Annabeth at Goode

Chapter 9

~Cassie~

Never in my life have I experienced this much fear.

"My mom, adoptive mom, was with me when I got attacked. We were having a family picnic..." I started, looking fearfully around the group.

"C'mon, dad!" I shouted.

We were having a family picnic at our favorite park in Portland, Maine.

It was a gorgeous day outside, not a cloud in sight. Little did we know that our perfect family picnic would take a bad turn real fast.

I was currently playing football with my dad, mom, two older brothers, and younger sister, my family, well, adoptive family.

I've always known I was adopted. My parents died at the age of four and I was taken custody by my aunt. After living there for six months, she said she was unfit to handle a small child and turned me over to an adoption agency, where I lived for 5 years. When I was 10, I was adopted by the Kale's, Jim and Cindy- the loving parents -, Sean, 17, and Ross, 18, the brothers, both super overprotective of me and Laya, my super-annoying-in-a-good-way, 11 year old sister.

We were 10 minutes into the game, just beginning our second down: My dad, Sean and I. We were playing against Mom, Laya and Ross.

My dad was the Quarterback, throwing the ball to me to run the 20 yards to get a touchdown. Running like my life depended on it, I scored, leaving my panting family behind me in the dust.

I was just beginning my celebratory dance; basically me flopping around like a heyena on a sugar high, when I heard a low growl from the forest in front of me. I halted my freakish dance and peered into the dense brush, to be met with fierce, glowing red eyes.

Eyes wide, I dropped the football, letting my feet carry me away just in time, the horrific beast shot out of the trees, and stopped.

I bolted to my family, gathering them in a huddle behind me, grabbing a random stick nearby. I don't know how I knew what to do, but all that was running through my head was I have to protect my family.

I took a long look at the beast, it seemed to be some sort of animal-human combination, with long, sharpened horns jutting out above its ears, the torso and head completely covered with hair. The bottom half of the beast seemed to be some type of cow or bull... Wait.

It's a Minotaur, I realized. We learned about them in Greek Mythology class. Why we had a class entirely on Greek mythology, I had no idea.

How in heck am I going to beat this thing? I don't know the first thing about beating a 20 foot tall beast.

Oh well, I guess I'll just wing it.

I turned to my dad, "Get them outta here, I'll handle this."

"No, I'm staying with you." Sean and Ross protested in unison.

"No, you have to get the family to safety."

"Honey, we're a family, and we fight these battles together, no matter how strange and abnormal they may be." My mom interjected.

"Mom, I can't have you guys getting hurt, I already lost my first family, I just can't lose a second, mom, I just can't." Tears burned in my eyes.

"Honey, we're a family. We fight together, and win together." She put her hand on my shoulder.

I nodded, blinking back the tears that threatened to fall.