Read Percy Jackson and the Olympians: the lightning thief for Free Online Page A

should be perfectly obvious. "We put Mist over the humans' eyes. We hoped you'd think the Kindly One was a hallucination. But it was no good. You started to realize who you are."
    "Who I—wait a minute, what do you mean?"
    The weird bellowing noise rose up again somewhere behind us, closer than before. Whatever was chasing us was still on our trail.
    "Percy," my mom said, "there's too much to explain and not enough time. We have to get you to safety."
    "Safety from what? Who's after me?"
    "Oh, nobody much," Grover said, obviously still miffed about the donkey comment. "Just the Lord of the Dead and a few of his blood-thirstiest minions."
    "Grover!"
    "Sorry, Mrs. Jackson. Could you drive faster, please?"
    I tried to wrap my mind around what was happening, but I couldn't do it. I knew this wasn't a dream. I had no imagination. I could never dream up something this weird. My mom made a hard left. We swerved onto a narrower road, racing past darkened farmhouses and wooded hills and PICK YOUR OWN STRAWBERRIES signs on white picket fences.
    "Where are we going?" I asked.
    "The summer camp I told you about." My mother's voice was tight; she was trying for my sake not to be scared. "The place your father wanted to send you."
    "The place you didn't want me to go."
    "Please, dear," my mother begged. "This is hard enough. Try to understand. You're in danger."
    "Because some old ladies cut yarn."
    "Those weren't old ladies," Grover said. "Those were the Fates. Do you know what it means—the fact they appeared in front of you? They only do that when you're about to ... when someone's about to die."
    "Whoa. You said 'you.'"
    "No I didn't. I said 'someone.'"
    "You meant 'you.' As in me. "
    "I meant you, like 'someone.' Not you, you. "
    "Boys!" my mom said.
    She pulled the wheel hard to the right, and I got a glimpse of a figure she'd swerved to avoid—a dark fluttering shape now lost behind us in the storm.
    "What was that?" I asked.
    "We're almost there," my mother said, ignoring my question. "Another mile. Please. Please. Please."
    I didn't know where there was, but I found myself leaning forward in the car, anticipating, wanting us to arrive.
    Outside, nothing but rain and darkness—the kind of empty countryside you get way out on the tip of Long Island. I thought about Mrs. Dodds and the moment when she'd changed into the thing with pointed teeth and leathery wings. My limbs went numb from delayed shock. She really hadn't been human. She'd meant to kill me.
    Then I thought about Mr. Brunner ... and the sword he had thrown me. Before I could ask Grover about that, the hair rose on the back of my neck. There was a blinding flash, a jaw-rattling boom!, and our car exploded.
    I remember feeling weightless, like I was being crushed, fried, and hosed down all at the same time.
    I peeled my forehead off the back of the driver's seat and said, "Ow."
    "Percy!" my mom shouted.
    "I'm okay... ."
    I tried to shake off the daze. I wasn't dead. The car hadn't really exploded. We'd swerved into a ditch. Our driver's-side doors were wedged in the mud. The roof had cracked open like an eggshell and rain was pouring in.
    Lightning. That was the only explanation. We'd been blasted right off the road. Next to me in the backseat was a big motionless lump. "Grover!"
    He was slumped over, blood trickling from the side of his mouth. I shook his furry hip, thinking, No! Even if you are half barnyard animal, you're my best friend and I don't want you to die!
    Then he groaned "Food," and I knew there was hope.
    "Percy," my mother said, "we have to ..." Her voice faltered. I looked back. In a flash of lightning, through the mud-spattered rear windshield, I saw a figure lumbering toward us on the shoulder of the road. The sight of it made my skin crawl. It was a dark silhouette of a huge guy, like a football player. He seemed to be holding a blanket over his head. His top half was bulky and fuzzy. His upraised hands made it look like he had horns.
    I swallowed