Darcy and Michael stared at her in shock. This couldn't be happening. There is no possible way this could be happening. But she didn't sound like she was joking. And after the short run-in with a dracaenae, Darcy didn't know what to believe anymore. Before they could speak up, their mother spoke again.

"That's all I can tell you right now, the more you know the easier it is for monsters to find you. You'll find out more at camp. But for now, please, just try and sleep." She was almost begging by now, and Darcy couldn't bear to say no.

She nodded meekly and curled up on the fabric seat, trying to ignore the day's crazy events.

Darcy woke up the next morning to an ache in her neck and unfamiliar surroundings. She was curled up awkwardly in the backseat of the Jeep, clutching her backpack while Michael snored softly next to her. The patches of trees lining the streets looked foreign, the air smelt strange, and the sunshine just didn't seem as bright as it did back home.

The nights events came rushing back to her and she lurched forward, only to be tugged back by the seat-belt locking her firmly against the seat. She hoped it was all a strange, terrible dream, but it didn't look like that was the case. Carter was driving now, and mom was taking a nap against the passenger side window. She was pretty sure Carter didn't have a license, but couldn't bring herself to care.

"Where are we?" Darcy asked quietly.

Carter jumped in his seat and took a tentative glace over his shoulder before facing the road again. Apparently he hadn't expected her to be awake yet.

"We're, uh, we're in New York. Maybe half and hour from camp." Carter replied, keeping his voice low and he drove.

That wasn't possible, Darcy thought. There was absolutely no way they could have driven from Florida to New York in one night. But then again, she thought, there were a lot of things she'd seen and heard in the past 24 hours that shouldn't have been possible. If she could be a half-blood, who's to say they couldn't drive from Florida to New York in one night. There were a few minutes of silence before another question came to Darcy.

"Has the snake-woman, the monster, come back yet?" The words sort of tumbled out of her mouth as soon as she thought it, but there was nothing she could do about it now.

"A few times, " Carter seemed to get more nervous-or was it anxious?- than he already was, Darcy could see him chewing his lip through the mirror "but I've been able to hold her back for now. I was top of my class with reed pipe magic, you know."

"Will she come back again?" Darcy asked, her voice now uncharacteristically small.

"Well, ah, " Carter scratched the back of his neck and looked at her through the mirror "it's possible. But if we're lucky, we might be able to get to camp before she catches up again."

Darcy left it at that. She didn't want to think about the monster any more than she had to, and even though Carter's words weren't very comforting, they were something. They rode in silence for a while longer before Michael and Mom finally stirred. Michael woke up first, after Carter drove over a nice sized pot-hole, and his head bumped against the window. As soon as he opened his mouth, Mom woke up. Michael was never good at being quiet.

"What the heck is going on" Michael exclaimed much louder than he should have. He looked around frantically before the nights event caught up to him, then he thumped back against his seat and sighed.

Mom jolted from her nap and proceeded to act as though she'd never fallen asleep. The woods surrounding the car seemed to get thicker, more dense, without any trace of the massive city just miles away.

"We're almost there, just a few more miles now. See that hill up ahead?" Mom said, pointing ahead.

Darcy nodded, but then remembered her mom couldn't see her, and said yes instead. In the distance, there was a large, sloping hill, with what looked vaugely like a footpath leading up the side.

"The camp is a hill?" Michael asked plainly, staring at the hill in question.

"No no! Of course not! The camp is in a valley on the other side of the hill." Mom explained quickly.

Darcy began to hear a faint hissing noise, somewhere to the left. Carter seemed to hear it too, because his eyes grew wide again and he got all jittery.

"I-i think she caught up." Carter squeaked out.

Darcy turned to get a better look. It seemed their pursuer had found some friends. Darting through the forest were maybe three dracaenae, slithering along with their twin snake tail-legs, which, by the way, were about as thick as tree trunks. Fantastic. Carter sped up so we were going even further over the legal speed-limit, slamming his awkward foot on the gas. Darcy didn't know what the Jeep's top speed was, but she was pretty sure it wasn't supposed to be goint this fast. She held onto her seat for dear life, and had to loop her arm through the backpack strap to stop it from flying away.

Suddenly, Carter slammed on the brakes and the car skidded to a stop in front of the hill mom had mentioned earlier. Darcy slammed back into her seat, winded, at the sudden change of speed.

"And that, " Michael said, wide eyed and breathless, "is why you don't let twelve-year-olds drive."

Carter scowled at him before remembering the current situation. He quickly unbuckled himself and jumped out of the car, urging everyone else to follow his example. Darcy scrambled out of the car, still holding onto her bag for dear life.

Darcy only had a few seconds to get her head to stop spinning before she was ushered out of the car and up the hill. Darcy scrambled out of the car, still clutching her onto her bag for dear life.

The dracaenae were catching up fast, Darcy could hear them now. They were hissing incessantly, as though they were excited to disembody the young half-bloods. Darcy's limited knowledge in Greek mythology was enough to tell her that they probably were.

When she was about half-way up the hill, Darcy was stopped by her mother pulling her and Michael into a hug. She spoke quickly and frantically, and her voice sounded hoarse and choked. It was then that Darcy noticed that her mother was crying, and she began to feel her own eyes grow misty as this new reality crushed down on her. She wouldn't be able to see her mom until August. How was she supposed to do that? She still got nervous when she spent the night at friends houses. What if she needed her? Darcy finally broke and latched onto her mother tightly as she told them that she loved them and loved them and would see them in August.

Darcy didn't want to let go, but the dracaenae were getting closer and they had to move quickly. Darcy rubbed her eyes and sniffled miserably as her mother released her and stood up.

"Run and don't look back! Go past the pine tree and straight for the big blue farmhouse, ask for Chiron!" Her mother yelled as she headed back to the car. As an afterthought, she added "and Michael, take care of your sister, okay?"

Michael nodded and tugged Darcy in the direction of the massive pine tree at the top of the hill. Darcy stared up at him as he dragged her along. He was furiously blinking back tears and was chewing on his bottom lip to stop it from quivering. Remembering that there was another person in the car besides herself, her mother and brother, Darcy looked behind her. Carter was running after them, which Darcy thought shouldn't have bee possible. He was far too clumsy on his feet to keep up with them, especially on an incline. But then again, nothing really made sense anymore, so she brushed it off and turned back around and ran faster to keep up with Michael's longer strides.

Michael crossed the barrier first, quickly followed by Carter, who was holding his sneakers rather than wearing them. Darcy had made the mistake of looking back again. The dracaenae were right behind them, Darcy could see their faces clearly now.

They were sickly pale, their skin had a weird tint to it and looked vaguely scaly. They had cruel, large eyes with reptilian slit pupils glinting hungrily. Their noses weren't much more than slits in the middle of their faces, and their thin lips were pulled back into menacing grins, revealing teeth that would have looked normal if not for the massive fangs. They reminded Darcy of Voldemort, but with hair and female.

She didn't know how long she stood there, staring at her impending doom. Somewhere in her mind she knew Michael was screaming at her, but his words fell on deaf ears. She couldn't move, couldn't speak, couldn't think, she could only stare ahead. She suddenly understood the phrase "frozen with fear". Her body refused to move, she wasn't even sure if she could blink. Was she even breathing?

Darcy was finally snapped out of her trance when Michael managed to pull her hard enough to get her over the boarders. She landed in a heap on the worn down grass, half on top of her older brother.

"Thanks" she managed to whisper, her heart still racing from fear. She scooted off of Michael and looked up at him with a strained smile.

Michael studied her for a moment, almost annoyed, before he let himself be washed over with relief. They were both okay, and that was all that mattered. Carter was tugging on their arms frantically, trying to get them to the big house before they drew any more attention.

Darcy pulled herself off the ground and slung her backpack over her shoulder, looking around. The dracaenae were glaring spitefully at the border, slowly retreating back into the forest. Suddenly feeling brave under the protection of the border, Darcy threw a nice sized rock in their general direction, and grinned when it connected with the back of the head of the closest one. It made her feel a little better, but she still looked away as quickly as she could when said dracaenae began to turn around. She wasn't feeling quite that brave yet.

As Michael dusted off his shorts, Darcy took in the camp. It was huge, sprawling across the valley, and filled with at least a hundred teenagers all sporting bright orange tee-shirts. To her left was a big blue farmhouse with a wraparound portch, the big house, she assumed, a few acres of strawberry fields could be seen behind it. Straight ahead were volleyball courts and what looked like an arts and crafts building. So far it all looked relatively normal, not at all what she'd expected from a camp meant for demigods.

Before she could see the rest of the camp, Michael and Carter had started walking towards the big house. Not wanting to be left behind, Darcy hurried after the older boys.

So here we go! Chapter two up only two weeks after the original! Lets hope I can keep that up with school starting next week.