The second chapter of the day! Aren't you guys lucky ducks. Enjoy~
Rory slowed back down once we had merged back onto the highway. After a few miles Rory spoke up.
"What happened?" he asked, concerned.
"I don't know," I said, still shaking, "I-I thought I saw something. She-she had fangs." I pressed my hands against my eyes so hard pink and white spots appeared. Now realizing I had forgotten my gloves a fresh wave of panic washed over me.
"Crap," I said under my breath.
"You've broken the most important rule." I could practically hear my mother's disapproving voice. I closed my eyes and leaned back against the car seat.
"I'll be fine," I told myself. I gently stroked the scar on the inside of my right hand with the thumb of my left hand. It was crazy how weird things like this always happened. I stared up at the ceiling, feeling bad for my mom and everyone else who had to put up with me. I probably looked like the boy who cried wolf, always yelling about things people say they can't see. I'm scaring everybody over what was probably just my jacked up mind playing tricks on me. My eyes began to sting, as my negative emotions filled my mind, like a dark cloud casted over an island. It took me a moment to realize that Kelsey was trying to talk to me. She had tapped my shoulder and I jolted back.
"Huh?" My voice was strained from my almost crying.
"I was asking what happened to your gloves. Are you okay? Your eyes are red." I rubbed my eyes with the back of my hands, and cleared my throat before speaking again.
"I'm fine, I'm just tired," I said in a rehearsed voice. "I left my gloves in the bathroom."
"Do you want me to turn back so you can go get them?" Rory asked. I quickly shook my head.
"I'll be fine," I said confidently. But, that wasn't true. Noting was fine when the Devil's hands were out.
"Why do you wear them anyway? It's summer which means in Texas it's super summer." I pursed my lips, unsure of whether or not to tell them the truth. I decided to lie. They treated me like I was normal now, and I wanted to keep things that way.
"I have poor circulation in my hands," I lied. It was my go to excuse for many people who've asked.
"Oh, okay then," Rory said. I sighed silently in relief.
"Seriously? I thought you had ugly hands or something," Kelsey jeered, an attempt to lighten the mood, "You'd never take them off, even when we dissected that frog in science class. Oh, I don't think I've ever told you that story, Rory. Okay so there we were with-" I cleared my throat loudly. Now wasn't the time to recall past events. I needed some answers. Kelsey seemed to understand. "Fine. Stories later."
"Earlier you said 'monster', Kelsey. Does that mean you see things, too?" Kelsey and Rory exchanged a glance. Kelsey rubbed the back of her neck again. I swear her neck must be raw from all that rubbing.
"Uh, Rory will explain." Rory shot her a dirty look but muttered 'fine'. His frown melted into a sneaky smirk. He opened the center console and retrieved a small zip up case. With one hand he opened it and inside were many CD's. He glanced down and pulled one out. He put it into the CD player, zipped the bag back up, put it back in the center console. He pressed play. Once again there was a short awkward silence before the sound of static filled the car. It died down and there was the muffled sound of someone tapping on something.
"It's on? Good." It was Rory's voice.
"Hi, my name is Rory Walsh and today I will be answering many of the questions you may have. I know you may be wondering, 'how do you know what questions I'm going to ask?'. Well that's simple. It's most likely that the person responsible for taking you to camp and answering any questions you may have is Kelsey or Mark who are practically lazy freeloaders who like to ramble a lot."
"Hey!" Kelsey exclaimed. I snickered.
"You do ramble," I agreed. Kelsey pouted and opened her mouth but was quickly shushed by Rory. He looked like he was concentrating really hard on the traffic ahead.
"I'm sure you have all heard of Greek mythology, right?"
I don't know why but I said, "Right" aloud. Kelsey laughed and I smacked her shoulder.
"Well, I'm sure you also know a lot about Greek gods and goddesses, too, right?" I made sure not to respond this time.
"Well they are all real. Every single one, and so are all of the stories. They may have happened a long time ago, but they happened. And guess what? One of the gods are your mom or dad, depending on who your mortal parent is."
"What!" I yelled in disbelief.
"Shhh!" Rory shushed. I didn't get quiet.
"My mom's a police officer, and my stepdad is some sort of school counselor. There's nothing really 'godly' about either of them."
"He means your biological dad," Kelsey clarified.
"What are you talking about? My dad was just another deadbeat who left his pregnant girlfriend and child behind. He was killed by a group of gang members, and last time I checked gods are immortal or whatever." Rory sighed and hit the fast forward button. When he pressed play the recording said,
"If you are one of those people who believe your parent is dead, I assure you, they aren't. You see the gods are very busy and cannot stay with their mortal lovers or children. In fact, it's be surprising if you'd ever meet your godly parent. Each of them have made a pact with one another not to interfere in the lives of their demigod children. But, do not fret. Your parent may still love you and will show you by claiming you by the time you turn thirteen." My throat went dry. I tried to swallow but when I did I felt as if a lump was caught in my throat. I was almost sixteen. Did this mean that my real dad, who had been secretly alive for the past fifteen years, didn't love me? My eyes started to burn again. I focused on the recording, not wanting to cry in front of the others.
"And that brings us to our next topic. The Mist." My eyes got watery, and I found it hard to focus on the tapes while I tried to suck tears back in through my tear ducts. From what I did hear though, the Mist was some sort of invisible force that made normal people see things differently from what is actually happening. All demigods, which is what I am now I guess, can see through it and some mortals can as well. I deduced that none of my family could due to my mother's dismissal of every strange thing that had occurred before.
"Now that you have been given a chance to let this information sink in, I'm sure you're thinking 'wow, I'm a freak. I'll never make any friends'. Well that's not true. You can still live a normal-ish human life as long as you're careful, train hard, and watch out for monsters. And even if you don't make any normal friends, I'm sure you will make good friends at Camp Halfblood. Everyone there has gone through the same things as you. Whether it'd be being kicked out of multiple school, never truly fitting in, or having ADHD and dyslexia, I can assure you, you aren't the only one out there. And even if by some odd chance you don't make any friends at Camp Halfblood I'll be your friend un-"
"Don't do it he's an addict!" a second unrecognizable voice cut in.
"Shut up, Anzu!" recording voice Rory yelled. Rory quickly punched the fast forward button and the disc player whirred. He had a tight grip on the steering wheel and looked quite guilty. He pressed play again.
"Grab his stash! Run, Lit!" There was a grunt and the sound of the microphone hitting the ground. Rory once again fast forwarded the disk.
"I told them to take this part out," he grunted.
"You sounded like you had a real problem there, Rory," Kelsey said smugly.
"Shut it, Blondie," Rory growled. The disk player clicked, signaling the end of the tape. "Sounds like the end. You can do the rest." Kelsey nodded and turned back to me.
"Any questions?" She asked. I had a ton but they were all spinning around in a huge disorganized mess in my head. I picked out a few I thought were most important.
"So, when I see things can you guys see them too? And what are they?"
"Yes and monsters. If you knew what you were or what potential you had they'd all flock to you in a heartbeat and kill you. And now that we've told you, it's probably like a flare light was sent out and more monsters can probably sense you now."
"Why did you tell me then!? Now I'm in more danger!?" I shrieked. Rory held a hand to his right ear.
"Volume down. Geez," Rory grunted, "We told you because we knew more would have come anyways. The older you get the stronger your scent is. It's not something you can simply cover up by hiding the truth." I was about to ask him what was he talking about, but Rory continued to speak.
"It's happened to everyone at camp. Everyone has been chased by monsters and eventually, with help, ended up at Camp Halfblood."
"Halfblood?"
"Yes, it's another term for demigod. That's what you are. And that's what I am."
"Who's your parent?"
"Ares."
"Ares? Who's that?" He looked at me through the rear view mirror like I was crazy.
"Ares. The god of war. The most badass god of them all."
"Oh," I said, still not entirely understanding, but not wanting to sound stupid, "What about Kelsey? Is she a demigod?"
"Yep. Daughter of Tyche, the goddess of luck," Kelsey answered, "That's why you guys shouldn't worry about monster appearances. I'm your lucky charm."
"And yet we've already run into one so far," Rory exhaled.
"That… Doesn't count."
"Sure it doesn't," Rory said rolling his eyes. He shifted in his seat, sitting more upright. It was getting late which made it even more dangerous to be on the road.
"Do we get any cool powers like the gods in the movies? Like if Zeus was my dad could I send lightning bolts from my eyes?" Kelsey made a face.
"Yes and no. Yes, some of us do possess a few unique abilities that we got from our godly side, and no, it's highly unlikely you'd be the daughter of Zeus. And even when I met one she didn't seem like she could shoot lightning from her eyes. Although her death glare..." Kelsey's voiced trailed off. She looked like she was thinking back on something, so I went back to talking with Rory.
"So if it can't be Zeus then who else could it be? All I know is that there is Zeus, Hera, Hermes, Poseidon, Artemis, and Hades."
"That's all the gods and goddesses you know? You knew Hera, but not Ares?" He asked in a disappointed tone.
"Pretty much. I know there's a love goddess but I forgot her name. Why? Are there more?"
"Tons more, and I don't think I can explain all of them without overwhelming you." He paused looking out the window. We passed a few signs that I tried to read, but we were moving too fast and the letters were too jumbled.
"Hey, there's a bookstore at the exit up ahead. Maybe they will have some books on Greek mythology you could read. I'd hate for you to show up at camp without knowing anything. "
"That'd be pretty convenient," I said. But, with my experiences I knew convenient meant something bad was likely to happen.
Stay tuned. Troubles brewin'!