AN: Sorry it took longer than usual, but I'm on spring break! Remember five more reviews before the next chapter!
I woke up the sound of growling. I, groggily, turned over and I was facing a hellhound the size of a brown bear. It had things of spit coming down from its mouth and it looked pissed at me. I rolled over to avoid its jaws and jumped out of bed.
"Alex! Get up! Hellhound!" I shouted and I could hear her struggling with her sheets.
On the way out I grabbed my knives, but I didn't have enough time to grab my bow as I sprinted out onto the porch. I grabbed on to vines that were growing up onto the porch and I swung myself down. The hellhound easily followed by just jumping off the porch and landing lightly on its feet, two stories down.
I turned around and it leapt onto me. I began to struggle with it and I stabbed the dog in the chest. It jumped off of me, but it was still alive. It snapped at me in what I thought would be pride. It was probably thinking I was going to feed it Kibbles, but I just bounded after it again. It ran away and hopped over the fence.
"Jon!" Alex yelled, from the porch, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, it just got a little bite out of me," I replied, she gave me a look of horror and she quickly used the vine to get down.
"Oh crap, this is not good at all," she muttered, looking at my bloody arm.
"Alex, calm down, it's just a little scratch," I said, trying to calm her.
"You don't understand," she began, "now they can track you."
"What?!" I asked, dumbfounded.
"The hellhound now has your blood and they can use the hellhound to track you," she explained.
"Jon, are you okay?" Thalia yelled, running at me.
"The hellhound got a bite out of him," Alex replied and Thalia stopped dead in her tracks.
"Oh crap, this is not good," Thalia muttered and then she put her head back up, "get your stuff we're leaving."
"Thalia, what's wrong?" Annabeth came running out of the house.
"Hellhound," she replied, gruffly, "we have to leave now, I'm sorry."
"Oh my gods, you can't leave now! You need to stay here until the hellhound gets killed," Annabeth exclaimed.
"Annabeth, you're the daughter of Athena, you know that we have to leave," Thalia chided.
"I know, it's just that the last time I saw you was when Allegra turned three," Annabeth explained.
Thalia shooed us away and Alex and I went back to our rooms to pack. I walked through the porch and into Alex's room. I sat down on her bed and she looked at me.
"What is it?" she asked, worriedly.
"I'm going to ditch Thalia," I answered, sadly.
"What? Why?! I thought you were okay with her now!" Alex exclaimed.
"I am, it's just that she already tried to sacrifice herself for me and I don't want someone to sacrifice themselves just so I can live. I couldn't bear to know that I was the cause of someone's death, especially if I didn't complete my task" I replied, "Do you know what I mean?"
"I guess," Alex sighed, inwardly, "it's just that she is such a great fighter that I think she would be a great addition and she would probably save our lives."
I left Alex to pack her stuff, feeling even worse than I had when I told her I was ditching Thalia. I had been totally truthful to her in there, but I had just left out a minute detail. I was ditching Alex as well. I would have to kill myself if she had gotten killed. We had been through a whole lot together and I wasn't going to let her get killed.
I scribbled a note down, explaining why I was leaving them. I donned the armor that Thalia had given me and I hopped out the window, leaving my stuff. I scaled the wall and I was about to leave when I ran into Percy.
"Where are you going?" he asked, suspiciously.
"Ummm…. Testing out my armor," I lied.
"I'm sure," he retorted, sarcastically, "or maybe you're just ditching Alex and Thalia."
"No! I would never," I began, but he had a knowing look in his eye and I knew that he wouldn't believe me, "fine, I am. But I couldn't live with myself if I cause anyone of their deaths."
"You wouldn't cause their deaths. They chose this destiny for them and they full well know the repercussions of their actions. Any half-blood that goes on a quest is ready to sacrifice their life for the greater good," he explained, "I know I was ready to die a few times."
"That was you, this is me," I replied and I pushed past him.
"If you're going to go through with this, then at least take Blackjack," he offered.
"Who?" I had no idea what he was talking about and he let out an ear-piercing whistle.
Out of the sky I saw a black dot swiftly moving towards me. It slowly defined itself and I saw that it was a black Pegasus.
Yo, boss, what do ya need? It asked and I heard the voice in my head.
"It talks?" I asked, incredulously.. "Yeah, but I wouldn't think that you would understand," he replied, "Blackjack, I need you to take Jon to Miami."
You got it boss.
"And don't call me boss!" He exclaimed and Blackjack let out a whinny, which could have been a laugh.
I lifted myself onto Blackjack and almost immediately he set off at a run. He jumped into the air and took flight. It was the most exhilarating experience of my life. Well, so far, because I never know what winged animal I'll see next. Maybe a hippo….. I looked back down at the house and I saw a familiar brown-haired girl staring up at me.
"Jon!" Alex screamed.
"I'm sorry, Alex, if I survive I'll explain," I yelled back and her reply got lost in the wind.
When I finally lost track of the house a horrible realization hit me. I was all alone now. Usually, I had at least one person, but I had forsaken that for their safety. I hoped it wasn't my biggest mistake yet.
AN: Hope you like it! Five more reviews. The next chapter will be the gods' point of views and the one after that will be Alex's! Sorry!