The Youngest Hawthorne

2. She's a What?

All three of us take off running down the halls, with Jameson in the lead. I just follow him, because I don’t need to get myself even more lost, and he knows the house better than anyone. The monster chases us, as far as we go. Then, it suddenly changes directions.
 
“Why did it stop chasing us?” I ask Jameson. He’s pale.

“I don’t know, but that’s Xander’s wing.” He says. I don’t think. I just run after where the monster went. I don’t know what I’ll do when I get there. I don’t know if the monster is even after Xander. But I can’t just sit by and watch. When I get there… a lot is happening. Xander is backed against the wall, terrified, and Max… is holding a sword and fighting the monster. What? She swings it one final time, and the monster turns to dust.

“You- you really weren’t lying?” Xander says, not even noticing that I was there.

“No. I wish I was. But wait… you saw that? Like the monster and everything?” Max asks.

“Y- yeah. Is that bad?”

“Not necessarily. But more of them might come now that you’ve seen them. Have you ever noticed weird things before?”

“I- I don’t think so. Not like that.”

“What was it? What’s going on?” I ask, drawing attention to myself.

“Y/n! You could see it too?” Max asks.

“Y- yeah. Please explain.”

“Oh ship. Who all saw it?”

“Uh, me, Avery, and Jameson.”
 
“Do you know if they saw something else? Like maybe a scary looking dog?”

“No. They were way more scared of that than they would have been if they saw like a dog. But how is that important? Would they not have been able to see it for some reason?”

“Just go get them. And Libby and Nash. I should probably just explain to everyone.”
“You mean you can explain what just happened?”
“Yeah. Just go get them.”
“I don’t know where they are. Uh, that thing actually got out because I was lost.”

“What?”
 
“I can explain. Kinda. I don’t even fully understand it.”

“Ok. Y/n, you call Avery or Jameson, and Xander can you call Libby or Nash?”

“Uh, sure.” Jameson picks up the phone as soon as I call.

“Is Xander ok?” He asks.

“Yeah. And, uh, the monster is a pile of dust.”

“What?”

“Max said she’ll explain when everyone is here.”

“Max is explaining this?”

“I guess… just come here. I don’t know what’s going on any more than you do.”

“Ok, fine.” He hangs up, and Max comes over to me.

“So you were the one who let that out?”
“I promise it wasn’t on purpose! I didn’t know what I would find behind the door.”

“Ok, back up a second. Just tell me the story.”

“I was bored, and everyone was busy, so I was actually trying to find my way here, but I got lost, so I went into this study, and I was just sorta messing around, and I pulled out this book, but it lead to a secret passageway, and that monster was behind it, and I called Jameson to tell him about it since he was already on his way there to find me, and then I opened the door again, and it got out before I could close it,” I pause to take a deep breath, “and I’m so so so sorry I did that.”

“You’re fine,” she sighs. “Just be more careful around unknown secret passageways.”

“I will,” I promise her. She’s pacing, and Xander is still against the wall on his bed, so I go sit next to him. “I’m really sorry I let that monster out. I had no idea it would be behind there. And I definitely didn’t know it would come here.”

“I… I’m not mad at you for it.”

“Then what’s wrong?”

“Max… before the monster came in here, she was telling me… and now I think it has to be true. Unless I’m imagining the whole thing. I’ve never hoped I was hallucinating more than I do now.”

“What did she say?”

“I… I should let her explain once everyone’s here.” Thankfully, it didn’t take too long for everyone else to show up. Max quickly caught everyone up on the whole monster thing, then she turned to me.

“This is where you’ll want to start listening. So, you know all of the Greek myths about the Gods and monsters and stuff?”

“Yeah, but how is that relevant?” Avery asks.
 
“Well, they’re still around today. And I just found out that I’m actually a demigod.”

“Demigod,” Avery repeats in shock. “Like as in, one of your parents is a Greek God?”

“Yeah. It sounds crazy, but I am. Gods and monsters and stuff, they’re everywhere.”

“Then how come we can’t see it? I’ve never seen Zeus walking around the streets.”

“Well there’s this stuff called Mist that protects mortals from all of that. And since you’re all about as old as me, I would guess that you’re clearsighted mortals, which means that you can all see through the Mist when you’re looking for it. It’s kind of weird that all of you are, since they’re supposed to be like super rare, but here we are.”

“So, what about the monster?” Nash asks.

“Well, when I kill monsters with Celestial Bronze weapons, they turn to dust. And I was able to kill it before anything bad happened.”

“What’s Celestial Bronze, exactly?” Jameson asks.

“It’s a special metal that can only hurt Gods and monsters. Regular steel can’t. But since I’m half God, half mortal, I can get hurt by either.”

“So who’s your godly parent?” Avery asks.

“I don’t actually know yet. Whoever it is hasn’t claimed me, but it’s probably not anyone crazy, since the big monsters don’t normally come for me, and I haven’t discovered any powers. Also, you should all be safe from other monsters since you’re mortals.”

“That wasn’t a big monster?” I ask.

“No. The big monsters are the ones who have backstories and myths all about them.”

“So you just go about your life killing monsters whenever they come for you?”

“Well, sort of. I’m actually about to be a Hunter of Artemis, which… y’know what? They’re right outside. Let’s just go get them and let them explain their whole deal.”