It Shouldn't Have Come to This...(Percy Joins Kronos)

Chapter 4: My Best Friend Shops For A Wedding Dress

Percys Pov

(Sea Of Monsters)

My nightmare started like this.

I was standing on a deserted street in some little beach town. It was the middle of the night. A storm was blowing. Wind and rain ripped at the palm trees along the sidewalk. Pink and yellow stucco buildings lined the street, their windows boarded up. A block away, past a line of hibiscus bushes, the ocean churned.

Florida, I thought. Though I wasn't sure how I knew that. I'd never been to Florida.

Then I heard hooves clattering against the pavement. I turned and saw my friend Grover running for his life.

Yeah, I said hooves.

Grover is a satyr. From the waist up, he looks like a typical gangly teenager with a peach-fuzz goatee and a bad case of acne. He walks with a strange limp, but unless you happen to catch him without his pants on (which I don't recommend), you'd never know there was anything un-human about him. Baggy jeans and fake feet hide the fact that he's got furry hindquarters and hooves.

Grover had been my best friend in sixth grade. He'd gone on this adventure with me and a girl named Annabeth to save the world, but I hadn't seen him since last July, when he set off alone on a dangerous quest- a quest no satyr had ever returned from (I hadn't seen Annabeth either, but we'll get to that part later).

Anyway, in my dream, Grover was hauling goat tail, holding his human shoes in his hands the way he does when he needs to move fast. He clopped past the little tourist shops and surfboard rental places. The wind bent the palm trees almost to the ground.

Grover was terrified of something behind him. He must've just come from the beach. Wet sand was caked in his fur. He'd escaped from somewhere. He was trying to get away from.

something.

A bone-rattling growl cut through the storm. Behind Grover, at the far end of the block, a shadowy figure loomed. It swatted aside a street lamp, which burst in a shower of sparks.

Grover stumbled, whimpering in fear. He muttered to himself, Have to get away. Have to warn them!

I couldn't see what was chasing him, but I could hear it muttering and cursing.

The ground shook as it got closer. Grover dashed around a street corner and faltered.

He'd run into a dead-end courtyard full of shops. No time to back up. The nearest door had been blown open by the storm. The sign above the darkened display window read: ST. AUGUSTINE BRIDAL BOUTIQUE.

Grover dashed inside. He dove behind a rack of wedding dresses.

The monster's shadow passed in front of the shop. I could smell the thing a sickening combination of wet sheep wool and rotten meat and that weird sour body odour only monsters have, like a skunk that's been living off Mexican food.

Grover trembled behind the wedding dresses. The monster's shadow passed on.

Silence except for the rain. Grover took a deep breath. Maybe the thing was gone.

Then lightning flashed. The entire front of the store exploded, and a monstrous voice bellowed: "MIIIINE!"

I sat bolt upright, shivering in my bed.

There was no storm. No monster.

Morning sunlight filtered through my bedroom window.

I thought I saw a shadow flicker across the glass a humanlike shape. But then there was a knock on my bedroom door my mom called: "Percy, you're going to be late"_

-and the shadow at the window disappeared.

It must've been my imagination. A fifth-story window with a rickety old fire escape .. there couldn't have been anyone out there.

"Come on, dear," my mother called again. "Last day of school. You should be excited! You've almost made it.'

"Coming," I managed.

I felt under my pillow. My fingers closed reassuringly around the ballpoint pen I always slept with. I brought it out, studied the Ancient Greek writing engraved on the side: Anaklusmos. Riptide.

I though about uncapping it, but decided against that idea.

I put Anaklusmos on my nightstand and dragged myself out of bed.

I got dressed as quickly as I could. I tried not to think about my nightmare or monsters or the shadow at my window.

Have to get away. Have to warn them!
What had Grover meant?

It couldn't have been real. It couldn't.

Last day of school. My mom said I should have been excited, and I pretended I was. I'd almost made it the entire year without getting expelled. But, the only reason I came back to go to school was so that I could look for new demigods, and make them join Kronos. I had failed. There were no demigods at all, but Luke forced me to stay. He said I needed to look harder. I sighed as I remembered I would probably be worked harder than ever when I went back to the Princess Andromeda.

My mom made blue waffles and blue eggs for breakfast. She's funny that way, celebrating special occasions with blue food. I think it's her way of saying anything is possible. Percy can pass seventh grade. Waffles can be blue. Little miracles like that.

I ate at the kitchen table while my mom washed dishes. She was dressed in her work uniform a starry blue skirt and a red-and-white striped blouse she wore to sell candy at Sweet on America. Her long brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail.

The waffles tasted great, but I guess I wasn't digging in like I usually did. My mom looked over and frowned. "Percy, are you all right?"

"Yeah... fine."

But she could always tell when something was bothering me. She dried her hands and sat down across from me. "School, or ...'

'Mom, seriously, I'm fine.'

'You can talk to me, Perce.'

'Mom! I'm fine!'

My mom glanced at me with concerned face.

'Percy...' She started.

I jumped off my chair before she could say anything else. I gave her a look that said I don't wanna talk about it so she let it go with a sigh.

I was about to leave when she said something.

'Percy! I forgot to ask. Are you staying at camp for the summer?'

When she asked that question, I felt a little bit of longing for that place. I wanted to see the strawberry fields, the archery ranges (even though I sucked at archery) and most of all, my old friends there. But I couldn't go there without being shouted and screamed at for joining Kronos. But I couldn't tell my mom that. Hades, I haven't even told her I joined Kronos! I knew she would freak out if she knew. And I needed to go to the Princess Andromeda, so I had to lie.

' I'm uh... going to camp. I've got my bags packed already.'

My mom gave me a smile. I walked towards the door.

'Bye Percy! If I hear you got expelled your cookie privelege is gone!' She shouted.

'I won't!' Hopefully. I loved her cookies too much to be expelled. 

I smiled at my mom before closing the door.

As I stepped outside, I glanced at the brownstone building across the street.

Just for a second I saw a dark shape in the morning sunlight a human silhouette against the brick wall, a shadow that belonged to no one.

Then it rippled and vanished.