𝐒𝐎𝐋𝐀𝐑 - P. JACKSON

𝐓𝐇𝐑𝐄𝐄

PERCY HATED BEING DETERMINED. The next morning, Chiron moved him into cabin three. He didn't have to share with anybody. He had plenty of room for all his stuff: the Minotaur's horn, one set of spare clothes, and a toiletry bag. He got to sit at his own dinner table, pick all his own activities,call "lights out" whenever he felt like it, and not listen to anybody else.And Percy was absolutely miserable.Just when he'd started to feel accepted, to feel he had a home in cabin eleven and he might be a normal kid—or as normal as you can be when you're a half-blood—he'd been separated out as if he had some rare disease. 

 Nobody mentioned the hell hound, but Percy got the feeling they were all talking about it behind his back. The attack had scared everybody. It sent two messages: one, that Percy was the son of the Sea God;and two, monsters would stop at nothing to kill him. They could even invade a camp that had always been considered safe.The other campers steered clear of Percy as much as possible. Cabin eleven was too nervous to have sword class with him after what he'd done to the Ares folks in the woods, so his lessons with Luke became one-on-one. He pushed Percy harder than ever, and wasn't afraid to bruise him up in the process.

 "You're going to need all the training you can get," Luke promised, as Percy was working with swords and flaming torches. "Now let's try that viper-beheading strike again. Fifty more repetitions."Annabeth still taught him Greek in the mornings, but she seemed distracted. Every time Percy said something, she scowled at him, as if he'd just poked her between the eyes.After lessons, she would walk away muttering to herself: "Quest . . . Poseidon? . . . Dirty rotten . . .Got to make a plan . . ."Even Clarisse kept her distance, though her venomous looks made it clear she wanted to kill Percy for breaking her magic spear. 

Percy wished she would just yell or punch him or something. He'd rather get into fights every day than be ignored. Even Atlas wouldn't spare him a glance which hurt the worst. He'd tried approaching the golden haired boy who sneered at him and walked away each time. Seeing the hate in Atlas's eyes directed at him for once hurt worse than anything ever could. Percy knew somebody at camp resented him, because one night he came into his cabin and found a mortal newspaper dropped inside the doorway, a copy of the New York Daily News, opened to the Metro page.The article took Percy almost an hour to read, because the angrier he got, the more the words floated around on the page.

 BOY AND MOTHER STILL MISSING AFTER FREAK CAR ACCIDENT

BY EILEEN SMYTHE

Sally Jackson and son Percy are still missing one week after their mysterious disappearance. The family's badly burned '78 Camaro was discovered last Saturday on a north Long Island road with the roof ripped off and the front axle broken. The car had flipped and skidded for several hundred feet before exploding.Mother and son had gone for a weekend vacation to Montauk, but left hastily, under mysterious circumstances. Small traces of blood were found in the car and near the scene of the wreck, but there were no other signs of the missing Jacksons.

 Residents in the rural area reported seeing nothing unusual around the time of the accident.Ms. Jackson's husband, Gabe Ugliano, claims that his stepson, Percy Jackson, is a troubled child who has been kicked out of numerous boarding schools and has expressed violent tendencies in the past.Police would not say whether son Percy is a suspect in his mother's disappearance, but they have not ruled out foul play. Below are recent pictures of Sally Jackson and Percy. Police urge anyone with information to call the following toll-free crime-stoppers hotline.The phone number was circled in black marker.

Percy wadded up the paper and threw it away, then flopped down in his bunk bed in the middle of his empty cabin."Lights out," He told himself miserably.That night, Percy had his worst dream yet. He was running along the beach in a storm. This time, there was a city behind him, Not New York. The sprawl was different: buildings spread farther apart, palm trees and low hills in the distance.About a hundred yards down the surf, two men were fighting.