Cursed Mind

Chapter 4

*Alex POV*

As soon as Phoenix had dashed off towards the battle with a bow and arrows in her hand, I turned the opposite direction and raced towards the big house that the horseman had told us to go to in the first place. I took the steps two at a time to get up on the porch. The porch wrapped around the whole house but I didn't have time to explore at the moment. I walked to what I assumed was the front door and opened it. It wasn't locked. I walked inside and shut the door behind me. I turned around and saw a living room, I made my way there and sat on a comfy couch. As I scanned the room, I saw a stuffed leopard head on the wall. I've never seen something like that before.

I ran my hands through my messy hair that had come out of its ponytail on our mad dash to the camp. I quickly put it up into another ponytail so that it would stay out of my face. I stood up and walked over to a bookcase. Maybe I'd find something useful in these books that could help the others outside. I hated to be useless. But before I could pick up a book I heard a voice behind me.

"I don't think you should be touching things that aren't yours. Unless you want to be turned into a bottlenose dolphin of course, then be my guest."

I turned around quickly to see a plump man wearing a Hawaiian shirt and khaki shorts. He had a black beard that was trimmed around his chin and he had a balding spot on his head. He was holding a can of coke that he sipped out of every few seconds.

"Who are you?"

"You also shouldn't be going around asking people's names. Names hold power." He said with another sip from his coke can.

"What am I supposed to call you then?" I asked, a little bit annoyed with the guy. I mean, who wouldn't?

"You can call me Mr. D. I'm the camp director here at Camp Half-Blood."

"Well, Mr. D., there are kids in trouble out there and these books might have something that can help them."

"Kids in trouble? They'll be fine. They're demigods after all." Mr. D said, dismissing the subject with a wave of his hand. Before I could talk back to him about how my new best friend Phoenix was out there and that I couldn't let her get hurt, the door swung open to reveal a man in a wheelchair. But what was weird about it was that the man looked like the horseman that I had seen coming into camp. Except he didn't have a horse body. Maybe I imagined it?

"Didn't you have a horse body?" I asked, and Mr. D sniffed from behind me.

"Kids these days. So rude." I decided to ignore him and kept looking at the man in the wheelchair.

"I'm Chiron, the centaur." He replied. "This wheelchair has a magical compartment that I can fit my horse half into. These are fake human legs. The ceilings are too low in here for me to be in centaur form."

I stared at him wide-eyed.

"Your Chiron? The Chiron from the Greek Myths?"

"Yes, that's me. Except what you call myths aren't just myths. Their powerful forces working in everyday lives."

"No, the Greek gods can't be real, can they? Their Greek gods for a reason, so shouldn't they be in Greece or something?" I asked, sounding very confused. Chiron motioned for me to sit on the couch and I did so.

"The gods follow the western civilization. Wherever it goes, they go. Now, the western civilization is in America. Look at the signs, the gods have influenced America greatly. The country's bird, the eagle, is Zeus' sacred animal for example. When your friend gets here, I'll have you watch the orientation film."

That jolted me from my confusing thoughts. Phoenix. She was out there battling that monster thing. I quickly stood up from the couch.

"Chiron, my friend is out there battling that monster. I need to go help her."