Sleeping Beauty
Chapter Nine
Outside the Dunn Fragrances factory, trucks were lined up to be searched. Wearing uniforms with their badges on, Tracy and Joseph sat in the drivers and passenger seat. While Aphrodite hid in the back. Poking her head out from behind the blinds, Aphrodite sighed.
"Couldn't we switch places?" Aphrodite said to Tracy.
"No way. We stick to the plan, once we're inside we find Selene free her and hopefully, we all get out of here with ease," Tracy said.
"Fine," Aphrodite said, pouting as she tucked her head away and sat in the back of the truck.
Security motioned for the truck ahead of them to move in. Pulling the truck up, Joseph handed the guard their papers. Nodding, the guard looked over the papers while another guard walked around the truck. Tracy kept her eye the other guard, but lost sight of him the moment he was behind the truck.
Standing behind the truck, the guard's eyes glowed red as he laid his hand on the back of the door. His dark aura left his body and squeezed through the cracks of the back door. Putting his hand down the guard walked around to the other side of the truck.
In the back, Aphrodite's eyes narrowed at the darkness squeezing through the cracks of the door. It slithered across the floor and ceiling of the truck. Knowing she couldn't say a word, Aphrodite clenched her mouth shut as the darkness crawled up her legs and engulfed her back. It engulfed Aphrodite completely, with only her eyes visible. Keeping her aura low, Aphrodite kept it up just enough so that the darkness would keep its attention on her.
After what felt like forever, the guard handed the papers back to Joseph and pressed a button. As the gates opened Joseph drove on. Parking in the docking bay, Tracy grew curious as she wondered why Aphrodite hadn't said a word.
"You go ahead I'll get Aphrodite," Tracy said.
Nodding, Joseph hopped out of the truck and headed inside the docking bay. While Tracy looked in the back. Her eyes widened at seeing Aphrodite wrapped up in some kind of dark blanket. It gave her shivers, but it was when it moved toward her that Aphrodite let her aura grow, dissolving it completely.
Aphrodite stood up and took a deep breath. Looking around the rest of the back, Aphrodite nodded when she didn't see any more darkness.
"What was that?" Tracy said, with a hint of worry.
"Some kind of darkness, I have never seen it before," Aphrodite said.
"Hopefully, we won't see it again. Come on, Joseph is waiting for us," Tracy said.
Aphrodite followed Tracy out of the truck and headed toward the docking bay. She stopped in her tracks when an odd sensation washed over her. It was almost like when the darkness wrapped around body, but stronger. Turning around, Aphrodite looked at the guards. The moment they looked back at her with glowing red eyes she took off running.
Taking a hold of Tracy's hand, the two continued running toward the docking bay doors
Joseph shut the doors behind them and locked it the moment they were in side. But Aphrodite and Tracy didn't stop running. Catching up, Joseph was running behind the two of them as the door busted opened and a mixture of guards and staff were running after them.
"Well, our plan is a bust!" Joseph yelled.
"This was set up way before we even arrived. Something or someone is trying very hard to keep Selene here," Aphrodite said, before dipping into an open door."
Pulling Joseph into the room with them, Tracy sat down at the desk to catch her breath.
"Our plan is still the same. It will just be a little harder than we thought," Tracy said.
Eyeing the computer at the main desk, Joseph slipped into the chair and started typing. While Aphrodite peaked out the door.
Joseph kept typing away, bypassing security wall after security wall. After a few moments, a smile crept across his lips, something that Tracy hadn't seen in a long time. Aphrodite looked out the door at a pair of red glowing eyes looking back at her.
"We are out of time," Aphrodite said.
Joseph pressed a button and the lights went out in the entire building. Aphrodite charged up an attack and blasted the door off, knocking the guard to the ground.
Aphrodite, Tracy, and Joseph took off running once more.
Outside in the street by the apartment building, Yolanda stood with her spear drawn as two black minotaurs dragged their hooves across the asphalt.
"Okay let's do this,"
The minotaurs roared as they charged toward her. Yolanda screamed, running toward them.
The moment they got close, Yolanda flipped over them, slashing their backs. Turning around, the minotaurs teamed up, sending a barrage of punches at Yolanda. While she ducked and dodged, she slashed them across the stomach before rolling away.
Injured and enraged, both minotaurs charged at Yolanda again. She held up her spear and grit her teeth as both minotaurs punched away at her again. This time they broke through her defense, knocking the spear out of Yolanda's hand as she stumbled backwards. Not wasting any time, one of the minotaurs charged at her. Grabbing hold of its ivory white horns, Yolanda hissed as the tips slashed her hands.
Wishing for them to stop, it came when Yolanda's back hit the door of a park car, shattering the window.
The minotaur kept pushing forward, Yolanda grit her teeth as the car door was bending inward slowly crushing her. Glancing over to her right, she spotted the other minotaur heading inside the apartment building.
Yolanda couldn't let that happen. There was too much at stake. Her mind flashed to Percy laying on the couch still resting. She couldn't let him down and what about Tracy and Joseph? She was supposed to meet up with them. They are counting on her and she would not give up.
Staring into the red eyes of the minotaur, drops of sweat trickled down from her forehead to her hands, causing them to glow a cerulean blue. Ignoring the pain, Yolanda mentally told herself to push the minotaur away. Placing her feet firmly on the ground, she grit her teeth as Yolanda moved one foot in front of the other and steadily pushed the creature back. Yolanda kept going until she was no longer on the car door but back on the street.
With a grunt, she threw The Minotaur down on the ground. Rolling over, she picked up her spear. Sensing the shift in the battle, the other Minotaur charged toward her from the right while the other got off the ground and charged toward her from the left.
Seeing as how her sweat was triggering this new strength, Yolanda wiped her brow and grabbed the center of her spear. The wood washed away, revealing a cerulean blue hilt with two crystal blue spear heads on either end; with the symbol of the trident edged throughout the hilt.
With the minotaurs closing in, Yolanda dropped to the ground but held her double-headed spear up. Wails echoed through the sky as the spear stabbed both minotaurs. Roaring once more, both minotaurs once glowing red eyes were now lifeless.
Pulling her weapon out of both creatures, they dropped to the ground, turning into dust.
Looking over her newly transformed weapon, a reflection of Poseidon nodding, caused her to smile.
"Thank you," Yolanda whispered.
"Sweet looking weapon, it didn't look like that before," a familiar voice said.
Looking at the entrance of the apartment building, Yolanda smiled. There was Percy, leaning on the door at the entrance.
"Your awake," Yolanda said.
"Yeah, still a little tired though," Percy said, walking toward Yolanda.
"I'm glad you're awake," Yolanda said, patting Percy gently on the back.
Percy sighed. "I thought I saw you fighting two black minotaurs."
"You did. They seemed to be infused with some kind of dark energy which has me thinking."
"Oh? where are the others?" Percy asked.
"At the factory, if this dark energy came from thereā¦." Yolanda said trailing off
"But Aphrodite is with them. They should be fine, right?"
"No... I don't think even she can protect them this time."
"So, what now?"
Yolanda pulls out her cell phone and hands it to Percy.
"Call your friends and tell them to bring Chiron, because we are going to need all the help we can get."
