DISCLAIMER: I do not own the PJO/HoO series (although none of the characters have made an appearance yet, I'm doing this just to stay safe)

Chapter 3: Auden

I'm utterly confused. Since when was Claudia nice, crazy, and Ethanah my best friend? I don't remember any of that happening. Maybe this is just a dream. Maybe I'm hallucinating. Nevermind that. I just pinched myself and it hurt a lot. Now Ethanah and Claudia are looking at me weirdly. I smiled nervously.

"I'm alright."

They both exhaled. "Ok, good."

Ethanah looked at me right in the eye. " Do you have the supplies? It's almost time."

I took a deep breath and nodded. I tightened my ponytail and braced myself.

Ok, so here's the short version of the plan. Step number one: Ethanah and I bike-jack a random person while Claudia "buys" me new clothes. Number two: we ride downtown and find a private place for me to change in/clean myself up. Number three: we give the stolen bike to a random person for 20 bucks. Number Four: We say our goodbyes. Claudia and Ethanah head back to the bus. So far, we have completed step one, two, and three. The outfit Claudia picked out was actually not bad. I was wearing pale denim shorts with a red and white plaid flannel shirt. Claudia went even further and got me sunglasses and a pair of black converse (with socks, of course). I needed to disguise myself so I don't get caught again.

We were about to say our goodbyes when we heard screaming from a distance and a loud roar. A giant bull thing came our way. He looked at me like he wanted to kill me, but he saw Ethanah and his eyes widened. Ethanah cursed in another language that I somehow understood perfectly. She muttered under her breath and the monster vaporized into yellow dust. Ethanah turned to me and gave me a weak smile. She was pale and looked like she was going to pass out any second. I had a strong feeling that Ethanah had something to do with the vaporizing of the bull monster thing. I was curious.

"Um, did y'all guys see a bull thing too?"

"You mean the Mino-" Ethanah immediately covered her mouth. I raised an eyebrow. Something is up with that girl.

Claudia looked confused. "What bull Mino thing? I saw a cow car."

I was even more confused than I already was. "But…. But I swear I saw some type of monster down that street. You believe me right Ethanah?"

Ethanah chuckled nervously. " Auden, I think you're hallucinating. The bull thing was not there at all, it was only a cow cart. Maybe you've been up too late. Or… or maybe you didn't get enough nutrients today.. Or sleep. Did you know that you need to get 8-10 hours of sleep every day? And you need a certain amount of nutrients per day, and you know the food here is disgusting and unhealthy. Maybe you're just malnourished. And you don't have enough sleep. Or maybe, um-"

Ethanah's watch beeped. "Oh look, it's time for us to go! Claudia, I need to talk to Auden for a sec, I'll meet you at the bus."

I gave Claudia a quick hug as Ethanah grabbed my arm and pulled me into a small coffee shop. She handed me a denim backpack. "The food and drinks in there, only eat it when you're hurt. If you consume too much, you'll combust. Do not give anyone the food, ok? And one more thing- use the tools I provided wisely. Be careful out there Auden. Good Luck."

I was a still very confused and suspicious, but I hugged her anyways. "Bye."

I watched her silhouette get smaller and smaller until it was completely gone as she walked away. I found a corner booth to sit in and opened up the backpack. There were these small squares of what looked like very blonde brownies and a yellow bottled drink. There was also a glowing dagger. The blade looked like it was gold and bronze in a marbled effect. It had a leather sheath. The handle had the word "anemostróvilos" on it. My brain immediately translated it to Twister. There was also a black and white polka-dotted umbrella, a bag of cash, an extra outfit (with shoes), Medea's SPF 5000 sunscreen, a light blue sleeping bag and a fairly large can of spider repellent. I wonder how Ethanah knew about my spider phobia. I put the contents of the small bag I originally packed into this new backpack: five water bottles, ritz crackers, and a charm bracelet my dad gave me before I ran away.

I was quite glad to be off on my own again. No prison school, no weird hallucinations. But this is really when my troubles started.