Daughter of the Stars

I Become Fresh Meat

It all started on our traditional school trip down to the senior center to deliver cookies to the elderly. Odd, right? The school actually trusts us to make cookies and then give them away to anyone who could potentially die any second. I guess, though, anyone could potentially die at any given minute, second, breath.

But that's beside the point. My name's Eliza Fielder. I'm 14 years old, and I did not want to see my best friend pull his pants down in front of me without an explanation. 

My backstory isn't exactly the most heartwarming, Disney-like one that there is. In fact, it's almost the complete opposite. My mom died during my childbirth, and then my real father left me to survive when I was about 5 or 6 years old. Luckily, when our house-cleaning lady came in and saw the note he had written (Won't be coming back for her, do what you want), I naturally got placed into foster-care.  

The man who has had me for about 4 years now didn't choose to join. Apparently, he was some criminal who needed both the money and community service. Nobody could find him for years, I guess, and when he finally showed up, no one knew exactly what to do with him. The police decided he wasn't potentially dangerous anymore, and gave him his possessions back, and then some; an apartment and furnishings, food, a job, and a community service project, also known as me. 

I live in the master bedroom. That may sound nice, but not once the reason is known as to why. He thinks that the bedroom is too large to keep clean, and he's too lazy to do anything about it. So, he has the extra room, which is noticeably smaller and well-put-together. He keeps it that way for his "lady friends". Ugh.

Anyway, this guy has been the worst thing that could happen to me. I actually have quite a bit of friends, and I am with them constantly at school. But afterwards, after practice, after assemblies, after anything I can sign up for is over, I'm straight home. I mean, that doesn't sound too bad, really. It would be a lot better if I wasn't a personal caterer to him and his poker groupies. 

I wasn't surprised when I walked into the dining room and saw that his three friends were there. Honestly, one of them wasn't even that bad, but out of four, that's three too few. His name's Eddie, and really, he's the best father I've had. I'll be honest, though... He sucks as a father figure. The best thing he's ever done for me is give me a piece of pie that he bought for my dad. (I hate calling him that, but what else is there to call him?) 

The only thing that makes things worth dealing with is my friend, Alex. He's been the best thing that's happened to me, since... well, kindergarten. It's been quite a while, I guess. Hmm, I never really thought about that, 8 years of friendship. That's a big deal. 

Anyway, we were on the bus the other day, just trying to get to school. Normal day, skies were clear, etc., etc., etc. The normal cliche stuff. 

He sits next to me, like he always does, and decides that, "Hey, it'd be a great idea to take off my shoes! Haha, perfect."

And because Alex seems to be an average boy, I turn away, automatically assuming that his feet stink. Completely smart decision, really well thought out, and honestly, it wasn't the worst decision I've made all day. Until he's like, "Eliza... I've got something to tell you..."

I turn to look at him, but get distracted by a big ruckus at the front of the bus. Our teacher, Mr. Syes, stands up, yelling at us to stay still, not to move, there was something outside trying to find us. Of course, as freshmen in high school, we didn't listen. Everybody stood up, trying to get a look outside to see what was going on. The only one who seemed mildly calm was Alex, but I just assumed that he was sort of shocked. He's always been a worrywart. 

As far as I could tell, there was nothing outside, and as I said before it was a clear day. If there was actually anything there, we would have seen it. I may have been the only one who turned and looked at him, but suddenly, Mr. Syes was right up against my bus seat. I looked around, startled, when I noticed that everyone was frozen in their places, even Alex.

I had never gotten a good look at my teacher, I realized. The closer he would get to me, the less I saw, actually. Instead of his two eyes-that I assumed he had-they were replaced by a single, hazelnut-colored eye. His breath was much worse than I ever could have imagined, and his voice was a lot more child-like.

Mr. Syes talked on the bus earlier, and it did not sound like it did at that very moment. I recognized the voice, it was one I was very, very familiar with. It was Alex's voice. 

"Hey, Eliza, guess what? I've got something to tell you! Your mom's not actually dead! She's alive, and you're a demigod!" It came out mockingly, but it was still obviously my best friend's. 

"What are you talking about?" I stood up on my seat, just trying to find an easier way to see and get out. "What's a demigod? What are you?"

He pushed Alex off his seat, and somehow in doing that, it woke him up. "Eli! Run!" he yelled, making his way to the bus door.  I tried to climb over the seat in front of me, but it didn't really work out the way I had planned, and I flopped onto Ashley Ives. Luckily, she didn't move, because if she had, there would be two monsters I'd be running away from. 

I scrambled off the seat and tried to make my way to the door. Alex had gotten there before me, and he kept them open. 

"Eliza Fielder... Daughter of Asteria... Why are you running? You know how this is going to play out... Just think about it..." Mr. Syes said, in his usual, though even more scary, voice. He was walking slowly, and he knew that he could get to me, even if I was running. 

I turned around for a second, which was my mistake, because at the very end of the aisle, Kyler Lawrence had his feet out. I tumbled to the ground, and when I hit his feet, he woke up the same way Alex had. "Eliza!" he yelled, and I had never heard him speak in a voice louder than a mumble.

Kyler reached his hand out, helping me up, and together we ran off the bus.

"Why is he chasing you?" Kyler huffed as we were running. We got closer to Alex, who had been waiting for us in the trees.

"If I knew, I'd tell you!" I said back, my voice faltering because the lack of breath I had.

"Guys! Follow me!" Alex screamed, and started running into the woods. He's got to be crazy, I thought to myself.

As we're following him, Mr. Syes starts running after us too, and I'd be screaming if I wasn't saving my breath for the inordinate amount of sprinting I do. I knew the adrenaline must have kicked in, because I could barely get 4th in our school's 200 meter dash in track. Side note: if you get the chance to be chased by an angry man with one eye who can outrun an angry bull, I would recommend avoiding it.

Not paying attention to my surroundings seemed to help me. I only watched Alex and Kyler, and where they were leading me. We seemed to get there fairly quickly, and suddenly I felt a rush of coolness over my body. I noticed Kyler and Alex had stopped running, too, and I hadn't heard Mr. Syes in quite a while. 

"Where are we?" I asked, catching my breath, to just about anyone who'd answer.

A tall, dark haired man strided over. He had to have been in his early-mid 20's, and his green eyes were piercing. "You've reached Camp Half-Blood. Welcome home."