¹𝐂𝐑𝐔𝐄𝐋 𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐄𝐑 ━ 𝗽. 𝗷𝗮𝗰𝗸𝘀𝗼𝗻

009

⋆ ˚｡⋆ʚ 𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐄 ɞ⋆ ˚｡⋆
─── ❛ sacrifices ❜ ───

THEY SPENT TWO days on the amtrak train, heading west through hills, over rivers, past amber waves of grain.

there weren't any attacks, but isabella didn't relax. she was very anxious, and due to the previous events she would not let anything slide. sorry for the monsters.

the moment she stepped into the train she ran to the bathroom to change. she put on a clean pair of underwear, switched her "white" shirt for a baby pink one and her black pants for classic blue jeans. she just cleaned the white snickers because she didn't bring any other ones.

once she exited the bathroom she looked for her friends, annabeth and grover were sitting next to each other leaving isabella with percy.

for the first hour isabella didn't do much, she mostly spent her time watching her surroundings. she noticed how percy didn't say anything, which she found weird because normally he couldn't keep his mouth shut.

she noticed how the boy flinched when he saw a man, isabella curious looked at the man, what she saw made everything have sense. he was reading a newspaper. it showed a photo taken by a tourist as percy got off the greyhound bus. he had a wild look in his eyes, like isabella when she saw one of her siblings kissing their boyfriend when she was seven. his sword was a metallic blur in his hands. it might've been a baseball bat or a lacrosse stick.

the picture's caption read:

twelve-year-old percy jackson, wanted for questioning in the long island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. the bus exploded on an east new jersey roadside shortly after jackson fled the scene. based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the boy may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. his stepfather, gabe ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"don't worry." isabella told him, grabbing his hand. "mortal police could never find us."

she wasn't really sure about that, but isabella knew that percy needed to hear that.

she spent the rest of the day talking with annabeth and grover, or chatting with random people. percy paced through the train so she couldn't make a stable conversation.

the reward money for returning gladiola had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as denver. they couldn't get beds in the sleeper car, so they dozed in their seats. isabella told them that she could get beds using her charmspeak but the others refused. annabeth said that it could be risky. isabella's neck got stiff and percy kept drooling in his sleep, so the girl was already hating their little trip.

grover kept snoring and bleating and waking her up. once, he shuffled around and his fake foot fell off. the three teens had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"so," annabeth asked percy, once they'd gotten grover's sneaker readjusted. "who wants your help?"

"what do you mean?"

"when you were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'i won't help you' who was asking for help?" the brunette now said, looking percy straight into the eyes

percy was reluctant to say anything. isabella didn't know if it was because of the fact she was looking at him so intensely or that his dream was very bad.

finally he told them about his dream. he said something about a voice from a pit, he even told them that this wasn't the first time he has dreamed about it. isabella and annabeth shared a look.