DJ

DJ normally hated birthdays, but this one took the cake.

As she rode in the stretch limo to the Plaza in Manhattan she thought about her talk with her mother the previous day. "Oh, your party will be spectacular!" she had said. "I've invited all your friends." Correction: her friend's kids. "And your father has told me he will be there as well." Yeah right.

DJ's dad never showed up for anything. Her first volleyball game, her first soccer game, her first track meet. The list went on and on.

"We'll be there in five minutes." The voice of her bodyguard snapped DJ back to reality. Birch was the kind of person who could murder you with his stare. He always wore a suit, but he was so buff that the first three buttons of his shirt couldn't close. He had been DJ's bodyguard/driver for as long as she could remember.

Doesn't matter if we get there in five minutes or five years, I'll still hate the party, DJ thought. Why did her mom have to be rich? DJ loved that she was a really successful senator, and had a pretty good shot of becoming president next year, but the money she had was just annoying. Sure, it was nice to be able to buy almost anything you wanted without a second thought, but sooner or later the spending becomes boring.

DJ looked down at the bracelet her dad had sent for her on her 13th birthday. It was nothing special, just an engraved gold band with a medium-sized sapphire in the middle of it, but DJ still liked it. It was simple in a cute sort of way. The engraving was weird though. The letters looked like something from Lord of the Rings, but DJ knew what they said. Voltage.

They pulled into the Plaza hotel's parking lot. DJ's mom had rented out a ballroom in it for the party. DJ put on the dress her mom had bought her for the party. It was bright red with a black sash to go around the waist. It was the first party dress DJ's mom had let her pick out herself, and DJ had made sure she would look hot in it. When she walked in she knew she was right. Almost every pair of eyes in the room was on her.

DJ picked through the crowd of people saying "Happy birthday," and "You look so pretty," (Suck ups) trying to find her dad. The pathetic part was she didn't know what to look for.

Then a man she'd never seen before walked up to her. He wore a pinstriped suit and had startling blue eyes and a thick beard the color of storm clouds. He walked in a way that said, "I'm in charge. Deal with it."

"Hello Donna Joe," he said, "happy birthday."

DJ was startled to say the least. No one ever used her full name. Not even when she was in major trouble. "Daddy?" She asked, realizing a second later she sounded like a total baby.

The man didn't answer, but he said "I got you something," and he handed her a wrapped package, which DJ was pretty sure he wasn't holding before. The box was fairly small and rectangular, like something jewelry might come in. DJ ripped open the package to find a small box containing…

A tazer?

A tazer.

That was it. No jewelry, no exciting gift, just a small self-defense mechanism.

Thanks dad.

"That weapon has a special name, you know," her dad went on, "Mantalo. Or, if you prefer English, Bolt." DJ just stared at him. Was this guy for real? Who gives their daughter a tazer, special name or not, for her birthday? He went on. "By the way, if you're in trouble just tap the sapphire on your bracelet. Oh, and if you want to live I'd run for the corner of 59th and Central Park West."

"Say what?"

Her dad looked back towards the door. "59th and Central Park West. And I'd hurry too."

DJ didn't know the layout of Manhattan at all. She came from Washington DC, which, in her opinion, was the complete opposite type of city as New York. Although, she did remember seeing a street sign for Central Park West on the way to the party, but before she could ask her dad exactly where to go she looked up and saw he was gone.

Then came the monsters.

Before DJ could walk out the door she heard a horrible screech, and then two giant creatures burst through the opposite door. It had a sleek black body, like a panther, and the head, wings, and talons of an eagle. It's eyes were blood red and had a murderous gleam in them.

The other people in the room screamed, but judging from the various yells of "Giant bobcat!" they didn't know what the beast really was. It turned toward DJ. Crud, she thought.

The creature flew across the room at her. DJ looked at what she had to work with. 5 seconds until impact. She had a tazer and her bracelet. 4. She remembered what her dad had said. If you're in trouble just tap the sapphire on your bracelet. 3. DJ quickly tapped the sapphire which started to glow. 2. Then a circle of pure blue, solid energy expanded out from it. 1. DJ brought the bracelet up in front of her and the creature hit the energy shield with such force that it knocked DJ into the hall. While the creature was stunned DJ got up and peeled out of there.

She managed to get outside and 12 seconds of running later was almost flattened by a van. The van's side read Delphi Strawberry Service in bright red and green letters. The back door opened with a very cute boy holding a silver bow inside. "Duck." He said. DJ ducked just as he shot an arrow and nailed the beast that would have dive-bombed DJ in the next second, turning it, literally, to dust.

"Thanks." DJ said, hoping she didn't sound too flirty.

The boy smiled back. "Just an average day for me. Get in." DJ had learned when she was young that when you meet a cute guy who wants to whisk you away somewhere after he saves your life, you go with him. Though this wasn't like the fairy tales that had taught her that. Her life was really in danger, so she got in the van.

First off DJ noticed she wasn't the only one in the van with the hottie. There was also a red-haired girl with another bow slung over her shoulder and a blonde dude with tattoos of eyes on his neck. No. Actual eyes on the back of his neck. DJ thought it was best not to ask.

After about an hour and a half DJ decided to ask the question that was burning in her brain since she had gotten in the van. "Where are we going?"

"One of the few safe places for people like us in the world." the red-haired chick explained as they pulled up beside a large pine tree overlooking a large valley.

"Welcome to Camp Half-blood."