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Thalia's POV

Luke gave me a temporarily weapon to use until we can get me one that will work for me better. His backpack is filled with weapons and dangerous objects, so I figured he could spare one weapon for me to use. We were living in the oddest places, like the forest or alleyways, sometimes even parks, but we always find a place to stay. It is nice to have someone else be there when you're about to get your face eaten off by a monster.

"Luke!" I screamed in his ear. "Luke, wake up!" I shook his shoulder and he jumped up.

"What did I miss?" I looked up over the hill and saw the shapes getting closer.

"A lot, now come on! Grab your shit and let's go!" we ran without looking back muttering a string of curses to the gods. We were in Maryland and can't seem to shake the monsters; Luke told me that there is a place in New York where we could be safe; I hope he is right. The hard part is getting there alive.

"Thalia! Your left!" I turned to my left and saw a knife heading straight to my face. With a yelp I jumped right, falling on the ground, I rolled once my skin touched the ground as I let instinct take over. After I rolled, I knelt on my knees then got into a running position and ran like never before, catching up with Luke in a matter of seconds. I tapped my bracelet and Aegis appeared, I faced it toward the monsters attacking us hoping it would make them at least hesitate. I had found it wrapped in gold on my bed at my home a long time ago. It was a gift from my father, at least that's what the note said.

Up ahead I could see a store—a gas station—we ran toward it swearing so much I expected to be wacked in the face with a purse from some elderly lady for saying such words. We ran inside and barricaded the door then got our weapons ready and made a plan.

"We stand back to back you take half and I the other, got it?" I nodded and concentrated on the sky and storms, summoning all my strength to get a lightning bolt to help us. No such luck. We stood back to back both eyes on the barricade, waiting, calm and determined to get out alive, the shadows and shapes that were following us were ramming the doors I felt my heart beat faster in anticipation.

"Ready?" I asked, my voice sounded strong, I realize that I am looking forward to this fight. Life was just getting too boring; we haven't been in a fight for two nights in a row. A miracle.

"Ready," that's when all hell broke loose.

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My right hand was broken in several places and torso torn and bleeding. I was laughing so hard at Luke that I soaked my bandages with fresh blood.

"Thalia! Stop laughing!" Luke was bandaging up my arm and I was trying to eat some ambrosia, problem was we only had a limited supply of the food of the gods, so I tried to take as little bites as I could.

"How can I? You look ridicules." His hair was black with dirt and untidy, his shirt a mixture of blood and monster glitter, his jeans now look like shorts with mud caked on them. On top of all that he was making faces while setting my bones back in place. " You look like a—" right then Luke put his hand over my mouth and motioned for me to crouch in the shadows.

"There's someone—something—down there." He motioned toward the alley.

I lifted up my spear and shield of terror, Luke grabbed his bronze knife. We probably looked wild, you get that way when you are constantly being attacked by monsters.

A rumble echoed from the alley, like someone had banged on a sheet of metal. We slowly crept forward.

Old crates were stacked on a loading dock. Luke and I approached with our weapons ready. A curtain of corrugated tin quivered as if something were behind it.

I glanced at Luke. He counted silently: One, two, three! He ripped away the tin, and a little girl flew at him with a hammer.

"Whoa!" Luke said.

The girl had tangled blond hair and was wearing flannel pajamas. She couldn't have been more than seven, but she would've brained Luke if he hadn't been so fast.

He grabbed her wrist, and the hammer skittered across the cement.

The little girl fought and kicked. "No more monsters! Go away!"

"It's okay!" Luke struggled to hold her. "Thalia, put your shield up. You're scaring her."

I tapped Aegis, and it shrank into a bracelet.

"Hey, it's all right," I said. "We're not going to hurt you. I'm Thalia. This is Luke."

"Monsters!"

"No," Luke promised. "But we all know all about monsters. We fight them too."

Slowly, the girl stopped kicking. She studied Luke and me with large intelligent grey eyes.

"You're like me?" she said with suspicion.

"Yeah," Luke said. "We're… well, it's hard to explain, but we're monster fighters. Where's your family?"

"My family hates me," the girl said. "They don't want me. I ran away."

I locked eyes with Luke. We both related to what she is saying.

The poor girl, she's so young, and all alone. "What's your name, kiddo?" I asked her.

"Annabeth."

Luke smiled. Wow, his smile seems to blind me, it takes over my thoughts—grr, stop thinking about that. "Nice name. I tell you what, Annabeth—you're pretty fierce. We could use a fighter like you."

Annabeth's eyes widened. "You could?"

"Oh, yeah." Luke turned his knife and offered her the handle. "How'd you like a real monster-slaying weapon? This is Celestial bronze. Works a lot better than a hammer."

I hoped she didn't hurt herself with that knife. Some part of me knew that she is way too smart to hurt herself with that.

Annabeth gripped the hilt.

"Knifes are only for the bravest and quickest fighters," Luke explained. "They don't have the reach or power of a sword, but they're easy to conceal and they can find weak spots in your enemy's armor. It takes a clever warrior to use a knife. I have a feeling you're pretty clever."

Annabeth stared at him with adoration. "I am!"

I felt my mouth turn up into a wide grin. "We'd better get going, Annabeth. We have a safe house on the James River. We'll get you some clothes and food."

"You're …you're not going to take me back to my family?" she said. "Promise?"

Luke put his hand on her shoulder. "You're part of our family now. And I promise I won't let anything hurt you. I'm not going to fail you like our families did us. Deal?"

"Deal!" Annabeth said happily.

"Now, come on," I said. "We can't stay put for long!" with that we headed back to where we were. Annabeth gripped one of my hands and one of Luke's. "Where do you want to go to eat Annabeth?"

"Ummm, Mc. Donald's!" she squealed.

Luke chuckled. "Alright, let's go to Mc. D's. My treat." He said with a wink. I knew he wasn't going to pay, he's a child of Hermes, the god of thieves.

Well, I just got back from Indiana and I am trying to stay awake and the plane made me nauseous for hours. I hate planes. Please review or I will…uh…give you a…stuffed dinosaur? That sounds good. Review and you'll get a virtual stuffed dinosaur.