{BOOK 2} Percy Jackson's Sister

Fred? Fred!

      We ran out to the parking lot and crammed into the van in a rush. Only a couple minutes had passed when we noticed the sleek black helicopter following us.

     "Didn't Artemis turn them into birds?" I asked.

      "Must be a different one," Thalia said. "Try to shake them off."

     "They know the van," Percy told us. "We have to ditch it."

      Zoë swerved left and right to try to find somewhere to hide but nothing came. The helicopter kept getting closer.

     "Maybe the military will shoot it down," Grover hoped.

      "The military probably thinks it's one of theirs," Percy said. "How can the General use mortals, anyway?"

       "Mercenaries," Zoë answered. "It is distasteful, but many mortals will fight for any cause as long as they are paid."

      "But don't these mortals see who they're working for?" Percy asked. "Don't they notice all the monsters around them?"

       "I doubt they'd care," I muttered.

        Zoë agreed. "I do not know how much they see through the Mist. I doubt it would matter to them if they knew the truth. Sometimes mortals can be more horrible than monsters."

       The noises of the helicopter got louder and so did our heartbeats.

        "Hey, Dad," Thalia prayed with her eyes squeezed shut. "A lightning bolt would be nice about now. Please?"

       No thunder rumbled, the sky gave no sign of electricity. Just gray snowstorm clouds.

      "There!" Bianca pointed. "That parking lot!"

      "We'll be trapped," Zoe said.

      "Trust me," Bianca said.

        Zoë jerked the steering wheel. Apparently, trust me was enough to get Zoë to listen to Bianca. She stopped in a mall parking lot and Bianca guided us to an underground station.

       "Subway entrance," Bianca said. "Let's go south. Alexandria."

       "Anything," Thalia said.

       We dug through our pockets and came up with enough money to buy tickets. When we emerged from underground, we could see the helicopter hovering over the can we ditched. We sped past it and away from D.C.

       Grover let out a breath of relief. "Nice job, Bianca, thinking of the subway."

      Bianca beamed. "Yeah, well. I saw that station when Nico and I came through last summer. I remember being really surprised to see it, because it wasn't here when we used to live in D.C."

      Grover frowned. "New? But that station looked really old."

      "I guess," Bianca shrugged. "But trust me, when we lived here as little kids, there was no subway."

     Thalia sat up, intrigued by the story. "Wait a minute. No subway at all?"

     Bianca confirmed.

     We all exchanged confused looks, even Zoë. There was no way that subway station was anywhere near new. If Bianca had never seen it before, the only logical explanation was that she hadn't noticed it. But that would've been impossible, then she wouldn't have guided us here.

     "Bianca," Zoë said. "How long ago..." Her voice trailed off. She jerked her head to the side as if listening for something. We all heard it, too. The sound of a helicopter approaching.

     "We need to change trains," Percy said. "Next station."

       For about half an hour, we changed trains every time we felt the helicopter gaining. We really didn't care where we were going, as ling as it was away from the helicopter.

      After a while we reached the end of the train's route and were forced to get off at a station that seemed to be in the middle of an abandoned warehouse. As we stepped outside, the cold pierced our skin as we trudged through the thick snow. Percy hugged his new fur coat tightly to his body, everyone's teeth chattered like a chorus. It was so cold, I even felt a little chilly.

     We wandered around hoping to find another train to transport us. We found nothing but old freight cars covered in more snow than we were.

     "I don't suppose anyone has a match to light a fire?" Percy said after we'd given up looking.

      "No," I said. "But there's a fire over there."

      A homeless guy was standing at a trash-can fire. We were too far away for me to tell if he was looking at us or not so I decided to approach him and ask if we could warm up at his fire.

      "I really don't think-" Bianca started but I waved her off and walked towards the stranger.

      As I got closer it became clear that he was looking at us. I squinted my eyes to get a better look and stopped in my tracks.

      "Fred?" I asked.

      The man took a step towards me and squinted. He grinned widely with the few teeth he had left. "Weird girl!"

     "Fred!" I said again, hugging the man.

      "Who'd you drag on the street with ya?" He gestured to the shivering group behind me.

      "These are my friends," I beckoned them forward. "Thalia, Bianca, and Zoë. This is my brother, Percy."

      "Brother?" Fred laughed. "You ain't never told me you had a brother."

      "Yeah, and you never told me you had more than one outfit," I tugged at his big jacket that looked newer than the rest of the raggedy clothes he had on.

      He chuckled. "Come, sit by the fire, you kids must be freezing. Where you boxing these day?"

     "Ain't got a box, Fred," I said. "I got a home."

     "No kidding? You finally get off the streets?"

     "Ah, you know the story. Good people took the stray in."

      Percy and Thalia were staring at me like I'd grown a tail and hooves.

      "Me and Fred go way back," I explained. "Good friend to have on the streets."

      "You's bad luck, though," Fred said. "Weird things always happen when I was around you."

      "Oh, c'mon," I said. "I brought adventure in your life."

      "You brought heart attacks, that's for sure," he laughed. "Remember Boston?"

       "Wasn't my fault that rat wanted your eyeballs for lunch."

       We laughed but Percy and Thalia just looked at me sadly. I guess they'd forgotten I'd grown up in the streets. I didn't mind, it had made me tougher and in some ways prepared me for the demigod life.

     I spoke with Fred for a while, making sure he was fine and didn't need anything. I offered him some of my rations, which he refused at first but eventually took. Eventually, I looked over to my friends who seemed eager to keep going. I remembered that we were on a time sensitive quest, I couldn't stick around and warm by the trash fire. It was times like these I missed being oblivious on the streets, it was easier.

      "Listen, Fred," I got up from the floor. "We need a train going west, you know of any around here?"

      "Sure do, weird girl," He pointed a crooked finger to the horizon, to freight car that said SUN WEST LINE. Inside, it transported cars and they all looked brand new.

      "That's... convenient," Thalia said. "Thanks, uh..."

         We turned around but Fred had gone, and he seemed to have taken the fire with him. A few wisps of smoke in the trash can were the only evidence that there had ever been heat.

      I smiled. "Thanks, Fred."

      We grabbed our things and made our way towards the luxury cars, hoping for warmth.