Camp Half-Blood and Earth's Daughter

Chapter 1

I shivered on the bench, listening to the bustling sound of the city. The setting sun reflected off of the tall buildings that were reaching their heads to the sky. I pulled the blanket that was draped over my shoulders tighter around myself and stared at the ground. The toes of my worn white sneakers touched the yellowing grass. My entire body ached, and out of sheer desperation, I stared intently at the grass and willed it to be warm enough for it to green. I figured that it was more likely for some color to appear in this grass than for a warm breeze to blow in the middle of November in New York City.

I may have imagined it, but the grass did seem to perk up a bit.

"Hey, kid, are you coming on?" I looked up. The bus was parked in front of me. The bus driver scowled down his crooked nose at me.

"Yeah," I replied and got up. I slung my blue duffel bag over my shoulder and climbed up the steps and onto the bus. I handed the bus driver my money and pushed my way through. Business men and women were staring at their laptops. Teenagers listened to music through their headphones. Others just sat there and waited for their stop to arrive.

I managed to find a seat. I sat down and scooted over to the window. As the bus pulled away, I noticed that I left my blanket on the bench. I rolled my eyes, not really caring about it. It was a terrible blanket anyway.

"Hey," a voice said. I looked away from the window and turned to find my friend, Oak, grinning down at me. His curly blonde hair was squished down by a blue baseball hat. Oak sat down next to me and grinned.

"Hi," I mumbled, eyeing Oak's small hairs growing on the bottom of his chin.

"What's the matter?" Oak asked.

"Nothing. Just having another lousy day," I replied. I stared at my reflection through the grimy bus window. My dark auburn hair was tangled and strands covered my face. My eyes resembled the color of a mountain- they were mainly grey, but there was some green and brown specks in them. My pale face was miserable and sad.

"Any news from your uncle?" Oak asked. I turned to glare at him.

"What do you think?" I growled. My uncle raised me after my mother and father left me.  He raised me alone.  One day, he never came home.  I assumed that he was with some random lady he met and would come home in the morning.  He often did this, so I thought nothing of it.  A week later, he was still gone.  I stayed at my house for another week until I decided to leave.  I knew that I would not be able to pay for the house, and I couldn't risk going to the police because they would take me somewhere and I would have to live with another family.  Ever since then, I have been living in the streets of New York City.

"Sorry, just trying to make conversation," Oak replied. He tapped his knees and gave me a half smile.

"Well, don't," I said and turned to the window again. We rode the bus in silence until we reached downtown. We hopped off of the bus and walked down the block to a bagel shop where Oak had promised to get me dinner.

Oak lived with his parents on 6th, but I never met them. He went to school and often visited me at the end of the day. He knew that I was short with money, so he usually would buy me some food.

"Wait out here," he told me and walked into the bagel store. I sighed contently as the scent of cooking food filled my nose. I waited for Oak to come out again.

It was almost dark by then. The sky was turning into a navy blue. Lights from shops and apartments brought light to the city. People still bustled around as if it were still day. I guess that was why they called it "The city that never sleeps".

Oak came out of the bagel shop carrying an everything bagel with egg and bacon on it. I accepted it gratefully and took a large bite. The delicious bagel filled my stomach as I continued to eat. Oak sat next to me on a bench and started to eat a muffin.

I glanced up, only to notice a very large man walking down the street. I stared at him. His face seemed to flicker slightly. If I leaned all the way to the left, he had one eye instead of two.  Impossible, yes, but still intriguing.  

"Um, are you alright?" Oak asked me. I looked at him and noticed that I was halfway off of the bench and leaning sharply to the left.

"Yeah. I'm fine," I assured and quickly sat up. I've been seeing strange things for the past few weeks, after I left home. Oak has been by my side like glue ever since I mentioned something about seeing a green lady.  He started to skip school, ignoring my objections, just to keep me company around the city.  As if I couldn't handle myself.

Oak started to whistle. I smiled. Oak loved whistling. He was great at it. I listened as he whistled like a bird. I finished my bagel and watched the sky as it grew dark.

About ten minutes later, we were walking down the street.  I had finished my bagel, but Oak was still eating his muffin.  This was odd since he usually devoured food in a second.  

"Oak, are you alright?" I asked.  His eyes were darting left and right nervously.

"Yeah, I'm fine.  Um, come with me real quick," he answered and pulled me into a taxi cab.

"Oak, what are you doing?" I asked, alarmed as Oak told the taxi driver to drive towards Long Island.

"I was hoping we could wait this out a while longer, but we need to go somewhere now," he explained quickly.  As we drove away from the city, he explained to me that there was some place he had needed to take me a while ago, but he wasn't sure if it was the right time or something.  He wouldn't give me any specifics.

"Hurry up!" Oak cried frantically to the taxi driver, who glared at him angrily.

"Just let us out here," he whined and pulled me out of the car.  He threw some money at the driver and dragged me into the forest next to us.  Oak told me not to look behind us, but I did anyway.

What I saw caused me to scream and follow Oak as fast as I could into the forest.

A cyclops was chasing us.