Thank you so much for all of the reviews! I think all the other authors know how much they mean to me. I need at least three reviews before I begin writing another chapter, so keep reviewing! I finally found out what story gave me the idea. It was called A Meeting With Death by MyMagicalExistencex14. Some of you have said that Azrael is a Mary-Sue, but she is not. Think about it. An anorexic-thin girl with straight black hair and really pale skin. How is that a Mary-Sue? I put that she was beautiful, because a girl like that could only be beautiful to Nico. And with that, enjoy!

Chapter 5

Nico POV

The bus pulled up, and me and Azrael got out of the seat and off the bus. We began walking home. Being close to her, I realized that there were shadows behind her eyes. Shadows that could make a grown man scream in the middle of the night. Shadows that made me wonder what had happened to her. Whenever she caught me looking at her, she would look away in a second. And six times (Yes, I'm counting.) I saw those eyes. The witchy eyes that would send chills up anyone's spine. The witchy eyes with a dark past. And the witchy eyes that hoped for a better future. And I got all of this out of a bus ride.

Soon we reached the front door, I stepped inside, sat at the table, and started doing homework. Azrael looked at me for a second, then made a turn. Maybe to the elevator? But I didn't have time to worry about where Azrael could have gone, because algebra was waiting for me.

An hour and a half later, I was done and started exploring the house. I made many twists and turns, but soon I was in front a big door that read 'Exercise Room'. I stepped inside, and was amazed. The walls were a blood red, the carpet black, and there were pieces of exercise equipment everywhere. I decided that my best bet was a treadmill, so I walked over to one in the corner, and started at a slow jog. As my mind began to wander farther and farther away from the treadmill, I started going faster. And faster. Thoughts were spinning around in my mind like Why does Azrael hate me? When can I go back to camp? How long will it take for me to figure out if the kids are demigods? How am I going to figure out if the kids are demigods? Why doesn't anyone in this family have brown hair like their dad? I didn't know Hadyn played lacrosse. I tripped on the treadmill and went flying. As soon as I fell, Hadyn was over me.

"Easy there, tiger." She smiled. I started to sit up slowly, and Hadyn helped me. "So, tiger, what do you think about busting out of this joint?"

"I thought you were at lacrosse."

"I was. It ended fifteen minutes ago. So what do you say?" I nodded, and soon me and Hadyn were in front of a mall. We opened the doors to sweet, sweet freedom.

There were no adults to tell us what to do, so we had fun. First we went into a small sunglasses shop. We tried a bunch of sunglasses on. We both laughed hysterically when Hadyn put on a huge pair of white Coach sungalsses. Then we moved on to a costume store, where we tried on a whole bunch of costumes. I think that store was Hadyn's favorite. After the costume store, we decided to take a break and had hot dogs at the food court. And that's where it all went wrong.

Because, as soon as I was about to take a second bite out of my hot dog, an empousa walked over to us. I knew she was an empousa by the way she smelled. Apparently the other people smelled her, too, because they started clearing out the food court. They may not have known why she smelled like that, but they knew that she smelled. That left us alone with her.

"Hello, could one of you tell me where Hot Topic is?" the empousa asked.

I whipped out my sword (A pen, like Percy's. Tyson had made it for me, so I would never forget about him and Percy.) and slashed at the empousa. She whisked it away with a flick of her wrist, and tried to stab me with her knife. I deflected with my sword, and thrusted upward. The knife went flying out of her hand. I thought I had the advantage, but then she pulled another one out of her pocket. Really?! I unarmed her with that one, soon, too, and then she realized that she didn't have another one. Instead, she looked behind me. Then I remembered. Hadyn! The empousa made a step toward her, and got hold of her wrist. I quickly jabbed my sword into the empousa's chest and watched as she dissolved in black mist. I turned around to see Hadyn, looking frightened. It started to rain.

"What was that thing?!" Hadyn questioned, on the verge of tears.

"An empousa," I answered her.

"A what?!"

"Vampire," I said, "Let's get out of here."

Hadyn nodded and we made our way back to the house. Hadyn kept looking back, almost as if she was expecting to see the empousa following us. The rain was coming down hard now.

"Relax," I told her, "I killed her. She shouldn't be back for at least a week."

This only seemed to make her even more on edge. "A week?! What about forever?!"

"She only went to the Underworld, where my dad rules. She'll have to come back again, but we don't have to worry about it for at least a week." Hadyn looked behind us again. "It's alright. They're not very good fighters. If she comes back, I'll kill her. I promise."

Soon we were on the steps leading up to the house. We opened the door and realized the lights were out. "Hello?" Hadyn called.

"We're in here." It was coming from the living room. Hadyn and I followed the voice to find Azrael and Abbadon sitting on couches. We could only see them faintly, because the lights were out and all they had were candles.

"Mom and dad are at a town meeting and the electricity went out. We tried calling but the phones aren't working. Knowing them, they'll stay at the meeting until the electricity comes back," Abbadon said.

"I have an idea!" Hadyn shouted excitedly. "Let's play 'I Never'! I'll go get the soda." We all sat in awkward silence until Hadyn came back a few minutes later. "Who wants to go first?" When no one answered, she said, "Alright. I Never kissed a girl."

Only Abbadon drank.

I said, "I Never wore any color besides black."

Everyone drank.

Azrael said, "I Never smoked a cigarette."

Abbadon drank.

Abbadon said, "I never got an A+."

Hadyn drank. Then she said, "I Never went to a club."

Azrael drank.

I said, "I Never saw an elephant in real life."

Hadyn drank.

Azrael said, "I Never had a boyfriend."

Hadyn drank.

Abbadon said "I Never want to play this game again."

Hadyn and I drank. Then we all laughed.

After the laughing fit was over, Abbadon said, "Why don't we play 'Truth or Dare' instead?" After we all nodded in agreement, Abbadon started by saying, "Nico, truth or dare?"

"Dare," I answered. Easy.

"I dare you to go next door and ask the neighbors for a condom."

"Alright," I said, and got up and walked next door. Everyone else was watching me from the front door of their house. I knocked on the door, and an old lady answered. "Mam, do you have a condom to spare?" She answered by slamming the door in my face. I stepped away from the door, laughing.

We all went back inside and I said, "Hadyn, truth or dare?"

"Truth," she answered.

"Who is your favorite sibling?" Azrael and Abbadon watched her intently.

"Abbadon," she answered.

"Ooohh, burn!" Abbadon said to Azrael. Azrael glared at him and he shut up. The game continued, and soon the lights were back on, and it was 3:00 AM.

We went to our rooms and fell asleep.