"I'm hunngryyyyyyyyyyyyy... Can we stop and get some Taco Bell or SOMETHING? Please, Grover, I'm begging you! We haven't eaten since we got in the car, and you have been eating your cans. Demigods can starve too!" Luke complained.

"I could go for some iced tea and a burger." Punk girl said wistfully.

"We can't stop now, or we might get monsters on our tail. When we get to camp in a few hours, you can stop and eat then. You know what happened the last time we stopped to switch places. Get some sleep Thalia" Scrawny boy, who was apparently named Grover said. Punk girl seemed to be named Thalia.

Places had been switched, although Grover was still in the drivers seat. Thalia was now up front in the passenger seat, Luke was on the right side of the car, the blonde girl was in the middle, next to Esmeralda. Esmeralda angles her head to better face her. "What's your name?" She whispered .

"Annabeth Chase!" Blondie whispered enthusiastically . "And that is Luke, Thalia and Grover." She pointed to each one in turn. "What's your name? I know your dad called you Esme, but..." She looked down nervously .

"My name is Esmeralda. Esmeralda Grey. You can call me Essa."

"Okay, um... Essa. Do you know how to solve a Rubiks cube?"

"Nope!" Esmeralda's hair turned slightly more purple.

"Me neither. Want to be friends?"

"Yep. Poke Luke. If he is asleep, I'll show you something." Esmeralda gave a small smile.

Thalia was evidently asleep, due to a light snoring, and when Annabeth jabbed poked Luke, he didn't stir.

Esmeralda held a finger to her lips. "Shhh." She reached under the seat and pulled out her bag of snacks that she had packed with her dad.

"Good or bad jelly beans. It's a game. There are two kinds of jelly beans of each color, but one is a good taste, and one is a really bad taste. Wanna play?"

Annabeth took a jelly bean from the package. "Yum! Popcorn!"

"Dirty dishwater! Seriously?"

And that was how Annabeth Chase and Esmeralda Grey became such close friends. That was also how Thalia woke up and requested some jellybeans. Unfortunately for Thalia, she was unaware of the rules of the game.

"What the-! This tastes like Luke's week old socks!"

Annabeth and Essa started laughing. That woke Luke up, and soon everybody (except Grover, who was more than happy to chew on some cans) was laughing and snacking on the jellybeans.

"Can I have my book? My dad said it would be in the glove compartment." Esmeralda said. With all the chaos, she had almost forgotten.

Thalia opened the glove compartment and took out a heavy book. It was titled: A Fae Compendium of Soulmagic and Soulmates.

"Why would your dad would want you to have a book about the lifestyle of the common hedgehog?" Luke asked.

Essa smiled slightly. "Fae magic. Unless I want you to read it, you won't be able to. At least, not if you aren't a fairy, a soulmate, or someone I unlock it for."

" You aren't a fairy. " Thalia stated.

"I actually am. I retracted my wings. There isn't enough space in the car."

"Are you sure you are six years old? You talk in a much more mature way." Grover remarked around his mouthful of can.

"My dad said that one day I would need to talk in a mature way. He said if I was going to need it later in life, why bother speaking in a babyish fashion."

" Oh. " He mumbled.

"Er, Grover, there are some hot, evil ladies following us. What do we do?!" Luke exclaimed worriedly.

" Um... "

"Drive!" Thalia screamed.

"We're running low on gas!"

"Just drive!" Luke yelled.

" Hey, don't be a backseat driver! " Grover said in an offended manner.

"GROVER, I swear, if you get us killed, there will be hell to pay!" Thalia threatened. Grover sped up, no doubt more afraid of Thalia than being killed by the demon ladies in the white car.

Approximately five minutes later, the car came to a grinding halt, wheezing. Everybody got out, preparing for a fight if it ever came to that option.

"Well, shit." Thalia swore.

Two pretty ladies with one goat leg and a bronze leg each came out of the van. They were wearing revealing dresses with an apron that said; The Candy Apple.

"Empousai..." Grover breathed nervously.

"Would any of you handsome men like to try our specialty candy apples?" The one with a name tag that said Kelli asked in a sultry tone.

"Or our famous ambrosia soda?" The one with Nancy on her name tag asked sweetly.

" Well, since you are asking... " Grover and Luke started walking towards the van. Their irises were a pinkish colour and they were definitely not in their right minds. They were walking towards the van like robots.

"Little girls, would you like to have some sweets?" Kelli questioned.

"Um, no. We'll pass. Can we have our friends back please?" Thalia took a step back.

" Oh, of course not! Why ever would you think that you'll see your friends again?" Nancy cackled.

"Tie them up!" Kelli ordered, and both empousai started walking forwards, with a clank , then a tap, clank, tap... Thalia tapped her chunky silver bracelet and a shield appeared. The empousai recoiled, but recovered from the shock and continued walking. Thalia opened her Mace canister and it grew in a spear. She stood in front of Annabeth and Esmeralda.

With a flick of her hand, Nancy disarmed Thalia. Her spear flew twenty feet away, and the empousai were five feet away. Kelli snapped her fingers and ropes flew through the air like pythons. They wrapped themselves so tight around Thalia that when Thalia attempted to move, they prevented her from even moving her body an inch.

Nancy approached Annabeth and asked her oh-so-sweetly, "Are you sure you don't want some candy? It's delicious... "

Annabeth shook her head vigourously. She was petrified from fear. Esmeralda couldn't move her feet, but when she saw that Annabeth needed help desperately, she forced herself to move.

"Oh, you want candy? Come with me, honey. " Nancy turned to her.

"That is a very kind offer, but I can't. My dad told me not to take candy from people in white vans. If you turn it purple, I might consider your offer!" Esmeralda piped up cheerfully, but in the inside she was quaking with fear.

Nancy and Kelli kneeled in front of her and Kelli said in a voice that barely concealed rage and frustrustion. "Oh, you think you are so smart, don't you?"

They lunged for her, arms outstretched to grab her neck. Esmeralda's eyes widened in fear and she recoiled and put up her hands to shield herself.

But the suffocation attempt never happened. She opened her eyes to see the empousai floating about ten feet above the ground. She flicked her hand up experimentally and the empousai went up. She had practiced with her dad, but this was the first time she had anything this big to practice on. In the ditch there were tons of sharp rocks and boulders. She channelled her adrenaline to make them go up to thirty feet in the air. She brought her hands down as hard as she could. Nancy and Kelli went crashing down onto the rocks screaming. With an explosion of gold they died.

Using a small dagger that Annabeth handed her, she cut Thalia free. Annabeth utilized this time to get Luke and Grover back. When they came back, Like scratched the back of his neck nervously. She was feeling quite dizzy, though.

"Er, sorry about that. I'm not sure what happened. I just suddenly wanted to listen to her and... Well, you saw what happened. " Luke said sheepishly.

"Empousai are seductresses. They attempt to seduce men back to their lairs. They are also the handmaidens of Hecate, so they have magic. They have charmspeak. In most cases, females are not able to be swayed with charmspeak, but there have been rare cases... " Grover explained hurriedly. "We had better get going, or we will be tailed."

" In case you hadn't noticed, we don't have a car. " Thalia pointed out.

"They had a full tank of gas. Enough to get us to camp. And a ton of snacks, and I think the snacks are poison free." Grover smiled.

"I'll get the stuff from the car. Essa, you good? You look super pale." Luke noticed.

Essa crumpled onto the ground. " Yeah, let's get going. Grab everything. You never know when you might need it. " Thalia instructed Luke and Grover. "Oh, and I'm driving. I'll take Essa."