Chapter 6
1176 Words
Chapter 6
“What the actual hell?” I ask.
I flex and the wings flex with me. That’s it. I’ve lost my mind. As I stand and search for my phone, my wings clip two different sculptures. With a gasp, I spin around to grab them and hit two more.
I freeze, afraid of more destruction. “Make them go away.”
“You need to practice shifting,” Hermes tells me. “Then eventually you’ll be able to change into a full”—he looks at me— “well, not sure what you are, honestly. Obviously you’re not a werewolf, or a merfolk. I mean, we can rule out anything that doesn’t have wings. Maybe you’re a harpy. They’re rare but not unheard of.”
I hold up my hand to stop him. “How do I…un-wing?”
“You mean, shift back? Just think about pulling your power into yourself. I know that sounds weird but if you do it right, it won’t hurt.”
I concentrate. And nothing happens.
“You should partially shift at least once a day.”
“Good to know.” I rub my face. “Now what the hell is going on?”
“I’m here to invite you to attend Mount Olympus Academy.”
“Oh my god,” I say.
“Gods,” he corrects.
I deflate. My dad is gone and my mom and sister are incognito. I pull into myself and feel kind of a pop. I turn around and around. My wings have disappeared!
My relief is short-lived. A quick look around tells that it was actually five different sculptures that smashed to the ground. Falling to my knees, I pick up pieces, wondering if there’s any chance I can get them put back together.
“My foster people are going to kill me.”
“Hmm.” Hermes shrugs. “Humans murder over the strangest things.”
I look up at him, unable to tell if he’s joking. “I didn’t mean literally.”
He stands and holds out a hand. “Leave that junk. Leave these terrible people who have so much junk and come with me.”
I stare at his hand, tempted for half an instant. Then shake my head and go back to sorting out lacquered gummy bears that had been shaped into a giant octopus.
“Look, I knew the password,” he tells me. “Also, YOU SPROUTED WINGS. What more proof can I give you that the gods are real and you belong with them?”
“And you’re here to take me to Hogwarts?”
“Mount Olympus Academy,” he corrects with a gleam in his eye. “We’ll help you, teach you about your past, and do our best to find your family.”
“Find my family?” Gummy bears fall from suddenly numb fingers.
“Your mother and Mavis, right?”
I nod as tears suddenly threaten. “You could really find them?”
Hermes reaches down and lifts me to my feet. No—floats me to my feet. “For one of our students there is nothing we wouldn’t do. Your mental and physical health is our first concern.”
He seems sincere. There’s a warmth in his eyes. And his hands which are still holding me. I want to smile back. I want to—
“Stop.” I jerk away, breaking the contact and whatever he was doing to me. Almost like he was trying to hypnotize me with warm gooey niceness. “What was that? And what is this school really? You just want my organs, don’t you? Are you going to sell my kidneys on the black market?”
Hermes has the audacity to laugh.
“Is this all just a joke to you?”
The laugher fades and he reaches out to me. I scuttle away.
He shakes his head. “I apologize. Okay? I didn’t realize when I came here today that I’d have to explain everything to you. It’s tedious and I thought a little charm might move us along a little faster.” He pauses and frowns. “It’s strange. It’s been centuries since that little trick failed to work for me.”
“Seduction is a little trick?”
He rolls his eyes. “Oh please. That wasn’t seduction. If I wanted to seduce you, you would know.”
Hermes takes another step toward me and though I want to hold my ground, I can’t. I can’t even hold his gaze, which is once again intense enough to make my breath short.
I pull out my inhaler and take a few short puffs before I’m finally able to say, “I’m not going anywhere with you. I don’t like you and I don’t trust you.”
“Not even for your mother and sister?”
“I. Don’t. Trust. You,” I repeat.
“Right.” He nods. “And what about for your father?”
“He’s dead.”
“Yes. Murdered. And the ones responsible are laughing at how easy it was.”
My hands clench into fists and my wings whoosh open once more.
Suddenly Hermes is at my side, not touching me, but his mouth so close to my ear I can feel his warm breath. “The Academy doesn’t teach normal classes. We train creatures like yourself to hunt. We would teach you how to find those who killed your father. You could make them pay.” He pauses and then adds softly. “For your grandmother too.”
“Grandma?” My throat goes tight.
“That elevator falling was not an accident.”
My heart is no longer a rock. It is solid and beating and furious. An hour ago it all seemed pointless. But suddenly I’m alive again. Dad and Grandma were taken from me and there was nothing I could do about it. Or so I thought. I can’t turn back time. I can’t bring them back. But maybe I can find justice.
Finally, I have a purpose.
I turn to look Hermes in the eye. “How soon can we leave?”
He smiles. “How quickly can you be ready?”
I run for my room, laughing as my wings catch more sculptures and they crash around me. It’s less amusing when I can barely get down the hallway. Or through my bedroom door. Luckily, as I quickly throw some clothes into a satchel they fold up once more. I tear off my ripped t-shirt and study it for a moment, realizing my wardrobe is going to need some modifications if I’m gonna be doing that on the regular. Since I’m changing, I also switch out my dirty sweatpants for jeans. The last thing I grab is Dad’s cell phone. I gave up on trying to figure out the code to unlock it and haven’t bothered to charge it.
Hermes calls from the other room, “You don’t need to bring everything you own. You’ll be given a uniform and anything else you need. Cell phones don’t work on campus. Neither do computers. There’s no WiFi, so nobody bothers. Bring some of that perfume you’re wearing, though. It’s got a nice smoky smell.”
“Okay, creeper.” I mutter, not bothering to inform him that I don’t wear perfume. Quickly, I grab a few last things, like a framed picture of us just before summer. I’ve kept it face down on my bedside table. Now I look at it again.
Dad’s mouth is open as he tells some joke I can’t remember. The rest of us are laughing. We look so happy it hurts.
I shove the picture in my bag and go to find Hermes.
“Let’s go. How did you get here? Do you have a car parked outside? If not, I have a bus pass.”
Hermes grins. “Oh honey, I don’t ride the bus.”
“Well?” I ask.
“We’re going to fly.”
- Writer
