“You’ve run away from nine foster homes.”

“I can take care of myself.”

“Not yet, you can’t. Not legally, anyway. Just give them a chance. They have a son, Peter, he’s 16, your age. Please.”

Chloe Chamberlin sat quietly in the dark, school office. Sitting on the desk in front of her sat an African-American woman. The woman, Mrs. Brown, steadily watched Chloe. She was thinking about the strange girl in front of her. Chloe had wavy blonde hair that fell down her shoulders and gorgeous eyes. Her eyes were turquoise blue, but clouded. Chloe bitterly watched Mrs. Brown’s fingers tapping on the desk. Outside the door, Chloe could see through the window, stood Gary and Sarah Gardener. They were going to be her new foster parents. Mrs. Brown took ahold of her elbow and began to lead her to the door. Chloe flinched when Mrs. Brown touched her, reminding the older woman of the abuse that the girl had suffered in her last foster home. Mrs. Brown opened the office door, and she and Chloe stepped out. Sarah Gardener instantly turned to them. The woman was middle-aged and her eyes crinkled with laughter. Strawberry blonde hair caressed her cheeks and she smiled gently at Chloe. Gary Gardener was much like his wife. He had gray streaks running through his black hair and he wore jeans and a brown T-shirt. The Gardeners greeted Chloe, but didn’t hug her. Mrs. Brown had warned them earlier, “Give her a few months, she’s not much for physical attention, but I’m sure she’ll enjoy living with you.”

Chloe climbed into the back of the large Ford truck. Mrs. Gardener climbed into the passenger seat and turned to face Chloe. She smiled at the girl sadly, then turned back around when Chloe coldly faced away from her and turned to the window. They drove on in silence until they reached their driveway. Peter, and his best friend Josh, both sat outside in the grass, tossing a football to each other and keeping their eyes on Peter’s younger sister, Julia, as she rolled around in the grass. Julia had pretty curls that fell down her back and bright blue eyes. Peter had brown hair and green eyes, with a constant grin on his face. He seemed to always be happy. Josh had black hair, green eyes and the stubby start of a beard. 

‘How old is he?’ Chloe wondered. 

Mr. Gardener honked the horn as they pulled into the driveway, climbed out of the car and gently helped open Sam’s door. Chloe slowly stepped from the car. She examined the boys as they ran up, laughing and grinning at her good-naturally. Three-year-old Julia nudged through them and ran up to Chloe, gurgling happily. She reached her arms up to Chloe and Chloe recoiled slightly from the happy toddler. Then, changing her mind, she leaned down and gently picked the girl up. Julia squealed with laughter and wrapped her arms around Chloe’s neck. The family led the new girl into the house, explaining what and where everything was. Mrs. Gardener led Chloe to an empty room and told her it was hers. A clean, white bed was in the middle and a doorway led into the bathroom. A single bathtub was on one side and a glass shower was on the other. Chloe marveled at the beautiful furniture in the room and ran her fingers along the dresser at the foot of her bed. Mrs. Gardener watched her as she explored, Julia still in her arms. Finally, Chloe turned and followed Mrs. Gardener downstairs to the kitchen. Peter and Josh were swarming around the island, where Mr. Gardener was now toasting grilled cheeses. Chloe eyed the food warily, her mind flashing to the many times she had received food poisoning from her previous family. The people hadn’t really wanted her, they wanted her abilities and believed they would receive them if she died. Mrs. Gardener, seeing her expression, quickly grabbed a grilled cheese, pushed it into Chloe’s hands, and led her outside. She showed Chloe where the neighborhood ended, where it was safe to go and where it was not, as Chloe gingerly nibbled on the sandwich. 

*  *  *

It has been two months since I arrived at the Gardener’s home. They’re nice enough. Mrs. Gardener likes me, and she’s really friendly. Julia is adorable, I never thought I’d say something like this about a little girl. Peter is also pretty nice. He usually wakes me up in the mornings by letting Julia inside and whispering, “She wants to speak to you.” Kind of annoying but also funny. Peter’s friend, Josh, is nice too. He always comes home with Peter after school. Tomorrow is my first day of school. We’ll see how it goes.

“Knock knock.” Came a voice. Chloe quickly closed her journal and looked up as Mrs. Gardener leaned in. She smiled at Chloe and slowly walked into the room, Julia on her heels. 

“Um…May I?” She motioned to the foot of the bed. Chloe quickly drew up her feet and nodded quietly. Mrs. Gardener sat down and regarded Chloe as the girl picked Julia up and put her down on her lap. Julia ran her fingers through Chloe’s hair and leaned against her fondly. 

“Are you doing okay?” Mrs. Gardener finally asked. Chloe looked up at her and after a moment of hesitation, she nodded. She was doing okay. She hadn’t been poisoned yet, no sign of the Hunter yet and she was finally going to school after weeks of being on the run. Mrs. Gardener cleared her throat gently, Chloe wasn’t much of a talker. 

“So…Mr. Gardener and I are going out right now…Just some time alone…Peter, Josh and Julia will be here so you won’t be alone at all. Do you think you’ll be okay?”

Chloe’s face flashed with panic momentarily, but soon vanished and her expression was blank again. She shrugged, “Yeah. I’ll be fine.”

Mrs. Gardener watched her face, concerned. But she figured the girl wouldn’t like any pressure. “Alright then. I made macaroni and cheese for dinner, it’ll be in the pot on the stove. There are brownies and chocolate milk in the fridge.”

 She was silent for a moment. Then she leaned forward and their eyes met, “If you need anything. Anything, Chloe. Then call me immediately.” Chloe nodded and swallowed as Mrs. Gardener got up and vanished out the door. Julia curled up against Chloe and Chloe wrapped her arms around her. Oh no. 

Oh no. 

Oh no. 

Oh no. 

Mrs. Gardener couldn’t leave her. Not right now. Not alone. 

Chloe moaned quietly into Julia’s hair. Julia giggled, then slid off the bed and scrambled down the stairway. Chloe pulled herself to her feet and followed the girl downstairs. Peter and Josh were already standing at the door with Peter’s parents. She stopped at the bottom of the staircase and watched as Mr. and Mrs. Gardener pulled on their shoes, waved at the kids, and left. There was a moment of silence as the kids all looked at each other. Then Peter and Josh ran into the kitchen and Chloe could hear clinks as they pulled out bowls for the Mac ’n Cheese. Chloe took the responsibility of locking all the doors. She snuck through all the rooms and checked the windows and doors. Finally, after nearly an hour of making sure everything was safe, Chloe appeared back in the kitchen. Peter was helping Julia cut a brownie into bite sized pieces and Josh sat at the counter, watching. They both looked up at Chloe when she walked in. 

“Where were you?” Josh joked, “We thought you got tired and ran away.”

Chloe shook her head distastefully, “I was checking to see if everything was locked. I was being safe.” 

Peter glanced at her, “This neighborhood’s pretty safe.”

Chloe shrugged and didn’t speak again as she scooped herself some cold Macaroni and bit into a brownie that Julia nudged in her direction. She sat down quietly beside Josh at the counter and watched as Peter argued with Julia as the girl kept nudging her brownies to Chloe, who ate them quickly. 

“So,” Josh started, “I’m thinking that we use tonight to watch a movie. Maybe something like Ant-Man or Pacific Rim.”

“Real Steel.” Chloe muttered. “That’s a good one.”

Peter peered over at her, “What’s it about?”

“A dude who fights robots. The actor is Hugh Jackman.”

But Josh shook his head, “Nah, I don’t like robots.”

Chloe stuck out a pouty lip. Julia, who thought something was wrong, squealed angrily at Peter, ran over the Chloe and reached upwards. Chloe picked her up and turned back to Josh, “Real Steel is a great movie.”

Josh wagged a brownie in front of Chloe’s face, “You only want to watch it because of Hugh Jackman.”

Chloe grabbed the brownie and popped it into her mouth, “Exactly.”

***

Perryn couldn’t breath. He felt the darkness choking his breath, added to that, the pure fear of being seen. Cedrick stood at the opening of the alley, blocking Perryn’s exit. He scanned the darkness, desperate to see a glimpse of the demigod he had just chased into it. Nixie, Cedrick’s wicked wife, appeared at his side. She spoke, 

“Leave him. We have found the whereabouts of Chamberlin. She lives with the Gardeners.”

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Cedrick hissed angrily, his eyes raging. “Then we will find her and kill her.” 

He turned and vanished into the night, Nixie on his heels. Perryn let out a long, relieved breath. But then drew in another short gasp when he realized who they had been talking about. Chloe Chamberlin was one of the most powerful demigods in the world. And Perryn now knew where she lived. He stepped warily out of the alley, turned into a storefront a few yards away and asked the cashier for the Gardeners address. 

“Its a small town.” The cashier said, a young girl of about 14, “Everyone knows where everyone lives. Down the street, on your left is their street. Their house is the big white one, hard to miss.”

Perryn thanked her, followed her directions and now stood in the driveway of the large house. All the cars  in the driveway were gone, were they even home? The lights were also off, but Perryn saw a light flickering in an upstairs window. He snuck around the door to what he thought was the back door. It turned out to be the basement door, which was unlocked. Perryn inched inside, praying that they didn’t have a dog. He crawled up a set of stairs to the kitchen. Cold brownies and an empty pot of something that looked cheesy sat on the stove. He turned up another set of stairs, following the sounds of what seemed to be the television. As he stepped up the last step, he froze. Something was watching him, he could feel eyes on him. Down the hallway, the door was open and he could see three small figures sitting in front of the television. Two boys and a very young girl, possibly a toddler. They looked innocent enough, if only—wait. 

Where was Chamberlin? 

He found out soon enough.

In the darkness, something tackled him. Hands twisted his wrists behind his back, slammed him into the wall and someone snarled into his ear. “Who are you? How did you get into this house?”

Perryn struggled to speak, he whispered, not wanting to make the mortals in the TV room aware of his presence, “My name’s Perryn Sanchez. I came through the basement door.”

Chloe Chamberlin breathed a sigh of relief, “I thought you were….” Her voice faded, “Why are you here?”

Perryn frowned, who had she been waiting for? “Well…you’re Chloe Chamberlin, right?” She tensed up again, pushing his wrists harder against his back.

“Why?”

Perryn tried to shift his weight slightly, “Well, a lot of people are looking for you. For good and bad reasons.”

Chloe growled, “So..are you here for good or bad reasons?”

Perryn didn’t answer, so Chloe dragged him, backwards, towards a door. She opened it, revealing a laundry room with enough space for a twin bed including the machines. She shoved Perryn inside, after glancing back at the mortals, she followed, closed the door and locked it. There was no light and the only sound was the distant TV and the occasional snicker from one of the boys. In the darkness, Chloe pressed her back against the door, blocking Perryn’s exit. 

“I’m a good person.” He started. “I came to warn you that the Hunter knows where you live.”

“Darren?” She asked, but Perryn shook his head, even though he knew she couldn’t see him in the darkness. 

“No, Cedrick. He’s with Nixie. Somehow Nixie found that you live with the Gardeners, so it’s only a matter of time before they figure out where the Gardeners live.”

“How do you know where we live?” Chloe demanded, Perryn could hear suspicion creeping into her voice.

“I asked this girl at the dollar store.”

“So if its that easy for you to fi…wait…you said you came through the basement?”

“Yeah. It was unlocked.”

“I didn’t know we had a basement. I locked all the other doors and windows…”

“So the parents aren’t here.” Perryn noted. “That’s not good.”

A sudden crash downstairs made Chloe straighten up. 

“Apparently they didn’t know you had a basement either.” Perryn muttered. 

Chloe slowly turned her back to him and pushed her ear to the door. She heard voices before Julia started crying. A man’s voice boomed, “Who are you?”

Chloe heard Peter and Josh mumble something.

“Where is Chloe Chamberlin?”

They were now out in the hallway.

“I don’t know.” Peter said quietly.

“You’re lying.” Cedrick snarled.

“No I’m not. I don’t know where she is.” Peter replied calmly.

Chloe heard a shuffling as Cedrick and Nixie began to drag the boys down the stairs, there was no sound from Julia. Chloe heard Cedrick open the door and slam it shut. There was now an eerie silence in the house and no one moved. Finally, Chloe unlocked the door and pushed it open gently. Light flooded in and when Chloe turned to Perryn, he could finally see her face. Her blonde hair was pulled back into a large fishtail braid. Her eyes glinted blue and her lips were set in a thin line. Perryn stared at her, she didn’t look at all like he had imagined her. She looked like an angry girl who was not to be messed with. Suddenly, a door down the hall flew open. Chloe, on instinct, slammed her fist into Perryn’s chest, pushing him back into the closet, and she pulled the door shut quickly. But the next instant, a quiet whimper came from outside the door. Chloe opened the door to a crying Julia. Gently, Chloe leaned down and picked the girl up. Julia sobbed into her hair and Chloe gently whispered into her ear, soothing her quietly. Perryn swallowed as he stepped past Chloe, walked to the rail, and glanced over to the bottom of the stairs. Glass was shattered across the entire entrance. The window in the door was broken and the small curtain blew in a gentle wind, despite what had just happened. Chloe put Julia down and appeared next to Perryn. Then she turned sharply and vanished into a room. Perryn quietly followed her and swung the door open slowly. He could tell it was her room. The curtains had been pulled shut and nothing gave away that someone was living in the room. A cold air blew against Perryn’s face when he pushed the door open and he shivered. Chloe glanced up at him as she jerked a backpack from the closet in a corner and stepped into the bathroom. Perryn leaned against the doorframe, respectively not entering as he watched her. She came out, her bag full and stepped past him. She inched down to the kitchen, stepping over the glass. Perryn picked Julia up and carried her across the glass area, Then he stared as Chloe grabbed food from the pantry, stuffing it into her bag as well. Then she took Julia from Perryn’s arms, put her on her hips and slung her bag over her shoulder. She stepped over the glass and opened the front door warily. Perryn scrambled after her, “Wait, you’re leaving?”

She nodded.

“But you’re taking the girl. And what about the parents?”

Perryn left the front door open as they started down the driveway. Chloe shrugged, “He took Peter and Josh. I need to find them before he does something to them.”

“What are you going to do with her?” Perryn asked, pointing to Julia.

Chloe shrugged, “Keep her with me for now.”

Chloe started to walk faster, glancing around the street as she crossed it. Perryn trotted to follow her. 

“I have friends who can help..” Perryn started.

“Yeah, so do I. But I’m not going to call them. I’m just going to do it by myself.”

“Uh…By yourself but with the baby and me?”

Chloe stopped and turned to him, “What do you mean? You’re not coming with me!”

Perryn frowned, “Uh, yes I am.”

Chloe scowled, “No. You’re. Not.” She seemed angry. 

Perryn shrugged, “What do you want me to do? My mission is to help you escape from the hunter. If you go find those kids then you’ll need backup to help you get out.”

“No, no, no. No. Listen to me, you’re a random kid who walked into my house, messed up my new life that I finally figured out and now my new foster brother and his friend have been kidnapped. I’m going to find them.” 

She suddenly pushed Julia into Perryn’s arms, “You know what? You take care of her. When the parents come around, you give her to them. Then make a run for it.”

She turned and started to run away, Perryn stared after her for a moment in shocked silence. Then he scrambled after her, “Hey! Wait, no!”

He followed her as she vanished into the woods. He could barely see her, but he managed to catch a glimpse of her blonde hair in the moonlight every once in a while. He ran for what seemed like hours. Perryn’s arm felt like spaghetti from holding Julia while running. The little girl had quietly wrapped her arms around Perryn’s neck and had just sat along for the ride. Chloe slowed down eventually and Perryn caught up to her. Chloe stood before a pair of train tracks, her hair blowing in the wind and her ears perked up. She stopped just inside the bushes, wary to step out into the open. Perryn put Julia down and breathed heavily, 

“Do you…really have to…be so…fast?” He gasped. Then finally he collapsed onto the tracks, ignoring the warning that flashed in Chloe’s eyes. He stared up at her, still breathing heavily. Perryn pointed to Julia, “That girl…is heavy.”

Chloe smirked, “She’s three. You’re just weak.”

She slowly stepped from the bushes and onto the tracks, still as wary as ever. Then she began to cross it, glancing around continuously. Perryn sighed, “Please wait. I’ve been running for forever.”

“Yeah, so have I.” She replied coldly, not bothering to turn to him. 

“Well, you weren’t carrying a fat baby.” Perryn protested, rolling over onto his stomach. “Its literally two o’clock in the morning. I didn’t have supper, I’m tired and the weather dude said its going to rain. I don’t feel like running in the rain.”

Chloe stopped, “The farther we let Cedrick get, the longer it’s going to take to find them.”

Perryn scoffed as he pushed himself to his feet, “You obviously don’t know anything about Cedrick then. He travels by portals. He’s probably on the other side of the world by now.”

Chloe turned to him, “I know a lot about him. I know that he’s been tracking me for six years, I know that he hunts demigods down, murders them or experiments on them, trying to steal their abilities. I know that he wants to steal my own abilities. I know that he killed my best friend’s only siblings, drove her mum insane and chased her away from any demigod safe havens she could find. And because I was with her until we both turned 13, I was also chased from all demigod safe havens I could find. I have never lived with a single family for more than two months before Cedrick finds me and chases me off. I have never had a home. I have never had a family. I know a lot more about him than you do. So either shut up and follow quietly, or turn back and give this girl back to her family.”

Perryn was quiet for a long time but before he could open his mouth to speak, Chloe raised her hand, silencing him. She listened warily, then she slowly knelt and put her ear to the tracks. A rumbling sound came from them, and Chloe felt heat radiating from the cold metal to her hands. She jerked backwards, sitting down in terror. Perryn knew what was happening before it came. Only a few meters to their right, a train appeared rushing towards them from around the corner. Julia started to scream and Perryn grabbed her, crossing the tracks to the other side and putting her down in the long grass. He whipped around in horror. Chloe sat in the tracks, watching the train approach in shock. 

“Chloe!” Perryn yelled, “Come here!”

When she didn’t move, Perryn lunged towards her, grabbing her shoulders and tackling her into the grass right as the train passed. Chloe was shaking underneath Perryn. He slowly lifted his head, staring at her. Her eyes were closed and she was trying to take deep breaths. 

“You…okay?” Perryn asked slowly. Chloe finally opened her eyes.

“Yeah I’m…” She blinked then quickly shoved Perryn away, “Get off of me.”

“I saved your life. You’re welcome.” Perryn grumbled. He turned and watched the long train as it continued to move past in a blur. When it passed, they slowly crossed again and began searching the long grass for Julia. 

“Where is she?” Chloe demanded.

“I put her right here…She didn’t get in front of the train, I was watching her through the openings between the train cars.” Perryn replied. They searched for a long time. 

“It’s no use.” Chloe said finally, “We’ll never find her in the dark.” 

“We can stay here for tonight.” Perryn said, “We ran far enough that it will take a while for the police to find you if they’re looking for you even.” 

Chloe peered at him, “Right now, they’ll be looking for Peter, Josh and Julia. I’m the last person on their minds. They’ll probably think that I’m once again just running away.” After a moment, she said, “Before I’m on the missing list, because the parents said they’d be out for a while so they won’t know we’re gone, we need to get food from somewhere. Supplies. Stuff like that.” 

“Money?” Perryn offered. 

But Chloe shook her head, “I have that. Where is the nearest dollar store?” She seemed to be asking herself but Perryn answered for her

“The one I was at before I came to your house. It’s probably a few miles walk from here.” Perryn said, he picked up the bag that Chloe had dropped when she had stepped onto the tracks, and moved back towards the town. After a moment, Chloe followed Perryn quietly.