Following him was the easy part; making no sounds proved more difficult. There were all types of bushes and trees with thorns protruding in my arms and legs. Balled up pieces of paper, scraps of metal, and weapon parts littered a section of the ground where campers tend to walk a lot to get to their various areas of training. The teenager I was tracking, however, effortlessly made his way through the grounds lacking audibility.

But I'm getting ahead of myself. I'm Carter Keys, demi-god, new to Camp Half-Blood. With wavy chestnut-colored hair usually thrown into a sloppy bun and smoky green eyes, I'm the kind of girl who doesn't typically get noticed on a daily basis but that's going to change this year. After constantly moving from city to city and switching schools, experiencing the same mundane routine after 14 years gets a tad tiring, believe it or not. Here's a chance to make my mark in a place where I genuinely fit in, somewhere with promise. So here I am, trailing an unknown suspicious camper in the middle of the night, barely sneaking out of my cabin window. Not quite sure where he's headed or what his intentions are, but my curiosity prevails over my sense of forethought.

It appeared he was going towards the gate which separated the mortal world from the demi-god world. What was he doing? Was he actually going to step outside it? I attempted to straighten this tangled mess of questions into answers but that just seemed to complicate matters all the more.

When he was one step away from the opening, he hesitated, briefly glancing back in the left direction and before he could catch me following him, I crouched down behind a nearby tree. Waiting about five seconds, I peaked to make sure he wasn't looking and cautiously creeped towards the entrance. This is it; this is my chance. So why was I feeling so tentative and timid? Come on, Carter, I urged myself this is an actual adventure! When else is an opportunity like this going to come your way?

Making a split-second decision, I jumped through the gate, squeezing my eyes shut the whole way, even though I knew it really wasn't necessary. Peering through the trees, hoping I didn't lose him, I dashed through the forest with renewed energy. In the gates, I almost felt . . . restrained. Now without its presence, I feel vigorous, even more athletic.

I could just make out a shadow jogging as I strained to keep up, being as light on my feet as possible. This path slowly reached a highway outfitted with a cow pasture across from it and the city just north. He invigorated his pace as we hurriedly arrived to New York City.

I have to tell you, it was very grand, even for the outside of the city. Lights flooded the streets and I gazed in amazement as I pondered the thought of actually living here. Diminutive houses sided the road as they gradually became larger and more superior. Soon, we were what you would call 'in the ghetto,' where I assumed thieves, robbers, villains, and vandals prowled around just waiting to attack an innocent person and deprive them of their belongings. That thought wasn't exactly comforting as I envisioned intimidating eyes following my every move I made, plotting the exact moment where I'd be most defenseless and—whoa, I'm getting ahead of myself. It's probably not that grave.

I shook my head in an attempt to focus and be attentive; after all, it was a pretty vast and wild city and I could lose him without any trouble.

He was entering a rather strange . . . building? No, more like a brick archway to a dead end with vines swallowing almost every square inch. I leapt behind trash can to trash can, which was no picnic; let me tell you, with the pungent odor and surplus rotten food suspending from the overflowing lids; it was less than pleasant.

I couldn't conclude where his destination awaited, though, since it was a dead end. His brutal-looking hand reached up to pull a leafy, flourishing vine when what ruined the happening? Oh, that's right, me.

Endeavoring to perceive every element of his scheme by slightly leaning forward, it was just my luck to slip on a cluttered piece of debris and plummet to the sharp cement, a brusque pain spurting through my legs and perusing a course through my entire body.

Clearly alarm, he backed into the wall, apparently astounded as realization dawned over him that he had been tracked. But regaining his normal attitude, much to my distaste, the encounter appeared to have only slightly aggravate him.

"Who are you?" he inquired annoyance, irritation, and just a bit of curiosity dripping from his voice. Observing his facial features, I finally understood who he was. Luke Castellan, leader of the Hermes cabin and reasonably respected stood before me, his eyes an intense blue that had an amusing tint to them at the moment. As if he thought he could take me.

"Why would I tell you?" I retorted back. He's a traitor, a voice verbalized in my head. He's helping Kronos and will destroy everything in its path, stopping at nothing. The voice in my head is Athena, my mother, goddess of wisdom and battle strategy. She's really not supposed to give me answers and knowledge of this sort of stuff, but it's extremely useful. I always thought it was me, unconsciously rambling junk to myself, but what hasn't changed since I got to camp? Slowly, I reached for my dagger at my side. I didn't need a sixth sense or expertise from my mother to discern that Luke Castellan was definitely not on my side.

"Because hero," he responded with ease, a fire dancing in his eyes and a smirk tugging at the corners of his mouth, "if you don't, I'm going to kill you."

Ooh, a challenge; this should be good, I thought as a hunger developed inside of me to show this guy who's boss. Swiftly bringing the dagger out in full view, I casually stated, "Bring it on."