“Whatever the case may be, one day while on the job, Mr. Thantos and his partner were attacked by Lucifer himself. The devil has a sword named the Sword of Vile, which puts a curse onto anyone who suffers from its sting. Both of the guardian angels were struck with it and changed from angels of light into angels of darkness. His partner joined with Satan and helped attempt to persuade, if I may say so delicately, Mr. Thantos to do the same. Eventually they gave up and left him be, but the scars of the attack are still evident. I'm sure you've noticed the damage done to his wings alone.” Anj paused a moment so Cheyenne could take the time to let all the information sink in.
She tried to picture the details in her head. She'd seen the shreds remaining of Mr. Thantos's wings. The thought of having them become that way as a result of torture made her shudder.
“The curse leaves him unable to touch for the rest of eternity. Everything he touches dies. which is why he wears the gloves all of the time,” Anj said quietly. He paused again, and this time it added more drama to the story. “He has been like this for over a thousand years.”
Anj was certainly a good storyteller. He was right when he had said she would want more once he finished his tale.
“Well?” she prompted him, hoping maybe he would continue. Instead, he changed the subject.
“Do promise me you'll stay out of the elevators today? It's not a good idea, but for some reason I feel like I have to repeat it to you again.” He stopped walking and placed both of his hands over both of hers ever so gently, making her look him in the eyes.
While normally a gesture like this would make her uncomfortable, she didn't feel that way with him. His hands were hot, unnaturally so, and his blue eyes seemed to glow. Actually, Cheyenne was almost certain he didn't have blue eyes naturally. His brother had dark eyes, and she was still positive the two shared the same eye color just as much as they shared all of their other good looks. Any time she'd noticed them being blue before, they had also been glowing. When the glowing ceased, they were always brown again.
“I know you don't like to be trapped. I just want you to be comfortable. It's not dangerous, I don't think. I guess I don't know, which also worries me. I don't like where that path goes.”
“What are you talking about?” she asked quietly. Now she was uncomfortable enough to actually break contact. “What's wrong with…”
“What's wrong with what?” He returned his right hand to his cane and his left went into the pocket of his jeans. “Don't pay me any attention. It's probably nothing.”
“You can't just bring something weird like that up without explaining it. You never start something unless you intend to finish it.” She then poked him in the side to emphasize this point. “Not like you have anything to worry about. I hate elevators anyway. But if it will make you feel better, I promise to try.”
Anj jerked away from her jabbing finger and let out a tiny laugh. “Trying is good enough for me. Now if you don't mind, can you please keep your hands to yourself? I don't want to get distracted and then get lost.” He moved his hand out to poke her back. “Only of course we wouldn't, but it’s—”
“Fun to play the guilt card on people?” Cheyenne supplied for him.
“Sometimes, but more like it's fun to watch people jump.”
Jump. That was a good word to describe what Cheyenne was doing. She always felt on edge with Anj, not knowing what to expect from him, and she liked it. She enjoyed the unpredictable element. Even more so because it was a game she could play.
“Why? Because you're a sadist?” She was only half teasing.
“But of course,” he replied with a light laugh. “I'm not sure if there’s a term for it, but I achieve a lot of joy from actually using my brain and ridiculing those who don't use theirs. If that makes me a sadist, then I suppose that's what I am, but I'm not afraid to admit to being an elitist. I think it sounds much more ominous, don't you?”
She couldn't help but start laughing. She was starting to get a grasp on his humor.
“The fact you aren't appalled with me for saying so tells me it's good I like you.”
“Liking me could never be a bad thing. The fact that you don't make me feel nervous and overwhelmed is a good thing. It means I like you. I don't always do well with people I first meet. I guess we're even.”
“Even in what?” He closed his eyes and when she saw them again they were a dull and dark-looking brown once more. “I don't suppose you want to take this flirtation to a different level? Say, more publicly at the Old Union, which, I should add, is off campus. While I'm aware it's a school night, I think it would be good for you to get a chance to see the town. Mostly though, I think it would be good for showing Jewl a thing or two about chemistry. Among other things.”
“You're really hung up on her.”
“A simple yes or no will suffice.”
She rolled her eyes. “Yes. We can go out tonight.” The idea of getting off campus excited her. She hadn't explored any of the town around her and had no clue what it would be like. She hadn’t been certain they were allowed to leave the school grounds. This gave her hope. It had been only a handful of days and she was already starting to feel trapped. The campus was large, but it was the principle of the matter— it was as if she was still stuck at home.
“We're at your class. You have a minute to get into the room before you’re considered late, though your professor for this class is much more understanding. I think you'll enjoy it a lot. I did, at least. Mythology has always been my favorite though. You never know which parts of it are fact and which parts are fiction. I'd love to stay and make sure you settle in okay, but I need to head off to my own class. I'm sure you'll find someone in there who can help you out.”
“Thanks.” She offered him a small wave before turning toward her next classroom. She stood outside it for a moment before stepping in.
Anj was right. This class had a much different feel than Mr. Thantos's room. There was a lighthearted ambience to the room. The students stood in small groups and spoke quietly among each other while their professor sat at his desk preparing the lecture. He was a kind-looking man in his mid-forties. His hair was dark with a few sprinkles of silver, and when he smiled at her from his desk, his face wrinkled.
He approached her with his arms outstretched. She wasn't sure if she should expect a hug. “Welcome. I'm going to assume you're Cheyenne. It's good to have you here. We were waiting for you, and we have a spot saved just for you by a friend.” He put an arm around her and motioned for her to take a seat in front of Zes. “Now that we're all here, who wants to tell Cheyenne what we just covered in class?”
All of the students took their respective seats, but no one said a word. She couldn't feel anyone looking at her, thankfully, but she knew they were thinking about her, and that alone made her uncomfortable. After a few moments, she could feel the air rush around her as Zes shot his hand up.
“We were learning about satyrs, Mr. Matthys.” Zes sounded excited and started to spit out every piece of information he had on the subject. “Satyrs are often depicted in ancient art as part goat and part human and originate from Greek mythology. In those stories they play music, drink, chase women, are lighthearted, and—” He stopped midsentence. Cheyenne glanced back at him, wondering why, and found him looking down at his desk. He mumbled something under his breath, but no one was able to hear it.
“You've covered a lot of the key points to the mythological side of things,” Mr. Matthys said. He gave Zes a gentle and proud smile. “We haven't quite finished our lesson on them. We still have to cover what they are truly like. All mythological creatures have stories that have misinformed their listeners for thousands of years. Welcome to Mythology I.”
Mythology I was an exciting class. There was so much information and so many stories told, Cheyenne found herself putting down her pen and simply listening to her teacher talk instead of actually taking notes. He was a fantastic storyteller with an engaging voice and personality.
“Satyrs have often been described as being cowardly or shy,” Mr. Matthys said. “But let me tell you, this is not always the case. Satyrs are so in tune with nature they are often perceived as cowards because they appear so passive outdoors. However, they have a lot of the qualities inherited from their goat biology.”
A chorus of giggles exploded from most of the students. Mr. Matthys shook his head. “Laugh all you want, but you'd be surprised at how honorable a goat is. They are loyal and obedient, knowing when it’s good to fight and time to flee. More people should acknowledge their great level of intelligence. They are much more clever than anyone gives them credit for. Like most of the mythological creatures we'll be studying, you'll find they are just as average as anyone else.” His eyes made contact with each student as he spoke.
“And as I said in my first lecture, and I'll repeat it so the new students can hear it as well, everyone here is a mythological being. Everyone here has no doubt heard stories of their ancient kin and scoffed at some of the silly ideas presented. The purpose of this class is to get a general overview of what these myths say and provide some insight on reality.
“There is so much to learn and discover. I hope to see you in Mythology II, and I hope even if you can't squeeze it into your schedules, you'll keep challenging the stories to know more, to know the truth, about where we come from.” He faced the chalkboard and wrote a page number from their textbook. “But as I was saying, satyrs are not cowardly or shy. They're cautious, which you'll see in this article written about a rather famous satyr.”
Cheyenne took this opportunity to glance through her textbook. The articles and pictures on its pages were much too fascinating for her to ignore. Mr. Matthys caught her doing this, but he didn't seem to mind. He continued with his lecture as she paged through the book, reading and soaking up the random bits of information. She had just stopped on a page about nymphs when Zes tapped her on the shoulder.
“Ch-Cheyenne, it's time to go. Class got done five minutes ago.”
“Oh, right.” She closed her book and put it into her bag. She threw it over her shoulder and gave him a smile. “Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” he replied as he made a hasty motion for her to follow him out of the room. “You got lunchtime next, right? Of course you do, stupid question. We have to be on the same lunch schedule if we just got out of the same class. Do you want to eat now? We have about two hours, or we can not eat together, I mean, whatever makes you more comfortable. I don't want to intrude or anything, but I thought I'd ask and…” He glanced down at her as they stepped into the hallway. “I'm rambling again,” he whispered and then let out a sigh. “I do that a lot. I should probably stop before I talk your ear off.”
“No, keep talking. It's okay.”
“R-really? Because Anj says it's kind of annoying. He says I shouldn't talk unless I have a point. Though I do have one. It's hard to get to because I'm sort of on edge. Class was more or less embarrassing. Mr. Matthys likes to talk about all of the different creatures that make up the students, which is cool, but I don't like he started with mine. Especially now that you're here. It's awkward.”
She watched his face as he spoke, taking in how expressive it was in comparison to his brother's. Zes smiled a lot more, and he held his body in a much looser way and used lots of hand gestures. He didn't have the same kind of confidence his brother did, but he held his own all the same. She liked how he didn't hold back for the sake of being “cool.” His honesty was different than Anj's, much more pure. The two were a lot alike, but as many ways as they were the same, there were just as many ways they weren't. She nodded at him in an attempt to silently encourage him to continue talking.
“Well, you're a nymph.” He paused a moment. That was supposed to mean something to her apparently, but she didn't know what. “Satyrs are known for their lustful passions,” he explained. He swallowed hard. “Their object of desire is usually a nymph.” Again, he looked at her as if it was supposed to mean something, but no light bulbs were going off in her head.
“I'm half satyr,” he said at last. “So I'm kind of embarrassed.”
“You don't need to be embarrassed though,” she said. “It's like Mr. Matthys said. It's all stories. They're not straight-up facts. That's why they're called myths, right?”
“Yeah, you're right. They're just stories.” He glanced down at her again. “I mean, not that you aren't cute or anything, because you are. But I don't think that just because of my genes—and did I just say that out loud?” He put a hand to his face. After a minute, he made his way to the elevator. She, however, didn't follow. “What's wrong? If it's because I—”
She waved her hands back and forth at him. “No, it's not that. Your brother said something about staying away from the elevators. He said they weren't safe. He made me promise to not go near them.”
By the way Zes raised his eyebrow and smirked, it was clear he must have thought she was joking around. She stared back at him with a straight face to show him how serious she was being, and he started to laugh.
“He always says stuff like that. He likes to be overdramatic and think something bad is going to happen with this door, or that room, or some food, or whatever. Every day it's different. Sometimes he's right and he gloats about it, and other times he'll make up some lame excuse about how it’s just not meant to be, or how his timing was off and to still beware.” Zes wiggled his fingers at her as he said “beware,” his voice taking on an overdramatic and ghoulish quality. “I bet the elevators are fine.”
He grabbed her arm lightly, so lightly she could barely tell she was being touched. He was so gentle. How could someone like him lead her to harm? He brought her to the elevator and then they waited in silence.
They could be quiet and at the same time be comfortable, which was something Cheyenne liked a lot and was also rare to come by. He didn't make it seem as if she had to say something to keep his interest. In fact, it was almost as though he wanted her to stay quiet, and not simply so he could do all the talking. Not that she would have minded if he did. He was just as interesting to listen to as his brother. But she liked how it felt as if he understood her not wanting to talk. There was peace in their quiet, and no expectations for either of them to be anything. The doors closed, and they started to move down.
“See? There's nothing wrong,” Zes said with a triumphant grin. “I bet he told everyone to stay away so they wouldn't be crowded. We have a lot of lazy people here.”
“Like you?” she teased, and she couldn't resist poking him in the side. Anj had been comfortable with the gesture, so she hoped he would be too.
He didn't react right away. At first all he did was stare down at her finger, and then there was a delayed laugh. “Not the point I was trying to make.”
“So what was?” She paused when the elevator went quiet. She had heard the hum of it progressing along the cable and became distracted with her conversation too much to notice when it had stopped. “Are we there?”
“I…” He stopped. “What do you mean are we there?” He frowned when he noticed they weren't moving. “Weird, I could have sworn I pushed the button for the first floor. It's probably confused.”
“An elevator can become confused?” Cheyenne put a hand on her hip and couldn't help but laugh. “Will the doors open? Maybe we haven't gone anywhere.”
Zes nodded and then pushed every button he could find, but to no avail. Cheyenne wanted to suggest that they should have listened to his brother after all, but she held it in. She didn't know much about sibling rivalries, but she figured Zes wouldn't appreciate the comment much. Instead, she watched him push all the buttons again and again. After another minute, he gave up and started to pace.
Cheyenne sat down on the floor and watched him walk back and forth, his brow furrowed deeply. There was so much she could have said, but every phrase she thought up didn't seem as if it would help the situation.
“Will you sit down?” she asked him at last. He did so, but hesit
antly. The two resumed their quiet, and she watched him sit. His hands tapped on his knees and he sighed every so often.
“You doing okay?” he asked.
She nodded, though she was much more concerned for him, considering all of his fidgeting. Five minutes passed, and he let out another heavy sigh. Nervous and unsure, she reached her hand up to gently rub his shoulder.
“We're fine. It's probably just a minor malfunction and we'll be moving again soon. These kinds of things happen all the time.”
The last bit was a lie, and she was positive he knew it because he frowned at her. The frown faded into a tiny half smile though.
“Thanks anyway. For trying, I mean,” he said. “I'm giving it another couple of minutes before I start calling for help. I'm starving.”
“Maybe we can try asking it nicely?”
“I didn't know elevators responded to that sort of thing.”
“If they can be confused…” She smirked at him. “Mr. Elevator, can you please let us off? I promise to not ride you again until you're better.”
“Please? I'm hungry,” added Zes, now laughing. “This is kind of silly.”
“I'm willing to try anything at this point.”
Those must have been the magic words, because the doors opened, and on the first floor, no less.
“See?” She stood up slowly, stretching a little, and did her best to be casual in case a student or a teacher were to walk by. She didn't want anyone to get the wrong idea. She offered her hand to Zes. He took it and accepted her help up. The two stepped out together.
He slowly withdrew his hand from hers, and his eyes lowered to the ground. “I don't always do well in closed spots, or with being stuck.” He glanced around the hallway to make sure no one was nearby. “I won't say anything if you won't. I don't want him to know. If he does, he'll gloat and talk about how he was right, and I'd never hear the end of it. I think I already said that earlier though, huh?”
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