This story is dedicated to a great friend of mine, Marta. I hope you like it!

Okay, so I guess I better start my story from when I was just a little kid. Well, my name is Raya Lumos and at the beginning of what I'm going to tell you, I am six years old. I always spent the whole morning trying to calm down my hair. My whole life I've had black hair that is almost spiky. It's kind of long now, though. Because when it's long, it doesn't frizz as much. I have blue eyes that make me look like I'm staring when I really don't mean to stare. I've always been skinny and pretty athletic and I always wear my hair pulled back in a ponytail.

Anyway, I was six years old and after having my mom read me The Little Mermaid for about the fiftieth time that week. I decided to ask her where my Daddy was. I had wondered for a while why, if Ariel's father was so protective, I had never even met my own. My mom was a single mother who worked as a stagehand for Broadway shows. She helps set up the stunt guys in their harnesses so that they don't fall and injure themselves. So I'd been to pretty many shows she'd helped with and I decided I liked music. I do really love to sing. I guess I have a pretty okay voice because once I sang for my grandfather and he said that my voice "lit up the room". I do love him very much, but he might have said that because he's my grandfather and he kind of had to.

Ugh! I'm getting off topic again. I decided, that night, I was going to ask my mom where my dad was. I was six so I thought that every family was supposed to have a Mommy and a Daddy. She let me come snuggle in her lap. I had my princess tiara on and I remember it clearly getting caught on a thread on her shirt. She just smiled-she had such a pretty smile- and untangled it from its catcher. I gave her a little kid hug and hid my face in her sweater. I asked her then, hoping she wouldn't get mad. She didn't. She told me Daddy was just gone for a long time. I would see him one day. She said that he was wonderful and he loved me. That was what got me the most- he loved me.

She said I reminded her of him. He had the same hair- though his was spikier than mine. Being six, I cringed at the thought. She remembered his singing to her on their first date. The part she remembered most, though, was his smile. She said he smiled like a movie star. That night I went to bed thinking of when I would meet my dad with his movie star smile.

My story continues to when I was eight. I knew my mom was a very nervous person. She constantly feared for me- but who's parents don't? But she would always glance inside before getting in a taxi and hold my hand whenever we walked down the street. I didn't mind.

One day, she was in a hurry so she didn't check inside before getting in the taxi. She was late for work and had to bring me because she wasn't able to find a baby-sitter. I don't remember the scene completely. All I remember is getting in the taxi and it starting to go toward Broadway Avenue. It wasn't rush hour so there was only some traffic. Anyway, My mom opened the car door at our place to get out but the car didn't stop. I was scared and I can remember her yelling at the driver. The driver had a black cloth around his or her head. I think. The driver sped up and weaved through all sorts of traffic lanes. It just kept going faster and faster and it was going too fast to get out. Buildings rushed by, city lights flickered, and I felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to be out of that taxi more than anything in the world.

Then all I remember is the lights going black and the car skidding as if it had been turned off. I must have passed out because the next thing I knew, I was in the emergency room in the hospital with doctors around me asking if I was okay and how many fingers they were holding up. I felt fine- just a bit dazed and tired as if I had been woken up after sleeping for a few hours. I felt very weak.

"She must have been fairly dehydrated when the car shut down," a doctor in a blue uniform said, "then she fainted from being in shock. Nothing to worry about, really. Just give her some juice or something later."

Even though the doctor said it was nothing to worry about, mom looked fairly worried. "So you're sure it's just dehydration?" she said.

"Most definitely, we get cases like this all the time."

Then mom stood up, took my hand and tried to help me stand up. I didn't feel dehydrated- I didn't get that lightheaded feeling you usually get. I felt tired, but fine. She and I walked out the door, checked out, and walked home (our apartment was only three blocks away). We only stopped once for her to buy me an apple juice at a little corner coffee shop. Mom nervously glanced around and seemed very on edge. When we got back to the house, she seemed almost relieved, but I did notice that she locked the doors heavily that night. See, even if little kids can't understand what is going on, they can pick up on the feelings of their loved ones around them. In the next few months, mom was always being very nervous and cautious. She did calm down a bit after a while though. I still have that hospital bracelet.

When I was ten, I desperately wanted to be left alone to shop at the mall with my friends. It took a lot of convincing and extra chores, but finally mom let me go. I was going to the mall with my friends Mary and Lisa. I have known Mary since kindergarten and she is probably my best friend. She knows how quirky I am and doesn't seem to care. She is a little taller than me, pale, and has brown, curly hair and braces- or at least she did then. Now her teeth are straight. Back then, she had large feet and hands and always wore girly-girl clothes with at least a little bit of glitter or frill. Lisa I had only met a month before that trip. She was small and younger looking with blond hair that was just past her shoulders. She was (and still is) really into all of that save the environment jazz. She is always wearing those "recycle" and "go green" shirts and jeans. She hates shoes. She never wears them if she can help it. That day she was wearing these old brown flip-flops.

I had been surprised that we were going to the mall that day because usually, we hung out in Central park. I told you, Lisa is a total tree hugger. We have this one tree that she calls "her tree" where we always sit and do homework. It's this small compared to the other trees around it but it provides a nice shadow and has a bench right near it so I think that's why Lisa likes it.

Usually mom came with us when we went to the park and things, but this time was the first time I had wanted to go alone. Mom gave me her cell phone, cash, and a little slip of paper with about twenty phone numbers packed on to it. I told you, she was overprotective. She gave me the talk about how if a stranger offers you something, then run away. Then she gave me a really tight hug, and let me take the elevator down to meet Mary's mom below. Unlike most people in New York City, Mary had a car. She convinced her mom to drive us and then eat lunch and pick us up when we were done.

At the mall, we went into this little store that I had never noticed before. It didn't have much of a window display so we wanted to see what was inside. When we walked into the door, it was almost like a little antique store. There was this whole shelf of this yarn that almost looked metallic. There was another shelf of these Greek looking figures. They are the same as Roman ones, but they have a column coming out of their butt to support them. That's how my world history teacher says you can tell the difference. There were all of these old swords hanging on pegs from the walls, and shields, too. There was this thing in the back, left corner that looked like some sort of a vending machine. It had a picture of a goat person on it eating some Mexican food- it really didn't make any sense at all. There was a really old woman sitting in a dark, wooden chair next to the shelf of yarn. Just as she finished knitting this gigantic sock, she snipped it off of her spool of metallic thread and cackled quietly. It scared me practically to death. I took Mary's hand.

"I'm scared," I said, "Can we leave?"

"Why are you scared?" She asked, "It's just a little friendly old lady in an antiques store."

Something didn't feel right. I just couldn't let go of the feeling something was wrong. I almost wanted to grab one of the swords off of the wall. Just thinking that made me more scared! The lady sitting in the chair looked anything but smiley to me. She had a pensive and almost angry look. Lisa looked kind of like she didn't want to be there either. "Come on," she said, "let's go now."

She grabbed my hand and led Mary and me toward the door. We were about five feet away when this extremely tall, brawny guy came in. I'm not kidding. He looked about eight feet tall and had huge biceps. He was really ugly. He looked straight at me then, but I only caught a glimpse of one of his eyes. He grunted and then said, "I must take you! You must come with me now!"

He had a deep, rough voice. I remembered what mom had told me about strangers and bolted towards the door. Lisa called after me but I was too caught up in the panic of the moment to hear her. The giant guy chased after me with a giant stick that I don't even know how he got passed mall security. I just ran and ran and when I finally lost him, I called Mary to make sure she was okay. We met behind a plant near one of the doors so that nobody could see us and called her mom. The car ride home was a quiet one because nobody dared to talk about the scene in the mall. You are going to think I'm crazy when I say this- and I don't blame you- but I could have sworn the giant guy chasing me only had one eye.

So that's pretty much how it was for me. I don't know why I have a magnetic attraction to freak accidents. I must have some really bad karma or something because I also have dyslexia and ADHD. Yep, I always seem to be getting in trouble for stuff I don't do. My principal likes me, though, so it usually isn't too bad… I have B's in pretty much all of my classes but I have an A in art and Latin. I studied Greek from a book from the public library when I was younger so I guess learning Latin is just easier for me…

My mom doesn't even know about me learning Greek. She probably would have thought it was some weird freak sign like most things. I took out the book on my library card and carried it in between my schoolbooks so she wouldn't see. My mom usually doesn't care what I do but she doesn't like Greek culture for some reason… I don't really know why… I found it pretty easy to learn Greek.

One day, (I was now fourteen) I decided to meet Lisa in the park by her tree. We worked on a science project. This year I am in 8th grade and taking biology. It was mid May and very warm and I was dying to get outside. I just love being in the sun. I suck at science and Lisa is very good. It was weird because even though we were taking bio, our science project was about plants. Lisa, being a total environment freak, knows everything there is to know about plants. I thought that even if I get a C in science, I would have one good grade for this project.

We sat on the bench in the shade of her tree and typed on our computers. It really was a very peaceful moment. Many people walked by us. There was a little old lady with a little dog, a woman with a baby carriage, a couple roller-skating, a little boy on a bike, and a businessman texting on his Blackberry.

It was so warm and sunny out and the grass and plants were growing all around us. I wished I could just stay in this place, in this moment forever. To me, this park was like a diamond in the dark stone of NYC.

"I wish I could just live here, in this place, in this moment forever." I said to Lisa. "I mean- it's just so perfect."

"You have no idea," she said.

Then we were quiet for a few minutes. She gazed at her reflection in a pool of rainwater on the sidewalk. I just stared at my shoes. I noticed that Lisa wasn't wearing any. It probably would have bothered me for most people to be barefoot in a public place but it just seemed different for Lisa. I had never actually been to Lisa's house- we always met in the park. I took her hand in mine and we just sat quiet and still. All of a sudden, Lisa kind of twitched. She jerked her head up like a deer being hunted. She stood up, her hand still in mine. She looked nervous. She said, "We have to go. We have to leave here now."

I was really confused and a bit unsettled. "What? Why? Where are we going? Is something wrong?"

"Yes. We need to get away from here now. Come on."

As I said earlier, I seem to be magnetically attracted to strange situations. I decided to follow her- as long as we didn't get any taxis. She broke into a sprint and I was kind of frightened as to what we were running from so I just decided to follow. She kept glancing back over her shoulder.

"What's wrong?" I said again- almost screamed.

"Just keep going."

We ran through the park and down the street for about ten blocks. Then she pulled me behind a little green smart car and told me to shut up. Then I heard a loud thumping noise coming down the road the same way we had come. It almost sounded like clopping of horse hooves. I thought maybe one of the horses from the carriages in Central Park got loose- but it was much louder than any little tame horse. Lisa peeked through the windows of the car. Her eyes widened and she quietly ducked down. "It couldn't be…" I heard her mouth under her breath.

I heard the thing take a few steps forward. Lisa pulled out a pair of car keys from her pocket and whispered in a frantic voice, "Get in the car!"

"What good will that do?"

"Just do what I say!" she insisted.

I decided to do what she said and got in the car. It certainly couldn't be any worse than hiding behind it. I had no idea why she had the keys to a random car. She yelled, "Hold on!"

And started the ignition. I yelled beck, "But you can't even dr-"

Then I was cut off. Lisa raced past the thing and down the street at a speed I didn't even know little smart cars could reach. I looked behind us to see what was chasing us. Now you're going to think I'm really crazy. The thing that had been chasing us was a giant furry creature man with horns! It was huge and horribly scary looking. In fact, I thought I'd seen it in a picture in a book somewhere but I wasn't sure. Anyway, we were coasting along and the- creature- couldn't run fast enough to catch up. It didn't seem to be able to change direction too hot so Lisa made a lot of turns. I hoped the police didn't arrest us. After all, we were 1. breaking the speed limit and 2. Lisa was only fourteen. She wasn't supposed to drive! "Lisa," I said, "What is going on?"

"I'll tell you when we get there," she said calmly.

"Get WHERE?" I asked.

"Camp half-blood."

"What's that? Why are we going there? Why is tha-"

"I told you, I'll explain when we get there."

Lisa definitely wasn't telling me something. I literally had no idea what was going on. By the time I had decided that I was hallucinating and camp half-blood was a nickname for a mental hospital, Lisa stopped the car. I thought we were on long island but I wasn't sure. "We're here," Lisa said, "Welcome to Camp Half-Blood!"