I woke up to a knock on my door. The sun was blasting through my window so I knew it must have been kind of late. I propped myself up on one elbow and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes with the other hand. I didn't want to keep my guest waiting so I grabbed my fluffy, purple robe and got up. Standing up made me dizzy and the ground was cold and hard. Not the best start to my morning. I wasn't surprised to find Chiron standing at my door in full horse form. I looked up best that I could, my eyes still squinting from the light.

"Hello Kasey. May I come in?" I shrugged and nodded then turned around to grab my brush. When I turned back around to look at him, he was sitting in his wheelchair as if he was there before. I was about to ask him how he does that so quickly, but I let it go. I sat down on my bed and started to brush my knotted hair. "I was hoping that we could both tell our sides of the story from last night, and then we can fill each other in as we go. Okay?"

I was dying to know what all happened last night. It would at least answer a few of my questions. So I shrugged again and agreed. "Okay," he said once again. "So, where should we start?"

I pursed my lips. "How about from dinner?" I suggested.

"Good idea. So, as you know, Annabeth is missing. But what you probably don't know is that, Lady Artemis is too."

I gasped. "What?" I choked out. "Lady Artemis is missing? How could she be gone? She's a goddess for Zeus's sake!"

"That's what I thought to," he said to the floor. "But then Zoë Nightshade, the leader of the Hunter's of Artemis, had… a nightmare last night." I knew what that meant. I've never actually had a half-blood nightmare before but I've heard stories of campers waking up screaming because of them. I must just be lucky.

"About?" I asked.

"About," he replied. "Artemis being… tortured." He struggled to get the last word out. As he stared out the window, I was shocked. How could Artemis be gone? How could she be being tortured?

To me, it didn't add up. "Again, why can't she just escape?"

"I don't know, Kasey," he sighed then continued to explain all about Zoë's dream, what happened at Capture the Flag, then to the Oracle coming to life-I winced at that part-, and up to Zoë, Thalia, Grover and Bianca leaving on the quest of "The Titan's Curse" as he called it. He also suspected that Percy was going to sneek out and go as well. I wasn't surprised by that either. "Now, the main reason that I came here to talk to you is to get your side of last night."

I sighed. "Where should I start?"

"Here: Where were you during Capture the Flag last night?"

A simple question that's really hard to answer. I hate those kinds of questions. "I was…err…" I figure that I wasn't going to come up with a good excuse before he knew I was lying. I sighed. "I ditched." He didn't look surprised.

"I knew that but where, specifically?"

"I would think that you would know. Otherwise I wouldn't have woken up in the infirmary." I stared at him as to say, How did that happen anyway?

"I guess I didn't tell you everything from my side," he admitted. "I actually asked a few Hunters to look for you. They found you passed out on the floor and took you to the infirmary."

"Ohh," I replied. I was slightly embarrassed that it happened that way.

"Now I have a question for you." I looked at him and he captured my eyes. "What made you faint?" He asked it as though he already knew the answer, which he probably did. I just gave him half of the truth.

"When the Oracle passed by the door, I just got freaked out."

He stared into my eyes a little deeper. "Well I have to go get lunch set up. So when you're ready to tell me the whole truth, I'll be there." He added a grin just to lighten the tension that I felt in the room. He left me there while I heard the lunch horn sound. I realized that I've been brushing the same spot in my hair throughout our whole conversation. I brushed the rest of my hair quickly and slipped on some sweats and my Converse before I headed towards mess hall.

I was dragging my feet towards lunch when I realized that I still had a headache from last night. The cool air helped that but the tension that I felt floating in the air didn't make it much better. Everything was… sadder, and quieter than usual. I heard some moans and even some crying coming from the left over Hunters. I didn't blame them. I'm not even a Hunter and I feel almost... empty. It was weird.

I guess I was late for lunch because I was still walking when Chiron made an announcement. "Your attention please, campers and Hunters! I would like to inform you that we have four new campers!" Everything died down until it was perfectly silent. "Two of them came in with Percy Jackson and Thalia Grace, named Bianca and Nico Di Angelo, two days ago. Today, we have two more coming in. Our own satyr, Daniel Mason, was able to retrieve them safely. I just got a Iris message from Daniel saying that they're alright and will be here soon. So please be welcoming and friendly to our new campers. Now let's eat!" A few cheers escaped the lips of the few campers from the hall but most kept silent in fear of what the Hunters would do if they were happy at the moment.

I didn't even realize that I had stopped walking to listen to the announcement, but then I was glad that I did.

Up on the hill by "Thalia's Tree" and the Big House was a young boy. From what I could tell, he was about seven or eight years old with dark hair. He looked extremely scared-probably from monsters that were fallowing them. I took a few steps closer to observe him some more. He had bright blue eyes and a stumpy nose as well, and maybe even younger than seven. He was holding something that looked soft. It also was kind of shiny. My curiosity led me even closer to him. He looked like he was having great difficulties trying to keep it in his arms because of the weight of it. I felt kind of bad for him. Poor little guy. Too bad that he's not even strong enough to hold up a— I stopped thinking right then. My heart was pounding in my ears and my hands turned really sweaty. The thing that he was holding… glowed. I quickly looked over at Thalia's tree. Nothing. That little boy was holding the Golden Flee—

Again, I didn't get to finish my thought because at that moment, a hellhound sprang out from the ground, like, right through the ground, followed quickly by another one. I realized what was happening and jumped out of the way of they're landing. I landed on the grass but still got some wind knocked out of me because I landed directly on my back. I sat up as best as I could and got a good look at them. Glowing red eyes, semi-transparent skin but still as black as night, and the worst smell that's ever passed my nose; death. Before I could observe anymore, the first one pounced. I rolled out of its way, just barely missing its claws that were dripping with neon-green glop. Poison, I concluded. I stood up as fast as I could and started running towards mess hall. I wasn't too far away, but if you've ever tried to outrun a hellhound, it's not easy. I dove off to the right, letting the hellhounds skid past, trying to keep up. It bought me some time, but not much. I couldn't really see where I was going but I didn't care. I was just trying to get out of being dog food. Adrenaline kicked in and I sprinted forward, ending up right outside the clearing where we train. I was almost there when my foot caught an unsuspecting root and I went tumbling forward. I made it to the clearing, but not in the way that I wanted. If my headache ever went away, it came back.

The hellhounds were still right behind be so I dove off to the side again. They ran right past me but couldn't stop fast enough. One went tumbling down into the ocean while the other skidded just off the side. Its poisoned claws were still imbedded into the ground and able to keep itself from completely falling. I got up, which made me kind of dizzy, while I watched it struggle to get its back legs up without falling. In the distance I heard many running feet and some hooves patting against the ground, coming to my side. I could still hear it when the hellhound swung itself up. It growled at me, and then pounced without warning.

"Kasey!" I heard Chiron scream before he tossed a jet-black sword my way. Don't ask me how I caught it perfectly in my right hand, but I did. I decided just to use what I had and slashed at the beast before it could get to me. I still wasn't a sword person, but I guess that I used it pretty well judging by the deep cut that I made across its left eye. I ran around to its back side while it blinked a few times and let out, not just a bark, but a roar that could've popped my eardrums if I hadn't covered them—which I did. I heard campers and Hunters coming up behind me, but the hellhound completely ignored me for those few seconds, jumped right over my head without damaging it, and landed on almost a few kids. Thank the gods that they got out of the way.

"He doesn't want us to help!" a new demigod—Nico?—screamed over the roar of the hellhound.

"How would you know!" a Hunter screamed back.

"I can just tell! It even says on his trading card that these kinds of dogs don't like humans!" was his brilliant response.

"Listen to Nico-" I thought so, "—and let Kasey deal with it!" Chiron screamed to the others.

"WHAT!" I screamed in shock.

"You can do it Kasey! I know you can!" He encouraged.

Once all the campers and Hunters backed up behind Chiron, the hellhound turned back around towards me with a devilish snarl. I took slow steps back.

My palms were almost too sweaty to hold onto the sword, my knees were buckling, and if my head pounded anymore, it would explode. I double-handed my sword and kept it in front of me.

Everything went dead silent.

I was still taking small steps back before my foot hit a root. I looked over my shoulder and realized at that I was on the other side of the clearing already. My heart was pounding so hard, I bet that Lord Zeus could've heard it up on Mount Olympus.

The hellhound had its bad eye closed but it was still staring right through me, sending chills up my spine. Chiron had a serious but confident look on his face while everyone else looked worried sick. I was literally worried sick. I felt like I was about to puke.

Everything stood still for a few more seconds until one of the Hunters broke the silence. "Come on camper, you can do it!" The other Hunters seemed to pick up on the encouraging comments and soon, the only people who were still quiet were Chiron and I. The hellhound slightly turned towards the cheering, growled, then turned its attention back to me. I suddenly got a blast of courage, but it wasn't from the cheering. In the corner of my eye, I saw the little boy who grabbed the Golden Fleece. Another boy about my age, maybe a little older came up behind him. He must the fourth new camper. I had to try and make it seem like this thing wasn't about to kill me. The little boy would be scarred for life thinking that it was his fault. Even if it will be. No. I couldn't let myself think that way. I raised my sword up in front of my face and squinted. I was—hopefully—ready whenever it-he?- was.

I guess he was. He jumped twenty-five feet in the air and landed right where I would have been if I hadn't moved out of the way. I took a quick slash at his side, but nothing happened. He knocked his head right into me and I went flying right into the trunk of a tree. I gasped for breath for a few seconds then ran deeper into the woods, right past the two new boys. My insides were on fire.

"Sorry!" I screamed at them as I ran, though I didn't really have a point. The hellhound finally gathered its thoughts and took off after me. I took some shortcuts and some pointless turns but I kept running. My head was hurting more than before, but I kept running. My legs felt like they were on fire as well, but I kept running. I had to think of a plan before I collapsed from exhaustion. Its skin is too tough to slice, but I was able to scratch its eye. Then it came to me. I was in the thickest part of the forest now so I was able to hide behind a tree while the hellhound tried to pick up my scent. But there have been so many campers here for Capture the Flag that it couldn't tell the scents apart. I found a big tree and carefully slid around the trunk to keep it from seeing me. I was trying to keep my panting breath quiet, but it wasn't easy.

I was sliding to my left while watching the hound out of the corner of my eye when, SNAP. I stepped on a twig. It's amazing how loud a twig breaking can seem in silence. It wasn't very loud, but it being this quiet, it was enough to get the beast charging at my tree. I sprinted off in the direction of the clearing again, just barely missing the claws of the hound. If there weren't any trees to run around, I would be very dead at the moment. Thank you, Pan for nature. I was breathing just as heavy, if not harder, than I was before. I broke through the trees to find Chiron and the crew still standing there. I was amazed that they stood there for so long. I was out in the woods for about ten minutes or so. Chiron must have known. The campers and Hunters broke out in cheers until the hellhound blasted through the trees as well, at full speed. I took my stance but it wasn't good enough; the hound plowed into me and knocking us both to the ground. I was underneath him while he nearly sat on me. My sword was still grasped in my hand so I took the chance. I stabbed it as hard as I could up into its stomach. It howled with pain and fell onto its side, but it was too close to the edge. He tumbled over the edge nearly taking me with him. I was just able to grab the edge of the cliff with one of my hands, but my sword went downas well. I was dangling by one arm over the ocean. I started hyperventilating.

I tried to pull up my left arm to hold on, but the moment I even moved it, I screamed bloody murder with pain. I looked down and saw the neon green poison mixed with blood in a huge cut down my arm. The hellhound got me after all. "Oh, shit," I gasped out, then continued panting.

Chiron probably knew that it was time to help out when he heard me scream. He and the rest of the campers rushed to my safety without touching my left arm too much. But when they did, I either winched or let a small scream escape my lips. I was gasping for breath and wanting to stab my head from how much it hurt, but, at the same time, I did it. I defeated two hellhounds. The campers and Hunters had another round of cheering which made my head hurt even more. I noticed the Hunter who started the encouraging cheering in the first place on my right and the older new boy on my left.

"Do you think so, Chiron?" the Hunter asked.

"That's your choice, Lilly." He replied.

And that's all I remember before I was screaming and crying out for help.