~ ☼ ~

I woke up in a cold sweat.

For a moment, I still felt like the world around me was on fire. But then I rubbed the tiredness out of my eyes, quickly adjusting to the night time shadows, and realized I was fine. Everything was fine. As fine as it could be for a girl who was forced to attend a strange summer camp after being told she was half god.

To be truthful, I didn't feel fine at all.

Slowly, I lowered myself back down into my new bunk in the Apollo cabin. After Alec had taken me to the store the evening previous and I'd gotten new clothes - all, admittedly, advertising Camp Half-Blood - we'd gone down for the tail end of the campfire. Maybe that was why I'd been dreaming of a wildfire. But that woman... who was she? Why did she keep appearing in my dreams? Was it my imagination, or was it another weird, godly thing?

I couldn't fall back asleep. I tossed and turned and counted sheep, but nothing worked. I'd always had issues with sleeping - with nighttime in general, really - so I wasn't surprised. Sitting up again, I glanced around the cabin. Everyone was sound asleep. In the middle of the room, a skylight let in sunshine, and somewhere, softly, classical music was playing (specifically, Clair de Lune by Claude Debussy, a song I'd once learned to play on my violin). Outside my window, the moon hung high in the sky, surrounded by stars.

Shoot for the stars. That's what the woman from my dreams had said. Suddenly, I felt the need to do exactly that, or at least go outside and look at them. A voice in my head pulled me, urged me, until I softly slid out of my bunk and padded across the cold floor to the door. Gazing at the people in the cabin one last time to make sure I was in the clear, I hesitantly opened the door and slipped outside.

It was cool outside, not quite warm but not quite cold, either. I looked around the ring of cabins, across the now-dead fire pit in the middle... and caught the eye contact of someone doing the exact same thing as me.

I froze, and he did too, even though we were in the same situation. He must've realized this, because he started walking towards me, creeping ever-so-slowly, like a lion on the prowl.

Maybe he couldn't sleep, just like me, I thought to myself. Maybe, I can find a kindred spirit.

So I met him halfway.

He seemed to be my age, with handsome features and wavy brown hair. Though it was the middle of the night, he was wearing khaki shorts and boat shoes, which made him look very sophisticated and very entitled all at once. He would've appeared to be your typical, All-American, "My dad's a lawyer" frat boy, had it not been for his eyes, which were as gray and stormy as my first weird dream. They seemed to hold a million hurricanes in one glance. It made me feel uneasy, and yet... intrigued.

"You're the new girl,  right?" he asked softly when we reached each other. "CJ?"

"AJ." I corrected. "Does Mr. D get people's names wrong on purpose?"

He smiled, then said, "I think so. I don't think he likes us campers."

"Why not?"

"He's a god," the boy explained. "Specifically, Dionysus. Lord Zeus forces him to work here."

A jolt of surprise racked through me. That was the  Dionysus? God of wine and parties and basically everything your parents warn you not to do?

If the boy saw my shock, he didn't say anything. Instead, he just continued, "He calls me Lucky, which I find quite annoying, considering the only creatures I've ever met with that name were all pets."

"What's your actual name?"

"Lucas," he said. "Lucas Burgess, at your service."

He seemed to realize his mistake too late. I snickered. "Are you aware that rhymes?"

"No. That was completely on accident." He rolled his eyes. "I'm no son of Apollo. I can't write poetry."

"Who are you the son of, then?" I asked.

He ran a hand through his wavy hair. "Athena. Goddess of wisdom, battle strategy, and handicraft. Daughter of Zeus and Metis. Greek equivalent of Minerva. Her symbols include the owl, the olive tree, the-" He paused, then shook his head. "Sorry. Sometimes I go into information dumps. I like to share stupid trivia."

"It's okay," I said, a smile growing on my face. "We all have our quirks. For example, I can't seem to sleep at night."

Lucas shrugged. "Neither can I. Insomniacs are drawn to other insomniacs, I suppose..." he trailed off, his windy gaze shifting from me to something behind me. "Um. One of your sisters just came outside."

I whirled to see that he was right. My bunk mate, who I had briefly met earlier, was standing outside on the porch, her eyebrows raised. Her name was Riley. She was the same pretty, always smiling black girl who had sat with Alec at dinner and accompanied him and Lee during Capture the Flag. Tonight, her smile was gone, and she was looking at me with an unrecognizable expression.

"Uh-" I turned back to Lucas. "I'll be back, I guess?"

I made my way back to Riley, who was leaning against the railing, and hissed, "Can I help you?"

"You know you're breaking curfew, right?" Riley asked, calm as a summer's day. "If the harpies catch you, it won't be pretty."

"Harpies?"

"Winged, old woman-like spirits. They're like the Camp's cleaning ladies. But they'll also eat you if they find you sneaking out at night."

She said this nonchalantly, as if it's a perfectly normal thing for Ancient Greek bird monsters to eat unsuspecting teenagers. My mouth parted in surprise. "Eat?" I whispered, suddenly feeling like I was being watched. "You've got to be kidding me."

"Nuh-uh," Riley said. "We lost a cabin mate a couple years ago to it. It was grisly." At this, she pressed her lips together, shaking her head. "I don't want that to happen again. Especially because you're so new."

"Okay, okay." I crossed my arms. "I'll come back in."

"Good!" Riley exclaimed, instantly back to her usual cheeriness. A smile grew on her face.

"Let me go tell Lu-"

Riley's expression soured again. "I wouldn't recommend that, either. That boy gives me the creeps. I don't trust him at all."

"He seems perfectly nice to me," I said with a frown.

"O-kay. If you say so, girl. But don't blame it on me if he turns out to be a bad guy - or if you both get eaten by harpies." She nodded her chin in the direction of Lucas. "Besides, he's already gone."

I turned and saw she was right. He had already gone back inside. Too scared of getting caught, perhaps? Or maybe he had some vendetta against Riley. I didn't know. But he intrigued me.

Even as Riley led me back inside the cabin, and we both got back into our bunks, and I tossed and turned trying to sleep, I couldn't get Lucas out of my mind. The way he carried himself. His odd disappearance. And more than anything, those stormy gray eyes, which reminded me far too much of my first dream. Which, in turn, made me think that something big was starting to happen.

~ ☼ ~

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