𝙰𝚖𝚘𝚛 𝚅𝚒𝚗𝚌𝚒𝚝 𝙾𝚖𝚗𝚒𝚊 》𝙿𝚑𝚘𝚎𝚋𝚞𝚜 𝙰𝚙𝚘𝚕𝚕𝚘

1.05

KYRA HAD A PROBLEM. For weeks, she had been having a recurring nightmare. At least...she thought she was. She couldn't remember the details of said nightmare, but every time she woke up, drenched in sweat, it felt like her stomach had dropped to the floor and her head had cracked open. The girl was pretty sure that wasn't normal in respect to normal dreams.

Tonight wasn't any different.

Kyra awoke with a gasp, her body drenched in sweat. She let out a quiet, painful cry and gripped either side of her head with her hands as it erupted in pain. Yet, once again, she couldn't remember what had happened in her dreams. Especially nothing that would emit this kind of painful response.

She leaned forward, her chest against her knees, as she kept her hands clasped firmly against her head. The world was spinning around her and it seemed like no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't take a proper breath in.

The girl swayed back and forth, trying to soothe the stabbing pain she felt throughout her mind. It felt like the pain was coming both from the inside of her head and the outside, but she couldn't figure out which side felt worse.

It took a few more minutes for the pain to go away, and at that point, she had lost all her sense of sleepiness. So, for the rest of the night, she had no choice but to lay down in silence, waiting for the sun to rise.

Unfortunately for her, the universe didn't want her to have any kind of silence for the night.

Beside her, Percy jolted awake, covered in sweat, and a few moments later after a loud BOOM crashed outside, Sally did, too.

"Hurricane," the older woman said.

How unlucky could they be? A hurricane hitting New York the same day they decided to go by the ocean? Kyra didn't even know New York could get hurricanes! Maybe God was punishing her for something, but as she thought about her recent actions, nothing seemed serious enough to waver this sort of punishment.

She blew out a breath and began quickly packing her bag, making sure to stuff everything she had inside of it. She did not want to leave anything behind, even if it was a speck of dust she liked. As she packed, a loud pounding sounded from the front door of the cabin.

"Hey, hey, hey—what are you doing?" The girl asked Sally. "You can't open the door! That's one of the biggest rules in horror movies! What if Jason is out there waiting for us or something?"

Sally didn't listen to the girl and twisted the doorknob, opening it up for whoever was out there.

"Searching all night," a familiar voice gasped. "What were you two thinking?"

At the sight of Grover, who was drenched in water, Kyra felt her stomach sink to the floor in guilt. Still, she managed a little shrug. "Not much, clearly."

Sally looked at the two preteens, horror evident in her features. It made Kyra feel like she had committed the most unforgivable crime in the universe. But she couldn't have, right?

"Percy...Kyra," The older woman started, loud enough that she could be heard over the thunder. "What happened at school? What didn't you tell me?"

Kyra shook her head, her eyes widened in disbelief. She had no idea something had happened at school. Did it have something to do with the disappearance of Mrs. Dodds?

"O Zeu kaallotheoi!" Grover exclaimed, his voice filled with the utmost panic. Kyra's eyebrows furrowed at his words. Was that Ancient Greek? ...Could she understand Ancient Greek? "It's right behind me! Didn't you tell her?

"Tell her what?" Kyra shouted. "What the heck happened at school?"

"Percy, Kyra. Tell me now!"