DISCLAIMER: MR. RICK RIORDAN IS THE GENIUS BEHIND THIS BOOK SERIES. I ONLY OWN THE PLOT AND SOME CHARACTERS.. SADLY.
Chapter Two
At the name of Camp Half-Blood, my ears perked up. "Camp Half-Blood? You guys are from Camp Half-Blood?" Everyone in the room besides Kate and me looked up at us.
"By the gods Rondale. We are meant to bring half-bloods to the safe house with the least damage as possible." Someone stepped out of a room that was hidden behind a bookshelf. It was a girl about Kate's age. She was beautiful. She was just a little bit taller than Kate and her hair was a dark jet black. Her eyes were what shocked me though. They were a deep green. "The name is Alexandra, but call me Alex. Daughter of Poseidon."
Katie's laughing brought me back to the world. "Poseidon? You've got to be joking. This is some sort of prank right?" No one was laughing though. "Katie's smile faded. "But the gods aren't real." There was a loud thundering from outside of the so-called safe house.
For a couple seconds Alex looked confused. "You guys haven't been claimed yet?" I looked at Katie and all of a sudden a wave of pain came over me. I hunched over and fell to the ground dragging Katie along with me. "Styx," I heard Alex say. "We'll talk about this later. Rondale, you're their protector. Go take them to the infirmary." And that was all I heard before I blacked out.
While I was out, I had another dream. I'm pretty sure it wasn't from my mother this time. I was in a dark room with a small light hanging above a small, rectangular little table with five people around it, four people on the sides and one man at the vey front of the table. The man at the front of the table was silent, just watching the others argue with each other. He had a square jaw and was wearing, what looked like a brand new suit while the others were wearing large pieces of armor. His hair was slicked back so much it looked as if a whole truckload of gel was put into it. He was actually quite scrawny, but he had an aura of power around him. He looked straight at me and I froze. But then he looked away and I realized, they couldn't see me.
I got closer and tried to focus on what they were seemed as if they were having a very serious conversation. One guy started pointing and the man across from him and then launched himself over the table and knocked the man to the ground. They started having a bloody fistfight.
The other two people were still engaged in their conversation, not paying attention to the reckless men fighting under them. "What are we supposed to do now that those two half-bloods have come out in the open? What if they come after us?" He asked the man at the head of the table. The man's fingers started twitching.
"Patience my friend. All is going as planned. Now that we know the location of the half-bloods, we can find them and put them with the others." The man replied calmly. "I don't believe they'll be much trouble."
"But they got rid of the manticore. Not many people can do that. On their first try too," the other man said. "Not even the great Percy Jackson."
"Yes, but that is when they are together. Apart, they are as normal as a half-blood could be. But there is a strong bond between them. We should have separated them when they were younger. As long as they are together, it will be impossible to capture them. We'll wait until they are separated, even for the slightest bit of time that they aren't together, and seize the ? Good. Meeting adjourned." The head of the table started to get up while the others waiting for him to go first. When the man was halfway out of the chair, he froze. "There's someone here. I can feel it." He sat back down and stayed still for a couple of seconds. Then he looked up at me and lunged at me with a sword.
I woke up with a jolt and realized that most of the pain was gone. Where was I? Sitting to my left was Katie who looked at me weirdly but with concern. "You okay?" I took of the covers and put my legs on the side of the bed. I attempted to get up, but only made it halfway to the door when I almost collapsed. Alex caught me before I fell and I could feel all the blood rush to my head.
"Easy there hero. You're not fully recovered." She brought me back to the bed and put me down. Alex left for a while, but then came back with a glass. She sat down next to me and helped me drink some. It tasted amazing. It made me feel all warm and tingly inside. Somehow, it tasted like the soup my dad made for me when I was three years old when I was sick. I don't know how I remembered it, but this drink tasted exactly like it. I started gulping it down until sadly, it was all gone.
"What was that?" I asked. "It was amazing." Alex just laughed and took out a baggie from her jacket pocket. It was full of these little cubes. She then proceeded to feed me them. For a while I forgot about everything. It was just she and I having our little moment.
"What you drank was nectar and what I'm feeding you right now is ambrosia. It's the food and drink of the gods." She said slowly. There was silence after that and I just enjoyed the fact that she was feeding me and actually cared for me. It made me forget all about the dream that I just had. Sooner than I would've liked, I finished all the ambrosia and she stopped feeding me. We kinda just sat and stared at each other for a while.
Then a cough interrupted us. Hesitantly, I looked to the side. Katie was still there watching us. I had completely forgotten about her. I saw a flicker of pain in her eyes, but then it disappeared. It was probably nothing. "So what's the plan?" Katie asked Alex.
"We stay here until further notice. We've already contacted the camp and they said they'd be here in a couple of days," Alex stated. Her voice captivated me and I couldn't help but listen when she talked. Her voice was so smooth and soothing.
"A couple of days? We can't do a couple of days, right Ricky?" She was coming to me for help? I all of a sudden got mad at Katie. Alex was here taking care of us and giving us a safe place to stay. Why was she being so rude?
I frowned at Katie. "Katie, ease up a bit. Stop being such a bitch. Alex is taking care of us." Katie looked hurt when I said that. For a second she let her guard down and I saw hurt and longing in her eyes. Then it disappeared when she put her mask back on. She looked angry but I knew she really wasn't. When you know someone as long as we've known each other, you can tell.
"It's fine." Alex said, trying to ease up the tension. She put her hand on my arm and I instantly relaxed. I could say the opposite for Katie. She looked at Alex's hand on my arm and then at me, giving me a look that said she was as pissed off as she could be. Alex then turned to Katie and gave her a blinding smile. "You know Katie you really don't have to stay. We're not forcing any of you to stay. In fact, you two could walk out that door right now and we can't stop you. But everything we're doing here is for your own good. You two are obviously new at this sort of thing. Now that you two know you're half-bloods, it's easier for them to track you. Easy for the monsters to find you. We're just trying to protect-"
"But we don't need your protection," Katie said loudly through gritted teeth. "Ricky and I have been protecting each other all these years and we're still alive. I bet we could make it for a couple more days." She grabbed my arm and tried to get me out of bed, but I yanked it free.
"I'm not going anywhere Katie. Can't you see the condition I'm in?" By now, we had everyone's attention. They stopped what they were doing and started to stare. The truth was I was actually feeling better, but I didn't want to leave Alex. I don't know why, but I felt like Alex needed me.
I could see the tears almost start to form in Katie's eyes. "Fine. Whatever." She walked over to the weapons and grabbed a knife. She also got a small pack and threw it over her shoulder and then she walked towards the door. I slowly got up and went after her. The door slid open and before she could leave, I grabbed her arm and made her face me.
"What are you doing?" I asked her. "Remember our promise when we were little? That we'd always stick together? What happened to that huh?" A single tear fell down her cheek.
"I could ask you the same question." I was shocked that she said that and let go of her arm. She then turned around, walked away, and never looked back while I just stood there, dumbfounded.
"Should I go after her?" Rondale asked. I wasn't sure if he was asking me, but even so, I didn't have a reply.
"No," said Alex. I turned around and stared at her. Was she just going to let Katie go? What happened to all that crap about protecting her? "She just needs a little time. It's a lot to take in. I did my first time I got to camp. Just give her a chance to sort everything out," Alex said as if she knew what I was thinking.
I nodded and said, "Okay. I'm just worried about her." I walked back to my little cot/bed thing and just sat on the edge. I ran my hand through my hair and thought about my mom. Surely she wouldn't get mad at me just because I was injured right?
Alex came up beside my bed and sat on the chair that Katie was on earlier. "So how long was I out?" I asked her.
"Oh not long. Just about a day." My head shot up when she said that.
"A day? Were my injuries really that bad?" She laughed at me. It was the most beautiful thing I'd ever heard. I wanted to make her laugh again.
"I'd consider that pretty lucky considering all your injuries. You were beaten up pretty bad. But Katie never left your side." I suddenly felt really bad about the way I talked to Katie and how I didn't even try that hard to stop her. "So what's your story with her? You guys a couple or something?"
"Me and Katie? A couple? Nah. People always assume that, but I don't think we'd be good together. We're like complete opposites."
"Well you know, that's how couples usually start. First they have nothing in common, then they start doing everything together and then they become inseparable."
I shook my head at her. "We've known each other for a long time. We don't like each other like that."
"You sure?" She said with her eyebrow raised.
I thought about it for a while. "Yeah I'm sure."
"So you gonna tell me the story between you two or am I gonna have to guess?"
I laughed. "I first met Katie when I was about four years old and she was three. I had just arrived at the foster home a couple months back and was starting to get used to it. Even at a young age I had to learn to fend for myself. Well when Katie first came, she was as shy as anything. She never talked and never looked at anyone. She just stayed cooped up in her room all day. One day, I decided to talk to her. Like I said, she didn't talk so I just stayed there with her and told her my story."
"Your story?"
"How I got to the foster home."
"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to," she said politely. "I'd understand if you don't. I mean we just met and I'm asking you to tell me your life story." She giggled. I laughed along with her and I let my guard down.
"Well I don't really remember much of my story, seeing as I was about four years old when it happened, but I can tell you parts that I do remember. Sorry if I'm not clear enough. Some of the things are a little fuzzy." She waved it off and I continued, "My dad was a rich man once. I don't really remember how, but I remember that we lived in a huge house and we had a maid and a butler and all those rich people things. Well one day, I had just come home from my first day of preschool, and my dad wasn't there. He was called missing and the police searched for him for a couple of months until they gave up and said he was probably dead by now. He didn't have any other family so no one could take me in. I don't know what happened to the money. All that I have left of him is this ring on my finger and the dagger that I had when I walked in."
"Speaking of that dagger, did you know it was celestial bronze?" I gave her a confused look. Obviously I had no idea what it was. "It's one of the only things that can kill a monster, but only the gods and camp has access to it."
"Maybe my dad knew about my mom. She would've told him. I know it." She gave me a sad but reassuring look.
"I don't know Ricky. The gods don't usually care much for their mortal lovers. They just come down to hook up a little and then they leave once they're done." I shook my head in disbelief.
"No. My mom loved my dad. She would've told him." I refused to believe what she was telling me. I knew my mom loved my dad from the dream I had. Should I tell her about the dream? I'll tell her later…
"Okay," she said, giving up. "You gonna finish the story?"
"Alright. Well after I told Katie my story, she didn't say anything, but she did hug me. After that I went to her room to talk to her every day, hoping one day that she'll actually be able to trust me. One day, she actually did. I was about to leave her room when she said something."
"What did she say?" Alex said.
"I'll get to it if you stop interrupting me." She stuck her tongue out at me and I resumed the story. "She said that she was here because her mom was killed. What's weird was that her mom was killed the same day my dad went missing. I think Katie had it worse. She told me that she actually came home from daycare and saw her mom bleeding to death on the kitchen floor. Even at six years old Katie was pretty smart. Her mom had already taught her how to use a phone and who to call for emergencies. Katie found her mom's phone and called 911. They were all shocked that a little girl was able to do that and they thought that it was probably a joke, but they came anyways. By the time they arrived, they were too late. Her mom had passed away. They found Katie cradling her mom's head in her lap, crying her eyes out. Her grandmother was still alive so she stayed there for a couple of weeks until she passed away too. Then she was sent to the foster home."
"That's so sad," Alex murmured. "Then what happened?"
"Then from that day on, we decided that we'd take care of each other. She'd have my back and I'd have hers," I said softly. Damn it, I thought. I should've gone after her. "Together we learned how to mask our emotions. Not to trust anyone but each other. She's my best friend… And I should've gone after her!" I got up and punched the wall. Pain shot through my first but I didn't care.
I turned around and everyone was staring at the small indent I had made in the wall. "Damn boy! You've got to be pretty strong to make a dent in that steel," said a voice that I recognized as Rondale.
"He's right. That's some pretty hard stuff right there. That was also a perfect punch. How'd you learn how to do that?" Alex asked.
"I took every time of lessons there were. Karate, Tae Kwon Do, Wing Chun, Boxing, Kick Boxing. Anything, just so I could protect myself and Katie. We have to go after her. Please," I begged Alex.
"I'll go with him!" volunteered Rondale. Alex pondered over it for a while and my heart raced. I made a decision. Even if she said no, I'd still go.
"Fine," she said. I cheered and fist bumped Rondale. "But I'm coming with you."
I laughed. "Can't get enough of me?" Where the hell did that come from? She rolled her eyes and giggled
"Whatever pretty boy. You keep thinking that. Now come on. We have a rescue mission." She tossed me my dagger and surprisingly, I caught it by the hilt. Alex led the way out the door and we were back in the outside world.
It looked like the sun was just about to set. "Perfect," Alex muttered. "Monsters love coming out in the dark. Let's just keep going." Rondale and I followed her from behind. We walked in silence. Alex seemed different now. She was always alert and I saw her muscles tense at every single sound that broke the silence of the night.
I had an idea. "Whenever Katie wanted to think when we were younger, she would always sit on the bleachers at the old football field of the school." It was the middle of the summer so I doubt anyone would be there, but it was worth a shot.
"Alright. I don't know where that is so you should lead the way." I nodded at her and walked in the direction of the football field. When the football field was in our sights, I saw that one of the lights was on.
"That's weird," I said. "it's the middle of the summer and the sun just went down. Who could be here?" Alex tensed at my words and pulled something from her side that I hadn't noticed was there before. I don't know how I didn't notice, but it was a sword about arms length.
"Keep on the lookout," she said in a demanding voice. "Who knows what could be here?" I led them to the entrance of the actual football field itself and saw what the light was shining on.
There was Katie, and right behind her holding a knife at her neck was the man I had seen in my dream.