Fallen Daughter: Luke Castellan X OC

1 - The day both my parents died.

I didn't want to be a half blood. I mean sure, it sounds cool to be half god and have whacky powers etc etc. But in reality, you're left with one parent you never see, and another who doesn't really care you exist. Usually. For me, the average half blood fell far short of what happened to me.

Let me just rewind a bit. My name is Elana Overlay, and I'm seventeen years old, living life like a normal teenage girl. Well, not exactly. I've been homeschooled all my life by my stepfather, Cade. He's a military man, so strict is pretty much the defining word of our household.

I don't leave the house much, because I'm pretty much allergic to everything. And I mean like, boom you're dead allergic. I remember once when I was young, my mother caught me trying to open a window and literally tackled me to the ground to stop me.

My mom's pretty chill, apart from the confinement thing. Her name is Jen and she's pretty, with long curly blond hair and eyes so dark blue they look like the night sky, which seems to be the only genetic trait that passed on to me. The pale skin, dark hair and slamted eye shape were all from my father, whoever he was. After my dad left when I was a baby, she met Cade, a large bald man who secretly has a heart of gold, fresh from ten years of military service in Taiwan. They hit it off instantly and got married the next year with my three year old self trotting down the isle as a flower girl.

It is pretty cool having a military dad, he taught me how to shoot, the basics of how to survive in the wild, and how to use a long stick of bamboo like a staff. My mom, while not quite as helpful, taught me how to work a needle and play the violin, how to tie my hair up in a bun in under ten seconds, and how to read. All in all, I would say my life was pretty awesome.

Until the day the monsters came. And even what Cade taught me wasn't enough. This fight needed an entirely different set of skills.

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"Elana! Come on sweetheart, the news is on!" My mother really should go on America's Got Talent for world's loudest yell. I smirk, remembering the time I got her a megaphone for Christmas and she used it for two days before deciding it wasn't loud enough.

Prowling through the hallway of our apartment, I lean against the doorway to the living room, over the back of my mom's head at the screen. They're talking about some car accident or whatever with a boy and his mom so I don't pay much attention, instead staring up at the roof. Dammit I need to fix this light, the one flickering dimly above my head. No matter what I do, lights always seem to get darker when I'm around them.

"Dinner- Oh! Sorry Elana-" Cade bumps into me lightly, carrying a plate of pizza. "Didn't see you there!" I frown. The hallway wasn't that dimly lit.

"Elana!" My mom turns, grinning up at me. "You coming to join us?" Her eyes are lined with wrinkles now, I notice with a pang to my heart, even though they are as bright as ever.

I smile, and walk to leap over the back of the couch, plonking down next to my mom. She rests her head against mine, golden curls mixing with my straight black strands. The news reporter is just wrapping up the car crash story, moving onto something about strange weather all throughout the country. I close my eyes, breathing in the stale air conditioned air. The weather doesn't concern me, not if I never leave the house.

"Here El," Cade says, and I flick open eyes liner rimmed eyes to see him holding out a plate with pizza on it. I grin, reaching out to take it.

My fingertips have just brushed the crust when a loud knock echoes through the hallway from the front door. I blink, raising my eyebrows. It's not a Friday, Sunday, Teusday or Thursday, so it's not Browns, the caretaker of the apartment. But he's like our only visitor? Who the hell could it be? It's not like I have any friends who wiuld come over. Oh no, being the freaky allergic to everyone and everything kid isn't very appealing. Anyway, mom stands up to go to the door, and I sneak after her.