Chapter 11

J
A
K
E

I didn't have any specific place in mind when I flame jumped, so I somehow ended up in the middle of the city.

Crap.

I didn't know anything about New York, I might as well have jumped to Tokyo. I was lost and alone in a huge, foreign city with nowhere to go and nothing to do.

I could go back to camp, but I'd have to answer tons of questions that I didn't have an answer for, on top of having to deal with the building hatred. This probably wouldn't help me out much.

When the two headed dog, Orthrus as he called himself, spoke to me, I just assumed that everyone else could understand. But no, apparently, he had spoken in some other language that only monsters could understand.

Did I speak in that same language, or did I speak in English? Can monsters even understand English?

My mind was swimming with hundreds of questions, none of which I could answer.

I started walking in a random direction and eventually came across a McDonald's.

At least I can understand cheap, questionable meat. I thought as I walked in and bought a burger.

I sat down at a table and ate my food, still thinking about all that had happened.

The dog had offered me a "family." He wanted me to join an army of monsters and march on the camp. When I declined his offer, he said that I could meet my father if I joined. He promised that my dad actually cared about me and told me about the "gifts" my father had given me.

My dad didn't love me, I was nothing to him. He'd have at least done something to show that he was watching me. He only wanted me because I'd shown potential. I would not be used by my father to get revenge!

I finished my burger and left McDonald's to continue my walk. I eventually found Central Park and sat down on a park bench.

"Orthrus was telling the truth." Said a voice from behind me.

I jumped off the bench and whipped my Zippo lighter out of my pocket. I flicked the cap open with my thumb and the lighter turned into my sword.

The source of the voice came from a girl who looked about the same age as me. She had a great figure, to say the least, with blonde hair and blue eyes, much like Madison, but this girls eyes weren't soft and inviting, they were mean and icy.

She was stunningly beautiful which put me on guard even more than I already was.

"You don't need that sword BTW." She said as she moved around the bench and sat down in the same spot I'd been sitting in.

"I think I'll keep it." I said on edge.

I could tell by every thing about her, she was the arrogant and seductive type. She was the person that'd bring you in just to kick you out again, the person that wouldn't hesitate to use you to get what they want, then toss you aside like you were nothing, she reminded me of that Drew girl back at camp.

"Okay, keep the sword then. You won't need to use it." She said.

"And who are you?" I asked.

"I'm Tammi, but that's not important, unless, you want me to be important." She said with a wink.

"Yeah, I'm good. Now why are you here?" I said.

"Isn't it obvious? Your daddy sent me here, silly." She said flirtatiously.

"And what does he want?" I asked with anger in my voice.

"His son back, he needs to do all those "father-son bonding activities" like camping, fishing, playing catch, teaching you how to ride a bike, taking over the world, and giving you "the talk". Things like that!" She said excitedly.

The thought of a giant man with one hundred serpents where his head should be, in a polo shirt with white sneakers on, fumbling to explain to me where babies come from, popped into my head.

"I don't have a response to that." I said.

"That's okay." Said Tammi. "I'll give you this!"

A pin and torn piece of paper magically appeared in her hands. She quickly scribbled something down and handed it to me.

I looked down at the paper, it was a phone number with a few hearts around it.

"What's this?" I asked stupidly.

"It's my number. Call me if you change your mind, or if you just wanna have a little fun sometime." She said while she bit her lip and pressed her body up against mine.

"Don't count on it." I said, as I stepped away, but I still stuck the paper in my pocket.

"Well, you're no fun. Here I was trying to be all cute and you had to go ruin it." She said as she crossed her arms and pouted.

"Yeah, I have a habit of ruining things." I said.

"Well, I hope you change your mind, Jake." She said as she turned around. "I totally loved hanging out with you."

With that, she walked away, making sure to sway her hips as she did.

What the hell just happened? I thought once I was alone. And who, or what, was she?

I now had even more questions that I needed answers to.

I didn't flame jump back to the camp, I continued to walk around the city, sticking mainly to the allies. I didn't want to to be around people tonight, I'd had enough social time for one day.

The thing about New York in the middle of the night, it gets cold and I didn't have any shelter.

I remembered that Chiron had said that I may have some control over fire, and I did, but just how much control do I have.

I found a metal trash can and filled it up with any flammable thing I could find. I then stood in front of the trash can and focused on the material igniting itself. Nothing happened, so I tried to get a fire ball to form in my hands, like when I fought Todd. I got sparks, but not nearly enough to do anything.

I'd been trying for about a hour with no luck. So I sat down and tried to warm my hands with my breath. That's when it hit me. I'd been going about this the wrong way. I didn't have superpowers or anything, I had traits.

I stood up and faced the trash can one more time. I took a deep breath in and exhaled with as much force as I could. My breath was now a torrent of flames that completely melted the trash can.

I stood there in amazement for a few minute or two, just looking at the smoking pile of metal.

I may have overdone it a little bit. I thought.

I quickly located another trash can and filled it with flammable material. Once again, I took a deep breath and let out another torrent, only this time, I focused the blaze by curling my lips. This torrent was tighter and wasn't nearly as strong as the last one. The material inside caught fire and continued to burn for an hour or so. It would have burned longer, but then the muggers showed up.

There were three of them, all around their early twenties. Each of them had greasy black hair slicked back with gold chains around their necks and leather jackets.

"I'm sorry, squirt, but I believe you're on our turf." Said the one in the middle.

"I believe a lot of things, that doesn't make them all true." I said.

"Real funny kid, real funny. I'll tell you what, just give us your wallet, and we'll leave. Simple as that." He said.

"I'll tell you what, I've had a bad day, so walk away and I'll forget all about this little encounter. Simple as that." I said gravely.

"Ha! You asked for it, squirt." He said as he punched at my head.

I sidestepped the attack, grabbed his wrist, and pulled him towards me, slamming my knee into his gut. He bent over and grabbed his stomach in pain. I took advantage of the moment and punched down at an angle, making contact with his jaw and knocking him to the ground.

Both of his friends pulled a crowbar from their jacket and moved in. One of them swung straight down at me, but I grabbed the crowbar and slammed my palm into his elbow, breaking it and leaving it bent the wrong way. I then delivered an uppercut to his chin, sending him staggering backwards a few steps before falling on his back.

The third, and apparently the smartest, was now keeping his distance. Eventually he swung his crowbar at my head like a baseball bat. I quickly ducked underneath it, placing myself behind him, and kicked him in the behind the knee cap. That leg gave out and he was now kneeling on the ground. I punched him in the back of his head, right where his skull met the spine, knocking him out.

"Some people just don't listen." I said as I walked away.