My head span as my feet pounded on the pavement. I counted the minutes as they went by, each one being another sixty seconds I, Samantha Winters, was alive. I finally reached my apartment block and ducked into the doorway, finally safe from the dangers lurking outside. I leap up the stairs two at a time until I reach the fourth floor where I live in a small apartment by myself. I would live with my foster parents, but we have never had a good relationship. They sent me off to boarding school when I was 10 because they claimed I was uncontrollable. Three years later I was expelled from the school as some people had this insane suspicion I was a witch. My foster family refused to take me back in after that, and I lived in a home for troubled children until my 18th birthday last May, when I was finally allowed to live on my own. All my life strange things have been happening to me. I see things that no one else can see, and I hear things which no one else can hear. Weirdest of all, I can do things no one else can even imagine. Unfortunately, ever since I started living by myself here in Manhattan, everything has been worse. Whenever I stay outside or alone for too long, I feel like someone is watching me. I feel their presence, and often, I hear whispers as well. I can't make out any words most of the time, but I swear I'm not imagining it. As I look out the window onto the street below, I see the strange black mist swirl around the base of my apartment building, threatening to come up. I want to continue running from it, but I don't have the energy. Instead, I flop down onto my bed and lie there. Open and vulnerable to whatever forces have been trying to get me all my life. I slowly drift off to sleep.

I dream of a specific day of my childhood back when I was nine, not yet at boarding school. It was the only day of my life I ever saw my real father. It was a cloudy day in Denver, and I was playing in the front yard of my childhood home. People walked back and forth down the street in front of me, nothing out of the ordinary. Until suddenly, one person caught my eye. It was a middle aged man with a beard, no different to the other people walking by. But as he walked past my house, he turned his head, just the tiniest bit. It was almost unnoticeable, but definitely intentional. And I couldn't help but notice that when he made the gesture, it was directed at me. Unmistakeably. So, although my foster mother had warned me never to go out without her, I followed him. I followed the man all the way to the city square when suddenly I lost him in the crowd. I looked around, lost, and after a good few minutes, decided to head back home. But before I could take three steps, I saw him. It was as though time stopped. There was the man, only ten feet away from me. While everyone else in the crowd went on with their daily lives, the man just stood there staring at me. Finally, after what seemed like forever, he gave the smallest smile, and then disappeared back into the crowd. I don't know how, but I knew that he was my father. I never saw him again.

I awoke with a start to a suffocating black fog surrounding my body. I leapt out of bed without hesitation, grabbed my backpack from the dresser and ran to the door. With only one glance I could see that the entire stairwell and elevator bank were full of the black mist. That left only the window as an escape option. I gave the window a shove and it flew open instantly. Without wasting any more time I climbed out of my apartment and stood on the side of the building. The black haze seemed to have settled over the entire city, it went as far as the eye could see. The strange thing was, no one else seemed phased by it. It was as if I was the only person who could see it. Slowly I crept around the building until I was on the east wall where the fire stairs were. I jumped up and grabbed a hold of the platform above my head, and then used all of my remaining energy to pull myself up onto the platform. From there I sprinted up the stairs and onto the roof. Six flights of stairs later, the black fog seemed to start to thin out. I sat down on the edge of the roof and started down at the city, at all the people living their normal lives. Sometimes I wish my life was normal. Then, things abruptly went from bad to worse. The fog, which a second ago had been fading out, spontaneously rose to my ankles. I jumped up onto the roof and looked around. The fog had risen again, it was everywhere. Soon I was blind, all I could see was a haze of black. Then my vision became blurred, and my head suddenly felt dizzy. I took one last look around the roof, then clutched my backpack and fell to the ground.

When I regained consciousness I was in a forest which I didn't recognise. The trees were tall and thick and everything seemed eerily mystical. Then I noticed the black fog still engulfing everything I could see. How was this happening? I didn't remember going anywhere other than the roof of my apartment back in Manhattan. This definitely wasn't Manhattan. With a sudden flash of orange light, a large shape started to form in front of me. "YOU." Boomed a loud voice, which seemed to come from all around me. I stumble backwards into the bushes. The orange light materializes into a large flaming… thing. It has fiery orange flames for hair and its face seems somewhat deformed. Its body is a large mass of orange mist. "M-me?" I utter in confusion.
"Yes. YOU. Samantha Winters. I have a job for you."
I nod meekly, and stare back with a terrified face.
"You are the only one left who is not on their side. You are our only hope." The deep voice continues. "Just past this clearing there is a Demigod camp. You will enter that camp at my order and help me to destroy the Gods from the inside."
"How?" I ask in a slightly more confident voice.
"You will understand more as you go along. Now GO!"
"What is that supposed to mean?" I blurt out before I can stop myself. "Uh oh…" I curse under my breath as the fiery head leans in towards my face. "It means, that you should enjoy your last few years of life before my plan is complete." The head turns and walks away in his body of orange mist. I stare for a moment, speechless. Then I stop him. "Can I just ask you one last question?" I say in almost a whisper. The head turns slightly.
"Make it quick, I have a tight schedule here." The voice yells back, in a very annoyed tone.
"Who are you?" I call out. The head freezes in place for a second, as if contemplating whether it should answer me or not. Then the head turns completely, and grins at me with an evil smile.
"Chaos."