Fireflies [pjo]

CHAPTER I

Percy Jackson

Things weren't looking too hot.

First off: his mom. She was great-as always-but the whole eight-hour car ride from New York to Bar Harbor,
Maine, she'd kind of embarrassed him in front of Annabeth and Thalia, neither of whom he'd seen in months.
Between the blizzard and what they had headed off here to do, though, none of them had been in the mood to catch up with each other.

Second of Westover Hall. it was kind of freaky. The place was huge. The walls were lined with battle flags and weapons displays: antique rifles, battle axes, and a bunch of other stuff. Percy knew the place was a military school and all, but the decorations seemed overkill. Literally.

And lastly: They had walked straight into the only Monster the school had to offer. Dr.Thorn.
Bye, some miracle they had managed to convince him that they were students, leaving him suspicious. Now they were following Grover into the Gym, where the school dance was being held, and where the three demigods Grover had found would hopefully be.

"There they are." Grover nodded towards a couple of younger kids and an older girl around his age.
"The siblings Bianca and Nico di Angelo. And Malina Ashford."

The girl Percy assumed was Bianca wore a floppy green cap like she was trying to hide her face. The boy was her little brother. They both had dark silky hair and olive skin, and they used their hands a lot as they talked. Next to Nico was a slim girl, who Percy presumed was Malina. The first thing he noticed about her was her eyes. Her eyes didn't look normal. They unnerved him, made him feel as if she knew all his secrets.
Also, her eyes seemed glazed over, giving him the feeling she wasn't all there.

Next to her, Nico was shuffling some cards, and Bianca seemed to be scolding him about something. She kept looking around like she sensed something was wrong but next to her Malina seemed strangely calm and indifferent like she knew something the rest of the world didn't. She seemed to be the same age as Percy, but the way she looked at her surroundings, the way she looked at everything around her, made her seem older, wiser in a way. The longer he looked in her direction the stronger the urge to look away become. Again he studied her face. He just couldn't shake the feeling that there was something wrong with her eyes...

"Do they... I mean, have you told them?" asked Annabeth shaking him out of his thoughts.

Grover shook his head. "You know how it is. That could put them in more danger. Once they realize who they are, their scent becomes stronger." Grover pauses for a moment thinking, before saying "I'm not quite sure, but I have a feeling Malina already knows or has an idea of what's going on."

"Are you sure she's a demigod and not a Monster in disguise? You've been wrong before," questions Percy referring to the incident that happened on the Gateway Arch two years ago.

"I told you it was underground, and it was TWO years ago! And yes I am sure. She's a demigod, though her scent isn't that strong." Grover deflects.

"So let's grab them and get out of here," Percy said.

He started forward, but Thalia put a hand on his shoulder. The vice-principal, Dr. Thorn, had slipped out of a doorway near the bleachers and was standing near the di Angelo siblings and Malina. He nodded coldly in the teenager's direction, his blue eyes almost glowing.

He was most definitely suspicious. Great.

"Don't look at the kids," Thalia ordered. "We have to wait for a chance to get them. We need to pretend we're not interested in them. Throw him off their scent."