To Be the Hero || Book 1 ▪️On Hold ▪️

Chapter 13: An Anteater's Chihuahua makes Percy fall off the Arch

Chapter thirteen: An Anteater's chihuahua makes Percy fall off the arch

Y/N POV: We spent two days on the Amtrak train, heading west, over hilltops and past rivers.

We weren't attacked once, but I expected as much. This didn't make me feel relaxed though. I was about to jump out of my skin when I looked around and saw Percy's name and picture splattered over the front pages of several East Coast newspapers. The only problem, several of them displayed my photo as well. 

The picture's caption read:
Twelve-year-old Percy Jackson wanted for questioning in the Long Island disappearance of his mother two weeks ago, is shown here fleeing from the bus where he accosted several elderly female passengers. But in the corner of this picture, the supposedly missing run-away daughter of the owner of L/N enterprises—M/N (mother's name) L/N helping the boy run from the crime scene.

The bus exploded on an east New Jersey roadside shortly after Jackson and Mrs. L/N flee the scene. Based on eyewitness accounts, police believe the duo may be traveling with two teenage accomplices. His stepfather, Gabe Ugliano, has offered a cash reward for information leading to his capture.

"Don't worry," Annabeth told me and Percy, but mostly to Percy. "Mortal police could never find us." But she didn't sound so sure.

—————

Percy POV: The rest of the day I spent alternately pacing the length of the train (because I had a really hard time sitting still) or looking out the windows.

Once, I spotted a family of centaurs galloping across a wheat field, bows at the ready, as they hunted lunch. The little boy centaur—who was the size of a second-grader on a pony—caught my eye and waved. I looked around the passenger car, but nobody else had noticed. The adult riders all had their faces buried in laptop computers or magazines.
Another time, toward evening, I saw something huge moving through the woods. I could've sworn it was a lion, except that lions don't live wild in America, and this thing was the size of a Hummer. Its fur glinted gold in the evening light. Then it leaped through the trees and was gone.

Our reward money for returning Gladiola the poodle had only been enough to purchase tickets as far as Denver. We couldn't get berths in the sleeper car, so we dozed in our seats. My neck got stiff. I tried not to drool in my sleep, since Annabeth was sitting right next to me.

Grover kept snoring and bleating and waking me up. Once, he shuffled around and his fake footfell off. Annabeth, Y/N and I had to stick it back on before any of the other passengers noticed.

"So," Annabeth asked once we'd gotten Grover's sneaker readjusted. "Who wants your help?"

"What do you mean?," Me and Y/N said in sync.

"Percy, when were asleep just now, you mumbled, 'I won't help you.' Who were you dreaming about?"

I guess Y/N was also curious because she raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, what did you dream about. I'd really doubt it if you dreamt about weird barnyard animals that wanted to either kill you or eat food. You didn't have a dream like that before...did you?,"

I thought of my dream for when I first got to camp and I frowned. I knew Y/N was only teasing me but was being spot-on about my dreams really just a coincidence? But that was the only option at the moment so I had to believe. 

I scoffed jokingly. "Of course not." I was reluctant to say anything. It was the second time I'd dreamed about the evil voice from the pit. But it bothered me so much I finally told them.
Annabeth was quiet for a long time while Y/N told us that she was in dire need of a nap and fell asleep.