Muse Song, #1

by Sarah Biglow

  Draining the last of the water, I propped my elbows on my knees. “I was his slave and it didn’t cost him much power. That’s what they were using Abbie for. If it worked on me then he could get control over other kids and have foot soldiers. It wouldn’t matter that he draws his power from the Underworld.”

  Mr. McManus nodded. “Yes, I would say that’s a fair assessment. It worked but it has clearly worn off.”

  I ran my hands over my hair. “There was this thought that kept popping up in the back of my head all the time. I couldn’t quite remember what it was. I think it was Abbie.”

  “I think your status as a demigod may have been part of that.” Mr. McManus stood up. “You may be able to resist your father’s power to an extent.”

  “Maybe.” I rose too. “Has there been any news on Abbie?”

  “Yes.” He smiled. “Actually, the police found her and the other girls in a secret room in your stepmother’s offices on Friday. I’m not sure if Abbie will be back to school or not. That all depends on her parents.”

  “That must have been what broke it.” I grinned wide. “They lost control of Abbie and his control over me slipped.”

  Mr. McManus nodded and checked his phone. “Xavier is pleased to know you are all right.”

  “I bet he’s happy to know Abbie’s safe, too.” The smile persisted.

  The teacher started toward the doorway. “We all are.”

  “When we were at his house, he said you were working on ways to keep Abbie safe in the future.” I shoved my hands into my pockets. “What did that mean?”

  “Mr. and Mrs. Maragos run a creative arts high school.” Mr. McManus winked. “Let’s just say Abbie may be someone they are looking to bring into their program. And perhaps the other girls as well.”

  “So they’re like Professor X and Abbie’s a rogue mutant?” I took a step toward the door out of the lounge.

  “Nothing quite so superhero.” A chuckle bubbled in the man’s chest. “There are plenty of mundane kids at the school but it is a safe haven where members of our community can learn to fully understand their abilities.”

  The lingering effects of my father’s mind hijack dissipated completely in the next few minutes and Mr. McManus gave me a note to excuse my tardiness for the last class period. I wanted to send Abbie a message to let her know I knew she was all right. That wasn’t putting too much pressure on her, just a little note to show her that I was thinking of her. Mr. McManus stuck his head out of the door to the lounge. “Liam, give Abbie some time to adjust to being back in the real world. You don’t want to put too much pressure on her.”

  “Okay. I won’t. And sorry I kind of freaked out on you before.” Heat warmed my cheeks. “I was just frustrated that there wasn’t anything I could really do to help Abbie.”

  “You don’t need to apologize.” He ignored my embarrassment. “Things are turning out the way they are supposed to.”

  Ending up in my usual spot in the library, I logged into Facebook on my phone and pulled up the chat window with Abbie and sent her a short note. Liam Sullivan-Gray: Abbie, I don’t want to rush you or anything but I just needed you to know how happy I am that you are safe. I hope we can chat sometime and maybe I’ll see you back at school.

  31

  Three days after the escape, I sat in the chair outside Principal Tannery’s office. Mom and Dad stood on either side of me like ever-watchful sentinels. I hadn’t wanted to come with them today but they insisted I be there for a meeting with the principal. To my surprise, the front desk receptionist even made eye contact with me. Getting kidnapped had clearly reversed my invisible factor.

  “Mr. Tannery will see you now.” The receptionist left her desk and opened the door.

  Following Mom and Dad into the principal’s office I wondered briefly whether Erin and Rosa were in similar situations. We’d agreed to meet up before the end of the school year to get rid of the play. Once everyone was seated, Mr. Tannery leaned forward but kept his gaze focused on anything but my parents and me. “I’m very sorry about what happened to you, Miss Rollands.”

  No you’re not. You were probably in on the whole thing.

  I rolled my eyes at his apology and Mom nudged me in the arm. “Abbie, he said something to you.”

  “I heard him. But I don’t think I have to accept his apology. He probably sent lots of kids to see her. If we hadn’t listened to him, none of this would have happened.” Gripping the armrests I tried to keep my anger from bubbling closer to the surface.

  “I swear I had no idea she was going to do anything like that. You have to believe me. She came highly recommended.” Principal Tannery held up his hands in a defensive posture.

  “You’re lucky we don’t sue you and the school for this.” Dad’s voice rumbled deep in his chest and he stiffened in the chair.

  Principal Tannery gaped at him in shock. I wasn’t expecting that threat to come out of Dad’s mouth either. Sure, there was the criminal case to worry about but I never considered suing the school.

  Mom let out a breath and repositioned her purse in her lap. “We’ve also decided that it’s in Abbie’s best interest if she finishes the year with a tutor.”

  Principal Tannery coughed into his hand. “There are only two weeks left. Surely she can wait and finish out finals.”

  “We went to that woman on your suggestion.” Mom leaned forward and narrowed her eyes. “And you know my daughter is right. We don’t know how many other children you’ve sent to her. She abducted my daughter and two other girls and kept them locked in a room for over a week. I don’t trust you or this school to keep her safe.”

  “Please, I swear I didn’t know.” The principal’s lower lip quivered.

  “Look, the thing is we’re not happy with the way things have gone this year for Abbie.” Dad’s shoulders relaxed. “She’s had a tough time in school and I think a change is what she needs. So, after today, you won’t be seeing her again.”

  There’d been no definite discussion about where I’d go for junior year but at this point anything was better than being stuck there. Mom and Dad stunned Mr. Tannery into silence. Mom slid her purse onto her arm and turned to me. “Go get your things from your locker and say goodbye to your teachers while we get your school records.”

  Darting from the room—grateful to see the last of the principal’s office—I made a quick trip to my locker before racing to Mr. McManus’s room. If I’d been in attendance today, I would have been listening to whatever they were discussing. My heart fluttered with anticipation when I spotted Liam through the door. I longed to catch his attention, to see him smile and know that he was okay. The bell rang and the students inside packed up, beating a hasty retreat to the door. I ducked out of the way to avoid being trampled then the door swung shut, leaving only Liam and Mr. McManus inside. I walked in and Liam broke out into a huge grin when he looked my way. Relief washed over me because he was safe. Mr. McManus busied himself with shuffling papers around on his desk.

  Liam pulled me into a hug when he was within arm’s reach. “I was so worried about you.”

  I squeezed him back. “I should have listened to you. You said I shouldn’t trust her.”

  “I didn’t know something like that would happen.” Liam let me go.

  “I thought about you a lot when I was kidnapped.” Warmth touched my cheeks.

  “Me too.” He grinned.

  Mr. McManus stepped out from behind his desk and smiled. “Welcome back, Abbie.”

  “Thanks. I’m not staying though.” I set my half-empty backpack on the floor between my feet. “I’m finishing out the year with a tutor. And I’m going to a new school in the fall, a fresh start.”

  “You’re always welcome here, Abbie, even if you just want to stop by and say hello.” Mr. McManus turned to Liam. “Liam, you should get going. You don’t want to be late for class.”

  Liam squeezed my hand and leaned in to kiss my cheek. “I’ll text you later.”

  I never wanted
to let go of his hand but I did. Biting my lip, I tried to keep my smile from growing to Cheshire cat size. After the hell I’d gone through, Liam was safe and I had a boyfriend, even if those words hadn’t explicitly passed between us. The door closed behind him, leaving Mr. McManus and me alone. “You know, Mr. McManus, you were the only teacher here who acted like I was a person, not some disruption.”

  “I saw how talented you are and that makes you strong. You have gifts. Don’t let other people tell you different.” He leaned on a nearby desk.

  I raised an eyebrow. “You think so?”

  “I know so. Use them wisely, and you can do anything. And don’t be afraid to rely on the people who are close to you.”

  “Thanks Mr. McManus.” I gave him a quick hug. “I’m going to miss being in your class.”

  “And I’m going to miss the inspiration you brought to class. There are people out there who will always be there to help you. They may even need you one day.”

  A twinkle in his eye set off a chain of connections in my brain. “Glaukos?”

  Mr. McManus put a finger to his lips like it was a secret. He winked as he escorted me from the room. No wonder he was my favorite teacher. I guess that connection hadn’t been as crazy as I’d thought. I repositioned my backpack on both shoulders. “Can I ask you something?”

  He nodded. “Sure.”

  “Everything that happened, it sounded like they were getting ready for a battle. And those dreams were almost always about fighting. There’s a battle coming again, isn’t there?”

  “Yes, there is. But for now you don’t need to worry about it.” He placed a hand on my shoulder. “Hades tried to use your abilities to his advantage and he lost.”

  I nodded and turned to leave. “Oh, one other thing; did you know who I was when I started this year?”

  “I had a pretty good idea after things started happening in class.” He waved. “Be safe, Abbie.”

  32

  Sitting in the front seat of Dad’s car, I stared at him. “It’s been more than a month, Dad. I’ve stopped having nightmares. I’ll be fine.”

  He rested both hands on the steering wheel. “You can always call if you need to.”

  “I said I’d be okay.” I unbuckled my seatbelt.

  “Okay, okay. Go on and have fun. And don’t forget to say thank you to Erin’s parents for letting you stay.” He leaned over to kiss my cheek. “Your mom will pick you up in the morning.”

  I smiled and climbed out of the car. “Bye, Dad. I love you.”

  Erin waited for me on the front steps. “Want some help?” She pointed to my sleeping bag.

  “Yeah. Thanks.”

  Together, we got my stuff inside and into Erin’s room. Rosa was already there, sitting on her sleeping bag.

  “Hi.” Setting down my bag, I gave her a hug.

  “I heard you got into Williams Arts Academy too.” Rosa returned the hug and settled back on her hands.

  I smiled. “Yeah. We’re all going.”

  “And it’s going to be so cool.” Erin sat beside Rosa. “I mean we’ll be around music all day and people won’t notice so much if we inspire by accident. We won’t be freaks.”

  “But we need to be careful.” Unrolling my sleeping bag, I kicked my bag out of the way. “We know how to control it now, at least sort of, but Hades is still out there and I’m guessing he’s got friends. We don’t want the wrong people to notice what we can do.”

  Erin’s mom appeared, cutting the discussion short as she toted paper plates, soda cans and pizza. “Dinner’s here.”

  Erin accepted the food and shooed her mother out of the room. Once they were alone again, Erin got to her feet and rummaged through the bottom drawer of her desk, pulling out the notes. She set them on the floor between us. I retrieved the mythology book from my bag. Erin hadn’t asked me to bring it but it felt right to have it given what we planned to do. “I think we should share the book. Since we’ll be seeing each other every day at school, it shouldn’t be too hard to pass it around.”

  “So who gets it next?” Erin eased her bedroom door most of the way closed.

  I pushed it to Rosa. “I think Rosa should.”

  Rosa picked it up and ran her fingers down the spine. Without a word, she tucked it safely away in her own bag. Our focus returned to the pages that lay on the floor. We’d vowed to keep our true identities from our families. They wouldn’t understand the truth and the fewer people who knew the truth the better. Rubbing my hands together, I leaned forward. “Are we sure we’re ready to do this?”

  Rosa took a bite of pizza. “I have been thinking.”

  “About what?” Erin popped the tab on her can of soda.

  “What will happen now that Persephone is going to be in jail for a long time? She cannot go back with Hades during winter.” Rosa opened her own can and took a sip.

  Erin shrugged. “I don’t know. I’m just glad she can’t hurt us anymore.”

  “And we have to hope whatever she and Hades were planning dies with these notes.” Nudging the stack of pages with my toe, I tried not to think about the man from the hospital. With distance from the encounter, I was certain it had been Hades. Still, I didn’t mention it to Erin and Rosa.

  We all focused on the food in front of us. Destroying the play could wait a few minutes longer. Between the three of us, we ate the entire pizza in record time. Erin took the now-empty pizza box to the kitchen and returned with a small, silver lighter. “We said we needed to burn it, right?”

  “Yeah but won’t your mom notice if we start setting things on fire?” I watched as Erin pulled her trash can out from under desk.

  She returned to the middle of the room and toyed with the lighter. “I light candles in here all the time.”

  Tearing the notes into smaller pieces, we each tossed a handful into the trash can. We each kept a piece to light. Erin went first then passed the lighter to Rosa. I took it last and we dropped the burning scraps of paper in at the same time. The fire spread and engulfed the rest of the pages, burning faster than I thought possible. In minutes all that remained were dark smudges of ash. Good riddance.

  33

  Abbie and I made our relationship official as soon as school was finished. We spent as much time together as her parents would allow. My father didn’t have a say in the matter, especially since he was busy dealing with court dates for my stepmother’s criminal case. I didn't know the specifics of how my father weaseled his way out of being an accomplice but I could guess having a police captain as a close friend helped. The feeling of being under my father's thumb had faded quickly but the guilt over what had happened to Abbie still lingered in the back of my mind. I put on a brave face whenever I was around her. She didn't talk about the experience and I was grateful. Still, if she ever wanted to talk, I wanted to be supportive of her.

  At present, I sat on my bed, computer in my lap. Waiting for Mum to come online on Skype, I skimmed Facebook when a message popped up from Abbie.

  Abbie Rollands: Hey, so we have this new student orientation week at school. You should come by and we can hang out after.

  I clicked the window and typed.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: Sure. I can come tomorrow. What time is it over?

  Abbie Rollands: Like two o'clock or something. I'm kind of nervous. But excited, you know?

  Smiling, I fired off a response.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: You'll do great.

  Abbie Rollands: Thanks. You always know what to say to make me feel better.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: Guess that's what boyfriends are for. You still hanging out with Erin and Rosa?

  I was glad I could officially call myself her boyfriend. The typing on Abbie's end slowed down. I tapped my fingers on the keyboard, ready to fire back a response. I couldn’t blame her for hanging out with her fellow captives. It was probably a good thing that they had bonded, especially if what I’d overheard was true. If pieces were being put into play by people like my father, they would need all the
allies they could get. A tiny piece of me wanted to tell Abbie the truth about everything so she wouldn’t have to hide who she was. But that meant admitting I was at least partly involved and I wasn’t ready for that. So keeping mum for now was the plan. Finally, Abbie’s next message appeared on my screen.

  Abbie Rollands: Yeah, it's kind of like therapy, which is ironic since that's how we all got to know each other in the first place.

  I laughed in spite of myself. It wasn’t really funny.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: I'm glad you can be so positive about everything that happened. If it were me I wouldn't be that strong. And you know if you ever need to talk about it, I'm here to listen.

  Abbie Rollands: I know you are. And maybe someday I will. It's just ... they know what it was really like.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: I get that. Let's talk about something else.

  Abbie Rollands: Okay. Like what?

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: I don't know. How're things with your mom and dad?

  Abbie Rollands: Still divorced. But they talk more so that's good. What about you? Anything exciting at home?

  I paused. I couldn’t exactly tell her I wasn’t speaking to my father or that she was the reason. Liam Sullivan-Gray: Okay, I suppose. Got a Skype date with my mum in a bit. She might be coming to visit for a while. If she does you have to meet her.

  Abbie Rollands: Definitely. I don't want you to miss her. I’ll text you later.

  Liam Sullivan-Gray: I'll talk to you later then. Bye.

  Closing the chat window, I toggled to Skype. Mum’s icon lit up to show that she was online and I hit call. The video popped up and signaled that it was connecting. Less than a minute later, her face appeared on the screen. "Hi, love. Sorry I'm late." She smiled.

  I leaned into the screen and smiled too. "That's okay. I was talking to Abbie."

  "You're serious about this girl, aren't you?" Mum propped her chin in her hand.

  "Mum!” The tips of my ears grew warm and I let out a nervous laugh. “We are sort of dating. I mean like going to the mall and stuff. But yeah, I think it's serious. I just wish I could tell her the truth."