THE DEMI GAMES

Annabeth

My eyes snapped open; heart pumping, like I had just run five miles. Stupid nightmares. I've been having the same one for the past few days now, and I have absolutely no idea what it means. It's where some big, burly guy would chase me down, whip out his knife, and stab me mercilessly. Naturally, I wouldn't be able to get away, so I'd just punch and kick and scream.

Just the thought of the nightmare made me shudder.

It was so life-like and creepy, that I'd never be able to go back to sleep.

Groggily, I sat up and rubbed my bright gray eyes. I was in the Athena cabin sitting in my bunk with the sheets messed up, and my pink, Hello Kitty lamp (Don't Say. Anything.) knocked over.

Perfect.

I wonder how many people that woke up.

All of my siblings were sound asleep, all nestled in their bunks. They looked so peaceful that I was instantly jealous. Not one of them seemed to be having a nightmare. I guess it's just because I'm special. They're so lucky not to be me.

I knew I wouldn't be getting any more sleep today. I glanced at the clock: 6:34 A.M.

All of a sudden there was a cool breeze that seemed to go right through me.I was sure the breeze came from behind me.

What the heck? We don't have air conditioning here. I thought.

I whirled around, and as soon as I did, I immediately rolled my eyes. There was a window behind my dresser, and I guess somebody, I'm not naming any names here, *MALCOLM*, didn't do his job and make sure that they were closed.

Sighing, I hauled myself off of the bed, and over to the window. Just as I was about to shut it, I saw a figure walk out of the Hermes cabin and down in the direction of the beach. That could only be one person.

I quickly changed into some capri jeans, my orange Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, and a pair of old, black Converse.

I tip-toed over to my nightstand trying not to wake anyone up. The last thing I needed was someone asking me where I was going.

Pulling the drawer open, I searched for my bright red flashlight that I always keep just in case I have to whack somebody in the head. My hand finally found something round, hard and cold. I clasped the object in my hand. I had found the flashlight.

Time to move out.

I gripped the flashlight and began to tip-toe towards the door. I was a few feet away from it, when a soft snoring coming from my left caught my attention.

The snore was definitely a girl. No question about it.

I silently took a peek at the small body huddled beneath the covers, trying her best to keep herself warm. I could just barely see her face, but from the looks of it she had blond hair and a splash of freckles. I smiled.

My half-sister, Celia.

I can honestly say she is just about the sweetest thing I have ever met. She is probably the only 13-year-old girl I know, who refuses to watch television, use a cell phone, or the computer. Celia is a total nature freak. I'm surprised she wasn't a Demeter kid.

Smiling, I whispered, "Sweet dreams."

As quiet as a mouse, I slipped out the door and ran towards the beach at full speed. The Harpies were no where to be found, which was good in my case.

As soon as I reached the beach, I skidded to a halt. The figure was standing with his hands in his pocket, and his face was towards the shore. The cool wind was blowing through his hair, making things even more dramatic.

Slowly, I made my way towards him. My battle plan was to get 2 feet behind him and scare the living day lights out of him. But when I was about ten feet away, I heard him say, "Hey, Annabeth. Nice day, huh?"

I gaped at him. He had just ruined my beautiful plan. How dare he. "How'd ya know it was me, Luke?"

He turned to face me with a smile on his face. "You're the only person I know, who gets up at 6:30 in the morning."

I smiled at him. His bright blue eyes were kind, but hard. The white scar etched from the bottom of his eye down to his chin, made him look devious in the dark.

I took a deep breath. "I'm gifted."

He smiled those beautiful, pearly white teeth at me. "I know."

Together we sat down on the soft sand in silence.

Luke looked at me with an adoring smile, "You still have the knife I gave you?"

I nodded pulling the bronze knife out of its sheath. Luke had given it to me nine years ago, when I was only six yeas old. I've kept it ever sine, considering it was my only weapon at the time. But now I use it frequently. I've been thinking about naming it. I'm thinking Samantha...Eh, I'll come up with something later.

"I know you're good at slashing and stabbing and all," Luke started, "But are you good at throwing knives?"

"Not sure." I took one look at his expression. "Yes, Luke, I'm going to try."

Luke nodded.

I decided to take aim for a tree. They were easy and very convenient. I wrenched my hand back behind my head, then fast as a viper threw it as hard, and as far as I could. The knife hit the tree, but it didn't stick. Instead, it fell off after about two seconds.

Luke grinned, "Beginner's luck."

I smiled, and jogged over to the poor tree that I had hit. As soon as I bent down to pick up my knife, a dryad melted out of the tree. and began to yell at me. After I finally calmed the dryad down, and she melted back into her tree, I walked back to Luke and plopped back down into the sand.

"Hey, Annabeth?" Luke asked. He gazed out towards the ocean, wistfully watching the waves roll in and out. I resisted the urge to cup his face. "Yeah?"

"Do you ever think-" He stopped himself, by taking a deep breath. "Do you ever wonder what would happen if we ran away from here?"

My eyes widened, "What? Run away from camp? Luke that's-"

"Crazy?" He finished for me. "Yeah, I know. But we could do it."

I snorted, "Are you kidding me? We wouldn't make it three miles. They'd totally catch us. Plus it'd be suicide."

There was a small silence. Normally people have awkward silences, but Luke and I never have those kinds of silences. No matter what it's always a peaceful one.

Luke leaned back on his elbows and muttered, "Today's the day."

MY eyes widened. Day? What day? Did I miss some kind of head counselor meeting or something? IS IT SOMEONE'S BIRTHDAY?

I frowned, trying to comprehend what Luke was talking about. "It's not your birthday is it?"

Just the thought of me forgetting his birthday made me panic. Luke was one of my best friends HOW COULD I FORGET IT? It's his birthday! I didn't even get him a present! Maybe later today I can get him a mug with his name on it or something.

For about ten seconds I actually thought I forgot his birthday.

But to my relief, he laughed.

"No, it's not my birthday." Luke looked troubled, as if remembering something horrible from the past, "You know what? Why don't we forget I mentioned it, okay?"

"Okay." I said. I was still a little suspicious, though. I mean, Luke never hides things from me. Well, there was that one time...Okay the point is he almost never keeps things from me.

Today's the day.

What does is that supposed to mean? Was it some sort of sandwich day? Puzzled, I spent the rest of my time with Luke running through all of the important dates in camp.

Capture the flag?

No, today's Tuesday.

A quest?

There's nothing happening.

GROUND HOG DAY?

Now I know that can't be it.

My thoughts were startled by a horn being blown in the distance. The horn was signaling breakfast. Luke and I had been sitting out here for thirty minutes. I can't believe I didn't even notice it getting lighter out.

Luke and I stood up, both of us brushing the sand off of our pants and hands.

I grinned at him. "I guess I'll see you in a couple of hours."

As I turned to leave I felt someone grab my wrist. Tightly. I whirled around, and nearly head-bumped Luke. Yeah, he was standing that close to me, while holding my wrist.

"Luke what are you-?"

Luke cut me off by holding up is pointer finger. Then he whispered something barely audible:

"Stay strong, Annabeth."

We were sitting in the dining pavilion, and we had just finished our meals, when Chiron banged his hoof onto the floor.

Everyone went silent.

Chiron looked horrible. He had bags under his eyes, his brown hair was in a rat's nest, and his shirt, that read 'My other car is a centaur' on it was wrinkled.

I looked around and saw Thalia. She was sitting alone at the Zeus table, looking pretty concerned for Chiron.

Percy was next to her at the Poseidon table. Alone. He was finishing the rest of his bacon, but still trying to listen to Chiron at the same time. *Sigh* Seaweed Brain.

Chiron was fidgeting so much, he seemed to be forcing himself to talk, "Children. I am afraid to say it, but it seems it's that time of year again."

We all stared at each other. Nobody knew what he was talking about. I managed to catch Luke's eye. His expression was blank as he turned away from me.

Mr. D rolled his eyes, "Today's the day."

THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT LUKE TOLD ME! WHAT IS WITH THIS?

The camp was so quiet, you could hear the monsters grumbling and scuffling in the trees, and the harpies squawking in the distance.

Mr. D burst out laughing, "You mean you don't know?"

Silence.

"Today is the Reaping for the Demigod Games." Mr. D took another sip of his Coke and began to laugh some more. "Where have you been the last fifty years?"

More silence.

Mr. D sat there a second. "Oh."

Chiron put a hand on Mr. D's shoulder, "I'll explain the rest."

Mr. D nodded.

"Every fifty years, the gods hold some thing called The Demi Games. It's where two so-called 'tributes' are picked out of a bowl and fight to the death."

Dead silence.

Chiron looked at each one of us sadly, "There are 12 camps, and each camp takes two tributes, a male and female, to fight to the death, all to see which camp is doing a better job of training."

Travis raised his hand, "So the gods are gonna be watching?"

Chiron nodded, "We all are. Everything is filmed. The Reaping. The Opening Ceremonies. The Interviews. The actual Games...There will be a screen by the campfire, and we will watch it there. Oh, and yes, before you ask, you may volunteer for someone, but it is always very rare."

This time Clarisse raised her hand, "So we're gonna watch people die for the god's entertainment?"

The boy next to her, Mark I think, gave her a little shove, "Well, what do you expect? They've been alive for, like, ever. They probably get bored very easily."

The campers began muttering nervously to one another. Some even looked like they were arguing. Little Celia, who was sitting next to me at our table, looked terrified.

Chiron stomped his hoof again. "QUIET!"

Even more silence.

"I'm supposed to do the Reaping right after breakfast. Each of you must go to your cabins, change into jeans and your Camp Half-Blood T-shirt, then come to the pavilion, sit at your tables, and wait for further instructions. Understand?"

We nodded.

"Good." He pointed towards the cabins, "Now go."

As I was heading towards my cabin, I felt a small hand grip mine. "Annabeth?"

I turned to find Celia. She was keeping in step with me and she had a death grip on me. Celia was wearing her usual green shirt that read, 'World Peace' on the front and showed a picture of the earth on the back.

Celia's blond hair was tied in a ponytail and her big gray eyes were confused and frightened, "Are we really going to have to fight to the death?"

I stopped her and put both of my hands on her shoulders, "Celia, you're not going to get picked for this. Trust me. Your slip is one out of at least 70. They'll probably choose an Ares kid."

Her eyes filled with tears, "I don't wanna die."

"I know, I know." I whispered, placing a loose strand of her blond hair behind her ear, "But everything is gonna be alight."

She shook her head, "What if it isn't? What if you get picked? Or Malcolm? Or-or-"

Celia buried her mess of hair into my shirt and began to cry. I embraced her into a long hug, and cooed soothing things into her ear. I could feel her trembling. Celia only trembles when she is absolutely terrified. That little fact only made me feel worse. I couldn't believe the Olympians had the nerve to dot his kind of thing, send their kids off to go and die in some stupid arena. I was absolutely furious that my mother even thought to agree to this.

Finally, when the tears began to stop, I looked her straight in the eye and said, "Celia everything is going to be okay. Right now we have to get you changed. Okay?

Celia nodded, trying her best to wipe all of the tears out of her gray eyes. She seemed to believe me so much, I instantly felt guilty.

Giving her my best, "reassuring" smile, I held out my hand for her to take, "Come on."

Celia wiped away the remaining tears, as she let me lead her towards the Athena cabin. Before we entered, I whispered in her ear, so faintly she probably didn't even hear it, "Stay strong."

We quickly changed and I lead my cabin back out to the dining pavilion. The only thing I could see was a mass of orange. Even the Aphrodite kids were wearing them, though some didn't look happy. Every camper was wearing a bright orange T-shirt. Well, everyone except Drew. She had cut the poor T-Shirt's sleeves off, and cut the hem of it up to make it look more "fashionable."

Hovering ten feet above ground, was a small pudgy man carrying a big, black camera. He seemed to be testing it out or something. What was he doing here anyway?

Mr. D called up to him, "Will it film?"

The man gave a thumbs up.

Oh, I forgot. We're going to be filmed. Joyfulness...

It was a few minutes before Chiron finally showed up. He as well was wearing his Camp Half-Blood T-Shirt, but his behind was covered up by the wheelchair.

Mr. D sat in the corner, still drinking his Coke, and looking bored to death.

Chiron cleared his throat and tried to sound enthusiastic, "Hello, campers!"

There was a loud, enthusiastic, "HI!" from the Hermes table.

Chiron smiled kindly at in the direction of the voice, "Very nice. Now onto the Reapings."

He snapped his fingers. Slowly, the floor beneath Chiron began to rise, towering over all of us. When he finally stopped rising, Chiron was standing on a ten foot stage. All of a sudden, two glass orbs, the sizes of globes, appeared onto his left and his right.

Chiron acted like this was normal, "As usual, ladies first."

Chiron reached into the orb on his left and dug around for a long, and I mean long, time. The only thought that seemed to cross my mind during tat time was, Not me. Not me. Not me. Not me. Not Me. NOT ME!

When he finally choose a slip of paper, Chiron opened it up and read the name with a dramatic pause.

"Cecelia Greensted."

NOT HER. NOT HER. NOT HER. NOT HER. NOT HER. NOT HER!

My entire world seemed to be collapsing right under me. My head felt so dizzy I nearly toppled over off of my chair, like the world was spinning at super speed. Celia couldn't be the tribute! She just couldn't! Celia was barely strong enough to stab someone, and was too afraid of hurting the other person - even during sword training - but killing someone? Forget t.

All eyes turned to my half-sister as her eyes widened to the size of baseballs. She was trembling with every step she took towards that cursed stage.

That's when I came back to the real world, "Celia!"

She whirled around, relieved that someone was stopping her, "Yeah?"

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?" I yelled at her.

"Um..." She started, but Chiron cut her off. "YOUNG LADY! BACK IN YOUR PLACE!"

Instead of obeying Chiron, like I should've, I ran up to Celia shoved her behind me and screamed, "I volunteer!"

Mr. D did a giant spit take, spraying coke everywhere. Luke stared at me in horror, and Thalia's eyes were wide with shock. I honestly couldn't believe I was doing it myself, but I knew one thing, I was not letting Celia in that arena.

Chiron blinked a couple times before coming to his senses, "Well, um, come on up, young lady."

Oh, I see. Pretending not to know my name, huh? Thanks Chiron. Don't I feel appreciated.

I climbed the pitch-black stairs, and stood there staring at my fellow campers. The thought of never seeing their faces again almost made me burst into tears, but I knew crying would only make things worse, so I held my head up high and thought about happy things. Like unicorns.

Chiron handed me a microphone and asked, "Your name is...?"

I took a deep breath, "Annabeth. Annabeth Chase."

"Godly parent?"

I glanced at him nervously. I wasn't one to announce it like that, but he kept prompting me to, "Uh...Athena. Goddess of wisdom and battle strategy."

Chiron smiled, his eyes clearly saying, Good job.

He began to talk again, but I couldn't hear anything. I was too busy staring at the floor, and trying to get my emotions in control.

Don't cry, don't cry, don't cry. You can handle this, Annabeth you can. The Olympians are cruel. Don't cry, don't cry.

Chiron reached into the glass orb on the right side of him and pulled out another name.

This can't possibly get any worse. I thought to myself miserably.

"Perseus Jackson, son of Poseidon, correct?"

Me and my big mouth.

Okay so it's the first chapter. Tell me how I'm doing guys! Thanks!

Rain~*