𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒕𝒕𝒚 𝑰𝒏 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒓𝒌 ꨄ

t w o

Her mind felt like a whirl- a spinning blur of different kinds of information all colliding with one another every time she tried to think. Because of that, Luna shut her brain off and focused on packing lightly, like her dad had advised her to. When she walked downstairs again, he was waiting at the door already dressed with the car keys in his hand.

"You ready to go?"

"Yeah," She answered shakily, thumbing the straps of her bag pack.

Somewhere deep inside her she knew that the only reason she wasn't freaking out was because she had no time to freak out. Everything was moving so fast. It was hard to believe that only that morning she'd woken up blissfully oblivious about everything, and by the end of the day, her whole world had been turned upside down.

On the way there, she didn't ask any more questions. Her dad had only explained that it was a camp for demigods and that it would be good for her to finally be with people like her, not wanting to say more because he claimed it put her in more danger. Luna didn't know how to feel about that, but she knew that she was balancing on two emotions; Fear and excitement. A nagging part of her wanted to ask him if there was another way, a way for her to stay with him, but they way her dads shoulders tensed and his jaw clenched every five seconds made her believe that this camp Half Blood was really the only place where she could stay alive.

Things started going south about thirty minutes into the ride. They drove through the busy streets of New York for a while, and had just started to head to the more rural areas when thunder rumbled outside aggressively, lighting up the night sky. Every time it happened, she involuntarily shuddered. Her dad drove like a maniac, faster then she'd ever seen him- swerving by cars and definitely exceeding the speed limit. He seemed worried, and his nervous energy passed on to Luna, making her put a hand on her sword. After fighting her first monster, just the feel of it made her feel comforted. Even if she didn't know how to use it all that well, it still felt better to know she had some defense.

"Dad?" She asked. Her stomach tumbled. Something was wrong.

"Yes?"

They were stuck on a street chock full of traffic, and the fact that they weren't moving made her feel even more anxious. She patted her thigh nervously.

"I don't know. I feel like something's off."

Her dad turned to look at her. He had a worried expression on his face. "It's going to be alright. I know you demigods have it hard, but I'll get you safely to camp and everything's gonna be ok."

She was just about to nod, when something flashed in the corner of her eye. She looked out the back seat window and the blood drained from her face. Something was flying towards their car, its tar yellow eyes following the vehicle hungrily.

Luna shouldered her bag. "We need to get out!"

"What?"

"OUT! NOW!"

Her dad sprinted into action, and the two of them practically jumped out of the car in a hurry. Not a moment too soon. The monster jumped the hood of the car and it emitted a creak as it dented under the new weight. People started screaming and running around, trying to get away from whatever the mist made them see.

Her dad shielded her with his body, but she knew that that wouldn't be enough. The monster set its beady eyes on them. It was one of the weirdest creatures Luna had ever seen; it had the body of a lion but it was morphed with the head of an eagle. The first two legs were long and arched talons that could probably shred her to pieces, and out of its back sprouted two giant wings which she suspected were also eagle.