*I sincerely apoligize for this being late. School literally got in the way, but it's the weekend now. Hope you all had a good Halloween.

Disclaimer: I own nothing.*

*Chapter 3: Halloween Surprises*

(Thalia)

The wait was terrible. The others and I were ready to run if Travis and Connor's prank went bad.

"Guys," Percy said in his fake accent. He pointed. "Look."

Travis and Connor were sneaking up the steps of an old two-story house. Luckily, no other kids were there. Did I just call Travis and Connor kids? Yeah, I did. Suddenly they pulled balloons out of their robes and threw them at the door, exploding in a shower of brown, white, and yellow.

"Ew, what in Hades is that?" Annabeth said, wrinkling her nose. We watched as Travis and Connor ran off, and a few seconds they were back at our sides.

A man in his late thirties opened the door, peering at the mess Travis and Connor made. "You kids are in big trouble!" he yelled out into the night. "May Hades curse you!" Then, in a move none of us were expecting, he pulled out a Celestial Bronze spear. Unfortunately for us, he saw us.

"Run!" Rachel yelled. She didn't have to tell me twice. I turned on my heels and ran, the others right behind me.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Thank Zeus, we finally lost the crazed man.

"Do not-do that-again," Nico panted, his hands on his knees.

"Yeah, let's hold off on the rest of the pranks for now," Connor huffed.

Things got more normal as we continued on. We noticed a lot of people were staring at Percy and Annabeth. One girl even came up to Percy and asked if he could sign her T-shirt.

"Awe, you guys are famous," Rachel joked at one point.

Annabeth rolled her eyes. "Ha-ha." I could tell she was silently cursing Aphrodite in her head.

Travis and Connor wanted to be creepy, so every time one of them would get candy they'd ask, "So, what's your favorite scary movie?" in a creepy voice. They'd just nervously laugh and quickly shut the door.

As the night went by a cold feeling was spreading over me, and I don't think it was the wind. The house we were approaching at the end of the col-de-sac was illuminated by the porch light. The rest of the house was surrounded by shadows, and my hand crept to my knife hidden in my sleeve. The lady who lived there was sitting on her porch, a large bowl of candy in her hands. My mouth started watering. Were those gummy cheeseburgers? My hand slipped off my knife and fell back at my side.

As soon as we got our candy we started back down the long driveway. My eyes were darting around, trying to detect any monsters lurking in the darkness. Maybe it was my imagination, but I could have sworn I heard a hissing noise. I saw Percy and Nico doing the same. It was dangerous for all of us to be out into the open, especially being together, but we had our weapons.

My eyes met a pair of brown - normally green - ones, and Percy nodded. He had his hand in his pocket, where I knew Riptide was to be.

"Where to next?" Grover asked. "My bag's so full I don't think anymore candy will fit."

"Same here," Percy agreed. Apparently he was going to keep up that accent all night. I didn't know whether to laugh or slap him.

"Lets hit a couple more houses," Connor suggested. Everyone looked at him.

He raised his hands. "For candy, no pranks, I swear!"

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

(Annabeth)

We hit a couple more houses. I had to admit, even though we'd lost that guy with the spear hours ago, I was still cautious. I let my arm that wasn't holding my candy swing freely at my side, since Percy had his hand in his pocket, no doubt on his sword. I couldn't blame him.

"Time to head back to camp for the party!" Thalia said happily.

"Oh guys, look!" Nico pointed. "A haunted house."

"We should go," I said. "I like haunted houses. Unless you guys are scared." I smirked.

"Scared?" Travis scoffed. "I don't think so. Come on, guys." Percy, Nico, Grover, and Connor followed him, leaving me, Thalia, and Rachel to follow.

"Boys," Thalia muttered, rolling her eyes.

"Tell me about it," Rachel agreed. All of us grinned. Eventually we caught up with the boys, and together the eight of us marched into the haunted house.

It wasn't scary, really. We've all seen monsters that were either ten times as ugly or ten times better looking.

At one point, however, a spider on a string popped out in front of me. I screamed and all but jumped into Percy's arms. For the rest of the way he kept his arm around me, which I really didn't mind.

When a guy in bloody ripped up clothes came at Thalia, she didn't even flinch. "Do you need a hug?" she asked, holding out her arms. The man looked flustered and confused, but he stepped foward and hugged her anyway. The rest of us cracked up.

Once when we were in complete darkness, Rachel reached out and grabbed Nico's shoulder. Nico jumped so bad he ran into Grover, who ran into Percy, who ran into me. Travis, Connor, and Thalia laughed.

When we finally reached the end, the Grim Reaper was standing at the door. He gave us T-shirts that read CONGRATS! YOU SURVIVED THE HAUNTED HOUSE! We stuffed them in our candy bags and continued the walk back to camp.

A cold feeling washed over me, and I shivered, leaning into Percy. Why couldn't Aphrodite had picked an outfit with pants? This skirt was starting to annoy me. Not to mention that my shirt, though cute, was way too revealing.

"Guys," Percy whispered. "Stop. Stop."

"What's wrong, Percy?" Thalia asked, her hand creeping to her knife.

"We're being followed. At first I wasn't sure, but . . ."

I hate it when Percy was right.

A pair of dracenae leaped out and lunged at us, fangs bared. No greetings, no pep-talk, just lung-and-kill. It was pretty reckless for their part.

The first clawed at Percy. She didn't even have time to blink before Percy swung his sword and hit the side of her neck. She exploded in a cloud of monster dust. The second, or Ugly Number Two, swiped her claws at Nico, her nail scratching his cheek and drawing blood. Thanks to Thalia, she didn't get to do too much damage.

"What in Hades?" Nico said, gingerly touching the side of his face.

"We'll get you some Ambrosia for that back at camp," I said. "Come on, we have to head back before we get ambushed again."

For the rest of the walk back, I held on tightly to Percy's hand and completely forgot the man from the house Connor and Travis had pranked earlier.

I wish I hadn't.