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ONE

Good Morning! You’re Going to Die

Yeah, I know You guys are going to read about how I died in agony, and you’re going be like, ‘Wow! That sounds cool, Magnus! Can I die in agony, too?’

No Just no

Don’t go juhway or set yourself on fire It doesn’t work that way You will not end up where I ended up

Besides, you wouldn’t want to deal with ot so one another to pieces, swords flying up giants’ noses and dark elves in snappy outfits, you shouldn’t even think about finding the wolf-headed doors

My nanus Chase I’m sixteen years old This is the story of how ot myself killed

My day started out nore in the Public Garden when a guy kicked me awake and said, ‘They’re after you’

By the way, I’ve been homeless for the past two years

Some of you may think, A sad Others may think, Ha, ha, loser! But, if you saw ht past like I’m invisible You’d pray, Don’t let him ask me for money You’d wonder if I’er wouldn’t be wrapped in a stinky old sleeping bag, stuck outside in the middle of a Boston winter Somebody should help that poor boy!

Then you’d keep walking

Whatever I don’t need your syhed at I’nored Let’s move on

The buuy called Blitz As usual, he looked like he’d been running through a dirty hurricane His wiry black hair was full of paper scraps and twigs His face was the colour of saddle leather and was flecked with ice His beard curled in all directions Snow caked the bottoed around his feet – Blitz being about five feet five – and his eyes were so dilated the irises were all pupil His perht start screa any second

I blinked the gunk out ofbag aret out of it

‘Who’s after me?’

‘Not sure’ Blitz rubbed his nose, which had been broken sobolt ‘They’re handing out flyers with your name and picture’

I cursed Randoers I could deal with Truant officers, coe kids, addicts looking to roll somebody small and weak – all those would’ve been as easy to wake up to as pancakes and orange juice

But when somebody knew eting me specifically Maybe the folks at the shelter weretheir stereo (Those Christ ht that last bit of pickpocketing I did in the Theater District (Hey, I needed money for pizza) Orforto ask questions about my mom’s murder …

I packedrolled up tight and fitted in e of socks and underwear Except for the clothes on my back, that’s all I owned With the backpack over my shoulder and the hood of my jacket pulled low, I could blend in with pedestrian traffic pretty well Boston was full of college kids So than me

I turned to Blitz ‘Where’d you see these people with the flyers?’

‘Beacon Street They’re coirl, probably his daughter’

I frowned ‘That makes no sense Who –’

‘I don’t know, kid, but I gotta go’ Blitz squinted at the sunrise, which was turning the skyscraper s orange For reasons I’d never quite understood, Blitz hated the daylight Maybe he was the world’s shortest, stoutest ho out in Copley Square’

I tried not to feel irritated The local street people jokingly called Hearth and Blitz my mom and dad because one or the other always see around me

‘I appreciate it,’ I said ‘I’ll be fine’

Blitz chewed his thuotta be extra careful’

‘Why?’

He glanced over ’

I didn’t see anybody When I turned back, Blitz was gone

I hated it when he did that Just – Poof The guy was like a ninja A homeless vampire ninja

Now I had a choice: go to Copley Square and hang out with Hearth, or head towards Beacon Street and try to spot the people ere looking for me

Blitz’s description of theirl searching forWhy? Who were they?

I crept along the edge of the pond Al the side of the hill and spot anyone approaching on the higher path without the me

Snow coated the ground The sky was eye-achingly blue The bare tree branches looked like they’d been dipped in glass The wind cut through my layers of clothes, but I didn’t mind the cold My mom used to joke that I was half polar bear

Danus, I chided myself

After two years, my memories of her were still a minefield I’d stumble over one, and instantly my composure would be blown to bits

I tried to focus

The rew over his collar – not like an intentional style, but like he couldn’t be bothered to cut it His baffled expression reminded me of a substitute teacher’s: I knoas hit by a spit wad, but I have no idea where it ca for a Boston winter His socks were different shades of brown His tie looked like it had been tied while he spun around in total darkness

The girl was definitely his daughter Her hair was just as thick and wavy, though lighter blonde She was dressed e T-shirt peeking out at the neckline Her expression was ripped a sheaf of flyers like they were essays she’d been graded on unfairly

If she was looking for me, I did not want to be found She was scary

I didn’t recognize her or her dad, but so to pull out a very old memory

Father and daughter stopped where the path forked They looked around as if just now realizing they were standing in the middle of a deserted park at no-thank-you o’clock in the dead of winter

‘Unbelievable,’ said the girl ‘I want to strangle him’

Assu she meant me, I hunkered down a little more

Her dad sighed ‘We should probably avoid killing him He is your uncle’

‘But two years?’ the girl demanded ‘Dad, how could he not tell us for two years?’

‘I can’t explain Randolph’s actions I never could, Annabeth’

I inhaled so sharply that I was afraid they would hearraw memories from when I was six years old

Annabeth Which meant the sandy-haired man was … Uncle Frederick?

I flashed back to the last fa in the library at Uncle Randolph’s town house, playing with dominoes

while the adults yelled at each other downstairs

You’re lucky you live with your mo It was a to run away

I had no doubt she meant it I was in awe of her confidence

Then Uncle Frederick appeared in the doorway His fists were clenched His gri reindeer on his sweater Annabeth, we’re leaving

Annabeth looked at rader’s Be safe, Magnus

With a flick of her finger, she knocked over her domino temple

That was the last time I’d seen her

Afterwards,away froive him what he wants Ever

She wouldn’t explain what Randolph wanted, or what she and Frederick and Randolph had argued about

You have to trust erous

I trusted my mom Even after her death, I hadn’t had any contact with my relatives