You shook me all night long (3)

"Wake up, Percy," a childish voice whispered, "Wake up!"

Percy opened his eyes slowly. The muscles in his body felt as if they were made of lead and he had a strange numb feeling in his shoulder, but he felt no pain, not much. Beside him, Sammy was shaking him slightly. An expression of fear adorned his cute little face.

"Sammy, what's wrong?" asked Percy, slightly concerned.

"I think I heard someone upstairs."

They were both in a small cellar in the church. It was just below the altar and was accessed by a small trap door, hidden just below the large cross. It wasn't a very large room, but it was enough for several people to fit in and provided shelter from the cold and rain. Also, most important of all, the nauseating smell from above did not reach them.

Percy approached the trapdoor and sharpened his hearing. He heard footsteps and the wooden benches being dragged along the floor.

"Couldn't you find a better place," complained a female voice, "This place smells like piss and shit."

"There was nowhere else," replied another voice, clearly male, "Besides, we can't be picky. It's about to rain, and we needed a place to rest.

"Did you check that there's no one around? I don't want some stupid cops chasing us again."

"I couldn't see anyone around. Besides, who would come to this place?"

'Actually, there are two people here' Percy thought 'And they're right under their asses'.

Percy decided to listen for a moment longer. There were only two people, a boy and a girl and judging by their voices, they would be around his age. Maybe they were just a couple of teenagers looking for a place to do something sneaky from their parents; drink beer, smoke, get high or maybe have sex. If they dared to do the latter, Percy would come out and give them the scare of their lives.

"Put it over here," the boy spoke again. He listened as he placed something on the wood just a few feet away from where the trap door was located.

"She still has a fever," answered the girl. "She has worsened in the last few hours. She's breathing irregularly, and she's not strong enough to stand."

There is someone else. A third person. And, apparently, she's sick.

Percy was a little relieved at that. It wasn't two hormonal teenagers watching them do dirty things.

"Damn," said the boy, "We don't have any medicine, and I couldn't find any pharmacies nearby. Maybe we should take her to a hospital?"

"No! If we take her to a hospital, they'll start asking questions and take her away from us."

"What choice do we have? We can't just leave her like this."

"I'll go find a pharmacy."

"That's crazy! -It's about to rain. It's about to rain, and we barely managed to throw those hellhounds off the trail. We have to keep moving."

`Hellhounds? They can see them too...'

Beside him, Sammy took a step back from surprise and tipped over a couple of cans of food.

The sound echoed throughout the place and alerted the teenagers above them.

"What was that noise? Who's there?" the girl exclaimed.

Percy didn't want to risk them being discovered. He found the conversation the pair of teenagers had been having somewhat intriguing. And the fact that they mentioned hellhounds was the most curious.

He turned to Sammy and spoke softly:

"Stay here. Don't make any noise and don't come out unless I tell you to. She nodded.

Percy patted the back of his worn jeans. When he felt the object clamped to his rear, he felt a little comforted. Even if they were just teenagers, he was never to let his guard down. After all, humans were worse than monsters. He ascended the wooden stairs that creaked under his weight and opened the small trap door.

The first thing he noticed was the two teenagers watching where he emerged from. They both looked hurt, hungry, in tattered and dirty clothes.

They held their position, studying Percy's movements.

The boy, who was apparently the older of the two, slowly approached Percy with..... was that a golf club strapped to his back? He had a mischievous, calculating look on his face, as if he was deciding whether to kill him or steal his money. If it was the latter, he was in for a big disappointment.

Percy slowly approached them without making any sudden movements. When he was close enough he got a good look at the young teenager; he had sandy blond hair, tousled and full of dirt. Blue eyes and tattered clothes that were a little loose fitting. He would be a few years younger than Percy, thirteen or maybe fourteen, but that didn't make him any less dangerous, scarier than any of the thugs you'd find on the streets.

"There really is someone here," said the boy, to no one in particular.

"I told you to check if there was anyone around here, you idiot!" the girl shouted at him, obviously grumpy.

The girl gave Percy a bad vibe. She had black hair cut in a spiky punk style, menacing electric blue eyes with heavy black eyeliner and freckles running down her nose. From her appearance, she didn't look a day over twelve, maybe thirteen. But the scowling expression she had on her face gave her an older look that would break your legs and then laugh about it.

The girl was holding a spray can in her hand, as if she were holding some kind of weapon. What was she planning to do? Paint some graffiti on the walls and then play golf with the club he had on his back?

"How would I have known there would be someone hiding under the floor," the blond boy defended himself.

"Well, that's exactly why you should have investigated, genius! Now if they find us, he'll be in danger too.

"You know very well that monsters don't attack mortals."

Monsters?

"Don't say that, you'll frighten him," said the girl, pointing her finger at Percy.

As if they had noticed her presence, they both turned and studied Percy. Their eyes rested for a second on the wound on his shoulder, but they said nothing about it. Instead, the girl pointed the spray can at Percy.

"Who are you," she asked him, her voice firm and commanding.

Percy didn't flinch at her. He narrowed his eyes and stared at her without looking away.

"I asked you a question!"

"Why would I answer someone who points that thing at me?" said Percy, referring to the spray bottle.

"Because if you don't, I'll shove this thing up your ass. Now answer me!"

"Hey, calm down," said the blond boy, placing a hand on her shoulder, "That's no way to talk to someone," he looked at Percy, "Excuse my friend, she's a little temperamental."

"I can see that," said Percy.

The girl looked at him with the desire to cut out his tongue, but said nothing.

"My name is Luke, this is Thalia," he pointed to the moody girl, "and the little girl lying here is named Annabeth," he pointed to the girl lying next to him.

Percy looked at the girl lying on the floor. She was obviously sick by the way her chest was heaving up and down in an attempt to breathe better. The girl's curly blonde hair clung to her face from the light sweat. Her cheeks were a strong shade of red and her small body shivered slightly under a tattered blanket that tried to conserve her warmth and keep the cold night air from seeping through her body.

"We're looking for a place to rest and shelter from the rain," Luke continued, "Our friend is ill and...."

"I don't care," Percy interrupted him abruptly, "Go away."