With the capture of the demigods, Luke sailed away from the Malfoy yacht. Jacquelyn watched until the yacht disappeared from her vision, then climbed into an emergency life raft that was behind the yacht. She dispatched Magnus to retrieve her bag (which contained Ron's book, the POV gun, the diary and the rosary beads, and the wand) as the others climbed into the raft.

When Magnus returned with the bag, Jacquelyn started up the raft and the raft quickly sped away from the Malfoy yacht. She felt guilty for not being able to stop Luke or help her friends. Magnus said to her, "You did the right thing; Luke was foolish to think that he could take on both you and them. Plus, we can't be on his ship, as we're not demigods."

"You're right," Jacquelyn said as the raft shuttled towards Los Angeles. She knew that it was not over yet, as Luke was planing to go after her as well...

"This really sucks," Jacquelyn snapped as she and the others pulled up onto the dock. They had recently evaded capture by Luke Castellan and so far, they all knew that give or take, Luke was going to come after them. It was only a matter of time when that happened.

"Now, let's go over this again, shall we?" said Jacquelyn.

"Go over what?" said Magnus.

"Remember the night when Sam and Alex died?" said Jacquelyn.

"Well, that's not something that we need to talk about," Magnus said with a strange look on his face.

"I have a feeling that Luke knows something that we don't," said Jacquelyn.

They frowned as they thought back to the day it happened...

(Summer 2006)

7-year-old Jacquelyn was glaring at the lake; she wasn't too fond of swimming in something that fish, ducks, and turtles swam in. She was going through her "clean" phase.

"Don't tell me that you're scared of a little lakewater," 11-year-old Sameth laughed as he saw Jacquelyn.

"No," said Jacquelyn. "I'm not fond of swimming in water that fish swim in."

"Gross!" Magnus (who was also 7) echoed.

"Come on, Sam, leave them alone," 10-year-old Alex snapped. "I'm sure she don't want to scare off the fishes for tonight's dinner."

"That's enough, you two," 9-year-old Sara snapped. "Leave Jacquelyn alone or else your head's going to end up in a garbage can!"

"I don't see how this is helping us," Magnus cried out.

"Wait, there's more to this story," Jacquelyn snapped. "Remember what happened that night?"

"Oh, I think we haven't forgotten that night," Magnus said.

(the night of July 10, 2006)

The kids were laughing as they heard Arexus sing yet another bawdy song, one that annoyed Irina to no end. She said to him, "Rex, are you sure that the kids should be hearing the beer song?"

"They're only kids once, Rina," said Arexus. "We can't protect them forever."

"It's not that," said Irina. "I'm just concerned that they'll grow up repeating those naughty jokes that you're exposing them to."

"You know my clan can't resist a good beer joke," Arexus laughed. "Now, tell the kids to get ready for the night hike. If all goes well, then they can get a glimpse of Mars tonight."

Meanwhile, the kids had climbed down a huge hill and were wandering around in anticipation for the night hike. None of them knew that they were standing near Camp Half-Blood. Magnus said, "Uh, I really think that we should be heading back to camp."

"What's the matter, scaredycat?" Sam mocked him.

"Sam, would you cut that out?" Sara snapped. "Besides, he's right. We don't know what's down there."

As the kids climbed back up the hill, a huge monster was spotted. Jacquelyn noticed the monster and shouted, "It's a monster! Run!"

Arexus heard her scream and rushed towards the terrified children. The monster roared as he lunged at Rex, who swatted him away. Irina pulled out her staff and zapped another monster. The kids ran to the pentacle of protection that Irina had set up hours earlier. The monsters snarled and lunged at Jacquelyn and Sara, but Arexus and the older children pounced on him and they all vanished without a trace.

Irina was heartbroken to discover that her husband and children were no longer there, but Jacquelyn and Sara were safe. Magnus had alerted his father, Helmut Ebersbach, and he and the other werewolves quickly subdued the other monsters.

With the rumored deaths of Arexus Ritterwolff and his stepsons Sameth and Alexis Ulrich, Irina blamed a local wizard for her husband's death. The Silverroot clan rallied together to get that wizard executed. Irina that's how Jacquel and Sara (along with their little brother Jeremiah) and went to stay with her mother Isabella Braumlein Crenshaw.

Magnus said, "I think Luke told us because maybe he was giving us a clue. But a clue to what, I wonder."

"Maybe Sam and Alex aren't as dead as we think," said Jacquelyn. "Mom refused to believe that and she set out to go find them last year. I bet she's still looking for them as we speak."

"We'll go find them after this is over," said Magnus. "They can't be missing forever. If we're lucky, then we might be able to find your dad as well."

"Indeed," said Jacquelyn. "But we need new clothes. It'll do us no good to be wandering around L.A. dressed like this." She glanced at her travel-stained silver dress and shoes. "We need a disguise and a place to hide where Luke will not be able to find us."

Within an hour, in clean clothes, the tiny group found themselves hiding in Disneyland. Magnus felt skeptical, as if he knew that something bad was going to happen. But Jacquelyn and the twins had convinced him that Disneyland was the safest place for a spellcaster, three young werewolves, and a stowaway to hide. Plus, the tourists there could be fooled into thinking that the magic was part of the park.

Even then, Jacquelyn knew that nothing good was going to come from her hiding in the park, especially when her biggest secret was about to be revealed...