Chapter 3.
A car door slammed and Jagger snapped awake. A seatbelt streached across his chest jerked him to a halt as he tried to sit all the way forward. Looking to his left, he watched as Lilly pulled a set of keys from her pocket and slot one into the ignition.
Jagger spoke up. "Lilly, what are you doing? How did you get the keys to my uncle's car? Why are you here? Why am I here? " He checked out the car window. "And why are we at a hospital? " Lilly glanced at him and gave him a dry smile.
"Awake I see, and with so many questions." She turned the key and the car purred to life. Checking the rear-view mirror, Lilly started to shift gears. Jagger put a hand on her arm, stopping her.
"Please Lilly, just tell me what's going on." His voice sounded desperate even to his own ears. Lilly puffed up her cheeks and blew out a gust of air. Shutting off the car, she leaned back. Turning slightly in her seat she met Jagger's eyes and he noticed absently that she wasn't wearing glasses.
"I'm taking you to a camp" When Jagger opened his mouth to protest, she went on. "It's the only safe place for people like you."
Jagger was about to ask her what she meant by people like him, when another thought hit him like a thunderbolt.
"Leroy," He blurted "I've got to get home to him." He fumbled to undo his buckle. Lilly stopped him.
"Jagger, why do you think we're at the hospital?" she asked. It took a minute for her words to register.
"Will...will he be okay?"
Lilly sighed. "He's lost a lot of blood, but with time he'll heal."
"It happened then," Jagger muttered to himself with quiet awe. "I didn't dream it."
"Not hardly," Lilly said wirily. "Dreams don't normaly leave bruises." She gestured to his neck.
Tilting the rear-view mirror Jagger could see the imprints where the empousia's fingers had been wrapped around his throat. He touched them gingerly. Leaning back in his chair he turned his gaze to the world outside the car. He was quiet for a moment watching people walk past. Then;
"I want to see Leroy."
Lilly frowned. "I'm not sure how good of an idea that is. The empousia has your scent now and if she decides to follow you, the smell of your blood would lead her stright to your uncle and empousias....well, they don't like to leave unfinished business." She glanced over here shoulder as if expecting one to materialize just from the mere mentionng of it's name. Jagger mimicked her gesture. As he checked tensely behind them, something in the backseat caught his eye.
"Is that a bow?" He reached out and pulled an arrow from a quiver laying beside the curved segment. Turning it in his fingers, Jagger studied the tip. "You're the one who saved me." It wasn't a question. "You killed her."
Lilly hooked her thumbs on the steering wheel and streached the rest of her fingers. "I didn't kill her. You can't kill a monster, you can only sort of destroy it for a time before it reforms."
"Huh?"
Lilly ran a hand over her face. "Jagger I can't explain everything right now you'll just have to trust me." She held his eyes. Jagger came to a decision.
"Just how far away is this camp? 'Cause I gotta' go and I don't think I can hold it till we get there."
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The camp turned out to be in New York, about a 6 hour drive away. As they sped down the highway Lilly tried to answer all of Jagger's questions. They were headed to Camp Halfblood. She said it was where halfbloods were trained to fight monsters. When Jagger asked what a halfblood was, Lilly had explained.
"A halfblood or a demigod, is someone with one mortal parent and one parent that is a greek god." She raised an eyebrow at Jagger meanfully.
He snorted. "Lilly, I know you never knew my mom, but take my word for it when I tell you, there is no way my mom was a god." Lilly looked at him from the corner of her eye.
"Jagger, I'm not talking about you mother." Jagger blinked at her before it sunk in.
Whoa, wait, you're trying to tell me that my dad is a Greek god?" Lilly didn't say anything. "Come on Lilly, you can't honestly believe that. The gods are myths."
"So are empousais." Lilly commented drily. Jagger opened his mouth and then closed it again, frowning. The quiet streached on for a time. Jagger stared out the window at the scenery as it flew past.
Lilly broke the silence. "There's a bag behind my seat, in the side compartment is a book. Take it." Jagger pulled out the book. Sitting back again, he read the title aloud.
"Your Practical Guide to Gods, Demigods, and Monsters." Lilly nodded as he read.
"That book will tell you everything you need to know. It's the 1# most recommended book for new demigods."
Jagger ran his thumb over the title. "Is that what you are, a demigod?" Lilly laughed, her eyes on the road.
"No, I'm a Protector, first class. It's my job to find halfbloods and keep them safe till I can get them to camp. I'm a satyr."
"A what?"
"A satyr, half human, half goat." She shifted her legs and for the first time Jagger noticed her feet.
Well, hoofs, that is.
He could feel himself gaping. With effort he swallowed and spoke causaully. "Alright, that's interesting. You have hoofs. Sure, why not? It's not like thats the weirdest thing I've seen today. I mean it's not as though you have a bronze leg or-" He broke off suddenly when Lilly punched him in the arm. "Ouch, what was that for?"
Lilly grinned "You were babbling, now read your book or I'll do it again."
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They arrived at around 11:00 pm. Lilly parked the car outside the camp boundaries.
"Hope you don't mind walking the rest of the way. Cars at camp tend to attracked disaster and I plan on returning your uncle's car in one piece, if possible." She popped the trunk. "I packed a few of your things since I don't know how soon you'll be going back to Leroy's." Jagger didn't like the sound of that, but he got out of the car. Lifting open the trunk he stopped, surprised.
"Hey, you packed my guitar."
Lilly glanced at him as she swung her quiver on to her back. "Yes, I could tell it means a lot to you. Thought you might want it."
"Yeah, well..." Jagger grabbed his guitar and a duffle bag and closed the trunk. "It was my mom's." Seeing something past Lilly he changed the subject. "What's that?" Lilly turned to see what he was looking at and her face broke into a smile.
"That's the campfire." She started up the hill towards it. "We probably missed out on the s'mores but there might be a few marshmallows left."
Jagger didn't budge. "It's purple."
Pausing, Lilly chuckled, her face half concealed in the dark. "Kid, you're in for bigger surprises than purple bonfires. You might want to get used to it." She started walking again
Jagger stared after her. If he followed her to that campfire, he would be in some small way, accepting that all this was true, gods, monsters... halfbloods. Did he want to do that? He could walk away from all this. Lilly had left the keys in the car, he could do it right now. He could drive away and never look back. Jagger tightened his grip on the handle of his guitar case. What would his mom have done? Jagger had a sudden memory of something she told him once.
"People like to ignore what's going on in the world around them because it's not how they wish, or think the world should be, but because they close their eyes to all the bad, they miss out on the good the world has to offer as well. You can't pick and chose between the good and bad, because often times, they come hand in hand."
Jagger had his answer.
He started for the bonfire.
Hope you liked this chapter. Sorry it took me so long to get it up, but you know how it is. I would love to hear what you think of it, so please review. Thanks. -DG
Chapter 4. viewtopic.php?f=361&t=87328
I also can't wait to see who Jagger's dad is, though I may have a *small* idea who it could possibly be...