Thunder and Blood

18

Annabeth

I pour the contents of the bag onto my lap, beginning to count the drachma. I have more than enough to give them half, and even though half is way to much for this trip, I hand them over. It's not like it's my money. And the Hermes kids won't be going on any quests soon, at least not until Percy is back. Yeah, they will be mad at me, but I'll pay them back. Eventually. 

The ladies take the gold coins, splitting them amongst themselves. 

The one with the eye starts to slow down, the buildings around us come into focus. To be honest, I didn't even know we were in a city until now. She pulls up to the sidewalk, stopping the car. All three turn to me. 

"Here's your stop." They say together. 

"Thank you." I smile, grabbing my things and getting out, the ladies wave at me as they drive away, almost hitting multiple pedestrians on their way down the road. I sigh, looking around. The sign on the nearest building says Somerton Food Bank. 

I'm in the town of Somerton. 

The Grey Sisters dropped me off right in between California and Arizona. Now I just have to decide which way to go, East or West. 

I start to walk down the street, the sun has started to rise, but not enough to wake people up. Right now, I look like a hobo taking a lovely early morning stroll. Very early in the morning.  

I need to find Percy, I never thought it would be this hard. 

That kid has probably already gotten himself into trouble. He's always accidently blowing things up or setting them on fire, and then flooding them after he tries to put said fire out. It's happened before, trust me. He's always in the newspaper, whether it's for arson or alleged murder. He's always finding ways to get himself into...

I stop walking. 

He's always finding ways to get himself into trouble. 

I turn around, walking back to the newspaper stand I had just passed. I take one out, reading the front page. It says "Teenager Missing," with a picture of a dark haired boy around my age plastered on the cover. I don't bother reading the rest, it's not about Percy. Determined, I flip the page. The next article is about some scientist, again, not about Percy. I skim through the paper, getting to the last of the articles. 

And then one catches my eyes, the last and least exciting of them all. 

"Unknown Boy Almost Hit on Highway 5."

And I find myself staring at two pictures of Percy, one of him on top of a white car, balancing on the hood as it continued to drive, and another of him talking to the driver. 

I quickly read the article, only gathering what I needed. 

This picture was taken near a town called Beacon Hills, California. Percy had fled the scene, running into the forest just off the road. Police showed up and talked to witnesses, they said the boy had visible tattoos and scars, he looked like a prison escapee. 

I grin and stuff the paper into my bag, setting off towards the bus stop at the end of the road. The schedule say the next bus heading west is at 6:30, only fifteen minutes away. So I sit on the bench and wait. 

I end up taking out the newspaper again, starting to read the article on the missing boy. Mieczyslaw - Stiles - Stilinski, a 17 year old boy from Beacon Hills, California. I look back at Percy's article, both of them happened in the same place. 

That can't be a coincidence. 

This boy's disappearance must be connected to Percy's quest. 

I look up, a pair of headlights are coming my way. I stand up from the bench, rolling the newspaper and putting it back in my backpack. The bus pulls up to the bench, the doors open and an older women smiles at me from the driver's seat. 

"Is it only you today, Miss?" She asks. 

I nod. "Do you stop off in Beacon Hills by any chance?"

"I can make a detour."