Matt Jackson: The Demigod Trials - The Sacrificial Spire (Percy Jackson World)

Chapter 12: Why Isn't Money Made of Silver

I grabbed Alison's hand and ducked behind a crowd of people who were walking for the exit. "What are you doing Matt? I wasn't done my cheeseburger." She complained as I dragged her along with me.

"I recognize that guy." I said simply following behind the small group. Alison looked confused, but she kept following behind me hiding from him. "You better explain why we're hiding from him when we get out of here."

I nodded as we passed by him in our small group. I held my breath as his eyes searched our group and they seemed to settle on me. I ducked lower behind the group, and he turned away as we exited the building. I breathed a sigh of relief and felt the warm wind against my face.

Alison poked me in the back. "Wanna tell me why we ran away from a middle school kid?" She asked rolling her eyes.

"That kid went to my school." I said. Alison's eyes narrowed. "The one where the cyclops attacked you?" She asked. I nodded my head and looked back at the doorway. I still had an uneasy feeling about Evan. "I don't know why he would be here. He really didn't seem like the type to go on a vacation to a place like the falls." I explained watching the doorway nervously.

Alison poked me again. "You're just being a worrywart. Even if he does attack us for some reason, I think we could probably take him. I mean we beat a poison breathing fire covered cow, and you fought a bunch of literal giants." She smiled reassuringly at me.

I tore my eyes away from the door and followed as Alison led the way in the direction of the falls. "Yeah. You're probably right." I said trying to convince myself.

As the sun rose higher in the sky and the temperature rose, I felt colder and more uneasy.  I felt like we were being watched and every time I heard a sound behind us, I spun on my heel reaching for my sword, but there was never anyone or anything there. By the time we reached the falls themselves Alison was understandably annoyed with me. "Matt, would you stop spinning every time a person walks within ten feet of us." She complained as I apologized to the elderly woman, I had just pointed a sword at. She thought I was trying to mug her with a baseball bat.

This time I saw a shadow approaching us from behind. It looked larger than a regular human and I thought back to the giants at the Bills stadium. I lunged forwards away from the shadow and ran into Alison as I turned around. Standing there was not a giant monster or any other kind of monster. It was a mother pushing a stroller with a baby in it. The mother yelped in surprise when I turned to her dropping her coffee.

"I'm sorry miss." I apologized as I heard Alison sigh angrily behind me. "Matt you're an idiot." She stated as the woman shook her head sadly. She sighed. "Oh well. Don't worry dear I can always get another one." She turned and walked her stroller back towards the shops before I could respond.

I turned to Alison and saw she had her hands on her hips and she was glaring at me. "Matt if you don't relax and stop scaring everybody near us, I swear to the gods I'm going to smack your dumb head." She exploded like she had been holding back her anger all day.

I backed away from her as she stuck her finger into my chest. "I'm sorry okay. I just have a bad feeling." She poked me in the chest harder this time. "Maybe you should stop thinking everything is out to get you and trust your friends." She shoved me in the chest with two hands knocking onto my butt. Her face softened. "Matt look, I'm sorry." She started.

I glared at her my face turning red as I stood up. "No, you look." I snarled. "Maybe I could trust my friends if they didn't try to get me killed by giants." As soon as the words came out of my mouth, I regretted them. Alison's face fell and she took a few steps back away from me. "Alison I – I didn't mean that. I was just – "