I know, I know, it's been practically years. I'm sorry. School is stupid and it's interfering with my fanfiction writing so bleh… Lol! So anyway, I won't be posting too often. Sorry!

Connor's POV

I began to felt the headache after we left the hotel.

Well, it was more escaping than leaving, really. The police were trying to find us and we knew that having them involved would postpone our whole quest. So, we left the hotel and set off on a hike through the small set of woods nearby. California isn't known for its trees, so we could still see the lights of the city through the leaves. Regardless, the sun was gone by now and we were as hidden as we would ever be.

"What time is it, Katie?" I asked, rubbing my temples. My headache was beginning to get worse.

"2:59" she answered. Her voice cracked on the last number and if the circumstances had been different, I would've laughed.

We walked for about another minute until suddenly, I let out a gasp.

At first I thought someone had snuck up behind us and shot me in the head. A spurt of pain shocked my brain so suddenly that I didn't have time to prepare. I fell onto the ground.

"Oh my gods!" I yelled, collapsing to my knees. Even as a demigod I had never experience pain like that. It felt as if someone had taken a nail and shoved it into my head. And every few seconds they would hammer it in deeper. "Make it stop!" I screamed. Everything around me began to blur and I felt like my eyes were melting out of my head. I was barely conscious of Katie running to comfort me and Travis taking off through the trees to find some sort of help. Katie mumbled something that I couldn't hear. At first I was confused, but then suddenly…"

Kaite's POV

I knew I was in trouble when Connor fell to the ground, right when my watch struck 3:00.

"Oh, Dolos." I groaned as Connor dropped down on the dirt.

"He's doing this?" Travis asked, his voice scared.

"Yes." I said. "Go get, help. I'll try to figure out what's wrong."

He ran off in the direction we had come from, stumbling over roots and small woodland animals.

"Connor!" I bent down next him.

He had his hands clutching his head and was rocking back and forth. His teeth were clenched and his eyes were practically closed as he yelled, "Make it stop!"

I felt my eyes begin to well with tears as I realized what I had to do.

It wasn't the fact that I had to do it; it was the fact that I had no choice. The fact that Dolos was controlling me like I were one of those cars with remotes. He could make me do nearly anything, and I had no choice. Gritting my teeth, trying to keep the tears back, I said softly,

"Connor, you have really big muscles."

And everything went silent.

Travis's POV

I ran back to the forest, pulling the hand of the girl who was going to help us. Thank the gods my terrible sense of direction didn't decide to act up. I found Connor sitting against a tree trunk drinking water, with Katie right next to him.

"Are you feeling better?" I asked, trying to catch my breath.

Connor nodded slowly, swallowing a gulp of water. "It was the weirdest thing. It started out of nowhere and ended the same way."

"It was really creepy." Katie added.

I looked over at her but she refused to meet my eyes. Something in her expression told me she knew something we didn't.

"Who's that?" she asked, trying to get my attention away from her secretive, blue face.

I had nearly forgotten about the girl who I had found in the streets who claimed she could help.

"This is uh…"

"Isabel." she stated, stepping up from behind me. "My dad's a doctor so I thought I could help." She pulled her had out of a grip I didn't know I had on her, and knelt next to Connor.

"How do you feel now?"

She asked him some simple questions and we determined in the end that nobody had any clue what had happened to him.

"Everything seems normal." she reported. "But I'm not a professional so you should probably take a trip to a hospital." she paused. "You too, Travis, that burn on your arm doesn't look too great."

We all said 'no' at the same time.

"How come?" Isabel asked.

"We're kind of in the middle of something." I explained. "We can't postpone it more than a day, plus, hospitals cost money."

Isabel looked each of us over once before concluding, "You guys are demigods."

I gasped.

How would she know? When I had found her she had seemed like a typical, hot, teenaged girl (and no, the hot part wasn't the reason I chose her… Really!). She had dark hair that went slightly past her shoulders, and big brown eyes with a little bit of eyeliner. Her eyelids sparkled with something pretty and I had to blush when she caught me staring at her.

"How did you know?" Katie sighed, eventually.

She smiled, "I met a demigod before. I saw her fighting a dracaena and asked her about it afterwards. She explained everything to me, and told me that I could see through the mist. Ever since then I've researched and loved Greek mythology."

"Sweet" said Connor. His cheeks were beginning to regain their color.

"We should probably get going." Katie announced. We need to find a place to camp for the night."

"You can come to my house." Isabel piped up. "My dad's gone for the week so nobody will know?"

"What about your mom." I asked.

"They divorced last year." she said with a sigh.

"Oh." I said stupidly.

We thanked Isabel and followed her back out of the woods. My arm was still stinging like mad but I had figured out a way to ignore the pain. We stepped out onto the lit sidewalks of California and made our way past a busy intersection, around a few creepy looking people and towards a secluded little house with sky blue walls and navy shutters. It seemed a little quaint and out of place in a large place like California, but it was cute, nonetheless. She pulled out a key from around her neck and jammed it into the door, giving the wood an extra shove before it finally opened to reveal a nice place.

"Pretty." Katie muttered, looking around.

I had to agree. There was a small couch, a set of chairs surrounding a fireplace, and a TV. In the back was a kitchen table and a small dining area. A hallway branched off the right, and I assumed it led to the bedrooms.

"Connor, Katie, you guys can take that room." she pointed to one with a sign on the door reading "Love."

Katie and Connor blushed before grabbing Katie's backpack and walking in to the room.

"Sorry Travis, you'll have to share a room with me."

"It's fine." I said, probably a little too quickly.

She smiled, watching my face go red and her eyelids sparked even more against the light. I couldn't help but notice how pretty she looked standing in the half darkness, a spotlight practically aimed at her face.

"I'll set your mattress up." she said after a long moment of silence.

I swallowed, smiled, and followed her into her room.

Katie's POV

This whole thing was a setup.

Isabel knew that I was being dared to flirt with Connor. Why else would she decide to put us in a room with one bed? She was insane and a devil and I did not want her turning Travis into one of her minions. I was thankful for her house, no doubt, but I couldn't help but feel anger towards the girl for putting me in such an awkward position. And, Dolos wasn't making things any better.

"Hello there, Katie." he swooned, his ugly face appearing like usual.

I groaned and images of me kicking him repeatedly in the stomach were thrust into my brain.

"Now, don't think like that." Dolos insisted, wagging his finger at me like I was a disobedient child.

"Since when can you read my mind?' I asked angrily.

"For quite some time." he admitted. "And, for long enough for me to learn your fatal flaw."

I felt the color drain out of my face. If Dolos really knew my fatal flaw, then I was practically screwed.

"Do you really?" I asked painfully.

He shrugged. "Why should I answer to you? And anyway, we've got more to talk about."

I listened reluctantly as he gave me my next assignment.

"You need to hold Connor's hand sometime. If you haven't completed this task by the time I see you next, then wow," he chortled, "You will not be a happy camper."

I grimaced, sick of his bossiness. "Please Dolos," I pleaded, "Don't make me do this!"

He just shook his head. "Truth or Dare, Katie Gardener. Or, should I say, Dare or Death!"

He laughed evilly at his play on teenaged games, and disappeared into a column of flame.

Dun dun duuunnn!