Jack Orin and The Death Dome

Chapter 2 Unexpected Guest

I stared in disbelief. She was actually at my door and smiling at me as if we were friends.

“Jack Darling, it’s been ages, how have you been," Aphrodite said as she let herself into my home. "So, this is your new place? Honestly, I liked the one in Greece better; it was bolder and had style.” She walked around my home and inspected the area in disgust.

If stares could kill a god, she would have already been dead. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought I told you that the next time I see you, I would end you."

 Aphrodite smiled and showed the mark of Zeus and Ares on her wrist. "You know what these marks stand for. Lay a finger on me, and both Ares and his father will come down here and kill you where you stand."

 I looked at the mark as I raised my hand at her. Gust began to pick up, and lightning surged from my hand. "You think I'm scared of Zeus? You know how many favors he owes me. If I killed you now, he would let it slide, and besides, we both know you would just weasel your way out of death."  

           Aphrodite began to walk over to my coffee table and sat down on one of my leather chairs. “Such a temper; what happened to that sweet boy who asked me for help all those years ago?”

           "He grew up," I said as I walked closer to her. I began to circle the coffee table like a wolf would do to its prey.

 Aphrodite lit up a cigarette and began to smoke. "Honestly, darling, that's a shame. I liked that boy. He was filled with hope, laughter, and pride; why do you think I let you marry one of my offspring. Gabriella was such a lovely daughter."

           A bolt of lightning released from my fingertips and cut her cigarette in half. "Don't you dare say her name. She would be alive if it wasn't for you. Hell, she would have been resurrected if you didn't convince Hades to force her to be rebirthed so you can brag to the other gods about how many of your offspring had been given that honor."

 Aphrodite lowered her ruined cigarette and stood up. Her eyes began to glow as a surge of power radiated from her body. With a flicker of her eyes, I was sent flying back against the wall behind me. "Don't you dare act like you know the true wrath of a god. Remember, you may be old and powerful to some of this earth, but to a god, you are no more than a useful ant to do one's bidding! You know nothing of my will or my goals! so don't pretend a puny mortal like you would know my intent.”

           Before she could finish, markings began to form around her, and magical ropes surged through the ground and restrained her limbs, and stretched them as far as they could. The power keeping me to the bookcase disappeared, and I landed on the ground. As I brush myself off, I can hear my teapot whistling. I walked over to the teapot and began to make myself tea while Aphrodite struggled with the magical bound that has her powerless.

           “What have you done? Release me at once!” She said as she struggled for freedom.

 "Impressive is it not," I say as I sip my tea. “I picked it up from some mages in Egypt. It’s a powerful spell meant to restrain deities. You would be surprised how hard it was to find some of the materials necessary to even make this spell as powerful as it is. The horn of a unicorn, the blood of a demon, and the hardest ingredient… the feather of an angel.”

           The eyes of Aphrodite were enraged as she struggled to activate any type of power. “Release me NOW!”

 "No, this is what I am going to do. I am going to send you back to Olympus, and you can tell whoever sent you here that I am not interested. If they have a problem with that, then they can bugger off. I am not some errand boy for the gods, that's what Demigods are for. I'm sure you guys could make more if there aren't any ones available at the moment." 

           She struggled as I began to chant the spell to send her back to Olympus. She then stopped struggling and mumbled something familiar.

           I stopped chanting and looked at her. “What did you say?”

           She smiles and looks at me with a grin, "Julia Ann Harper."

 The color of my face washes away, and my hands go numb. I raised my hand to the sky, Kuri Mulika. A book flies down from one of the rooms on the second floor and flips open. As the pages turn to the page, I need. I take a look at the dusty book that hasn't been open in a decade. The last time I looked at this book was when it glowed to add another name to the page. As the book stops flipping pages, I look at the drawn tree that connects itself with other names. As I looked at the bottom of the book, I see the name of a girl, Julia Ann Harper. The descendant of Gabriella and me.

           Aphrodite began to laugh as she saw my face full of surprise and scorn. "Now, are you ready to listen now, or are you going to send me on my way and endanger whatever family you have left?"

           Huyu mashuntita. The barrier that bound Aphrodite begins to fade, and she is released from her binds.

She walked over playfully to my coffee table, grabbed my teacup, and began to drink from it. "Splendid, now, since we established that you are going to finally listen to what I have to say, I have something to give you." She pulled a set of files out of thin air and levitated it towards me.

I slammed the files down and pointed my finger at her. "Before anything I want to know how you know my descendant's name, I went through a lot of trouble hiding any descendants of mine from yours, and anyone deities grasp. Hell, I even made sure that I didn't know where they are."

Aphrodite smiled and continued to drink my tea. “It took a little time and a few hundred men and women, but I tracked her down. Do you want to know how I found her?”

I stood there in silence and disbelief. I made sure to put a spell on my grandchild before I hid her. I made sure that if any deity or angel were close to my descendants, it would render them invisible or not noticeable to the deity. I even used three angel feathers and the blood of Raphael to do it. She must have had help.

"I found her orphaned and alone. At the end of her ropes, begging for scraps on the streets. It seemed her mother was a drug addict. She made a deal with the devil to spend eternity in paradise for a price, and her father was killed in a d*******l gone wrong. You should be thanking me for saving her from a fate of hunger and death.”

My jaw began to clench as I stared into her eyes. “What did you do, what the hell did you drag my kin into?”

"I took her in and under my wing. I trained her to help me with my daily problems and any problems my other children had. She has your tenacity and the beauty worthy of one descended from me. You would be surprised how much power she had, even with all the other bloodlines tangled into her genes yours and mine were still strong, and through her training, it shows. She has a real knack for magic, specifically elemental magic. Gabriella would be so proud, and you should too."

"What the hell does this have to do with me then?" I asked. Aphrodite motioned me to open the file, and I do. I saw the files are information on seventy different people. The files have their names, pictures, social security, and any type of information. As I was going through the files, I noticed a name, Julia Ann Harper. I hesitated but slowly opened her files and saw what she looked like for the first time. Aphrodite was right; she was very pretty and had green eyes like Gabriella. She was African American with light brown skin, and her hair was dyed red.

“A thing of beauty is she not.”

As I looked at the rest of the files, I noticed something alarming. Each file I saw had a missing person's report attached, including Julia's. As I read each missing person's report, I noticed that each person was taken in a different location across the globe, but in the same manner. "What the hell did you drag her into?"

"That's what I want you to find out. I sent my underlings to each of the scenes and even borrowed some from Ares and Athena. None of them could figure out what happened. When I asked Athena to take a look, all she could find was trace amounts of ancient magic and a beast of unknown origin. Whatever took them was fast and powerful, but very random. We could not find a connection to connect them to anything. Each person was different, ranging from a boring accountant to a mage that specializes in plants. As you can see, we are having trouble finding any type of connections and are extremely busy with other matters to peruse, which is why I came to you. Find Julia and the others and bring them back alive if you can. Also, stop whoever is taking these people and whatever plan they are implementing.”

I put down the files and looked Aphrodite in the eye. “What’s in it for me?”

Aphrodite finishes my tea, puts it down, and stands up, getting ready to leave. "If you do this, I will make sure not to tell every demon, devil, and any supernatural being you have crossed about your connection with Julia Ann."

“If you tell them, you would be in danger of losing another pawn in your precious game.”

Aphrodite smiled as she began to walk towards the door. “My dear boy, I would just have her marked by Zeus and Ares, no one would be foolish enough to harm her then, making it easier for her to obey me and never question my will. And that, my dear boy, is something you would not be able to live with.”

I walked towards the exit and opened the door for her. "I will find her and put a stop to whoever is taking these people. If you have anything to help me start, it would be appreciated."

Aphrodite walked with the same confidence she always had towards the door. "In the file, you will find some cloth and some blood from looks to be from the unknown beast. Athena was able to procure that it is human in origin but also has demonic attributes as well. Her tracking spells failed to track the beast, but knowing you and your range of different spells, I know you can find a way to track this thing." As she walks through the door, she stops short and turned to face me. Before I could get a word in, she surprises me with a kiss. As she stepped back from the kiss, she continued in her walk, exiting from my house and leaving me with my thoughts.

I stare blankly for a second to collect my thoughts; after a few moments, I then close the door, locking it before continuing to the files where the bloody cloth lay. As I approach the coffee table, I stop for a moment, and I scream.