Carmen's POV-

Lights are blinking, signaling a restaurant called Mel's Diner. "Let's pull in here and see what they have," I say, trying to break the tension.

Hunter nods and pulls in. He turns off the car somehow and I get out first. Everyone else gets out and we head into this diner. First things first; some tables had a layer of dust on them, some had a layer of grease. Nasty. Nobody seems to be in here so I lead them to the least dirty table possible. I sit down and Raphael sits next to me. Hunter sits across from me and Amelia sits across from Raphael. "Where is everyone?" I ask them.

Raphael shrugs. I sigh. No use trying to break the tension. "I have go to the bathroom," Amelia says quietly.

I nod. She gets up and leaves. "What are we going to do?" I ask the boys.

"I don't know," Hunter says.

"Neither do I," Raphael agrees.

"We can't just leave her. Maybe she isn't evil after all. Maybe Apollo is lying to us," I tell them, trying (hoping) to be positive.

They nod. We just sit in silence, waiting for Amelia and a waiter or waitress. No one comes and I start working about Amelia. Where is she? I stand up and go looking around the place. It looks old and rusted. Some of the seats are falling apart and the colors are faded from the sunlight. I try to find a bathroom, but I don't see one at all. I go in the kitchen and notice that the oven is broken and the refrigerator's handle broke off. There is a backdoor so I head out of it. Just a small wooded area. I head into the trees and hear talking. "Amelia? Is that you?" I ask.

The talking immediately stops. I look behind a tree and see Amelia standing there, looking whiter than before. "H-hey," she says.

"Hi. I was just wondering where you went," I tell her.

Please don't let her be a traitor, please. Any gods or goddess' please don't let my aunt be a traitor, I pray to any god as I stumble back to the restaurant. Once I'm back inside, I notice something slightly different. The oven is on even though its broken. That's not a good sign. The fridge is opening even though no ones there. I walk quickly back to where Raphael and Hunter were sitting but there's no one. "Hello? Hunter? Raphael?" I ask, getting really worried.

"Where are they?" Amelia asks, making me jump.

I steady by breathing, but not my heartbeat. "I don't know," I tell her.

She frowns. "That's weird."

I nod and walk out the front door. I look around near the car but I still don't see them. I go to the right side of the building and see some bushes.

"Hunter, Raphael!" I call out quietly.

Nothing. I start running to the other side of the building and see two saplings. One has black leaves that has drifted down to the yellowing grass. The other one has yellow leaves on it. Swirling mist suddenly comes out from behind the saplings. I gasp. A beautiful lady emerges from the mist. Her black eyes glitter when she sees me. Her blonde hair is swirled up around her head. "Hello, Carmen Jackson," the lady says. "You don't know who I am, don't you?"

I nod slightly. "Ah, I see. I'm Hecate, goddess of magic," she says.

"Why are you here?" I ask, cutting to the chase.

She narrows her eyes at me. "I'm here to tell you that you don't know what you're up against," she says, her voice cold.

"Yeah, you are right. I have no idea what I'm up against," I tell her.

"Exactly why I'm here. You are up against something that hasn't been alive for thousands of years," she says.

"Do you know what it is?" I ask her.

She nods. "I can't tell you what it is though," she says and disappears.

The mist swirls away and the saplings turn into humans. "Hunter? Raphael?" I ask, unsure if my eyes are betraying me.

"Carmen? Amelia? What happened?" Hunter asks.

"We don't know," Amelia says.

I turn around and see her. How can she sneak up so quietly? I look at Hunter and mouth 'I need to talk later'. He looks confused so I shake my head. Raphael coughs hard and out comes a leaf out of his throat.

"Ewwww!" Amelia and I squeal in unison. Hunter does the same thing but multiple leaves fall out.

"Ugh, that was nasty," Hunter says after a minute.

"Let's get out of here," I say as I walk to the car. I get in the back and so does Raphael. Hunter starts the car and the radio turns on.

"It's too late to apologize!" the radio went.

"Another song I like!" Amelia squeals, back to her old self.

Hunter laughs and drives out of the restaurant parking lot. "Why is she acting like this?" Raphael whispers in my ear.

"I don't know! Do you actually think she is a traitor?" I ask quietly.

"I don't know. Let's not let this get us paranoid or anything like that. Let's just try to forget about it. Maybe Apollo was just kidding around," Raphael says hopefully and quoting my words.

"Yeah, OK," I say, hopeful myself. Hopeful my aunt isn't a traitor.

I look out the window and see nothing but some trees pass by. A green sign breezes by, but I can't read it because of my dyslexia. "Carmen, how far do we need to go?" Hunter asks.

"I don't know. Where are we?" I ask, opening the atlas.

"I don't know! I couldn't read the sign!" Hunter says.

"Well, I couldn't either," I mutter. I tap my fingers on my leg, annoyed. Suddenly, the car is tipped downward. A hole appeared where our front tires were. I look down into the dark depths below.

"What happened?" I ask quietly.

"I don't know. That hole just appeared and here we are," Hunter says. The car suddenly moves forward, falling into the hole. The car hits the walls and my side of the door flies off. My seatbelt rips off and I flew out of the car.

I scream as I fall. "Carmen!" I hear Raphael yell.

I shut my eyes tightly. I hear another scream penetrate the air as arms wrap around me.

"Its alright, Carmen. I got you," Raphael says as I feel the sensation known as shadow traveling. We land right outside of the hole.

"Where's Amelia and Hunter?" I ask frantically.

"I don't know," Raphael says as two people come soaring out of the hole. They land in front of us.

"You guys are OK!" I exclaim, getting up and hugging both of them. Raphael joins us.

It must seem weird to see four teens on the road all hugging. Oh well. We pull away and I notice our car is gone, down in the hole.

"That must've been an entrance to Tartarus," Raphael says.

"Why'd it open up?" I ask.

"Don't know," he says. That's creepy. We all stare down the hole, wondering why it opened and why it wanted to swallow us up.