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Chapter one
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The snow drifted down, covering the bus shelter, turning it into an improvised igloo.
A shivering figure sat huddled inside the dark interior.
It was close to midnight, and Cyana prayed there would be another bus soon.
She hadn t seen a car in the last thirty minutes.
Cy had chosen to research until the library closed.
Her roommate, Jennifer, had agreed to pick her up at this spot in return for an evening with Cy s car.
She should have been here forty-five minutes ago.
Cy stood and stomped her feet, she sighed and watched the steam from her breath dissipate.
It was an unusually cold day in January for Shale, the temperature was in the mid-thirties, there was more than an inch of snow on the ground, and more was falling fast.
If Cy hadn t been so desperate to finish the paper that was due, she wouldn t have even left her apartment.
Cy took a deep breath and made up her mind, she was too cold to wait for Jennifer another minute, she was going to have to make her way to a telephone.
The dorms would be closest, hopefully, whoever was tending the front desk would take mercy on her.
The snow beneath her feet was a soft powder that covered the tops of her boots with every step she took, slowing her, and forcing her to work twice as hard to get to her destination.
A malevolent full moon shone through the leafless trees casting twisted, grasping shadows upon the silver snow.
The silence was broken only by the crunching of snow beneath Cy s boots, setting her teeth on edge.
Every horror movie she had ever seen, or ghost story she had ever heard played through her mind.
Cy stopped, pulled her backpack off her shoulder, and reaching inside pulled out a small can of mace attached to a key chain.
Replacing the backpack Cy continued on her trek feeling slightly better.
It was always better to be safe then sorry.
Eros Cupid Deity, known to his friends and enemies alike as E. C., looked down the sight of his automatic crossbow at the figure making its way through the snow.
He was perched among the branches of a tree, blending against the trunk, appearing as if part of the tree.
E. C. began to load the crossbow tracking the figure as it moved closer through the snow.
Suddenly he felt a prick on the tip of his finger.
Looking down he saw a drop of blood coating the poisoned tip of the bolt he was loading.
E. C. hissed, raised the crossbow and managed to get a shot off, before his vision began to swim.
The shot went wild, thunking into a tree three feet away from its intended victim. E. C. cursed silently, Mother was not going to be happy, he thought as he began losing conciseness.
He had just enough presence of mind left to keep from falling out of the tree before he passed out.
Cy stared at the arrow that had struck the tree a few feet from her head.
She looked down at the small tear in the sleeve of her coat that the arrow had caused when it passed by her.
She looked from the tear to the arrow again and paled.
Without turning to look where the arrow had come from, Cy began to run for the dorms, praying to any god that was listening that she would get there safely.
Cy arrived panting and grasping her side.
It really was time she started going to the gym, especially if this was going to be a recurring incident.
Looking through the glass door she spotted her friend Jim behind the desk, his head was down while he thumbed through the tomb before him.
Cy began to knock on the glass frantically.
Jim finally glanced up at her, smiling as he came and opened the door.
Hey chica, you freezing out here, Jim laughed as Cy fell inside the door.
Turning, Jim closed the door behind him as he went.
Did you run here, he asked?
Cy nodded her head, still struggling to get oxygen into her burning lungs.
Here sit down before you pass out, Jim pulled the rolling chair from behind the desk.
Cy shrugged her backpack off and collapsed into the chair, all in one motion.
Someone . shot at . me! Cy said between breaths.
Jim's eyes widened in alarm. "SHOT AT YOU?"
Cy nodded, An arrow, she turned and pointed at the tear in here coat, It just . barely . missed me.
Some of the alarm left Jim s face, It was probably just some fraternity prank.
They don't usually think those things through.
I could have been seriously hurt!
There's nothing we can do now, they ll be long gone.
Jim shrugged, We could call the police, wait for them to show up, then fill out a report.
That would be about all they would do though.
What were you doing outside at this time of night anyway?
"I let Jennifer borrow my car while I studied late, she never came to pick me back up." Cy breath had slowed to an almost normal rate.
"I was headed here to use the phone when this arrow came out of nowhere."
"Does Jennifer even have a cellphone?" Jim asked.
Cy rolled her eyes, "No! She doesn't like it when people can keep tabs on her. I was thinking I would call a taxi."
Jim reached across the desk and pulled the phone out of its cradle and handed it to Cy.
"Hopefully one will come in this weather. Hey if you can't get a hold of anyone I can drive you home, my shift ends in two hours."
"Thanks Jim, I'd really appreciate it."
Cy looked at the phone and began dialing a number from memory.
Cy hung up a few minutes later, "Well it looks like you're off the hook, there should be a taxi here in forty minutes."
Jim and Cy spent the time talking about professors they had shared, and mutual friends.
Eventually a yellow cab pulled up to the front.
The driver left the engine running while he ran to knock on the door.
Cy grabbed her backpack and walked out to the taxi.
E. C. regained conscience fifteen minutes after passing out.
His head was pounding, and his stomach felt nauseous.
Slowly gathering his equipment he made his way down the tree and to the ground.
He walked to the tree his bolt had hit, taking out a pocketknife he pried it out of the bark.
Wrapping the arrow in a rag, he stashed it inside his duffel bag.
As E. C. approached his car he could hear the cellphone inside ringing.
Unlocking the trunk he stowed his bag, then walked around to the front, opened the door, and slid inside.
He started the car, and then reached for his cellphone to answer it.
"Did you complete the job?" A woman s voice demanded from the other end.
"No, there were complications."
"What complications?"
"I'll explain it when I get there."
"This had better be a good."
The phone on the other end slammed down in E.C.'s ear.
"Oh, trust me, it is." E. C. said to the silence.
After defrosting the windows, E. C. pulled the car around and headed for Gobzoo Temple.
He turned down a narrow access road that ended in front of a large white gazebo in the center of the woods.
Turning the car off, he climbed out and went inside.
A life size statue of a beautiful woman stood on a pedestal in the center of the room.
As E. C. approached, the statue began to glow from inside, and then crack.
As E. C. watched as Aphrodite brushed the ruble off her chiton, then straightened her hair before looking at him.
"What have you done now?" she asked.
E. C. held out the hand he had pricked with the bolt from his crossbow.
Aphrodite seized the hand closer for examination.
Then looked him in the eye.
"You can't even do one simple job for me, without messing it up, can you?" she hissed and shoved his hand away.
"Mother..." E. C. began.
"Don't call me that!" Aphrodite raved!
"If you loved me you would have done this simple little chore, but you couldn't even get that right, could you!"
You're just like your father! You go and screw everything up!"
"Mother," E. C. tried again.
"Your trying to make a fool out of me in front of the other gods, aren't you."
"You want to make me the laughing stock of our pantheon! Look at Aphrodite, no one loves her any more, she's loosing her beauty, no one makes offerings to her anymore, she's just so pitiful. How can she continue to be the goddess of love, when even her own son doesn't love her?" Aphrodite continued to rant, waving her arms madly.
"MOTHER!" E. C. shouted.
"What!" Aphrodite turned to face her son.
"As much as I enjoy your dramatics, perhaps you had find another audience to practice in front of. I am not in the mood right now."
Aphrodite gave an outraged gasp, and then tears began to well in her eyes.
"I knew you didn't love me anymore. No one loves me."
"Mother please, water works will get you nothing but red eyes and a puffy face, then you really won't be the fairest of them all."
The tears stopped as quickly as they had started, and Aphrodite pouted.
"That s better, now if you can talk about this rationally I m willing to listen." Her son informed her.
"What is there to be said, you ve gone and tied yourself to one who would seek to usurp my throne."
"No one is seeking to usurp your throne, were you even got that idea, I will probable never know."
"Someone left an anonymous tip on my hot line." Aphrodite sniffed.
E. C. s eyebrows raised, some times his mother could still find way s to surprise him.
"You have a hot line?" he asked.
"Of course, it s the latest thing." Aphrodite sniffed.
"Dare I ask what the number is."
"1-800-SINGLES-LINE. I even have a website! www./Aphrodtitie/date
E. C. just shook his head.
"And someone just called your number and told you that this girl was going to throw you over, so she could become the next goddess of love."
"Of course, why else would I have sent you in."
"Mom, did it ever occur to you that this was a prank?"
His mother was silent, apparently it hadn't.
"Tell you what, I'll keep an eye on her for the next few day's, while I think of a way to deal with my hand, and if I see anything suspicious you'll be the first to know."
Aphrodite nodded her head.
E. C. turned to leave.
"Eros, I'm sorry for what I said, that was very mean of me." Aphrodite whispered after her retreating son.
He turned to look at her.
"It's okay, I'm used to it by now." The corner of his mouth quirked up in a smile and Aphrodite was struck by how handsome her son was. "I ought to be after four thousand years."
Aphrodite gasped at her son's reference to her age.
Laughing E. C. stepped out of the make shift temple and walked to his car.
His mother s scream of rage followed him out.
Climbing in, he started the car, and began making his way home for the night.
He could feel the poison that had tipped his arrow beginning to take effect, and his body urged him to go and find the girl he had shot at, but for now his mind had control over his body.
E. C. pulled to a stop in front of a house in Ashelt.
Unlike his mother and many others in his pantheon, E. C. didn't cling to the old ways and insist on living in a temple.
He much preferred the comforts of a house, to those of a gazebo.
Cy paid the cab driver then entered her house.
Her roommate still wasn't home with her car, Cy growled in annoyance.
Flipping on the lights in her bedroom, Cy began discarding clothes left and right on her way to the shower.
The warm water would warm her frozen body and ease the ache in her muscles from her cross-county run.
After showering Cy pulled on her warm flannel Pajamas making sure to leave the door to her room open, so she would know when Jennifer got home.
Cy climbed between the covers of her bed and quickly dozed off.
At four thirty in the morning Cy woke to her some moving around in the room beside hers.
She got out of bed to check on Jennifer, to see if she had gotten home okay.
All the lights in the apartment were off; Cy opened the door to Jennifer's room and switched on the lights.
Someone gave a gasp.
Cy closed her eyes, taking a deep breath.
Cy stepped out of the room and closed the door behind.
Turning she began to fume as she returned to her own room.
This wasn't the first time her roommate had brought someone home.
Cy didn't like people she didn't know in her home.
Especially since Jennifer had agreed not to bring home any boy's for the night.
Before Cy had let her move in.
There was probably more to her anger then that but Cy didn't look to far into it.
Instead she climbed back into her bed, and tried to return to sleep, with the grunts, and noises coming from beyond the wall beside her head.
Covering her head with a pillow Cy reached over and turned her radio on, then turned it up Loud.
At seven Cy's alarm began going off.
She rolled over groaning and hit the snooze button.
After repeating this twice she finally dragged herself out of bed then went to the bathroom.
After her morning absolutions, she went to the kitchen to pour herself a glass of orange juice.
There she found a boy with dreadlocks helping himself to a pot of coffee.
After Cy sat down with her orange juice, the boy waved.
"Hey, I;m Chris."
Cy grimaced, "I know."
Chris raised his eyebrows.
"Wow you re psychic!"
"No, but you two made a ruckus last night." Cy took another sip of orange juice while Chris blushed.
"Sorry if we woke you up."
"Oh don;t worry about it, its not like I didn't have an important test today or anything." Cy sneered sarcastically.
She was never her best in the morning.
Chris got up from the table as Jennifer walked into the kitchen.
"Oh hey Cy. How was your night?" Jennifer giggled when she saw Chris, who smiled, walked over and kissed her on the cheek, then went on back to Jennifer's bedroom.
"Oh just fine, I had a great night." Cy snarled.
Jennifer looked at her as if she had sprouted a second head.
"Key;s right now! And don't even think about asking for them again." she sneered then added "Cause really I just loved waiting for you in the snow for an hour, then having to pay for a taxi home."
Jennifer paled, "Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry, I forgot."
"Save it, cause I don't really care right now, okay. I have class, and I need my key's back ASAP!"
Cy turned and marched to her room where she pulled on what ever was laying on the top in her drawers.
Grabbing her coat and backpack she turned around and picked her key's up off the table.
Jennifer slammed the door to her bedroom as Cy left.
Cy climbed, into her car, started it, then sat behind the wheel and struggled not to cry.
Then she glanced at the gas gage and saw it was on empty, then felt all her anger slam back into her.
Cy turned the car around then sped out of the neighborhood.
E.C stared at the zooming car.
Oddly drawn to it.
He glanced at the driver.
It was that girl.
The one girl that he wanted to avoid at all cost.
Funny, how in the snow she had been a playful child.
Now, she was one hundred percent woman.
Maybe it was the arrow working its magic, or maybe it was his nagging curiosity.
His fingers tapped the steering wheel momentarily then stopped.
He was going after her.
It didn't take long to catch up to the speeding car.
He could hear it from a mile away.
It was an old car, squealing and reeling down the road.
The girl was mad about something.
It intrigued him, just as much as the love tipped arrows increased his impulsiveness.
The car in front of him sputtered.
The driver pulled the dying car to the side of the road.
E.C smiled.
Here was his chance.
He pulled his sunglasses over his eyes, ruffling his hair to give him the bad-boy look.
Girls usually favored the dare devil over the neat outward appearance.
Cy leaned back in her chair and groaned.
Everything was going bad.
She was going to be late for work, school, for her life as a whole.
Why had she not accepted her late fathers offer to give her a private tutor?
College was a drag.
The passenger door opened and with it came a breeze of cold air.
Cy remained in the same position as before, her eyes still closed.
"Anything I could do to help? Asked a smooth voice near her ear.
Cy's eyes snapped open.
In instinct she pushed the person away, slamming back against the wall of the car herself.
It took her a moment to collect her senses.
Then she turned to the calm man sitting in the passenger seat of her car.
Your all and out bad boy.
He had the whole thing going for him.
Golden hair, a ethereal figure, a leather jacket, even the sunglasses enhanced the acute feeling of danger that he gave off.
"Who are you?" She demanded boldly.
Not hiding the fact that she couldn t stop staring at him.
His mouth was quirked up in a smile.
"E.C Deity, and you?" He said casually.
His bright azure eyes piercing.
Cy swallowed, instinctively reaching for her can of mace.
"Je suis m appelle." She replied.
He stared at her and his smile became a crooked grin.
"Surely, you don't expect me to believe your name is, Name." He said softly.
Cy winced. So, he wasn't dumb.
That just made this situation a little more difficult.
"Look, Mr. Deity, or whatever your name is can you leave? I'm not in the mood for games." She said, her back straightening in habit.
Ah! The unusual quirks of the rich person.
E.C raised an eyebrow.
"You don't like me?" He said it like a fact.
Cy looked up into those eyes again.
"Considering that you are a stranger, yes." She filled in, with a soft smile.
E.C's eyes narrowed suddenly.
"Yes, I think it best that I leave. Surely, you are not in the mood to play around." He said quietly, getting up and leaving.
Cy stared after his retreating figure.
Oddly, feeling much more optimistic about her life.
E.C Deity, we'll cross paths again someday.
She mumbled under her breath.
E.C slammed on the accelerator.
He still had his own mind, yet, why had he suddenly had the overwhelming urge to kiss her.
Someone he had not even known until yesterday night.
She should have been dead.
The one mission he had failed to fulfill.
Yes, his victim was hot to the point of distraction.
A slim figure, long legs, dark cascading hair, fair skin.
No wonder his mother was worried.
This girl was pretty, almost worthy of his notice.
At the stoplight he closed his eyes not being able to get rid of those large emerald eyes that danced.
Or the soft smile that had suddenly appeared on her face.
His eyes snapped open, he had to get her off his mind.
Or he might actually end up wanting this girl.
"What was her name?" He mumbled to himself.
"Its spring! The season of love!"
Cy's best friend giggled into the phone.
Cy pulled the cell-phone away from her ears, letting Tati rant about the fruits and love that spring offers.
It was like this every year, Tati firmly believed that spring existed for the very purpose of bringing people together.
"Cy? Hellooo! I asked you a question! Is there any guy your interested in?"
Cy searched her mind for any person she was interested in.
For an instant piercing blue eyes ran through her mind.
She couldn t help but blush.
"Well there was someone..." She began, leaning against the wall.
"What! For once you re actually interested! Who? Give me all the dirt!" Exclaimed Tati in exuberance.
Cy laughed. "Tati! Give me some time to think. I only met him once!"
"What does he look like?" Tati demanded.
Cy gave a shake of the head.
Tati never failed to cheer her up.
She could just imagine her legs in the air, head and scarlet hair hanging off the edge of her bed, her eyes twinkling with life.
"Well, he was tall, pale, almost ethereal!"
"Whoa, sister! Don't go using big words on me!" Tati interrupted abruptly.
Cy laughed again. "Basically, this guy was too hot to even exist!"
"Ooh! Heavenly! I want to see him for myself!" Tati exclaimed.
Cy winced and held the phone away from her ear. Tati could be so noisy.
"When can I visit you? I haven't seen you in the longest time!" Tati's loud complaining voice reached her ears.
Cy put the phone back to her ear.
"Whenever you want. Just don't tell her." Cy said equally enthusiastic.
"Sweet!" Exclaimed Tati into the phone with glee.
Cy smiled. "You know it. Come visit me, I want to see you too." She said softly. "Bye, Sugar."
"You too, Hon!" With a giggle Tati closed the telephone connection.
"Your boyfriend, Chica?" Jim's approaching figure, made Cyana look up.
Cy tucked a strand of rich brown behind her ear.
"No, just an inside joke between me and Tati." She explained, returning the cellphone to her purse.
Jim raised an eyebrow.
"Oh. That's great. Wish I knew what the joke was." He said running a hand through his dark hair.
Cy smiled. "Tati and I are engaged as best friends forever." She said playfully.
Jim's brow furrowed. "Oh, I see. That's... strange!" He said, a grin appearing on his face.
Cy elbowed him. "You're teasing me!" She exclaimed, in mock outrage.
Jim laughed, "Oh, am I?" He replied elbowing her back.
Cy laughed. "You know it." She said following after him.
All her hard work had paid off.
She was now in the Administration Board of the college.
With that position, people had sought out her advice, giving her the opportunity to make more friends and acquaintances.
She had a new roommate, who didn t have any guy problems yet.
Studying for school became a breeze, and then she had become popular.
What was the reason for her popularity?
She didn t know.
The only thing she knew was that guy's would stare at her for no reason at all.
People made sure to include her in their social activities.
She was now in tune with almost everyone.
The school jocks, geeks, and the popular students, just to name a few.
Jim stopped in his tracks. "Are you coming to the party?" He asked, looking her in the eye.
Cy's head bobbed up and down. "Of course! Why ever not? You re my BCF!"
Jim smiled. "Just making sure. Trying to keep a tab on what people are coming. It seems my sister has invited her friends to come. With that I'm going to predict that I won't know the majority of the people in attendance of the party." He explained, stepping to the side to avoid colliding with a runner in the hall.
Unfortunately he avoided a minor mishap only to run into a swinging door.
Cy gasped. "Are..." She choked back a giggle that threatened to escape. "You alright?" She asked, trying to hide the smile on her face.
"Where did that door come from?" Muttered Jim, as he rubbed his forehead.
Cy gathered his supplies in her arms and handed them back to him.
"Sometimes you can be so clumsy Jim!" she rolled her eyes.
Jim's frown turned into a goofy grin.
"Yeah!" He replied proudly.
"What can I say, my family is infamous for clumsiness. It runs all the ways back to Great Uncle Steven. He couldn't walk anywhere without injuring some part of himself." He joked, catching up to her walking form.
Cy bopped him on the head with her hand. "Liar!"
Jim shrugged. "Maybe I am." He replied promptly.
That is one thing Cy admired Jim for.
His straight forth honesty and the fact that he held pride in his own faults.
The ring of the bell signaled the end of the break period.
"See you later, then." Jim said, as he hurried towards his next class.
"Yeah." She said to the empty air.
E.C stared at the tall figure of his cousin.
"Mars." He said quietly.
The elder man smirked. "E.C.: He replied leaning against the wall.
E.C watched his cousin closely.
He had never really liked Mars.
Mars was the type of person that emanated danger.
He could be as good as rain but then he could become lightning; violent and striking fast.
"Why are you here?" E.C asked taking a seat.
The Deity family was a family of assassins.
They killed for a living.
Mars, was one of the best. E.C came second.
"At the college I'm currently attending, there is a party. I know how you like parties. Especially pool parties." He said, his brown hair falling over his dark eyes.
E.C leaned back in his seat. "Not anymore. I was careless with my arrows."
Mars smirked. "I told you that it wasn't safe to use those arrows." He replied smoothly. "Love is too powerful a force to resist." He said softly.
E.C nodded. He understood why Mars knew.
On more than a few occasions, Mars had fallen in love.
A war had been started because of that love.
"It was cold." He muttered.
Mars rolled his neck. "That's not what I heard!" He said filling the empty air.
E.C s eyes jerked over to Mars. "Then, what did you hear?" He asked softly.
Mars popped his knuckles. "I heard that your victim had a dead knock-out body." He said, glancing at E.C, challenging him to deny the truth.
E.C stiffened.
If Mars knew, then everyone else knew.
"Yeah." He said softly.
Images of large and innocent, emerald eyes ran through his mind.
It had only been once, why couldn t he banish those eyes and that smile from his mind?
Mars straightened. "The party will take your mind off of things. See you there." He said, turning and leaving.
E.C let out a breath of relief.
The atmosphere in his house had been so intense.
"Fine." He muttered to himself.
"I'll do anything to forget I ever met her." He stood up. "I have some work to do."He said as he walked out the door and to his car!
Chapter one finished it took me some time I now all you want the secound chapter I'll try and get it out as soon as possible school is starting up again soon hope you don't mind waiting a week for every update maybe latter depends on school and parents they ground me from the computer some times so don't get angry and again I love 3 to get reveiws so if you could tell me what you think I'll be glad to fix any messed up problems It's going to take a while though! Hope you will love the next chapter too. working hard for you!
~Weird froggy