Chapter Six:

Sienna's POV

I followed Lou Ellen to a clearing where marble benches where lined up all around a bonfire. Hordes of kids had already had surrounded it. They were all laughing and joking. A group of kids where tuning up their guitars at the front of the fire.

"Apollo's kids," a girl leaned over and said to me "They always lead the sing alongs."

"You're Katrina, right?" I asked, suddenly recalling her name.

"That's me. This must all be pretty weird to you, huh? I remember my first day here. I thought everyone was pulling some sort of prank on me."

I nodded and followed her to one of the benches where we sat down.

Honestly, I hated being around other people, I was the definition of the term 'Anti-social.'

I won't lie: As soon as it started to get dark I snuck off. I didn't know where I was planning on going, but the beach looked like a nice place to start. The sun was just starting to set, the sand looked like pure gold, and the water was sparkling. It was pretty nice.

I took of my shoes, well Annabeth's actually, and walked along the shore line. Ahh, solitude. It had been a while since I had been at the beach (And no, yesterday didn't count.)

My thoughts drifted off as I remembered my first day on the beach. I was five years old. The had water lapped around my ankles and I had giggled with delight. And then I remembered who I was with that day and my throat tightened as tears gathered at the corners of my eyes. I brushed them away.

"Don't." and suddenly he was next to me. He hates to see me cry over what had happened to him.

I nodded and took a deep breath. "I'm fine, it's just that..." I couldn't bring myself to finish but I knew that he knew what I meant. He always does.

"Yeah, well better you then me, right?" he triedto lighten the mood.

"And if we switched places I would be saying that to you." Who knew a ghost could make you so angry?

"Speaking of switching places..." he trailed off.

"It seems like the curse won't be skipping me." my voice was forlorn.

"Don't say that." he argued.

"Yeah? And why not?"

He sighed in frustration. "I better be going. It looks like we have company."

My head snapped up and sure enough, Percy was walking by the water. Someone was with him, a fisherman by the looks of it.

"Come back soon." I whispered to my brother, but it's carried off by a gust of wind. And just like that, he's gone.

When I look back up at Percy, he's alone.

"Who was that?" he asked me.

"Nobody. Who was with you?"

"Just my dad." he shrugged, "What are you doing out so late?"

"What do you mean?" But when I looked up at the sky I can tell by the position of the moon that it must be past midnight.

"It was 1:00 when I left my cabin and I've been out here for a while. So tell me again what you were doing with some boy in the dead of night?"

Even though were related I blushed a little. "Nothing. I'm gonna go to bed, enjoy the water."

Annabeth's POV

I was tempted not to show up at the camp fire but decided to against it. After all, I didn't want everybody to think that I couldn't handle all this. However, that did not mean that I wasn't going to get out of dodge as soon as possible. I put on my cap of invisibility (Yes it was one of those situations) and hurried away.

The Athena cabin was completely empty so I threw on a pair of sweat pants and an old t-shirt and climbed into my bunk. And I dreamed.

I dreamt of a girl. She was four years old and had a dandelion in her meaty little fist that looked like it was the size of her face. She blew as hard as she could and giggled when the tiny little petals scattered in the wind. It took me a second to realize that it was a memory, just not my mine. It was Sienna's. I felt guilty for intruding on something like that but I couldn't help it. It was a dream, remember?

The scene changed. It was still her, but she looked older. Seven, maybe. Her black locks hung in curls down her back and she wore a white night gown. She stood on the edge of a balcony, the moonlight giving of an eerie glow. The resemblance between her and a ghost was frighteningly close. She was singing.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where they strung up a man they say murdered three.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Are you, are you
Coming to the tree
Where the deadman called out for his love to flee.
Strange things did happen here
No stranger would it be
If we met up at midnight in the hanging tree.

Tendrils of mist swirled around her and I caught my breath. It seemed like a pretty twisted song for a seven year old to sing. Her voice was mournfully sweet. Suddenly, a hand rose out from the mist and grasped her on the shoulder.

I woke with a start, beads of sweat forming on my brow. It was morning. I looked around and saw that everybody else was still asleep. The door to our cabin was slightly ajar and the cool, crisp morning air wafted in. I caught my breath. It couldn't be...

I tip-toed to the open door and stood there, transfixed on what I was seeing. From where the Athena cabin was located I could see just over the crest of Half-Blood hill. And on Half-Blood hill was Thalia's tree. And swinging from a branch was a rope noose.

Are you, are you coming to the tree, Where they strung up a man they say murdered three. Strange things did happen there...

A\N: Yes, the song is from THG (Team Gale!). I do not own it.