by Sarah Biglow
I wanted to argue but knew I’d find no help here. Captain Holden was in charge and probably exerting his own control over the officers. If he didn’t want the department looking into Abbie’s disappearance then his officers would disregard any lead that came their way, even if it was legitimate. I picked up my backpack and looked away. “Sorry for wasting your time.”
I didn’t even acknowledge the desk officer before bursting out into the afternoon sunshine. Hopping on my bike, I headed home. It was time to focus on my other objective: to learn what I could about the wider deity community and find help elsewhere. A second visit to the public library and Hermes was in order. If I got lucky, the messenger would lead me to some other gods who might be more willing to listen.
22
A little after four o’clock on Tuesday, the door to our prison opened and Dr. Phillips entered with pen and pad at the ready. I’d spent the better part of the last two days sitting in what felt like a trance, pinching myself every now and then to test whether I could resist the pain. It was a poor test since I couldn’t pinch very hard, but it was all I had. If I failed this time, I didn’t think I’d have the strength for a third try.
“What are we going to do now?” Rosa moved the chairs closer to the keyboard as they’d been before.
Dr. Phillips sat down. “I am going to work with Erin right now. I want you and Abbie to play. It’s always nicer when there’s music in the background.”
Erin took the seat that Rosa had occupied during their prior sessions while Rosa picked up the violin and started to tune it. I turned the keyboard on and hit a few keys so Rosa could match pitch. It prolonged the time before my second attempt to sneak off. Despite the mental preparation I was still nervous. Finally, Rosa began to play and Erin began to hum. I stayed put on the piano bench another minute facing Dr. Phillips and Erin. Mentally I began to plan my route out of the room. Dr. Phillips sat partially in front of the open doorway but there was just enough space for me to get by if I didn’t collapse like last time. My vantage point also showed me the door leading out of the bookshelf room. I’d check it out if I had the time. Licking my lips, I saw Rosa mouth, “Go,” out of the corner of my eye.
This was it. Leaving the bench without making a sound, I took one tentative step toward the exit. The whole-body ache returned but it was less intense. The urge to vomit wasn’t even present. Clenching my hands into fists to give my brain a different kind of pain to focus on, I shuffled forward. I would make it. Just three more steps and I’d be free of this prison. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw that Dr. Phillips appeared oblivious to my escape attempt. I tiptoed over the threshold and exhaled a breath. My body still throbbed in protest against the doctor’s power but my will was stronger than the pain. Angry, red half-moon indents marred my palms when I uncurled my fingers. As far as I could tell, the shelves that ringed three of the four walls were crammed with psychology texts. Turning to face the shelves directly behind me, I ran my fingers along the spines checking titles. Bending down to check the next shelf I nearly missed it: The Pantheon: a Study of Greek Gods and Goddesses. Sliding the slender book from the shelf, I traced the raised lettering of the title on the cover. The mission was nearly complete. I hastily rearranged some of the books to fill in the small gap to hide the theft.
All at once, my stomach clenched tight and my muscles contracted with pain. Breathing hurt. Dr. Phillips’s power was surging. Still, I had to try the outer door. Biting down hard on my lower lip, I closed the gap between the shelf and the door. With one hand, I tugged on the doorknob but it didn’t budge. With the book tucked under my right arm, I retreated to the windowless room. Dr. Phillips was still bent over the paper. I had enough time to stow the book under my pillow and settle at the keyboard before Dr. Phillips looked up momentarily. “Why don’t you play for a while, Abbie?” The doctor’s attention returned to writing.
After playing some scales to warm up, I started playing the song I’d been writing. Rosa leaned in over the neck of the violin. “Did you find anything?”
“Wait until she leaves,” I answered through clenched teeth.
After maybe five minutes of playing, Erin’s humming stopped and I lifted my hands from the keys. Erin looked about as pale as Rosa had been. She shook and sweat glistened on her forehead and upper lip.
Dr. Phillips stood up, pen still in hand. “I think we made good progress today, girls.”
The outer door opened and a tall man dressed in a suit walked through to block the entryway into our cell. I tried to study his face without being obvious. Hadn’t I seen him on my visit here? He could definitely be the same man. He straightened his suit jacket and surveyed the scene. “How are things going?” He looked at Dr. Phillips.
She didn’t meet his gaze. “We’ve made some more progress.”
“When do we get to see it?” Erin leaned over to read the top page of the pad.
The doctor clutched the paper to her chest. “Oh, you don’t want to see it yet. It’s not ready.”
Before any of us could ask more questions, Dr. Phillips pushed past the man out of the room. He followed her without acknowledging we existed. The door slid shut behind him, cutting off any view of the adults. Erin downed some water and looked at me. “Did you get it?”
Lifting up my pillow, I revealed the book with a proud grin on my face. Settling on my bed with both girls beside me, I gripped the book with both hands. “I don’t think she noticed that I’d left or taken anything from out there.”
Erin wiped sweat from her face. “She was too busy listening to us.”
Shifting my weight, I rested against the wall. “I still can’t believe it worked.”
Rosa leaned over to study the title of the book. “Maybe her hold on us is getting weaker.”
“Maybe, but I think it was more in my head. I just ignored the pain and fought through it.” Shrugging, I turned my attention to Erin. She was still pale. “You feeling okay?”
Sitting up straighter, she let out a breath. “Yeah, I’ll be fine. I get what Rosa meant before. It was like something was being pulled out of me. It probably didn’t help I that was actually trying to do more.”
I passed her the closest bottle of water and she drained it in one long swig. She smacked her lips together and pointed to the book. “What are we waiting for? We should see what’s in there.”
Opening the book to the table of contents—I figured it was a safe place to start—didn’t yield anything obvious. Nothing jumped out at me when I ran my finger down the first few letters of the alphabet. Skimming through the Ls and Ms, I stopped right before I got to N. “I think I’ve got something.” Without waiting for the other two to catch on, I flipped to the middle of the book with the heading “Muses.”
Erin peered over my right shoulder. “What made you think of this?”
I smiled. “Dr. Phillips said the Greeks used to have people who inspired them and I remembered reading somewhere they were called Muses.”
Rosa ran a finger along the outer edge of the page. “How do we know what we are supposed to look for?”
Pointing to the list of names on the page, Erin sighed. “I guess we just go through all of them and see if something sounds familiar.”
Erin took the book from me and skimmed the short entries on a total of nine muses: Calliope, Clio, Erato, Euterpe, Melpomene, Polyhymnia, Terpsichore, Thalia and Urania. Her finger moved up the list and stopped. “I think I found something,”
“What?” Rosa and I asked in unison.
Erin cleared her throat and read aloud. “Polyhymnia. It says she is the Muse of Hymns. She is said to inspire religious people to write songs about their gods. And sometimes she inspires people who aren’t religious too.”
I turned to face Erin. “That sounds like what you do.”
“Yeah.” Erin laughed. “It sounds like I’m a Muse.”
“Just because someone wrote something that sounds like what you do in an old book does not make it true.” Rosa didn’t look convi
nced.
I understood Rosa’s apprehension. Believing Erin was one of the Greek Muses was ridiculous. Still, it was fun to identify with them. Taking the book back from Erin, I skimmed the entries too. “I could be Euterpe. It says she is the Muse of Lyric Poetry. She inspired poets and minstrels, like I do to the kids in my class.” Rereading the entry above Euterpe, I looked over at Rosa. “This could be you, Rosa.” I held the book out to her but she refused to take it. I read the entry aloud anyway. “Calliope is the Muse of Epic Poetry. She inspires heroes to write about their adventures.”
Rosa bit her lower lip. “That does sound like what happened one time when a boy in class started telling a story about a big trip he took with his father and how they got really lost in the woods.”
Erin tucked her legs under her. “As funny as this is, it can’t be real, right?”
I flipped back to the table of contents. “Why not? It makes as much sense as anything. And it could explain the dreams.”
“How?” Erin crossed her arms over her chest.
I glanced from Erin to Rosa. “Maybe Rosa was right and they’re memories.” I tapped the book. ”Their memories, the Muses’.”
“If it is real then they would be our memories you mean.” Rosa studied the table of contents. “The dreams always felt like they were my memories.”
“That’s what I thought too.” I nodded.
Rosa drew her knees to her chest. “Do you think other Muses were kidnapped, too?”
“I hope not.” I couldn’t suppress a shiver dancing up my spine. “But I mean, if this is true, there are six other girls out there like us.”
“But we’re not even sure if this is what Glaukos meant for us to find.” Erin stood and went in search of more water.
I set the still-open book down in her vacated spot. “It has to be.”
Picking up the pillow from her bed, Erin settled on the floor by my feet. “Do you think wherever these other girls are they’re realizing what’s going on and finding out who they are?”
Rosa twisted her hair between her fingers. “Maybe Glaukos told them.”
“He didn’t exactly tell us.” Erin buried her face in the pillow. “Who do you think Dr. Phillips is?”
Picking up the book again, I found the heading “Goddesses.” There were too many to guess so I turned to the back of the book and checked the index. “Okay, so any thoughts on what key words to use?”
Erin rotated so she faced us on the bed. “See if it mentions the seasons at all. Glaukos mentioned that right before disappearing last time.”
Backtracking through the index to S, I skimmed the small print. “Here. It says the word season appears in the entry on Persephone.” Turning to page 171, I found a two-page summary on Persephone with a black and white etching depicting two women reaching toward each other, both crying.
Rosa leaned over my shoulder to get a better look. “Why are they crying?”
“Hang on.” I read the entry twice to make sure I could relay the information accurately. “It says Persephone is the daughter of a goddess called Demeter. Things were fine for a while until Persephone got kidnapped by Hades, God of the Underworld.”
“I remember him from that Disney movie.” Erin laughed.
I let out a snort. “Something tells me the real deal is a hell of a lot scarier than a cartoon with his head on fire.”
“Why did he want to kidnap her?” Rosa asked.
I shrugged. “My guess is he was lonely and wanted someone to keep him company.”
“Or he wanted kids and he thought she was hot or something.” Erin squeezed the pillow to her chest.
I turned back to the book. “Anyway, it says she could only go back to see her mom for half the year. The rest of the time she had to stay with Hades.”
“But why would he let her leave half the year?” Rosa leaned closer to the book.
“I think it was to keep her happy. Well, as happy as she could be since it sounds like she really didn’t want to stay with him at all.” I settled the book in my lap so Rosa had a better view.
She tugged the book out of my lap and studied it. “Do you think she did that?”
“What do you mean?” Erin raised an eyebrow.
“Went back with him … wherever he went?”
Erin took another sip of water. “Probably. I wonder if he exists now.”
I rubbed my lips with the back of my hand in thought. “If we do and she does then he probably does.”
“Do you think she knows him?” Rosa folded down the corner of the right hand page of the entry on Persephone before closing the book.
“She must. I mean from what Abbie read it doesn’t sound like she’s evil. He has to be working with her. ” Erin uncurled from around her pillow.
I jumped to my feet. “The man who came in before. What if he’s Hades?”
Rosa nodded. “That would make sense.”
“You’d think she wouldn’t want to become a kidnapper.” Erin drained the water from the bottle beside her. “I mean she has to hate being kept by Hades for all that time. Shouldn’t she understand what we’re going through?”
I started to pace. “Maybe she’s got Stockholm Syndrome or something.” I threw my hands up. “Or maybe she doesn’t realize she’s Persephone. It’s not like we remembered being the Muses.”
Erin turned the water bottle cap between her fingers. “Does it say anything else about Persephone in there?”
Rosa opened the book again. “Persephone controlled the seasons for planting food. When she came back to Earth, things could grow and when she went back to stay with Hades, things died.”
“It sounds like she’s been staying topside too long. We’ve barely had winter here.” Settling back on my bed, I tried to process everything and sort it out. We were taking a lot on faith that all of this was true.
“What do we do now?” Erin’s cheeks had returned to their normal color and she stood up and retreated to her bed.
“We wait for her to come back.” I took the book back from Rosa. “Dr. Phillips doesn’t know we know what’s going on. We find a way to use it to our advantage and outsmart her.” I held the book tight. “Then we get the hell out of here.”
23
I hid out in one of the study rooms at the public library on Wednesday afternoon surrounded by European history notes. Regardless of Abbie’s situation, I still needed to pass finals. According to my watch, it was nearly six o’clock and the library closed in fifteen minutes. Gathering my books, I waited near the reference desk while Hermes checked books out for a couple of teenagers I thought I recognized from school. Shifting my weight, I hoped that loitering long enough would get me noticed. “I see you’re back.” Hermes stepped out from behind the desk wearing the same Converse sneakers and three piece suit.
I settled my books on the desk so I didn’t have to hold them. “Yeah, I tried studying for exams. I’d hoped the library would help me focus and avoid some of the distractions at home.”
“I see. And here I thought you were waiting for me to close up so you could follow me on my clandestine rendezvous with some of the other members in our little organization.” Hermes winked at me.
I laughed. The librarian wasn’t wrong. “I must suck at stealth.”
“No, son, I’m just good at reading people. Plus, that English teacher of yours gave me a heads up to look after you.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “He’s worried you might be getting yourself into a spot of trouble.”
I rolled my eyes. “Well, it’s not like he’s actually helping me. Sure, he said Abbie was alive a few days ago but he won’t give me anything else.”
Hermes waved me toward the exit. “You can share your feelings when we get there. Come on. We don’t want to be late.” He led me out to the back lot where a dark blue Mini Cooper waited. The size of the car meant my knees dug into the passenger seat in front of me and my backpack knocked against my chest as he drove. I tried to pay attention to the route but it was all back alleys a
nd side streets with no signs.
Hermes glanced at me in the rearview mirror as he pulled to a stop at a traffic light. “Don’t look so nervous. I’ll drop you back at the library when we’re done.”
I heaved a sigh. “Okay. Thanks.”
“So how long have you known about us?” Hermes eased off the brake and the car lurched forward.
“For a couple of years.” Adjusting my bag so it didn’t dig into my chest, I continued. “My father told me when I started seeing auras … around the time I hit puberty. Compared to his, yours isn’t that strong. Though the other day it was a little unexpected.”
Hermes smiled. “That’s because I haven’t been using my abilities around you. It always is a little unsettling to have people just gawking at you.”
“Anyway, he told me all about it. I guess he didn’t want me to think I was crazy or something.” It was likely the nicest thing my father had done for me since Mum left.
“Can’t say that I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the elusive Hayden Gray.” Hermes steered the car down a narrow alleyway.
I leaned forward in the seat. “How’d you know he’s my father?”
Hermes let out a little chuckle. “Noticed the name on your library card.”
Heat burned momentarily in my cheeks. “Oh. Well, it’s no pleasure, believe me.”
We drove on in silence for several minutes before the librarian pulled to a stop in a circular driveway. A sprawling, three-story home sat in front of us. Struggling to undo my seatbelt, I stumbled out of the car and had to shake out my cramped leg muscles. “Who lives here?”
“You know your Greek mythology, right?” Hermes locked the car with a ‘beep’.
“Sort of.” I studied the ivy and other vines crawling lazily up the front of the house.
“Think of this is as our Mount Olympus.”
I blinked. “Zeus?” Hermes nodded and my throat went dry and I had to swallow twice to get my next words out. “So I am actually related to them then?”