Preface

I died. It sucked, so that's probably why I chose not to. That and the fact that a few doctors kept shocking me with defibrillators. That had been two months ago. Now, I was living in New York with my step siblings and my step dad. Personally, I hated him, also personally, he hated me too. His name was Darrin, he got along fine with his kids and my mom, but not me, never me.

I suppose some of it had to do with the fact that I wasn't his kid. That and the fact that I haven't spoken since the accident. And even before that I wasn't a talkative person. I used to live in South Carolina with my brother and my mom. My mom had been having a long distance relationship with Darrin and on one of her business trips she went to see him and he proposed. One week later there was an accident and my life shattered.

Darrin already had 3 kids, Winifred, who was 12, Tyler, who was 10, and Caroline, who was 6. We got along well enough. Cara was kindest to me. She would smile and giggle and talk to me. Fred and Ty were different. Every time they spoke to me they would try to get me to say something. I never would, speaking was worthless.

School was almost over, thank the gods. Yeah I said gods, my mom's Greek so I was raised to respect my gods and goddesses. Any way I didn't really live with my moms boyfriend. Technically I lived in a school dorm with a girl that thought I was a waste of life.

Chapter 1

I should write a book of ways I've almost died

I was at my locker early, before any classes started. I had just gotten out all my books when I heard my friends voice. "Charlie!" he said. I let him catch up then I started walking. I smiled at him to tell him good morning, he smiled back. I have no idea how we became friends, one day I was just walking around and over the next few days he walked with me. I liked to wright him letters and give them to him when ever I could. Sometimes I would put them outside his dorm. His name was Lynell, but everyone called him Nell. He had a weird walk because of his prosthetic legs, but boy could he run. He fell into step beside me and started talking "I need to tell you something important" he said. I raised my brow to show I was listening. "Not here" he said. "Alone" he spoke the last words barely above a whisper. I shook my head and pointed at a door that said Ms. Gates, she would kill me if I was late for class. Nell took a deep breath and said reluctantly, "Okay". And with that he walked off to his class.

Ms. Gates was a husk of a human. She spoke in a raspy voice and did good impersonation of a zombie at all times. She was always looking for an excuse to get me into trouble. I arrived in the class five minutes early and took a seat in the back corner. I was out of the way and almost always looked over. Nothing remotely exiting ever happened at school, that's why, after all the kids were in the class and a substitute teacher wheeled in, we were all pretty shocked. He was a middle aged man with dark brown hair and a beard to match. He was in a wheelchair that had quite a few extra gadgets on it. When he reached the front desk he turned and gave us all a huge smile. "Hello" he said in a deep, sweet, yet commanding kind of voice, "I am Mr. Brunner, I will be your substitute history teacher." I wasn't as shocked as most of the kids. I'd had a feeling something would happen today. Mr. Brunner started talking and I zoned out. The only thing that brought me back to the present was the sound of a familiar language, Greek. My mother was Greek so of course I had to know how to speak it fluently. He was saying a ancient battle prayer too the gods, he was good at the accent too. With nobody noticing I silently joined in with the prayer. When he finished he looked at the class and smiled, "That was a small example of the Greek language" he said, "Now, carrying on to the gods and goddesses." I smiled, I knew all of them, even the minor ones, and especially the forgotten ones. I knew the names of the ancient monsters and kings. Mr. Brunner went over the main 12 Olympians and then started talking about demigods. "Who can name a Greek demigod?" A few kids hands went up. Mr. Brunner called on Cathryn who sat up in the front row, "Hercules" she said. I rolled my eyes, gods, how could anyone be so stupid. Mr. Brunner scanned the room again and his eyes fell on to me. "You dear?" I shook my head. The teachers head hung in disappointment. "Hercules" he said, "Is the Roman name for that demigod, his Greek name was Heracles. His mother named him that in hope of pleasing Hera from her rage when she had discovered Zeus had had another child with a mortal." The way he said 'another' made it sound like it was an exasperating everyday thing.

The rest of the day was boring compared to History, lunch was the worst. Nell and I sat alone at our little table, he was nervous about something, I could tell. "What do you think of the substitute history teacher?"Nell asked. I nodded and smiled to show that I liked him. Of course our lovely moment had to be ruined by Victor Harrow. He was a big stupid kid that liked picking on little smart ones. I wasn't what you would call smart or little, so he called me his exception. I was tall, muscular and ADD. I had really bad dyslexia, it affected me no matter what language I read in, even Greek. "I want my lunch" Victor said. From behind me. I looked over my shoulder and poked my tongue out at him. I went back to eating. "Charlie" I heard Nell say, "I don't think you should provoke him" he said. Why not? I dealt with him every other day, today he was just extra annoying and stupid. He always had lunch and had never asked for mine before. Then I noticed how much taller he looked and how strange his eyes had been. I got ready to look at his again when I felt a hand close around my shirt collar and rip my backwards of the bench. There was no way he was that strong. "I wasn't talking about the school lunch" He said, "I was referring to you!" his face was changing into a very ugly thing. He was growing and getting more muscular by the second. The kids all around us started screaming and ran out of the cafeteria. Unfortunately, that included Nell. By the time I looked back to Victor he was at least 8 feet tall and was more muscular than a body builder on steroids. His skin was practically bursting from all the muscle and his teeth were pointed. Laistygonian, I thought. The legendary creature from old Greek myth was standing above me in my school cafeteria. My first instinct was to run, run far away from the danger, but before I could a second instinct took over, an instinct I'd only had once before. I summoned the darkness, the shadows, every inch of cold. I felt my body being blanketed by the darkness. I knew it had worked when the giants face turned confused. I got up and ran to the other side of the cafeteria. At that moment, Mr. Brunner and Nell came back into the room, "No!" Nell screamed. "Why does this always happen?" Nell wailed. The giants focus was now on them, it charged. Suddenly, Mr. Brunner leaped out of his chair. Within seconds he was a full grown centaur with solid white fur. He had a bow notched with an arrow, and before the giant could react, the arrow had penetrated its skull. The giant stood shocked for a moment and then exploded into golden dust. I stood shell shocked in the corner of the room. Nell burst into tears. "I've failed!" Nell fell to his knees. I stepped forward willing the shadows to slide off of me. Nell shrieked and ran towards me at top speed. He wrapped his arms around me and hugged me like there was no tomorrow. Then Mr. Brunner walked up to me. I still was having a hard time processing the fact than he was a centaur. "How did you do that?" Mr. Brunner asked. I shrugged, I really didn't know. I felt drained, the only thing I could think about was the accident. I don't know why but I couldn't get it out of my head. I fell to my knees. In my head, my brother was screaming and I couldn't help him. I was blacked out before I hit the ground.

I woke up in the hospital. My mother, step dad, and step siblings, were standing over me. "I can't believe he had the nerve to show up. I don't care if it's his daughter, he didn't even come to the funeral" I tried to close my eyes and pretend I was sleeping but Tyler saw me. "She's up" he said. "Charlie" my mom said leaning over me. "What happened?" I closed my eyes. My dreams had been terrible. I wanted to be as far away from any living thing as possible. "Of course you don't say anything" she said. I knew that tone. She was mad at me, furious, even. I looked around for Nell. He wasn't in the room. What had my mom been saying? My dad had been here? I wanted to close my mouth forever. Never utter a single syllable for the rest of my life. I wanted to be in darkness but there were to many lights. I shut my eyes tight again.

"What do you want?" my mothers sharp tone ripped me from my rest. I opened my eyes and saw my dad, my real dad, standing in the doorway. I had only seen him 3 times before, he still looked the same. "I want to see my daughter" he said. His voice was smooth and deep. "You already saw her" my mother snapped. "She wasn't awake then" he argued. My mom turned and saw me wide awake staring at my dad. "I would like a word alone with her" he said. "You won't take her" she said. What was she talking about? "No, I swear upon the river Styx I will not take her tonight" he said. My mom lead Darrin and the others out of the room. My father approached me and sat on the bed beside me. "I understand you don't like talking much these days" he said, I nodded. "Why?" he asked. I wanted to speak to him but my mind held me back. Only then did I realize he was speaking to me in Greek. I wanted to tell him why I wouldn't talk. I wanted to tell him everything, but he seemed to already know. He nodded, "I understand how hard this is for you, and how confused you must be. Just know there is always somewhere safe." he said. With that, he got up of the bed and headed towards the door. "Oh, I almost forgot" he said. He walked back towards me and placed a music box on my lap. "He sends his love" he said, "And I love you too. Happy birthday my dear.".

I sat there staring at the box after dad had gone. My father, Henry Olympus, a weird name if ever there was one. My mom and the others came back into the room but didn't say a word. I sat with the box on my lap, I knew who had really given it to me, Collin, my brother.

My mom stared at the box like it was a disease and every one else pretended there was nothing there. The wood of the box was cherry maple and it had small glass plates that covered most of the wood on the outside. I studied the box and noticed there was a bluebird drawn on the lid. I slowly opened the box and a sweet gentle melody filled the room. On the inside a little bluebird spun around on a spring. I watched the bird spin and spin until the song ended. When it ended a little drawer I hadn't noticed before, sprung open. It was on the outside front of the box. Inside the petite drawer was a beautiful silver locket and a letter written on sky blue paper. I pulled out the locket first and tried to open it, it was locked. Next I grabbed the letter, I wasn't expecting what I found.

Dear Bluebird,

We're finaly 15! I thought it would never happen. We don't get to talk alot with the steppers around so I planned a little somthing for tonight. You probably noticed the locket is locked, I've got the key, you can ask me for it later. I know this is going to sound weird but, I feel strange. Almost like somthing is about to happen. Dad wishes he could be here for your birthday but his job calls him away. I love you Bluebird.

Love,

Collie.

I wanted to cry and scream at the same time. "Collin went out with your dad a week before the accident. They bought that box and hid it some where in the attic. I thought it was still there." my mother didn't even look remotely sad. I had been in the hospital for a full day if today was my birthday. I missed the last day of school, I wanted to see Nell and I wanted to see him now. I grabbed my mothers hand and wrote on it with my finger 'Nell'. "He's here, he has been waiting in the lobby for a while" I pointed at the door then at me. "You want to see him?" my mom guessed. I nodded violently. In a few minutes Nell was standing in the door, his eyes were red and puffy from crying and his cloths were wrinkled. Instead of addressing me he turned to my mom. "I have to get her to the camp, she won't be safe until she's there" his voice was scratchy but steady. I had no clue what they were talking about. "I agree, as much as I hate it, I agree. I've got her bag here" My mom said, picking up my backpack. It was full, of what I didn't know. Nell then turned to me "There's a camp on long island where people like you are safe. They can learn and train and be, themselves" I must have looked confused because Nell spoke again "I know you know about the Greek gods, and I know you know that they are still alive today." I nodded to tell him I was still with him. "Your right. The gods move with western civilization right now Mount Olympus is above the Empire state building and the Underworld is in LA, got it?" I nodded. He was right, I knew it. "Your dad, he's one of the Greek or Roman gods, we don't know which one yet though" I was struggling to process this. I was a demigod? I looked at my mom. "He's right my dear" she said. "I fell for a god". "I don't know which one though" a tear slipped down her face. "I thought he was here to take you away to Olympus" she cried. "Wait" Nell said "Her dad was here?" his face was priceless, I nodded. "Well, has he ever visited before?" Nell asked. "Lots of times" my mom replied. "I'm sorry ma'am, but I can smell monsters closing in. We need to go" My mom nodded and then leaned over and gave me a big hug. I sat up and got out of bed. I dressed quickly and put on my shoes. I joined Nell in the lobby and looked at the clock on the wall, 3:56 P.M.

Outside, the sky was cloudy and gray. Nell pulled his jacket tighter around him but I felt fine. He must have been sensitive to the cold. We walked to the side of the road and hailed a taxi. We got in and Nell gave the man an address. On the way Nell was silent. "Why don't you talk?" Nell asked suddenly. I gave him a look that said, 'Really?'. Nell sighed and turned to look back out the window.

About an hour later we were on long island. "Here is good" Nell said. The cabby pulled over and said "Are you sure?". "Yes, thank you" Nell said. He handed the cabby a wad of cash and got out. I followed him closely. After the cabby pulled away, Nell began climbing the hill in front of us. At the top of the hill sat a huge pine tree with a gold blanket on it and a big greenish blue thing wrapped around the trunk. We were almost there when my calf exploded in pain and I was ripped back down the slope. I hit the ground, hard, and felt pain shoot through my spine. I was trying to get up when suddenly I was in the air again. I finally saw what was lifting me. I then realized that it wasn't lifting me with hands. A huge dog had it's teeth sunken into my right leg and was lifting me by it. The dog whipped it's head and I went flying back. My head smacked against a tree and I blacked out. The last thing I saw was a familiar looking centaur charging the dog.