Chapter One
Present Day
Violet's POV
I felt bad for my mom as I looked into the living room and saw her sleeping. I knew she hadn't been resting well lately. She claimed it was dreams, something that her and I had in common. Her name was Lynn Stone. Her short blonde and gray hair fell in her face. I didn't understand why she cut it short. She looked much younger and happier with long hair.
At fifteen, you would think I would begin to notice bad things happening, like the strange phone calls in the middle of the night or the neighbors dog attacking the fence whenever I went out to the back yard to check on my plants. All I really noticed was the bills piling on the kitchen table and the double shifts my mother was taking. Last week, some burly biker broke down our front door. I saw him and called nine-one-one, but when they took the sketch and went around to the local biker-gangs, they said that they couldn't find any one with one eye in the middle of their head that matched my description. I honestly believe that they didn't try. They were laughing as they left the scene.
I had a small job putting up books at the local library, but I was barely paid. It was mostly volunteer work, but usually when things got really bad around the house, I would babysit the neighbor's screaming kids when the husband would beat the wife so bad she had to go to the hospital.
The house phone rang and I flinched some, as it snapped me out of my daze. Mom stirred a little and rolled over on the couch. I pressed the green button and put the house phone to my ear as I walked out of the room.
"Hello?" I whispered, glancing back to make sure I hadn't woke my mom. Call it crazy or overprotective, but my mother didn't allow me to answer the house phone.
"Lynn? Are you there?" A voice panted. He sounded like he was running, because I could hear the wind ripping through.
"Um, well, er, this is Violet, her daughter." I stepped farther away from the living room. "May I take a message?"
"Violet, my dear! Tell your mother that it is time!" I heard a loud crash in the back ground.
"Time for what?! Sir, are you alright-"
"Just tell her to come to Half-Blood Hill!" The line went dead. I frowned and turned to put the phone back on its charger when I came face-to-face with my mother. I jumped back with a yelp.
"Who was that?" she asked, gently taking the phone from my hands.
"He, um, he didn't say, he just said to tell you that it was time." I looked at the floor and shifted from foot to foot.
"Time for what?"
"I don't kno-"
"Violet, what exactly did he say?!"
"That it was time and for you to meet him at Half-Blood Hill! I don't know, Mama! What-What's going on?"
My mom took a deep breath. I could see her small frame rattle. Some nights she went without eating so that I could have something. Usually I only ate half and wrapped up the rest for her and placed it in the refrigerator. Surprisingly, though my mother was never hungry, it was always gone before I woke up for school. I was actually taller than her, which scared me.
"Go pack a bag with some clothes and whatever you need to go overnight," her mother said as she looked at her feet. "We need to leave soon."
"Mom, what's going on?"
"I'll tell you in the car," she promised as she kissed my head. "Hurry, though. We need to leave immediately."
I nod and go to my room to pack. I pack jeans, shorts, t-shirts, under clothes, a toothbrush, a brush, and everything else you could expect me to pack for an over night trip. But something bugged me. For the past week and a half, my plants hadn't been growing as much as they usually did. If you can't tell, I grow vegetables to cut up in food so it will be cheaper on us. Mom had been up later in the night with the lights on and the TV off. She had turned off her cell phone and barely used electronics anymore, except the ones she had to.
"But, Mom, what about school?" I call as I zip up my bag.
"I'll call and tell them you're sick! Hurry!"
I found that weird. I had to go to a private school in Upper Manhattan for ADHD and Dyslexic kids, and even though we were so far in debt, I found it weird that I still went there. But because we struggled, I went there every day and rarely missed.
I hurried out the door and hopped into the passenger seat of my mothers car. Lynn started up the engine of the used and beat up Saturn and we pulled out of the driveway.
The ride was long. Mom wouldn't let me turn on the radio and she was very jumpy. She made me nervous. But I watched as we pulled out of the outskirts of the city and into the pretty New York, where there was actually trees and the air didn't smell like burning oil. Mom focused on driving and we barely spoke, but something about leaving the city made her fingers shaky. She watched the woods nervously and bounced her leg with the same ADHD energy that coursed through my veins. Carefully, I built up the courage and asked.
"Where are we going?" I said quietly. I've always been the shy one when it came to asking questions in class and public speaking. One time, I was doing a report on Public Services such as volunteer work, but instead of saying "public" I said "pubic" and I soon became Pubic Girl. Thanks god that was in May for a final report and I changed schools the next year.
"We're going somewhere safe, Violet," Lynn muttered. "Somewhere that they can't hurt you."
"Who can't hurt me?" Panic built up in my chest like a balloon waiting to burst.
"Chiron will explain when we get to camp, Vi, but remember this for me: Names have power. Saying your full name will attract bad things, very bad things, and I want you to stay as safe as possible. He contacted me last month, warning me that everything was coming true and I tried to keep you home. I know Sally told me that I shouldn't, that it was best if I let you go there. She understood. Her boy went here when he was twelve, I believe. Now, you're fifteen and you should've been there ages ago." Mom sighed. "I'm just glad I got to spend as much time with you as I could, Sweetie." She reached over and squeezed my hand.
"I'll see you again, Mom! Why did Mrs. Jackson's son go here? Where are we even going? Somewhere safe doesn't explain-"
"It will in time, Dear. It will in time."
I sighed and looked out the window. My mother released her hand and returned it back to the wheel. We rode in silence again, except for her humming "It's a Small World" for half an hour. When she finally quit, I was back into sanity when I smelled something burning.
"What's that smell?"
Mom sniffed and frowned. "Car's running hot. There's a service station down the road in a mile or two. We'll go there and then buy a snack and drink inside." I agreed and we drove on.
The service station had a small - very small - wooden house type thing that had exactly two tiny pumps for fuel made of metal with old sixties-style numbers. The shop had only one window and no window between the cashier and the public (not pubic). Mom and I got out of the car when I noticed a black headed girl sitting outside on a wooden bench, staring off into the distance, but for some reason I knew she had noticed our presence. I looked away quickly and followed Mom inside. Behind the windowless counter, a man stood with white hair and a skin-cancered face. He wore overalls and a friendly smile.
"Hello, ladies," he said. "Welcome to Montauk! What brings you two up this way in the middle of May? School isn't supposed to let out for a week or two, depending on where ya from."
"Oh, just a little getaway before all the kids are out and about," my mother said with a smile. I almost gawked at her acting. Fifteen minutes ago, she might have broken down crying. Now, she's laughing and chatting with this old man like she's having the best years of her life. "We're on our way down to the Long Island Sound." She smiled with her lips as she examined a bag of chips and she looked over at the man with a raised eyebrow.
His eyes flickered green for a moment and then settled back to his usual brown. "Ah, yes. The Sound is wonderful during the summer."
I heard crunching outside and I heard the girl walking away. I didn't dare look back though.
"My son will fix your car for you. He's a genius with overheated cars. Pick you out whatever snacks you would like. On the house."
We thanked him and I got me a Mountain Dew and a bag of Chex Mix. Lynn settled for water and a pack of cookies and then started up a chat with the man again. I stood a little ways back, waiting patiently.
I knew when my mother started talking about camps that this was going to be a long trip. So I took a seat on the inside bench and waited. And waited.
