Her claws, just barely missing my head, snap me back to reality. Percy has already drawn Riptide, and has started slashing at the empousai's head. Most of the students are backed up against the wall, hiding under desks, but some boys are staring down the monster as they fall under her spell. Judging by the looks on their faces, the Mist is not covering up much if anything. I assume the evil cheerleader is manipulating it to scare them senseless. I push my hand under my sleeve and grab the miniature version of my sword. At the flick of my wrist, the sword grows to full size. I prepare to charge, when she says, "Stop," to Percy and I.
Charmspeak, great. This is why I hate empousai. They have magical abilities that just get in the way. Percy and I, unprepared, are unable to resist the magical command. We drop our swords. "Freeze."
And we do. The cheerleader limps towards Percy and bares her fangs. "Son of Poseidon, I've heard much about you. I'm fresh out of Tartarus, you see, and I've waited a long time for your blood. My mother will be angry, but I don't care. Others desire you, and your Underworld friend over there, but I've gone great lengths to ensure you're all mine."
She opens her jaw wide, and I can see the fear in Percy's eyes. But then, a flash of dark hair zooms by, and the pale empousai sprawls to the ground. The girl who sat in the desk in front of me hit Hecate's creation over the head with a mythology textbook. This causes the charmspeak spell to break, and Percy and I begin to pick our swords back up.
"Reminds me of Rachel," Percy says with a grin. The empousai gets off the ground, and he raises his sword again. The girl is frozen with fear, so I pull her away from the monster so she doesn't get hit by the sword. "Go back to Tartarus where you belong!"
Riptide goes though her chest, turning her into a burst of dust. "I guess we'll never be able to go to school here again, right?" I say, both of us sighing. The teacher, who avoided the conflict, emerges from behind the desk without his walker.
Did I forget to mention he's a satyr?
"Nico, Percy. We have to get to Camp Half-Blood now. We can't risk staying here any longer. We'll need to get Annabeth beforehand." He points to the girl. "She needs to come with us." The girl looks at all three of us, completely and utterly terrified. We all run out of the classroom. I have to pull the mystery girl by the arm as we rush to Annabeth's class.
When we get across the hall, Percy pushes the door open. The students are all staring at their computers until the door opens. How they didn't notice the commotion in the mythology classroom, I'll never know. Annabeth looks at Percy with a worried and confused look. "Sorry to disturb, but Annabeth is needed," Percy shouts. The teacher looks up questioningly. "Why?" But by the time this is asked, Annabeth is scrambling out the door with us.
"What happened?" Annabeth asks as we run down the hall. "Empousai. Lets just say we can never come here again," I say.
"Always fun," she says. Mystery girl is looking at all of us, and Annabeth asks, "Who's she?", as we go through the school doors to the parking lot.
The satyr answers the question all of us needed the answer to. "Leilah Eryn. She's a demigod, and I was instructed to take her to camp. She should be claimed not long after arrival at camp."
Leilah finally speaks. "Can someone tell me what the hell is going on?"