"Please tell me there was a logical explanation for why you were at that party." Lawrence said as he drove me home in his police car. The clock read 1:22 in the morning. I could still hear the reverberating in my ears, and it took me a moment to respond.
"I didn't want to be there and I didn't know it would quite like that."
Lawrence looked over at me as he drove. I could see genuine worry in his eyes, but that was vastly outnumbered by anger. "And yet you still snuck out and went to that party without telling me."
I remained silent. I had no excuse. I couldn't help but wonder what kind of punishment he had in store for me. Grounded for a month? No "debate club?" Extra chores? Never leaving the house again? But instead Lawrence's next words surprised me more.
"I get it, I do. I did the same thing to my dad when I was your age. And you know what he did to punish me?" I braced myself. "He got me a dog. And that's what I'm going to do to you."
I blinked, sure my ears were damaged from the volume of the music. "Um...what?"
He nodded, and I could see his resolve hardening. "You heard me. He said I needed to learn responsibility, and the only way to do that was go get me a dog have me raise it all by myself."
The realization hit me like a truck: I would never have free time again.
"Today, at...let's say noon, we're going to the humane society and getting you a dog, kid. Enjoy your freedom while you can."
x x x
After I had slept till eleven, showered and changed, Lawrence dragged me away from the couch (literally), and placed me in the back seat of his police car. You know, the part with all the bars over the windows that separated the passenger from the driver? I guess he thought I was going to try and escape. Which, don't get me wrong, I probably would have had he left me in the front.
"You know, this is overkill." I called to Lawrence.
"Not with you it isn't." He turned a corner. "By the way, who was that guy you with last night? Uh, brown hair, green eyes, square glasses?"
"What? Liam? You think Liam and I—"
"I'm just warning you that some guys can't be trusted."
"Well, yeah, but Liam's really nice and—"
"Ah! That's how it starts!" We stopped at a red light.
"That's how what starts?"
"That's when you fall for a guy and they stab you in the back."
I choked on air. "I'm sorry, what? Liam—I'm not going to—he's so—ugh!"
"Just trust me. Backstabbers have the best disguises."
"Oh, and you know this how?"
Lawrence shrugged and pulled the car forward when the light turned green. "Old girlfriend may have had an effect on me."
"Ah. How far is the humane center from here?"
"Eh, about a mile or two."
I didn't say anything after that. Since I had the whole backseat to myself, I propped my legs up on the other side and sort of used the backseat as a bed. Before I knew it, I was asleep.
I was in the same forest as before in one of my previous dreams, except that the forest wasn't burning. It was still night, but the moon was back to its normal silvery color, not the blood red of the other dream.
"She needs help." The voice was clearly female, one that I recognized, though from where I wasn't sure. "I'm sending her something that will help her understand. She has to stop Zeus!"
The next voice was also female, but I didn't know this one. "Are you sure that's wise?"
"She needs it."
Suddenly, a white timber wolf ran past me, brushing it's fur against my leg, and suddenly it was like I could hear it's thoughts.
"Need to find the Forbidden Child. Follow the scent."
"Alex."
I looked around the forest, seeing nothing but the rustling of leaves. Thunder struck overhead.
"My son will not associate with that abomination!" A distinctly male voice boomed. "Send him a message."
"Alex!"
I turned suddenly. There was nothing except for a black and white dog sitting at my feet.
"ALEX!"
"Gah!" I yelled, waking with so much of a start that I slammed my head into the roof of the car. "Oh...ow."
Lawrence was standing in front of me, with the car door to the backseat open wide. He looked very, very worried. "You were mumbling something about a 'Forbidden Child'."
"Huh?" I unbuckled my seat belt. "Uh...that's for my writing project. Are we here?"
Lawrence stared at me for a moment, and then nodded. "Yeah."
I cracked my neck sorely and climbed out of the car, stretching my limbs as I went along. Lawrence was already way ahead of me, and I had to run to catch up with him. By the time I did we were already in the lobby.
Some people say that the humane society is cute, with all its kittens and dogs waiting to be picked up, but this place looked downright scary. It may have had something to do with the fact that the building itself was right next to the county prison. The inside of the building smelled like an allergy attack waiting to happen. In fact, I didn't even know whether or not I was allergic to dogs or not. All I knew was that I hated cats.
Lawrence rung the bell on top of the counter impatiently. Almost a full minute later, an elderly woman dressed in 80's attire (complete with a minuscule gray Afro, beads, leg warmers, and a neon top that should not have fit a woman of her age) appeared out of the back room and approached us from behind the counter.
"May I help you?" She croaked.
"Yes," Lawrence said, relieved that someone had finally arrived to help us. "We're looking to buy a dog."
The woman looked totally unsurprised. "This way." She started walking down a hallway to the right and we had no choice but to follow her. As soon as we reached the end of the hallway and she pushed open a metal door, the sound of barking filled my ears along with the musty smell of dogs who hadn't bathed in a long time.
"Pick one," the elderly disco diva said, waiting by the door as Lawrence and I hesitantly stepped into the room. Lawrence went one way, and I went another. I somehow ended up in the "0-2 years old" section of the place. At least, that's what the sign above said. Inside were a whole bunch of dogs in cages, most of whom were yipping and howling like there was no tomorrow. When I entered, their barking only increased, desperate to be taken home. Naturally, being an unruly teenager, I walked over to the dog that was loudest.
The dog was a husky, there was no mistaking that, but there was something distinctly wolffish about it. Instead of rounded ears, it's ears were pointy, and it had a thick coat. The coat in question was black and white, with just a hint of grey. It stared at me with one green eye and one light brown eye, just like my own eyes. There was a name tag attached to the cage that read Cooper.
With a start, I jumped back from the cage, and nearly slammed into the other cages.
That dog looked just like the one from my dream.
"You gonna stand there and stare at me all day?"
I jumped again, and glanced around the room, but there was no one there.
"Hey! Over here!"
I looked over towards the door, but once again no one was there.
"No, down here."
I looked down at the floor.
"No! To your right!"
I did as the voice said, (which some would say is a bad sign) and my eyes landed on the cage with the dog from my dreams in it. The dog (Cooper?) feebly raised a paw at me in a salute.
"The dog? You have got to be kidding me." I slammed my forehead into my palm and sighed.
"It's not a joke! Listen, ya gotta get me out of here. I haven't bathed in a month and I am covered in fleas. Plus that elderly lady? Scares the crap out a me." Cooper touched his paws to the bars of his cage in an attempt to break free.
"Not until you tell me how you can get in here." I pointed at my head. "Oh, and why."
"Eh, if I must." Cooper rolled over on his back. "Ugh, these fleas are killing me. So, I was scavenging through this nice pile of garbage from the butcher shop, and then suddenly there's this bright flash a light and this woman comes up to me, tells me to find some chick called, 'The Forbidden Child,' and gives me some information to tell ya."
"How did you know who I am?" I demanded, leaning down to his cage.
"Lady gave me a scent to follow, led me straight to you. Anyways, she told me to tell you to tell Chiron that ya need to know about the fight with the gods." Cooper rolled back over onto his back and panted as he scratched his ear with a paw.
"That's it?" I asked.
"Well, yeah. I'm assuming this Chiron guy has the details. Anyways, you have to get me out of here. I'm not sure I can take any more of this place! I'm gonna snap!" He growled in what he probably thought was a menacing manner. Then he shivered. "She gave me shots! Shots! It was horrible."
"Can dogs have mental breakdowns?" I theorized.
"You better believe it!"
I sighed. "Hold on. I'll be right back."
Holding my head in one hand and bouncing the other in my thigh, I walked over towards the elderly woman, who hadn't moved at all since we left her. Lawrence was standing near her. Most likely annoyed, since he had no dog with him.
"Excuse me," I said. "What can you tell me about Cooper?"
"Oh, the street rat? We found him a few months ago, in Central Park. Barking like mad up this giant pine tree."
My eyes widened. I looked at Lawrence. "We're taking him."
"Now, hold on," Lawrence said. "I haven't even seen this dog yet, and we don't even know if—"
"Oh, he has all his shots," the woman said. "Administered them myself."
Which is probably why he's terrified of you, I thought.
"Alright," Lawrence said. "Let me take a look at this dog and then we'll see."
x x x
"So let me make sure I'm hearing you correctly," Annabeth said. "Your guardian punished you. With a dog?"
I shrugged. "Yeah."
"Ugh, I wish my mom was like that," Percy said.
"What do you mean? Sally is cool, Perce." Thalia said.
"My mom punishes me by making me clean my sister's room." Liam said. He shivered. "Her room will join me in my nightmares."
"But that's not even the weirdest part," I continued.
"Liam cleaning his sister's room?" Grover asked.
"No! The weirdest part was that I could hear his thoughts, almost."
Annabeth dropped her fork. "What?"
"I said I could hear it's thoughts. It said that it had a message for Chiron, but he's not here today."
Everyone at the table was staring at me.
"What?" I said.
"C'mon," Thalia said. "It's time for you to learn how to make an Iris Message."
Ok, this is super short, and was written suuuper fast. Thought I should make up for not updating, plus had nothing else to do.
