I shivered, putting my cheek onto the leather upholstery. That must've shown Tabbatha how really upset I was, because normally I would complain that it's cars like these killing off cows and the environment.

"It's okay…" Tabbatha spoke to me as if I were a hurt animal backed up into a corner. She was hardly paying any attention to the road.

"No," I said, sitting up and trying to look fine. "I'm alright. You just worry about the road."

"Tabbatha rolled her eyes. "How impossible are you?"

"Very," I said. I looked in the back, and my mouth dropped open. "No way," I said, forgetting my aftershock for a moment.

"What," asked Tabbatha, looking over her shoulder. The car swerved off of the road and skinned a pine tree.

"Eyes on the road!" I screeched.

"Oh, yeah," said Tabbatha looking back. "But what is it?"

"Your dad packed for us," I said, trying to squirm close enough to grab one of the bags. I caught the strap of a denim blue bag and hulled it forward. "Check it out! A bag of cash, a bag of cookies," I smiled, which must've totally clashed with my puffy red eyes. "Coffee beans."

The car swerved again, as if Tabbatha was already high. "SWEET!" she exclaimed.

I set the bag down in the back seat and stayed silent. Watching in the mirror, I could see my eyes slowly forming back to normal. No more tear stains, no more raw looking skin. Just my face. Finally, I sighed. "Tabbatha?"

"Hmm?" she asked, her nose twitching

"What do you think made me want to… touch the snake?"

Tabbatha was silent a moment. "Well," she finally said. "I've been thinking about that. What did the snake look like?"

"Well, it was gleaming gold at first… and then…" I stopped.

"And then what?" she asked, stealing a glance at me.

"And then the gold melted off when the peacock picked it up."

Tabbatha blinked a couple of time, as if shocked by what I said. "I know what made you touch it," she whispered.

"What?" I asked, leaning forward, but automatically being snapped back by the "extra protection" seatbelts.

"Well, I don't really know how to describe it. It's like… a golden apple of immortality melted down. When it's painted on an object, it's nearly impossible not to touch. Zeus has only used that once before to paint the inside of Pandora's box."

"You mean the box that held the evils of the world's?"

Tabbatha nodded somberly.

"Oh, now I'm having fun," I said sarcastically.

"Hey, things aren't all bad," she said. "I mean there's… no wait that's bad… Ooh Wait! How about the—no, that's not good either."

"Yeah, you're really making me bright and sunny now!" I said, giving her a thumbs up.

Tabbatha stayed silent. I looked out the window, watching the dirt road slowly transform into concrete. "So…" I asked. "Are we going to drive all the way across America?"

"Unless you can fly," said Tabbatha, tinkering with a keychain hanging from the mirror.

"Truck," I sighed monotonously, watching a two-ton truck hurl toward us.

Tabbatha shrieked and swerved again, missing the truck. I looked up, planning to flip off the driver, but stopped. He was looking right back down at me, sneering. But what struck me was that he had one calf-brown eye in the center of his forehead.

I watched him stand up and fling the door open. All I could do was tap Tabbatha on the shoulder. "Yeah?" she asked, but was interrupted by the roof sinking lower. The Cyclops had jumped on top of the car.

Tabbatha screamed and thrust the car to the right, cutting off a taxi with flashing lights. The sunroof shattered, lodging a piece of glass into my arm. I clawed at it, trying to get it out, but I couldn't.

Tabbatha punched the Cyclops, bashing in its nose. "Dahh!" it shouted, trying to grab her head. Instead, Tabbatha bit it in the arm, ripping away a piece of flesh.

"Eew!" she shouted, spitting it out the window. "Don't you ever shower?"

I grabbed the flashlight key chain from off the keys and pressed the button, having it grow longer in my arms. "Eat this!" I shouted, sheering off its ear

It snarled at me, and grabbed me by the throat, lifting me out of the car. I wa kicking in vain, swinging my sword through nothing but air.

It laughed, and brought me towards its mouth. "You're gonna eat me?!" I asked in disbelief. "That is so barbaric."

Instead of eating me, though, it ate something else. Celestial bronze arrows.

Shrieking, I fell through the roof again, landing next to Tabbatha.

"Oh…" I said, rubbing my head. Tabbatha pulled the car into a McDonalds parking lot. My vision went red and fuzzy, feeling the sting of the glass wedged into my arm. The last thing I remembered was Tabbatha coming towards me in seemingly slow motion.

XXXXXXX

Phoebe- And they all lived happily ever after!

Tabbatha- Not! You know, there is still stain in my car from that wound.

Phoebe- A stain in your car? How about a stain on my skin!

Tabbatha- Yeah, well… that too.

Phoebe- Well, anyway… IF YOU CARE ABOUT ME AT ALL THEN YOU MUST REVIEW!

Tabbatha- And if you don't review you shall be forced to watch Bob the Builder for the rest of your life!

Phoebe- And you will crash you Porsche if you got one.

Both- (evil laugh)

Phoebe- On that happy note, thanks for reading, we'll be sure to update soon.