Left In The Rain

[HAYLEY DEMON]

Get out, Skeleton Face. You're not welcome at Camp Half-Blood.

That's right, run away, you wimp!

The words of the random Ares and Aphrodite children stung as Hayley ran through the trees, her brown hair flying behind her. She hated this. This horrible life she had.

In the summer, she was tortured by the other campers.

The rest of the year, she was stuck in the Underworld with a father who was always trying to please her, but always failed.

Finally Hayley stopped running and sank down beside the trunk of an old oak. She pulled her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around her legs. She rested her forehead on her knees and sobbed.

Hayley didn't like crying, it disgraced everything she believed in. But now she wanted a life now more than ever. She wanted her parents, she wanted to go to school, she wanted freinds, she wanted to live outside the Underworld.

But most of all, she wanted her mother to love her.

Renee hadn't cared. She just let those strangers take her baby. All she wanted was to be famous and have everything she wanted. Everything she didn't want was left out in the rain. Including Hayley.

[TRISTAN JACQUES]

Strolling through the trees calmly, Tristan bounced slightly to some tune or other that happened to be running through his head. At the moment it was some catchy tune he'd heard at a teen club last time he'd ventured away from camp. Of course as sad as he was to admit it, music was about the only thing he was managing to enjoy outside of the camp.

As he walked, he heard something and froze. Tilting his head, he heard the tell-tale rustle of running feet and then sobs. Frowning deeply, Tristan slowly began to wander toward the sound. He hated hearing some one upset, no matter who it was. Maybe he could help who ever this was.

Eventually spotting the girl curled up beside a tree, he smiled slightly and came closer, kneeling a few feet from the figure. He wasn't dumb enough to get close to some one he didn't know in a situation like this, wasn't worth risking his neck for. "Hey now.....What's got you all upset?" he asked, eyes not leaving the girl. "What ever it is can't be worth tears."

[HAYLEY DEMON]

Hayley's head jerked upwards. The dead murmured things she didn't want to hear. "Shut up!" She muttered, too low for the boy to hear, "Go away and leave me alone. Go haunt another kid for once." Her voice was soft.

Then she looked at the boy. Her dark green eyes gleamed murderously under her hair, like they usually did.

"What do you want?" Her voice was hostile and cold, edged with bitterness. Not a hint of kindness. It was all the horrible voice someone got while spending most of the year in the Underworld with Hades.

The rocks around her quivered, but Hayley controlled herself. She was not going to kill anyone today. Especially not with sharp rocks. And not at camp.

The ghosts crowded around her. It was a good thing Hayley wasn't claustraphobic. Their mumuring was unbearable. Hayley's hands went up to cover ears, but it would do nothing to deafen the noise.

[TRISTAN JACQUES]

Tristan visibly stiffened at the girls reaction to him. He had been fussed at before, yelled at, even attacked on an occasion or two, but he's never been given such an evil look before. Was he really that annoying and bad? He'd never even seen this girl before.

Bracing himself, Tristan shook his head slightly. "I was just stopping by to make sure you were okay." he said slowly, watching her cover her ears against something. "But from the looks of it you are having some problems." He mumbled, standing and slowly coming closer. "Look....let me help." he pressed on. He picked a real good day to leave his staff back at his cabin, he just hoped she wasn't too good with fist fighting if she got annoyed enough to attack.

Of course he wasn't too good with hand-to-hand either. He was screwed.....He had that distinct feeling that he was getting in over his head and he was stupid enough to continue bothering the girl.

[HAYLEY DEMON]

"And how are you going to help?" Hayley said bitterly. "I don't need help, it's something you'll never understand." Her hand wanted to go toward her Stygian Iron sword, which had shrunk from three feet to about three-quarters of a foot in its sheath.

Hayley looked at her feet, and gave the dead around her an evil glance. They scattered, not wanting to make their master's daughter mad.

"I'm perfectly fine, It's not like I'm twelve or anything. Gods, I wish you people would stop making up these things."

Hayley turned her murderous forest green irises onto the boy. The skull and crossbones tattoo on her ankle glowed a little, but it stopped once Hayley realized it.

Oh, how she would have loved to be a Zues' child. She would be the most powerful of all demigods, and her father would be lord of the heavens.

But, no, she had to be a Hades girl who apperantly had 'problems'. Other demigods couldn't see or hear the ghosts that haunt children of Hades, so they thought a child of Hades was emo and possesed.

Typical stereotypes.

[TRISTAN JACQUES]

Tristan snorted, crossing his arms as she snapped at him. Alright, this girl was starting to get on his nerves. What right did she have to speak like that to him when he was only trying to help. She acted as if he had already committed some great offense against her or something.

"Look, I don't know what is going on with you, but I just wanted to offer whatever help I could give. And I'm not making things up. Generally if someone is alone in the middle of the woods crying and curled up, some thing is wrong." Tristan said slowly, looking her over. "And generally the polite response to someone you don't want help from is to say 'I'm fine, thank you. I'd like to be left alone.' not to snap at them."

Tristan normally didn't take to arguments too well, but at the moment, he was extremely annoyed with this girl, so he could forget about his aversion to confrontation for the time being. Not to mention he could still sense that this girl was troubled by some thing, and his desire to help people greatly outweighed most of the rest of his personality in situations like these.

[ARTEMIS]

"That dosen't mean I want your help." Hayley stood up, her eyes blazing.

"And maybe I'm not polite, because I grew up in the middle of hell!" Hayley retorted sourly.

The ghosts were swarming. "I've had it!" Hayley unsheathed her sword, and it grew three feet. It was shiny and black wth Stygian Iron.

She slashed it through the ghosts. "Now leave me alone!" She sheathed it back and ran.

Hayley was fast. That was what she got for jogging around the Fields of Asphodel every morning. She was also an expert at dodging. Each collision with a tree was easily adverted.

The woods looked like the misty Twilight forest...filled with skinny trees and mist. But the mist you see everywhere are actually ghosts. They were sent by Hades to guard his children.

But all they did was annoy the crap out of Hades kids. Especially Hayley.

[TRISTAN JACQUES]

Tristan took a few steps back when she unsheathed her sword, but he didn't run away or even really become scared. he was just cautious of exactly where she was swinging the thing around. Of course he didn't follow her right away when she ran off, just watching her.

Rubbing the back of his neck, Tristan looked around and groaned. What was he going to do now? Common sense told him to just back off and leave her alone, but he hated listening to reason. The cautious part of him told him to at least go back to his cabin and get his staff, but then he'd lose her trail. Grumbling to himself, he gave a small shrug before trotting off after the girl. He at least wanted to make sure that the wasn't going and taking out her frustrations on another innocent camper.

As he followed her through the trees, Tristan didn't worry about speed or agility, just following her trail with ease. He had spent many years at this camp, so he knew every rock and tree of this forest like the back of his hand. Of course it did help that she didn't seem too concerned about hiding her tracks. Of course, if he guessed right, she was a Hades kid, which meant she really didn't have much to fear from other campers. Or at least she didn't in his opinion.