So, Cassile is a satyr…

What happens when they all get to the Prentiss's apartment?

Chaos ensues.

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Chapter 7

Two Kids, Alone By Themselves

I opened the door to my apartment walked inside. Lin and Cassile slouched on the couch. I took off my shirt and stuffed it into the washing machine, and went to get a shower while the machine was going.

I washed the vomit off myself, wiping the crusty stains on my neck with a sponge. It was sort of disgusting. After I finished, I pulled on a pair of jeans. I went to check on the washing machine, but it still wasn't finished. So I walked to the living room.

Lin and Cassile had been talking, but they stopped abruptly when they saw me. Lin scowled. She stared at me. I realized that I was half naked. This was awkward.

I threw myself onto the couch. The vomit and blood stains had been removed by a carpet cleaning service, I noticed. "So," I asked. "What were you talking about?"

Cassile smirked. "Lin told me that she won't go to Camp Half Blood."

"Damn right." Lin muttered, under her breath.

"But I've been given special orders and privileges." Cassile seemed smug. "Because of the circumstances, extraordinary measures can be taken to ensure the existence of Western Civilization – and the Gods of Olympus. So, since you aren't willingly going, then I have to use force."

Lin seemed really afraid then. She got up off the couch, but Cassile unwrapped the black studded wrist band from her wrist. She pulled it, and it stretched. The metal studs grew, too. It turned into a black net with metal weights hanging from it.

Lin scrambled for the door. The net flew from Cassile's hands, striking Lin square on the back. She toppled. Lin fell on the coffee table. Her hands scrabbled on the surface for something to use as a weapon. Lin's hands passed over the Better Homes and Gardens Magazines. She stopped at a framed photo of me and my mother. Her hands gripped it, and she whispered silently, her hands shaking.

Cassile had retracted the net. As Lin was murmuring over the photo, Cassile wound the net up, and she threw it again. This time, Lin was caught unawares, and she fell, the heavy metal weights knocking her down. The net wrapped around her, and she tried to get free, but it bound her tightly; she couldn't reach for her chains.

Cassile turned to me. "Your turn, Alexei." She hissed, menacing. She pulled off another wrist band, twisting it until it became another net.

I backed away slowly, until I bumped into an ottoman. Cassile struck, and the net flew from her hands. The metal weights hit me first, fast as a striking krait. The weights hurt! Now I could understand the threats of a cat-o-nine-tails. They left red marks on my bare chest. The threads of the net pulled in close, of their own accord. It was worse than a plaster cast.

Cassile stood over me, a triumphant smile plastered over her face. I was on the floor, facing her cloven goat feet. I think I was knocked out, but I wasn't so sure. The last thing I saw was Cassile, her face glowing with pride.

I landed on the hard ground, jarring me awake. I blinked, and late afternoon sunlight blinded my eyes. I could not remember how I got to this place….where was I?

I tried to move my head, but the net was still wrapped around me. I could breath fine, but movement was hard. I saw an identical bundle on the ground next to me. I peered closer. It was Lin, her lips bitten and bleeding, and where the metal studs dug into her, red lumps. She flicked her eyes up, and I realized that there was someone standing over us: Cassile.

She noticed that we were awake. "So, spoiled half-brats, you're awake." She nudged me with her foot, and then gave a painful kick to Lin, who jerked on impact. "That's what you deserve, bitch."

I felt the ground move beneath me. No, it was me who was moving, and someone must be dragging. I tried to see who it was, but the net bound me too close to attempt any movements other than breathing. The grass itched, and when I was pulled over some gravel, I was cut. I caught my breath as I was pulled over another rock. It HURT!

I was dragged in doors, because I stopped seeing the sun. I saw frescoes on the walls…pickers harvesting sun ripened grapes, people stepping on vats of grapes for the juice that poured out of a little hole….

I was dragged into a dim room with no windows. I saw Lin near me, her eyes closed from the injustice and blow to her pride. I imagined that maybe she thought that she could handle anything: any monster, any opponent. But she was wrong.

I went to sleep, a pain on my back.

And when I woke up, I realized that I could move again! The nets had been cut off, and I could see little shreds and strips of the leather that had bound us. The rest had been removed. I tried to brush my hair out of my eyes, but then discovered that my hands had been bound behind my back with plastic cord and strong rope. Lin leaned against a wall, her head drooping on her shoulder, and her hands behind her back. She had been bound, too.

The door opened, and in stepped a man with brown eyes and laughter lines that surrounded them. He had a crease between his eyebrows, from recent stresses. He looked tired. He saw Lin, leaning in the corner, and he got on his knees beside her. He tilted up her chin. Lin's eyes flickered open at the contact.

"Min? Is that you? You look so young…" He peered into her eyes. Lin jerked away from him in disgust. She spat into his face. He wiped the spittle off without a reaction.

"My name isn't Min! I am Melinda!" Lin snarled, in outrage and surprise. "Don't touch me again, or I swear I'll…" She trailed off, realizing her situation.

Min…that name…I think I remembered it from something. And then it hit me. "Min" was my father's nickname for my mother. But did this man know my mother?

"Melinda…you're the quarter blood that they caught today…you and your mortal friend. You reminded me of someone; from so long ago…I must have been mistaken." The man looked Lin over once more, and then he turned to the door. "Adieu," he said, as a final farewell, and then he slammed the door.

Lin turned to me. "I think I may be able to get the ties off…You just need to hop closer to me, and I can try and fix them."

I nodded, and then I crawled on my knees to her. It was hard, because I couldn't use my hands to balance; they were tied behind me uncomfortably. She pushed herself off the wall with her shoulders. She leaned against me, my back to her back.

"Here, rub the knot from the ropes on my wrists…don't be afraid. This will work…in theory." She turned her head slightly, almost facing me. I realized that her forehead was only up to my chin.

"What do you mean, 'in theory'?" I asked. Did this mean that she could die or something?

"Well…I heard that this could work, but I've never really tried it…" Lin replied, looking away from me. "I've never had any reason to test it out, until today."

"Fine." I began to rub the knot against Lin's skin. She hissed at the pain. After a few minutes of sawing at her flesh, she told me to stop.

"I think that's enough," She said. She moved away from me, and I turned to see what she was doing.

She closed her eyes, and began talking to herself. I couldn't really hear what she was saying, but what I did hear, I didn't understand. It must have been a foreign language or something.

After a few minutes, as spark flew from the end of her fingertip. It landed on the cuts that I had made, and I saw the flesh being remade…the cuts closing.

Lin cursed, and then she closed her eyes again. The spark moved from her cuts to the rope. It melted through the plastic cord, and then burned through the ropes. After a few more seconds, the ropes fell off, and Lin rubbed her wrists, trying to get the circulation going again. "Now your turn," she said.

She turned to me, and pointed her finger at my ties. The spark on her wrist moved up her hand, up the finger, until it flew through the air and onto my ropes. Lin concentrated hard.

I felt the warmth of the spark eating through the rope, and the searing heat just before the ropes loosened and fell off. The spark flickered out, and Lin sighed, a sigh of relief.

"Gods, that worked. I wasn't so sure about that." She rubbed her wrists. "I'm not so good at this life force stuff. My father is. He wouldn't even need to cut to get the power going."

"Magic?" I scoffed. "I don't believe in magic."

"Well," Lin snapped, "It'll kill you whether you believe in it or not."

"So what are we going to do now?" I asked. I was getting impatient of just sitting in a bland, windowless room.

"I guess…wait." Lin looked down, a frown on her face. "I sent a message…or tried…just before Cassile got us. I guess we have to wait for my dad to come and rescue us."

I shook my head. "I can't believe Cassile was a traitor. And a satyr. She doesn't really seem to be that kind of person."

"Ah, well…" Lin said, thoughtfully, "Cassile's still dangerous, even if you won't believe her. I should have seen this coming! My father says that deception is around every corner, and some time or another, it'll take you by surprise."

I sighed, and I leaned against the wall.

Lin shot a look at me. "Don't be too comfortable. When someone brings us food, the door will be open, and I have a plan." She smirked to herself, and closed her eyes, leaning her head on my shoulder.

Oh dear. What was Lin going to do?

Author's Notes: Sorry about the wait, I was on hiatus (very short, but still)…and I had no time. I have to have an hour for myself to slap down whatever I think of. And there's (possibly) going to be a fight scene, where Nico rescues the kids.

Yep. Anyways, thanks for reviews. And don't be afraid of reviewing, because I get mad if you don't review. Read my other stories.

I attempt to write poetry, so try and read it.

Also, there is an Artemis Fowl reference here. Wing Commander Vinyaya told Holly Short about the healing spark trick. If you're smart, you can spot it.