IX

PERCY

It took us close to two hours of walking, in total awkward silence, to finally see houses. The street we travelled on went from pitch black to soft light because of the street lights. We were finally able to walk on a sidewalk and out of the way of all the passing cars. Panda had taken her distance from Ryder from the beginning, clearly still bothered by the fact he was coming with us, which left me in the middle. Panda had her hair loose now and her cardigan rolled up to her elbows. She sniffled every once and while, probably because of the chilly air, and every time she did Ryder glanced at her.

Once, she tripped over a branch. Ryder and I had both grabbed her instinctively and she shoved us off, saying she could very well take care of herself. Ryder seemed like a nice guy, though I still didn't know him well. He seemed to genuinely care for Panda. I could see it in his eyes.

Then, I thought about Panda. I looked at her, at all the similarities between us; the hair (besides the blue streaks), the deep green eyes, the tan skin. She was simply the female version of me and vice versa. Maybe it was true. Maybe she was my twin, but why would I not remember her? Why couldn't I remember a single thing about her? I remembered the story she told me at the stables, about the macaw. I could remember that day. The macaw was bigger than my head, and its talons had left little marks on my shoulder and mom and put a little care bears band-aid on my ear, but I couldn't remember Panda ever being there. I glanced at my watch and it was only 9:33 PM.

"We can stop here," Panda said, pointing at a parking lot with a small strip mall. There was a UPS store, a spa, an organic store, a Salvatore's Pizzeria and a Cleaners.

"We can get some food. They should have a phone. I can call for a taxi," she added. We walked inside the Pizzeria and a little bell went off as we opened the door. The room was softly lit with deep orange walls. Square, green granite tables were placed around in chaotic order with four red wooden chairs. The smell of pizza lingered through the restaurant. There weren't many people, though. There was one fat guy on the farthest corner eating a pizza with all kinds of meat on it as he watched sports on the television. A couple flirted with each other on the other side, feeding each other olives.

We picked a table and sat down. Panda rummaged through her backpack and pulled out a black wallet. She pulled out twenty bucks.

"Cheese or peperoni?" she asked, as she hid the wallet back into her backpack. Ryder shrugged.

"Peperoni," I said. She stood up and as she passed behind my chair, she ruffled up my hair. She walked over to the empty counter and hit a little bell. From the back, a very tall and a very fat guy waddled out. He wore a chef's hat, a very dirty white tank, long khaki pants with a white apron tied to his waist. He had thick arched eyebrows and a very pointy nose. I couldn't hear what Panda was telling him, but I saw her hand him the twenty. He gave her back her change and then opened up a little door on the other side of the counter and she walked inside. I didn't know why, but I didn't like it. Ryder suddenly tensed and sat up.

"I don't like this," he said, staring intently into the kitchen. Before I could say anything, Ryder stood up, jumped over the counter and ran into the kitchen. Great. We've got a Jackie Chan on our team. I followed behind him and I found him standing in the very back alone, holding on to a phone. He looked at me.

"She's not here," he said. Then I realized what was going on. I looked around, trying to find any clues when I saw something green sliding out from under a door. I slowly walked towards it and I heard a big clang! I kicked the wooden door open and I saw Panda standing in the corner, with her trident in hand (except it was about two feet long, instead of five) and covered in green slime. A giant figure was melting away and left nothing but a pair of ripped chef's clothes.

"We've got to get out of here! They're coming!" she yelled, as she grabbed my arm and pulled me outside the Pizzeria.

"What happened?!" I asked her, as we ran down Shore Road.

"Monster! Grabbed me when I was talking to the taxi company. He said they'll be coming after us. What? I don't know, but I'm guessing we'll find out soon," she said.

"So, where are we heading now?" Ryder asked, as he caught up to us.

"Just away from here," Panda answered, as she shrunk her trident and clipped it back onto her necklace. I have to admit, it seemed to be one pretty cool and dangerous weapon. We ran for about twenty minutes, when Panda slowed down and stopped. She was panting and tired.

"Are you hurt?" I asked, as I pulled out one of my shirts and started wiping off all the green gunk off of her.

"I'm fine," she answered, as she put her hand over her other arm. She seemed protective as she covered her arm, so I grew suspicious.

"Let me see," I said. She looked at me "confused". "Let me see," I said again, pointing at her right arm. She sighed and revealed a gash across her bicep.

"It's nothing," she said.

"Like hell it's nothing," Ryder mumbled as he knelt next to her. She shot him a death glare. I pulled out a bottle of nectar and poured a little bit over her gash. She winced, but didn't say anything. She bit her lip as I wrapped her arm with some bandages.

"You could've been killed," Ryder said, as he sat down on the curb next to her.

"Then that makes me human," she shot back. Ryder looked a little taken aback, but he didn't say anything else.

"Panda, I'm not sure this was a good idea," I said, as I finished off her bandage. I understood she wanted to find her answers, but we had no idea what was going. All we had to go on were two words that made no sense.

"Percy, I have to do this. It's all I have to figure out what happened to me," she said.

"Then at least tell me what it is," I said. She took a deep breath and started.

"After you told me about your dream, I did a little research, which didn't take too long. Marmes Rockshelter is an old excavation site in Washington State. I don't know why, but I think there was something buried there," she said, rubbing her hurt arm.

"Washington State?" Ryder said surprised. "That's on the other side of the United States! How do you expect us to get there?" Panda smiled.

"One word: Amtrak."

I hope you guys enjoy this chapter! Since it's getting a little more detailed, I can't promise I'll be uploading as quickly (due to research and such), but I will try my best to not take TOO long ;)