I was bored, oh so very bored.

My name is David, David Summers and well what "normal" guy wouldn't be bored working the cash register at the local corner store, especially on a particularly dreary Saturday. The weather wasn't bad but it certainly wasn't sunshine and rainbows, instead it was a grey overcast steadily growing dimmer as the sun sank in the eastern skies.

Now there's something about working retail that makes a man notice certain patterns. When you're stuck behind a register for six hours straight, for less than minimum wage, scanning an endless amount of microwave food and sugary snacks, you see things that normal less caffeine addicted people might not see. Like how a certain boy of around twelve never seemed to quite cast a shadow.

I first noticed him a few months back on a particularly tiring shift in late August. The lights buzzed like an angry swarm of wasps just off in the distance, close yet too far away to see, the broken air conditioning certainly didn't help my foul mood. Now this boy, I came to find out his name was Alex, he came into the store around half an hour before closing. Wearing a faded purple hoodie and equally worn jeans despite the weather being so hot it could flash fry an egg inside it's shell. He bought an odd combination of items specifically honey. a pair of sunglasses and gauze. Yes you heard me right when I said it was an odd combination.

Now this wouldn't be too odd if it happened once, yet it wasn't once, oh no this repeated every few weeks for several months. Same clothes, same items and the exact same time. It didn't help that every time he came it seemed that all the perishables, especially fruit suddenly was rotten despite being fine mere hours before.

Most people would chalk it up to some coincidence or faulty electricals, maybe the superstitious would think the kid was cursed. Then again most people aren't like me, they haven't spent the first half of their life watching the thin mist between the natural and supernatural fade away. People thought I had an overactive imagination, well when your best friends science project turns into some demonic looking beast that no one else can see? Well as you guessed I'm not exactly normal either.

When I told my mother about the science project incident, well I've never quite seen such a look of panic before. She gave me the usual your father is a god talk and whisked me off to a certain camp, so fast it was like I was trash to be dumped into a tip. Now I was lucky, I survived till adulthood and now well monsters don't usually go after me. Thankfully my time was before that whole war with the Titans, so I safely avoided it... was it cowardly?

Yes, but I like living so who could blame me.

Anyway back to the kid. Tonight Alex's hands practically trembled as he placed his items on the counter. The skin around his fingernails was a rather unsettling shade of mottled grey. When his hand touched mine by accident, I felt that chill and it certainly hadn't anything to with the outside cold due to the rather aggressive heating. It was like touching a corpse, the freezing chill of clammy decay. That solidified my thoughts, Alex was definitely not a monster so the simple conclusion was that he was a demigod.

I looked at him fully giving him my attention, "You know," I stated while bagging his items, "I do have some ambrosia squares on me, I could give you some if you need them... if you're interested."

Then his head snapped up, violet eyes widening with a particular bright flash of golden light that was definitely not from the fluorescents.

"I... I- I don't know what you're talking about." he stammered that out like it caused him some kind of sharp pain. His right hand then moved brushing a strange silver ring on his left pointer finger. It was rather plain and unadorned apart from one singular piece of amethyst that almost glowed if you saw it from the right angle.

"Sure you don't, just like I'm sure you don't know anything about Camp Half-Blood or why the pigeons always seem to drop dead whenever you're having a particularly bad day." I replied while sliding his receipt across the counter.

The colour drained from his face, it would have been almost funny if I didn't get the kids horror after all I could have been a monster. Then he let out a small squeak "How did you-"

"I pay attention," I shrugged after interrupting the boy. "And I know enough about our large world to know that Apollo isn't all sunshine, music and medicine is he? Plagues and disease are also his things too."

Alex grabbed his now filled bag, practically crushing the plastic material in his clammy hands. "Look... I don't want trouble. I just need to-"

"Survive?" I sigh and begin to speak more softly. "You won't be able to do that on your own, there is a place for us. And since you didn't react to when I mentioned camp... they failed to inform you about everything then. Come back same time tomorrow, I'll call into Chiron, he effectively manages to the camp... far more than Mr D ever did. Anyway I'll see if it's possible for them to send someone to collect you. If not I'll take you myself. Alright kid?"

He stood there for a long moment, almost studying me with those scared eyes. "Tomorrow same time?"

I nodded and was met with a ghost of a smile before Alex took his bag and left the store. As the automatic doors shut behind him, I noticed that the plants on the shelves began to straighten, returning to some form of health. Maybe there was hope for the Plaguebearer. I left my shift and closed up early, no one would care and besides.

I had a call to make and with that I reached into my pocket pulling out several coins, drachma.