Princess of Ghosts

Beware the Deadly Hairclips

I suppose it all started when I jumped out of the second floor window to escape the Empousa that was trying to kill me. Or it could be the time when I had a mean giant decide to follow me home from school. Either one or the other, I can't decide.

Okay this is a warning to everybody. If you think that this book in fictitious and a great story, then go ahead read on. But if you don't know who your parents are or if you've never met one of them, if you've been treated differently all your life; diagnosed with ADHD and Dyslexia? If you can relate to this, STOP READING. I'm serious. You could read this and realise who you really are. And then they will start to come for you. If there is any chance that you can lead a normal life, than take it and don't look back. Please, don't get involved.

My name is Amelia Sheridan, I'm 17 years old. I was born and raised in New York and I'm a half-blood. (I'll get round to explaining that last part, I promise). I have long flame red hair and deep green eyes.
I live with my mother, Elizabeth. She is the best person I have ever known. My best friend and my mentor, she has been with me through everything. And when I say everything, I mean everything. Our lives have been difficult from the moment I was old enough to go to school.
Each school I've been to, I've been kicked out of. I never seem to last the school year. Things always seem to go wrong and none of it is ever really my fault… kind of. A few years ago, I burned down the school gymnasium after a telekine, a sea serpent dog like creature, decided that I would make a good afternoon snack.

A few years before that, I flooded the Principles office because a Sphinx thought it was a good idea to play answer the question correctly or die a horrible painful death.

Today was my last day at school before the summer; I really thought I'd made it. I really thought I would be able to finish out the year and be invited to go back as a senior. How wrong I was.
I'd just finished my last exam of the year and was hanging out with my friend Grover in the library (I know; real hard core, aren't we?) Grover looked so relieved, like he didn't think either of us would make it.
"Grover?" I asked him. He took a while to respond.
"Yeah, Amelia?" He replied.
"What's up with you?" I quizzed
"What? Nothing, nothing" He said nervously, twitching his foot. Grover had a walking disability, wherever he went he had to use crutches and he was excused from Gym for the rest of his life. But you'd never think that there was anything wrong with his legs the way he used to run for the cafeteria on Enchilada day.

"No… Something is up with you. I can tell." I insisted. He deliberated for a second, opened his mouth to say something, then shook his head and stopped. I didn't push him, he was so nervous about my quizzing him that I was afraid that he'd start eating the book he was reading, as weird as that sounded.

In my pocket, my phone vibrated, a text. I took it out and read it. It was from my Mom. She wanted to talk to me about something important; it included the F word… My Father.
As I took out my phone, Grover went nuts.
"What are you doing? You can't have a phone… In here. You can't have a phone in here." He was wide eyed with fear.
"What, Grover what are you talking about? It's just a cell phone." We were all the way at the back of the Library, behind a load of book shelves. There was no way anyone was going to catch me with a cell phone. Besides, they weren't even prohibited.
"A cell phone is like death to your kind." Your kind? What the hell? "It's like a signal." He continued to rant. "They can sense it, like radar. And they'll find you." Then he gasped and threw his hand over his mouth, like he just revealed too much.
"What will find me? Come on Grover, what will find me?"
"Nothing." Grover squeaked. It's probably time I explained.

"Grover… I've been running all of my life. I think you can tell me." I told him.

"Did you know that I've been expelled from every school I've been to? Did you know that over the years, I have put my Mom through hell?" I could tell from the expression on his face that he did know. But still, he was silent.
"Oh and how's this?" I began again, Grover was really listening now. "When I was in trouble, and I mean in real trouble; this massive dog," I thought Grover's eyes were going to pop out and land on his book at this point. "Came out of nowhere and stopped this huge wild boar from hurting me. And you know the really strange thing? The boar was made out of metal."
"Wait a minute… The hound, I mean dog saved you?" He said it like he couldn't comprehend such a notion, and like the wild metal boar was something he encountered on a day to day basis.
"Yeah. It saved me… So you can tell me anything. I can take it." But suddenly the bell rang, the end of the day.

We got up, put our coats on and started to gather up our books. We were headed towards the exit when Grover froze and grabbed my arm. I turned to look at him… I had never seen him this scared.
"Grover, what is it? What's wrong?" I asked him, my voice shaking a little. When we heard the screams, then I understood.
"We need to find a different way out." Grover said, tightening his grip on my arm.
"Grover, what is that?" Over by the door was a woman, but not an ordinary woman. She was dragon like. I'm serious, there was no other way to describe her… she was half dragon. What scared me the most about her, was that in someway, I knew she was waiting for us. Her reptilian eyes were fixed on me, glaring, never moving. It was as if she was hoping her stare would be able to kill me.
"It's a Dracaenae." Grover said as he started to drag me the other way.
"What, you've got to be kidding me!" We backed away quickly, heading for the other exit. "You're trying to tell me that that is a creature of Greek Myth. Oh Gods." The plural came out of nowhere, but that wasn't what I was worried about. The Dracaenae was starting to follow us. For someone who had the lower half of a dragon for legs, she was moving pretty fast.
"Yes and keep moving." Grover said, while he shook his arms out of his crutches and took them into his left hand.
"What… don't you need those?" I asked confused, as if that was more important than the monster that was gaining on us.
"No, Amy. They're just for show. Now come on." He said. "Hurry up she's gaining on us."
"How can that be a Dracaenae? It's supposed to be a myth!" I asked.

"Just because it's a myth, it doesn't mean it's not real." Grover explained. We had come to the other exit now and were pushing and pushing, but it would not budge. Suddenly there was a hissing noise behind us.
"How lovely. A Demigod and a Sssatyr, you two are going to make a wonderful dinner." A Satyr? Demigod? What? "Now why don't you ssssave me the trouble and ssssurrender." the Dracaenae said.

"Now it all makes sense." I realised. "Why weird things keep happening. Why monsters keep attacking me…. Why the hell would a hellhound protect me?"

"If you survive long enough to get to camp, I'm sure Chiron will explain." Grover said, impatiently. Chiron? I need to sit down now. But I couldn't, not with the Dracaenae waiting for an answer to her request. I looked into her eyes.
"Not a chance." I said, trying to keep the fear out of my voice.
"Ssssuch a pity, but It ssseems I shall have to catch you. At leassst I'll work up my appetite." The Dracaenae said as she sauntered forward to eat us. I looked at Grover, I could see he was trying to think of something, anything to get us out of the mess that we were in.

"Of course!" He shouted, making me jump. "Your hair clips."

"What about my hair clips?" I said, exasperated. Why was he talking about my hair accessories when a woman with dragon feet was seconds away from killing us.

"Use them!" He told me. "Press the flowers."
"You are not making any sense right now, Grover. They're just hair clips!" I said. How were my hair clips going to help us?
"Strýchnos" I heard him say. I immediately understood that he was speaking in Greek. I knew what he said as well, somehow my brain had translated it into English. He said 'Nightshade'. "They're weapons, Amy."
"What!" I exclaimed.

"They were given to you by you Father, right?" He explained quickly.

"Yes, and?"
"Take them out of your hair and press the flowers, quickly!" He ordered. I pulled them out of my hair, letting my red curls drop down my shoulders and back. This is ridiculous, I thought as I pressed the flowers on each clip. Suddenly they began to transform into the most deadly blades you have ever seen. They were martial arts weapons. The blades were thin, sharp and made of what looked like iron. The handle had side guards that looked like prongs. I instantly knew what to do with them. They felt right, like they were made for me and only me. They were perfectly balanced and I knew that anything I attacked would fall to their power.

Suddenly, this whole other person took me over. It was me, but it wasn't me. This was the side of me that I had inherited from my Father. Once the Dracaenae saw the new look in my eyes, the look of courage and power; she hesitated. She then focused on Nightshade, a strange look came into her eyes. But I couldn't name it.

"Hey, you know that saying 'Somewhere out there, there is a bullet with your name on it'? Well guess what?" I asked, my courage and will to survive pulling me forwards, getting to closer and closer to the now frozen Dracaenae. She said nothing. "No? Well, Nightshade here has your name on it. Can you see it?" I could suddenly name the look in her eyes. It was fear. "Maybe you need a closer look." And with that, I took Nightshade, grabbed hold of her shoulder and plunged the blade into the monsters stomach. I pulled the blade back out.
The Dracaenae looked down to her war wound with mournful eyes. Slowly, she began to disintegrate. She looked at me with one ounce of determination left.
"I kóri tou thanátou" She said with her last breathe. She was then ash in the wind, there was nothing left of the woman who had wanted to make us her dinner.
"Daughter of Death" I repeated. "Why did she call me that?"
"I don't know." Grover said. "We should get to camp."
"I need to go home." I said in a whisper. "I need to see my Mom."
"Okay, but we've got to be quick." Grover allowed. He knew how much my Mom meant to me.
There was a scuffling and a load of shouting ahead of us now. It was the school Principle. I was no doubt about to get expelled.
"Grover, come on. We better leave. I don't think we're going to be invited back for Senior year." I said. Grover, too was looking at the oncoming storm of expulsion and agreed with me. He took his crutch and smashed the glass in the door.
"Shall we?"
"You just... Never mind. Let's go." I said and climbed through the broken window in the door, Grover following me.

We were in a taxi driving back to my apartment complex when the questions hit me. That was a creature of Greek Myth, and I just killed it. My hair clips are deadly Sai blades. The Dracaenae called me 'Daughter of Death'. Grover doesn't really need his crutches. As soon as I've talked to my Mom, I'm going to some sort of camp where there's a person called Chiron. It was like a waterfall inside my head that was about to overflow if I didn't let it all out.
"Okay, tell me everything." I said. Grover looked at me. "Do you know who my Father is? Why did he give me hair clips that turn into blades? How do my hair clips do that? What is with all these Greek creatures being real? What is this Camp you're going to take me to? And who is Chiron, because it can't be the Chiron from the myths can it? Why don't you need your crutches? And what the hell is going on?"
"Whoa, Amelia. Take a breath." Grover told me. "I don't know who your Father is. We'll find out at when he claims you as his daughter. He gave you your hair clips so you can protect yourself, okay, they're magic." He started to explain.
"Magic?"
"Yeah, my friend Percy; well he has a Pen that turns into a sword." Grover told me. I just nodded.
"Go on." I encouraged.
"The Mythical creatures have always been real. Most people just don't notice them." He told me. "The Camp I'm taking you to is called 'Camp Half-blood', It's where Demigods go to train." He paused, letting that sink in. I nodded to tell him that I was okay. "And Chiron is the real Chiron. He's the activities director." Okay, he has to be joking now, that's impossible. "I don't need my crutches because of this."
He reached down to pull his trouser leg up. Where you'd expect to see skin… well it wasn't skin. It was fur, like a barnyard animal. I bet if he took off his shoes, in the place of his feet would be hooves.
"Whoa! You're half donkey?" I said, surprised.
"I'm half Goat! And a Lord of the Wild!" He bleated. "Why do people always think of donkeys first?"
"So you're a Satyr, like the Dracaenae said."
"Exactly, by the way, you handled that really well for a first timer." He told me.
"Well, that wasn't really my first time." He looked at me. "If all of this is true, I've faced an Empousa, a Telekine and a Sphinx."
"Impressive." He complimented me.
"Thanks. So come on, what's going on?"
"You're a Demigod. Knowing my luck, probably one of the big three." He said, outright.
"Zeus, Poseidon, Hades." I said. Grover nodded. "What do you mean your luck?"
"Every Demigod that I have found, using my Searcher's License; has been a child of the big three. Thalia, Daughter of Zeus. Percy, Son of Poseidon. Nico, son of Hades." He admitted. "Just don't ask me which one is your dad, cause I have no idea."
"How did you find me?" I asked.
"Your scent, you smell powerful. God like. Being a Satyr, I have a really good nose." He told me.

We arrived at my Mom's shortly after that conversation. I paid the driver and I could tell from his expression that he'd heard mine and Grover's conversation. I said nothing as I handed over the fare. He also said nothing as he accepted the money, gave me my change and drove off.
As we approached the front door, the doorman held it open.
"Welcome back, Miss Sheridan. Had a good day?" He asked.
"Hi Frank, I wish I could say that I did." I paused. It dawned on him that it had happened again.
"Again?" I nodded. "Don't worry, you'll make it." Frank said.
"Thanks. My Mom in?"
"Yes, she arrived about 90 minutes ago."
"Okay, thank you." We walked into the lobby and over to the elevator. Grover pressed the lift button then turned to me.
"Your doorman seems to be really understanding." He noted.
"Yeah, he's been here ever since my Mom and I moved in. He's always taken care of us. I don't know why. I think he's made it his duty to protect us or something."
"Well, he smells okay. No monster there." Grover said as the door pinged open. We got in and I pressed 5. There were only 6 floors in this building and me and my Mom lived on the fifth floor in apartment 53.
We were silent in the elevator. I just watched the numbers on the electronic screen slowly rise. After all that had happened today, all I wanted to do was go to my Mom and have her say that everything was going to be okay. Finally after what seemed like ages, the elevator doors opened to my floor. Being ADHD, everything seems like forever to me, but this was saying something.
"Does my Mom know that my Dad is a God?" I asked Grover, as we walked to my front door.
"Maybe, it all depends if he told her his true identity or not."
"Well then, let's find out." I put my key in the lock, turned it and the both of us walked inside. "Mom?" I called out.
"I'm in the kitchen, Amy." I heard her reply.
Grover and I walked the little way into the kitchen, to where my Mom stood making 3 mugs of coffee. My Mom is beautiful. She has red hair and green eyes like me, but she suits the look better. Even though I've never met him, I can tell I look more like my Dad.
"Hey sweetie. Hello Grover, nice to see you again." My Mom smiled.
"Hello Ms Sheridan. Thank you for having me." I think Grover had a soft spot for my Mom.
"Not at all. Happy to have you." She turned to me. "Come on, tell me what happened." I really must look bad. Grover and I told her all that happened in the library with Dracaenae. My Mom didn't look as surprised as she should. It was almost like she was expecting something like this to happen everyday. And in a weird way, I suppose it had. When we finished talking, I took my hairclips from my pocket and placed them on the table.
"Did you know? Do you know?" I asked. My Mom seemed to understand what I was asking of her.
"I've known ever since I met your Father." She told us. "And he told me who he was." My eyes lit up at that point, maybe she would tell me. But she saw that light and shook her head. "I can't tell you who he is, Amelia. I promised him I wouldn't."
"But that's unfair. I have a right to know who my father is." I almost whined.
"And you'll find out very soon."
"Your Mom is right." Grover chimed in. "Your father has to claim you at the campfire tonight." He was hinting that it was time for us to go. My Mom nodded, agreeing with him. I couldn't believe this. Why was everything so convoluted? Wasn't it my life? Don't I have rights? Don't I deserve an explanation? An not from my Mom, or Grover. But from my Dad, my Dad who wants to protect me, who gave me the most amazing hairclips, but won't tell me who he is until I go to this Camp Half-Blood. Why couldn't it all be easy? I sighed.
"Finish your coffee, Pack a few things for camp, then I'll drive you both to Long Island." My Mom instructed.
"This camp is in Long Island?"
"Yep, along the Sound." Grover confirmed. I sighed again and stood.
I walked into my room and found a bag in my clothes closet. I grabbed a few things and packed them, I added some toiletries to the pile, my hairbrush, my purse and even though I now understood what Grover had been on about back in the library, I packed my phone as well. I needed that little part of my life that felt normal. I zipped up my bag and heaved it onto my shoulder. I took one last look around at my lonely bedroom, flicked off the light switch, left and closed the door behind me. Now everything was going to change.