"Are you sure you know where you're going?" Elena asked for the millionth time. I didn't answer, I just shushed her and tightened my grip on the leather steering wheel. Of course I knew where I was going, it was a long time ago, but I had been there before. I recognized the path through the trees and past the strawberry farm. I had the faintest memory of sunlight and buildings and people. There were a lot of things that had happened that I couldn't remember.

It was getting dark, and I swore under my breath when rain started to pour down on top of the car, but continued to speed up. We were going much too fast, but the feeling of disgust kept building up in my stomach, and I felt scared. I didn't know if I was just paranoid or if something was really chasing us, but I wasn't going to risk it. I didn't need any more monsters hurting us.

Something bright flashed in front of the car, causing the metal to bend and a shock to go through it. The car flipped, the controls flashing and the horn going off. The damage was like running into a tree, but we ended up rolling over, off of the path of the road and down the side of the hill we were on.

We had our seatbelts on, but my head still banged on the side of the window. It was already cracked, but it hurt more than I would have liked it to. My hands flew out, trying to grasp at Elena. There was no point in holding onto the wheel anymore.

It wasn't the third role that got me, it was the airbag that was delayed. It caused something like whiplash, my head banging into the head of the chair. Perhaps leaving the hospital was a bad move, I hoped it was worth it.

Everything slowed down after that last hit. Things were flying everywhere, my drink from the last time I used my car flying through the air, liquid trailing behind. Elena's eyes were wide, staring ahead and her hair was splaying everywhere, as if in space. Mine did the same, but when we crashed top-down again, everything sped up again and things were black, like before a dream started yet you're still asleep.

The most peculiar thing, however, was the dream that came after the crash. I was on the ground, which was black and dirty and cold as ice. The air around me was cold as well, and dark, like my eyes were closed. There was a faint light in the distance, so I stood up shakily, making my way towards it. My Converse made slight noises against the ground, the sound of it echoing off of the walls. My arms wrapped around myself, but I wasn't shivering.

Once I got to the light, I seemed even more lost than before. The area surrounding me was slightly brighter, and I could see the faintest trace of something, but that was it. There were whispers all around me, and tall grass tickled my knees through my jeans.

Something gripped my arm and pulled me through the grass and onto a path, but when I turned to see what it was, there was nothing there. I stumbled a bit, but continued on the way it wanted me to go. Up above, high above, black spikes hovered on the ceiling. I hurried along, not wanting to be impaled by one. It was frightening, but it was also quite interesting, but I didn't stay and explore.

Time was warped in my dream. I dozed off a bit, still walking, and although it seemed to be for only a few seconds, it must have been for much more, because I stood in front of two large doors. My eyebrows pulled together in confusion, and suddenly, they opened, a gush of even colder air hitting my face and the rest of me. My nose must have been rose red.

I stood there for a moment longer before I felt a thing push at me. Again, when I turned to look at it, there was nothing there, but there was no way it was a trick of the wind. My dreams were never that convenient.

My footsteps were even louder than they were in the dark cave. Suddenly, I was forced to my knees, kneeling by some dark, unknown force. They stung, but there would only be bruising. My palms shot out in front of me, but they didn't scrape against the floor like I thought they would. The floor here was smooth, clean, like marble.

"You're not as much of a disappointment as I thought you were," I heard a low, manly voice lazily say, "but there is still room for much improvement." The tone was patronizing, but also as if I were being analyzed, being tested, and like a note for himself. Louder, directed to me, he said, "You're lucky, you know. I'll spare you this time, but you need to watch yourself. You are far too clumsy for your own good, it will get you killed in the heat of battle, which is surely coming. You need to prepare yourself."

And then, with a sharp pain to my face, I wasn't kneeling on the cold floor anymore, but on the ground with a pair of dazzling blue eyes staring me right in the face. I realized it was a guy, and his hand was a few inches from my cheek.

"Did you slap me?" I asked, although my mind wasn't quite there when I said it.

"You weren't waking up," he replied, obviously relieved, rolling off of me. I could hear the sound of rushing footsteps, yells, and perhaps even the pounding of hooves against the dirt. Elena was on the ground beside me, "I'm sorry about your car."

"What about my car?" I slurred, letting my head loll to the side to get a good look at her. Her eyes narrowed.

"Why are your cheeks and nose so red?"

"I-"

"Chiron! Over here!" He called out, hesitantly looking back down at me, "Are you all right?"

I didn't answer. My eyes closed, and I wanted to sleep. I wanted things to stop being so insanely stupid, like out of some cheesy adventure novel or TV show. Things in my life were different, but not that different. At this rate I was going to be dead by the end of the week, and that most certainly wasn't a plan of mine.

There was blood sticking to my hair and I grimaced, but I managed to catch glimpse of my smoking black car, pieces of metal hot and scattered. Up above, lightning flashed and thunder roared, and I wondered very faintly if everything would even work out this time.

-xxx-

At least it wasn't a hospital this time around.

The sunlight was bright and orange as it reflected off of the walls, which seemed to be very decorated with ribbons and newspaper clippings and photos when there wasn't a shelf. On the shelves were medical supplies, bandages and needles and useful things, emergency things that had to be accessible.

I was incredibly sore but I kicked the bright red blanket off of me, feeling far too hot and far too enclosed, even in my own skin. It was scorching compared to the black cave from my dream. I noticed I was in jean shorts and a bright orange t-shirt, which was sort of hideous but I didn't mind it all too much.

I was in some sort of hammock made of bright white string and was surprisingly comfortable. My arm was still encased in my bright blue cast, but my torso had been bandaged as well as my head. I poked at my stomach, wincing slightly at the stinging pain. It was pretty bruised up, I was almost afraid of when I was going to have to unwrap it.

"She's up!" a male voice called out, and I looked around, catching sight of a tall boy walking through the doorway. He had blond hair and was fairly tan, though it looked natural, which I found odd, considering all of the rain and lack of sunshine we've had. He stepped forward, offering a hand which I hesitantly took. "Hi, I'm Eric, son of Apollo. You had a pretty nasty crash, but a few of my sisters and I fixed you up fairly well."

I wanted to ask several questions, but the first that arose to my lips was, "Are you the one that found us?"

He blinked, then shook his head, "Nah, that was my older brother Will. He's not here right now, he's at the cabin meeting."

I nodded, my mouth letting out a soft sound of acknowledgment. I didn't know who Will was, but I had plans to thank him whenever I was able to.

I flipped the hem of my orange shirt back and forth, fiddling with it as I looked down at my lap. My legs were crossed, my casted arm limp at my side. "Who changed me?"

"Oh, one of my sisters. The guys aren't allowed to do that unless it's absolutely necessary."

It was an awkward sort of silence after that. He stood there, unsure of what to say, and I sat not five feet from him, playing with my new clothes. The shirt was tight enough to where it didn't bother me, but I only wore really loose shirts to bed. I wondered if I had to wear it all the time.

I wondered a lot of things, actually.

My ears picked up the faintest sound of yelling, and arguing, but the noise was sort of echoed, as if it was underwater or I was hearing it through glass.

"-you have to let me see her-"

"I'm really sorry, but that's against the rules-"

"-I didn't break her out of the hospital just to be stopped from-"

"I really can't let you-"

"-let me see her, dammit!"

"I'm telling you, we really can't."

"Oh, let the lady through," I yelled over my shoulder. My voice may be soft when I spoke, but if I got screaming you could hear me from miles away. Eric's eyebrows furrowed in confusion, but I simply shrugged at him, shifting slightly in my cot.

There was a beat of silence, and then a smug laugh and the sound of footsteps on wood, a door creaking slightly as Elena walked through. Despite her smirk-ish smile, she looked quite angry, her eyes like a wild storm in a humid summer.

"Emilie…" she threatened when she saw me, her smirk turning into a chastising frown as she sat down beside me, "who do you think you are?"

"I'm sorry?" I asked, because that was the last thing I expected her to say, not that I really expected anything. I was still in a sort of daze, I wasn't reacting like I was supposed to, like panicking and asking questions, demanding where I was and what had happened.

"Who do you think you are?" she repeated.

"Emilie Aria Reynolds?"

"And, Emilie Aria Reynolds, what do you suppose I would do if you weren't to come back?"

"I- what are you even talking about?"

"You died, Emilie," she said lowly, leaning forward on the palms of her hands, gripping the white strings of the cot between her fingers. "We weren't sure we'd be able to get you back, but the head of the Apollo cabin was able to do it."

I stared at her for a long moment, my eye twitching as my mind sorted through her words. "Apollo…?" I asked slowly. I heard the words a few times already, but I had no idea what anyone was talking about. Was it some kind of code word? Where we somewhere sunny? Was I kidnapped?

"Oh, well… I can't explain that myself. You have to wait until you talk to Chiron." My eyes only narrowed further, my head inclining as if to say, 'The fuck are you talking about?'

Her expression cleared a bit, "I- you'll meet him soon. Just trust me when I say this, try not to freak out when you find out. Everything will be just fine, I promise."

There was a cough from behind us, and Elena looked up to see Eric. Her nose wrinkled in distaste, but she nodded to him, and he stepped forward, in front of me. His arms were crossed, and his expression was something of skepticism. "You died in the crash, we're sure you weren't just unconscious. Nobody's sure how you came back with just one person, but it was something godly. It seems to be that your parent really likes you."

I kept silent, because I had no idea what he meant by parent, but my mind went to the dark cave and the haunting, yet familiar, voice.

"We healed you, for the most part. There aren't any broken bones or scratches on your face anymore. We might not be able to stop a few of those from scarring, though," he said, pointing to my torso. I grimaced.

Elena jumped forward, grabbing Eric by his arm and steering him out of the medical cabin. "You're freaking her out," she muttered lowly, obviously not meant for me to hear. I frowned a bit more, but made no sign of me knowing.

"Take her things to the Hermes cabin, I'll bring her to Chiron. He'll make sure not to freak her out."

He muttered something in return as he walked out the door, but I turned away, tuning his low grumbling out as I picked at the cot's string. I just had to trust her, which was hard to do considering I had no knowledge of what was going on.

She walked over to me, sitting down next to me and twining her fingers together on her lap. "Things are going to sound really strange, but you just have to trust me when I say that it's all true."

"That what is all true?"

She only smiled at me, almost as if she were keeping some clever little secret, but also as if she didn't want me to know at all. There was a sadness in her eyes that I've never seen before nor could I quite place, but it was gone in an instant and she grabbed my arm, pulling me off of my cot and preventing me from seeing the look again.

"Ow, ow, Elena- ow," I muttered, rising to my feet and stumbling. "I just woke up, do we have to do this now? I feel icky-"

"-no you don't," she interrupted, "we gave you stuff for that. You feel fine."

I sighed, letting her pull me along, out of the medical area- thing and through another room. She let me slide into flip-flops before walking outside, onto a porch and around it to quite the pretty farmhouse. The Big House, something whispered in the back of my mind. Elena didn't show me around very much, but it all seemed very vague and familiar and I knew it was a camp before I even arrived. But it was an odd sort of camp, from what I barely saw, it was dangerous and there was no way sane parents would send their children anywhere near it.

Elena paused, pulling her fingers from my arm and murmured, "Wait here. I'll come and get you."

I gave her a nod, or rather a series of short bobs. I rocked on my heels as she quietly sneaked into the house through the wooden door that was unlocked, and although it seemed intimidating, the feel of the building and the camp itself was rather friendly. My hands were holding each other behind my back, and I was glancing around awkwardly.

It probably wasn't as long as I thought it was, but Elena came out a while later, a wide smile on her face as she peaked out of the slightly cracked door. Her eyes were bright and she quickly motioned for me to come inside. I jumped forward, the deck creaking under my feet as my fingers splaying across the side of the door and prying it open before it shut behind me.

The inside was much, much larger than it appeared to be from the outside, not that I got a good look in the first place. I didn't pay attention to the details as much as I wanted to because Elena was walking quickly and I didn't want to get lost, but I remember lots of white trim and pretty, sky-blue paint.

We walked through a few halls and then into a large room, a rec room by the looks of it. Several people, mostly teenagers, filled the room, as if it were some sort of meeting. However, they sat around a ping-pong table, some leaning on their elbows, others casually tilting their chairs back. It seemed to be a rather relaxed meeting, as though it were mandatory and they really didn't have much to talk about.

I suddenly felt cold, nerves clawing at me from the inside as I saw several gazes slide to Elena and me. "What's going on?" I whispered quietly to her. The low monotone that was rambling on before had ceased, and I gave a small wave, my fingers bending slightly as I tried not to act as though I had just woken up and was seriously confused.

I finally really looked at all of their faces, and surprisingly enough, they weren't all strangers. At the far and of the table was Mr. Brunner, sitting in his wheelchair at the end of the table. Sitting on his right was a guy, he was blonde, tan, and sat with his ankle on his knee, his arm wrapped around the beautiful brunette seated next to him. "Hi there, have a seat. You're new, aren't you? The other girl from the crash?"

My eyebrows shot up, and I turned back to Elena, who smiled and nodded, prodding at my back behind me as if to edge me along. I moved forward, nodding myself, grabbing a spare strawberry crate and perching myself on it. "Yes, that's me… does anyone know what happened to my car?"

There were several winces, a few grimaces, and a very sympathetic mood filling the air. The blonde's eyes flashed to another boy, who was around the same age with curly brown hair and a cheeky smile.

"It's pretty bad, completely totaled. I have no idea what you did to it, but you sure busted it up pretty good. Luckily for you, I'm better than the average mechanic. It'll take a while, but it should be even better than it was before." He leaned forward across the green game table, holding out a hand, "I'm Leo, by the way, some of Hephaestus."

I stared at it for a moment before hopping off of my crate, taking his calloused hand in mine and shaking it gently. "I'm Emilie, and thank you so much, that car is my baby."

"You've got taste."

"It was a gift, really. A birthday present."

"You must be rich."

At that I had to laugh. I shook my head, my hair spilling in front of my shoulders, "No, no. My aunt won it in a contest or something."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Elena's own eyes narrow, her posture stiffening and her fists clenching. I ignored her, acting oblivious. Turning to Mr. Brunner, I said, "Now, I'm either really blind, or there's something you aren't telling me."

There were a few chuckles, and Mr. Brunner smiled at me, his eyes crinkling as he did. "There may be a thing or two I've been keeping, but you won't be in the dark much longer, Miss Reynolds. Elena, would you go bring Mr. D?"

I looked back at her just in time to see her eyes widen, her mouth gaping open. She was nervous, I realized, though I couldn't be sure why, I've never met the man, but it seems she has. "I'll go with you," said another boy, standing up.

"Thanks," I heard her mumble, their footsteps making quiet padding noises as they walked on the wooden floor. I stayed seated on my crate, even though it wasn't the most comfortable seat in the world. I didn't think anyone would appreciate it if I took his spot, especially after interrupting their meeting. But, I was fairly certain I was expected, though, because everyone let me barge in and seemed almost happy about it.

Perhaps they didn't get new people all that often.

I was shaken out of my thoughts by Mr. Brunner's booming voice, "Everyone can leave, now. Remember, clean your cabins, do your chores, and don't get into too much trouble."

Everyone stood up, filing out of the room rather orderly. They were all mostly around my age, some even a bit older. A cabin meeting, Eric had said earlier… they must be the people in charge. I sighed, just wanting my questions to be answered.

I looked at my clasped hands in my lap, my thick hair falling forward. My ankles were crossed, but my knees were spread apart slightly. I was almost curled in on myself, but I felt nerves flutter through me, joined with the slightest twinge of fear. I didn't know these people, I didn't know where I was, why all of this was happening, but I knew I had to stick through it. All I had was Elena's trust, she knew all of this and she wouldn't put me in any trouble. I would just have to wait.

It was a few more moments until the door was slammed open, and I jumped, nearly slipping off of the red crate. I readjusted myself as "Mr.D" walked in, Elena following closely behind him. I heard the door softly close.

Tucking my hair behind my ear and out of my face, I looked up, instantly catching a familiar dark purple gaze. My eyes widened in the slightest, my heart pumping faster at the surprise. It was the guy from the asylum, only this time he was wearing an obnoxious, tight leopard print shirt, like he was from New Jersey or something.

I didn't say anything, however, as I looked to Mr. Brunner. There was something in Mr. D's gaze that frightened me, and I knew better than anything that at that moment, I had to keep our previous encounter quiet.

Elena grabbed my arm gently, helping me to my feet and pulling me to one of the fold-up chairs the surrounded the table. She sat next to me, Mr. Brunner still on the end, and Mr. D across from me. I purposely didn't look at him.

There was a tense moment of silence, as if nobody was quite sure what to say. Mr. Brunner folded his hands together and leaned forward, examining me for a moment, before saying the words, "What do you know of Greek gods?"

I found the question unnerving, because it was then when I realized that I was in farther than I wanted to be, that maybe my mother wasn't as crazy as they said. It was either that, or everyone else was insane, but I could see it in their eyes that that wasn't the case.

"Um… things," I said slowly, my eyes darting to see each of them. "The things you taught me, for one… and the basics. You know, Zeus, Hades, Dionysus…" I shrugged, ignoring the rumbling of thunder overhead.

"Dionysus?" the man across from me asked, an odd expression passing over his face.

My own eyebrows furrowed in confusion. I wondered why they were so serious. "Yeah, Dionysus," I said a bit harshly. "A Greek god, the thing you asked me about." Shifting in my seat for what seemed like the third time, I looked to Mr. Brunner, who was staring at me with almost-narrowed eyes. I shrugged, keeping myself from rolling my eyes or getting up and leaving, but there was an unbending confusion in them, and I saw his own soften slightly.

Mr. D scowled, but said nothing as Mr. Brunner nodded. "Yes, yes, of course…" There was another awkward silence, and I felt exasperated, because they said that they were going to tell me everything, but it seemed as though they were planning on saying nothing.

"My mother told me that… Greek gods are real." I tried starting the conversation up again, watching each of them closely for a reaction. There was a wince from Elena, and she was who I decided to pick at. She seemed easier to break.

"Elena… is there something you aren't telling me?"

She looked away from me when she spoke, her black hair shining in the light. "It's… there are a lot of things I'm not telling you, but the first is about your mother."

I felt a whole new wave of surprise and nausea sweep through my stomach. "What about her?"

"She's dead."

I fell silent. Stiff in my seat, I slowly turned my gaze to Mr. Brunner, who was looking at me sadly, and I couldn't help but react. I never knew her, nor did I really… like her after a while, but she was still my mother and I absolutely adored her when I was a child, that much I remember. That amount of love is hard to get rid of, it was only dimmed by the state she was in and her absence.

"That's impossible, how did it happen?" I demanded. I was so confused and impatient and I needed to know what was going on, and nobody was telling me a thing. "Tell me."

"Your mother was in a much more fragile state than her handlers realized," said Mr. Brunner. "After you visited her, she tried to break out of her confinement. She nearly made it out the door, but security managed to grab her and tazer her. They didn't realize that it would stop her heart completely, it seemed she's had a past of being electrocuted and she couldn't recover from it this time."

"Will there be a funeral?"

"Yes."

"But I can't go."

"I'm afraid not."

I closed my eyes and counted to ten before I asked another question, "What about my aunt? You can't seriously think she won't let me go—"

"Your aunt is fully aware of the situation, we had a satyr give her the details of your whereabouts and condition."

I leaned back slightly, "What? No, never mind tell me right now, was she right?" I looked to Elena, "Are Greek gods and monsters and all of that nonsense real? Or was I right to ruin my last chance to talk to her?"

She caught my eye and I wouldn't let her look away, not with the amount of seriousness in my tone and expression. She opened her mouth to speak, but closed it again after a few seconds. It was easy to tell she wanted to say something long and articulate, but she only managed a meek, "Yes. Yes, they're real." I sighed.

"Okay," I said, nodding as I tried to make sense of it all, "okay. Greek stuff is real, that means the gods then, right? Cool, okay, great. What does this all have to do with me?" I knew exactly what it had to do with me at this point, I didn't want it to be true, but it had to be. I needed to hear them say it, just to confirm it all, so I could wrap my head around everything and try to accept it.

"You are the child of a god, Miss Reynolds," said Mr. Brunner. His tone was careful and cautious, watching me as if I were about to break. I only nodded, standing up and stretching again.

"I think I've heard enough for one day, Mr. Brunner—"

"-Chiron," he interrupted.

I gave him a blank look, "Well, Chiron, I've heard enough. Elena, could you… um…" I looked at her, silently asking her to help me out. I couldn't do all of this alone, and she's only been a little up to this point.

"C'mon," she said, down-casting her eyes and looping her arm around mine, pulling me along and out the door. The instant we were on the porch and out of the house, I felt instantly better. I felt less stuffy and less boxed in. The summer air felt good on my clammy skin, but the shadow of an apple tree Elena brought us to was even better. She and I sat on its giant roots, and one of the satyrs sneaked us two apples to munch on. He seemed almost frightened of us, although I was fairly certain it was her, but she told me they were like that with practically everyone.

Either way, I liked apples, they were crisp and fresh, and eating one soothed my stomach further. After a moment of chewing, Elena said, "It's not as bad as you think, you know."

"It's not normal."

"When is anything really normal?" She turned to me, her blue eyes in front of mine as she peered at me, one hand gripping my shoulder, though her fingers were gentle. "Listen to me. Everything will be fine. We'll find out who are godly parents are, train like everyone else, and go to school in the fall. It's a bit of a shock now, but it'll definitely wear off."

"What about my mom?"

Elena's dark eyebrows scrunched together, her gaze turning sad as she looked at me. "Chiron was right. You can't go, it's just… it's too dangerous out there for you right now. For the both of us, and until we can figure out why a Kindly One attacked us at the school…"

I didn't ask about the Fury, because I wasn't sure what it wanted, either. "How long does it… take to find out who our godly parent is?"

She moved back from me, removing her hands from my shoulders and leaning back on the mocha-brown bark of the tree. "To get claimed? We should have been claimed a few years ago, but we were never taken into camp. That's why Chiron came to our school, he thinks there may be something with us that isn't ordinary, especially in demigod standards. But for now, we just have to sit and wait."

I hummed as an answer, taking another bite of the red fruit in my hand. The breeze picked up again, the smell of strawberries and freshly mowed grass becoming prominent. The sun was bright, and a soft music filled my ears, the sound of pipes.

"Who's Mr. D?" I asked after a little while, side-glancing at Elena. It was more than a coincidence to be seeing him again.

I could tell that she was trying her hardest not to smile, but when she peeked at me, she broke out into a grin. "He's our camp director… and a god."

"A god?" I asked. "What's a god doing here?"

She quirked her lips, shrugging slightly, "He's grounded or something, a few years back he wanted a woman he couldn't have and his father grounded him for it. Apparently he's even grumpier now than he was before, one of the Aphrodite girls told me that his wife divorced him a little while ago."

"'Divorced'?" I echoed, "'Aphrodite girls?' Elena, I'm very, very new to all of this, please explain in English."

She rolled her eyes at me. It seemed that her mood improved as soon as we were outside, as well. "Demigods, once they're claimed, are sorted into cabins based on their parents. The Aphrodite Cabin, the Hecate Cabin, all sorts of different gods and goddesses. Unclaimed kids stay in the Hermes Cabin, which is where I'm at. You'll be joining us. We get beds because we're the oldest of the unclaimed kids, all of them are under thirteen. Something about some kid named Percy, I dunno. He's not here right now, he's off at some Roman camp or something, smoothing things over with some woman named Julia." I opened my mouth to interrupt, but she just held her hand up to stop me.

"Now, apparently he, Mr. D, was married to some mortal thousands of years ago, but I guess she just got tired of his cheating. Plus, she only gets to see him once or twice a year, I think, so she ended it."

"A mortal? How is she still alive?"

She shrugged again, "I think she was enchanted with immortality, but now that they're divorced, I think the enchantments wore off and she's just living a normal life. Nobody really knows, that's just the most popular rumor. But he's turned two kids into shrubs this month, and that's his good mood."

"Huh," I said quietly, setting the apple core down on the ground gently. One of the satyrs started playing his pipes a few feet from us, and the tree's roots swallowed the apple core like a venus-fly-trap would eat a fly. I shifted away from the roots, standing up and pulling Elena with me. I didn't want to be tree food.

She said she wanted to show me around, so we walked and talked. I would pause our conversation to point at something, ask about it, and she would try her best to answer. She was still new, too, and she didn't know the answers to everything. We both had a lot to learn.

"You never asked, you know."

"Asked what?"

"Which god he is."

I blinked at her, letting her go on, and she just grinned wider, "D is for Dionysus."

"Oh," I said slowly, nodding slightly. That made a surprising amount of sense. "But… the party god got grounded?"

She laughed, and though I was completely serious, I did too. We ended up swinging by the arena as we talked some more, getting antsy with just sitting down. The inside of the arena was impressive. At the bottom there were a few kids fighting with swords and shields. It seemed to be hard work, but they looked like they were enjoying themselves. "Maybe this place isn't too bad… it would explain a lot of the weird shit happening in our lives, eh?"

She nodded at me, sitting down in one of the seats to watch. I followed her motions, sitting next to her. We talked for a long while, leaving only when it was time for dinner. It was darkening slightly, the sky pretty shades of blue and purple, the sun still shining, but setting on the horizon.

We squeezed into the Hermes table, me nearly sitting in her lap. The food was delicious, and I didn't find the sacrificing of some of it all too strange. I gave mine to Hermes, thanking him for his generosity. I was beginning to adjust, muttering for Sprite to fill my glass when I was seated once more.

After dinner was a sing-along, but I wanted to wash my hands after dinner, so I told Elena to go on without me. Usually we would go together, but I saw that she was aching to get us good seats, so I didn't try to stop her.

The water was freezing, and I hated to think how the showers would be, but I would worry about it in the morning. I almost got lost on the way to the sing-along, but managed to find my way as one of the last few. I felt so safe at the camp, it was more than a small surprise when I was grabbed from behind, a hand covering my mouth, preventing me from screaming, not that I could. It all happened so quickly.

It was a man, I could tell that at least. I couldn't tell much about him other than that, because I was struggling and trying my hardest to breathe. It wasn't until we were a little ways into the dense forest did he release me. I was gasping for air, ready to scream or make a run for it or something when I heard him mutter, "Keep quiet!"

The bitter voice was very familiar, so I did as I was told, out of fear, but also out of shock. A bit of moonlight made its way through the trees and leaves, and if I squinted, I could see it shine just a bit off of dark curls and pale flesh. "Mr. D?" I whispered, my eyebrows pulling forward in confusion. "Why are you kidnapping me?"

He snorted, his hands dropping to his sides. I knew better to run, because running from a god was practically pointless and one of the stupidest things a person could do.

"I'm not kidnapping you," he muttered, "now listen. For the sake of everyone at this camp, especially you, you cannot tell anyone of where you first saw me, do you understand?"

"You mean the hospital?"

He let out an irritated sigh, "Yes, the hospital. What I was doing there was very important, and secretive. Nobody was supposed to find out."

"Why don't you just kill me then, if you're so worried?" I asked, then realized what I said, and quickly blurted, "I mean, I won't tell anyone, sir. I promise. But-I…"

"I'm not… allowed to murder campers, and it would seem suspicious to kill you for no reason."

"Didn't you turn a few kids into shrubs?"

He let out a sigh, rolling his eyes, "That was different. And I eventually turned them back.

I nodded, watching him and moving backwards, my movements hesitant. "Can I go now?" He waved his hand, dismissing me, and it was when he was out of sight that I started to run. He took us on some sort of path, but it was a good fifteen minutes before I managed to get to Elena. I was good with forests, they were very general, but I didn't know my way around the camp very well yet.

The sing-along was fun, when I finally showed up, Elena didn't ask what took me so long. I was sure it was because she thought I got lost, which was mostly the case. I never mentioned the thing with Mr. D, because as long as I left him alone, he would leave me alone, and that seemed like a good deal.