Chapter one

One-Addison knocked on the doorway of his mother's workout room."Mom," he began. His mother looked up from the mat on the floor. There was a tittering and giggling from the teenage girls in the workout room. Addison could not tell if his cheeks were turning red or not. He hoped not. "Yes, dear?" she asked, while helping a girl with her form. "I just-"began Addison, but he was interrupted. A girly scream erupted down the hall and raced past him in the form of two of his sisters. Addison clutched his ear."I WANTED TO TELL-" shouted Addison, over the noise, but his mother made silence motions with her hand."EMILY! AMY! CEASE THAT RACKET AT ONCE!" shouted his mother, down the hall. The screaming ebbed down. "Sorry, dear, what were you saying?" asked Lucille Abbott Morse. Her green eyes were inquisitive underneath her blue headband and blond ponytail. "Mom, I wanted to let you know that I'm going out to see a movie," said Addison. She nodded, and the blond ponytail bounced."Who are you going with?" asked Mrs. Morse. Her question caught him off guard. "Uhh, a friend from school," said Addison, hastily turning away to avoid any more questions."Which friend?" asked Mrs. Morse, sensing something was amiss. "Uhh, Mae," he responded, feeling his ears turn red. "You know I don't approve of you dating without a chaperone," called Mrs. Morse, to his fleeing back. "It's so not a date!" protested Addison. His sister began to roll down the stairs and bumped into him. "Jenny, move- and Mom, it's so not a big deal," he groaned, while his mother lectured him. "Fine! I'll ask her brother to go with us," grumbled Addison. Mrs. Morse turned around and muttered something to the class. He could hear their laughter echoing down the hall and up the stairs. He fell on his bed and groaned aloud. "What are you groaning about?" chirped Amy, bouncing in his room on a massive exercise ball. He groaned again."Amy, I'm groaning about the woe of man," he muttered, covering his eyes with the crook of his elbow. "Oh! You mean women?" she said, her voice slightly shaking because of the bouncing rubber ball.Addison did not answer. Call him a finicky person, but Addison did not like people. Much less talking about things that he would rather keep in his head instead of telling his step-sister. "Did you get a girl pregnant?" asked Amy, still bouncing. "WHAT?!?! Where did you get that from? Never mind, GET OUT!" he roared, jumping off his bed and shoving her out with a slam of his door. He lay on his bed and stared at the ceiling. What would it have been like living with his dad? wondered Addison. No annoying half-sister, or embarrassing moms, or having to have a chaperone on a hangout with one of his best friends who was coincidentally a girl, but she was really just one of the guys. Her name was Mae Jordan. She was pretty, but she was always more like a sister than an interest. She was sporty and was extremely good at piano and singing. Her orange-red freckles always highlighted her Irish face that was surprisingly tan. Large, dark blue eyes illuminated her narrow face. She was almost always laughing when they were together. Raised by her grandparents, Mae had understood what it felt like to have a missing dad. Her mother was a music major in high-school and had gotten pregnant when she was just sixteen. Unable to raise the child herself, Diane Jordan gave the baby to her parents. The poor kid never sees her mother because her mother is haunted by her identical smile to that of her father. Although Mae was cool for being raised by her grandparents, she always seemed to get really quiet around anyone else besides her family and Addison. Addison remembered the movie, and guilt washed over him when he remembered the lie he had told his mom. Mae did not even have a brother. How was he supposed to have a chaperone without the made up brother? Easy, he would not. Addison grabbed his keys and ran down to his car. He had driven down the Mae's house countless times and had no trouble in finding it again. He knocked, and the door swung open to his touch. Mae's freckly face glowed at him."Give me a second," she said, racing back up the stairs. Addison was ushered in by her kind grandparents."So what movie are you going to go see?" asked Grandma. Addison smiled tightly and shrugged. Being talked to by both grandparents was slightly overwhelming, at least for Addison it was. As it was said earlier, he does not really like people. "Oh, dear, before you leave, how about you take some jelly," chirped Grandma, bustling off towards the pantry. Mae came down the stairs at that exact same time. "Oh, Grandma, don't do that," she implored, casting an apology glance at Addison. He smiled back. Gramps went into a long conversation about tires, and how one could never be too careful. "Oh, well, I'm sure that Addison will remember, Gramps. We've got to get to the movie," she said, pulling Addison out the door. Once they were in the car, Mae burst out laughing. She was normally very quiet around other people but not around Addison. "You poor boy," she said, laughing still. "My Gramps and Grandma must really have done a number on you," she said, chuckling. Addison smiled ruefully and kept driving. "What movie are we seeing?" asked Mae, practically bouncing in her seat. "Uhh, how about-" began Addison. He seemed to fade away. He fiddled with his necklace around his neck while he thought. Mae came up with a movie, and they went to it. After the movie, they drove home. Mae was fiddling with her eyelashes in the mirror."Are you primping yourself just for me?" asked Addison, in a playful tone. Her blue eyes glared at him. She smacked him on the arm. "Yeah, no," she said, returning her gaze to the mirror. "I've got an eyelash in my eye, and I'm trying to get it out, Attention-whore. Keep your eyes on the road before we have a car-wreck." Addison swerved the wheel to mess with Mae. YThe car jolted a little bit. Mae grinned and fished out the eyelash. "Why don't-" began Mae, but a sudden impact cut her sentence short. There was a short scream as they were hit, and the car swerved into a tree. They blacked out.Addison was the first to come to. He blinked and stared at the fluffy, white bag in front of his face. He pushed it down, and his eyes went immediately to Mae. her eyes were closed."Mae! Mae! Wake up!" commanded Addison, shaking her shoulder. Her beautiful eyes fluttered open, and that was the most welcoming sight that Addison had ever experienced. "Ad, where are we?" she mumbled, groggily. She blinked and tried to push down the airbag. "We hit a car. Are you alright?" he asked, anxiously. She nodded, but her eyes were sliding out of focus."Mae, stay with me." he ordered. Mae nodded. Addison jerked open his door and hauled her out. He could not believe how light she was. He laid her on the ground and turned to see where the car had come from. There was no road at all besides the one he was on. He replayed the scene in his head. The red pickup truck had slammed in the side of his car head on. The only way that it was possible was if the person was waiting for someone to come around the bend of the road and then decided to race out onto the road. Mae looked a little more alert. "Check if the person is okay in the next car," she said. "I'll be fine," she said, getting up. Addison nodded and walked slowly to the red pickup. He could not shake the feeling that something was amiss. A woman was lying face down on the steering-wheel. As soon as Addison's sneaker crunched on the broken glass, her head snapped up weirdly. "Ma'am, are you okay?" asked Addison, tentatively. All warnings were going off in his brain. The door creaked open, and a woman clad in snake boots stepped out. "Nice boots, coughed Mae. The woman smiled, but she really was ugly. "Thanks, doll," she drawled. "You kids out on a date or somethin'?" she asked, blowing a bubble and popping it. Addison and Mae gritted their teeth."NO!" Mae nearly shouted. Addison could feel his ears go red. Mae's temper was quick, but she soon got over it. "DO you need us to help you with getting your car out of those muddy ruts?" asked Mae, a little more calmly. The lady smiled."Oh, would you? That will just be dandy!" she chirped. Addison gave Mae a look and heaved the back of the pickup truck upwards. He dropped the back on harder ground. Beads of perspiration lined his brow. A horrible stench hit his nose. He leaned against the back of the truck and against the tarp that covered it. The horrible stench was coming from the back. "What are you doing out here?" asked Mae, to the lady. Addison leaned against the back harder. The tarp moved a couple of inches. Addison leaned over to replace the tarp when he froze. He could see a hand that was holding a bronze wallet. Addison's breath froze in his chest. "What are you doing?" asked the woman, shrilly. Addison ripped off the tarp that covered it. Two, dead bodies lay with frozen expressions on their faces. From the looks of it, they were twins.The boy was the one that Addison had seen the hand of, and the girl lay clutching a
eheadband. "What the-" began Mae. The lady's image flickered. Suddenly, the snake boots were not just boots. They were her scaly legs. The woman grabbed Mae by the neck and hoisted her up in the air. Her ugly face grew even uglier, and pearly white fangs gleamed wickedly. "Who-o-o are y-you?" gasped Mae, struggling with all her might."Lamia, cursed to suck little children's blood forever," she said, hissing. Addison was frozen with fear. For some reason, he picked up the wallet that the boy was holding. A card stuck out. His hand brushed up against the card, and it transformed into an axe. Lamie slashed across Mae's face drawing blood. She tossed Mae aside and snarled at Addison. He kept swing but kept missing. Finally, he swung too late, and she dove for his neck. Addison waited with baited breath to wait the final outcome. Nothing happened. He peaked open one of his slitted eyes and looked out. With a sound like a dying dog, Lamia looked completely shocked with the point of an arrow protruding from her brow. She disintegrated. He glanced up to see who had killed her, and he saw Mae holding a long, slender bow and bag of arrows. The light faded from her eyes, and she collapsed. Addison rushed over to her and gently picked her up. Blood mingled with her fiery orange-red hair. "Mae! Listen to me!" sobbed Addison, clutching her and wiping the blood from the claw marks on her face. "Don't die on me!" He struggled to walk over to his car, but it refused to turn on. That left him with the vampire demon's car. The car rattled and banged all the way back to the grandparents' house."Oh, they're back already!" said Grandma, cheerfully opening the door. Her smile melted off her face as soon as she saw what had happened. "Louis, bring towels, hot water, and that god-forsaken letter," she ordered, to her husband. "This way," she said, hustling them to the couch. Addison sat quietly staring at Mae's pale body. The cuts had been cleaned long ago, and she lay resting on the couch. The color was slowly filling out her face and making her seem more alive. The front door opened before they heard the knock."Addison!" exclaimed Mrs. Morse, sprinting over to her son and embracing him. He stared down at the headband laying innocently on the coffee table. At the press of a button, it had become the bow and the quiver of arrows that had saved Addison's life. "What happened?" asked Mrs. Morse. Addison told his mother everything and waited for his mother to start screaming at him to stop telling lies. But she did not. She just stared at him as though putting pieces of puzzle together. "I had a dream last night, Addy," began his mother, slowly. Addison looked up from staring at his hands."It-it was your father's voice," she stammered. Addison listened closely. "He told me to send you to Camp Half-Blood, Long Island, New York," choked Mrs. Morse, breaking down in hysterical sobs. Addison's gaze returned to Mae's unconscious figure. "We need to go now," said Addison, over the sobs. His mother looked up."What?" she squawked. He met his mother's gaze evenly. "We need to go now," he repeated. he walked across the room to Mae's body. "Take her with you," croaked Grandma. She stood in the doorway connecting the living room to the kitchen. She was clutching a letter in her hand, and there were tear streaks down her face."The letter...?" began Addison. "It has the same instructions," she said, simply. Addison scooped up her body and carried her out to the red pickup truck. He threw the tarp back over the back of the vehicle before his mom saw the dead bodies. He saw Mae up in the front and buckled her in. His mother climbed in next. A two day journey awaited them.