The Child of Artemis

Chapter Seven

Amaris' POV

I open the box slowly. I looked inside, frowning at the contents. There was a whole ton of weird gold coins, as well as paper money. One hundred dollar bills, stacks of them.

If Abby had this much money stored away, why didn't she buy a house? Why not use it to buy food, education? Why hide this much money and odd coins for when I went to some camp?

Jack looked at the contents over my shoulder and gasped. He seemed shocked and awed. I still frowned at it. Why hadn't Abby used this to help herself?

"That's like, two hundred drachmas! Not to mention all the mortal money! You're rich, Amaris!" Jack exclaimed.

"I don't understand this!" I finally shout, slamming the box closed. Jack looked at me oddly.

"What don't you understand? You've got tons of money!" Jack exclaims.

I growl lowly. "If Abby had this much money stored away, why didn't she use it? Shelter, food, education, health! That's more important than that stupid camp! She could have lived longer if she had batter living conditions! I would know things like math, science, and other stuff that I don't know now! Why, why not use this?" I rant to myself, pacing with the box cradled in my arms.

"You make some good points. Maybe she wanted you to figure out what to do with the money. Use it for whatever you wanted or needed." Jack tries to reason with me. I sigh in exasperation.

"I don't care about that! She was like my mother up until I was seven! Now that I know she could have used this money to help herself, why didn't she?" I don't make very complete thoughts. "If she could have lived better, why did she give this to me?" I practically scream.

I hear footsteps from the other end of the alley. I freeze and look cautiously. It's a man, stalking towards me. I recognize him, but I don't remember why.

"Well, if it isn't the little street rat. Uri was there to save you last time. I don't see him here this time." He grinned, making my blood run cold.

Jake. The boy who almost beat me up five years ago. I grab Jack's arm and take off, dragging him behind me. Something was off about him. He didn't seem normal, didn't seem human.

He's a mythological monster! My mind screams at me. My heart pounds faster in fear. I'm such an idiot. There was one rule that was like a law in the alleys. You should never scream, shout, or yell. It always attracts negative attention.

I groan at myself. How could I be such an idiot?

"What's wrong? Who was that?" Jack asked behind me.

"Some kid. Almost beat me up five years ago. It's when I first met Uri, he helped me. Turns out, he's no kid. That guy, he's definitely a monster." I say, my voice hard. The coins in the box rattle as I run. It weighs me down, as does Jack. I'm only holding onto Jack for the reason of we were in the alleys. He didn't know them. I do, so I'll lead him out.

I whistle loudly, and I see Oreo flying above me in no time. Star is there too. I navigate out of the alley, and they land. I let go of Jack and quickly go and mount Oreo. It was difficult because of the box.

Before I could tell Oreo to get up in the air, I was dragged off of her. He let go as I fell, and I hit my head on the ground. I screamed, and I'm pretty sure I screamed for Abby. I tried to get up, dazed, and with my head pounding. I'm shoved back down. Everything is blurry.

I'm vaguely aware of shouting, and then the person who shoved me is shoved off of me. I hear what sounds like a fist-fight, and someone is thrown to the ground beside me. I look to see it's Jake. From my hazy assessment, he has a severely broken nose. He looks like a skeleton for a second too, but that could be my hazy mind playing tricks on me. I'm picked up, and I hear Jack's voice.