I ran. In one hand I clutched the bloody dagger I had just used to kill a monster. My long black hair whipped around my face in the wind and I used my free hand to draw it back. The monster had found me, hiding in a small town in South Carolina. I had to kill it and had done so in front of a stunned crowd of people. Neighbors, friends, acquaintances, I didn't know if they could see past the monster's disguise, but they had certainly seen me kill something. So then I ran. They all looked at me horrified, and I knew that I, Katya Redwood, could no longer live in South Carolina.
Three kids had followed me. A girl with blond hair, a boy with dark hair and blue eyes, and another boy who ran insanely fast and whose legs appeared to be furry. I tried to avoid them, using the best shortcuts and street ways I knew, but they still ran after me, gaining. I didn't know why they followed me, I didn't recognize them from before so I assumed they weren't from around here.
Why did I wear skinny jeans today? I thought. They were tight and hard to run in. I also wore a T-shirt and a black leather jacket, which I took off and threw behind me. I was fast, but so were the teenagers behind me. "Wait up!" yelled one of the teenagers. The one with blond hair shouted, "We just want to talk to you!" I didn't believe them. I knew I couldn't run for much longer, but I would still try.
Finally I slowed to a halt, breathing hard. I was cornered. There were buildings all around me on one side, and on the other was a large lake. "Fine," I gasped. "I give up." The three kids surrounded me, their feet thumping on the wooden planks of the dock. "Thank goodness, Katya," one of them said. "Because I'm really tired of running."
I smiled a bit and nodded. And then I threw the dagger at his face. No one had escaped my daggers yet. It whistled through the air and should have hit him right in the center of his face. He had lightning fast reflexes, and clicked a pen that turned into a sword, which he used to bat the dagger away. I stared at them. "Who are you?" I whispered.They didn't look like monsters, but there was no way they were just humans.
"My name is Percy Jackson, and this is Grover and Annabeth. We have something important to tell you." I looked for an escape route. I turned around, but kept looking out of the corner of my eye. There, the fire escape. I was a good climber. I could probably make it up before they could catch me.
"Katya, you're a demi-god." I froze. I still didn't turn around, so the teens couldn't see my face. They waited nervously for me to say something. The girl continued. "You are a daughter of a Greek God or Goddess. There is a camp for people like you, and us. It's called Camp Half-Blood." Again, they thought I would reply. I didn't. The wind whistled and sounds of the town floated over to them. It was a very awkward silence.
"Well, you are taking it a lot more calmly than the other demi-gods we have told." I nodded numbly. I had always known there was something different about me. What normal girl is hunted by monsters? What normal girl could throw fire when she was upset? "So which Goddess is my mother?" "It could be a God or Goddess that is your godly parent." Grover said. "No," I shook her head fiercely. "My father is my real father."George Redwood was my father, I was sure. He had taken care of me and sheltered me until his murder when I was eight. I had come home from school to find him covered in blood in the kitchen. Since then, I'd been alone. I had learned how to fight, how to kill, and how to survive. I had learned not to depend or trust anyone. There was one other person I had opened up to. He had turned out to be a manticore in disguise and had tried to kill me. I pushed those thoughts away, refusing to dwell on the past. There was another uncomfortable silence.
"You really don't mind being a demi-god?" Percy asked. I shrugged. "Why should I? I still don't have a parent. Don't you think if my mother loved me she would have sent some sign or contacted me? And why should I care about going to your Camp? It's just another place for me to not fit in, to be a misfit and be disliked." Annabeth tried to protest, "It's not like that!"
I frowned. It had always been like that. Even with my friends in South Carolina I was disconnected, not talked to very much, and just friends with the girls who were friends with everyone.
"If you don't come with us," the boy with furry legs said, "You'll be hunted by monsters forever and never have a safe place to go. You smell like a half-blood, they will track you down wherever you go. At the Camp, they might still be able to find you, but at least you will have people to fight with you." For a minute I couldn't think of anything to say. I didn't know if what they said was true, but if it was....
"How do I know I can trust you? For all I know you could be monsters!" Percy furrowed his brow. "well, erm, you could...." His voice trailed off. Annabelle looked up. "You could ask your mother." I scowled. I still wasn't sure about the whole one-of-your-parents-is-a-Greek-god thing. And besides, even if it was true, I didn't want to ask my mother for help. If my mother was a goddess, then she had ignored me for years, and I hated being ignored.
Percy looked at me pleadingly, "Please...just try it." I rolled my eyes. For a moment, I stood there, thinking. I sighed and glared at the three teenagers in front of me. I blew some hair out of my face. "Dear....Mother, if you are listening, send me some sign to tell me if I can trust these people." Nothing happened. Annabeth sighed. For a second I felt really depressed and just wamted to run away to my bedroom and cry. Then, I felt anger bubbling up inside me. She was my mother! Whoever she was, she had no right to ignore me like that!
"Seriously Mom?! I can't believe that a goddess is actually my mom. I wish it wasn't that way, because you suck!" Percy's eyes widened. Annabeth tugged on my sleeve. 'Stop it! Don't get the gods angry!" I ripped my arm away from Annabeth's grasp. "I hate you! I can't believe you would ignore me for fourteen years! I don't think that is how mothers are supposed to act, but I wouldn't know, would I? Because my mother is awful! I hate you!"
For a moment there was a terrible silence. Then Percy jumped. "Ow! Ouch! Something's burning through my shoes!" He jumped away from where he had been standing. Right where he had been there were three words burned into the planks on the dock:
GO WITH THEM
"I guess that settles it," said Grover, looking rather scared at the small yellow and orange flames.
The wind blew my long hair around me. I blinked,still staring at the burning words, and then opened my mouth. "Fine. But they won't like me. I'll try it, but only for a little bit. And I'm bringing my pet monkey."
And that is how a slim girl with long black hair, almond brown eyes, and golden skin showed up at Camp Half-Blood, with one change of clothes, a ton of weapons, and a monkey.
