harsh, Rox still cared greatly for the elderly woman. She was fair, in the sense that she wouldn't take any nonsense and looked at the situation in an objective way.
Quite frankly, never in Rox's living days had she heard the old woman yell, which was a feat in it self; Rox wasn't (still isn't) one of the easiest people.
As said, Rox had experienced weird happenings here and there, though she never told anyone. And who exactly would believe her? Rhino sized dogs named Franken-Dog? Shadows that moved on their own? That didn't happen in real life, not as far as Rox was concerned at least.
So honestly, when an illusion (or drugs, it could be drugs) seemed to clog every persons' mind, it was almost too much for Rox to handle. The entire campus was either playing a prank on her or they seriously were on drugs, because no one had ever heard of a Mrs. Dodds, and it was like so for the rest of the school year.
Every student acted as if Mrs. Kerr – an incredibly annoying and a bit-too-perky-to-be-healthy blonde who Rox was sure she'd never seen before in her life, until, of course, she literally skipped onto the bus and tried to get the kids to sing (of all fucking things) – had been their pre-algebra teacher since Christmas.
Rox found the new teacher to be okay, in the sense that she at least knew what the hell she was doing… erh, most of the time. But what irked her most of all was that Mrs. Kerr – she had somehow found out about Rox being a pyromanic – acted like the younger girl was about to blow at any moment and couldn't handle any form of stress, no matter how small. Rox was seriously starting to reconsider hiring an assassin.
She pursed her lips. Maybe she'd watched too much Assassin's Creed?
Nah.
But truly, Rox was just glad Percy had seen the same as her, even if he hadn't figured out who exactly Mrs. Dodds were, or, well, was.
Percy would from time to time spring a Mrs. Dodds reference, hoping the students would mess up and reveal themselves, but they never did. They really did believe there hadn't ever been a Mrs. Dodds.
But Rox didn't mind, she was sure of what she saw and no one could change that, because she remembered the elegant Brit, Charon, and the news he brought.
Then, one day, Percy asked Grover about Mrs. Dodds.
And when he mentioned the name Dodds, Grover would hesitate and then claim she didn't exist. Rox would immediately start singing, "Lair! Lair! Pants on fire! Nose as long as a telephone wire!" which didn't help Grover's stammering denial, but Rox was satisfied for now at least. He was lying to them after all.
She found herself going on more nightly trips in the woods than normal, waking up in the middle of the night, not being able to go back to sleep. When she did get some much needed sleep, however, odd dreams of a man shrouded in shadows telling her to prepare herself ended up confusing her.
Percy seemed to be having his own problems, though he didn't say what exactly.
Sadly, wishful thinking didn't stop the weird weather. It even got so bad that one night, a thunderstorm blew out the windows in Percy's dorm room, and then, the day after, a sudden storm kicked up and cracked the old rotten tree, which then almost fell on top of Rox. And just a few days after, the biggest tornado ever spotted in the Hudson Valley touched down only fifty miles from Yancy Academy.
One of the current events they all studied in social studies class was the unusual number of small planes that had gone down in sudden squalls in the Atlantic that year. Which just made Rox sure of one thing: don't fly… ever – it's stupid and it gets you killed.
Rox was getting snappier, the little sleep getting to her, and she didn't really bother with even trying to keep out of detentions or trouble. She didn't even have the energy to cheer Percy on in his fights against Nancy and her goons, nor be apart of them.
And when their English teacher, Mr. Nicoll, asked Percy for the umpteenth time, why he was too lazy to study for spelling tests, Percy ended up calling him an old sot. Which only made Rox smirk and raise her hand, saying, "O – l – d s – o – t, right?"
Sadly, they both got sent out in the hallway that day.
Rox quickly found out that Percy wouldn't be coming back next year – the headmaster had sent his mom a letter -, and that made her oddly sad. Percy was one of the reasons it was fun going to Yancy, sure, but she was certain that they would see each other out of school. And she couldn't get thrown out on purpose, Mrs. Oswell would just think up a whole new way to punish her.
As exam week got closer, Rox carefully studied for all the tests, clearly remembering every word Mrs. Oswell said, "If I don't see at least a C+ average, I'll make you clean the whole orphanage while repeating the answers you got wrong, until they're all right!"
Rox shivered, quite clearly remembering the stern glare Mrs. Oswell had sent her.
She was studying for the Latin test with Percy, in his dorm, when he threw the Greek mythology book across the room. She chuckled, looking up from her book and over to the agitated boy. "You are aware of the fact that you can't through every book you see, right?"
Sea-green eyes glared at her, but it soon became a moot point as Percy was trying to smother the smile on his lips. He did the mature thing and stuck his tongue out. Rox rolled her eyes playfully and chuckled.
"But if you're having such a hard time with it, why not ask Mr. Brunner?" she said.
Percy went over to pick up the book and thought about the suggestion. He nodded. "Let's go then." They walked downstairs to the faculty offices. Most of them were dark and empty, but Mr. Brunner's door was ajar, light from his window stretching across the hallway floor.
They were nearly at the door when Rox heard voices inside the office. Mr. Brunner asked a question. A voice that was definitely Grover's said, "… worried about Percy and Rox, sir."
Rox froze and her hand grabbed Percy's sleeve, who was standing as still as a board next to her. She didn't have a problem with eavesdropping, not when it was something that clearly concerned herself. Besides, who wouldn't listen in if a friend and teacher were talking about oneself?
Nope, there were no morals getting in the way.
Rox inched closer with Percy in toe, both trying their best at being quiet.
"… alone this summer," Grover said. "I mean, a Kindly One in the school! Now that we know for sure, and they know too-"
"We would only make matters worse by rushing him," Mr. Brunner said. "We need the boy to mature more. Roxanna, well, she is a bit of a mystery, no? But there's something that worries me about her."
Rox frowned.
"But he may not have time. The summer solstice deadline-"
"Will have to be resolved without him, Grover. Let him enjoy his ignorance while he still can. I am more concerned by how Roxanna fits in, in all this - she's another piece in this puzzle."
"Sir, there's something unnerving about her…" Grover paused, searching for words.
Rox was not going to lie – that offended her.
"… Her scent is too strong for an unknowing half-blood," Grover finally continued. "It's like she- she knows something – she's aware."
"Maybe," Mr. Brunner said. "only time will show. But hopefully the Mist over the students and staff will be enough to convince them that nothing happened."
Mist? Rox thought to herself.
"Sir, I... I can't fail in my duties again." Grover's voice was choked with emotion. "You know what that would mean."
"You haven't failed, Grover," Mr. Brunner said kindly. "I should have seen her for what she was. Now let's just worry about keeping Percy alive until next fall-"
The mythology book dropped out of Percy's hand and hit the floor with a thud.
Mr. Brunner went silent.
Rox stopped breathing. Fuck.
She felt her heart hammering, as Percy picked up the book and they both ran down the hall. Rox pushed Percy in the direction of his dorm and whispered hurriedly, "Go to your room before Grover gets back."
Percy nodded his head and quickly ran off. Rox couldn't come with him, as it was long past curfew, and girls weren't allowed in the boys' dorm, and visa versa. The only reason she was able to stay so long was because she came before the curfew hour.
A shadow slid across the lighted glass of Brunner's office door, the shadow of something much taller than her wheelchair-bound teacher, holding something that looked so much like an archer's bow, it couldn't have been anything but that.
Rox looked around, she opened the nearest door and slipped inside, moving to the back, so the shadows would hide her from view. Her heartbeat slowed, breathing almost nonexistent.
A few seconds later she heard a slow clop-clop-clop, like a horse walking, then a sound like an animal snuffling right outside the door. A large, dark shape paused in front of the glass, and then moved on.
Rox bit her bottom lip.
Somewhere in the hallway, Mr. Brunner spoke. "Nothing," he murmured. "My nerves haven't been right since the winter solstice."
"Mine neither," Grover said. "But I could have sworn..."
"Go back to the dorm," Mr. Brunner told him. "You've got a long day of exams tomorrow."
"Don't remind me."
The lights went out in Mr. Brunner's office.
To Rox's ADHD addled mind, it seemed like she waited in the dark for eons, when in reality, it was only a few minutes before she slowly slipped out into the hallway. She looked around for any teachers or Mr. Brunner or Grover, then quickly and soundlessly made her way back to her own dorm.
Only when she got inside her room did Rox relaxed. Her roommate was snoring loudly in her bed, sleeping, and Rox sighed. Walking over to her bed she replaced her clothes with some pajamas and crawled in under her sheets. She stared into the bottomless darkness of the room, gears turning in her head.
1) Percy was in some sort of danger.
2) Something happened at the winter solstice.
3) The deadline, to make up for whatever was wrong, was the summer solstice.
4) Mr. Brunner and Grover knew what happened.
And finally, 5) She, herself, was a half-blood…?
So Mrs. Dodds really was a fury? And Charon… was actually Charon? But that would mean… she was a demigod, and her father was the oldest of the big three…
Yep, life just turned out to be a lot more interesting.
. . .
The next afternoon, Rox was sitting outside of the Latin exam room, waiting for Percy. Her head was still filled with the mumbo-jumbo that was Hercules and Pan and famous Nymphs and so on – it just continued.
Percy was just walking outside when Rox heard the suspicious man's– Mr. Brunner's voice call Percy back inside. For a split second Rox was worried Mr. Brunner had found out about the eavesdropping the night before, and considered walking in and pulling Percy out.
But apparently that wasn't the problem.
"Percy," she heard Mr. Brunner say. "Don't be discouraged about leaving Yancy. It's... it's for the best."
His tone was kind, but the words would still embarrass anyone. Rox looked inside, through the door opening. Even though he was speaking quietly, the other kids finishing the test could hear. She saw Nancy smirking at Percy and make sarcastic little kissing motions with her lips.
Rox narrowed her eyes. Nancy was going to be sorry she was ever born when she got her hands on her.
"Okay, sir." Percy mumbled.
"I mean..." Mr. Brunner wheeled his chair back and forth, like he wasn't sure what to say. "This isn't the right place for you. It was only a matter of time."
"Right," Percy said, trembling.
"No, no," Mr. Brunner said. "Oh, confound it all. What I'm trying to say..."
Rox knew what was coming. She turned back and closed her eyes, leaning her head back against the wall.
"… you're not normal. That's nothing to be-"
"Thanks," Percy said curtly. "Thanks a lot, sir, for reminding me." Then Rox heard Percy come out through the door, and stood up to follow after him.
Percy was still trembling, Rox could see, and she ran to catch up with him. Grabbing his sleeve to stop him, she turned him around and locked eyes with him.
"What?" Percy snapped.
Rox tilted her head to the side. "Why be normal? It's extremely overrated if you ask me."
Percy didn't answer and silence wrapped around them like a thick blanket. He stared at her, but then shook his head with a small smile. "'Course you'd say that."
Rox grinned.
. . .
As it was, Rox was seriously considering pouncing Grover – just to see if it would make him start spilling everything, maybe even admit that Mrs. Dodds was real –, but she refrained from doing so.
Though, it was only because Percy said, "Looking for Kindly Ones?"
Rox was nearly chocking on her own laughter, while Grover was doing a great job at trying to jump into the next row of seats.
During the bus ride to Manhattan – he booked a ticket to the same Greyhound as Percy and Rox -, he had kept glancing nervously down the aisle. He kept one eye on every passenger that came onto the bus. She had always known Grover was twitchy and would get in a tizzy every time someone made a quick motion or talked to loudly, but only whenever they were out of the school. Now, of course, she knew it was because he was keeping an eye out for whatever was after Percy.
"Wha- what do you mean?" Grover stuttered.
Rox scoffed. "Oh I'm pretty sure you know what we mean, so why don't you just spill your guts before I do it for you."
Grover paled, but he still squeaked, "W-what do you know?"
"Oh... not much. What's the summer solstice deadline?" Percy said.
Rox added, "And the fact that 'Mrs. Dodds' was a fury."
Grover flinched. "Look, Percy, Rox... I was just worried for you two, see? I mean, hallucinating about demon math teachers…"
"Grover-"
"And I was telling Mr. Brunner that maybe you were overstressed or something, because there was no such person as Mrs. Dodds, and Rox has been burning down a lot more things than usual, and…"
Rox shrugged. "Meh, Abby was being a real pain in the ass and Vincent was really just asking for it."
"Grover, you're a really, really bad liar." Percy said.
Grover's ears turned pink and he quickly pulled out two grubby business cards from his shirt pocket. "Just take these, okay? In case you two need me this summer."
The card was in a fancy script, which wasn't kind on Rox's Dyslexia eyes, but she was pretty sure it said something like:
Grover Underwood
Keeper
Half-Blood Hill
Long Island, New York
(800) 009-0009
"What's Half-"
"Don't say it aloud!" Grover yelped, cutting Percy off. "That's my, um… summer address."
Rox let her eyes fall upon the nervous rack that was Grover and glared. She felt like he was lying, or at least not telling the whole truth.
"Okay," Percy said glumly. "So, like, if I want to come visit your mansion."
Grover nodded. "Or... or if you need me."
"Why would I need you?" Percy said harshly.
Rox nodded, wanting to know the same thing.
Grover blushed right down to his Adam's apple. "Look, Percy, Rox, the truth is, I-I kind of have to protect you two."
Percy stared at him, like he couldn't believe him, and Rox raised an eyebrow, barely believing it herself.
All year long Percy had gotten in fights, while Rox simply scared them by flashing her Zippo, only getting into a scrap from time to time. Both were doing their best to keep bullies away from him, and now he was the one protecting them?
Rox looked down at the card in her hand. "Is that what 'Keeper' means?" she raised her eyes to survey Grover's reaction. "And you're – what? – assigned to protect someone, or rather, us?"
He blanched, turning the color of snow, as he stammered and stuttered a denial that Rox didn't bother to listen to – she got all she needed. But suddenly, the bus jerked forth, sending Rox into the seat in front of her.
There was a huge grinding noise under her feet, she could feel the small tremors in the floor, and she saw black smoke pouring out from the dashboard, when she looked to the front of the bus. The whole bus filled with a smell like rotten eggs.
The driver cursed and steered the Greyhound over to the side of the highway.
After a few minutes clanking around in the engine compartment, the driver announced that they'd all have to get off. Grover, Percy and Rox filed outside with everybody else.
They were on a stretch of country road, the kind of place no one would notice, but Rox found it rather nice. It was very solitary, with nothing but maple trees and litter from passing cars on the side they were on. But across four lanes of asphalt shimmering with afternoon heat, was an old-fashioned fruit stand.
The stuff on sale looked delicious: heaping boxes of blood red cherries and apples, walnuts, pomegranates and apricots, jugs of cider in a claw-foot tub full of ice. Weirdly enough, there were no customers, just three old ladies sitting in rocking chairs in the shade of a maple tree, knitting the biggest pair of socks Rox had ever seen.
Now that Rox saw the fruits, she was beginning to feel rather hungry. Maybe she should go over to buy some? She did have some money from the things she'd sold with Percy.
The lady on the right knitted one of the enormous socks. The lady on the left knitted the other. The lady in the middle held an enormous basket of electric-blue yarn. All three women looked ancient, with pale faces wrinkled like fruit leather, silver hair tied back in white bandannas, bony arms sticking out of bleached cotton dresses.
Rox looked more closely, and saw that they were looking straight at Percy, who was standing a little in front of her. She locked eyes with one of them.
Then Grover asked, "Tell me they're not looking at you two. They are, aren't they?"
Rox looked over at Grover and saw that the blood had drained from his face. His nose was twitching. She looked back at the fruit stand and her stomach growled.
Percy snorted, smiling amusedly. "Hungry?"
"A bit." Rox rubbed her empty stomach. She jerked her head towards the fruits. "Up for some fruit?"
"Sounds good."
But Grover stopped them. "No! Don't!" he waved his arms around in the air, standing in front of them.
Rox rolled her eyes. "And why ever not?"
Grover moved his weight from foot to foot, fidgeting with his hands and glancing around. But he didn't answer. Rox moved passed the nervous boy with a scoff – she was freaking hungry! Percy followed and patted Grover on the shoulder as he went by. Grover went after them rather hesitantly.
"How much?" Percy asked.
The old woman on the right said, "Depends… what is your desire?" she peered at Rox the same way she was looking at the fruits.
Rox, though a bit weirded out, took the odd wording as permission to take what she wanted. Grover, however, squeaked and tried to make himself smaller. Rox shrugged, taking three pomegranates and a small box of fresh cherries, and held them out to the old ladies.
The middle one peered at the fruits in her hands. "11 dollars in all."
As Rox paid, Percy took some apples and a jug of cider and paid the woman on the left. Then, the lady in the middle took out a huge pair of scissors – gold and silver, long-bladed, like shears. Rox heard Grover catch his breath and look about ready to faint.
"We're getting on the bus," Grover told the two. "Come on."
"What?" Percy said. "It's a thousand degrees in there."
"Come on!'" Grover started going back to the bus, but neither of the two friends were following.
The three old women were still watching them. The middle one pulled forth a thread and cut the yarn with a loud snip. The other two women balled up the electric-blue socks. Rox and Percy went back to the bus, where Grover was, after looking one last time at the weird ladies.
At the rear of the bus, the driver wrenched a big chunk of smoking metal out of the engine compartment. The bus shuddered, and the engine roared back to life. The passengers cheered.
"Darn right!" yelled the driver. He slapped the bus with his hat. "Everybody back on board!"
Once the three friends got going again, Rox started feeling faint, her vision going in and out of focus. Grover and Percy didn't look much better. Grover was shivering and his teeth were chattering, and Percy looked like he'd caught the flu.
"Grover?" Rox asked.
"Yeah?"
"Stop betting around the bush, will you?"
Grover dabbed his forehead with his shirtsleeve. "Percy, Rox, what did you see back at the fruit stand?"
"Three old ladies." Percy said.
Rox looked at Grover closely, waiting for him to finally tell them and stop playing games.
"They're not like... Mrs. Dodds, are they?" Percy asked.
Grover's expression was hard to read but he didn't answer, instead, he said, "Just tell me what you saw."
"The middle one took out her scissors, and cut the yarn." Rox said.
Grover closed his eyes and made an odd gesture, he made a claw like motion over his heart and then pushed it away from himself.
"You saw her snip the cord." He said.
"Yeah. So?" Percy looked confused, but there was something in his eyes that told Rox he knew it wasn't a good thing.
"This is not happening," Grover mumbled. He started chewing at his thumb. "I don't want this to be like the last time."
Rox cocked an eyebrow questioningly at him. "What last time?" she asked.
"Always sixth grade. They never get past sixth." Grover kept mumbling.
She got the feeling his last time protecting someone – whatever – didn't go too well. She sincerely hoped it wouldn't repeat itself.
"Grover," Percy said. "What are you talking about?"
"Let me, at least, walk you two home from the bus station. Promise me." Grover looked like he was about to cry, so they both promised he could.
"Is this like a superstition or something?" Percy asked.
No answer.
"Grover, that snipping of the yarn. Does that mean somebody is going to die?"
Grover looked at Percy and then Rox mournfully, like he was already planning their coffins and which flowers to go with each one.
Review please! ^^