Defeating Sleeep

Makayla
Hi there! My name is Makayla Jackson. I’m 13 years old. I live with my parents, Percy and Annabeth Jackson, here in New Rome. My parents old friends from the Argo II and my two aunts, Uncle Will and Aunt Calypso, are inside talking about grown up things. They told me to come out here, in the backyard, and stay with the other kids, but no one’s talking. Everyone’s sitting by themselves ignoring the others. I’m sort of the middle child out of the group. Neal Solace and Esperanza Valdez, my two cousins, are both older than me. Ryan Grace [supposedly my second cousin, but who cares?! I certainly don’t!] and Victoria Zhang [supposedly she’s my cousin in some semi- complex way that I never stop to listen to] are both younger than me. So yeah, I was literally the middle child.
I was minding my own business sitting here quietly in my hideaway under the porch when Neal comes quietly up beside my hideaway “Makayla,” he said. “You might want to come check this out.” I stepped out of my hideaway to see the others standing in a huddle bent over something.
I elbowed my way to the front. It was a bird lying on the ground. “So what?” I questioned. “It probably died.”
“No, it didn’t,” Esperanza corrected. “Its heart is still beating.” I put my finger on the birds chest. I felt tiny beats. Esperanza was right.
“Well then what happened? Is this some sort of trick?!”
Victoria put her hand on my shoulder. “Makayla,” she said in a somewhat southern French accent. “This isn’t a trick. All the other creatures are like this too. Take a look yourself if you don’t believe me, go look yourself.” she gestured to the tree.
I hoisted myself up and climbed to the branch where I knew the bird’s nest was. Every year, around this time, there were baby birds here. They should still be here. The perfect thing to prove that all this was just a trick. I grabbed on to the branch and swung my leg over. I scooted to where I could see the nest without touching it or breathing on it. The three baby birds were sitting with their heads back, their mouths open, but only the sound of little, tiny, yet deep, bird breaths. No chirping. The mother bird had her head under her wing. I could just barely see a worm that, I assumed, she was holding in her mouth. It was as if they were…… asleep. Oh, gods!
I scrambled down the tree, my mind racing with the story my parents had told me. During the Titan War. Morpheus. All of New York City asleep. But It’s not possible. It couldn’t be. He couldn’t be. Could he be…… back?
The others looked at me expectantly for an answer. “Morpheus.” I panted. Most of them understood me. Those that didn’t followed our tails close behind. We burst inside the house.
“MOM! DAD!” I yelled at the top of my lungs. I burst into the sitting room and stopped dead in my tracks. The others bumped into me then stood there, just as awed as I was. Our parents. They were….. asleep.

Notes

What do you think?
Where's your favorite creepy and dangerous place in the Percy Jackson realm? You may get to see it in my next chapter!