Elysia POV

I had no idea where they were taking us. Two of our good friends Demetri and Garrison had pulled us aside on the way home from school and instructed us to step into a black car with dark windows. I would have thought it to be a prank, but there voices were dead serious. I now sit in the car with my best friend Allie beside me.

"Their odor is too strong. I mean two children of the big three together, we had better not take any chances and get them to camp as soon as possible," I can hear Garrison's voice.

"Yes," says Demetri from the drivers seat. What is this talk of a camp? What is "The Big Three"? What about my mom? What about Allie's mom? Do our moms know where we are? If we suddenly disappear to some... some camp, what will they do?

"Don't worry about your parents. They have been informed about the matter. It will all make sense soon," I can hear a voice, but I don't know whom it belongs to. My mind begins to wander off, and eventually, after what seems like forever, the car comes to a stop. We are at the side of a road, and I can see a strawberry field in the far distance. There is a tall boy standing at the opposite side of the road when we arrive. He has a kind smile on his face, and his eyes are warm brown. His hair is dirty blonde and a little shaggy. He is buff and his muscles stand out; his orange shirt shows off his figure. He is kind of cute, but I don't have time to think about that considering that the situation that I am in, well, I have no idea what is going on.

"Hi," he says, "I'm Jake."

"Yeah, I'm Elysia, whatever. What's going on?" I turn around to face my friends," I swear, Garrison, if this is another prank, I will kill you in your sleep," I state blandly.

Jake just chuckles and says, "It's nice to meet you too. Come with me sweetheart." That is it. I've known the guy for two seconds, and he has already pissed me off. Instead of flipping off, I turn around and start walking the opposite way down the street. He called me sweetheart? Nobody calls me sweetheart. I do not have a sweet heart. If I get a boyfriend, even he will never dare to call me sweetheart. I can't believe that I agreed to coming in the first place. Of course it's a prank! Ugh! I feel so stupid.

"Great, now she is mad. Trust me, no one is happy if she is mad," I can hear Allie tell Jake, right before turing around and running towards me. I am not going to run, I am just walking. This lets her catch up easier.

"Elysia," she is out of breath, "I know you are mad, but we have no other way back. We don't even know where we are. Please, just come back."

"Fine," I say, because I know she is right. It might be Tartarus, but it's the only option. Wait, what's Tartarus? I shake the thought out of my head and turn around, though it is clear I am not happy about it. My black clothes absorb the heat of the sun as I walk in it's rays. My arms are crossed and my expression is angry, and my footsteps are heavy and pounding. I can feel my black hair flopping in my ponytail, and my bangs cover half of my forehead. When I reach Jake, he greets me with a smile, but I do not return it.

"Looks like the princess decided to join us, eh?" he smirks. I roll my eyes and get straight to the point.

"Where are we going?" I ask him, but instead of curiosity, there is a dark coldness in my voice. I hold a grudge, I can tell you that much.

"Up the hill," he says.

"Oh goody," I fake excitement, "Jake and Jill go up the hill," this time my voice is dark and cold.

"Don't be like that, sweetheart." Apparently, he has an obsession with calling people sweetheart. Oh my god, can we just get this over with? I suddenly feel the sharp pain of a claw digging into my back. I resist the urge to scream. Wow, what a prank. The boys have really done it this time. I turn around and punch the figure, but it doesn't do much good. It attacks me again and I feel nails scrape into my gut. My vision goes black around the edges and I can see Jake pull a sword out and swing at the attacker. Oh, he just has to be the hero, doesn't he. Typical. Then I hear Allie scream my name and come to my aid, but my world is already consumed by darkness.