by Vera Strange
“No, me first,” Luca said. “I knocked on the door. I got dibs—”
Hector could hear the sounds of them shoving each other outside the door. He shook his head to clear it, then worked to steady his breathing.
It wasn’t real—it couldn’t be real.
Blue flames didn’t just appear in a mirror, or on statues in the park. And mirrors couldn’t talk, either. Clearly, his eyes and ears were playing tricks on him. It was just the stress of losing the preliminary race, with the real race for the Cup only a week away, he reassured himself.
Feeling slightly better, he unlocked the bathroom door, letting his brothers shove their way past him, and headed off to bed. He collapsed, tiredness settling over his whole body like an iron weight.
The next day, Phil trained Hector hard at the field. “Remember, it’s your dream to win this race,” he lectured, putting him through the practice course and becoming more agitated every time Hector fell short of his best times.
The pressure was clearly getting to them both.
“Dreams are for rookies,” Hector muttered under his breath, repeating what Mae had said, as he tackled the next obstacle—a rope climb that made his arms ache and quiver by the time he got to the top. He leapt to the ground, then ran for the hurdles that came next.
But his foot clipped one, taking it down and making his shin throb.
What is wrong with me today?
His heart just wasn’t in it. The loss in the preliminary race had affected him more than he realized. He hadn’t slept well, either. He felt sluggish, not like his usual self.
The school bell rang, and a few minutes later Mae took the field. She gave him a shy wave, then started limbering up under her father’s careful watch.
Almost as soon as she arrived, she tackled the field with a verve and grace that Hector had never witnessed before. If she’d been good in training last week, this week she was better. It was like she was peaking.
And at just the right time.
Unlike Hector, who was dragging in his training—and his times reflected it. Despite their budding friendship, she was definitely his stiffest competition for the Zeus Cup.
“Hey, don’t get distracted!” Phil yelled, spotting him watching Mae.
“Sorry.” Hector panted, trying to catch his breath. Phil came over to him, clutching his stopwatch and clipboard.
“Look, you can’t be her friend, remember? We talked about this. She’s not trustworthy,” Phil said, softening slightly. “Remember what happened in the preliminary race? She played dirty once—she could easily do it again to win.”
“It’s not her fault,” Hector argued. “She’s not like that really. She’s just under a lot of pressure from her dad.”
“I know what I saw,” Phil said, remaining skeptical. He narrowed his eyes at Mae as she did a parkour move over the hurdles. “Plus, that girl could beat you—even if she doesn’t cheat.”
“Yeah, I know,” Hector said, feeling nauseated. His brother was right.
“What’s gotten into you today?” Phil asked. “Your times are all over the place.”
“Uh, I’m just tired, I guess,” Hector managed. “Maybe it’s the stress getting to me. And, well…”
They both turned to watch Mae as she climbed the same rope that Hector had struggled on like it was nothing, then leapt down and aced the hurdles.
Phil patted Hector’s shoulder and lowered his voice.
“You’re a faster runner, and stronger than her,” Phil said. “But she’s lighter and nimbler. She can climb the obstacles faster. And she’s willing to play dirty.”
“Sheesh, tell me something I don’t know,” Hector said, feeling even worse.
“Look, Mom and Dad told me not to say anything,” Phil said. “But the shop is struggling. We’re doing everything we can to keep it afloat. But the new megamart one town over has taken a lot of our best customers. It’s not as easy for small businesses these days.”
Hector’s face fell; Phil noticed it.
“You can beat her, Wonderboy. I know you can,” Phil said. “But you have to stay focused, got it? And that means the two of you can’t be friends.”
Hector nodded, playing along like he agreed with his brother, but the truth was starting to sink in. His life really wasn’t his own.
That night, Hector had a terrible nightmare where the shadows on his wall formed images of losing the Zeus Cup to Mae.
She raced past him, crossing the finish line to cheering crowds and applause.
The shadowy figures then showed Mae holding the Zeus Cup, hoisting it over her head, while Hector looked on in defeat, his shoulders sagging.
The crowd lifted Mae onto their shoulders, parading her around.
“Noooooo!”
Hector woke up in a sweaty panic, gasping for breath. He was still in his bed. His heart thumped wildly.
“It was only a bad dream,” he whispered to himself. “It wasn’t real. You’re just stressed out.”
Then something moved in the corner of his vision. He snapped his head around to look at the wall. The shadow figures were still there.
No. That’s not possible.
Before his eyes, the shadows transformed into two hideous monsters. They loomed over him. Their claws stretched out toward him.
They aimed their claws at his neck.
And then—
They cackled.
“No…please…don’t hurt me!” Hector stammered.
He stared at the fearsome creatures with their large yellow eyes, shadowy bodies, jagged teeth, and razor-sharp claws. Impossibly, they jumped down off the wall, landing on his mattress with a solid thump that shook the bed. The monsters were real.
He couldn’t believe his eyes. Fear flooded through him, making his palms sweat and his mouth run dry at the same time. Hector scrambled backward in his bed, trying to get away from them. His eyes stayed fixed on the nightmarish demons.
One was short and plump with a round torso, jagged teeth, and a forked tail, while the other was skinny and taller with a beaky nose and horns. They both had sharp claws.
They took a step toward him.
Hector tried to back up more, but he hit the headboard of his bed.
He was trapped.
His heart veered into overdrive, making him pant like he did when he ran sprints at the track. Only there was nowhere to run this time.
“Wake up!” Hector hissed, pinching his arm to jolt himself awake. “It’s just a nightmare! They’re not real—”
“Pain, is he talkin’ to us?” the skinny one hissed to the fat one, sounding perplexed.
“Uh, should we talk back?” the fat one said in a raspy voice.
“Yeah, and who’s he calling not real?” the skinny one added, sounding quite offended.
The demons could…talk?
Hector shut his eyes and squeezed them hard, expecting the monsters to vanish like the blue flame in the mirror when he looked back. But when he cracked his eyes open again, the demons were still there.
They stared right back at him.
Then they burst into laughter.
“Oh, he thought we’d disappear!” the skinny one said, elbowing the fat one. “Though that would be a neat trick.”
“Yeah, maybe there’s a potion for that,” the other one said. “We should ask the Boss Man.”
Somehow their laughter scared Hector even more.
“No! Don’t hurt me!” He gulped, yanking the blanket up to his neck to try to protect himself, even though that was silly. What was a blanket going to do against demons with sharp claws? “Please leave me alone!” he said, scrambling back and bumping into the headboard again.
“Oh, hey there, Wonderboy—” the tall, skinny one started. He took a step closer on the bed and raised his claws toward Hector.
“Wait, how do you know my name?” Hector stammered.
“Just calm down, kiddo!” the fat one added. “Don’t panic—”
“Hey, that’s my name!” the ta
ll one said in excitement.
He jumped up and down on the bed, making it shake again.
“Please, don’t hurt me!” Hector whimpered, trying to hide under the blanket.
“Sorry, we didn’t mean to scare yah,” the skinny one said.
“Boss Man just told us—Show Wonderboy what happens if he refuses to accept our help,” the fat one added cheerfully. “So we did.”
Hector looked back and forth between the two monsters, perplexed. That wasn’t what he thought demons were supposed to sound like. They were chipper and upbeat, friendly even.
This is not good, Hector decided. I am definitely losing it.
“Wh-what do you want from me?” he forced out.
“There yah go! Now you’re getting with the program!” the fat one said. “I’m Pain, and that’s Panic.” He jerked his thumb to the skinny one, who grinned with sharp teeth, though it looked more like a fearsome snarl.
“Our boss has some powers that could help you win the Cup,” Panic chimed in.
They both leered at him, which did not come off as friendly. Their eyes, Hector realized, weren’t smiling. They looked cunning.
“Yah wanna win the Zeus Cup, right?” Panic said, luring him.
He held up his hands, and a shadowy Cup appeared in them. He held it up like a prize.
Hector swallowed hard against his fear. Their offer, however suspect, was tempting. He felt fear slosh around in his gut. He remembered training at the track today and watching Mae, and realizing that he could actually lose to her next week.
Suddenly, the shadow Cup vanished into thin air, just like Hector’s dream of winning could.
“Wh-who’s your boss?” Hector forced out. “What can he do to help me?”
“Uh, the Boss Man,” Panic said, gesturing for Hector to follow him. “We’ll take you to him.”
“I dunno,” Hector said, hesitating. “It sounds fishy.”
“Wonderboy, you wanna win that Cup or not?” Pain rasped.
“Yeah,” Panic said. “Otherwise…we can go talk to the girl—”
“Mae?” Hector blurted.
“Yeah, that’s the one! I bet she wants to win bad enough that she’ll listen to us. Why don’t we just—”
“No.” Hector cut them off. “I want to win!”
He couldn’t let them talk to Mae. She’d take their help for sure, and then he’d definitely lose. He imagined how disappointed his family would be if he let that happen. No, not disappointed—devastated. He steadied his breathing and met their eyes, returning their stares.
“You can take me to your boss. I’ll see what he has to offer.”
Pain and Panic helped Hector sneak out of the house. It was still the middle of the night, and his family was sound asleep.
He crept down the shadowy hall, following Pain and Panic, who ended up tripping and stumbling over each other in their excited rush to get to the front door.
“Quiet!” Hector hissed at them as they landed in a heap on the floor. “Are you trying to wake up every single member of my family?”
Hector froze and listened closely. But he didn’t hear anyone stir. His dad’s snores still drifted through the thin walls.
He relaxed. Luckily, they were all deep sleepers. An elephant could’ve crashed through the front door, and his dad would have probably kept right on snoring.
Even better, his little bedroom was near the front door. He didn’t have to go downstairs. He just had to cross the living room and make sure the door didn’t creak on its hinges.
Pain and Panic crept ahead, leading the way and signaling when it was safe to follow. Their shadows cast across the walls by the hall light looked terrifying.
But they seemed so calm and friendly, although Hector suspected that was more of an act and that they could easily shift back into terrifying demons at the command of their Boss Man.
Whoever he was.
Hector felt a pang of fear prick his stomach. It probably wasn’t smart to follow two strange demons in the middle of the night to meet their mysterious boss.
But then he remembered the nightmare they had enacted for him, where he lost the Zeus Cup to Mae. This might be his only chance to ensure that he won.
Plus, they’d threatened to talk to her if he didn’t take the deal. She was clearly willing to play dirty to win. He couldn’t risk it.
Hector continued after Pain and Panic, tiptoeing through the living room. He didn’t breathe until they reached the front door and climbed down the front steps. Pain and Panic, in their joyous rush to be outside, tumbled over each other, landing in a pile of claws on his front lawn.
“I said, be quiet! My family might sleep like the dead, but my neighbors don’t,” Hector hissed at them. “And they’d probably find it suspicious to discover two demons lurking in the cul-de-sac.”
Pain and Panic led Hector out of his neighborhood, down the street, and toward the center of town. It was such a small town that it didn’t take long to get there on foot. Plus, Hector was in good shape. Jogging a few miles was nothing to him. He wasn’t even winded.
“Where are we going?” he asked, surveying the deserted downtown area. Nothing stayed open this late around here.
Hero’s Sporting Goods was all closed up with the doors locked. Through the windows, he could see the trophy case in the dimly lit interior.
“This way, Wonderboy,” Pain and Panic said, cutting into the park in the middle of town—the one with the statues of the Greek gods in the center.
The demons led him right up to the statue of Hades. The white marble face with flaming hair and pointy teeth stared down at him. Being this close to it made Hector’s knees shake. He couldn’t forget how the statue’s head had burst into blue flames the other day.
But his eyes had been playing tricks on him—or had they?
“You took me to…a statue?” Hector said, trying to sound more annoyed than scared.
“Just wait!” the demons said, hopping up and down.
They peered up at Hades excitedly.
“We’re here, your most lugubriousness,” Pain called up to the statue.
But nothing happened.
“This is a total waste of time,” Hector said, feeling a touch relieved. He was just imagining things after all. “And now I’m going to be tired for training today—”
Suddenly, blue flames sparked, igniting the hair of the Hades statue.
Hector froze, his heart jumping into his throat. The flames licked the god’s forehead—just like the vision Hector had the other day—and lit up the park with flickering light.
“Wh-what’s happening?” Hector stammered, terrified.
With another burst of flames, the Hades statue came to life. Hades’ eyes glowed fiercely yellow, staring down at Hector with obvious pleasure as he unfurled his marble arms and reached for him.
Then his voice echoed out from the statue, deep and smarmy. It reverberated through the empty park.
“Well, well, Wonderboy, I presume?” Hades said with a wicked grin. “You’re a little late, you know. I don’t like waiting.”
“Th-that’s impossible,” Hector sputtered, staring up at the giant statue that had just sprung to life. He couldn’t believe his eyes. “How are you doing this?”
Even Pain and Panic lurked back in the shadows, clearly afraid. The statues of the other gods watched over them with placid expressions, still and silent.
“Hey, kid, Zeus isn’t the only one who can pull this statue trick.” Hades smirked. “Don’t insult me.”
Hector’s eyes flicked to the Zeus statue. He ruled over all the gods and Mt. Olympus, where they lived. But he wasn’t coming to life at the moment. Hector couldn’t believe what was happening right now.
He was talking to Hades.
“Zeus…as in your brother?” Hector said, his mind whirling.
Anger flashed in Hades’ eyes. The blue flames on his head suddenly flared orange tinged with red, flaming hotter. Hector felt the heat surge, making his face burn.<
br />
“Ugh, my brother, yes,” Hades said, rolling his eyes. “Don’t remind me. Mr. High and Mighty, Mr. Hey, you! Get off of my cloud.”
“Sorry,” Hector said, backing up. “But what do you want with me? I’m just a kid—you’re a god.”
“Oh, right,” Hades said in a casual voice. “You wanna win that Zeus Cup? Well, I can endow you with superstrength and speed—godlike powers—so you’re a shoo-in to win.” He leered down at Hector. “All you gotta do is drink this potion.”
Hades snapped his fingers, summoning Pain and Panic.
“Coming, your most lugubriousness,” Pain rasped while Panic flicked his fingers, producing a crystal vial with a strange potion burbling inside.
They scrambled to approach the statue, tripping over each other in their haste.
“Careful,” Hades snapped, flaming red again. “Those potions don’t grow on trees.”
Pain and Panic cowered back in fear. Hades turned to Hector, controlling his temper. His hair calmed into soft blue flames again.
“Wonderboy, what do ya say?” Hades spoke impatiently. “Hurry up, I don’t have all day…or rather, all night. What time is it?”
Hector quickly thought it over, but something bothered him. He remembered the lesson on the Greek gods his father had taught.
“I’d say it sounds too good to be true,” Hector said suspiciously. He stared up at Hades and crossed his arms. “What do you want from me? You must have a reason for doing this. You’re Hades, after all.”
“Ah, my reputation precedes me,” Hades said with a knowing cock of his head. “All I ask in return is that you bring me the Zeus Cup after you win the race.”
That seemed simple enough. Hector just wanted to win. He didn’t actually care that much about the Zeus Cup itself. He could turn it over after he claimed the top spot in the race, right?
Then he remembered the empty trophy case in the store. His family was dying to display the Zeus Cup for the entire town to see.
“What do you want the Cup for? If I give it to you, will I eventually get it back?”
Hades smirked. “Of course, kid. If it means that much to you. As for what I want it for, I’m not sure I trust you enough to tell you. You gotta be careful who you tell secrets to, ya know?”