I have been a fan of Percy Jackson ever since we were assigned "The Lightning Thief" in sixth grade. Writing this fanfiction was kind of the only thing keeping me sane while waiting for "The Tower of Nero" to come out. I love to write even though I have a hard time finding inspiration. Right now, I have about 2 and a half chapters of this story done. I have no idea how many chapters this story is going to have or when they will be finished (Especially since I have school now). So, I am just going to post this one chapter for now and comment if you want more. Also, this is my first fanfic so sorry if it sucks a little, but I think at least one chapter of every fanfic is a bit crappy. Criticism is appreciated but please no hate :). Anyway, enjoy.

Nicole's POV

When her math teacher turned into a vampire, everything just went by in a blur.

It seemed like a regular school day. The teachers were being boring. The students were being annoying. The weather was cold but not too cold for Norwalk, Connecticut in January. Nicole was in her eighth-grade math class, waiting for school to be over. She anxiously twirled her curly brown hair with one hand and tapped on her desk with the other hand. She just wanted this day to be over so she could try to survive the next.

The sound of the school bell interrupted Nicole from her thoughts. She started packing up to head home when the teacher, Mrs. Casey asked Nicole to stay after class.

She immediately knew she was screwed.

Nicole knew there was no reason for her to worry but the last thing she needed was to get in trouble and draw attention to herself.

In middle school one wrong move could ruin your life. All of Nicole's schools were about labels and her being dragged to the Principal's office wouldn't give her a very good one. Although Nicole was sure that the other kids had already given her a title as the "weird loner girl".

Nicole's dad died in a car accident when she was ten. She was taken by social workers and put into several foster homes. The families she lived with were fine, but she never really felt like a part of the family. After all she was going to be taken out of that home sooner or later. Besides, Nicole wasn't really the 'social' kind of person.

Nicole never knew her mother.

Nicole's dad never said anything about her mom and if he did Nicole couldn't remember.

Nicole knew that her life didn't have much of a point, but she wasn't really miserable, so she just kept on going.

Nicole walked slowly to the instructor's desk. Mrs. Casey was one of those people who were just born mean. Nicole always figured that if Mrs. Casey wasn't a teacher, she would be a prison warden. Mrs. Casey had this sweet looking face hidden behind these thick black glasses and frizzy black hair tied into a ponytail, but don't let that fool you. She could still be strict even with that kind voice.

"Hailey Walton", she said sternly.

Nicole clenched her teeth. She hated being called by her first name. Her real name was Hailey Nicole Walton, but she went by her middle name because she hated names that ended with an "e" sound. She thought the name "Hailey" made her seem too girly.

"You have been hidden from us for long enough", she said. "But now that I have found you…."

Suddenly, the educator's body began to change. Her skin turned white as a ghost, her eyes became blood red, and her hair morphed into flames. Her teeth grew into fangs. Mrs. Casey leaped onto the desk and Nicole noticed that one of her legs was made of metal, while the other had a hoof and shaggy coppery hair.

"It has been years since I have had a half-blood to feed on!", the teacher hissed. "I am so glad to have found someone with worthy taste."

Then she pounced.

Luckily, Nicole's reflexes kicked in. She dove to the side and crashed into some chairs and desks.

The teacher got right back up and hissed again. "You are a feisty one!", she snarled. "Say your prayers demigod."

Nicole thought for sure she was dead. Then some guy jumped through the window wielding a sword.

The boy looked about seventeen, with sea green eyes, tanned skin and messy black hair. He wore blue Adidas sneakers, worn out jeans, and an orange t-shirt that said, "C H B". Nicole looked closer and saw that he wore a necklace that had five clay beads with symbols she could not make out.

"Well, we meet again Percy Jackson", Mrs. Casey said sweetly. "You will not defeat me as easily as last time."

She advanced on him. Her talon like fingernails ready to slice his face like it was pizza. The boy, Percy, ducked down, letting the creature fly over him. Then he turned around and slashed his sword. In a matter of seconds, the math teacher was nothing but a pile of dust.

"Not today Kelli", Percy said with a smile.

Then he pulled something out of his pocket that looked like a pen cap. He touched it to the top of his sword and the weapon shrank down until it had become a pen. He casually put the pen back in his pocket.

He reached his hand out and pulled Nicole up. The teen looked at her with his sea green eyes.

"What is your name?", he asked.

"Hailey Nicole Walton", she answered. "Call me Nicole."

Percy nodded. "You need to come with me." Percy grabbed her hand again and dragged her out to the front of the school.

Once she got back to the real world, Nicole broke free of the older kid and tried to figure out what was going on.

"Where are you taking me and what did you do to Mrs. Casey?", she demanded.

"There is no time right now", he said. "I will explain it on our way to camp."

"Wait, camp? What camp?"

Just then an SUV pulled up.

Nicole looked to see who was driving and she saw a thirty-year-old man behind the wheel. He looked like a total hippie. He wore a green shirt with a recycling symbol on it. A Rasta hat nested in his kinky, mousy brown hair and a thick goatee covered his face.

"Come on Percy", he said nervously. "We got to go."

"Keep your hat on Grover", Percy joked. "We're coming."

Percy got in the front seat of the vehicle next to Grover and Nicole got in the back seat. The engine started up and the car started to roll again. Once they were a few miles from the school, Nicole started asking questions again. But the answers that she got were not that good.

"What is going on?", she asked furiously.

"Okay, before I explain I would like to say that even though this may sound insane, I'm telling the truth", Percy said.

Nicole nodded, encouraging him to go on.

"Okay, do you ever read Greek or Roman mythology?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"You know the Greek gods. All the myths. Well, all those things are real."

Nicole took a moment to let that sink in. "And what does any of this have to with me?"

Percy continued to explain. "You know the myths about demigods: heroes who are half-mortal and half-god. The preferred term right now is 'half-blood'. But, anyway, that's what you and I are. My dad is Poseidon, god of the sea."

Nicole thought for sure that she was dreaming but even her imagination wasn't big enough to create something this crazy.

"What makes you think that I could be a half-blood?"

Percy snorted. "Well for one that empousa, better known as your teacher, attacked you. Second, do you only know one of your parents or do you have ADHD or dyslexia?"

Nicole sighed. "I have some ADD and I only knew my dad."

The son of Poseidon smirked. "Well, there's all the proof we need."

Nicole glanced at Grover in the driver's seat and then back at Percy. "Is Grover a half-blood too?"

Before Percy could speak Grover answered for him. "Nope. I'm half-goat; a satyr." He took off his Rasta hat and Nicole saw two horns sticking through his hair.

"Okay…", Nicole turned her attention back to Percy. "So, what did you say Mrs. Casey was? An empousa?"

He nodded. "Yeah. But her real name is Kelli. Empousai are servants of Hecate, the magic goddess. They live to suck people's blood. Hopefully, Kelli won't be back for a while."

Nicole raised an eyebrow. "You killed her. How could she come back?"

"After you kill a monster they get sent back to Tartarus", Percy shuddered at the word. "You know that place in the Underworld. Anyway, after a few months or years or so, they reform."

"So, if all the stuff in the Greek myths are real. How come people haven't noticed it sooner or later?"

"There's this thing called the Mist. It disguises anything mortals can't understand into something they can. Like if there's a monster they might just see a stray dog or instead of my sword they'll probably see an umbrella or a pen or something."

"Okay. So, about my mom. Which goddess is she?"

"We don't know yet. But hopefully you will get a sign once we get to camp", Percy said.

"What exactly is this camp anyway?", she asked.

"Camp Half-Blood", Percy explained. "It's basically the only place that's safe for us. Just imagine it like a fun boot camp."

"Okay. So how long will it take to get to Camp Half-Blood?"

"About another hour", Grover answered.

Nicole thought for a minute. "Do you think we could stop by my house? There are a few things I want to get."

Percy and Grover debated it. "Sure, I don't see why not", Percy retorted. "What's your address?"

She told them her address and Grover took the road to her home. They parked and Nicole and Percy walked towards the front door. She looked under the mat and found the spare key.

Percy eyed the door cautiously. "What about your dad?"

She sighed. "He died three years ago. This is my foster parent's house. Just try to be quiet."

To Nicole's surprise Percy just nodded. Normally, when she told people about her father's death, they would give her a sad look and some sorry comment. It annoyed Nicole like hell when people did that.

Nicole unlocked the door and stepped inside the house. She walked through the living room and headed towards her bedroom. While Percy was casually trying to break the ice.

"So how is this foster family treating you?", he asked.

Nicole rolled her eyes. "Fine, I guess. But they're probably just doing it for the money."

"Wait, they get paid for taking in a kid?"

"Yep, about seven hundred dollars a month."

"That's crazy."

Nicole shrugged. "Eh. Anyway, I need to get to my room so I can pack."

She and Percy tiptoed past her foster parent's room and made the way to her bedroom. Nicole swung open the door and looked around her bedroom.

Nothing about the room had changed in the five months she had lived there. The room was still empty except for the big blue bed roll next to a small wooden chest of drawers which was stuffed with Nicole's clothes and some of her other things.

Percy caught up with Nicole and raised an eyebrow at the sight of her living space. "This is really your room?"

Disregarding him, Nicole made her way to the closet. She opened it, grabbed a duffel bag and started stuffing clothes, paper, pencils and other stuff from the dresser into the bag. After she was all packed, she and Percy quietly made their way to the front door. They heard a door open and ran into the bathroom.

"Who is that?", Percy whispered.

"Mr. and Mrs. Shannon, my foster parents", Nicole whispered back.

"What do we do?"

"We run to the door. If they try and stop us, I'll use this." Nicole got down on the ground and took a swiss army knife out of her shoe.

Percy looked at the weapon warily. "Uh, why do you have a knife?"

Nicole rolled her eyes. "I bought it. I carry it around for the same reason you carry around that death pen. Try to avoid using that by the way."

"Don't worry. It's made of Celestial bronze, so it only kills monsters."

She nodded. "Okay, on three we run out. 1…2…3!"

Nicole turned the knob and she and Percy burst out of the bathroom. She pushed her foster mom out of the way while Percy kicked her foster dad in the stomach. They ran out of the house and to the SUV. They got back in the car and as they drove out of the neighborhood Nicole thought to herself Goodbye foster family number eight.

The next thirty minutes were spent in utter silence. During that time Nicole started thinking about her dad. She didn't know him much since he was always at his job trying to support the two of them, even though he didn't make that much money at the sewage treatment plant. All Nicole knew was his name: Thomas Walton. But she remembered the day he died well.

Nicole had come home from school to find a social worker standing at the front door. The social worker, who introduced himself as Michael Crawford, told her that her dad died in a collision course with a mail truck while driving away from work. A couple days later, ten-year-old Nicole was placed in her first foster home. Not knowing her mom and barely remembering her dad made Nicole feel like she was an orphan from day one.

Nicole was disturbed from her thoughts when Grover began sniffing the air.

"What is it Grover?", Percy asked nervously.

The satyr inhaled the air some more before responding. "I don't know. Nothing I guess."

Suddenly something landed on the roof with a "thud". Grover pulled over. He and Percy got out of the car to see what had fallen on the car. After a few seconds, they rushed back into the car and Grover floored the gas pedal.

"What happened?!", Nicole yelled.

"More empousai", Percy shouted back. Let's hope we can get into camp before they attack."

At that moment one of the empousai appeared on the windshield, her sharp claws and huge fangs ready to suck the life out of the trio. Grover began to swerve, trying to shake the demon blonde off. The SUV started to whirl around in a circle throwing the monster off the vehicle screaming. The car came to a stop when it slammed into a tree.

Nicole had a ringing in her ears and her head felt like it had been cracked open like a walnut. She had a few cuts and bruises and her arm felt like it was broken but she would have to worry about that later.

Grover pushed the air bag out of his face. "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, might have gotten whiplash, but okay", responded Percy.

Nicole sighed in relief. "Okay, we're all fine. Now, let's go before the devil girl comes back."

Grover tried to start the car, but the engine started smoking and caught fire. Nicole grabbed her backpack and duffel bag and got out of the SUV along with the two boys. The three of them got out of the car and made their way to Camp Half-Blood on foot.

Grover and Percy said that once they made it up the hill past the camp boundaries, they would be home free. The satyr and two demigods gradually walked up the slope. They were halfway there until they heard something in the bushes.

Percy drew his sword and slowly approached the shrub. He slashed at the plant just after the empousa rolled to the side, avoiding the blade. She hissed baring her fangs that were as sharp as daggers. Her lips curled into an evil smile.

"Drop the sword sweetie. Come over here and let's talk", she said innocently.

Nicole felt a wave of trust go over her and she started walking over to the girl. But she shook herself out of the trance realizing what the demon was doing. Percy however dropped his sword and made his way to the empousa.

"Percy!", Grover bleated. "Snap out of it!"

Nicole kneeled and took the swiss army knife out of her shoe. She pressed the button on the side and exposed the blade. She ran up to Percy and pushed the teenage boy out of the way just as the devil girl advanced on him. Nicole felt the empousa's talons rake through her skin. She kicked the demon back onto the ground and stabbed her in the chest with the knife. In a second the monster turned to dust.

Nicole knew how to use her knife well. She always figured that she would need it someday. Plus, it was fun to freak people out with it.

Nicole got back to her feet to see an incredibly flabbergasted Grover and Percy. She could see a glimpse of a faint light glowing above her head. She looked up and saw the sign right before it disappeared; a gray owl sitting on an olive branch. Nicole took one step forward and collapsed on the ground. Then everything went black.