The Librarian

The audio book clattered to the floor as I stared at him in shock, then I realized where that humorous glint in his eye came from. He was making fun of me!

"Oh, very funny!" I snapped. "I open up about my favorite character and you decide to make a mockery of it! Not. Cool!" I turned and stormed back down the hallway, headed for the door.

"Kimmi!" I felt him grab my arm and I shrugged it away. He grabbed me by the shoulder and turned me around to face him.

"Kimmi, I'm not making fun of you!" He insisted. "It's real, all real. My name is Nico and I live at Camp Half-Blood. I've been through Tartarus and I've been kidnapped by Gaia. I- I've lost my sister and my mother. It's the truth! Why would I ever tease you like that?"

Tears were in my eyes as I looked to the ground, I refused to accept that Rick was a fraud, I refused to accept the truths Nico offered to me.

"Why wouldn't you?" I asked quietly. "I don't even know you."

He sighed. "I guess you don't. But would you like to?"

I looked up at him in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"I mean," he said, "that if you're hungry I would love to take you to dinner." I furrowed my eyebrows, not really knowing what to make of him.

"I would love to." I said. "But why? Why are you telling me this?"

"Because," he answered, "If I want to know you then you need to know me."

Before I could ask what he meant by that he grabbed my small hand in his and led me outside to a waiting motorcycle.

"I'm not getting on that!" I refused.

"Oh, come on! Mrs O'Leary isn't that scary!" He insisted.

"What?" I asked. All I saw was a motorcycle.

"Take your glasses off, Kimmi." Nico instructed. "They're obscuring your true vision."

I reluctantly took off my reading glasses and tucked them into my book bag. When I looked up and squinted I saw something that pulled a shriek from my lips. I saw a huge dog.
Nico grinned and offered me a hand, pulling me up behind him on the dog's back.

"You may want to hold onto my waist." He said as Mrs O'Leary bounded forward at an incredible speed.

After about a block we turned into an alley. A dead-end alley. And we ran straight into the wall. I gripped Nico's waist tight and a scream of pure terror escaped my lips as we were encased in darkness.
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We emerged back into the light in a place I didn't recognize, but I could tell it wasn't the same country. Nico steered us around the traffic and parked Mrs O'Leary outside a small cafe with writing in a language I couldn't read.

"Where are we?" I asked him as I slid down the hell-hound's leg.

"Margarete's Cafe and Restaurant." He shrugged.

"No, like, what country are we in?" I asked.

"Italy." He said, taking my hand. "Now come on, Margarete normally saves me a table on Fridays." I followed him inside.

Notes

Decided I may as well get started on this asap. I'll update later this week.
Thank you for being so patient while I finished my other stories :)