The Hunt

Choking on a rabbit leg

As soon as we were on the road, all eyes turned to me. Crap.

"What? Is there something on my face?" I tried to laugh it off, it didn't work.

"So, are you gonna tell us what just happened?" Kaylen demanded. I groaned,

"Do I have to?"

"Yes!" they all chorused , I just rolled my eyes,

"Forget it."

"Fine," Kaylen admitted defeat, "But I am going to get it out of you eventually." She glared at me and slouched in her seat.

Once everyone had gotten back into the swing of conversation, sharing stories, laughing, cracking jokes, Eva shuffled closer to me. Lowering her voice so the others wouldn't hear, she turned to me,

"So...?"

"So... what?" I tried to act like I didn't know what she was talking about,

"What was that about?" Okay... so maybe that oblivious act hadn't work...

"Ugh, fine." I sighed, "Well, let's just say that... that wasn't the first time Lycaon and I have... crossed paths." Eva rolled her eyes,

"Well, duh! Any moron could have figured that out. I'm asking how you 'crossed paths'" She raised her eyebrows, signalling for an explanation, then realised that clearly it was hard for me, and put her arm around me. "Look, I'm sorry Lyra, it's just... He obviously has an... interest in you, and he might jeopardize the entire quest. It could save all our lives if we know what happened." She had a point. After a mental battle, I gave up.

"Fine. But can it wait until we stop driving?" Eva smiled, clearly pleased that her point had gotten across,

"Sure." She gave my shoulder a quick squeeze and moved her arm away, turning to join in with the others.

We pulled up next to a small wood and began to set up - luckily, Katherine had managed to grab her backpack before we ran off, which had spare tents in it and a small amount of food. Charlie had somehow managed to hold on to an airtight bag of ambrosia squares, which would be useful if one of the three campers got badly hurt. Technically, we were all demigods; I was a daughter of Zeus, Eva and Robyn were daughters of Poseidon, Kaylen was a daughter of Hades, and Katherine was a daughter of Apollo. But, even though we were still half-bloods, being a hunter kind of diminished your need for ambrosia or nectar.

Once we had pitched the tents, we gathered around a small makeshift fire. As much as I hated travelling with boys (eugh) I had to admit that it was useful having sons of Heaphestus on the mission. Kaylen and Eva had ventured into the woods earlier and returned with a few rabbits which Katherine had no trouble turning into something edible. Nibbling on a rabbits leg, Charlie, surprisingly, looked up from her food and decided to make small talk,

"So, Lyra's 100-" I shuddered involuntarily, "-how old are the rest of you?"

"Well," Eva replied, "I'm 87." Jasper nearly choked,

"I'm 139." Kat added, Theo actually did choke (but Kat managed to smack his back enough times to ease the violent coughs... what a shame)

"I don't really remember to be honest..." Kaylen laughed, and Jasper and Theo simultaneously spat out their water. There was a pause before everyone exploded with laughter. Well, everyone that is except for Jasper and Theo, who gave us all what I assume was meant to be threatening look, but which just ended up making them look like little kids who weren't allowed cookies.

Once we had finished eating, Eva gave me an expectant look across the fire, I shrugged and nodded.

"So, Lyra, " Eva began, "Are you finally gonna tell us how you and wolfman became BFFs?"

I sighed, "I guess, if I have to." They all crowded round, expectant. "So, when I was younger, me, my step dad, my two half brothers and my mum were living in this small town in Kent-"

"Kent?" Theo asked,

"Yes, Kent. In case you were too dumb to hear her voice, Lyra is British. Kent is somewhere in England." Kaylen retorted,

"Guys?"

"Oh, right. Sorry Lyra. Continue."

"So anyway, I was in this town and it was just me and my mum. One day, Lycaon was passing through, with his minions. He must have caught my scent and realised there was a demigod there, and quite a powerful one, so... He destroyed the city."

"What?! Just like that?" Eva exclaimed, I nodded.

"Yup. He tore everything down, apart from my house. At this point, I had no idea I was a demigod. My mum, obviously knew who Lycaon was and that something bad was about to happen, so she kept screaming at me to try and escape and get to the camp in Long Island. I had no idea what she was talking about, I thought she was going insane or something. Eventually, Lycaon got to our house and walked in, well, smashed the bloody door down." I could feel the anger rising up again, and suddenly I could hear thunder,

"Woah, Lyra! Calm down, it's all right!" I swallowed and struggled to push the anger back down.

"Sorry. So, he smashed the door down and came in. He kept asking me about a book, and telling me to give it to him. He hit me. Eventually, he realised I wasn't going to talk, not that I had anything to say. He gave me a knife and forced me to hold it agains my mum's throat. I was too young and weak, I couldn't fight him. He held another knife against my brothers. He said, that if I didn't give him the book, he would make me kill my mum. And if I refused to kill my mum, he would kill all my brothers. My mum begged me, she wanted to let my brothers live, she begged me to do it." I could feel tears pricking my eyes. "I couldn't give Lycaon the book, I had no idea what he was talking about. He pushed the knife harder against my brothers throats. My mum was crying now, she begged me to kill her, saying that this way only she would die and my brothers and step dad could live. Lycaon gave me no choice. I did it. I killed my own mother." The tears were streaming down my face now, but I didn't care. I had started telling them this, I had to finish. "I had done what he asked, I couldn't give him the book so I had killed my own mum, so the rest of my family could survive. But, Lycaon realised that I wasn't going to give him the book, that I didn't have it. He could have left, he knew the book wasn't there. But he never leaves a job unfinished. He slit the throats of my brothers and step dad. I screamed and screamed and cried and cried. I thought he was going to kill me too. But, I was the only demigod in the family, a daughter of Zeus. He wanted to use me. He took me and I was his slave for two years. I managed to escape and I came to Camp Half-Blood." There was silence apart from the sound of someone crying softly. I took me a moment to realise it was me.