A/N- Just a warning, this story is pretty dark (That's why it's rated (T). So just a warning... This has been co-written by Rainy and Amy, so it should be interesting to see what comes of two different writing styles. Enjoy!

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Knock!

That was the noise at my window that woke me up at about 3:00 in the morning. I didn't much care. I mean, I hear noises all the time, but as long as I still have all of my limbs, sleep overpowers everything. That's why I decided to roll back over and shut my eyes, focusing on nothing but the fact that in less than a week, I'd be off at Camp Half-Blood. At least, that had been the plan.

Not 45 seconds later, though, I heard it again. Knock! It was louder, though, like someone was trying extra hard. Still, I squeezed my eyes shut and pulled up the comforter, not minding that it was a boiling hot early morning in June.

Then weird things started happening. It started with the window shattering, and ended with a person jumping into my bedroom. Okay, so maybe now I should consider getting up, eh? I didn't need to; someone dragged me out of bed.

"Oh, gods! WHAT THE FUDGE!!!!?"

"Rainy," whispered the voice. It wasn't exactly menacing or scary, just… urgent, like a person looking at Niagra Falls who really had to go to the bathroom.

I was on my feet now, trying to run. Where? Heck, I was probably heading back to my bed, but I never got there. All I got was a dart in the back of my neck, and I was down.

I woke up to sunlight. That wasn't much comfort, but at least it was there. I was in a cell, like behind bars, with a bolted closed and barred window and drinking fountain. I don't think I'd be drinking from that thing anytime soon, though.

Now I was on my feet, trembling, sweating, and close to tears, blocking out everything around me. I didn't want to take in my surroundings, I wanted out.

Someone walked by the bars that held me in. Who? More like what? It looked like a cross between a basilisk and a minotaur. I do not wanna know how that came to be.

"You freaked?" asked a voice from behind me.

Okay, so I was tired, and confused, and scared all at the same time, so I pretty much freaked out when I heard this kid talk to me. I jumped, like, three feet in the air.

"Who—?"

The boy held up one of his bony, caramel colored hands, and I looked at him with wide eyes. He had a dark complexion, and darker hair. It wasn't exactly black, but it wasn't brown either. It was more like a smoky gray. The stood up, not seeming to mind that his shoes were falling apart and his clothes were patched. "I'm Tom," he said, offering a hand.

"Rainy."

What else could I do? I shook it, and then let it drop. "Where are we?" I asked, looking around. "Why am I here?"

"That's two different questions. This place is called Lithium, which is a chemical that they used in the—"

"Yeah, yeah," I said, cutting him off. "I know that. I mean, I know what Lithium was used for, but what is this place?"

"Lithium's like…" He thought, trying to word this without freaking me out any more than necessary. "Have you learned about the Holocaust?"

"Dear Zeus, I don't like where this is going," I muttered.

Tom sighed. "Well, yeah, this place is like a concentration camp… for Half-Bloods."

"Holy crap!" I screamed, looking around. I didn't like what I saw. "You mean to tell me that they take Half-Bloods here and…?"

"Yah-huh," said Tom, nodding.

"I can't die! I haven't even graduated from 8th grade yet! I mean, that's gotta count for something!" I was crying, figuring that ding was really supposed to suck. "And—and—and—Sunshine wants me to come on her talkshow sometime soon. I can't die before I do that! I—I already got Amy a birthday present—and—and—Sarah was gonna teach me how to horseback ride!"

Tom seemed saddened by this, but didn't seem to have anything to say. I guess there was nothing he could say. "It'll be okay" would be a lie, and "We'll get out of this" would be a promise.

All I could do and all I did for the next few minutes was cry. I mean, granted I had some pretty bad things happen to me before, but this had to top it all off. I wasn't even exactly sure what the holocaust was. I knew about Anne Frank and Hitler, but never seemed to completely understand what a concentration camp was. Right now, that really didn't matter. All I was focused on now is getting out alive.

"You've gotta act strong when around them." Tom said, after a few minutes.

"What?" I said, drying my eyes with my pajama shirt. Tom leaned against the gray brick wall and sat on the cold dirt floor. I began to wonder how long he had been here.

"You heard me." He said. "They only keep the strong ones, the weak ones, well…" I didn't let him finish the sentence.

"Okay, I get it." I cut him off, pushing my messed up hair into a ponytail so that it stayed safely out of my face. "How…how long have you been here?" I finally managed to ask. Tom's dark eyes became interested in the dirt on the ground, or he was just deep in thought.

"Well, not long. Maybe a day or two, but long enough to learn my way around." He answered plainly. I nodded silently, suddenly noticing how horrible he looked. I was just now seeing the dark bags under his eyes, the tears in his clothing.

"Oh." Was all I had time to say, because at that moment, a figure appeared on the other side of the bars, apparently holding a clipboard of some kind. I kept my gaze away from it.

"I'm looking for Subject D874." It said in a deep, throaty voice. I could feel an icy gaze on me as I looked up hoping my eyes would portray a response to his call. Yes, his. I didn't think much of it then, but this guy was human. I later learned that the people around here were the lost half-bloods. Never claimed, or taught to believe the gods were evil. Who knows? This guy calling my name could be killing his own half-siblings.

"Your hand, look at your hand." Tom whispered. With a shaky breath, I stared at the palm of my right hand. Sure enough, in big black printed letters, it read, D874.

"That…that's me." I said between gasps. The person outside's face stayed the same. I noticed now that he had a black suit on, all black. His belt carried a rod like those long black ones police officers use, and a whip. I didn't want to know what they were used for. He also had on a pair of dark sunglasses that covered his eyes.

"Come with me." He said plainly, reaching into his belt for keys. My hands trembled violently as I started to get up, but my legs gave way and soon I was on the ground again. My muscles tensed, but I was sure to keep quiet out of fear. Tom got up and reached his hand out to me, his eyes filled with a mix of regret, sympathy, and fear. I let him help me up and lead me a few steps to the door. From the look on the man's face, he didn't seem to like this. Once I got to the door, he grabbed me roughly by the arms and thrust me in front of him. I heard the door slam shut before we started walking.

I was lead to a small gray building, about the size of a large gas station, only instead of gas pumps, they were shower stalls. I was lead through a dark gray door, and I could've sworn I saw a blood stain on the handle. The man holding me had a rough grip on my bare arm, squeezing them so tightly; I saw them turn white under the pressure. I winced in pain.

Inside the building, it looked more like a waiting room in Tartarus. The walls were the same gray as the outside of the building, so was the floor. Only the floor was covered in foot marks, tear stains, and other unidentifiable marks that I didn't want to think about. Before I could say anything, I was pretty much whipped on the ground. Since he flung me by my arms, I barely had time to catch myself. I landed on the concrete ground with great force. I tasted the blood in my mouth as a few tears escaped my eyes. Wiping them away, I looked up to see the man gone.

Well that was polite, I thought, sarcastically of course. Real considerate, eh? I tried making light of the situation, but the truth was the truth; we were all going to die. The more I thought about it, the more I wanted to go home, to Camp Halfblood. I wished more than anything for Sarah, Amy, or Sunshine to be here. I didn't want to go through this alone.

It didn't take me long to realize I wasn't the only one here. I felt movement in the room. "Hello?" I called out. I heard more shuffling from the corner.

"H-hello?" A squeaky, broken voice said from the corner. Once my eyes adjusted, I could see who it was.

She was a little girl, couldn't be more than seven or eight, with long black hair that was embedded with dust and sticks. I remembered her faintly from camp.

"Hey, I know you." I said quietly, not knowing if they were listening. "You're that girl who broke her leg during capture the flag a few months ago…what's your name again?"

The little girl hesitated, like she wasn't sure what to say. Then, she moved a little closer to me. "Havana. My name is Havana." I nodded. Havana, that's a unique name.

"Okay." I stopped at that when a man with a flashlight came in. Behind him, stood the mutant Minotaur I had seen earlier. He looked hungry, like he craved for food. This is it, I'm going to die. I thought, breaking into a cold sweat. The man, a different man from before, stepped in front of us.

"Stand up." He said. Without any help this time, I stood up and so did Havana. The Minotaur's eyes glared from me to Havana. I felt like a bug under a microscope, as if every part of me was being examined, overlooked, judged. I felt Havana shoot me a questioning look, but I didn't dare look at her. I had no idea what the two had in mind. Finally, after what seemed like minutes of silence, the man reached for me to lead me out the door I came into. This man led me out with a not-so-tight grip. I took one glance back to see Havana being whisked away by the Minotaur in the opposite direction.

"Where is he taking her?" I whispered just loud enough so that the man could hear. I felt a strong lash to my side. Fighting back tears, I soon realized what the whips were for.

"You weren't asked to speak." The man said in a deep, emotionless voice. I kept my head down towards my feet as we walked.

He led me to one of the shower stalls where I was hoping for a hot shower and a warm towel at the least. What I got was thirty seconds under a spout of ice-cold water, and a large rag that I could tell had been used more than once. After that, I was given a change of clothes, which consisted of a pair of light gray pants, a gray t-shirt, stained socks and matching, just-as-dull sneakers without laces, and a thin gray blanket, which I draped over my shoulders. Low-spirited, I was led back to the cellar I had been confined in earlier.

"How'd it go?" Tom asked once I arrived. I didn't answer him, so he kept asking questions. "Well, you made it out alive." This comment startled me, and my mind flashed back to Havana being taken by that monster.

"What do you mean?" I asked my voice still shaky. Tom bit his lip.

"They could've killed you."

"Oh, thanks for the newsflash." I said sarcastically, but his gaze was serious.

"Really, though." He said. "They took you to that room, right?" I nodded and he kept on. "When I said they killed the weak ones, I was serious."

With that, the hairs on my back stood up. Havana! What had they done to her? My questions were answered in the coming minutes when I saw a cart roll by.

"Don't look." Tom warned, but I looked anyways.

Tears stung my eyes at the sight. The cart was filled with dead bodies of kids from camp. The first body at the top was turned my blood to ice, and I shivered, whispering what the body had once been. "Havana!?"

Tom sighed and nodded, staying in his corner and hugging his knees, his eyes staying solid. "Stormy, don't—"

"It's Rainy!" I shouted, whipping around, and Tom pushed against the wall. I guess he didn't much want to be the center of my fury, but it was too late. I needed someone to get my anger out on, and, for now, my cellmate was the only one for that. "And do you realize we could've done something, anything, to help her!? She died because… because…"

"Because there's no mercy in this world?" offered Tom, standing up and coming to me.

I sniffed, and then sighed, my head pounding. "Yeah…" I agreed, wavering, half of me hoping Tom would catch me, and the other half wanting nothing to do with him.

Tom stepped back, his smoky hair shading his eyes, and her turned away. "Get some rest," he warned me, pulling himself onto his bunk.

"But…" I stole a glance out the barred window. "The sun's just starting to rise."

He shot me a glance with those piercing eyes, and then turned over, mumbling into his pillow, "Don't matter… In a camp like this you need all the rest you can get."

I sniffed, figuring that I shouldn't argue with the only one who seemed to be on my side, and crawled onto my own bunk, pulling up the papery sheet and shivering. Heck, I would've been warmer with a sheet of ice.

Odd enough, it didn't take long to get myself to sleep in a strange new place like this. I guess I longed for an escape and, at the moment, dreaming was the best I could do. In fact, within the next five minutes, I had already cried myself to sleep.