Chapter 2: Bullfighter restoration exams; passed with distinction.
Traditionally, families are made up of a father, mother, and children, although this is not always the case.
There are always exceptions, and nowadays, they are quite common. Families may consist of a father and his children, or a mother and her children. Children may have a stepfather or stepmother. Children can also have two fathers or two mothers, and there is nothing wrong with that. There is also the possibility of the children being orphans.
Every family is a world. Within the walls of their own homes, a series of unique events unfold that distinguish families from one another. And in those moments, an event unfolded that would lead a young girl of almost ten to make a decision that would change her life forever.
The sound of a slap was heard in the small room where two people were sitting. One of them, a girl who had been slapped, rubbed her sore cheek as tears welled up in her eyes. The other person, an adult woman, looked at the girl with disgust and slight hatred in her eyes. Her right arm was raised in the air, showing that she was the one who had slapped the girl.
"Stop lying to me, child," the adult woman said with obvious venom in her voice. "Now tell me what happened at school."
The girl choked back a sob that tried to escape from her throat. She focused all her willpower on not crying her eyes out. She tried to get rid of the lump that had formed in her throat so that she could answer her 'mother'.
"I already told you," the girl said in a choked voice, "My... classmates started attacking me in gym class and..."
Another slap. This time on the other cheek.
"I told you not to lie to me! Your teacher said it was you who attacked the other kids and set fire to the balls and threw them..."
"It was not me! My classmates..."
"Don't interrupt me!" the woman yelled at her as she slapped her hard enough to send the girl to the ground.
The girl put her hands to her cheek in pain. At that moment, she could not stop the tears from streaming down her face, which was bruised from the blows.
"It's always the same with you. You try to lie to make yourself look like a victim. Let others feel sorry for you while you blame others."
The girl gritted her teeth in frustration. She was telling the truth. It was not she who had started the conflict that had broken out in the school. It was those weird classmates of hers who started harassing her, and during gym class they took it to another level. Their attempts to hurt her became so obvious that the girl began to fear for her safety. She considered reporting them to the principal, but she didn't expect the situation to get so... egregious.
Her classmates, even though they were ugly and stupid as monkeys, never considered that they really were monsters. It all happened so fast that it seemed like something out of a fantasy novel. Their "classmates" began to deform rapidly. Their arms grew longer and filled with muscles. Their height increased to over two meters as their skin turned a grayish hue, similar to a corpse. It was like watching Bruce Banner turn into a twisted version of the Hulk.
These monsters wreaked havoc in the school gymnasium. They threw fire-breathing cannonball sized balls. It didn't take long for the whole place to burn down. The walls, the bleachers, the locker rooms, everything. At least the smoke detectors did their job and put out the flames before they spread throughout the school, but the damage was already done.
The sirens of the firemen began to sound through the streets and the authorities did everything they could to enter the gym, which was strangely closed. The monsters, seeing that they could not achieve their goal of killing the girl, quickly moved away, leaving a gym in chaos and a ten-year-old girl who was blamed for everything.
But she couldn't tell that to the school officials or the firemen who put out the rest of the fire. In the end, the little girl was expelled, the third time she had been expelled from another school.
"You are nothing but trouble to those around you; your father, your little brothers and me. Our neighbors don't even want to have contact with us, and they don't allow their children to play with your brothers," the woman continued, "And it's all your fault. You are a disgrace to this family."
At that moment, the girl was overwhelmed. For the criticism she received from her "family," for the constant abandonment of her father, for the fact that she was always blamed for everything bad that happened around her. She felt alone, abandoned, frightened and desperate. She wondered how she could feel all this without breaking down. But there was something else, a feeling that began to fill her body and run through her veins, clouding her judgment and making her breathing more erratic.
It was the first time in her short life that she felt so much anger.
The girl clenched her hands tightly until her knuckles turned white, and her fingernails tore into her flesh, drawing a little blood. She let out one last sob before slowly rising to her feet, her small body shaking slightly at the first time she experienced such a raw and overwhelming feeling.
'Enough,' the girl thought, 'I'm tired of this.'
She abruptly got up from the floor and ran into her room, ignoring the hysterical woman who was screaming and chasing after the girl. She slammed the door and turned the latch to lock it. Within seconds, the doorknob turned sharply as her 'mother' tried to open the door on the other side.
"What do you think you're doing, you spoiled brat? Open the door this instant!" the woman's muffled voice could be heard on the other side of the door.
The girl ignored her and quickly began to pack the things she would need into a backpack. A pair of jeans, t-shirts, a coat, some underwear, her savings that she kept in a wooden box under her bed. She looked around her room, determined to leave this place that had haunted her for years, until her eyes fell on a photograph that was framed on her bedside table.
It showed a man smiling into the camera while his arm rested on the shoulders of a girl with a bright smile of happiness. This photo brought a pang of pain to the girl's heart. She still remembered the day it was taken. It was when they had first moved into their new house, hoping to start a new life.
She walked over and took the picture in her hands. For a second, she was tempted to drop everything and wait for her father to come home from work, but that feeling was quickly squashed as she remembered every day, week, month, and year that her father had ignored her. He was never home; whenever she tried to talk to her father, he would just apologize and tell her they would talk another time because he was tired. But he was never tired when he found another woman and remarried, he was not tired when he impregnated her, and they had children, leaving her aside like an old and used toy.
"Open the door right now, brat," the woman kept shouting angrily, "If you think you can ignore me while I'm talking to you, you're very wrong! Do you think you can come and lock yourself in your room after all the trouble you caused?"
Her anger returned, and she threw her father's portrait violently at the door, which was still ringing from her stepmother's blows. Immediately, the pounding stopped as the portrait hit the door. The sound of glass breaking into pieces, the same way this family was broken. Just as something in the little girl's heart had been broken.
Without wasting any more time, the girl went to her window and opened it. The cold night wind sent shivers down her spine. She looked up at the sky and saw the moon illuminating the streets, as if it was guiding her and telling her to leave her broken home.
She took one last look at the room where she had lived for the past few years, and at the torn photograph at the foot of the door. A single tear ran down her small face before she jumped out the window.
She didn't know it, but her life would never be the same again.
The girl's eyes slowly opened to reveal a dimly lit wooden ceiling. She felt her eyelids heavy and her body weak. She felt a mattress beneath her body and a blanket protecting her from the cold.
Her mind was still overwhelmed by the memories of her past that haunted her. The day she left her home was still fresh in her mind, as if it had happened yesterday, not more than six months ago.
The girl forced her fever-weakened body to sit up. She rubbed her eyes to clear away the remaining bits of sleep and swallowed her saliva, noticing how dry her throat felt.
"You'd better go back to bed. Your body must still be very weak."
The girl turned quickly in the direction where she heard someone speaking. In the dark, candlelit room, she could see someone sitting against the wall. It was a boy who looked to be no more than seventeen-years-old. His clothing was dirty and old. Through his badly torn t-shirt, she could see some blood-soaked bandages. His black hair was disheveled, as if he had just woken up. His green eyes seemed to glow in the dark like a traffic light. A chill ran through her body at how cold and hard those eyes were.
"Who... Who are you?" the girl asked in a husky voice.
"The one who helped you," the boy said simply.
He stood and approached the girl, who tensed at the movement of the boy she didn't know. He grabbed an aluminum pitcher and poured its contents into a small aluminum glass.
"Drink it," he ordered. "It's important to keep your body hydrated."
The girl eyed the glass suspiciously. When she saw that the boy insisted, she took it with a trembling hand. The glass felt cold against her feverish skin. She looked at the clear liquid in the glass and saw that it was water. Without thinking, she drank it. The cold liquid ran down her throat and sent a feeling of satisfaction through her body.
"You better lie down. I'll call your friends and tell them you woke up. They were worried about you. They are loud, especially the punk girl."
"Thalia?" Annabeth asked, hoping to see her friend.
The boy just nodded and headed for the trapdoor.
Annabeth felt much better knowing that her friends were okay. She was a little worried that she hadn't seen any of them when she woke up in this strange place she had never seen before. She had several questions running through her head; who was that scary boy? He said he helped her, so was she in his house? If he helped her... Does that mean he was a demigod like her? Or was he just a mortal who took pity on her? And what the heck happened to the magic goat, Amalthea? Had they reached the place she wanted them to go? If so, she was even more certain that this green-eyed boy was no mere mortal.
Thalia and Luke had told them about the truth of the world. About the monsters that plagued the land. About the same monsters that hunted them down to devour them. About the existence of gods who had children with mortals, creating what they were: demigods. And despite all that, she was relieved to know that she wasn't alone in the world. That there were those like her who could understand her suffering, the pain of not being a normal human.
Annabeth was pulled from her thoughts by the sound of creaking wood. She looked up to see Thalia and Luke coming toward her. Their eyes reflected concern, but also relief.
"Annabeth, it's good that you're awake," Thalia said, approaching her friend and giving her a tight hug, "We were worried about you."
"How are you feeling?" Luke asked.
"I'm fine," Annabeth said, pulling away from Thalia's embrace. "I'm just a little tired. What happened?"
"You fainted," Thalia said. "Why didn't you tell us you felt sick? We could have found something to make you better."
"I didn't want to be a bother," she admitted sheepishly. "We were following Amalthea, and I didn't want to slow us down. You said it was very important where she was taking us."
"Listen, Annabeth. Nothing, absolutely nothing, is more important to me than your well-being."
If Annabeth hadn't felt so weak right now, she would have thrown herself into her friend's arms for caring so much about her. Instead, she thought about smiling gratefully at her friend.
"Enough, Thalia, you're making me blush," Luke said in an amused voice.
"Shut up," Thalia said slightly embarrassed. Her cheeks were a faint shade of pink.
"You should say nice things more often. You could write a poem."
And just like that, all signs of embarrassment disappeared from her face.
"Says the person who has a diary in which he writes his thoughts as a hormonal teenager."
"By the way, where are we?" Annabeth asked, looking around the room they were in.
Thalia and Luke stopped teasing each other and looked at their sick friend.
"In a church," Luke replied. "We followed Amalthea here when you fainted."
"Is this where she tried to take us?"
"She hasn't reappeared since we got here over twelve hours ago," Thalia said. "Maybe we're in the right place."
"So... she wanted us to meet this green-eyed boy? Who is he?"
"We don't know for sure," Luke replied uncertainly, "He was here when we arrived, and it seems he's been living here for the last few weeks."
Annabeth took a closer look at the room they were in. She saw how many supplies were there, enough to feed a person for quite some time. She could imagine the boy living there for weeks.
"Is he... like us?" Annabeth asked, a little hopefully. "A demigod?"
"We don't know, he doesn't talk much," Thalia said. "But there's someone else here, a girl about your age, her name is Sammy. She told us they can see monsters. They have been fighting and running from them since they have been living on the streets."
"We don't know if they're demigods, but they're not mere mortals," Luke said. "They can see through the mist, so they know how dangerous it is out there."
"So maybe Amalthea wanted us to meet them," Annabeth said.
"It's possible..." Thalia said somewhat hesitantly, "Amalthea appeared when I asked my father for help the moment you fainted, and she led us here. Perhaps the goat knew they could help us."
"They helped us more than I expected," Luke said. "They shared their food with us, gave you medicine to bring down your fever, and even let us use their shower. Man, I can't remember the last time I took a bath like the gods intended. It felt great."
"They have a shower?" Annabeth asked, excited at the thought of showering in a real bathroom.
She hadn't taken a real shower since she had run away from home six months ago. She always washed herself with the water from the fountains in the parks, the water from the rivers, and the public showers on the beaches. She didn't mind, but the idea of using a real bathroom was too tempting to pass up.
"Oh yeah, that reminds me of what Percy said," Luke mentioned.
"Percy?"
"The name of the boy with the green eyes. He told me that when you wake up, you should take a bath. It will help you recover faster."
"That sounds great, but... I'd like to change my clothes. The one I have is full of sweat and smells really bad."
"In that case, I can give you some of my clothes," a new voice said.
Thalia jumped in shock and Luke let out a not very masculine scream. Annabeth would have jumped out of bed if her body didn't feel so weak.
In the middle of the two teenagers was a little girl with an amused smile. Her honey-colored eyes sparkled with excitement.
"Can you please stop that?" Thalia exclaimed.
"What?" Sammy asked, tilting her head innocently to the side.
"Coming out of nowhere like a damn ghost! You almost gave me a heart attack the first time."
"Who are you?" Annabeth asked, looking curiously at the girl in front of her.
"Hi! My name is Sammy. You must be Annabeth, right?"
"Yes... nice to meet you, Sammy. Thanks for helping."
"No problem. Wow, your hair is so beautiful" She walked over and started stroking Annabeth's hair. "It's a beautiful blonde color and your curls are so elegant, you look like a princess!"
Annabeth blushed slightly at the honest compliment from a girl her own age. She looked down at her, a little embarrassed. She didn't know how to act around a girl as friendly as Sammy. No girl her age had ever been so kind to her.
"Thank you," she replied weakly.
"It will look better when we wash it. Come on, I'll take you to the shower."
Annabeth hesitated for a few seconds, looking to her friends for guidance.
"Don't worry, Annabeth," Thalia said, "Sammy may be a little... lively, but she's not a bad person."
"Okay," Annabeth said.
She slowly got up from the mattress with Luke's help. Sammy started rummaging through one of the boxes in the room until she pulled out some t-shirts and jeans in her size, along with a sweatshirt that looked eerily identical to the one she was wearing.
Staggering and slightly dizzy, Annabeth climbed the stairs. As she stepped through the trapdoor, the first thing she noticed was the chill that ran down her spine, causing her to shiver visibly.
Looking at the abandoned church, she wasn't surprised at how run down it was. She, Thalia and Luke had slept in worse places, like garbage cans or public toilets. She didn't even notice the foul smell that filled her nostrils, no. Her attention was on the back of the boy sitting on the altar steps, staring at the church doors.
Sammy walked over to Percy and hugged him.
"Easy, Sammy, I'm not fully recovered yet," Percy said, massaging his shoulder.
"Oh, yeah... sorry," she said.
It was then that Annabeth decided to approach. Her mind was still a bit cloudy from the fever and her body felt weak, but she wanted to talk to the boy who had helped her and her friends.
"Your name is Percy, right?" Annabeth asked hesitantly.
Percy looked at her questioningly. He didn't say anything, just nodded his head.
"Thank you very much... You helped us in our time of need, even though we didn't know each other. So thank you."
"As I told the blondie, it's not me you should be thanking," Percy said absently. "It's Sammy."
"And you should thank her, too," Thalia interjected, crossing her arms and looking at him with annoyance. "She's the only reason I'm not kicking you out of this place."
"You want me to kick your pretty ass again, punk girl?" Percy asked in a warning tone. "I won't go easy on you this time."
Thalia crossed her arms and glared at Percy as she leaned closer to look him straight in the eye, just inches from his face.
"Then try it, asshole. I don't mind hitting a wounded man."
They both looked at each other intensely, with Thalia frowning hard and Percy holding her gaze coldly. Again, Percy thought he saw a flash of electricity in Thalia's eyes, making him cautious.
At the same time, Thalia held Percy's gaze despite the slight tremor that caused her to look into those cold green eyes.
At that moment, Sammy tugged on Percy's shirt, causing him to turn to her and see the worried look on her face.
He sighed and calmed down. He didn't trust these people, so he was very careful around them.
Luke also put a hand on Thalia's shoulder and told her to calm down.
"Very well. Now that the blondie girl is here, we have work to do," Percy said. "Punk girl, it's your turn to stand guard. And you, blondie, we're going to get some things."
"What things?" Luke asked.
"Basic personal hygiene items," Percy said. "Toothpaste and a toothbrush, some towels, bath soaps and... deodorant," he said with a sideways glance at Luke.
"Why are you looking at me like that?" Luke asked, slightly uncomfortable.
"Because you smell like shit."
"Hey! That's not true... Is it?" he asked, looking at the girls.
"Er... Well..." Annabeth said, avoiding his gaze. "There's nothing to be embarrassed about, Luke. We've been on the road a long time, and we haven't taken a proper shower in weeks. It's normal that... our smell is a little unpleasant."
"In other words, you smell like shit," Thalia said with a flat expression.
"But you two don't smell bad," Sammy said, looking at Thalia and Annabeth. "He's the one who smells like a pack of dogs urinated on him." She finished pointing at Luke.
Thalia snorted in amusement at Luke's look of annoyance and discomfort. Annabeth felt that if her body wasn't weak enough, she would burst out laughing right now.
"Okay, okay, let's go," Luke said to Percy with impatience in his voice, "Thalia will keep an eye on the place while we're gone."
"Hey, why do I have to stay?" Thalia asked.
"Because you and Percy are the only ones with weapons to defend against the monsters. You have your spear, and Percy has his knife. If you two go together, we won't have any weapons to kill the monsters."
"Fine... I'll stand guard at the entrance," she reluctantly agreed. Then she walked over to Percy and whispered, "Make sure you get the most effective deodorant."
Percy looked at her and nodded.
Annabeth didn't know it, but it was the first time that Thalia and Percy agreed on anything.
"Fire! Something is burning!"
"What?! Damn it! Where the hell's the fire extinguisher?!"
The screams of disbelief and curses directed at no one in particular were heard throughout the gas station as the flames advanced through the walls, corroding everything in their path. The store manager was unaware that the fire had been "accidentally" started by one of the customers who had just walked in a few minutes ago.
Percy had no idea what was going on. A few moments ago he had been holding a bottle of alcohol. The next thing he knew, the alcohol bottle had spilled its entire contents on the floor, while a lit match had accidentally fallen on the spilled liquid. He was completely dazed while the store manager extinguished the flames with a fire extinguisher.
You have to be very careful these days. Accidents happen all the time.
"What the hell happened?" the manager wondered as he extinguished the last of the flames.
While the man checked to make sure the fire hadn't damaged any merchandise, Percy slipped out the door, grabbing a bag of chips and stuffing it under his shirt. A shirt just like the previous one, except this one wasn't stained with dirt and blood. He walked out quietly so as not to arouse suspicion and went into an alley that was dimly lit by the city lights.
He looked around to see if anyone was following him or if there were people around. Seeing that no one was in sight, he relaxed and sighed.
"Okay, there's no one," Percy said. "You can come out."
Taking that as a cue, Luke appeared from behind a trash can. A broad smile graced his face as he carried two bags filled with food, drinks, and other items they had taken while the store manager put out the fire.
"Mission accomplished, chief," Luke said, proudly displaying the bags of groceries. "The distraction was perfect, though I wasn't expecting anything so conspicuous and dangerous, considering we robbed a gas station."
"It worked, didn't it?"
"I think it worked too well... I wouldn't be surprised if he called the fire department or something."
"Then we'd better go. I don't want to get in trouble with the authorities again."
"You already roared, chief."
Percy looked at him, slightly annoyed at the nickname, but he considered saying nothing. He had helped him get what he needed from the shop, and he had done very well. Usually it was Percy who was in charge of getting things while Sammy acted like a lost girl. Her methods were more subtle, but he lacked that subtlety and rewarded it with intensity... maybe too much intensity.
"We'd better hurry," Luke insisted. "Thalia is not a very patient person. She tends to get a little cranky when she's kept waiting."
"More than usual?" Percy asked absentmindedly as he pulled out the bag of chips he had hidden, opened it, and began eating them as he walked down the sidewalk.
"Oh, you have no idea," Luke said with a tired sigh. "She's the most impatient person I've ever met. And I've met a lot of people."
"But you still travel with her."
"Yes... we met in a dragon's lair about six months ago. She almost stabbed me with her spear."
Percy looked at him in disbelief. In all his years on the road, he had never seen a dragon, but he had seen some really strange things, like women disappearing into trees, men with only one eye, half-woman, half-bird creatures, winged horses that seemed to bow their heads in respect when they saw him. And the list went on.
"We've been together ever since," Luke continues. "We had each other's backs and supported each other. Maybe it's an exaggeration on my part, but... she's like a... family to me. That's a little strange, isn't it? Seeing someone as if they were part of your family."
"No, it's not strange," Percy said quietly, his eyes taking on a distant look. "To form a strong bond with a person, to the point of seeing them as your family, is not strange."
He closed his eyes briefly, and for a moment an image of Sammy flashed through his mind. She was smiling, and her eyes reflected happiness as she reached out to hug him, as she always did when she was happy to see him.
Family doesn't end in blood, but it doesn't start there either.
Percy would never forget those words from the man who had helped him so much.
"I understand you. You want to protect her, you want nothing bad to happen to her, and you will do whatever it takes to keep her safe, even if it means putting yourself in danger."
Luke looked at Percy questioningly. His face showed a clear expression of surprise at Percy's words. A sympathetic smile spread across his face.
"Yeah, you're absolutely right," Luke said, giving Percy a friendly pat on the shoulder. "You know? I thought you were a cold and bitter boy, but I see I was wrong. You're a great guy, although you should smile more."
Luke was surprised when Percy returned the gesture and gave him a gentle tap on the shoulder.
"Shut up," Percy said with a slight smile. "I still find you annoying. And you should wear more deodorant, too. Seriously, man, you suck."
"Ouch, that hurt. I think you and Thalia are going to get along."
Percy just shook his head gently.
"We'd better hurry, it's getting dark. And apparently a storm is coming."
The two teenagers rushed to the church. For some reason, the streets were empty. There were no people walking on the sidewalks and no cars on the streets. Everything was strangely quiet. Percy assumed it was because of the approaching storm, but he had a strange feeling in the back of his head. A strange feeling that something was wrong. And if he had learned anything in all these years of living on the streets and fighting monsters, it was that he never had to ignore his instincts.
As they made their way through the same park that Percy and Sammy had walked through the night before, both teens couldn't help but look visibly worried. There was not a single person in sight. The park looked dark and foreboding. The trees were frozen in the cold wind that was getting stronger, and the streetlights kept ringing, but that was not what worried the two teenagers. It was the image in the trees. Bark marks torn by what looked like some kind of animal.
Percy recognized the tracks and saw that they seemed to go from tree to tree in a specific direction. At that moment, an overwhelming fear settled in his heart as he realized where those marks were going.
"Those tracks... Hellhounds!" Luke said with surprise in his voice.
"Damn! They found us already," Percy said.
"We have to hurry! Thalia is the only one with a weapon that can take them on!"
Without another word, they both ran for the church. Percy's heart began to beat faster and stronger as he thought that maybe Sammy was hurt. He cursed himself for leaving her helpless, but she wasn't alone. Thalia and Annabeth were with her and could have gotten away in time. Besides, Thalia had a weapon to defend herself, and she wouldn't leave Sammy... Would she?
Percy shook his head to dismiss these thoughts. He had to trust her, he had no other choice. Next to him, Luke looked even more frightened than he was. He was pale and breathing fast from lack of air due to the effort his body was making.
"Damn, damn, damn," Luke lamented as he ran. "This is what I was afraid of. With Annabeth sick and unable to move, Thalia will have no choice but to fight."
"She has a weapon to fight monsters," Percy said, running to his side. "She can defend herself."
"I wouldn't mind if it was one or two monsters, but hellhounds travel in packs. And there are too many signs to be just one."
This fact worried Percy even more. He gritted his teeth and kept walking.
"We have to believe in her. She is a tough girl."
"Yeah... she is," Luke said with a slight smile.
When they saw the church in the distance, Percy's heart seemed to stop for a few seconds. The wooden doors of the church were destroyed, claw marks adorned the walls, and overgrown grass was crushed, showing that many monsters were marching toward the church. On the porch, just outside the door, they saw a pair of hellhounds slowly making their way into the building.
In the sky, the swirling clouds began to drop a light rain on the two boys looking at the church doors, but they didn't care. Their clothes clung to their bodies like a second skin, sending shivers down their spines.
"Luke," Percy called softly, snapping the boy out of his stupor. "I can trust you, right?"
At any other time, Luke would have been surprised by the question, even glad that Percy called him by his name instead of "blondie". But in these moments, he realized the seriousness of the situation and what the question implied for someone as secretive and suspicious as Percy.
"Yes, you can trust me," Luke replied just as seriously.
Percy reached down his arm to the back of his jeans where he kept his trusty knife. He pulled it out and looked at it for a few seconds before handing it to Luke.
"Go over there and help Thalia," Percy said, "She's going to need all the help she can get."
Luke looked at the knife and then at Percy.
"And you? What are you going to do?"
"I'll go in the back and get what we need. I'll get Sammy and Annabeth out and get them to safety. Then I'll come back and... I'm going to set the whole place on fire."
"What...!?"
"There's no time, we have to go. This place is not safe anymore. Now they know where we are."
Luke took another look at the knife and gritted his teeth before grabbing it.
"Okay, I trust you, Percy."
Without another word, Luke ran into the church to help Thalia.
Percy watched as Luke went into an incredibly dangerous situation to help his friend. He had said before that Luke was annoying, but he had never told him that he admired that dedication to protecting the people he cared about.
Pushing his thoughts aside, Percy made his way to the back of the church. As he made his way, he was very careful not to run into any straggling monsters. He didn't have any kind of weapon to defend himself, so he had to be careful.
As he walked along the wall of the church, he could see the battle going on inside through the broken windows. Thalia, spear in hand, was slashing and stabbing at any hellhound brave enough, or stupid enough, to come within range of her. Weaving between the wooden benches, Luke slipped under the hellhound and stabbed them in the stomach with Percy's knife. Still, he did his best to stay as close to Thalia as possible without getting in the way to cover her back. On more than one occasion, a hellhound tried to pounce from her blind spot, but Luke quickly dispatched them with a stab or kick that left them disoriented.
Percy would be lying if he said he wasn't a little impressed of the way the two teenagers fought together. It was clear that they trusted each other. And through this strategy of covering their backs, the number of hellhounds was slowly being reduced. But Percy wasn't going to wait for them to take care of all the monsters, he had to finish this before any of them got hurt.
When he looked around and didn't see any monsters, he ran quickly to the back of the church. The undergrowth seemed to be thicker here, but that was only to his advantage. He made his way to the weathered church wall and dodged the bushes until he found what he was looking for: a wooden hatch.
Quickly he opened it and went down to the basement of the church. Without pausing, he walked through the dark room, ignoring the shelves stacked with wooden boxes containing useless trinkets. He came to a door in the corner of the basement and opened it quickly. He ran down the dimly lit hallway as he heard the battle cries above him. If he wasn't mistaken, Thalia and Luke were right above him, fighting the horde of hellhounds.
He had to hurry.
When he reached the end of the hall, he ignored the door and kicked it open. Percy was inside the warehouse where he and Sammy lived. He quickly searched the room for the girl, but couldn't find her. Percy feared the worst, had she run away before the hellhounds found her? No, Thalia was upstairs fighting, Sammy hadn't left her to save herself. What if... The hellhounds had killed her?
"Sammy...?" Percy called, fear rising in his voice.
"Percy, is that you?" came a muffled voice.
Percy turned to see a wooden chest open and Sammy emerge. Next to her was Annabeth, shivering slightly, whether from cold or fear, Percy didn't know.
"Oh, that's nice," Percy said with relief in his voice. "Quick, gather whatever you can carry and go out the back. We need to get out of here."
"What about Thalia and Luke?" Annabeth asked.
"I will help them, but I need you both to be safe. We don't have much time."
Sammy nodded and got out of the trunk. She started to gather all the things that were important, food, clothes, blankets, matches. Percy let her gather things while he went to a corner of the room. He took one of the white sheets that covered a wooden chest and pushed it aside, revealing several plastic containers filled with a dark liquid. He knew we would have to use it someday, but he hoped not.
"What's that?" Annabeth asked, coming up beside him.
"Gasoline," Percy said. "I'm going to set the whole place on fire. That will give us a distraction so we can get away. That's why I need you and Sammy to get to safety."
"Isn't that a bit of an exaggeration?"
"There are about a dozen hellhounds above us. Thalia and Luke are doing their best to keep them at bay, but they won't last long. Besides, more are likely to come at any moment."
Annabeth still looked a little unsure about the idea, but she didn't say anything. Percy looked at her sideways. Her hair looked cleaner, and she was wearing one of the sweatshirts Sammy liked so much, although it was still a little too big for her. She still had a slight flush on her cheeks from her fever, but she seemed better than when they had arrived.
"Listen," Percy said, looking at the girl, "I know we don't know each other, but I have to ask you to trust me. The situation we are in is very serious, and our chances are slim. I'm going to do my best to get us all out of here alive, but you have to do what I tell you."
Percy thought she was going to panic and start crying, but he was surprised when Annabeth looked into his eyes with determination. There was not a trace of fear on her face.
"What do you need?" she asked with conviction in her voice.
"I can't burn the whole place down alone. I can't spread the gasoline everywhere without the monsters noticing me. That's why I need you to do it."
"Me?"
"I will distract the monsters so you can spray the whole place, the floor, the walls, the benches, everything. Since most of the structure is made of wood, it will burn easily."
"Are you sure I can do this?"
Percy looked at her, a slight smile spreading across his face.
"You want to protect your friends, don't you? Thalia and Luke."
She nodded.
"Then I trust you can do it. When you're done, I want you to come back here and run away with Sammy."
Annabeth looked down for a few seconds, shook her head, then looked up.
"I'll do it."
"Perfect. Now take this and follow me."
Percy handed her a container of gasoline and grabbed two more for himself. He went to the stairs to go up and face the horde of monsters.
"Percy."
He turned to see Sammy. She had a backpack on her shoulders and two more in her hands. She was staring at him, ignoring all the noise going on above their heads. Ignoring Annabeth who looked at her curiously.
"I'm not going to say anything... I won't say anything!" Sammy said.
Percy looked at her, a smile on his lips.
"Yeah, I know... If there's anything you want to say..."
"I will when we're safe."
Percy turned and walked to the stairs to where Annabeth was waiting him, hugging the gasoline container. He was the first to climb the stairs, slowly so as not to attract the attention of any monsters. When he stepped through the trapdoor, he was surprised by the sight before him.
The church hall was in utter chaos. Wooden pews were destroyed and scattered all over the place. There was a small amount of gold dust on the floor, the residue left by the monsters when they were killed. In the midst of a pack of hellhounds, Thalia and Luke stood bravely with their weapons drawn. They were both panting and their clothes were tattered and cut, but apart from the superficial cuts on their bodies, they were fine.
The situation did not look good at all. The monsters seemed to keep coming. For every monster they killed, another one took its place. Thalia and Luke were fending them off quickly, but they couldn't keep it up forever. Percy knew he had to do something.
"Annabeth, change of plans," Percy said, handing her one container of gasoline while he held the other. "I'm going to help Thalia and Luke while I keep the hellhounds away from you. You need to go around the side to the door and spread the gasoline as you run."
"But, Percy, you don't have a weapon..."
"I don't need one. Now go!"
She looked at her friends for a few seconds, then at Percy.
She looked worried.
"Please don't die."
Percy smiled at her.
"I won't."
He opened the gasoline can and ran into the pack of hellhounds that were beginning to surround the two teenagers. Before they noticed his presence, he doused the hellhounds with gasoline and kicked one of them like a football. The force of the blow not only broke the monster's ribs, causing it to scream in pain before popping like a balloon, but also caused a small tremor that shook the entire church, destabilizing everyone present.
"What the hell...!? Percy!?" Luke exclaimed, standing up after the slight shaking.
Percy positioned himself behind Luke, back to back.
"I hope you don't mind if I join the party, are there any pretty girls left to dance to?" Percy asked.
"Well, here you have Thalia," he gestured to Thalia, who stood next to him, forming a triangle between the three of them, "Even though she has two left feet for dancing."
"Fuck you" was her eloquent response.
"Sounds tempting," Percy said. "But I'll take one of the hellhounds."
"If you two are done gossiping like two bitches, can we focus on what's in front of us?" Thalia asked with obvious bad humor.
"I have a plan, but we need to distract them for a few minutes," Percy said.
"And how are you going to do that? You don't have a weapon."
"I haven't survived this many years on the streets without a few tricks up my sleeve."
"Tricks? Wait... does that mean that the tremor was...?"
Before she could get an answer, Percy took off in the direction of the hellhounds. The monsters weren't expecting him to attack them on his own, so they were surprised when he stepped forward and kicked one of them in the jaw, breaking it. The monster crashed into the wooden benches, dissolving into a pile of gold dust, but Percy didn't stop there. He slithered through the monsters like a snake, dodging the hellhounds' attempts to bite and scratch.
"He's a good fighter," Luke commented in amazement as he watched Percy dodge a hellhound's bite and deliver a hard, spinning kick that sent it flying several feet. The monster turned to golden dust before hitting the ground.
"Yeah, he'd kick your ass easy," Thalia said.
"Like he did to you?"
Thalia didn't bother to answer. Instead, she swung her spear again with renewed ferocity.
Percy pushed all thoughts aside, except for dodging and striking. He ignored Luke's struggle with a hellhound. He ignored Thalia's curses at everything that attacked her. He ignored Annabeth sneaking between the pillars of the church as she spilled gasoline in her wake. He ignored the searing pain in his shoulder. As he dodged attacks and threw punches and kicks at each approaching monster, a single thought filled his mind: survive.
Percy would make sure that he survived tonight, and that everyone else did, too. All of them; Sammy, Luke, Annabeth, and Thalia. He would make sure that nobody died that night. He would make sure that he would never see anyone die in front of him again.
He would survive. He always did.
Percy kicked hard at the rib cage of a hellhound that howled in pain, and dodged the claws of another hellhound as he rolled on the ground to put space between them. The hellhounds had stopped coming, but there were still quite a few of them, snarling and baring their teeth menacingly.
Before Percy could attack again, a snort echoed through the room, making everyone freeze for a few seconds. He recognized the sound. That thing was back. He turned to see a dark figure standing where the church doors had been.
Despite the darkness of the night, Percy could clearly make out his attacker. It was nearly eight feet tall, its muscular body crisscrossed with swollen veins that bulged beneath its skin. A thick layer of fur covered its legs, and its chest was so bulging with muscle that one could see where one muscle ended and another began. Instead of a human head, it had the head of a bull. A long snout with a runny nose, cruel black eyes, and its head was crowned with a full horn while another was cut in half. Above its right eye, it had a rather nasty gash covered in blood.
Percy could swear the creature was staring at him with its dark, hateful eyes, ignoring the others. He returned its gaze fearlessly. Maybe it wasn't as stupid as he thought, and it knew that Percy was the one who had given it the cut and the missing half of its right horn.
That would teach that bastard not to attack from behind.
The beast snorted loudly, shoveling some snot out of its filthy snout, and lunged at Percy.
"Move!" Percy yelled.
Thalia and Luke dove sideways to avoid the beast's charge. As it ran, it crushed the last remaining hellhounds while keeping its eye on Percy.
He stood still in his place. Luke and Thalia's cries telling him to move were muffled to him, like someone speaking underwater. Time seemed to stand still for a few seconds as Percy watched the beast close in. At the last second, Percy dove to the side. A searing pain ran through his entire body as he fell onto his injured shoulder.
The bull did not stop its charge and crashed into the church walls, its huge horn wedged into the base of the cement wall. The beast began to struggle free, snorting and growling.
"You must go. Now!" Percy shouted at them, urgently.
"No," Thalia said, her voice firm as she tightened her grip on her spear.
"Are you crazy? That thing wants to kill me. You can save yourselves!"
"You go. I will not run anymore."
That was all she said before lunging at the still stuck beast.
Luke, who came over to help Percy to his feet, sighed in exhaustion.
"Oh, shit. Here we go again," Luke said.
And he pounced on the monster.
Finally, the beast broke free and turned sharply, just in time for Thalia to plunge her spear into its belly. The monster growled in annoyance and lunged at Thalia, who rolled at the last second to avoid the powerful blow. She had to be careful, one hit from this thing would be a direct path to the underworld.
Luke slipped behind the beast and stabbed it in the knee. He quickly pulled the knife back and ducked the blow that went straight to his face.
The beast was wounded, but Percy knew that wasn't enough to kill it. Something more... powerful was needed. Thalia was right. They couldn't run anymore. They had to end this right now. Or history would repeat itself and this monster would come back for them.
"Percy, this way," a voice said behind him.
If Percy hadn't recognized the voice, he would have turned and punched her.
"Annabeth, did you do it?"
She nodded.
"It's done. We just need a spark to set the place on fire."
Percy patted his pocket. He could feel the small box of matches he had picked up at the gas station.
"You should go," Percy said, not looking at Annabeth. "That thing's looking for me, not you."
"What about Thalia and Luke?" Annabeth asked, worried.
Percy watched as the two teenagers were completely focused on the fight. They attacked without fear. Thalia attacked mainly with sweeping movements, drawing the beast's attention. When the opportunity presented itself, Luke stabbed it in the chest, causing it to howl in pain. But Percy knew that wouldn't last long. They both looked tired and drenched in sweat, having fought a pack of hellhounds before the bull man appeared. The huge beast, unlike Thalia and Luke, looked quite energetic, mad as hell, but energetic.
"I'll help them," Percy said.
He had to do it. It was his fault that they were in this situation.
The monster howled in anger. Apparently, Luke had stabbed it right in the groin. The bull-man tried to hit him, but missed, and Luke took advantage, rolling to the side and continuing to attack.
"Annabeth, listen to me. Go to the hatch and wait there. When I distract that thing, let Thalia and Luke know and go. I'll catch up as soon as I've set the whole place on fire."
"Are you sure you can handle this yourself?"
"I can. I'll end this here and now."
Annabeth nodded and looked at Percy, smiling gratefully.
"I trust you, Percy," was the last she said before running to the trapdoor.
There was another howl of fury, the beast knocking Thalia away and sending her flying in the direction Percy was headed. He reacted quickly and caught her in midair, skidding across the ground from the force of the throw. Percy looked at her and saw a trickle of blood falling from her forehead, apparently she had been hit quite hard in that area.
"Thalia!" Luke yelled.
The monster reacted to the sound and lunged at Luke, intending to spear him. He got out of the way at the last second by jumping to the side, quickly getting up and attacking again, this time angry that the beast had hurt his friend.
Percy examined the girl in his arms. Thalia's chest was still rising and falling. He relaxed a bit, that meant she was still alive, but she wasn't completely out of danger yet, no one was until they killed the beast.
Slowly, Thalia opened her eyes and Percy was fascinated, and completely captivated by her eyes. It was the first time he had seen them so close and he was amazed by the intensity and brightness that reflected in her blue eyes, and it didn't help that blue was Percy's favorite color.
"Percy...?" Thalia asked weakly.
She tried to sit up, but her body was too weak. The blow must have hit her pretty hard.
"Relax, you've done enough," Percy said and stopped her from moving. "I'll take care of this now."
"You can't... That monster... it's too strong."
"Still, I have to. That beast has been looking for me. I will end this once and for all. Go to the hatch, there you will find Annabeth. When this place is on fire, I want you to go."
"But...!"
"This is no time for complaints! You're injured and can't fight anymore. Right now you're nothing but a dead weight."
Thalia clenched her fists and bit her lip in frustration. Maybe Percy had been too harsh with his words, but he was right. In the condition she was in, she couldn't fight that thing again.
Slowly, she got to her feet, grabbed her spear, and hobbled over to the trapdoor where Annabeth was waiting.
Percy quickly pulled out the book of matches he had in his pants. He lit it and threw it on the gasoline-soaked floor. Immediately, the fire lit up the interior of the church. The flames quickly moved across the floor and then up the walls, corroding everything in their path.
"Luke! We have to go!" Percy yelled.
Luke turned around.
Big mistake.
The beast hit him and sent him crashing into a wall, which luckily wasn't on fire.
"Luke!" Annabeth yelled.
The bull lumbered toward Luke, who muttered incomprehensibly. It approached, sniffing him as if ready to finish the job, or maybe eat him. Percy wasn't going to let that happen.
He wasn't going to let it.
"Hey, you! Hey!" Percy yelled, waving his arms at the monster as if asking for a pass. "Hey, you son of a cow!"
"Brrrrr!" The beast turned in his direction, shaking its meaty fists.
'Great, I got its attention.'
"Hey! Are you a bull-man or a cow-man? Because I think you are the latter! Fucking dairy cow!"
"BRRRRR!" the beast growled loudly once more.
"You want to kill me? Then come closer!" Percy shouted defiantly. "I'll kill you just like I killed all the monsters that were stupid enough to attack me!"
The monster growled loudly and lunged at Percy with all of its rage gleaming in its coal-black eyes, its arms outstretched at its sides to cut off any escape for Percy. He didn't just stand there waiting to be run over, he ran straight at the monster, ready to confront it.
It was then that Percy felt time slow.
He was able to see everything clearly in just a few seconds. Annabeth had gone over to Luke and helped him, resting him on her small shoulder as she walked towards the trapdoor where Thalia was.
The monster charged with outstretched arms and a face of true hatred, as if Percy had eaten with its mother cow at a barbecue.
At that moment, Percy could see a small flash of light behind the monster; his hellhound fang knife. Luke must have let go of it when he hit the wall.
An idea popped into his head, a very stupid idea, but it was the only one that mattered in that split second.
Percy ran towards the monster, and before it could impale him on its sharp horn, he ducked just in time to avoid it, pulling his arm back and then slamming down hard on the beast's massive, hairy torso.
The entire church shook violently, cracks spreading from the floor beneath Percy's feet and several pillars breaking as the massive monster, which must have weighed over three hundred kilos, it was brutally slammed against the burning wall of the church, shattering it. Percy thought he would bring the church down, but fortunately it didn't when the tremor stopped.
Percy went and picked up his knife, watching his knuckles bleed from the force of the blow. It had been a while since he had been forced to use that power, but he had to. He had no other choice.
Turning to see where the trapdoor was, he saw Thalia holding Luke with an arm around her shoulders and Annabeth watching him with wide-eyed shock.
"What was...?" Annabeth muttered, wondering if what she had seen was a product of her fever.
"He just..." Thalia's voice reflected her disbelief as well as her expression. But suddenly it changed to one of alarm. "Percy, behind you!"
Alarmed, Percy turned to see the monster emerge from the fire, the flames burning a part of its body that was full of bleeding wounds, but still not quite alive. It looked like a demon straight out of hell itself.
The monster glared at Percy with absolute hatred, growling in a mixture of rage and pain.
"You don't know when to quit, do you, Ferdinand?" Percy asked, holding his knife and ready to use it.
The flames that were quickly filling the church began to overwhelm him, causing him to blink. He had to end this now and escape if he didn't want to be caught in the middle of the sea of fire.
But before he could make a move, Percy opened his eyes in surprise as he saw a spear embedded in the beast's stomach. It was only a few centimeters in, but it had to be painful if the blood staining the spear meant anything.
The monster screamed in pain and turned sharply in Thalia's direction, smiling triumphantly as she held out her arm.
"That's for hitting me on the head, you son of a bitch."
The monster grabbed the spear and tossed it aside as it walk towards Thalia.
'No... Enough,' Percy thought as he gritted his teeth.
He ran up to the monster and stabbed it in the back, and before it could react, he used his knife like an ice ax and scaled the monster's back, causing the beast to grunt in pain and flail in an attempt to throw Percy off, but it refused to release his grip. The smell of rotting flesh pierced his nostrils and made him want to vomit. He had never been mountain climbing in his short life. And apparently, his first experience was over the back of a monster that was trying to kill him.
When he reached above the beast's neck, he clung to the monster's horn and steadied himself by putting his leg over its shoulders. The monster tensed, trying to grab Percy and pull him off its shoulders, but it was too late.
"You will never hurt anyone again..." Percy said with cold fury.
And he plunged his knife straight into the creature's head.
The monster didn't even have time to scream before its body quickly turned to golden dust, as if it were made of sand.
The legendary mythological creature was gone.
With nothing to hold on to, Percy fell face first to the ground. If he hadn't been so tired, he would have complained. He felt like his body was made of lead, and he couldn't find the strength to get up. Yet, he refused to let go of the knife. He also noticed something else, in his other hand he was holding the huge horn of the beast. Maybe he had torn the horn from its head in his rage, or maybe the horn had been left behind when the beast disappeared. He didn't know, and to tell the truth, he didn't care. Now he had both horns as proof that he had killed the beast.
All the anger he had felt was gone, giving way to pain and exhaustion. His head felt like it had been split in two, his legs were shaking and he felt incredibly weak.
The flames were still hot, burning everything in their path, but Percy was cold. He just wanted to lie down and fall asleep.
Suddenly, he felt someone lift him up and stabilize him by grabbing him around the waist. Percy looked up, squinting against the light of the flames.
"Thalia...?" he asked weakly.
"It's the first time you've called me by my name," she said.
Percy smiled, slightly.
"I can keep calling you 'punk girl', if you prefer."
"And I can keep calling you 'asshole'."
Percy chuckled and let Thalia help him put one of his arms around her shoulders to support his weight.
"Thanks for the help," he said.
Thalia looked sideways at him and snorted.
"Not bad for a dead weight, right?" she said with a smug smile.
Percy found the strength to chuckle.
"Sorry about that."
"No hard feelings, tough boy. You saved our ass back there, that was very brave of you. Dangerous and stupid, but brave."
Percy smiled slightly.
"I'll take that as a compliment."
What happened next was too blurry for Percy to remember. Thalia helped him out of the church, followed by Sammy and Annabeth, who helped Luke, who looked a little bruised, but nothing too serious. In the distance, they heard the sounds of approaching fire engines. They had to hurry, none of them wanted to be there when the authorities arrived.
They moved forward without looking back. They didn't care about the patrols coming. They didn't care about the firemen who started to put out the burning building. There was only one thing that mattered to them and that was that they were all safe.
They had made it. They had survived.
...
..
.