Sophie placed her last shirt into her backpack. Malcolm was watching her every move, hovering over her. “Don’t forget ambrosia.” He nagged. Sophie rolled her eyes, but placed the brownie like medicine in her bag.
She slung the bag over her left shoulder, and strolled out the cabin with Malcolm following. Sophie headed for the Big House, and saw that Denise was already waiting on the porch.
Malcolm envelope her in a tight hug. "Be careful, okay?" He whispered in her ear. Sophie nodded, too choked up to speak. Sometimes having a protective older brother paid off. She hugged him tighter, but let go when she felt tears welling up.
“Bye. I’ll miss you.” She waved back to him and headed towards Denise.
Denise stared at her. “Was that your brother?” Sophie nodded, watching him stroll back towards their cabin.
“Listen,” she faced Denise, “I’ve heard that on quests, people sometimes fall in love with their friends, so we have to make a pact not to do that with Blake, just to keep it fair.”
Denise’s eyes widened. “Okay. I don’t think anybody wants to be a third wheel.” Sophie held out her pinky. Yes, that was cheesy and lame, but she had to make her point across somehow. Denise’s pinky and hers linked. They shook, and Blake came to the Big House just in time.
“Hey, guys. I’ve never been to New Rome, so this should be interesting.” He smiled at them, and Chiron strolled up to them.
“Argus will drive you out of camp, and from there Roman alumni campers will help you along the way if you show them the letter I’m giving you.” He handed them an envelope. Denise grabbed it and placed it in her backpack.
Argus led them to one of the camp vans, and Sophie felt like laughing. Denise’s expression was priceless as she noticed all of his eyes.
Sophie settled into a seat in the van, and Blake sat in the middle. She looked out the window, and watched as the familiar landscape rolled by. She usually only left the camp during the fall to visit her dad. Snow was falling to the ground, and Sophie realized it was winter.
At Camp Half-Blood there was a barrier that repelled all the bad weather. Khione was making a storm outside the van. Sophie grabbed her jacket from the back seat and wrapped it around her shoulders.
Her, Blake, and Denise made small talk as the car sped through traffic. Argus dropped them off outside New York City, and Sophie shivered in the cold. Denise and Blake also put on their jackets. The snow fell and snowflakes gently landed on her hair.
Blake led them into the nearest public building, and they rushed inside, quivering. A woman smiled at them, and Sophie realized they were in the bottom floor of an office building.
“Hello, may I help you?” She kindly asked, her dazzling white teeth nearly blinding her.
Sophie glanced at the others, and Denise walked up to the woman at the desk. “No, we were just coming to warm up. It’s freezing out there.”
The woman’s smile became colder. She seemed to sniff the air. “Hello, children. I’m Poena.”
Sophie begin to wrack her brain. The name Poena seemed familiar. Denise stared at Poena, and quickly leaned back to whisper to Sophie. “She doesn’t have a ghost.”
Poena nodded, as if she had heard Denise. “Of course I don’t have any ghosts. I’m a spirit myself.” Sophie barely had time to pull out her dagger as Poena lunged.
The three all scrambled.

Notes

Thanks for your feedback! I'll try to write more of this story, and work on my other. Yay! My winter break just started, so I can't wait to sleep in, and have more time to write.