Okay, here's the "very long" chapter I was talking about in the last chapter. I don't really have much to say, so enjoy!
-March 12 11:14 pm
Oh my, I've had the longest, strangest, most interesting day.
Well, it started at about one o'clock when the monsters attacked. There were at least six of them, but I couldn't tell what they were. And apparently, they liked to breathe fire, and burned our safe house to the ground.
We fought, and fought, and fought. These monsters were very, very hard to kill. It took about thirty minutes.
When the last monster was dust, we assessed the damage.
We luckily had our backpacks, but everything else that was inside the safe house was destroyed. We couldn't find anything usable.
We were also injured pretty badly. I had some long scratches on my arms, and my hair was turning black with soot.
Luke's shirt was in shreds and he was missing his left shoe, but he otherwise looked fine.
But, Thalia looked terrible. She had a long bleeding gash down her leg and her leather jacket was in shreds. Her face was deathly pale and she had already collapsed on the forest floor.
"Are you okay?" Luke asked.
"Uh, sure," Thalia said, but she looked like she was about to faint.
"We need to get her medical attention!" I almost screamed at Luke. "Do you know someplace where we can take her?"
"I know a place," Luke said.
"Then, can we go there?" I asked.
"I don't thinkā¦" he started, but then he looked at Thalia, who was shivering on the ground.
"Okay. Let's go."
We used an old shirt and wrapped up Thalia's leg. Then, Luke helped her walk while I carried her backpack.
We made slow progress. I didn't know exactly where we were going, and when I asked Luke he wouldn't tell me. We just walked in silence.
Eventually, we made it to a large house. Luke went straight up the sidewalk toward the door.
The house would have looked totally normal, except for the beanbag monsters all over the yard and the countless wind chimes that were hung everywhere.
Luke knocked on the door, and after a minute or two, an elderly woman answered the door.
She wasn't very pretty. She was way thinner than all of us, and her grey hair was hanging out in tufts at random places. Her grey, cloudy eyes gave me the creeps.
"Luke!" she said happily, and then tried to hug him.
"Hello, mother," Luke said unhappily.
I was in shock. This was his mother? No wonder he ran away.
There was a flash of light behind us, and we turned to see a man standing there,
"Hermes!" Luke's mother said. "I'm so happy you're here! Come, let's go inside."
She shuffled down a long hallway, and we had no choice but to follow. I couldn't believe Hermes was walking right behind us, but he didn't offer to help with anything. I guess the gods aren't very polite.
We entered a kitchen, and Luke helped Thalia into a chair.
The kitchen looked worse than the yard. There were piles of burnt cookies, loads of peanut butter sandwiches, and huge pictures of Kool-Aid.
"Luke," Hermes said. "Can I talk to you for a moment?"
Luke unhappily followed Hermes into another room, while Luke's mother helped Thalia with her leg.
She kept babbling on about something, but I was way too tired to care. I tried one of the cookies, but of course it tasted like charcoal.
Luke was almost yelling at Hermes now, and I could just see him through an archway.
I held up a cookie and mouthed can we go now?
He nodded and said one last thing to Hermes. Then, he came over and helped Thalia up.
Luke's mom had wrapped Thalia's leg, and some the color had started to return to her face. Of course, she would need a new leather jacket, but at least she was okay.
We made our way down the hall before Luke's mother tried to stop us.
"Luke! Where are you going? Would you like cookies?"
"No, mother," he said. Then, he pushed his way to the door, me following close behind.
And now, while I keep watch, I write in you. We are now camped about a half-mile from Luke's old house. I think I can still smell burnt cookies, but that's probably just my imagination.
Anyway, I'll try to write again soon, but I don't know when I'll be able to. Oh no, I think I hear a rustling in the bushes. Yeah, I think I see scales. Just another day in the field.
And now, ten seconds later, I'm covered in monster guts. Better go wake Luke so I can wash off in the stream.
Very gutty, Annabeth
Okay, that was it. I would just like to say that I will have school Monday-Thursday, so I probably won't be able to update on those days. So, please review! Seeing good reviews after a day of work makes me so happy! ; )
