An Unexpected Encounter

[DISCLAIMER: If I owned Percy Jackson, Luke would be alive.]

I opened my eyes. The sun was just beginning to rise, causing a shade of fiery orange to descend over the city of Richmond, Virginia. It was the color of cat vomit. It took me a moment to notice that the young blonde who I had recently met was also awake. She was being uncharacteristically quiet, which worried me. 

"Annabeth," I whispered softly, "what are you doing up? It's early." She shrugged, looking down.

For some odd reason, she looked almost disheartened.

"Spiders... I had a dream about spiders," Annabeth admit, not meeting my eyes. I should have guessed. The seven year old daughter of Athena nearly always dreamt about spiders, her mother's worst enemy. When she was younger, before she ran away, spiders would plague her at night. I opened my arms, and hugged Annabeth tightly, comforting her.

"It's okay, Annie," I reassured, "I wont let the spiders get you. I promise."

I must not have noticed how loudly I was speaking, because I accidentally awoke the final member of our trio, Luke. The blonde haired boy rolled over, groaning irritably. Like myself, Luke was not a morning person. I looked toward Annabeth, grinning mischievously. She nodded, standing and approaching Luke quietly.

Suddenly, like a cat, she pounced on him, laughing. Although Luke must have been tired, he laughed as well, huskily.

"Whoa there, Annie," he said in his sleepy morning voice, still chuckling, "what are you doing?"

The seven year old simply grinned.

"Rawr! I'm a scary monster!" she joked, giggling. "Oh no! I shall slay thee!" Luke smiled warmly, an expression I loved to see on him. I watched from a slight distance, smiling softly to myself. This was my crazy family.

Family. The word jolted through me like a bolt of lightning, and I remembered all that I left behind in California. My mother, the drunk actress who never quite cared for me, the woman that part of me still loved. My friends from school, who there weren't many of, but were still meaningful. And my baby brother, Jason....who had died. If only I hadn't left him, if only I had remembered the stupid picnic basket...

Luke must have noticed that I was being unusually quiet, because soon enough, my name was formed through his lips. I expected a warm smile, or something along those lines, but the look on his face was one of sheer terror.

"Thals.." he whispered, eyes wide, "b-behind you.." That could not be good.

Ever so slowly, I turned my head, daring to look at what might be lurking behind my back.

Even Annabeth, who could name just about any Greek monster, was at a loss for words. At first, it seemed to be a relatively normal mortal boy, but...no. This thing, whatever it was, was hideous. Furry, animal-like legs, demonic hooves, and dirty brown fur. It had small, strange horns, that I didn't have much time to look at before it...spoke.

"Hi, I'm Grover."