Locke is insane, that's all I'm going to say on the subject. So now all we can do is see how Felix is going to react to having his world turned upside down. Because we all know that the world just isn't meant to stay right side up now is it?

I'm sorry for the lateness and infrequency of my updates, but I've just been hammered with mountains of English homework. So much reading... Page after page, syntax error after syntax error! Symbolism, diction, archetypes! *head explodes from overload*

Felix:... Well, um... I'll get Jeb on this as soon as I can. Until then, just read this chapter. *Odin walks in*

Odin: What the...

Felix: Don't ask...

I own nothing!


Chapter 12: Atlas and the Brothers Grimm

We arrived back at the School sooner then I had anticipated. Jeb was waiting out front with a group of scientists that promptly placed Locke in the scariest looking straight jacket that I'd ever seen. He was gagged, bound, and escorted back to his holding unit by the mob of scientists and Hephaestus. Jeb stayed out front with the twins, and Odin, they began discussing how the hunt went. Phoenix and I bypassed Jeb and went to the break room.

I flipped the lights on and sank into my chair, letting out a big sigh. Phoenix squeezed into the chair as well, lacing her fingers into my hand. She was worried, as well as she tried to hide it, I could tell that she was. I leaned forward and held my head in my hands. My head felt like it was going to split in two. Phoenix didn't know what to say, so she started to rub my back, trying to ease my mental suffering.

"What's wrong Felix?" I couldn't tell her the truth, it would only put her what I was going through. But I couldn't lie to her either. What was I supposed to do? I got up from the chair, leaving her there. I paced back and forth across the carpeted floor, the only sound in the room was coming from the bubbling of the fish tank, and the shuffling of my shoes. I let out another heavy sigh, she never took her gaze off of me.

"Locke's trying to turn me against Itex. He's been saying that my whole life has been nothing but a lie, that I existed before Jeb created me. I just don't know what to believe. What am I supposed to do?" I was asking questions not expecting to get an answer. "Am I supposed to listen to him? Jeb does have a son, why wouldn't he tell me? Locke and Isaac both said that the Erasers aren't valued like Itex says they are. And what about my past. You had a life before, what about me? Locke keeps on saying that I existed before, but that I've lost my past. What am I supposed to believe?" My legs felt like they were going to give out, like I was going to fall to my knees and scream. My whole world was falling apart, and I was powerless to do anything about it. I was helpless, hopeless. I looked at Phoenix, she sat there looking at me with unsure eyes, questioning what it was she was supposed to do as well. How was she supposed to respond to me having a mental meltdown.

I could see fear in her eyes. Fear, not for herself, but for me. I could see my face reflected in her green eyes, I was afraid, it was written all over my face. She got up from the couch and paced over to me. She didn't say a word, instead she just stood there looking me in the eyes, trying to get me to fall under that hypnotic spell of her's. She wrapped her arms around me and held me tight, trying give give me the comfort that I needed.

"You just need to relax, everything's going to be alright. All that matters is what's happening right here and now." She smiled, her face only inches away from mine. She was trying to get my mind off the subject at hand, and to my pleasure, it was working. I couldn't help but get lost in the grove that was her eyes again. Almost subconsciously we inched closer to each other until our lips were pressed against each other. My arms slither up her back, pulling her closer, and she tightened her grip on me. Between kisses we just stood there, feeling the warmth of each others bodies. That was the first moment of true peace I had all night. What seemed like an eternity was only mere moments, and our little slice of eternity came to an end to both of our dismays.

As our arms fell back down to our sides, just as the twins and Epsilon pack barged into the break room. The twins never left each others side, they might as well have been conjoined at the hip. Alex leaped over the couch, taking the whole thing for himself. Grendel lurked in the corner much like his namesake would, and Charon loomed over the pool table. Alex shot me a nasty look.

"Heard the old man got some quality time with you? What did you talk about?"

"Nothing that concerns you Alex." I shot back at him. Phoenix moved behind me. "What about you, running off into the middle of nowhere, I'm sure that earned you some bonus points with the boss." His eyes shot daggers at me.

"Bite me." Everyone in the room immediately stopped whatever it was that they were doing and me an Alex became the center of attention. Alex got up from the couch and stood in front of me, trying to seem like a threat, frankly I wasn't in the mood. The tension in the air was thick, eyes darted from person to person, seeing who would react first. Charon fumbled with a pool stick, ready to use it as a weapon if necessary, I could feel Phoenix growing tense behind me. I thought I heard Grendel growl faintly, anticipating blood. The twins just stood there like statues, waiting to take sides on whoever they thought would win the fight. "Go ahead wolf boy, huff and puff and blow all you want, but you'll never blow me down."

"Oh I don't have to Alex, because I've got an axe that's just waiting to split you open."

"Oh, stop being such a Grimm. Don't you have some evil step mother to stop?"

"Just the old spinster staring me in the face, why don't you go tend to your hideous daughter's wounds." Out of the corner of my eye I saw his fist clench. "After all, I'm sure that having you toes and heel's cut off isn't something you take lightly." I saw a muscle in his jaw clench. "And let's not forget having their eyes gouged out, but I'm sure you've got it covered."

He was just about to raise his fist, just about to make the biggest mistake of his life, when Odin and Hephaestus came in. It was as if their presence dissolved the tension, and the mood in the break room seemed to gain some sense of normality. Hephaestus put his hand on Odin's shoulder, as if to continue a conversation that they had earlier.

"All I'm saying is you've got to keep an eye on him, you never know what's been happening behind closed doors-"

"That's enough Hephaestus." Odin said, silencing him with a raised hand. He scanned the room, and judged what he had missed by the positions of everyone. He gave out a little sigh. "Charon, but the stick down before I make you. And Alex, why don't you leave before you say something that you're going to regret." Alex looked at him, not wanting to start a fight with Odin in the room, he scoffed and shuffled his way out of the room. After Charon put the stick down, him and Grendel followed suit. Odin waited until he heard the door click shut to continue. He looked at me, analyzing what had just happened from the look on my face. "I didn't miss anything did I?" I sighed in relief.

"No, just a couple of quips, how's Jeb doing?" I walked back over to my chair and sat down, Phoenix walked over to the fish tank and started to feed the starving creatures.

"Oh, he'll get over it. But you know Jeb, he's not going to get any sleep tonight." Odin said as he walked over to his pool table and put the stick back on the rack. That's true, Jeb never took anything lightly, and every time that Locke broke out, he either fired someone or he would be able to sleep out of paranoia. It was unnerving and almost self destructive. Not only was it hard on him, but it was hard on everyone because we had to put up with him. The twins chuckled at the thought of Jeb on the mental breaking point, something just wasn't right with them. Hephaestus sat down on the couch on the opposite side of the room.

"Down right shame that we could get there sooner, sorry that you had to keep Locke preoccupied." Truthfully he was upset that he couldn't rip Locke to pieces when he had the chance. Although, I took it as an apology anyway, it just made everything easier. Hephaestus eyeballed the twins, funny, he was the leader of their pack and even he couldn't tell them apart. The room was awkwardly silent after that so I got up and headed for my room with out a word of good bye. Just a quick glance at Phoenix and Odin that said everything that needed to be said.

The lights were still off, and the hall was as stone silent as always. The only noise was the sound of my footsteps on the tiled floor. I passed by a scientist carrying a wad of files in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. I half expected him to trip on his way to the lab.

The Alpha pack block was completely empty, it was eerily silent this time though. I walked into my room and closed the door with one hand and turned on the light with the other. My room was as empty as I had left it, with the bed neatly made, the closet neatly organized, and the painting hanging over my bed. It was so odd, I was the only one that never seemed to actually look at it. Considering that it had been hanging in my room for quite some time, one would think that I would have given it some time and thought, but alas no.

I changed into a black shirt and black shorts. If anything, the one thing I needed was to get some sleep, the events of the day weighed heavy on my shoulders and mind. I sat at the edge of my bed and shot a glance at the painting. I threw myself onto my bed, my head falling onto my pillow. I managed to scrounge fragments of mental peace in the familiarity of my bed. Enough even to fall asleep.

One can only imagine the look on my face. I was staring at my painting as though it held the secret of the universe behind its was there next to me staring at the painting the same way, so was Isaac and Dylan, and the little blond avian. Why was she there, and why were we all staring at the painting? Nobody was acting the way that they should, Locke wasn't trying to ramble on about my past, Isaac and Dylan were laughing over nothing, and the avian was just there staring at me. Her eyes were drilling holes in my head. She was wearing glass slippers and a white night gown.

There was a pounding noise from the other side of my door, and Alex came barging in in his Eraser form. He preceded to swallow Locke whole and was just about to eat the little avian when Isaac took an axe that seemed to appear out of nowhere and split open Alex's core, releasing Locke and killing Alex. No sooner had Alex hit the floor then the floor gave way. I was falling and so was Locke, but the avians had let out their wings and they were flying above us, trying to get back to the surface, but it was as if an invisible force dragged them down to me and Locke. Locke began to howl like a deranged wolf and sucked in a deep breath, then he blew the avians away so that it was just me and him falling through the void. We landed in a circle of light. Locke was wearing his tattered suit, and I was in the clothes that I had gone to bed in. He pointed a finger at me and began writing in the air.

It felt as though a knife was being dragged across my body, cutting through my shirt and carving a deep gash in my chest. Blood began to pool at my feet, and I fell to my knees. My body was racked with the worst pain I had ever felt, all my nerves were firing off at once and my mind was a typhoon of impulses and fire. I was surprised that I was even still conscious. He walked up to me and shook his head in disapproval. He grabbed my head in his hands and looked me dead in the eyes, the utter lack of even the slightest mote of light matched the void that surrounded us. There was the bang of a gun shot and the snapping of bones, and the world around me dissolved entirely.

Needless to say I woke up in a cold sweat and out of breath.


Jeb: Well that's about all I can do. How do you feel?

Me: As though I had a stick of dynamite go off in my head, and that I missed an entire chapter.

Felix: You did.

Me: *facepalm* Oh well. Stinking English homework.

You gotta love those crazy dreams, this is what I get for reading up on the Brothers Grimm, it messes with everything that you've ever thought about nursery rhymes and fairy tales. Anyway, this wraps up the first part of the story so now we can move on to the next, so expect a major change in the future. Once again I apologize for my tardiness in updating. Please continue to read and review. TBC, so all in due time.