AN: Hey guys! Gosh, I'm such a bad person! I'm so sorry it's been forEVER! But! The good news is that I'm done with this chapter! YAY! Another good thing is that I have a reason for being so procrasting (other than that I take after my father…)! The last few months have been craaazzzyyy busy with school and end of the year stuff. Plus, I had to finish up my transcribing (which I've had since before Christmas break… ha… haha…) Anyway! Read on.

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I'm not Rick Riordan so nothing that are his ideas from his books are mine. : )

Chapter 4 - I Get An Unexpectedly Scary Joy Ride

Kids began screaming in the midst of ceiling sprinklers hissing to life. The fire alarm wailed uncontrollably. I stood there in the core of complete chaos. I was calm. What surprised me was… there was absolutely no blood. No sign of a murder except for witnesses and craziness. Nothing.

Rachel ran to Percy and grabbed his sleeve. "You have to get out of here!" she hissed into his ear. He glanced back at Paul who was staring at him in deep sadness. Percy turned away and sprinted down the hall. He didn't look back.

o0o0o

Yep. I followed again. You got to admit, that was not normal. Everyone was dancing around the halls, frightened to enter the bathrooms or any classes. I felt as though I was the only one who saw what really happened. I raced after him; full force till my legs felt like led and then I still ran. I gulped in every breath of fresh air I could find. Where the heck was this kid going? Finally, we burst out of the school building. (After, like, 50 flights of stairs.) I immediately fell over and rolled behind a car. I quickly peeped my head up and over to see Percy run out of the alley and, BAM. Right into some really pretty blond girl.

"Hey, you're out early!" she smiled and laughed as she held onto Percy's shoulders to keep him from tumbling over onto the sidewalk.

Dude, does this guy know everyone he "runs" into?

"Watch where you're going, Seaweed Brain." She had sparkling grey eyes and a bright orange shirt that read, "Camp Half-Blood." A clay-bead necklace hung delicately around her neck as her curly hair, up in a ponytail, shone in the sunlight. For a split second she was in a good mood. I heard someone push open the doors. Rachel came barreling out covered in dust and running toward the duo. "Percy, wait up!" she yelled across the alley.

I noticed the blondie didn't look so happy anymore. Ah, the misery of rivals. She frowned at Percy. "What did you do this time? And who is this?"

Percy laughed nervously. "Oh, Rachel- Annabeth. Annabeth- Rachel. Um, she's a friend. I guess."

Oh, cool. Annabeth.

"Hi," Rachel said sweetly, then turned to Percy. "You are in so much trouble. And you still owe me an explanation!"

Police sirens began to wail.

"Percy," the blond girl stated coldly. "We should go."

Rachel put a hand on Percy's shoulder. "I want to know more about half-bloods," she insisted. "And monsters. And this stuff about the gods." She whipped out a permanent marker and wrote something on his arm. "You're going to call me and explain, okay? You owe me that. Now get going." she waved her hand for him to go.

Percy started. "But-"

"I'll make up some story," Rachel promised. "I'll tell them it wasn't your fault. Just go!"

She came sprinting back toward the school and I ducked. She skidded to a halt in front of the door, took a peek back, then flung it open and stepped inside. I could hear the fire alarms still screaming. Along with many crazy children. I turned back to Annabeth staring at Percy harshly. Then she turned and took off.

"Hey!" Percy jogged after her. "There were these two empousai," He tried to explain. "They were cheerleaders, see, and they said camp was going to burn, and-"

Annabeth stopped and looked at him disapprovingly. "You told a mortal girl about half-bloods?"

"She can see through the Mist. She saw the monsters before I did."

"So, you told her the truth."

"She recognized me from Hoover Dam, so-"

Annabeth looked exasperated. "You've met her before?"

Percy hesitated. "Um, last winter. But seriously, I barely know her."

"She's kind of cute," Annabeth mused stiffly.

"I-I never thought about it."

Annabeth started walking again toward York Avenue. I crept along, closely behind.

"I'll deal with the school," Percy sounded anxious to change the subject. "Honest, it'll be fine."

Annabeth wouldn't even look at him. "I guess our afternoon is off. We should get you out of here, now that the police will be searching for you." she said sadly.

Behind us, smoke billowed up from the high school.

"You're right," Percy told Annabeth. "We have to get to Camp Half-Blood. Now."

o0o0o

I began to follow them as they quickly made their way through the alleys to… somewhere. Camp-Half Blood? Whatever that is. Suddenly, someone dashed out in front of me and we collided.

I sat up and tentatively rubbed my head. "Gosh, watch where you're go… ing."

The face that was staring right back at me was none other than… Bill.

"Bill? What the heck are you doing here?"

He gasped for air. "I'm sorry it's just that you… uh," he stopped and then went on with a slightly guilty smile. "I, uh, thought I would follow you."

"Follow me? You were fine where you were earlier. When you weren't here," I grumbled with irritation.

He seemed kind of sad. "Oh. I'm… sorry."

There was a slight pause in the conversation and suddenly I felt so evil. "Look; you… um… can come with me if you really want to," I smiled sympathetically. It was the least I could do. His mouth slightly upturned on the ends and he trailed along beside me for a few minutes.

"So… what are we doing?" Bill asked casually.

I hesitated. Should I tell him, Oh, I'm just stalking these two crazy people. One is like 'half Greek god' or whatever. No big deal, you know?

"Well…" I laughed nervously. "There are these two people that I was walking… with. And then I… uh… lost them. Heh heh," I gave him a guilty smile. Which probably looked similar to the one he gave me earlier.

Bill looked at me suspiciously. "Mhmm…"

"What?"

He smirked at me. "So, who were you… uh… 'walking' with?"

I frowned and stopped in the middle of the alley. "Do you want to follow me or not?" I asked rudely.

Bill walked backwards as he put his hands up in surrender. "Hey, I'm just trying to make conversation."

I started again in a stomp-ish sort of way because he annoyed me. "Why are you even here? How do I know you're not going to, like, take out a knife and start stabbing me?"

He laughed. It was a really weird laugh. It reminded me of my grandpa's farm… but it made me smile which made me mad because I didn't want to show him approval. But… it was almost impossible not to like this guy. You know, as a friend.

He was still walking backwards when I saw a huge shadow creep across the wall behind him. I stopped dead in my tracks. What was that? My heart raced. Bill's smile slowly faded. He could tell something was wrong.

"Gadi-" he started.

I put a finger to my lips. My whole body was trembling.

Bill stooped down and grabbed a coke can off of the ground. I gazed at him in confusion but I did not take my eyes off that shadow.

"Gadiva," Bill whispered almost inaudibly. "When it's right behind me, scream."

I nodded my head. The world was almost spinning.

Out of the darkness, crept this huge… monster. I had no idea what it was. I don't know if I even do now. It looked like a giant rat-snake thing covered in fur and then… scales. I tried to scream but I couldn't get anything out. Bill stared at me determinedly.

"Bill!" I finally mustered. He turned around so fast I almost didn't know what was happening. He threw the can into the thing's mouth and started sprinting towards me.

"Gadiva!" He grabbed my arm and we raced through the alley. I heard this disgusting noise like something was throwing up and then a POP. The can came flying at us and landed in Bill's free hand.

"Nice," he smiled.

Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I saw Annabeth and Percy hopping into a taxi.

"Bill! That's them! The people I was following!" Trashcans exploded behind us.

"What you were following Perc- Nevermind! Come on! We'll take a taxi!"

"Are you crazy? We'll be dead by the-"

"Just trust me, okay?" he stared intently into my eyes. Which is funny at the moment because we were still running.

"Um… okay."

Bill ran to a taxi, pulled open the door, and pushed me in. He climbed into the seat next to mine and the car shuttered to a start. We swerved out of the parking space, speeding like little joy riders going 100 mph on a 5 mph back-road; also heading to a place I'd never heard of and… oh yeah.

Bill was driving.

Suspense. Muahaahha. LOVE IT! - Sockface 13