"Paris!" Annabeth's voice sounded panicked. I didn't turn to see what I knew would be a look of distraught hysteria on her face. I just kept running, clutching my dad's final letter to my chest. I knew what I needed to do. I also knew it would be most likely impossible.
Once a demigod is at camp for the summer, they're to stay put unless they have a quest. I did have a quest, but it wasn't one assigned by the Oracle. I had to visit my dad again. There was no way I wasn't going to. He had small cell lung cancer: the most deadly cancer in the entire world. It had killed over 700,000 people and it wasn't going to stop there.
I darted past a group of Apollo kids who stopped shooting their bows and stared at me.
I raced by Travis and Connor Stoll. "Paris? Where're you going?"
"Tell you when I get back!" I said, proud of the fact that I'd kept my voice mostly steady. If I got back. Once I left the boarder of Camp Half-Blood, I would no longer be protected from the thousands of monsters that wanted to kill me. Manticores, drakons, and hydras, oh my. At the time I wasn't worried about the monsters so much as making it to see my dad before he...before he...died. Because he would die. Eventually, whether right away or not, it depended on how much of the cancer had spread. If he already had a large tumor in his brain, I shuddered to think how long he would last. The good thing was that he (and I when I wasn't at camp) lived in Connecticut. The bad thing was that I was too young to drive, and, on foot, the nearest subway was at least a five hour hike away. I would've called the Gray Sisters, but I didn't have any drachmas and I sure as heck wasn't going back to Annabeth or the Athena cabin for money.
I'd reached the camp's border. I stopped moving and stood motionless, feeling a new emotion; the first one since I'd learned about my dad's illness. Fear. I was scared to leave the safe confines of the camp. I took a deep breath and stepped forward.
Being outside of the border felt no different than being on the inside. I pulled Dio from its sheath and glanced about, already eyeing my surroundings for the evil creatures I knew would be lurking. I began walking.
I did so for over four hours. Just as I was reaching the subway, I heard a tinkling laugh. I looked up from the sidewalk. I'd put my blade away when I'd reached the town. Sure, mortals couldn't see through the Mist, but they saw something different. For all I knew, my sword would show up as a gun or some other kind of weapon. I rested my hand on Dio's handle as I watched the young woman in front of my closely. She was absolutely gorgeous. Dressed in light washed denim short-shorts, a plaid shirt that was tied above the girl's bellybutton, and six inch mint green heels. Her long, pale blond curls blew hypnotically in the breeze. Her sea blue eyes were enchanting, except that they had a malicious presence to them. She was tall, her legs and the rest of her exposed skin was tanned and toned. Either she spent her entire life exercising, or she wasn't human. I was betting on the latter.
The man she was accompanied by was gazing at her with a dazed expression. His mouth hung open a bit; in awe of her beauty.
If I'd had to guess at the time, I'd have said she was an Empousa. (An article Empousa: http://camphalfblood.wikia.com/wiki/Empousa)
"Oh, Liam, really?" The Empousa laughed. "Am I really that stunning?" She flipped her pale yellow curls over her shoulder. Then she saw me. Her lips pulled back from her teeth, revealing pointed fangs. Her eyes flashed crimson. "What do we have here?" Her voice was a hiss.
"Darcy?" The guy, Liam, asked.
"Yes?" When Darcy turned back to him her face transformed to its stunning version.
"Do you know her?" He nodded his head to me.
"No. Why would you think that?" The Empousa said sweetly.
