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It was always me. My mother died at birth, and I never had a father in my life. I was sent to three different foster families, and this was my fourth. I hated them, and they hated me. It was the only thing we agreed on.
I was forced to go to the local middle school, but I could never keep up. Diagnosed with both ADHD and dyslexia, I was surprised to even be in the right grade. I hated interaction with other people, and school was the worst. Trouble seemed to follow me everywhere, I was expelled from every school I've ever gone to, which directly correlated with the amount of foster families I had.
One day, my only friend, a scrawny girl who was seriously shy, wasn't at school. I managed to survive until lunch, when this kid pushed me to the ground. It was totally unexpected, as I never paid attention to other people. He glared at me, hissing "I know who you are, Elaine Volk!"
I was slightly surprised, partly because I was on the school floor, and partly because he knew my name. I tried not to stand out in school, which wasn't hard in the hoards of sixth grade children. Something bad happened to me in the past three schools, but not to this extent.
"I'm not sure what you mean," I managed to say, under his tight viselike lock. I glanced around, hoping someone would come to help, but strangely, no one seemed to notice.
I watched helplessly as his horrid face began to contort, his yellowed fingernails elongated into claws, and his skin grew long fur. He had a scorpion's tail, leathery wings, and a dark mane of hair. I screamed, and felt a surge of adrenaline.
Time seemed to stop as a black sword appeared in my hand. I stared in disbelief at the sword, thinking how it was illegal to have weapons in school. My ADHD went crazy, wondering how my foster family would react to my suspension or expulsion from the school. But at the same time, I was hacking away at the boy, my eyes closed in terror. Then, I fainted.
When I finally opened them, I wasn't at the school anymore. The strange black sword had disappeared. I sat up, wondering if that was just an unknown side effect of ADHD. I saw Eirene, my friend, sitting next to me.
"Where are we? What happened?" I asked, still confused about the past events.
Eirene had a strange expression on her face, almost like… guilt? "Uh… sorry for not being at school today," she said quietly.
"You're not answering my question." I knew I was being rude, but I didn't care about that.
She ignored me, "I had a doctor's appointment. With… uh… the family doctor."
Obviously something suspicious was going on. "Eirene, you're hiding something from me."
She looked away quickly. "No I'm not."
"You suck at lying."
"What are you talking about?" she mumbled.
"Don't act innocent," I pressed, knowing she would give in sometime. "Tell me what's going on."
Eirene finally turned to look at me. Her dark eyes were filled with tears. "I can't tell you."
I was definitely surprised to see tears. Something serious was happening, and I didn't know what it was. "Eirene, do you know about the guy who attacked me today? Was… was that real?" I asked. My hands started to shake at the thought of the monster who had appeared.
"I can't tell you," she repeated.
At that point, I was frustrated. I had just been attacked by some monster-child mutant, and my only friend refused to tell me anything. "Fine, then." I said angrily, and stormed off home.
After that, I interacted even less with other people. I got into more arguments with my foster parents, and my grades dropped. I even skipped school sometimes. This behavior continued until my foster parents decided that they had enough.
One day, they made the phone call. I was going to have a fifth set of foster parents.
When the car came for me, it was not what I was expecting. The car was bright green, and the man who came out was the counselor of the school. He raised his finger to his lips, telling me to be quiet. I obliged, thinking that the school was going to expel me or something. I got into the car, when I saw Eirene.
"What are you doing here?" I demanded.
Eirene shushed me, and motioned for me to get in the car. The counselor, Mr. Pixler, put my tiny suitcase in the trunk, and we were off.
Eirene inhaled, as if she was preparing for a long speech. "Okay, Elaine. This may come as a shock to you, but don't freak out… okay?"
I nodded hesitantly.
"Mr. Pixler and I, we came to this school to protect you."
"What?"
"Ask questions later, just listen. You are a demigod, a daughter of a god. And-"
I interrupted her again. "What? A god?"
"Yes, a Greek god. And we're taking you to Camp Half-Blood, a safe place to train demigods like you." She took out a picture, showing a bunch of cabins around a large fire.
"And how do you expect me to believe you? Are you a demigod too?" I asked doubtfully.
"Here, I'll just show you." She proceeded to take off her hair - no, her wig, to reveal two horns poking out of her honey brown hair. Then she took off her worn sneakers to reveal cream hooves. "I'm a satyr. And this is my first time retrieving a demigod."
For the first time in my life, I was speechless.
Mr. Pixler coughed. "Eirene, don't overwhelm her."
Eirene sighed. "Elaine- " Then the car flipped over.
Eirene screamed, and I might have screamed too. "Get out of the car!" she shouted. With shaking fingers, I opened the car door and climbed out of the upside-down car. I glanced at Eirene, waiting for further instruction.
"Run!" she screamed, grabbing my hand and pulling me. I looked behind us, and there was the same boy who had attacked me in the school, with two other equally ugly boys. Tears were streaming down my face. Please let us get to Camp Half-Blood, I thought.
Something even more unbelievable happened next. Everything disappeared, and I was in the safety of the shadows, moving at an incredible speed. I was vaguely aware of the presence of Eirene near me. Suddenly, we appeared next to a large sign, with the words "Camp Half Blood" on it.
I collapsed in exhaustion.