Hi guys! I'm back! Sitting in Dreamgirls rehearsal as I type this! Sorry if the beginning of this chapter is a little odd, but the end is fine! Oh yeah... we're finally getting into the whole 'Percy Jackson' part! Read on to find out more...

Disclaimer: However much I may want to, I do not own a giant, friendly black dog named Mrs O'Leary. I own two tiny, white Bichon Frise's.


Monday was a pretty exciting day. The teachers had been given a letter containing a list of those who had been asked for a recall. The letter read:

To the International Children's Acting Association New Zealand Ambassadors,

We would like to see the following children back at the studios for a recall this week:

Sophie Grey

Lachlan Ici

Hannah Justin

Daniel Mitchell

India Nightingale

Luke Reed

Billie Roberts

Jack Sands

Also, we would like to ask if the following students would like to be campers from Camp Half-Blood or members of the Twelfth Legion Fulminata at Camp Jupiter. The campers do have small roles:

Megan Blake

Courtney Marcell

Kane Syre

Xavier Syre

Any other students of yours who would like to be extras are welcome to be a part of our movies. Please email us a list of the students who would like to be a part of this.

Thank you,

International Children's Acting Association Head

Brian Woods


The next couple of months passed in a blur. We were constantly moving between recalls, group activities, and eventually, cities, and I only had one word to describe it all - exhausting. Sure it was fun, and a little nerve-racking, and exciting, but by the end of our stay in America, I just wanted to lie down and sleep for a whole week. I was so tired, I hardly paid any attention to anything the instructors said. I knew that 'The Last Olympian' was still in production, so it may have been a year before work began on Heroes of Olympus but I was grateful for the break. I did, however, come out of my stupor when the teachers announced we were going to Long Island Sound for the day. I noticed Jack sitting up straighter too, and I have to say: I was excited. Oh yeah, and completely terrified.


The drive out to Long Island Sound was boring. Jack, India and I were constantly looking over our shoulders out the back window of the bus, and out the windows on the sides. We all knew what the other two were thinking, or at least had a general idea. Half of me was hoping we didn't see the camp. That way, we could live knowing we were hallucinating, maybe get help, and we'd know we were safe from such a terrifying world. The other half of me was telling that half to shut the hell up, and was trying to convince it that seeing the camp was the best thing to hope for. I mean, who wants to know they're delirious? We didn't talk much, and no one pestered us to. We'd occasionally pitch in on a conversation, but other than that, we stayed silent. The bus ride was noisy, and we didn't stop the whole way there. The teachers had decided we should walk part of the way, so we jumped out of the bus before setting off on the hour-long journey to the beach.

We walked and walked and walked, until finally, the teacher announced we were there. We laid out rugs and picnic blankets and settled down for lunch. Just before we left to walk back to the bus, I looked back towards the strawberry farm one last lime, and saw a flash of bronze and a swish of blonde hair, before seeing a pair of analyzing, shocked grey eyes staring back at me. One look at India and Jack, and I knew they'd seen it too. I decided we mustn't have been hallucinating. I wasn't too sure how I felt about that.

The ride back from Long Island Sound on the bus was just the same as the ride there - except this time, it wasn't anxious silence India, Jack and I sat in. It was shocked silence. We simply sat and stared, earning a few worried glances from our peers, but whenever they tried to ask us what was wrong, we simply waved them off, saying we were fine, not once actually turning to look at them.


Back at our hotel, Jack grabbed mine and India's wrists and promptly dragged us away. He led us down towards the river, and into a small cave. We sat down and made ourselves as comfortable as possible before India broke the silence.

"You guys did see that too, right?"

Jack and I nodded.

"That bronze..." I began.

"Sword," India said, knowing my question before I asked it. "I just managed to see the whole thing from where I was sitting."

I nodded in thanks, and Jack did the same.

"What did you think of those eyes?" Jack asked.

"They scared me a little," India admitted.

I nodded in agreement. "They were so intimidating. It looked like she was trying to figure out what we were thinking by staring at us."

"Probably was," Jack decided, lying down on his back, staring at the roof of the cave.

"I wish we could have stayed longer," I mentioned after a moment's silence.

"Yeah," India said. "We could have found out who that was!"

"And why we've been seeing things," Jack added.

I sincerely hoped we weren't just imagining something else.


There were five days before those without recalls or parts were due to return to New Zealand. The rest of us were staying in America, traveling around and returning to the studios when we were needed. We didn't go out much during this time. Instead, we played all sorts of trust and drama games. A few favourites were 'Honey If You Love Me Smile', 'Picture Postcard', 'Space Jump' (and all sorts of versions were played of that one) and 'Party Quirks.' The trust games weren't so fun, but my friends were glad to know that I trusted them so much that when you do the trust fall thing, my upper back/lower neck was hitting their knee. And I did trust them a lot. I think I'd trust them with my life. And those last five days were some of the best in my life.


It was three days after those without recalls left America that it happened. I'm wasn't sure how it happened, why it happened, or even exactly what happened. But it did.

We were walking around New York, visiting different places and just having a good time in general. At one point, we were allowed to walk around in smaller groups, so me, Indi, Sophie, CJ, Meg, Mickayla, Daniel, Jack and Lachlan decided to wander around together. We were just passing a large apartment block when there was a loud bang. We turned around to see a poodle standing behind us. I closed my eyes and shook my head before opening my eyes again. My eyes widened in shock. One look at my friends told me I definitely wasn't seeing things. I mean, if you can see something strange, and eight of your friends see it too, it's highly unlikely you're hallucinating. I took slight comfort in that. But only a little. Because standing in front of me, glaring, was a huge black dog, as big as a truck. A hellhound, according to Greek mythology. Slightly stupidly, I looked it in the eye, trying to show I wasn't scared. And I wasn't scared. Much. Okay, I was terrified. But I tried not to show it. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Jack glaring at it.

All of a sudden, he growled, "Shut up, and don't talk that way about me and my friends!"

The dog looked at us confusedly, before opening its mouth into a huge doggy grin, and licking Jack up the whole length of his body.

"Hey!" he cried indignantly, trying desperately and unsuccessfully to remove the dog slobber that covered him from head to toe.

I heard a laugh coming from somewhere to our right. I whipped my head around to see a boy, perhaps eighteen or nineteen years of age. His messy black hair flopped into his eyes, and he was laughing really hard. At us, I figured. He walked up to the dog and began petting it.

"You don't have to be scared," he said, still petting the dog."Her name's Mrs O'Leary. She's she only tame hellhound in the-"

He broke off as a large, low growl echoed somewhere to our left. All ten of us whipped our heads around and stared in shock as about five more dogs, just like Mrs O'Leary, only meaner, stalked through the trees towards us.

Before we could do anything, they darted towards us. Jack, Lachlan and I bolted out of their reach before analyzing the situation. The owner of Mrs O'Leary had done the same. Our friends weren't so lucky. They were lying crumpled on the ground, unconscious, while the four of us stared in shock. I felt a little proud of being the only girl to stay conscious, but I shoved that feeling aside. I hoped the boy would do something - he looked like he was experienced in this. Much to my dismay, he ran inside the apartment.

Coward, I thought, as I dodged to the side, trying to outrun a hellhound. It turned out, he wasn't a coward at all. He came dashing outside, three swords in one hand and a pen in the other. As he handed me a sword, I looked at him quizzically, but he just shook his head in a gesture telling me not to ask. I turned back to the monsters, sword in my hand. Holding a weapon made me feel a little better, but not much. I'd never used a sword in my life, at least not where it wasn't partially rehearsed. I'd fought alongside Lachlan and Jack, and against them both as well, during recalls and practices for recalls. So I kind-of-ish knew what I was doing. But not really.

The monsters charged. I thought the three of us did pretty well, considering we'd never fought something like that before. It was all going okay, well, as okay as things could be going when fighting a monster that's out to kill you, but all of a sudden, my sword was ripped out of my hand. I watched in horror as it skidded across the road. I stared, terrified as the giant dog knocked me to the ground with its huge paw. My head hit the road, hard, and I could feel myself blacking out.

I saw Jack scream, "Billie!" though I didn't hear him, and saw his sword, which he'd just killed the dog he was fighting with, flying towards me. I sat up and gripped it by its hilt and drove the blade up into the dog's soft belly. As the black creature of hell landed with a thud and burst into a cloud of black dust, my left arm gave out and I fell onto my back, allowing myself to slip into unconsciousness.


I hope you liked this chapter! I'm pretty sure you can guess who the boy is, it's pretty obvious. They'll actually meet him properly next chapter, I promise! I'll start writing that chapter in a month. Or a year. Or now. Yeah, I'll start writing it now!

Bye,

BJ :-)