𝐒𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐞𝐫 𝐂𝐚𝐦𝐩

Chapter 19

14
⌑

Building a criminal record

I'd love to tell you that (y/n) had some deep revelation on his way down, that he came to terms with his own mortality, laughed in the face of death, et cetera.

  The truth? His only thought was: Aaaaggghhhhh!

  The river raced toward him at the speed of a truck. Wind ripped the breath from his lungs. Steeples and skyscrapers and bridges tumbled in and out of my vision.

  And then: Shhhh-woooosh!

  A hundred leaves got through him, as if he'd hit a flying truck carrying a whole tree, and the wind shifted around him, as if he'd been more sternly compressed by the air–and then he noticed that it did. His arms were now furry, stubby claws, that linked to his sides with a thin material that gave away he was now a flying squirrel, gliding down towards a tree branch which he desperately grasped onto.

  He climbed down the tree, which was way easier as a squirrel than as a child, and looked around in search for Cyrus, the wind once again shifting around him, this time decompressing until he was heavy and tall again–or as tall as he could be.

  He turned, seeing the waters still shaking heavily, like a heavy boulder had just fallen in the river. He realized he lost sight of Cyrus while descending, and now the boy was–

  His thoughts were interrupted as a blonde head poked out from beneath the water, climbing ashore before its emerald green eyes were made into view, catching sight of (y/n).

  Cyrus and (y/n) ran towards each other, hastily encasing each other in a hug that lasted only a few seconds before both of them pulled away, slightly awkward but still excited.

  "Gods, that was scary," (y/n) muttered, kicking the ground slightly.

  "And put scary on that," Cyrus chuckled. "We've gotta find the rest of the group. Let's go."

  A block away, every emergency vehicle in St. Louis was surrounding the Arch. Police helicopters circled overhead. The crowd of onlookers reminded (y/n) of Times Square on New Year's Eve, like he'd seen on tv.

  A little girl said, "Mama! That boy walked out of the river."

  "That's nice, dear," her mother said, craning her neck to watch the ambulances.

  "But he's dry!"

  "That's nice, dear."

  A news lady was talking for the camera: "Probably not a terrorist attack, we're told, but it's still very early in the investigation. The damage, as you can see, is very serious. We're trying to get to some of the survivors, to question them about eyewitness reports of someone falling from the Arch."

  Survivors. (y/n) felt a surge of relief. Maybe the park ranger and that family made it out safely. He hoped Annabeth and Benny were okay.

  They both tried to push through the crowd to see what was going on inside the police line.

  "... a pair of adolescent boys," another reporter was saying. "Channel Five has learned that surveillance cameras show two adolescent boys going wild on the observation deck, somehow setting off this freak explosion. Hard to believe, John, but that's what we're hearing. Again, no confirmed fatalities ..."

  They backed away, trying to keep their heads down. They had to go a long way around the police perimeter. Uniformed officers and news reporters were everywhere.

  They'd almost lost hope of ever finding Annabeth and Benny when a familiar tone barked out.

  (y/n) turned and got tackled by Benny's bear hug–or hellhound hug

  Annabeth stood behind him, trying to look angry, but even she seemed relieved to see them. "We can't leave you alone for five minutes! What happened?"

  "We sort of fell," Cyrus shrugged.

  "Cyrus! Six hundred and thirty feet?"

  Behind them, a cop shouted, "Gangway!" The crowd parted, and a couple of paramedics hustled out, rolling a woman on a stretcher. (y/n) recognized her immediately as the mother of the little boy who'd been on the observation deck. She was saying, "And then this huge dog, this huge fire-breathing Chihuahua–"

  "Okay, ma'am," the paramedic said. "Just calm down. Your family is fine. The medication is starting to kick in."

  "I'm not crazy! These boys jumped out of the hole and the monster disappeared." Then she saw (y/n) and Cyrus. "There they are! Those're the boys!"

  (y/n) and Cyrus turned quickly and pulled Annabeth and Benny after them. They all disappeared into the crowd.

  "What's going on?" Annabeth demanded. "Was she talking about the Chihuahua on the elevator?"

  The two bounds told them the whole story of the Chimera, Echidna, their high-dive act, how (y/n) turned into a squirrel, and how Cyrus met an underwater lady who gave him a message from Poseidon.

  "Whoa," said Annabeth. "So we go to Santa Monica? You can't ignore summons from a god."

  Before Annabeth could add anything else, they passed another reporter doing a news break, and Cyrus almost froze in his tracks when he said, "Cyrus Jackson. That's right, Dan. Channel Twelve has learned that the boy who may have caused this explosion fits the description of a young man wanted by authorities for a serious New Jersey bus accident three days ago. And the boy is believed to be traveling west. For our viewers at home, here is a photo of Cyrus Jackson."

  They ducked around the news van and slipped into an alley.

  "First things first," Cyrus told the group. "We've got to get out of town!"

  Somehow, they made it back to the Amtrak station without getting spotted. They got on board the train with Percy and Grover just before it pulled out for Denver. The train trundled west as darkness fell, police lights still pulsing against the St. Louis skyline behind them.