Louise/I
Before being attacked by the possessive demon, Louise already knew that her day was going downhill. The Never-ending roads continued to roll past in a hazy blur while the hot, stuffy air choked the children. The heat from outside increased tenfold due to the metal outer case of the bus they've all been cramped into. All of that made everything just seem to utterly suck for Louise in that single moment.
Well, it wasn't so bad. They all could have had to hike if the bus broke down like it almost did 10 minutes beforehand until the driver saved the day with a punch to the complaining engine. Or, they all could have been stuck indoors all day and suffer from the heat and shear boredom.
Optimism tried to surface, but the children that wheezed for breath and gurgled their water or own spit to live made the positivity die a rather slow and painful death under the burning inferno of the sun.
As everybody slowly baked to death, they went to tactics such as stealing water bottles or trying to break sealed windows to keep themselves hydrated, until a whiff of bitter air blasted into the compact vehicle from a singular open glass panel that somebody was somehow able to open. God knows how the window got open, but the kids didn't utter a single complaint as the sucked up the cool breeze like panting dogs as their body temperatures began to decrease.
However, Louise, the person that sat right next to the cranked open window simply gazed up at the clear afternoon sky, her elbow rested on the arm of her chair as her hand cupped under her chin, while the other hand battered on her thigh to a spontaneous beat - a random rhythm forming as her finger patted along to the humming she made. She took in the cold air in calm breaths, treasuring the sweet breeze with a starry-eyed look to the horizon.
"Yo, Torch." A boastful girl sneered, woken from her heat-induced slumber. "Hey, Firestarter, I'm talking to you!" The girl continue to yell when only a silence pause replied to her. Something hit the backside of Louise's head, everybody holding their breaths as the ball - was that paper? - rolled down her back.
Louise simply rolled her eyes, the action was unseen by the girl because Louise was facing the wrong direction and the hood of her navy jacket she wore (even though anybody would loathe the idea of wearing a jacket in this heat and get their back drenched in sweat like Louise has) concealed her entire face.
"Oi! Firestarter! You gonna talk, or do I have to throw more than a bunch of paper to gain your short attention span?" The girl continued, the tone of annoyance and mocking in every word.
"Leave her alone, Tiffany. She just wants to have a moment of peace before she has to suffer you again for several more hours." A boy retaliated coldly, but his comeback was so quiet that it would have been impossible to hear if the bus had not been so deadly silent.
"Oh, stay out of this, retard, before your burn out your brain again." Tiffany snapped, causing a chorus of forced giggles to be released from Tiffany's army of yapping girls that are known as her 'friends'.
The insult made Louise tense, her back straightening as she tore her eyes away from the landscape she admired to spin on her sticky, leather seat to glare at Tiffany. The arrogant girl, whose glossy lips held a wicked smile, cackled as she flicked her bleached blonde hair with its tack tie-dyed streaks of brunette.
The change of Louise's position got Tiffany's attention. "Look, Torch finally decided to place her non-existent attention on us!" She sneered, "What? Did we insult your retard of a friend without your consent?"
"Tiffany, there really is no need for us to hear you yapping voice." Louise replied, her tone low and almost threatening as her hood shadowed over the scowl on her face "If you want attention, go on that '16 and Pregnant' show or something. I'm sure they'll love you on there."
Laughs broke out as Tiffany's eyes widened in shock, before her brow creased and her eyes went evil and venomous. "Very funny joke, Louise. Got that from your retard friend?"
Louise bit her lip hard, a growl threatening to escape her. "Care to repeat that, you little fucking-"
"Louise, don't." The boy spoke, Louise cutting herself short at the boy's begging tone. She glanced at the seat beside her, to see bright brown eyes stare up at her pleadingly behind a scruffy, golden fringe. Staring down at the boy, before releasing a sigh of defeat and returned to her seat - even though she didn't know she was leaning off her seat in the first place.
"Listen to the retard, Louise, and appreciate that's he's actually being smart for once!"
"What makes him a retard?" Louise snapped, "What? Is it because he's dy- dysl-" Her fists clenched in frustration as she attempted to pronounce the difficult word, "Dyslexic? Is that why you keep calling him a retard and being a downright fucking bitch to him, huh?" Louise glared at Tiffany and, even though her blazing eyes were hidden, made her shuffle uncomfortably in her gaze.
"Well, duh. It's so obvious, I'm surprised you haven't thought about it yet and just abandoned him." Tiffany tried to recover, though her groupie of friends gave her cautious looks rather than an encouraging chorus of giggles.
"Well, I'm dyslexic and ADHD. So who's really the retard here?!" She yelled, hands shaking, "Go on, answer me! Or are you to fucking scared to say anything?"
Tiffany was speechless, and the children were gaping like a fish at Louise. The poor boy beside her only sighed, his head bowed in shame.
Louise didn't falter, she keep her stare down at Tiffany with her fiery eyes, mentally challenging the brat to speak. 'Oh, I can just kill you right now.' She thought, 'I could just push you out the window and watch you get run over.'
'Do it.' Her mind urged, 'Kill the mortal before it kills you.'
Okay, that was new. Louise doesn't remember having a dark voice in her head encouraging her to do bloody murder, so she decided it would be best to stop thinking up of ways to brutally kill Tiffany within seconds.
Finally, Louise broke her threatening gaze and got comfortable in her seat. She returned to patting on her thigh with her fingers, while fumbling with the hood of her jacket as if to find ways to make it conceal her face even more.
Silence filled the vehicle once more, everybody sitting back in their seats since they believed the action has died off.
"Guess that's why your parents left you." Tiffany mumbled.
Tiffany was already on the floor with her face being punched in before anybody could blink. Cries escaped the cluster of Tiffany's audience as the girl got her head bashed on to the ground, Louise clasping hold of her wiry, dried out hair as she punched.
"Oh my god-!", "Tiffany, holy shit-", "Do something, Tiffany-!", "Somebody stop this!" Everybody screamed as they burst into movement. But they were all too slow, and Louise had already dragged Tiffany up from the ground, smashing her head against the back window of the bus.
"Louise!" One boy clasped Louise's arm, trying to prevent her from bashing Tiffany's head in further. Louise gave them a glance. It was the boy with the gold hair and brown eyes. "Louise, stop!" He yelled at her, using all his strength to pull her arm back. "Please," His voice was calm and soft, "Louise, you're hurting her. Just stop."
His voice made her let go of her clasp round Tiffany's hair, and the beating girl collapsed on to the ground with pained groan. Her eyes flickered open, showing anguish and confusion. "Wha- Where-" She stuttered as people eased her up and set her down on her seat.
Louise got dragged away by the boy that convinced her to stop, his sturdy hand placed gently on her back to guide her away and prevent her from turning around in case she wanted to strike. Guilt filled her as she witnessed Tiffany almost fall on to the ground again, before a friend caught her. However, the thing that made it all worse was, after she regained some sense of reality, Tiffany had a twisted, victorious smile on her lips which made Louise's stomach churn.
"Come on, Louise. Let's settle you back down." The boy spoke with a calming tone as he settled her back into her seat, "It's okay, Louise. Tiffany isn't that badly injured, you didn't hurt her as much as you think." He tried to reassure as Louise looked back out the window, rubbing her hands with the sleeves of her jacket to get rid of the small splatters of Tiffany's makeup and blood smeared across her palms.
"Here." The boy took hold of her hands. Louise glanced back at him to see him holding a wet wipe, cleaning away the grime on her hands like he's done this hundreds of times before. "You shouldn't have done that, you know."
"I know," Louise grumbled, "but she asked for it."
"Look, I understand that your parents are a difficult subject -"
"It wasn't that." Louise cut him short as she shook her head which eased her hood away from her face, revealing bangs of brunette hair that shone auburn in the sun streaming through the window. Vibrant turquoise eyes stared up at the boy with an emotion akin to pity. "I'm tired of them picking on you because they think you're weak." She spat.
The boy gave a small smile chucking the wet wipe out the open window with success. "I can fight my own battles. And, besides," He shrugged, "I am kinda stupid-"
"You're not stupid. And you're definitely not weak." Louise spoke, "You're just a kind guy, like everybody should be..."
"But-"
"Al, you're not stupid. Trust me." She repeated, causing the boy to go silent.
"How many times do I have to tell you? It's Alex, not Al. So stop calling me that." He scowled, getting a laugh out of Louise.
"I like calling you Al. It's either I call you that, or Alexander -"
"Don't you even dare." He snapped, but his eyes told that he was enjoying this argument, "Now, just sit down, Sea Urchin, and try not punch anymore people until we get of this goddamn bus."
Louise rolled her eyes over-dramatically, before gazing at the clear blue sky once more as she thought about the past couple of minutes and listened to everybody try to find out how she was able to leap from her seat and attack Tiffany within a second.
"Alright, fuckwits." A voice yelled as the children rushed out of the bus to feel the cool air, but a figure in front of them made them all halt.
A woman glared down at the children, her tweed jacket and pencil skirt emphasising the strictness and authority she held. Her square glasses were perfect, just like her black hair which was placed into a tight, straight bun. She tapped her foot as she watched every child with her striking green eyes.
"I've come all this way in a stuffy, crack joint of a car -"
"You should have been on our bus, Miss." Alex mumbled, making Louise giggle as they stood at the back of the crowd of children in front of the woman.
"- to make sure that none of you misbehave or represent us as a bunch of fucking idiots-"
"Shouldn't of brought Tiffany along with us then." Louise added, causing bother Alex and her to bark out laughter.
"Oi, you two at the back!"
"Oh shit." Louise blurted out as the children parted so they got the full force of the strict woman's glare.
"Do you know who I am?" The woman spat as she glared at Louise, then Alex, then back again; the fire in her eyes burning fiercer with every glance at them. "I am Miss. Manti, and I'm the person to make sure none of you make a bad impression on the Cherry Tree Children Caring Home!"
Ah, the Cherry Tree Children Caring Home, 'A safe place for your precious cherries' is their cheerful motto. Even though, the place was far from cheerful. It was a rather abandoned house on a towering hill that's located at - ironically - Cherry Hill, New Jersey. The place was cramped and horrible, unless you were one of the children that are only staying their because their rich parents were leaving for business and needed a place for their children can be well cared for and treated with comfort (sarcasm is always intended on the last comment).
However, if you're an orphan with nowhere else to go, you basically threw yourself into a hellhole. The caretakers insult you and pick you out, always trying to humiliate you to give the rich kids some cruel entertainment. You're rarely feed, barely clothed, and they give you no chance of peace or freedom.
"Miss. Manti, the Cherry Tree Caring Home already has a bad impression. You're just trying polish it up so you can suck up all the filthy money the rich mommy's and daddy's give you." Louise retaliated, loathe of the place emphasised in every word.
Louise expected Miss. Manti to explode with anger and scream at her in fury, that's kinda what Louise wanted for some reason. But, instead, the woman gave a too warm and forced smile. "Alright, children, gather into pairs while I talk to..."
"The name's Louise Johnson, Miss." She spat as Miss. Manti gave a humourless laugh, and forced all the children away until they were out of earshot. Alex gave Louise a worried, cautious look as he went past as if to say 'Watch what yo say'. Also, he gave Miss. Manti the most threatening look that probably would have burnt her alive if words could actually kill. Shame she didn't burst into flames, Louise would have preferred that then the next thing that was about to happen...
Miss. Manti faced her, her smile slipped away. "Miss. Johnson, I don't think you understand how important the impression our children's care home truly is." Miss. Manti was up in Louise's face before she could back away. "If our care home got a bad impression, then that would mean we'll be shut down. So while everybody else is sent to their lovely homes with their rich parents, you will be forced onto the streets. And I'm sure, knowing your...history -" Louise flinched, "- with past orphanages and care homes, I'm positive that you'll be stuck on the streets, alone and hungry. Do you want that, Louise, do you really want your ass to be on the street?"
'Yes.' She had the urge to say. She'll prefer being on the street, so then she might finally be able to...
An unclear memory surfaced, the warm feeling of a home blooming in her chest and overwhelming her senses in a sudden rush. But, the distant emotion popped like a balloon, and reality returned.
"No, Miss. Manti." Louise grumbled. "I don't want to be on the streets, I'd have nowhere to go." The truth struck hard as she mentally added, 'I have no home.'
"Oh good." Miss. Manti gave wicked smile as she leaned into Louise's ear and whispered, "Now partner up and behave, or you'll be on those streets before you can utter a single word." Chills went up Louise's spine as Miss. Manti backed off and returned to the group of children, leaving Louise frozen in place.
Alex was standing there in the distance, his eyes sympathetic as he waited for her to come with a warm smile. She walked up to him, the fear and panic in her mind dimming away with every step, her feet becoming more lighter.
Suddenly, somebody grabbed her elbow and dragged her off. Louise spun to be face to face with the cold glare of Tiffany, her makeup plastered and her smile joyful. She laced her arm around Louise's elbow, forcing them to interlock. "Come on, Sparky, I think we'll be a great pair."
"But I already had a partner -"
"I recommend you're not grouped up with that boy," Miss. Manti appeared from nowhere, "You'll both ruin this trip and our impression. Tiffany volunteered to be your partner instead."
They both showed a wide, joyful smile that gave Louise the absolute creeps, the feeling like they want her being mentally tortured on this trip occurring in her thoughts. As Miss. Manti walked off once more, Tiffany yanked her arm to mumble, "One bad move and I'll make sure you're dead."
Louise glanced behind her to meet eyes with Alex, who has been forcely attached to one of Tiffany's minions, a desperate plea shown in his eyes. 'Sorry,' she tried to express with her eyes, 'I can't do anything to save ya.'
"Right, everybody!" Miss. Manti announced, standing on the grand steps to the museum towering over them, "We're only gonna be at the Metropolitan Museum for a couple of hours, so make sure you've finished your whole worksheet -" She patted the pile of paper in her arm for good measure, "- before the end of the day. This whole worksheet is about the Roman and Greek section of the Museum, so none of you must leave that exhibit without my permission. If you do so -" She seemed to glare directly at Louise when she said, "- there will be consequences."
"Okay then, remember to stay with your partner at all times! Let's go!" Miss. Manti spun on her heels and began marching up the marble steps, the pairs of children following trailing after her.
"Oh, this is going to be so much fun." Tiffany spoke, her voice more like a hiss as her eyes seemed to glisten yellow from the angle Louise glanced. And that was when Louise knew her day was about to get nasty.
A/N: Hello, Demigods! This is the brand spanking new version of Hidden Secrets. It's been revived and altered (almost completely) for the better! I hope you've liked this chapie so far and would like to read more!
Now, I must mention, I'm not a Myth Master like the fantastic (and sadistic) Rick Riordan is. I don't know what great opponents, monsters and quests I could use in this story since the only thing I have is my poor excuse of an imagination and Google Search. So, if any of you have any ideas, then please suggest them to me! I'll give you credit for it and I'll be most grateful because, until I got a full plot going, this story will be of slow progress.
If they were any grammar/spelling/punctuation/etc. mistakes in this chapter, then inform me by PM. And don't forget to Rate and Review!
-Quilly