He pried his forehead off the back of the smoking headrest, headache pounding in his skull. Percy groaned, hearing his mom shout for him, but took a while to reply.

"I'm fine," he finally mumbled, opening his eyes. The car had drove into a ditch, sinking into the mud, but that wasn't all. He had felt the hairs on his arms stand up, caught whiffs of ozone in the air, like a strike of lightning had hit the Camaro.

Droplets of rain came through a large hole in the roof, metal cracked open like an eggshell. He moaned again, looking for his satyr friend. Percy's eyes scanned over a motionless lump next to him in the back seat, smelling of wet dog and barnyard animals.

"Grover!" He gasped, finding his way to the seat. His friend had blood trickling over the side of his mouth, and Percy's heartbeat quickened. The rain came down harder.

He shook the satyr, hands quivering. Finally, Grover showed signs of life, mumbling something incoherently. Percy didn't listen to the words, glad that they were still alive.

"Percy," his mom spoke, voice heavy. "We have to-" another flash of lightning cut her off, and when he turned, he could see why.

Shapes approached in the distance, amplified by light and roars, coming closer with every breath. He could hear the sound paired up with screeching, and suddenly, his mind just kind of gave out, because these weren't the kinds of hallucinations people had.

"Who is-" Sally's voice cut him off, deadly serious.

"Percy, get out of the car." She slammed herself against the driver's door and Percy's hands found his own, but they were jammed shut with mud. He glanced towards the hole in the roof, edges sizzling, and a part of him was glad that they managed to wreck the car against his step-father's wishes.

"Climb out of the passenger's side!" She finally said, anxious. He looked at her as she continued. "Percy, you have to run. Do you see that big tree?" She pointed, but Percy didn't look.

"What?" He glanced at the next flash of lightning, spotting what she meant; a huge pine tree at the crest of the nearest hill, branches blowing in the strong winds.

"That's the property line," Sally explained, and he could tell she was trying hard not to panic. "Get over that hill and you'll see a big farmhouse down in the valley. Run and don't look back," she urged, and he couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Yell for help, but don't stop until you reach the door."

"Mom," he said, eyes narrowing. "You're coming, too." Her face was pale, eyes sad like they were whenever she saw the ocean. His voice raised into a shout. "No! You are coming with me. Help me carry Grover." His friend moaned again, the shapes growing closer.

"He doesn't want us, he wants you," she tried to reason, but the words didn't make sense to him. "And I can't cross the property line either way."

"But-" She cut him off, voice right.

"We don't have time, Percy," Sally reminded him. "Go." He felt anger rising in his chest, the same anger that he had felt with Nancy, and tried to pretend he hadn't felt the ground shake.

Percy climbed over Grover, forcing the door open out into the rain. "We're going together," he told her. "Come on, mom."

He heard we exasperated sigh. "I told you-"

"Mom!" He said, and had to push down the stirring in his gut. "I am not leaving you," he said, serious. "Help me with Grover." He scrambled outside, hauling the satyr to his feet. He only stumbled, putting his full weight on Percy, and they stumbled towards the hills before Sally came out.

Together, they draped Grover's arms over their shoulders, making their way through waist-high grass. He glanced back, getting a clear look at the monster behind them, and Percy almost stopped.

"That's-"

"Pasiphaë's son," Sally interrupted. "I wish I had known how badly they wanted to kill you."

He struggled with the concept. "But that's the Mino-"

"Don't," his mom warned. "Don't say his name. Names have power." The monster ambled to the car as he tried to make sense of it, nuzzling the heap of metal.

"Food?" Grover mumbled, and Percy shushed him before turning to Sally.

"What's he doing?" He asked. "Doesn't he see us?"

"His sight and hearing and terrible," she said, struggling with Grover's dead weight. "He goes by smell, but he'll figure out where we are soon enough." He flinched as the Minotaur roared in anger, picking up the Camaro and slamming it against the wet asphalt. It skimmed along the road for a few moments before exploding into a shower of sparks.

"Percy," his mom said, anxious, and he turned to look into her worried eyes. "When he sees us, he'll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump out of the way- directly sideways. He can't change directions very well once he's charging. Do you understand?"

He gaped at her, getting out a nod. "How do you know all this?"

She looked down slightly, guilty. "I've been worried about an attack for a long time. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you with me."

He wanted to protest but another bellow of rage broke his thoughts, and they both turned. The Minotaur had started up the hill, having caught their scent.

The pine tree was only a few more yards, but the hill grew steadily steeper, pushing their limits. The monster started to close in, and Sally pushed away her exhaustion to shoulder Grover.

"Go, Percy! Separate!" She looked at him, desperately. "Remember what I said." He didn't want to split but consented, sprinting left and ahead of the bull's path.

He finally turned to face it, finding its black beady eyes, nearly choking on the stench of rotting meat. It stomped ground and lowered its head, charging, and just at the last second Percy dodged.

It barreled past him, and Percy glanced longingly at the lights of a farmhouse half a mile away. He knew they wouldn't make it in time.

The Minotaur grunted, pawing at the ground towards the other two. Just as it was about to charge, a screech filled the air.

He flinched, looking towards the source of the sound. His eyes found a bird-like shape, whipping through the rain, much larger than any bird could be. It circled around him, like a vulture waiting for its prey to die.

Caught in the distraction, he didn't notice the Minotaur charge until it was too late. It made for his mom, grabbing her by the waist before she could get away. He lifted her screaming form victoriously, Percy crying out.

"Mom!" He had never felt this panicked before, this scared, not knowing what to do. She caught his eyes, yelling at him to go before the bird-like creature swooped down and caught her in its claws. It was gone in a flash, whisking his mother away to her death.

He didn't feel anything, couldn't feel anything, as the world exploded into bright light around him.

Check out my Bio for any news on this story and my others, including update times (not set dates), expectations to reach for next chapters, and any thanks to you humans for viewing/favoriting/following/reviewing this story.