Daughter of Odin

by S. K. Gregory

  Another contraction ripped through me, this one more powerful than the last. There was no denying it, it was happening now.

  Waddling to the phone, I called the Sheriff’s station for Bob. He was on duty tonight. We would have to get out of town fast.

  “Sheriff’s department,” a voice said.

  Trying to keep my voice steady, I said, “Hello, is Deputy Eaton there?”

  “He’s on a call at the moment. Can I help you?”

  “Uh, no I really need to speak to him. Will he be long?”

  “Couldn’t say.”

  I turned my face away from the phone, supressing a groan. “Okay, well could you please tell him that Francesca needs to see him at the diner. Urgently.”

  “Okay, I’ll give him the message. Bye now.”

  I hung up the phone. Shit, Bob. Where are you when I need you?

  What could I do but wait? I couldn’t drive myself to the hospital, I couldn’t have the baby in a hospital at all.

  It’s all going wrong. Why did this have to happen now?

  I sat on a chair, trying to control my breathing. The pain was worse than I imagined, how did women do this?

  I watched the clock on the wall, timing the contractions. They were getting very close together.

  I can’t give birth here. I need a bed, somewhere clean.

  Lurching up, I headed for the phone. They would have to radio Bob and get him to come back. There was no time left. I picked up the receiver, but the pain that tore through my abdomen brought me to my knees. I needed to push.

  Leaning back against the counter, I removed my underwear. I couldn’t do this alone, where the hell was Bob?

  I heard the sound of nails clicking on the linoleum. Craning my neck, I watched as a wolf trotted toward me. Unable to move, I watched as it approached me.

  How the hell did it get in here?

  The wolf stopped in front of me, then its body began to twist and elongate. I screamed as it transformed into a man with long dark hair. He stretched his back, then crouched beside me.

  “Ssh!” he said. “No need for that.”

  “What are you?” I whimpered.

  “I am Fenrir. I’m looking for my grandfather’s whore.”

  “Go to hell,” I snarled.

  He grinned at me, his white teeth gleaming. “This looks like it’s going to take a while longer. Should I come back?”

  There was a knock on the door of the diner. “Francesca?” Bob called.

  “Bob! I’m here!” I screamed. I couldn’t see him, but I could hear him fumbling with the door. I tried to move around the counter, away from Fenrir.

  Bob came rushing over to me. “Francesca are you okay?”

  “No, he’s here for the baby.” I turned back to find that Fenrir had vanished.

  “Who?”

  “He was here. Odin’s grandson. We need to get out of here,” I said.

  I tried to get up, but I couldn’t.

  “I think it’s too late for that. You’re having this baby now,” Bob said.

  “I can’t,” I said.

  “Yes, you can. I’m going to find some towels.”

  He rushed into the kitchen. Where was Fenrir? Was he going to wait until I gave birth then snatch the baby from my arms? Probably. I couldn’t let him do that.

  Bob returned and laid the towels out in one of the booths. He helped me off the floor and into the booth.

  “Lock the door,” I said. Not that it would matter. Fenrir could probably just ooze through the keyhole.

  Bob coached me as I gave birth. I gripped the edge of the booth for the final push, trying my best not to scream and draw any attention to us from anyone passing by outside.

  With a final push, the baby had arrived. Bob grinned at me. “It’s a girl,” he said. After cutting the cord, he wrapped her in a towel and placed her into my arms before I could protest. I didn’t want to hold her, to look at her, but now here she was and she was perfect.

  I started to cry. My sweet girl.

  She wasn’t crying, she just stared up at me with her big blue eyes. How could I let her go?

  “We need to get out of here,” I said.

  “Just take a moment,” he said.

  “I can’t. Fenrir will be back. Get your car,” I said. “And weapons. We’re going to need them.”

  “You could still change your mind,” he said.

  I stared at my little girl. “I won’t risk her life. Please.”

  “Okay, give me the keys, I’ll lock the door behind me. I’ll need to go to the station and get some more weapons. I’ll be ten minutes.”

  I nodded and he hurried out.

  Sitting in the silence, amid bloody towels and afterbirth, I waited, taking in every inch of her face.

  “You are so beautiful,” I whispered. “I’m sorry for what I have to do. But I don’t have a choice. I hope one day you’ll understand that. That you’ll forgive me.”

  I kissed her on the forehead and she wrinkled her nose in an adorable way. I wished that I had a camera, so I could have something to remember her by. Not that I would ever forget her sweet face.

  I glanced toward the door to see two ravens flying back and forth. They were cawing frantically.

  He’s back.

  Struggling to my feet, I moved, slowly, into the kitchen. I could sneak out the back and round to the car. I just hoped that Bob was there.

  Unlocking the back door, I stepped out into the cold January night. It was bitterly cold. I grabbed a clean apron from the hook by the door and wrapped it around the baby. The door clicked closed behind me, locking me out. There was no going back now.

  I made my way along the alley way toward the front of the diner, listening for any sign of Fenrir or the wolf.

  It was almost pitch black and I was scared of tripping and dropping the baby. Thank God she wasn’t crying yet, but she was squirming in my arms.

  A voice carried through the night. “Francescaaaa.” It was Fenrir. it sounded like he was still at the front of the diner.

  I stopped walking. I wouldn’t be able to get to the road without going past him. If Bob wasn’t there, he would get her. My car was still there though. I had the keys.

  I felt weak, exhausted. I couldn’t fight him, but maybe I could lead him away. I looked around the alley, even though I could barely make anything out. Nothing but the dumpster. It was full of cardboard at the moment. The one next to it held food scraps. It was the warmest place available.

  “Give me the child and I will spare you,” Fenrir called. He was taunting me.

  Lifting the lid on the dumpster, I leaned it against the wall as quietly as I could. Inside, I found a small cardboard box which once held napkins. I carefully placed the baby inside, praying she wouldn’t cry and give the game away.

  “Forgive me,” I whispered.

  I closed the lid carefully.

  I took off my sweater and rolled it into a baby sized bundle. I cradled it in one arm, and with my keys in my hand, I walked as quickly as I could to the front of the diner. I was halfway to the car before Fenrir spotted me.

  “It won’t do you any good to run,” he called.

  I forced myself to walk faster, feeling blood trickle down my legs. Just a little further. He transformed into a wolf and ran after me.

  As I reached the car, I glanced over my shoulder. Fenrir was ready to pounce when the ravens flew at his head, swooping and pecking at him. It gave me enough time to get into the car.

  Peeling out of the parking lot, I checked the rear-view mirror. Fenrir had shaken off the birds and was now chasing the car.

  “Good. Follow me, you bastard.”

  The sound of the back door being opened, shook me from my thoughts. Standing up, I readied the shotgun I was holding, ready to blow that bastard’s head off.

  “Come out, Fenrir. Let’s finish this,” I said.

  From the darkness, stepped Odin.

  Eight

  I checked the hospital first, but as I exp
ected, she wasn’t there. I didn’t know where she lived, so the only other place I could check was the diner.

  It would be closed, but she was bound to have keys. I parked in the far corner of the parking lot, just in case Fenrir was inside, watching for me.

  As I got closer, I could see that Francesca was inside, sitting in the darkness.

  What the hell is she doing? She’ll get herself killed.

  She stood up and aimed a shotgun toward the kitchen. Fenrir was there. I was sure the front door was locked, so I headed around the back, hoping to sneak up on them.

  I passed the dumpster in the back and felt a tingle spreading through my hands. I glanced down and was shocked to find tiny sparks dancing across my hands. Guess I took after dear old dad, after all.

  The back door lay open and I could hear voices inside. I tiptoed inside, trying to hear what was being said.

  “How can it be you?” Francesca was saying.

  “I came back for you,” a man said. Was it Fenrir?

  “No, you sealed yourself away,” Francesca argued.

  I stepped out of the back, startling Francesca. She turned quickly, bringing the gun up. I threw myself to the ground as it went off.

  “Oh my God, Kari!” Francesca cried. “I’m so sorry, are you okay?”

  I picked myself up off the floor, checking for any wounds, but she had missed. “Yes. What is going on?”

  The man standing across from her was tall, with brown hair and a beard. It wasn’t Fenrir. “Who is he?” I asked.

  Francesca looked at him, tears in her eyes. “He’s your father.”

  The man smiled benignly at me, but as he turned his head, I saw a strange shimmer around his face. I blinked and it was gone.

  “My daughter,” he said, taking a step toward me.

  I backed off, raising my hands. “Stay where you are,” I said. Something wasn’t right.

  “I just want to hold you,” he said. His eyes flickered, becoming almost black before returning to blue.

  “It’s not him,” I said. “Shoot him.”

  Francesca didn’t hesitate. She raised the gun and pulled the trigger. She caught him in the chest and he staggered back but didn’t go down. Looking down at the wound, he brushed his hand across it, like he had found a stray piece of fluff.

  His body transformed into Fenrir once more. “Clever girl,” he said.

  “Yeah, well I’m used to dealing with snakes pretending to be something they are not.”

  “Feisty too. Definitely Odin’s daughter.”

  “Stay away from her,” Francesca snapped. She still had the gun pointed at him.

  “I think we’ve established that won’t work on me.”

  “Why are you doing this?” I asked. “You really want to start the apocalypse?”

  “It is written that Ragnarök will come and I will defeat Odin in battle. I won’t hide from my destiny like he does.”

  “What about the humans? You’re going to wipe out the entire human race because someone said it’s fate?”

  “The humans will not be completely wiped out. Some will remain, they will rebuild, start a new world.”

  I shook my head in disgust. He was a zealot and there was no way I would let him get into Valhalla. I tried to summon the electricity back to my hands, but it was harder than I thought. The last two times had been activated by fear, right now I was more angry than afraid.

  “Let’s go, Auntie. We have a long journey ahead of us,” Fenrir said, holding his hand out to me.

  “I’m not going anywhere with you. But I’ll tell you what. If you leave now, I’ll let you live,” I said. It was a complete bluff, but I was trying to buy time until I could get my stupid power to work.

  “I’m growing tired of this. We’re leaving,” Fenrir said. He grabbed my arm and started pulling me toward the door.

  “Get your hands off her,” Francesca said. She swung the butt of the shotgun at his face. He caught it before it made contact, shoving hard and sending her to the ground.

  “Don’t fight him,” I begged. “He’ll kill you.”

  Francesca ignored me, getting up from the floor. She launched herself at Fenrir, trying to claw his face. He caught her around the throat and lifted her off the ground. She sailed over the counter and hit the wall behind it, sending glassware flying.

  “No!” I cried. I kicked at Fenrir, but the blows did nothing. I grabbed his hair and yanked his head back. He responded by slapping me in the face. The blow made my ears ring.

  “I won’t waste any precious blood over this, but I can hurt you many different ways without spilling a drop. You will come with me now, or I will murder your mother while you watch.”

  I cast a glance at the counter, I could hear Francesca groaning in pain.

  “Okay, I’ll go with you.”

  Once we were away from Francesca, I could try and use my power against him. He dragged me to the door, which was locked. Rather than look for a key, he just punched a fist through the glass and stepped through it.

  “Kari, no!” Francesca cried.

  She climbed over the counter and rushed towards us. Munin and Hugin arrived, attacking Loki. He let go of my wrist and Francesca caught up to me. We retreated inside the diner, watching as Fenrir seemed to shoot balls of energy from his hands. Munin and Hugin kept dodging the blasts.

  “We need to run,” Francesca said.

  “And go where? He isn’t going to stop.”

  “Odin closed the door without telling anyone. If Fenrir was outside, then maybe other Gods were too. Gods who could help us.”

  Judging from the family members so far, I doubted the others were any better. “How would we even find them?”

  “Munin and Hugin are messengers, maybe you can command them to lead you to the other Gods.”

  “But…” I was distracted by the conversation and had taken my eyes off Fenrir. I had time to see movement from the corner of my eye, but before I could react, he grabbed Francesca and drove his hand, which ended in claws, into her stomach.

  “No!” I screamed. Power pulsed through me, down to my hands. I just had time to bring them up and aim them at Fenrir, before energy exploded out of them, sending him hurtling across the diner and into the far wall. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious.

  Francesca sank to the floor, trying to stop the bleeding with her hands. “Get out of here, Kari. Before he wakes up.”

  “No, we need to get you to the hospital.”

  She pushed me away. “I mean it, leave!”

  “Why won’t you let me help you?” I cried.

  “Take the car and go. The ravens will guide you. It’s the only way you’ll be safe.”

  “I just blasted that asshole across the room. I can take him.”

  She grabbed my arm. “No! Listen to me, he is an actual God. You cannot beat him. All you can do is hide.”

  Ignoring her, I tried to help her up, but she slapped my hands away. “You are one stubborn brat. You get that from me. I told you before, I’m not leaving this town. So get lost.”

  “No, we leave together, or we don’t leave at all,” I snapped.

  She glared at me, then her face softened and she laughed. “I’m not going to win, am I?”

  “Nope. Now move your ass.”

  I got her to her feet. “You know,” she said. “I always thought…”

  There was an explosion, a heat wave hit me and I turned my face away. When I could see again, Francesca was gone and on the floor lay a pile of ash.

  “I did warn you,” Fenrir said.

  Nine

  I couldn’t breathe. He killed her. He killed my mother.

  “No more tricks, no more help. You can’t escape your fate,” Fenrir said.

  I turned my head slowly to look at him. “Fuck fate and fuck you.”

  When he reached for me, I threw a fist at his chest, with something extra behind it. The blow lifted him off his feet and he crashed through the plate glass window behind him.

  I
could feel myself losing control, but I didn’t care anymore. I blasted one of the booths, turning it to splinters. The counter followed. I kept going until the diner was a ruin. Small fires had broken out.

  I left the place of my birth and the death of my mother. Stepping outside, I searched for Fenrir. He was crawling across the grass, heading for the road.

  I blasted him again, flipping him across the ground. “Not so tough now, are you?” I asked.

  There was real fear in his eyes. “You shouldn’t have this much power. It’s impossible.”

  “That’s me. The impossible girl.” It sounded better than Dumpster Baby, anyway.

  I hit him again and again, but somehow, he was still alive. How do you kill a God?

  “You can’t kill me. It’s fated that I will meet Odin in battle,” he said.

  “Maybe you will, but not with my help.”

  I concentrated, drawing every drop of power that I could into a final blast. Thunder rumbled overhead and I could feel the air around me becoming charged with electricity. Was this what it felt like to be a God? All this power, I could do anything. The world would bow before me. No more getting pushed around, I could rule. But first…

  Raising my hands over my head, I blasted Fenrir with everything I had. The blast knocked me off my feet.

  When I sat up, a crater lay where Fenrir had been. So much for not being able to kill him.

  I felt wiped out, but when cop cars pulled up, I got up and made a run for Francesca’s car.

  “Stop right there,” one of the deputies yelled.

  I almost made it to the car before I was tackled by two cops. I tried to summon more electricity to hit them with. As I twisted free and raised my hand, a voice stopped me.

  “Kari!” I looked up to see Sheriff Eaton hurrying toward me, his arm bandaged up.

  I turned to look at the diner, or what was left of it. All this chaos, because of me. I looked at my hand and dropped it by my side. I was going to kill a cop.

  What the hell am I doing? I don’t want to hurt anyone.