"I'm guessing something was supposed to happen?" I said, looking up at Annabeth.
"Yeah... What the heck..." Annabeth looked at me; I could tell she was just as confused (or more) as I am.
"Dropped call?" Percy asked, resting a hand on Annabeth's shoulder, her grey eyes looked him over.
"Yeah, I guess we gotta just find another way to camp?" She answered, a smile painted onto her face.
"Okay, I'll see if I can call Blackjack and his friends, Grover- you can take Raven to her house to get her stuff, Annabeth you can take Safdeisha and I'll take Lyra and Kaylee." He instructed to us, a soft determination in his tone. "Meet back here in two hours." Percy looked at us all bright and confident but he seemed to waver only slightly, as if he was worried.
"Maybe I should take Lyra and Kaylee..." Annabeth looked at Safdeisha, her stormy eyes clouded with reluctance.
"Why?" Percy turned to look at Annabeth, his smile fading a little.
"Well, I'll take Kaylee and Lyra, Grover can take Raven and Safdeisha and you could wait for Blackjack and look for Nico." Annabeth looked at her feet awkwardly and then back at Percy.
"Nico's back at camp, c'mon if we don't hurry we'll arrive at camp late." Percy turned to face Lyra and me again, and then we began our journey to our homes.
"Okay, whose house are we going to first?" Percy asked us, and Lyra looked at me, her greenish bluish eyes stared me down.
"Lyra's, it'll take longer to get there than my tree house..." I said quickly, not looking at either of them in the eyes.
"Kaylee's right." Lyra smiled at me and I tried to return it as best as I could manage.
After what seemed like two hours of walking in silence (okay, overstatement, it was actually two minutes) we arrive at Lyra's house... Well, her mansion. It was huge, at least three stories high and way longer than four houses long. It was painted white and it stayed white, and the fountain in the front lawn had been turned off. Lyra's stepdad was one of those 'cheapskates'.
Lyra and I do what we always do when she needs to get into her house without anyone knowing. We all crept close to the wall and hid in the shades of the many shrubs. Birds chirped every now and again if we got to close to their nest. I looked at Lyra for a moment before we approached the eastern wall of the mansion. Percy followed behind us, confused about why we didn't just enter through the front door. But then, he didn't know Lyra's step dad like I did.
We looked at the pipe; it travelled all the way up to the window to Lyra's room. The window was always open, because Lyra normally always snuck into her house. I interlocked my fingers and leaned over so she could get a boost upwards; she climbed up onto the lower balcony and gave me a nod, followed by a cascade of her silky black hair.
She then leaped onto the pipe, and began to climb –monkey like- up the building, she could've past for Spiderman apart from her hair was way too long and black, maybe cat woman? Anyway, she finally climbed into the window and gave us the thumbs up.
"Okay lets go and get my stuff, that way we won't waste anymore time." I said, pulling on Percy's arm to get his attention.
"Okay..." He said, still watching as Lyra disappeared into her room.
"She'll be fine; we've done this millions of times before, even blindfolded as night!" I tugged on his arm, urging him to move.
"We should've brought Nico and then someone could've stayed with each of you." He sighed worriedly and turned to walk alongside me.
We walked through the trees in Lyra's backyard, I glanced up every few seconds, hoping to see tree boy.
"So where is this tree house, then?" Percy looked at me, his eyes completely lost.
"Right over here!" I smiled, pointing up at my make-shift home.
"Wow, okay, hurry!" He told me as I climbed up the tree and pulled myself up onto the small area, it took me a while as my hands were sore from writing those lines... I grabbed a bag, and began shoving my things into it.
"Oh where is it!?" I said out loud. I couldn't find my favourite jacket, or my Panic! At the disco sweater. Where did I...
"Ha!" I snatched the jacket and the sweater and shoved them into my bag also. I glanced around at the small kindle fireplace; the egg I had found was resting in its nest of coals and embers, something inside me told me I have to take it with me.
I grabbed the closest blanket and folded it in half. I then reach into the egg's nest and pulled it out to place it in the blanket. I cradled it carefully like I was lulling a baby to sleep. I took one glimpse around before I threw water onto the fire pit and placed the egg into my bag. I then took one last glance around before I climbed down the tree.
As soon as I stepped off the tree and onto firm ground, a vibe hits me, a strong one, it felt like a brick was weighing down my gut.
"Something's wrong." I turned and faced Percy, who was staring at something on the ground intently.
"What's up?" He looked at me, his eyes wide.
"Is that a crane?" I walked up to the thing on the ground, and sure enough, it was indeed a crane.
Go and help your friend, I heard in my head.
"Are you talking to me?" I said in my mind, crouching down to be closer to the strange yet beautiful bird. Its long neck made it look elegant, but its eyes looked like eyes that could scorch your soul.
Yes, it's a gift from your true father, now, stop wasting your time talking to me and go help Lyra! The crane yells into my thoughts.
"Yes sir." I said slightly sarcastically. I stared at Percy and stood up; he looked at me and smiled slightly like he knew what I was thinking.
"Let's go get Lyra!" I said, smiling back at him before we start running.
As we reach the edge of the property I hear the yelling. Percy and I hopped the fence and ran to help Lyra get away from...
"Shit!" I yelled, trying to push myself farther so I could run faster.
"What?" Percy yelled trying to keep up with me. "Is it a monster?" He reaches for the pen-sword in his pocket.
"No, worse, it's her stepfather." I said, panic choking my voice.
"Oh crap." Percy looked at the two figures we were headed towards.
"Get the hell away from her!" I yelled loudly, as I slowed down to a rather fast paced walk.
"Ah, Katherine Lee, how wonderful to see you."
My own stepfather stepped out from the shadows, a cruel delight in his eyes. I hid behind Percy, who tensed up and uncapped his pen, prepared for the worse.