Annabeth's Odyssey **ON HOLD**

Chapter Three

It was almost sunrise anyway. A few more hours awake wondering whether he would have me raw or broiled couldn't hurt. I had some food out of my backpack so that if my plan didn't work, at least the Cyclops would have a bigger meal.

He opened the door with a thud, obviously expecting me to be asleep. It was at that point that I executed a strategy with the stealth and cunning only a daughter of Athena could have.

I threw my backpack at his face and made a break for the door.

I was seven years old, I had been up for twenty-four hours, and it was the best I could think of, okay? Besides, leaving my backpack behind gave me less luggage to carry so that I could run faster. I would probably die of starvation later but I didn't find it that important at the time.

He growled and threw the pack on the ground in anger. He reached out to grab me but I ducked and he missed. I took off through the empty streets. He wasn't quite as fast as I was because I was younger, but I was human so I would probably tire sooner.

After a long time of running, I saw two large brick buildings. There was a sign on one of the buildings but I couldn't make it out because of my dyslexia. I ducked into the alley between them and hid behind what looked like a sheet of metal. The Cyclops stopped beside me on the other side. I couldn't see him but he couldn't see me either, so I just stayed still and silent. After a minute, I heard footsteps. I waited until he left so he wouldn't hear me cry again.

Then I thought I heard a voice. I listened more closely. A boy and a girl were talking.

"Something down here," the boy said. "I sense it."

More monsters! I didn't know what to do. I could run away again, but I could never escape from two of them. I couldn't defend myself, either, but I had to do something. Being as silent as I could, I felt around for something to fight with. My hand fell on a hammer. I picked it up and got ready. There was a pause before the boy tore away the sheet and I charged him. He grabbed my wrist and I lost the hammer. I started kicking and yelling.

He was trying to talk to me and calm me down, but I had been talked to enough this morning. The girl looked about twelve years old and the boy looked about fourteen. He had a small dagger and the girl had a large shield and spear, which kind of scared me. She tapped her shield and it turned into a bracelet. I guess that was better. The boy introduced himself as Luke and the girl as Thalia.

"Monsters!" I shouted.

"No," the boy told me nicely. "But we know all about monsters. We fight them too."

I calmed down. Monster fighters? Maybe they could keep me safe. Certainly more than the Cyclops did.

They asked my name and I told them. They asked me why I was alone and I told them. Luke handed me a small bronze dagger. He told me it worked better than a hammer; I noticed that it was much lighter. He called me clever, which was hard to keep from laughing at considering my last escape plan. He promised me he would never let anything bad happen to me. He also promised that they would never take me back to my family, which was my favorite part.

"I'm not going to fail you like our families did us," he promised. "Deal?"

I jumped up and down. "Deal!"

Thalia said that they had a safe house on the James River. I looked up to the sky, whispered, "Thank you, Mom," and followed them.