Fire & Flesh

by Kerri Carr

  “We have come, oh Mother Goddess,” Fred said kneeling, “to return this.”

  And bowing her head, she held forth the bejeweled pomegranate.

  Persephone’s wail nearly cracked the sky. The four clutched their heads and fell to the ground as earth shook beneath them, and clouds blotted out the sky. The woman stood and grew young and beautiful and terrible before them.

  “Why do you torment me?” the goddess cried.

  “B-But Earth Mother— “

  “I cast that stone away when he died! I could not bear the memory!”

  Thunder began to roll and the goddess’s eyes became ablaze with white fire.

  “What?” Fred asked in bewilderment. “Who?”

  Persephone flung open her arms and it was as if the air had parted. They saw before them a, stone crypt resting deep underground. On it was carved the word HADES.

  “The Lord of the Underworld?” Erica breathed.

  “Dead?” Fred said.

  “Oh what’s the use,” Persephone said stifling a sob.

  The woman collapsed back on her rocking chair. She shrank to her old frail form. The clouds melted and the light that cast no shadows returned.

  “When gods die,” the woman sighed, “who cares anymore? Who even notices? Oh, people notice when spring does not arrive right enough. But who cares about a sad old man’s passing?”

  “But,” Erica began timidly. “I thought that the Great Hades was immortal?”

  “All the more bitter his passing,” the goddess said. “He was old. He was tired. He had a sort of malaise. You might call it an Unter-Weltschmerz. For the last few centuries he had even grown . . . tired of me . . .”

  Fred and Erica traded a look, and then Erica hugged Mia. The wizard and witch rested their heads together.

  “Forgive an old lady her anger,” Persephone said. “I’m just not myself anymore. Truly, I understand the feats of bravery and times of challenge you must have endured to help ease this aching heart. Please, take the gem as a small reward for your kindness. Now go. Leave me to my loneliness.”

  Frederica gathered up the pomegranate. The four turned to go, each feeling their own sorrow for the once proud woman. And then Fred felt a small breeze in the still air, and beyond the roses she thought she smelled the ocean. She looked to her sister.

  “You wouldn’t,” Fred breathed.

  “Worth a try,” Erica whispered. “I really am thinking about the growing season.”

  Erica approached Persephone, her glimmering gown trailing sea-foam. Mai’s robe parted as she took Erica’s hand.

  “Dear Earth Mother,” they cooed.

  Fred took Scott’s arm and strode quickly down the cobblestone path.

  Spring came to the Champs de Mars a little late that year, but when it did it near exploded. People picnicked, children played, their silvery laughter filling the lilac scented air, boys wooed girls, and kites filled the sky while crocuses bloomed on the ground.

  Frederica sat on her blanket in her favorite spot, sipping her tea from a styrofoam cup while a wide-eyed Scott told Uncle Jon all about their adventure in the Underworld.

  “Well then,” Uncle Jon said. “All is well. Persephone is happy, my niece Erica and that wayward witch Mia have found useful employ, and you my dear Fred have yourself a pomegranate full of power.”

  Fred smiled and batted her eyes.

  “Now what of you Scottie?” the man chided. “Have your fill of the supernatural yet?”

  “Scott,” Fred said taking the man’s arm, “and I are going to sail to the Antipodes.”

  “That’s right,” he said. “Never been there.”

  But even as Fred and Jon started to giggle, there was a small stir among the people in the park. A woman was walking through and among, handing out a seemingly endless stream of flowers. She was dressed in a sky-blue gown that flowed from her like sea-foam. Her raven hair bedecked with delicate flowers trailed in no wind. People laughed and danced in her wake. The smiling woman walked to the three on the blanket and scattered them with scented petals.

  “Erica,” Frederica said smiling.

  “What a gig,” her sister grinned.

  THE END

  Another bonus story is on the next page.

  Bonus Story 42 of 44

  Hunter in the Flight

  Scarlet waltzed into the room where she would see Cody Jacobson play, wondering how everything would go. She mused upon this, knowing full well that this would be one of the first ever interviews with him, and Scarlet wanted to make sure that everything would be okay. Sure, this was an article that wouldn’t be published anywhere big, just the college newspaper, but the fact that the NBA star wanted to conduct the interview with her when typically, he refused this sort of ordeal, surprised her. She found out later on it was because her journalism director was actually good friends with him, but it still made her feel good about herself. It made her feel like she could potentially make a career out of it, and she wanted to more than anything.

  Her brunette hair was tied back into a low ponytail, her brown glasses perching on her face. She crossed her legs to appear ladylike, waiting for the man to finally show up. They said he would be here in a few minutes, but she already assumed that he would probably be late. It’s not like he could help it though; in fact, she was surprised he even agreed to this at all.

  When the door opened, she looked over at him and immediately she was surprised. He was a man who was about a foot taller than her, with blue eyes and blonde hair. He looked gorgeous, and she wondered how in the world she got so damn lucky. This man seemed to be even cleaner than the eyes let on, especially since he was perfectly showered and groomed even though it had been only fifteen minutes since the game ended.

  “Hello there Mr. Jacobson. Have a seat,” she mused.

  “Call me Cody. And I sure will,” he told her.

  His gait was strong, and she could see the prominent leg muscles appear under his pants. It was barely a hint of skin, but it was enough to make her drool. Gosh, why was she all over this man all of a sudden? It wasn’t like her to feel like this.

  He sat down across from her, grinning excitedly as he stared at her.

  “So, will we be getting started? I’m not used to these interviews and such. My manager insists upon me not doing them unless they’re for a small group, especially considering the consequences it can have on people,” he explained.

  “I understand. Don’t worry, it will take only a few minutes. So have you been playing basketball for a long time?” she asked him.

  “Yeah I guess. I mean, when I do short interviews they always ask me that. It’s been about ten years since I started playing on a team, but I have been playing since I was about 10 years old. I’m 24 now and I guess I’m okay,” he told her.

  “Only okay? You’re the star center in the league right now. People clamor over you day and night. Hell, my best friend Courtney practically fainted when I said I was getting an interview with you,” she cried out.

  Okay, she didn’t mean to sound that unprofessional, but it seemed that there was something about him that wasn’t like how she expected it to be. Cody sighed, looking at her with sad eyes.

  “Nobody knows your true face, and typically they only like the side of you that you show off all the time,” he told her.

  She looked at him with a curious glance. What the hell did he mean by that? It made no sense that he was saying this sort of thing.

  “What are you talking about? I mean, I thought that you were a man whowas idolized by other people. I thought you would take pride in the fact that you’ve been slated as one of the most eligible men in the country to date. I thought sports magazines would be flocking to you for an interview,” she told him.

  He looked at her, the same forlorn expression.

  “Well, I’ll tell you right now that the ‘me’ that you see on television, the one that plays basketball and is the apple of so many people’s eyes, is not real ‘me’. I don’t feel that
way all the time. In fact, I’m probably a monster,” he told her.

  A monster? This made no sense! Why was he pretending to be something he wasn’t? Why was he so goddamn humble all of a sudden?

  “Why do you think that way about yourself?” she asked him.

  “It’s because of who I really am. Not the side that’s exposed for the world to see, but the more intimate one that hides away. Maybe you might be the one to finally see it. I like you a lot, even though we’ve barely met, and I like that you know so much about me. But let me ask you, do you feel like you truly understand me?” he asked her.

  She looked at him. He had a point, that’s for sure.

  “True. I’m Scarlet by the way, I didn’t know if I told you that,” she said.

  “You already know my name,” he simply stated.

  Even though it was gruff, she did know his name. It would be stupid to ask him because she was doing this interview with him.

  “What do you want me to say? What should I tell the paper,” she told him.

  “Just report the normal shit. Tell everyone that I’m a normal man, living a normal life, and who has nothing wrong with him. I mean, I would rather not get into it here, simply because it will make things weird. But I do want to tell you. I like your style Scarlet, and I like the fact that you haven’t ran away after I said all those weird things. If you want, maybe we can get a bite to eat sometime,” he offered.

  She looked at him, a shocked look on her face. She was just a 22-year old girl who wanted nothing more than to get the journalistic scoop she wanted. She didn’t think she would be getting a date out of this!

  “Are you sure?” she asked.

  “Of course. In fact, I’m free next Fridayif you would like to maybe get something to eat,” he told her.

  He looked at Scarlet, trying to ask for a sheet of paper. She gave him one, and he put his contact information on it. He gave it to her, smiling.

  “Here’s my information,” he said.

  She nodded, looking at the foreboding piece of paper with wonder in her eyes.

  “Hers’s mine,” she said, knowing full well that this could mean bad things for her. She didn’t know if a journalist was ever supposed to do this sort of thing. However, she knew damn well that the best thing for her to do was to give him the information. It made sense in a way, and suddenly, after writing down her address and number, she gave it to the player. He smiled at her, and for a moment, she felt as if time had stopped.

  “Thank you. Now, I’ll see you at your place on Friday. Sound good?” he asked.

  She nodded, feeling like she had struck gold. “That’s fine. Thank you for the interview,” she replied.

  He grinned at her, leaving the small room with a click of the lock. Scarlet sat in there, trying to process all of this.

  Cody asked her out. Cody Jacobson, the man who seemed more interested in basketball games than going out with anyone just asked her out. And she said yes. Holy shit, this was going to be something.

  But there was something within Scarlet that was telling her she was about to find out more about Cody than she expected to. Of course, the best thing she could do was wait and see what he had to offer. Who knows, maybe she’ll understand his mindset at the end of it.

  *****

  For the next week, Scarlet was on the edge. She decided to get an outfit for the date, even though she rarely thought about this sort of thing. Of course, this was the first date she had been on since high school, so she wanted to impress.

  Scarlet never went on dates. It wasn’t because she was unattractive or she had a bad personality, it was more along the lines of the fact that she put school first for the longest time. Now that she had a lighter load and less classes than normal, it seemed almost obvious that she might get into the dating world. Of course, when she thought about what this might mean, she felt nervous. She didn’t know much about Cody other than what the other interviewers gathered from him. The interview she got with him was almost your standard interview, with Scarlet adding some extra details to make it sound like something other than just a copy and paste of other interviews. But even so, it felt like she was lying to herself when she thought in this manner, because she wanted to tell everyone the truth about this man but wasn’t able to.

  Oh well, she would get the information sooner or later, and if it was something that he wanted her to keep secret, then so be it. Friday came around swimmingly, and soon she heard the sound of a knock at the door. She pranced over to it, smiling as she opened it.

  “Hello,” she said with a smile, but then she immediately looked surprised. The man at the door wasn’t Cody, or at least the Cody that she saw.

  “Hey there Scarlet. It’s me,” the man said. Sure enough, it was Cody. However, he didn’t look anything like the Cody she saw during the interview. For one, he had brown hair, and he seemed to be hiding his eyes with some sunglasses even though it was dark out. What was up with that?

  “Is that really you?” she asked with concern.

  “It is. Sorry about this, I just didn’t want anyone to see me when I walked over to your dorm. The last thing I need is for a reporter to be tailing us,” he replied.

  She nodded. “Understandable. So where are we going tonight?” she asked him.

  “Well, I know this little sushi restaurant nearby. It’s tiny and typically not crowded. The people there know who I am as well, so we can get a private booth and we can talk there. How does that sound?” he asked her.

  She paused, looking at him with a bit of a shocked expression. It seemed like it was too good to be true in a sense, that this was going way differently than she thought.

  “Sure. Let’s get out of here,” she replied.

  They went out of the house, heading over to the restaurant after a quick drive. For Scarlet, she could already tell that the tension between Cody and her was increasing, and she didn’t know what to do with it. In fact, she felt like something was off about all of this, but maybe he would explain it over dinner. When they got in there, Cody raised his glasses up, showing the host who he was.

  “Oh yes! I heard you were coming. Right this way sir,” the man said.

  They were led over to the booth, and after a second of so they were sat down and a waitress came over to get drink orders. They ordered a bottle of wine, and as soon as she left, Cody sighed.

  “You don’t know how hard it is to keep up this front do you?” he said.

  “I don’t. I mean, I’m just a school reporter. I don’t know much about the life you live, but I can tell it’s hard on you. I couldn’t imagine being your age and having to put on a facade all day long,” she admitted.

  “It’s awful. It makes everything hard. From maintaining friendships, to being on a team and working with people. I hate it, but I’m very good at what I do so I keep at it,” he explained.

  That seemed different from what Scarlet assumed. She always thought that Cody was the type of man who didn’t give a damn about anything but others, but here he was saying all of that was a lie.

  “It’s almost mind-blowing hearing you say that. I mean, a lot of people at my school idolize you because of the fact that you do everything that you do, and you work together on a team. I mean, it is your life at the end of the day, it’s just pretty surprising that’s for sure,” she told him.

  “Yeah. I mean, I’m pretty chill if you want the truth of it. I really liked that you didn’t seem worried about being around me. If you want the truth, I have my own secrets that I’m worried about telling others. I do have my own demons to cope with, and I don’t know how to manage them a good chunk of the time. But if I did meet someone who was willing to learn about them, it would be the best thing in the world to me,” he told her.

  She paused, listening to all of this and nodding. “I’m willing to learn, if that means anything,” she said.

  “It does. Thank you. Maybe tonight I’ll show you what I mean. I mean, I’m worried about doing this, because in truth, you would be th
e first person I’ve ever shown my true colors to. But maybe, you’ll understand. You seemed to take my facade well, and you’re not mad at the real me that’s in front of you,” he uttered.

  “Why would I be? I mean, I like this side of you,” she said.

  There was a moment where Cody looked vulnerable, and Scarlet wondered what he had been hiding for so long that was turning him into this.

  “Thank you Scarlet. You are someone I can trust no matter what,” he told her.

  She nodded, wondering what to do next. She definitely felt like there was something more about him that made her feel gravitated. Call it what it is, but it made her feel good about the whole thing that was going on.

  “Well, I do feel happy to have finally met you. Plus, I’m not going to be some girl who’s going to make you feel uncomfortable or anything,” she said to him.

  “I know that. You’re not making me uncomfortable at all, if you want the truth of it,” he said to her.

  She nodded. “Good. So what do you like to do besides play basketball?” she asked the man.

  There was a blush, and she wondered what was going on. It seemed like it was something big, something that seemed embarrassing.

  “Do you really want to know? It’s really embarrassing,” he muttered.

  “Of course! I’m not going to get mad if you say your hobby is to collect dolls, or even if it is watching soccer or reading comic books,” she told him. In truth, she just wanted to find out what his interests were.

  “Okay. Well, don’t laugh at me, but I really like dragons. I study up on dragons, read books on them, want to go to museums and crap like that and talk about the folklore of them. I’m a big fanatic of medieval attire and items as well. I collect them. Being a basketball star who makes good money, I do have the ability to indulge in that hobby,” he told her.

  She listened to this, and in truth, she was legitimately interested in this.

  “Holy shit that’s awesome!” she cried out.

  “Really? You’re not embarrassed?” he asked.