The Reaping of the Gods

Chapter 4

We quickly change into some street clothes which Josie was happy to lend me. Luckily we are both around the same size. Then we head towards the door to leave the Reaping House. As soon as the door opened I could hear the bustle and noise of a city. We head out the door and down the street.

“Do you know where you're going?” I ask.

“No but I'm sure we can figure it out.” Josie wraps her arm around mine and we laugh as we walk down the street. After like 5 minutes of walking we come into what looks like a town square. Shops and venders all over the place.

“See. We found it fine.” Josie pulls me into a clothing store where we find a few things for me to wear like shirts, pants and pajamas. Everyday things. We take our stuff up to the counter and Josie tells them to put everything on the Reaping account.

“Is this everything for you?” the gorgeous woman behind the counter asks.

“Um ya. Thank you."

“Oh you are that human. I heard there was one in the reaping this year.”

“Um ya I guess. How'd you know?” I ask.

“Oh just because ” Her tone is slightly condescending.

“I'm sorry.” I find myself apologizing for being human.

She hands me my bag and we walk out into the street. I take a seat on a bench while Josie runs around to all the different carts and shops finding little things here or there. I enjoy the sunshine and the peaceful atmosphere. Everyone seems really content and happy. If this is how it is to live here then I could see why someone would want to stay.

All of a sudden I feel a shiver up my spine. Like when you can feel someone watching you. Your body knows before you do. I look around but don't see anyone. I scour the market looking for Josie hoping to get out of here. When I see the silhouette of a man standing just inside the opening of an alleyway. I swear he's staring at me. For what seems like forever we just stare at each other.

“I found the perfect dress for you for tonight.” Josie comes up behind me, scaring me half to death. When I look back to the alleyway the man is gone. “Will you hurry up? We need to head back and get ready.”

She grabs my hand and starts pulling me up the street back to the Reaping House.

We get back to the room and all the girls are running around getting ready. All of them look gorgeous. Like super models. I was never going to be as beautiful as these girls. Josie handed me the bag with my dress and shoos me into the bathroom. I take a shower and get dressed. Josie has picked out a dark green, a-line dress with a deep neck for me. As I put it on I realized how deep of a neck line. It showed off way more cleavage than I was used to. But I loved the way it looked on me. I should let her pick all of my clothes. I then do my hair and make up myself and when I'm done I feel really good ab out how I look. I head out of the bathroom to grab my shoes.

“Oh my gods. You look amazing.” Hanna exclaims from the other side of the room.

“ I told you I found her the perfect dress.” Josie beams.

The next bit is spent fixing dresses and make up and just general chit chat.

Soon Anaya came to escort us down to the ballroom. She was wearing a nice black dress with a small broach. As soon as she said its time to go I got nervous. What was going to happen? Would I actually meet my godly match? If some god did like me or whatever would I like them back?

My thoughts were spinning and before I knew it were at the ballroom doors. Anaya turned around and held her hands up to quiet the chatter.

“Ladies, you are going to wait out here until they announce your name. When you head in you're name will be called and then you'll walk through the ballroom to the front. This will give everyone a chance to get a glimpse of you and know your names and lineage. You all look amazing and I wish you all luck.” With that she turns around and sneaks through the door. When the door opens you can hear the clatter and noise of plates and talking. One of the girls grabs the door before it closes and peaks through.

“Goodness there's a lot of men in there.” She exclaims.

“Let me see” Josie pushes through the girls and looks through the door. Then we hear the ballroom go silent.

“Gentleman. Attention please.” We hear Anaya's voice come from the stage at the front of the ballroom. “Before we start introducing these beautiful ladies, I need you to remember that if you sense your match to please wait until all the ladies have been introduced. There will be plenty of time to get to know them this week.”

Nods and mutterings of agreement fill the ballroom and so she begins.

“Our first lady is none other than Hanna. Daughter of a Werewolf Alpha.” Hanna hears her name and heads out into the ballroom. As soon as she steps out we hear oohs, ahhs and some whistling. I could tell that I was not going to like this part. Like a beauty pageant.

Anaya calls out girls names one by one and each get a similar reaction. Soon Josie and I are the last two to be called.

“Now Miss Josie is a Fae and just the cutest.” Josie hears her name and gives me a quick hug before heading. She strikes a pose and cheers abrupt. She wasn't shy and just exhudes confidence. She heads up to the front and was definitely getting a lot of attenton still. She looked adorable in her little black dress.

“Now last but not least we have Larissa.” I hear my name and I take a deep breath before stepping through the doors and into the bright spotlight. Silence. “Larissa is our very first Human.” Gasps and some mutterings. Wow they sure know how to make a girl feel welcome. I start walking towards the front of the ballroom and still silence. I'm just about to step up onto the stage when I feel the same shiver up my spine as in the town square. I quickly turn around to see if I could see anything. There at the back of the ballroom was a similar silhouette of a man. Somehow shrouded in darkness in this bright ballroom.

“That's all the ladies. Now they will come down and mingle but please they will hopefully get to talk to everyone. No fighting. You know the rules.” Anaya steps off the stage and heads into the crowd of men. Us girls look around at each other and shrug and then follow her into the crowd. As soon as we were in the crowd I could see men flocking towards different girls and chatting. Josie had a huge crowd growing around her causing me to slowly be pushed towards the edge of the ballroom.

Next thing I knew the dinner was in full swing. Mingling and chatting happening everywhere. Except me. I was alone on the edge of the ballroom staring at the fun. I knew I wasn't suppose to be here. I should just leave. No one would notice I'm gone and then they can send me home. It was a nice thought that a god would like me. I'm not sure why I even care. Do I care? I wanted to go home, right?

“ Why aren't you out there mingling?” a deep voice comes from behind me.

I turn around and see a tall, red haired man with piercing green eyes. He was gorgeous. His suit was a dark burgundy color which looked good but not really his color.

“Well, I'm pretty sure me being here is a mistake.” I reply looking back towards the ballroom as he steps beside me.

“Why would you say that?” He asks with a smirk.

“Well clearly I'm not anyone's match and who wants a boring human?”

He smirks at me and I can feel my heart skip a beat. “Well maybe they are just intimidated by you?”

“Hahaha that's hilarious. I'm not intimidating.” I say gesturing to myself.

“Well it looks like you caught someone's eye.” He says pointing to a man in the crowd that is heading towards us staring right at me. This man is tall, dark hair and skin, wearing a black and gold suit. Handsome but not really my type.

I turn to look at the man in the burgundy suit and he is gone. I look around confused.

“So you are the human?” The man in the black and gold suit asks.

“Umm, yes. Larissa.” I hold out my hand to shake his. He smiles and takes my hand and kisses it.

“Set. Nice to meet you, Miss Larissa.”

“Set? Like the Egyptian god? One of the big 9?” I ask thinking I heard him wrong.

“The one and only.” He says making a cheesy bow which makes me smile.

We continue our conversation and it was nice. He was kind and smart. Sometimes he came off a bit arrogant but he is a pretty famous god. I could tell people were staring. Before I knew it the dinner was coming to an end and the ballroom was clearing out.

“Well I am going to take my leave. It was nice to meet you Larissa. I hope I can enjoy your company again.” Set lifts my hand and kisses it before heading out.

Josie comes running up to me beaming. “I found him.” she exclaims pointing at a man in the crowd of people heading out.

“I felt the bond. It was undeniable. How about you? Feel anything?” She asks shaking my arm excited.

“I had a nice chat with someone but I didn't feel any thing close to a bond.”

“Well it might be different because you're human. Maybe it takes longer. Let's go and you can tell me all about it.” Wrapping her arm around mine we head back to the room. Girls are giggling everywhere, seems like most of them have found some sort of match or even just crushes. I wish I had gotten something similar but all I can think about is the man in the burgundy suit. He was gorgeous. Who was he?