PERI'S POV

Yes! I can't believe I'm actually escaping prison! I thought as I dashed down the crowded streets of California. Okay, lemme clarify. It's not an actual prison- that would suggest we have rights. No, I'm talking about good ol' St. Mary's School for Girls. I pushed past men in business suits and women in high heels. None of them stopped to wonder why a teenage girl in an academy uniform was running like hell.

Smirking, I thought, Good. I like it like that.

Suddenly, before I had even registered my own movements, I had rushed out into the busy road. Gasping, I ran to avoid the angry, honking cars. Shit! I do NOT like playing Frogger! I thought. Coming dangerously close to being run over more than four times, I stumble over the adjacent sidewalk curb. I tumbled into the concrete breathing heavily. Drivers cursed me out and honked their horns obnoxiously, as I clutched my pounding heart. Looking around, I noticed many pedestrians looking at me like I was crazy. I guess I did just almost cause a major traffic accident.

"Well, I do like making big entrances..." I muttered to myself, smiling. More odd glances were thrown my way.

I awkwardly got up from the filthy street, dusting off my red plaid skirt, straightening my red academy blazer, and pulling up my thigh high white socks. I still had my dignity. Smiling slightly, I made my way in the direction of the woods. I knew those darned nuns couldn't find me there. I smiled wider at the thought of a nun chasing after me brandishing a chainsaw and screaming holy scriptures at me. I made a sharp left, my red blazer blowing in the wind.

SOME TIME GOES BY

After walking awhile, I came to the edge of a forest. I glanced over my shoulder one last time then plunged into the forest.
Okay, maybe I didn't make it clear earlier. This is a really thick, overgrown, I-just-straight-up-walked-into-the-rain forest-forest. I found myself running and rather enjoying myself. I bobbed and weaved through the trees and bounded effortlessly over fallen logs. The brambles were thick, and I repeatedly scratched and cut my skin and clothes. I'm not entirely sure how long I was running, but I had a thin layer of sweat on my brow. I had taken off my blazer and tie, something we were never allowed to do at the academy. My socks were torn in many places, and my white dress shirt was blotted with mud. Still, I grinned.

This is so badass! I thought. Suddenly, I tripped over a rock and found myself plummeting downhill. Rolling down was NOT fun. This wasn't a nice, grassy hill. It had pointy rocks and more thistles & brambles than I could count. And I can count prettyhigh, now!

When I came to stop face first I grumbled, "Damn gravity,"

Spitting up rocks, grass, and leaves, I finally noticed my surroundings. I had stumbled upon a meadow like clearing. Okay, I'm sorry that was a bad pun. But it truly was beautiful. There were little multicolored flowers growing all over. The flat grassland met the setting summer sun, creating a wonderful orange and green contrast; it was utterly picturesque. I slid my backpack off and slumped on a nearby tree trunk; I was drained. Leaning forward, I picked the colorful flowers around me. My golden bang fell into my face, but I was too exhausted to brush it back.

Finally recovering from the Awesome Badass Nature Parkour that just ensued, I decide to get a move on before nightfall. The freaks come out at night and all that jazz, right? Pumped, I hop up and sling my backpack over my shoulder. I sniffed again. My head swiveled to a spot in the trees beyond the shadows.

That's when I saw it.

Shining in comparison to the dark shadows around it, was an eye. Yep ONE eye. Not a pair, just a huge lump of pupil staring right at me. I stood there gawking at it, completely dumbfounded. Woah! Fresh to death! I thought. I smiled at it. That's when it stepped out, and I understood why it had been hiding in the shadows.

Out came the biggest, fastest, ugliest hobo I had ever seen. EVER! He was well over 6 feet and had a filthy, scraggly, hobo beard. And it looked like he missed his mouth when he ate, because there was partly eaten bones and gruel suspended in his beard. He sported the latest in hobo fashion; a filthy, oversize patchwork potato sack. He only had one boot, and it was so old, it flapped open and closed when he took a step. He smelled like pee, skunk stank, and the Chinese resturaunt garbage. "Bleh" was an understatement.

But the weirdest part was his face. I mean, hell yeah it was ugly, but that's not what I meant. He had one huge eyeball in the center of his forehead.

My smile twisted into a look of disgust. "Cyclopes," I muttered. Gram had told me stories about monsters from mythology when I was younger. But that's all they were. Stories. Right? I mean it couldn't be that all that was...real?

I was rudely pulled from my thoughts by the one-eyed hobo. "Mmmmmm! Yummy demigod! Me eat good tonight!" He exclaimed, patting his huge belly for emphasis. He picked up a huge stick from the grass and lumbered towards me.

"I'm ADHD, dyslexic, and now I'm hallucinating?!" I exclaimed.

"Demigods taste best when crushed first!" He announced, grinning. Suddenly, he reared up and swung the stick at me sideways in a baseball bat like way.

The force of the blow sent me sprawling a few yards away, knocking the wind out of me. "Okayy..." I muttered, lifting myself up slowly. "Not a hallucination..."

All of a sudden, there was a commanding voice booming in my head. "Peri! Peri, defend yourself!"

"I'm schizophrenic, too?!" I wailed. "Why? I'm too young to go insane!"

"Peri! Focus! I don't have much time! Defend yourself and make it to Camp Half-blood!" With that, I felt my brain go back to the usual still silence of inactivity.

The Cyclopes clumsily made his way over to me. He loudly reviewed how he was going to cook and eat me. "Sauteed, pureed, or smoked?"

"Cram that!" I declared. I looked around for anything I could use as a weapon. Something glinted in the low light, catching my eye.

The smelly oaf was only a few feet away from me now.

Reflexively, I dove for the object and rolled to my feet. Grasping it tightly, I noticed it was some sort of golden knife.

"Whoa!" I gasped. "A rich people knife!" I smirked and held it with confidence.

"Time to kick some one-eyed-hobo ass!"

The Cyclopes backed up quickly. "No fair! You can't use weapon!"

"Did you just say 'no fair?' Dude, you hit me with a big ol' stick!" I exclaimed. "I probably have a legit concussion now! Your ass is gonna pay!"

I charged at him, Naruto-style. He lifted his stick of doom high in the air, but I just clucked my tongue at him.

"Nuh-uh, bro! You ain't pulling that junk twice!" I ducked under his legs and came up behind him smoothly. Leaping onto his shoulders, I held onto his gross beard for balance.

Flipping nasty, man. I thought. Closing my eyes tightly, I plunged the golden dagger into his enormous eyeball.

I heard him shriek for a split second, then everything went silent. I opened my eyes as I plopped to the ground in a pile of golden dust. Quickly, I glanced at the knife in my hand. To my relief it was still intact, and there were no eyeball juices on its shiny golden exterior.

Confused, I looked at the golden dust blowing away in the wind around me.

"Yo what?" I murmured to myself.

I suddenly remembered the strange voice in my head ordering me to go to some camp ...Camp Half-Blood, I think.

"What the stuff is a bloody half?" I murmured as I got up from the desecrated meadow.

I slipped the knife into my backpack and slung it onto my shoulder. I strolled out of the meadow, somehow knowing which direction I was headed.

I smirked. Bloody halves... Who came up with this shit?