Atty Jackson and the Lightning Thief

As we sped through the country roads, I stewed in my frustration in the back seat next to Grover. It felt like both him and my mom knew something about me that they weren’t willing to explain to me. I don’t know about you, but when people won’t tell you something important about yourself, it’s not a fun experience.

It was probably around three in the morning. It was pitch black out. Rain battered the windshield, the wipers moving constantly just so my mom even had a hope of seeing the road in front of us. The wind was loud as it howled past.

I turned my attention to Grover. I couldn’t see him very well in the gloom of the early morning, but when the lightning illuminated him briefly, I couldn’t help but glance at his legs. I was wondering if this was some sort of joke, like he was wearing some weird shaggy pants. But no, the smell was very distinctive. He smelled like a wet animal. His legs really were covered in fur.

Eventually, I spoke up. “So… you two know each other?”

Grover shifted nervously, glancing at the rearview mirror despite the total lack of any other cars on the road. “Not exactly,” he replied. “I mean, we hadn’t met before tonight. But she knew I was watching you.”

My eyes narrowed. That sounded weird. “Watching me?”

“Keeping tabs on you, yeah,” he said. “Making sure you were safe. But I wasn’t lying about being your friend, Atty. I am your friend.”

“What – exactly – are you?”

“It’s not important right now.”

“Not important? Dude, from the waist down, you’re a fucking donkey.”

“Language, Atty!” my mom said.

I was about to complain about my mom choosing now of all times to admonish me for my choice in words, when Grover let out a thick, throaty baaaa!

He’d made sounds like that before, but what I’d previously thought was some sort of nervous laugh was more of an irritated bleat, like a goat about to ram you.

“Goat!” he exclaimed.

“What?”

“I’m a goat from the waist down!”

“You just said it wasn’t important!”

“Baaaaa! There are satyrs who would trample you for such an insult. Calling me an ass like that.”

“Woah woah woah!” I exclaimed. “Back up. Satyr? Like… in Greek mythology?”

“Do I look like a myth to you?”

“Well, no-”

“Were those old ladies at that fruit stand a myth? Was Mrs. Dodds a myth?”

“So you admit it! Mrs. Dodds was actually real!”

“Of course she was!”

“Then why-”

“The less you knew, Atty, the less monsters you’d attract!”

The less what I’d what?!

“We put Mist over the mortals’ eyes,” Grover continued as if he hadn’t just said something completely insane. “We hoped you’d think the Kindly One was just a hallucination. No good, though. You started to realize who you are.”

I got mad then. “Grover. Buddy. Listen to me.”

He nodded.

“I figured out who the fuck I am four fucking years ago.”

“It’s not that, dear,” my mom said. “That’s only a part of who you are. This other thing is… a lot more dangerous.”

“What could possibly be more dangerous than being a trans girl?”

“A trans girl who is also a half-blood,” Grover supplied.

I frowned. “The hell does that mean?”

The weird bellowing noise from earlier repeated. It was closer. Whatever it was, it was following us. Chasing us. I didn’t want to meet it.

“Atty,” my mom said. “There’s not enough time to explain everything. We have to get you to safety first.”

“Safety?” I said. “From what? Who’s after me?”

“Oh, you know,” Grover said with a snarky tone. “Just the Lord of the Dead and his most bloodthirsty minions.”

“Grover!”

“Sorry, Ms. Jackson,” Grover said. “Could you drive a little bit faster? Please?”

“I have the accelerator floored, Grover.”

I tried to wrap my head around everything going on, but I couldn’t. Nothing made sense. Grover was a satyr, I was a ‘half-blood,’ whatever the hell that meant. I wondered if maybe it was a dream, but I had never had a dream this weird before.

My mom swerved left onto a narrower road. Hopefully that meant we were getting closer. We sped past dark farmhouses and signs that read ‘PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES.’

“Where are we going?” I asked anxiously.

“The summer camp I told you about,” my mom replied. Her voice sounded strained, like she was barely keeping calm. I could relate. I wasn’t calm in the slightest. “The place your father wanted to send you.”

“The place you didn’t want me to go,” I deadpanned.

“Plase, sweetheart,” my mom said. “This… this might be our only option now. You need to understand, Atty; you’re in danger.”

“Because some old ladies cut some yarn? Big deal.”

“It is a big deal,” Grover said ominously. “Those weren’t ‘some old ladies.’ Those were The Fates. You remember what happens when they appear before someone like that? They only do that when you’re about… when someone’s about to die.”

“Grover,” I said. “You said you. As in me. That’s not someone.”

Grover groaned. “I mean, normally it’s you, but sometimes it could be someone else.”

“So I’m only most likely about to die, is that what you’re saying?”

My mom swerved, cutting off whatever Grover was about to respond with. Whatever she’d swerved to avoid — some big dark mass — was lost behind us in the storm.

“Just one more mile,” my mom muttered. “Come on…”

I had no idea where we were or where we were going. My sense of direction was all out of whack. This stupid rode twisted and turned so much.

I thought back to the incident at the museum. About Mrs. Dodds. About the way she’d transformed.

Oh.

She’d been about to kill me. She had actually been about to fucking kill me, and, if Mr. Brunner hadn’t given me that sword, I’d be a goner. I felt myself go numb. I shivered. I turned to Grover, to ask him about the sword, but, as I opened my mouth, I suddenly felt tense. Then there was a bright flash, a deafening bang!, and then it felt like our car exploded.

Have you ever been in a vehicle struck by lightning? I have. It’s not fun. When I came to, I found that our car had swerved off the road, and was embedded in a ditch, lying on the driver’s side. The roof had cracked open, even.

I turned to Grover to find him motionless.

No…

I nudged his shoulder. “Grover?” I nudged harder. “Grover! Please be ok. Please please please…”

Then he groaned. “Foooodd…” I breathed a sigh of relief.

“Atty,” my mom said. “We need to…” she trailed off.

The lightning flashed. Through the rear window, I caught a glimpse of a large figure making its way towards us. It must have been holding a blanket over its head for whatever reason, since there seemed to be some sort of fluffy mass there. Its hands made it look like it had horns.

I swallowed, my throat feeling dry. “Who is that?”

“Atty,” my mom said, a hard edge to her voice. “Get out of the car. Now. Passenger’s side.”

I unbuckled my seatbelt, climbing up, over Grover. I pushed open the door, propping it open.

“Atty,” my mom said, climbing out the front passenger door. You see that tree?” She pointed up a hill to the side of the road.

I looked up the hill. A flash of lightning illuminated a giant pine tree at the top of the hill. Like, massive pine, easily over a century old.

“That’s the property line,” she said. “You need to get across it. There will be a big house down in the valley. I need you to run to it. Don’t look back, just run. Yell for help. Do not stop until you reach it.”

“I can’t leave you behind, mom,” I said. “Come on, help me carry Grover. He’s been knocked out.”

I turned to look towards the blanket dude who was still slowly making its way towards us. I could make out more details, and I realized that it couldn’t actually be holding up a blanket, because its massive muscly arms were by its sides. That meant the massive fuzzy mass, way too large to be its head… was its head. And those horns… those were actual horns.

“He doesn’t want us,” my mom said. “He wants you. Not to mention, I can’t actually cross the property line.”

“But, mom-”

“We don’t have time! Just go!”

I frowned. I got mad. Why on earth couldn’t my mom just explain things? Why couldn’t Grover have just told me sooner? Why was that stupid horned thing chasing us?

I grabbed Grover under the shoulders. I hit his seatbelt buckle with my toe. With a sudden burst of strength, I hauled him up and out of the car.

“Come on, mom,” I said.

“I told you-”

“No, mom,” I said. “I need you to help me with Grover. I can’t leave either of you.” I didn’t wait for a response, sliding off the car. I carefully lowered Grover to the ground, then draped one of his arms over my shoulder, slowly hauling him towards the hill.

I wouldn’t have made it very far carrying him on my own, however. He was surprisingly light, but he was still a whole separate person (goat-person). Fortunately, my mom draped his other arm over her shoulders, and we continued dragging him up the hill between us.

I glanced behind us, catching another, much clearer, glimpse of the monster chasing us. He was easily seven feet tall. His arms and legs bulged with tons of muscles. I did not want to be on the receiving end of a punch from him. He was almost entirely naked except for underwear. As in white Fruit of the Loom tighty whities. It was almost comical, if it wasn’t for that fact that the rest of him was so scary. Coarse brown hair covered his upper body and head. His neck was a mass of muscle and sinew, and his head… He had a massive snout as long as my arm. There was a shiny metal ring in his nose. His eyes were filled with malice, and his horns… he had giant black and white horns with wicked points that made me audibly gulp.

I recognized him, alright. He featured prominently in one of the first myths Mr. Brunner taught, but there’s no way he could possibly be here right now.

“That’s-”

“Pasiphae’s son,” my mom interrupted. “I wish I’d known how badly they wanted you dead.”

A cold shock went through me. “Oh…” I said. “Let’s move faster.”

The pine tree was still so far away, easily another hundred yards uphill.

I glanced back again. The Minotaur was kneeling by my mom’s old Ford, looking into the windows. Well, not ‘looking’ so much as sniffing.

“What’s he doing?” I whispered. “Can’t he see us?”

“His sight and hearing are terrible,” my mom said.

“Fooood,” Grover muttered again. I shushed him.

“So, he’s-”

“Trying to find us by smell, yeah. Might take a bit longer, but he’ll find us soon enough.”

Almost immediately, he picked up the car, hoisting it over his head, bellowing in anger. I flinched at the sound. He threw the car down the road. It skidded for a bit before coming to a rest against a maple tree by the other side of the road.

“Atty,” my mom said. “When he sees us, he’ll charge. Wait until the last second, then jump to the side. He can’t change direction very well.”

“How do you know all of this, mom?”

“I’ve been worried about an attack for years. I should have expected this. I was selfish, keeping you near me.”

“Keeping me near you? Mom, what-”

There was another bellow of rage. The minotaur had found us. He began making his way up the hill.

“Shit,” I said. My mom did not reprimand me for my language.

The pine tree was only a bit away by now, but the hill was getting even steeper, and Grover wasn’t getting any lighter. The grass was slick and slippery, making finding my footing difficult.

My mom must have been completely exhausted, but she took Grover from me. “Go, Atty. Separate. Remember what I said.”

I didn’t want to split up, but I got the feeling that it was the only way. More targets for the bull-man, more confusion. Perfect. I sprinted off to the left. I turned and saw the creature only a few yards away. He smelled like wet fur and rotting meat. A lovely combination.

He lowered his head, those deadly horns pointed right at my chest, and charged.

I resisted the urge to bolt. I wait until the last second, then dove to the right. I rolled, winding up standing again. The Minotaur stormed past, bellowing with rage. He turned, but not towards me. Towards my mother, who was putting Grover down in the grass some yards away.

We’d reached the top of the hill. Down the other side, I could see a valley and the lights of a farmhouse, just like my mom had said, but it was way too far away. We’d never make it.

The Minotaur grunted. He continued watching my mom, who was making her way back down the hill towards the road. She was trying to lead the monster away.

“Run, Atty,” she said. “I can’t go any farther.”

But I was frozen in fear. The monster charged at my mom. She tried to dodge, like she’d told me and I had done, but the Minotaur had learned. His arm shot out, grabbing her by the neck. He bellowed in triumph, raising her into the air. She struggled, kicking at the air.

“Mom!” I shouted.

She caught my eyes. She choked out one last word: “Go!”

Then, with a loud, angry roar, the Minotaur’s fist closed, and my mom dissolved, melting into light, like a hologram. There was a blinding flash, then she was gone.

“NO!”

I was angry. Angrier than I’d probably ever been. I felt energy burning in my limbs. I scowled. Alright, Atty, I thought. Let’s kill this thing.

The bull approached Grover, sniffing at him.

“Hey!” I shouted, yanking off my bright red rain jacket. I had no idea if it would help, but it was worth a shot. I couldn’t let this monster dissolve Grover like my mom had been. “Hey, stupid! You big mangy cow!”

The bull turned towards me and roared. He shook his fists at me. I had a dumb idea. It was better than not having an idea at all, but it wasn’t great. I put my back to the big pine tree, waving my red rain jacket in front of me. I figured I’d dive out of the way at the last second, same as before.

Things did not go according to plan.

As the bull-man charged, his hands were outstretched to either side, ready to catch me whichever way I dodged. So I dodged the only other way I could: up. I jumped straight up, kicking off the monster’s head to gain more height, dropping my jacket on the ground. I twisted in midair, landing on the monster’s neck, which hurt, but not nearly as much as the bull-man impacting the tree a split second later.

The Minotaur staggered backwards, trying to knock me off. I locked my arms around one of his horns, holding on for dear life. He continued bucking around, trying to shake me, and it took all I had to not get thrown. I figured he should’ve just back up and smashed me against the tree, but that never seemed to occur to him.

Then Grover started groaning. I wanted to yell at him to shut it, but I’d probably just bite my own tongue off with how much the bull was shaking around.

“Food!”

The bull stilled, turning towards Grover, letting out a snort.

Oh, no. No you fucking don’t, stupid ugly bull. I wrapped both arms around his horn and pulled, putting everything I had into it. The monster tensed, letting out a confused moo. And then- SNAP!

I went flying. My head smacked against a rock as I impacted the ground. I sat up a bit later, my vision blurry. But I now had a weapon. I had the Minotaur’s horn in my hands, and I had miraculously not stabbed myself with it when I hit the ground.

The Minotaur charged.

I didn’t have time to think. I couldn’t think, not with how my head felt just then. I rolled to the side. I came up kneeling. As the monster charged past, I thrust the horn up and under his ribs. He roared in agony. He flailed around, and began to disintegrate. Not like my mom, in a flash of light, but like he was made of sand, being blown away in the wind, just like Mrs. Dodds.

And then he was gone.

The rain had stopped. The storm still rumbled in the distance. The air stunk like livestock. I was trembling. My head hurt like someone was driving a knife into the back of my skull. My ass was sore from impacting the ground. My arms and legs were sore from exertion. I wanted to lie down and cry. I’d just watched my mom die.

But Grover needed me. I forced myself to continue, making my way over to him. I hauled him up as if he weighed nothing. I staggered down into the valley, towards the farmhouse. I was crying by this point. I wanted my mom back, but I grit my teeth and continued. I clung to Grover. I was not going to let him go until we were safe.

I collapsed on a porch, staring up at a ceiling fan and some flies. Two faces appeared above me. A familiar bearded face and a cute guy with shaggy blonde hair stared down at me.

The boy said, “she’s the one. She must be.”

“Silence, Noah,” the man replied. “She’s still conscious. Bring her inside.”