Jay, Penny, and Tess headed north, checking every newsstand and television they could find.
"What's that?" Penny asked as they passed a staircase leading underground.
"That's the subway," Tess replied.
"Subway?" Penny stated questioningly. "What's that?"
"It's an underground train," Jay told her.
She starts skipping. "Cool!" Penny paused, as if she was listening for something. "They say there has been an accident."
"Uh..." Tess and Jay exchange worried glances. "Who says?" Jay asked.
"The bees." Penny resumed her skipping.
"The... the bees?"
"I like the bees. They help me. See?" She pointed to a swarm of them, and followed the insects.
"Is that... is that a Demeter thing?" Tess asked Jay in a hushed tone.
"Must be." The two follow after the young girl and her 'bee-friends' toward the accident they claim to have seen.
Nathanial and Jaden roamed the streets of Manhatten. They found different news articles talking about gruesome deaths, but none seemed miserable enough. And that sounded horrible, but... it just was.
"Maybe we can sense the misery?" Nathanial suggested. "Death and misery kind of go hand in hand, right?"
"Maybe." Jaden didn't really seem to agree.
Nathanial tried it anyway. He could fell a lot of death, but he just couldn't sense misery. It wasn't possible.
Jaden was staring at him like he thought Nathanial was crazy.
"Would you just try it?"
Jaden begrudgingly shut his eyes and Nathanial could feel him searching. Jaden suddenly clutched his head in pain. "Ah!"
"What?"
The pain seemed to lessen as Jaden stood straight again.
"I think I found another son of Thanatos," Jaden announced. "He didn't want me peeking around. But," he continued, "I know where he is. 1342 Sycamore."
"Anything else?"
"He said your name."
"Jay?" Tess called to her friend. They searched through the alley the bees had led them toward.
"Nothing!" he replied. "Got anything, Penny?"
Penny didn't reply.
"Penny?" Tess shouted. "Penny!"
The young girl was nowhere to be seen. Led off by her bees.
"We lost her? Already?" Tess exclaimed. "To bees? We've benn on this quest for, what? An hour? Maybe two? And we've already managed to lose the youngest kid. To freaking bees! How could we- How could I-"
"Tess, stop," Jay commanded as he put his hands on her shoulders. "Stop worrying, stop rambling. We'll find her."
"Hello, Tess Matthews. Hello, Jacob O'Connor," a voice called from the other end of the alley.
Jay and Tess exchanged glances as they drew their weapons.
"Who's there?" Tess called into the darkness.
"That's a stereotypical way to get killed," Jay said.
Tess swatted at him only making contact with her fingers. She stayed focused on the mysterious voice and looked for its source.
"If you want to see the girl," the voice said quietly, "then you will come to 1342 Sycamore Road, demigods."
Footsteps receded.
A figure moved through the dark, and Tess ran after it. "Hey!"
Jay scurried to catch up as Tess weaved around corners and hurtled over garbage to catch the mysterious silhouette.
"Tess!" Jay called after her.
She got one last look at the figure. It was a small person with short hair, obviously male, holding a little girl around the neck.
Tess threw a knife, trusting in her aim. She heard a thump and the voice cried out in pain. But he kept running.
Jay's phone went off.
"Hello?"
"We found something." It was Nathanial. "Meet us on Sycamore Road.