PERI

Usually, if somebody tried to hijack my car, I would immediately shoot them with the .45 I kept with me at all times. But this time, I didn't. I allowed this Nico guy to shove me into the passenger seat and drive my beloved '67 Mustang like he was boss.

I supposed it was his sword. I'd faced poltergeists, hellhounds and cannibalistic puppets, but that wickedly-sharp black sword - which disappeared when I averted my eyes for one moment - downright terrified me. I'd never seen a weapon like it before but I knew it meant trouble.

However, Nico himself wasn't that scary. Perhaps he was a little creepy with the whole tell-me-your-sob-story-or-I'll-cut-you attitude but he genuinely seemed to care about Izzy's well-being. Actually, Nico seemed to care about Izzy a bit too much. I wondered if that boy had attachment issues.

Anyway, I knew in my gut that Nico was no monster. Though he was unlike anything - anyone - I'd ever encountered, weirdly enough I trusted him to not hurt me or my sister. Maybe he was just some peculiar kid with an even more peculiar sword but most likely he was one of us - a fighter of the supernatural. If that was the case, I wanted him to admit he was a paranormal hunter, like me and my dad, before showing him the assortment of weapons, ammunition and other dandy monster-killing thingamabobs I kept in the trunk. If I revealed the truth about myself and my "career" too early... Well, that never ended well.

I studied Nico's expression and tried to guess his secret. Obviously, the guy was keeping quiet about something important. He told me he was supposed to be on a train when he rescued Izzy. On the other hand, in my vision, the wrecked car seemed to be far from any train station. What exactly was Nico doing there in the first place? He also accepted my story too quickly than I'd expected. Plus, what kind of person asks for a ride to L.A. from a stranger? There was something up with Nico, I just knew it.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" Nico asked.

I blinked. I hadn't realized that I was full-on staring him. "I was just thinking."

"O-kay, and what do your thoughts have to do with my face?" Nico regarded me suspiciously.

I struggled to find a witty response. "I... can't believe some emo kid is driving my car."

Nico frowned. "I'm not emo."

I did a brief once-over of Nico's appearance. "What's up with the all-black clothes?"

"Black is my favourite colour," Nico responded.

"Black isn't a colour," I corrected, quoting something my mother told me many years ago, "It's a shade."

"Even better." Nico turned his attention back to the road.

"And your hair too," I added, "I bet you spent a good chunk of your morning styling your hair to get that dark and disheveled look."

"My hair is naturally dark and disheveled," Nico defended, sounding annoyed.

"And your skull rings. And skull T-shirt. Oh, and your black sword. You mind explaining that?" I thought this was a suitable transition to get Nico talking about his monster-fighting ways, if he was one of us.

"Okay, you're right. I am a little emo," Nico said, avoiding my question, "Hey, I see a McDonald's up ahead. Didn't you tell Izzy you're gonna buy her a Happy Meal?"

"Yeah. I'll wake her up," I replied, "So let's talk about your sword..."

"Izzy... Is that short for something?" Nico mused, ignoring my last sentence, "Isabelle? Isabella?"

"Isabelline. So, where'd you get your sword?"

"Isabelline? I've never heard of that name before."

"It's not really a name," I told him, "Isabelline is a colour. It's a kind of white. Anyway, your sword..."

He interrupted. "Why name her after a colour?"

"Our mom was a painter. So why-?"

"I thought you said your mom was a musician?" Nico pestered. He stopped the car at a red light.

"She liked to paint too. Your sword-"

"How about you? Is Peri short for something too?" The light turned green.

"Nico-"

"Peri... Perinabeth?" Nico guessed. His evasiveness was starting to irritate me now. "Periodic table? Peri... The Platypus?"

"Just answer the ques-"

"Or is your name a colour too? Peri... Periwinkle? Hold up - is your real name Periwinkle?"

"Yes. Now your sword..."

"Wow, your mom named you Periwinkle?" My companion smirked. "No wonder you hated her so much."

"Nico, shut up-"

"If you say so..."

"- And talk about your damn sword!"

"Alright, alright..." Nico took a deep breath and held up his right middle finger.

I lost it. "Are you seriously flipping me off-?"

"No, my ring!" Nico pointed at the black skull ring on his middle finger. "Holy Tartarus, you are such a... You need to calm down. Peri, my sword is enchanted so it can turn into this ring." He brushed his thumb against the skull on the ring. Right away, the ring morphed into a black metal sword.

"Oh." Now, I was simply confused. I considered myself to be quite the weapons enthusiast, but I'd never heard of enchanted swords. For now, all I could say was, "You better put that away in case someone rear-ends us. Don't want that slashing the inside my car."

Nico tapped the bottom of the sword hilt and it instantly transformed back into a ring. "I'm guessing this isn't the weirdest thing you've ever seen."

Finally, we were getting somewhere.

"Why do you ask that?" I asked innocently as Nico steered the car towards the McDonald's drive-thru.

"You can see my sword," he replied, "Meaning you can see through the Mist."

I knew most people couldn't see the supernatural until it was too late. However, I'd never heard anyone refer to that phenomenon like it was an actual thing or in Nico's case, "the Mist".

What kind of hunter was this guy?

"Hunter?" Nico gave me a strange look. I hadn't realized that I spoke my last thought aloud.

Suddenly, the stereo beside us crackled."Hello, welcome to McDonald's. What would you like to order?" I suppressed a sigh of relief. Saved by the drive-thru.