Treasure of Calliope: Chronicles of Zeus' Daughters - Book 1

Chapter 4: The Story

Alex Carellis' office could be considered large as far as home offices go. The double doors leading into the office were natural wood with a single pane of glass. There were bookcases along the far wall, each one full of different books and framed pictures and small statues. On the far-left side was a formal desk with a laptop and light. On the opposite side of the room was a fireplace with 2 couches, each couch facing the other and a glass coffee table in the middle. In the center of the room was a conference table with 6 chairs around it.

Everyone was still sitting in the office with letters spread all over the office when the parents walked in. Their faces changed from surprised to fear within seconds. Kyra's dad was the first to compose himself.

"What are all of you doing in my office?" he asked as he and the others walked the rest of the way into the office.

Kyra's dad walked around to the front of his desk and next to where Kyra sat in his chair. Kyra's mom sat on the couch between Cassie and Alexis. Helena, Ellie, Kat and Tessa were sitting at the small conference table where the bulk of the letters were strewn. Tessa's mom and dad sat down with them in the remaining 2 chairs.

Kyra stood up from his chair and took a deep breath. "We know our family is in danger and know now about some of the secrets you all have been keeping from us. Stop treating us like little kids and tell us what is going on so we can all help, as a family." She was sure to emphasize the last part and stared directly at her dad.

"We've read through all of the letters but there are still a lot of questions," Alexis said.

"According to these letters, you are not my biological father," Kyra said holding up the letter in her hand looking at her. "You are my dad, and no letter or biology lesson is ever going to change that. The letters don't say who he is, and I know in my heart mom would never have cheated on you. So, how am I here?" she asked, looking at her mom who had tears running down her face.

Seeing his wife was unable to speak through her tears, Kyra's dad decided to tell her the story of what happened. "First, just know that we both love you very much and we only kept this from you to protect you. And you're right, your mom would never be with another man. But, if that man looked like me, how would she know?"

"What do you mean? How is that possible?"

"Once I tell you the story, it will make a lot more sense. When your Uncle Chris and I first met your mom and aunt, it was in college. We met completely by accident. They were sitting on a blanket studying and we were flying a remote-control plane that we modified during engineering class. Suddenly, the power goes out on the place and crashes into them. We, of course apologized and then offered to take them out to dinner to make up for crashing into their study time. It took some convincing, but they finally agreed. Things moved pretty quick and we had a small joint wedding a week after graduation. Your grandmother couldn't make it so we had offered to travel to see her in Greece and spend our honeymoon visiting the area and maybe even sneak in a camping trip here and there. That was something we all had in common but we loved it for different reasons."

"We went right from the airport to your grandmother's house first and then planned on going to the inn where we had the reservations after dinner. But when we got there, Mei insisted that we stay with her. She had your uncle Theos collect our bags from the rental car and put them in our rooms before we had a chance to say anything."

"You could have told her no," Emi replied and then smiled at both men who shook their heads.

"I have no problem admitting that I have a very healthy fear of your grandmother."

"I knew you were smart when I met you," Emi shot back.

"Theos was really helpful in finding the best places to hike and where the best sites were to set up camp. Your grandmother had the staff pack us extra supplies and food saving us a trip to town, so we were grateful."

"We spent the night drinking wine and hearing embarrassing stories about both of your moms when they were growing up. The following morning, we all got up and went down to breakfast. I remember your grandmother was not feeling well so your Uncle Theos asked if we could stop by her room before leaving. When we got to her room, she was sitting up in bed with lots of pillows supporting her. She looked a little pale and very tired. She told us she had a bad dream that night and was worried about our camping trip."

"She kicked your dads out of the room so she could talk to us alone and warned us to be very careful because of the dream she had with a big white bird that attacked your mom. We had learned a long time ago to listen to her dreams. Even though dreams are not literal, they should still serve as a warning. She was so worried that she had already asked your uncle Theos to pack two shot guns, extra firewood, and flashlights, just in case," Aunt Emi said

"We got there, and everything was beautiful. I took several pictures, and they made up my first artist exhibit which sold out in just a few days," Uncle Chris said.

"And we didn't have to leave to get firewood, but we did leave. I had heard about a rare plant that only blooms at night in the area which some researchers were looking into possibly helping with memory. According to legend, at that time, the pollen from inside the flower can help improve brain function but it has to be collected at night because that is the only time that it is in bloom. I wanted to get a clipping to take back to my lab and study it. Maybe even see if I could grow and reproduce it. I eventually found there was truth to the legend, but politics got in the way."

"We were not aware of it at the time, but the date of our outing was the middle of what is called a galactic alignment which only happens 4 times every 25,820 years. We only knew that the site had a perfect view of the milky way and a lake with water so clear that you could see to the bottom."

He stopped for a second knowing what their next question was. "Before you ask what the galactic alignment is, you all have computers, look it up. Anyway, when we got to the site, your mom and aunt would normally get the site set up and with the lake right there to try and catch a fish or two for dinner. This allowed us to go hunt for the plant."

"After about an hour or so of hiking, I saw the plant I was looking for and went over to get a cutting of it. I put the cutting in a plastic container and put it into one of the pockets of my pants. Next thing I remember is I am waking up with a headache and the sun is on the other side of the horizon, rising. The first thing I do is call out for Alex and when I don't get a response, I stand up trying to get my legs to work and start looking for him. Thankfully, he wasn't that far from where I was, but he was unconscious. I checked him and was relieved to find that he was breathing. I checked his head to see if he had any kind of trauma but didn't find anything. He looked like he was in a deep sleep, but I couldn't wake him up. I took the first aid kit out of my backpack to see if there was anything I could use and found some smelling salts. As soon as I put that under his nose, he started to wake up. He asked me what happened, and I told him that I got hit over the head but have no idea what happened to him."

"I got up and stood as quick as I could, and we ran back to the campsite terrified for the girls. They were both standing there at the campsite and neither seemed hurt, but your mom looked really confused," Alex stated as he looked back at his wife Rhea whose tears had finally subsided.

"We didn't have cell phones back then, so we had no way to find out where they were. We had always agreed that the best course of action was to stay at the campsite and wait 24 hours before heading back and calling for help. After they had been gone 2 hours, we figured they got turned around trying to find that plant and would eventually use their compass to make it back to the campsite. We got the fire going, boiled some fresh water and cooked up the fish we had caught. It was dark so once we cleaned everything up, we decided to enjoy the view of the stars and fire for a little while before getting some sleep. All of a sudden I felt really sleepy, so I told your aunt good night and crawled into my tent and fell asleep."

"A few minutes after you went to your tent, my eyes got really heavy, but I managed to grab a blanket and curl up next to the fire since it was such a beautiful night out."

"I don't think it was too long after I fell asleep then your dad Alex came into our tent. I was relieved to see him. When I asked him if they had found the plant, they were looking for he didn't answer and just started to kiss me and then the birds and the bees did their thing. I woke up and the sun was coming up and he was nowhere to be found."

"I woke up hearing Rhea walking around the campsite and thought maybe the guys have finally made their way back. She asked me as I climbed out of my tent if Chris was still sleeping. When I tell her I haven't seen Chris since he and Alex left the campsite to find that plant, she got a scared and confused look on her face. I asked her what was wrong, and she just shook her head saying something about how she was crazy and must have dreamed that Alex was in the tent with her last night."

"I felt like someone really was with me but can't explain how. He looked like my husband, but he didn't kiss me like he normally did. When I saw him, and Chris walk back into the campsite I had so many emotions. I was relieved that they were okay but at that moment I knew it could not have been him with me during the night, but I couldn't say anything about it. My mind just wouldn't help me form the words. So, after we all hugged, we packed up the campsite and enjoyed the rest of our trip seeing everything we could before we had to head back home."

"It took me a week after we got home before I could tell him what happened. We both cried and when Emi and Chris came over for dinner that weekend, we filled them in. Part of me wished it was just a bad dream but that fell apart when I missed my period. I immediately went to the store and got a test which verified I was pregnant. I called Alex at work and told him the news and he somehow was not surprised. He said we were in this together and were going to love this child unconditionally.

"I walked in as she hung up the phone and knew something was wrong. She was still in tears and I've never seen her shaking so hard. I told her it was going to be okay and picked up the phone to call our mother. Things were like a blur as fast as everything was moving after that phone call. All of us stepped away from our jobs, packed up both apartments, and we moved halfway around the world to this house. Your grandmother is a force not to be reckoned with."

"We found out later that that your grandmother had the renovations done to the house, even before Emi had called her," Chris added.

"Your grandmother insisted we move here and told us about a hidden room which held answers. We would not find the room until the answers were needed."

"When she first told us about it, none of us knew what she was talking about at least not until a man showed up on our doorstep on your fifth birthday with the same blue flowers we had received for the previous 4 years and another note. He announced that he was the one who was there that night during the camping trip and acknowledged that he was Kyra's father. He showed us a mark on his arm which matched the birthmark that you have on your shoulder."

"It took both of us to hold your mom back because she really wanted to kill him for violating her like he did that night. That one act changed our lives so much and she had worried for the longest time that it was because she had done something wrong. That she should have known that he was not her husband that night."

"What about the hidden room?"

"We found the door to the room but have not figured out how to open the door yet. Maybe now that you all know about it, you may be able to figure it out."

"The older man from my dreams, the one who used to read us bedtime stories. He was the one, wasn't he?" Kyra asked.

"Yes, we believe so."

"All of you have always learned everything so quickly and easily. All of you were able to read chapter books by the time you were three and you were able to speak better than most children twice your age. That was when we decided to homeschool you and bring in tutors to fill in the gaps and just use the local school for basic classes. As each of you got older, the assignments that were being given to you took less time, so we had to add in more subjects and physical activities. Kyra, you have a gift for playing strategic games and excelled at fencing. Even before you were 10, you've been able to beat your dad and Uncle Chris at chess," Kyra's mom said.

"Tessa, you have always had a gift with animals and anything about nature, you grasped so easily."

"Cassie, you have always been able to work independently and have a firm understanding of your feelings. Alexis, you've always been able to keep the peace between everyone. If there was sign of a conflict, you were right there acting impartially and finding a way to have each party see the other's perspective. "

Helena, you seemed to pick up languages the easiest and we think you have a gift for writing poems. Ellie, you've always had the ability to write these because songs and can tell when there is key out of tune on the piano. And Kat, you've always been able to see things spatially, finding things on maps that others may not have caught."

"Does that mean we have different dads too?" Kat asked with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"We honestly don't know. Your grandmother has always said that all of you are special but we don't know if she meant special because you are her grandchildren or special as in she has information the rest of us don't have and means all of you have gifts. We've asked her about it but she would never give us a straight answer."

"Why have we not heard all of this until now?"

"As you have read in the letter, it was very clear that we were not to tell anyone anything about that day otherwise there would be consequences. At first, we didn't believe the notes but when we talked to your grandmother and Uncle Theos about a year after you were born, they were in a car crash the following day. They were very lucky to be alive. So, we didn't think it was worth the risk to any of you children to say anything. We're afraid now though because you've found out and have read the letters."

"That trip we were planning was going to be more than a vacation. We have been researching ways to keep you safe, and we think by going to live with your Grandmother and Uncle Theos for a little while we may all be able to keep all of you a little safer."

"Kyra is not the only one having dreams warning her of danger."

"What do you mean Tessa?"

"My dreams which start out playing with the wolves out in a field have escalated into a nightmare where I'm attacked, and the wolves are killed trying to protect me."

"What about the rest of you? Any dreams that warn of danger?"

"I don't think I've dreamed at all in the past couple of days," Kyra replied.

"Is that the same for everyone?"

All of the girls thought for a moment and then nodded their heads in agreement.