This is just a little one-shot I came up with about a demigod who never found his way to Camp Half-Blood. Though, if you all like it, I may consider turning it into an actual story. Anyways, enjoy!

I was running.

Now don't get me wrong, I do a lot of running. In fact, I had been running for the past two years of my life. I was running from the past that haunted me, that tormented me, and chased me from dream to dream until I thought that I could go crazy.

But this time, I was running from something real. At least, I thought it was real. I kept trying to tell myself that I was dreaming and that the thing behind me was just a figment of my imagination. But somehow I knew that I wasn't dreaming. I knew deep down that the reptilian lady chasing me was in fact very real, and that if I stopped, even for one moment, to look at her and scream "You're a dream!", then it would all be over. I would be dead, as a result of my underactive imagination.

So I kept running. I ran for who knows how long, but I knew that I should have collapsed in exhaustion a long, long time ago. My legs were on fire, but I forced them to keep running. I just had to find… something. Something that could kill the snake lady who was zealously chasing me. I darted past houses, streets, and cars. People occasionally dotted the side of my vision, but nobody seemed to notice the crazy reptilian woman who wanted my blood.

I risked a glance behind me. The creature was closing the distance. My exhaustion was beginning to take hold. I wondered why the monster wasn't getting tired, but I didn't have time to think about that. I had to figure out a way to either defeat or escape the lizard lady. And fast.

Outside one of the houses, I saw a boy playing baseball with his father. The dad slowly threw the ball at his son, and with a thwack, it flew into the sky. The sight brought a painful memory to the surface of my mind.

I was sitting in my house, talking on the phone with my girlfriend. The exact scope of the conversation was by now lost to me, but it probably included all of the mushy gushy romantic things young couples say to each other. My dad was in the living room, probably reading. He did a lot of reading. In fact, he did a lot of the things that people usually associate with "smartness". He read, designed, invented, and wore his hair in a crazy "mad scientist" fashion.

I heard a piercing crashing of broken objects as the window broke apart. My father yelled loudly, something like "Furry" or "Feary". I dropped the phone and ran downstairs. I screamed as the… thing…. I don't know what it was called, but it looked like a woman, just with wings… and talons… and did I mention the wings?

Anyway, the winged lady lunged at my dad, and her razor sharp talons entered his neck. I looked around for something that I could use to fight the thing. The creature trained its eyes on me, and cackled.

"Daniel Hardin, you didn't think you could hide from me forever, did you?" she cooned, and lunged for my neck. I did the only thing I could think of. I grabbed a baseball bat lying on the floor, and swung out at the monster. This surprised her—it—whatever, as the bat connected to her face and she was thrown back a few feet. I took advantage of her temporary surprise and ran forward to continue the assault. Two strikes, three strikes, four strikes, five and she suddenly disintegrated into a heap of dust. As she dissolved, I could almost swear that she screamed the words "We'll meet agaaaaain!"

I sighed, and ran forward to the little kid with the bat. If this doesn't work, I thought, I'm dead meat. I grabbed the bat, and stood my ground, waiting for the she-lizard to come and attack me. She gladly obliged, slithering forward and thrusting a trident at me with alarming speed. I had just enough time to bring the bat down and catch the attack in between two of the trident's prongs. She pulled the trident back, and thrust forward a second time. Once again, I caught the attack. The next time she pulled back the trident, I quickly swung the bat around to connect with her skull. The creature screamed, and when I struck her again she disappeared into a pile of golden dust.

Dust.

I stood for a moment, looking blankly at the pile of golden dust that was once a flying woman with talons. Then I quickly ran over to my father, who was lying on the floor. His face was pale, and blood was seeping out of his neck. I tried to staunch the bleeding with a towel and a bandage, but it just kept coming. My father raised his head and looked at me.

"Daniel…" He smiled and looked into the distance, as if remembering something from a long time ago. Then his focus shifted back to me. "L…long… Long Island." He croaked. Then he lowered his head so that it was resting on the floor, and died.

My memory faded, returning me to reality where a boy and his father stood looking at me, stunned.

"Did you… Did you just…" The father stammered. "P-p-please, don't hurt my boy!" He motioned to his child. "Here, take my money! My wallet! Stevie, run back into the house." The boy dashed back inside, leaving one very brave, but very scared father facing me.

I looked from him to the baseball bat I was holding, and to the pile of dust on the floor. Then I thrust the bat into his hands, whispered "I'm… I'm sorry." and ran away. Once again, I was running.

The alarm was blaring all over my house. The winged monster must've triggered it when she broke through the window. The golden dust had by now dispersed into the ground, leaving me alone in the house with my dead father. I could hear police sirens in the distance, getting closer. I panicked, wondering if they would blame me for what happened. I quickly grabbed some food, and ran.

I ran, and I've been running ever since.