1.

Family, got to love ‘em

Let me start by saying that everything that happened to me was not my fault. We could start with the
flying chariot, or the hunting down murderers, or maybe we can start with the lack of affection I felt. But
maybe to better understand I should start at the beginning.

I am from the island of Crete. Well I guess they don’t call it that anymore. And that’s a real shame. It was a place where the
trees came to life. They swayed to the music of the wind. And birds chirped from the holes in their sides. The birds would
sing beautiful love songs by the stream and the air was alive the sounds and smells of the forest and its creatures. But I was
born to Altos and Helena Prokalpio, my true mother and father. But I hated my father. He left my mother to die. I think her
death was his fault. If he would have stayed we could have lived peacefully, but as it was my father wasn’t supposed to be
with her. He was married by force to another woman. When he found out she was pregnant he told her she had to leave
the town. She had walked for days with me in her arms. We were starving and she had a fever. Even 2,371 years later her
cry of agony rang in my brain. She was in such pain, but she wouldn’t let me suffer. She had loved me with all her heart.
Then she came across a woman. My mother fell to her knees in exhaustion. “Oh, by the power of Zeus! What has happened
to you?” the woman spoke. My mother couldn’t speak. She fell asleep, but I saw the woman carry us both so easily to her
house. I was battling a raging fever that could have left me dead. Even when I was that small I remembered the last
conversation my mother spoke. “Please let me save her. I can take care of her. She can be happy forever; she will have a
chance to grow up. Have a seemingly normal life. And live forever in happiness, I can give her that!” The woman pleaded.
My mother was superstitious, she believed in witches, wizards, and worst of all, but true, vampires. She started to
scream.”Demon! How could you think to put my child in such pain? She will be eternally damned! Is that what you want,
you filthy parasite? To blood a child, now that is disgusting. How are you not shameful?”
The woman remained calm but serious. ”She will die slowly, but painfully. Is that what you want? For the child to never get
a chance. Zeus has put her here for a reason. But you would like to take her away. I could raise her like the child I never
had. She would never feel pain, ever. Wouldn’t you want that for her? Wouldn’t you want her to be happy?” the woman
almost crooned. My mother was crying now, “I never meant for this to happen. He had told me he loved me. He said we
could leave Crete and be happy elsewhere. But he never really loved me, all the things he told me were a lie, all the gifts he
gave me were a lie! ” My mother ripped a golden chain from her neck.
My mother was looking far off somewhere, “Do what you must for the child. She was the light of my life. Take her and let
her live on. I give you my blessing to turn the child into one of your kind. But please let her know what kind of mother I was
and the kind of father Altos will never be. Let her know I did this out of love for her soul and spirit. And please for the sake
of Hera, never let Altos see her. ” My mother spoke peacefully. I was two years old then but I understood that she was
leaving me. “Momma, I love you. Good-bye.” Tears welled in her eyes when she spoke. “This is the first time you spoke.
From your voice and your face I can tell you will be a beauty. You will be a great queen one day with a handsome husband.
And know that every day you grow up I will watch from the underworld. Good-bye and never forget I am with you.” Just like
that she was gone. Those were the last words she spoke to me. And
they forever haunted me. These are the words that I woke up to this morning and the knock at my door. “Who is it?” I
asked. “Orillia. Hon, can you please open up?” a sweet voice asked. She was my replacement mother. She had saved me,
but even more I wished she had saved my mother. Her picture was fading in my mind. This caused me panic but there was a
solution. She came as a ghost, she had told me that Hades let her visit me. That he understood what it was like to lose the
thing closest to you. So she visited often and told interesting things
about the underworld. Like how Hades wasn’t ten feet tall. But really he was a seventeen year-old boy. She told me about
how she met Amelia Earhart and Thomas Edison. But on earth Orillia was a good mother. “Doors open.” I yelled. She
walked in and sat at the end of the bed. She smiled at me with one of her mischievous smiles you only get so much time to
get used to. “Well, it’s time to go to school now.” I heard my entire group of siblings yell in unison that I needed to get my
lazy butt out of bed. I laughed at their anger. “Fine. Give me five minutes.” I smiled. I’d like to say that I have a small family,
but unfortunately I can’t say that. There are eleven people in our family. There are my parents Orillia and Gustavo. There’s
Jonathan, the oldest, he’s twenty-five. Or that’s what his information says. Jonathan has a smooth chest, but largely
muscled. He has blonde hair the color of gold.
His eyes are a deep blue with amber centers. He was changed while trying to escape from Auschwitz. He met Orillia when
he got outside of the gates. She told him he could have a better life. So he went. He’s been content, but I see no goodness
come from this curse of immortality. I know what you’ll say, “how could you say that?” when you live for 2,371 years you
get tired of living. You know, well I guess you don’t, but I would wake up and it felt like my life was on never ending repeat.
Day by day I would get up and expect the same things and I was right. But anyway, there’s Antonali, second oldest, he’s
twenty-three and also my half brother. My father did the same thing he did to my mother to another woman. So when he
was changed he tried to find me because even though he didn’t know me, I was the only family he had left. And I knew he
did not want to see our father. That man brought disgrace to the people of Greece and to his own family. My brother and I
never talk about him. When he died he gave the land away to some brute. But we never really cared. There is Jonathan’s
wife, Annabel. She has an angel’s face. She has creamy, rose colored cheeks. Her hair cascades down her back like a golden
waterfall. Her eyes are a beautiful sea-green. Like you can see one-thousand miles into them. She has the personality of a
loving mother, good friend, and trusted sister.
I liked her the moment we met. But Antonali wife is another. Her name is Genevieve. She has a wave of florescent orange
hair. She has piercing golden eyes. She scares me but she never speaks. She only speaks when Antonali speaks to her. But
she watches you. Whenever you look at her she seems to freeze you with the terror in her eyes. You can see the most
violent death. The most gruesome beating and worst of all, your death. I guess that’s her power. She can make you see your
death, and she knows when and where someone will die. She once spoke and it came out as wind chimes and singing. My
younger brother Emile is sixteen he was handsome, dark, and mysterious, he seems to pull you toward him. And that is his
gift; he can make you automatically like him. He can make you feel things he is feeling. His wife, Anatilia, also has a gift; she
has the ability to mess up everything. And that is not a joke; she can turn a perfect A+ into an F-. But she doesn’t seem to
mind. I think she is just glad that Emile likes her that way, mistakes and all. She is small and petite. She looks like if you tap
her she might break. Her eyes are always glassy but unreadable.
She has poufy light brown hair. And she has the most beautiful caramel colored skin. At first I wondered how Emile, who
was perfect in every way, could love a girl like that. But soon I realized little things, like how she didn’t even bother to look
twice at him her first day in the school we were going to at the time. But Emile couldn’t stop staring at her when she wasn’t
looking. Or like how she didn’t care if she was a screw up. Or maybe how she always had her face in a book. When she got a
book she was completely absorbed, when the teacher asked her questions she messed up, naturally. Emile liked that she
was okay with being far from perfect. And soon she was like my lost sister. I even liked her more than Annabel. Soon before
she was turned human she had his baby. Their baby is imperfect and perfect in every way. Her name is Caroline she
stumbles when she walks but she is the most beautiful child you will ever see. She has dark, chocolate hair, with sea-green
eyes. She inherited some power; she is able to make you do what she wants when you look in her eyes. Then there’s Johan,
my fiancée, he has the most beautiful soul. He loves me for me.
And I know that that sounds cliché but it’s really like that. He was there when I almost killed myself a year ago. He was one
of the nurses at the center I was going to. He talked me out of it, later we started to know each other and when I told him
what I was he told me he was a vampire too. He proposed that night. He has blonde hair, gray eyes, large muscles and the
deepest, sweetest voice I ever heard. In those first weeks I tried to figure out why he loved me and I even asked him why.
“Silly, it’s because you are different. Because every day you get in your black shirt, black jeans, and you’re long black hair
and you look like you can take on the world. That’s why I fell in love with you. Because when I look into your deep blue eyes
I see a woman wanting to be love. And I’ve got a whole lot of love to give. I remember when you would push me away.
Afraid that if you fell in love with me you would end up broken.
“But that is never going to happen,” he grabbed my face between his soft warm hands and he kissed me, “because I love
you. That’s why. I know that no matter what I will always love you.” And for the first time since we met I realized he would
never let go of me. He would stay with me because he knew he was what I needed. For his love to connect with my
desperation or we couldn’t survive without each other. He was a need now. Not just a want. And soon after that things
went forward for our wedding. As I remembered all of these things in a split second and was immediately back in the
bedroom. “Urge! Do I really have to go school? I mean I‘ve gone to school for more than 2,000 years. Why do I need to go
now?” I complained. Orillia laughed, and when she did it sounded like a mother crooning her baby. “Because there is still a
lot of learning to be done. And besides Johan is going. And you wouldn’t want to disappoint him would you?” she asked.
“Fine let’s go. Might as well get this over with.” I also liked to mention that our family wealthy. When you live long enough
you start to collect money easily. We each have about three cars, cars that none of us wanted but got because of Gustavo’s
extreme generosity. Johan, Annabel, Jonathan, and I filed into a black Porsche, which was of course mine. Then Emile,
Genevieve, Antonali, and Anatilia went in Emile’s yellow Hummer. We said nothing on the way to school me and Johan
silently holding hands and stealing glances at each other. He smiled whenever he caught me looking. Suddenly my attention
was on my left hand. The ring was huge no doubt, but I didn’t want a flashy ring. People had kept staring at us whenever
they saw us holding hands in the hallway that first week. They were surprised that we would get married so young. What
with Johan being fresh out of college and me being a C student. But people remained silent. I learned to get over the
attention but it was still annoying. When we got to school I had to separate. Johan being a senior and I a junior. “See you in
lunch, Jana.” He tried to give me his best smile, kissed me and walked away.
I sighed, never getting over the fact that Johan’s kisses always made me dizzy. I walked into class not bothering to listen to
what the teacher was saying, partly because I could probably do the teacher’s job twice as good as her. And also because I
already knew the material and had gone over it five times. “Class,” Mrs. Jackson said, “Please welcome Andrelo. He is an
exchange student from Greece. And he also talks English.” I mean I could really care less where this kid was from. What
surprised me was that he was sitting in the seat next to me. He seemed to shrink down into his chair like he was hoping no
one would notice. But it was almost impossible; it was like all the light in the room was pointing at him. His eyes were a
bright gold, like the color of the sun. When I smelled him, he smelled like smoke and sunshine. And happiness seemed to
float around him like a halo. He looked over at me and smiled sheepishly; I just shook my head and looked forward. He
smelled inhuman, the smell overwhelmed me. This was not regular blood. I sent a telepathic message to my sibling, that’s
what happens when you develop strong feelings toward each other in our kind.
We have a big problem, some kid in my class smells funny. But I’ve never smelled something like it before. And I visualized
the smell. Johan was the first to speak. Well I have never smelled anything like it. Strange. He mused. That’s when everyone
started to speak up. What the hell is going on? Wait! Oh my god, what is that smell? Emile said. That is inhuman blood
indeed. We must figure what is not so human about this child. Genevieve spoke in a grim tone. So everyone agreed we
would look into this. And that everyone was to leave next period. Now you’re probably thinking “why is everyone over
exaggerating?” well we’re not. Last time something like this happened we caused the Salem Witch Trials. Yeah, that is not
good. We are not going to take our chances this time. I sat anxious next to this thing. When the bell rang I ran out of the
door. Leaving Andrelo behind, and happy that I could see Johan much earlier. We met in the parking lot and I ran next to
Johan. He looked at me with pride and curiosity. He grabbed my hand and suddenly I could read his mind. You certainly are
something Mrs. Prokalpio. I flinched at how he said my surname. I laughed, “I’m sorry I’m just me.” The he kissed me and
this wasn’t a regular it was forceful but soft and it burned in my lips. Then someone cleared their throat. It was Genevieve.
We focused on what we had to do. I smiled smugly as we drove home. Maybe I didn’t have to go to school at all. I laughed,
Johan looked at me and he caught on to my mood. He laughed and leaned over to kiss me. The car didn’t swerve once. I
sighed. I couldn’t wait for this wedding to come, and then he was officially mine. And I loved the way I would never have to
fight over him. He was mine to keep forever. And that felt amazing. He saw my gloating expression and laughed. He
touched my hand again. Why do you
look at me like I’m a prize? Surely I’m the receiver of something more valuable than the most pure gold or the most beautiful
diamond amulet. I was all yours the moment you looked into my eyes. And will be forever more, until the end of time. He
crooned the words softly in my head. I responded back. No, neither one of us has to let go. You will always be in my heart
and I in yours. And this ring shows you belong to no one but me. He smiled the smile I had waited years to see on someone’s
face and I was glad he was that someone. He looked into my eyes and I was about to tell him about the road when I realized
we were home. He kissed me for a while and we sat there content. I heard my mother inside, “Where are Johan and Jana?”
she asked. “Oh yeah, they’re in the car making out. You know smooch-smooch.
I keep telling them not to do that in front of Caroline but they just don’t listen.” Emile spoke in a reproachful tone. We
laughed and were in front of all of them in seconds. I frowned, “I was sure she wasn’t looking when we do. That girl must be
spying on us.” I mused. Johan laughed, “She’s much cleverer than we give her credit for.” He said. My mother quickly
turned back to the subject at hand, “Anatilia says there is a person at school,” everyone grimaced and it was mostly to the
word person, “ well what happened Jana?” she asked. I told her about the funny smell and how we all knew it wasn’t a
normal smell. She nodded thoughtfully, “Well I honestly don’t know what to do. But since you already left you might as well
stay home.” Caroline was happy to have her parents back so early. Jonathan left to his study to find out what college would
take him as a professor. Annabel went with him to look up more colleges. They never flaunted their relationship; they were
always quiet about it. But we knew they would not going be looking up colleges. Genevieve watched her visions to see who
was going to die and Antonali comforted her when she saw a really bad one. We went up to my library and sat in one of the
large sofas. He studied my face for a while. “What?” I asked.
“Nothing. It’s just that well I never noticed how truly beautiful you were until now.” He said matter-of-factly. “You shine like
the sun. Glisten like the stars. And you are more beautiful than a dozen roses. When you stepped into to my life that was
when it truly started.” The way he said this made me believe he actually loved me. I felt instantly guilty that I had cut myself
in the morning. I covered up the scars but Johan noticed before I covered them. “Why must you do this? Is it because you
think I don’t love you, still?” He looked at my face intently. “We can’t have you acting like this. It’s just four months until our
wedding. You wouldn’t want to get blood all over your wedding dress, would you?” He asked. I sat sadly looking out at the
view of the forest and shook my head. He looked at me, deciding whether or not to leave me alone. He knew better and left
me with my thoughts. Whenever he wasn’t listening I would tremble and break down in tears. I really didn’t want to marry
him. But he was the only person who made me feel like I was sort of alive. And he was happy.
So maybe this was the right choice. But it sure didn’t feel like it. I walked over to my closet. It was bigger than two master
bedrooms and in the center was my wedding dress. It was made of Italian silk and satin. I sighed and shook my head. I sat
on the balcony and read a book. Suddenly I saw a column of flames and there was this man in front of me. He looked no
more than twenty-one. I was about to scream but he put his hand over my mouth. “Calm yourself, pretty one. I’ve come to
earn your favor.” The boy spoke. I really looked at him and with a shock I realized he was the kid who sat next to me in
school.
“You’re um. . . . The uh. . . . That kid . . . in . . . . Huh?”I spoke in confusion. He looked at me intently. He seemed hypnotized
by my voice. He laughed and the noise was just like music that even Bach could never write. It was like the nine muses were
right there singing. “I’ve been watching you for quite some time now. Since about 389 B.C.E to be exact. But I heard your
dreams just now and they caused me such sorrow. I know a little about pain myself. Never being able to escape the pain
that envelopes you and you can never run away from it.” I stared at him like he was an angel sent from the gods. Over the
next few weeks he would come over and we would talk about the things that hurt us the most. He always seemed to know
what I would do next. On one of the days that Andrelo didn’t come over Johan spoke to me. He looked different. His
features hardened in a way that I had never seen before. “What’s going on with you and that child?” he asked. And I
suddenly realized that he was jealous. “Nothing he just gets me. I like him but only as a friend.” I said. He nodded slowly.
“Well would you mind not talking to him for a while?” he said. “Yes I would mind.” I said. “Why?” he pressed. I frowned.
He had never acted like this. It was weird that he started now. “Because, he is my friend. And I need friendship right now.” I
responded. “It seems you to have a little more than friendship going on.” He said. “We are just friends.” I raised my voice.
“Oh well I’m just telling you.” He yelled. Now I was mad, “You’re just telling me what? That you want to control who I can
and cannot be friends with. Well that’s too bad because maybe we might become more than friends.” I said defiantly. He
grabbed my arm so tightly it actually hurt. And he looked more than angry, he looked murderous. “Don’t push me too far. I
can hurt you as fast as I can heal you.” He growled. I was so angry I spat in his eye. And he slapped me with hard force and
left the room. And soon after that Andrelo appeared in the room with a column of light. He looked worried and once he
found that I was okay he sat with me. I cried and he just hugged me letting me sob. He looked into my eyes and for the first
time I realized that he looked like an earthly angel. His face was even more beautiful than Johan’s. His hair was up to his
shoulders and it was a golden blonde, like it shined. His eyes were gold like the sun and he had a beautiful tan. His teeth
were pearly white. He was strong and had lots of muscles.
When he saw my face, no matter how horrific, his eyes seemed to shine with love and happiness. And then suddenly he
kissed me. It was like there were flames burning in my mouth. My lips burned like there was a fire but it was a beautiful fire.
When I and Johan kissed it was never like that moment. Where everything seemed to fade away with the joy of that kiss.
And when he looked into my eyes I knew this was the start of a wonderful relationship. I looked at the door. There was just
one problem.

2. Friendships suck, especially mine

I watched her from the palace. Her face was the most beautiful face I’d seen in thousands of years. She
had flowing black hair and the bluest, brightest eyes I had ever seen. Her skin was fair but not completely
pale, like it had a certain glow. Her name was Jana cilia Renaldo, I had watched her since the day she was
born, and knowing she would one day be my bride. Our palace in the sky was gigantic. We being Greek
gods needed the space. There were statues of each god and what they stood for. The entire palace
ground was paved with pure marble and gold edged the streets. Let me start by saying that I’m Apollo,
God of the sun, athletics, and medicine. And I’m sure you’re all like, oh I wish I had that job.
Well it’s not so fun when the world depends on you being on time for everything. It gets annoying after a
while. Anyway, I watched her go to school with a man; his original name was Johan Alfaro. I wanted him
dead but Zeus said we could only smite humans if they offended us or what we stood for. I sighed. I had
spent hours thinking about what curses I could put on him and how he would suffer. I watched him since
she went to the rehabilitation center. I knew that one day he would snap on her. Now I was just waiting
on him to make the move. I walked out to the grand meeting room with all of our thrones in it. My
relatives were just about to start. Zeus and Hera sat at the head of the room holding hands. They both
looked like they were in their thirties.
Zeus had long brown hair and a shaggy beard. Hera had silver hair and was sitting with a peacock and
petting it with her free hand. Demeter sat stiffly in her throne made of every grain know to man. She
smiled at me and her green chiton shined just a little brighter. I had always liked her better when she
smiled. Dionysus sat swinging his grape vine and he nodded at me. Hephaestus, Ares, and Aphrodite sat
awkwardly next to each other. But they all waved at me. Ares was strong built, crew cut, and he was
covered in tats. His eyes were flame red. Hephaestus was holding a cane. He had hair tied back by a
leather band. He had burnt fingers and smelled like smoke.
I felt a cold chill run down my back. I knew this was because of my uncle, Hades, god of the dead. He was
sitting in a throne made of bones and a fury sat at his feet. He was almost transparent, like a ghost. He
was playing with Greek fire on his finger tips. He looked at me and laughed, “Late. As usual, nephew.” I
smiled “I try my best.” And I walked on. Hades was my favorite uncle. Even if he took the form of a
seventeen year old. Next to Hades sat Poseidon. He sat there in a bathing suit playing with the water in
his glass. Next to both of them was Hermes, he had blond hair, gray eyes and had on a playful smile that
made it seem like he’d stolen something from you and you didn’t know it yet. He looked at me and
waved. And there was my seat. In between Athena and my sister, Artemis. Athena was petting her owl
absentmindedly. She smiled a small, grim smile and
looked at Zeus. I sat in my throne. It felt like home away from home. Artemis smiled at me. “You’re late,
again. Have you been watching that mortal again?” she whispered. “I couldn’t help it. You know I didn’t
mean to. It’s just that I know all see all.” I shrugged. She shook her head and looked at Zeus. “Father our
meeting may proceed. Aphrodite was playing one of her love tricks on my brother again.” She looked at
Aphrodite. Artemis and Aphrodite never got along; Artemis thought Aphrodite was an idiot. She was an
idiot for chasing after something so unrealistic. Aphrodite scoffed at Artemis for not accepting men’s’
advances. She felt that she would die lonely and bitter. In the grand meeting room Aphrodite just
shrugged, “Sue me.” She remarked. Zeus laughed and sat up. “Well are there any problems that are in
need of fixing?” He asked. Artemis stood up. “Aphrodite’s son stuck an arrow in one of my hunters. Now
she has run off to get married.” She said. Aphrodite waved her hand dismissively. “What my son did was
gave that girl a break. She needed some love. And your hunters were not suitable for a woman of that
kind of beauty. I simply couldn’t allow it. For that child to be stuck a maiden forever. Now that was simply
tragic.” She ranted. Artemis was mad now, “But it was not of your choosing to do so. When my hunters
take that pledge they are completely sure of what they are deciding. And I make sure of that myself. If she
was unhappy I would have quickly tended to her needs. But I did not need you sticking one of your idiotic
arrows into her. And now look at what’s become of her. My hunters are very outraged and offended and
so am I.” she yelled. Aphrodite looked red, “Your hunters know nothing of love or of life. Just look at
them. They have gone off to be lonely along with you. Do you crave company so such you have promised
immortality for misery? If I do say so myself Hera should have cast you down from Olympus.” She
retorted. Ares grabbed her by the arm. “Enough. You both act as if you were infants.” He said. They glared
at each other and I grabbed Artemis’s arm. She sat down but her dogs were on edge looking at Aphrodite
with anger and disgust. Hades stood up and looked at Hermes, “I request that you please deliver the soul
more carefully. One of them complained to me that she hit her head on the way down to the underworld.
If you could please I would be very thankful.” He said and Hermes smiled.
“My apologies. I will be sure that they reach judgment carefully and unharmed.” Hermes said. They smiled
at each other. Artemis hung her head in guilt and knew it was because they had been so civilized about
the problem. But I understood why she was mad. Aphrodite had no right to step in on the problem of her
hunters. Demeter stood up then and looked at Zeus. “Brother, a woman by the name of Vivian Green has
insulted me. Why yesterday I made her garden grow twice the regular size and she said she could do
better than anyone. I tried to convince her that it was my doing. When I spoke to her she said I could go to
hell. Please brother may I smite her? She has insulted me and all that I stand for.” Zeus contemplated.
“What did you have in mind, Demeter?” she smiled. “Every time she plants something it will die. All the
flowers she ever receives will wither at her touch.” Zeus smiled. “You always had a wild imagination. Go
sister, and let this mortal know that hubris is a dangerous thing. She will soon know the wrath of
Demeter.” With that she left, smiling. Even though it didn’t sound like much Demeter had a way of getting
even that was pretty scary. Ares spoke then, “I need more soldiers in the middle east. Would you mind
making some?” he asked. Zeus nodded and Ares smiled. He looked at me and sneered.
That’s when I stood up. “Father, Dionysus strangled my sunlight flowers and the sunshine roses. Now
there will be no sunlight for a week. And three days ago Ares called me a ‘bow flinging ninny’ and laughed
at my jobs.” This made me mad because I helped most of mankind. I bring light to the dark world and give
heat to the frozen. And what does Ares do? He causes fights and breaks apart mankind. What I do brings
them together. He laughed and suddenly there was a cold chill. Artemis and I had our bows pointed at
Ares from across the room. “Ares, your ignorance may get you killed. Your disrespect will have you turned
into an animal by me. When you disrespect Apollo you disrespect me and that should not be taken
lightly. If you should repeat this we will shoot every demigod child of yours with the arrows of disease and
all of them will die a slow painful death. Is that understood Ares?” she looked at him with a smile as cold
as the moon. He looked at us with anger and he got up and left. Athena stood up and sighed. “I have
fallen in love with a mortal,” there were whispers.
Me and my sister looked at her, and ignored the gossip. We never did like that kind of talk, “I saw the
inner desire and he wanted twins. The children could be children of the prophecy.” And Zeus sat
awkwardly in his throne. My oracle had spoken of a prophecy that as to come true to the next god that
received twin children. The children would fight to the death and one of them would kill themselves. They
would be the ones to rule Olympus and save it. To have children of the prophecy was to give them a death
sentence. Zeus stood up. “Our meeting is over let me talk to Athena.” He rushed out of the room with
Athena and we sat in awe. I talked to Hera she seemed okay and left because one of the couples she
matched were having problems. I looked at Artemis and pulled her aside I had to tell her about the risky
plan I was about to put into action. “I need your help.” I told her. She looked at me expectantly. “What do
you need?” she asked. “I wanted to go down to Earth. I need to help this girl. I have to leave today but I
need your help. You have to cover for me until tonight, Please?” she looked at me in surprise. “It’s that
vampire girl is it with the abusive fiancée. I can’t believe you! This is not a safe thing for you to be doing.
What happens when she finds out what you are? You will be in so much trouble.” She hissed. “Is that a
yes?” I asked. “You. . .” she yelled. “Please? Please? Please? Please?” I begged. “You are going to owe me
so huge.” She said. I thanked her and I started my preparations. I bought a house and decided to leave at
dawn. I told my muses where I was going. They begged me to stay but they were still happy for me. I told
my muses that they would need to ride the chariot and they agreed, hesitantly. I left and for once didn’t
know what was going to happen.

I walked into school and I heard whispers about who the new kid was. A girl walked up to me. She had
light brown hair and depthless brown eyes. When she smiled she revealed a row of pearly teeth. She
seemed nice enough to hang out with. “Hi, I’m Nancy. I’m the president of school student body council
and I’m of president of every club. Would you like me to help you?” I laughed on the inside. She was
trying really hard to impress me. Even though she couldn’t be who I was looking for, I wasn’t going to
push away company. She was being friendly and so would I. “Yeah. Um, can you help me find my classes?
I’m kind of lost.” And I gave her a flirtatious smile. I heard Artemis in my head. “I didn’t agree to this so
you could flirt with some mortal who doesn’t even know who you are.” She scoffed. Nancy smiled back
and asked me what my name was. “Andrelo Conavelo. I used to live in Greece.” I said. As she walked me
to our class. When we got into the class I couldn’t believe the luck I had. She sat alone at the back of the
room. Nancy sat across the aisle and looked at Jana cilia with the meanest eyes.
Cilia looked at me like I was garbage that she had to handle but didn’t want. I looked down. And when I
looked again she was glaring at me like I was some sort of monster she had never seen before. At the end
of the period she bolted out of the door and I saw a vision. She was running toward the boy. And he took
her softly into his arms and I was honestly jealous that he was able to have her and I couldn’t. I walked
with other kids that I had met and seemed good enough to hang out with.
The rest of the day happened in a blur. I could barely focus on anything. I was only thinking of her. I knew
what I had to do but first I had to go to Olympus, fast. I used the sunlight and made a doorway, I walked
through and was in my palace but Zeus was standing in the middle of the room and Artemis was next to
him looking angrily at him. “And what in the world do you think you’re doing, Apollo?” I shrugged and
tried to think of a reason. Zeus said that we could not go to earth unless we had to deal with disrespectful
humans. “I had some business to attend to, no big deal.” I said. “If it was not a big deal why are you
sneaking around? It must be very important.” And he smiled and I knew he had already found out. “I don’t
mind as long as I tell you that you should not forget your responsibilities. Have fun.”
He rushed off and I looked down and saw the house the girl lived in. I was so excited that after Johan left I
rushed down to her home visible by only her at the moment. I smiled, “Hi.” I said. She looked up and
dropped her book. She was about to scream but I put a hand over her mouth. “There is no need to panic,
pretty one; I have come to earn your favor and your love.” She still looked shocked but sat down anyway.
“You’re um . . . that uh . . . new kid . . . school. Um, what are you doing in my house?” she asked. I was so
enchanted by her voice. It was like a thousand angels were singing and one hundred bells were ringing. It
was like a harp playing the most beautiful melody. And soon after she got out of shock of me coming from
the sky she asked me all these questions. She never asked where I was from but she still showed curiosity
at whatever I told her. We started to become very close friends in the weeks that followed. One morning I
got up in my apartment and felt a cold chill run down my back. I knew it was because today was the day
that would change the course of my life. I had woken up just in time. I flashed some sunlight, visualized
where I wanted to go and was in her room in three seconds. She was lying on the floor and she looked up
at me. She had a bruise on her face that was starting to turn purple. “Right on time, I see.” She laughed
darkly. It was her joke because every day I would arrive one second before I would be marked absent. I
didn’t laugh but took her in my arms and she wept. When she wept it was like she was breaking my heart
in two. Like the piercing howl she let out would take the sunshine away from the world forever. And her
tears seemed to wipe away all happiness from the world. But when I looked at her I saw all the happiness
about her. Like when her electric blue eyes would widen when she laughed at the jokes I made. Her deep
rose colored cheeks would blush when I accidentally let it slip how beautiful I thought she was. And how I
wished that I could touch her soft moist lips and she wouldn’t pull away because she was embarrassed at
the way she would almost give in. And like how she would flip her beautiful hair and that one single
strand would fall down her cheek and she would wrinkle her nose when it got in her face. She looked up
at me and stopped crying. She touched my face with her hand and I could feel her caress.
She breathed her sent on me and I was soon pulling toward her. She smelled like strawberries and the
sweetest candy I had ever smelled. She grabbed my face at the same time I grabbed hers. She kissed me
softly. I traced her face with my fingertips and she grabbed my face hungrily. After a while she let go and
she had I special gleam in her eyes I had never seen when she was with Johan and that gave me secret
satisfaction. She grabbed my hand and traced the lines and she looked toward the door. “You know that I
won’t let him touch you again. I was kind of late this time, but he won’t touch you again. May I be struck
by lightning if I’m lying to you.” I held my hand exaggeratingly to the sky and she laughed a small laugh
but it was still nice to hear. And when I looked at her again I knew that what I was about to say could not
be taken back. “I love you.” I said simply and she wrapped her arms around my neck and she hugged me
and we stood there happily. She had this sad look in her eyes when she pulled away.
“This can’t go any farther. I mean I’m going to get married in four months. I can’t go running off with
some man I think is cute and nice. I mean do I need another—“ I interrupted her. “Wait, did you say that
you thought I was cute and nice.’’ She shook her head. “No, that’s not what I said I was talking—“ she said
again. “You think I’m cute. You like me, and you know it.” I pressed. She looked at the ground and she
blushed the deepest red I had ever seen. I pulled her face up and she wouldn’t look at me and she looked
embarrassed. I crooned in her ear, “Did you hear me? I said that I love you. I want all of you. I want
everything that comes with you. I need you and you need me. This is real and I won’t turn on you and
every day I will tell you everything I love about you. I can make you a palace in the sky. We can live forever
in the sky.” She was crying now and nodding. “It’s not that simple. My mother has been waiting for this
day for more than two-thousand years. I can’t just tell her that, she would be crushed.” She just threw her
arms into the air.
I knew that this was the only chance I was going to get to ask her. “Then why don’t we just get married?’’ I
asked. And she looked at me in shock. And I waited for her to say something. She nodded a no and I tried
not to let the depression I felt show. But we looked at each other and knew it was not going to be this
simple. I looked at her and she looked innocent and I decided that I could trust her. “I want you see
something. Something really cool.” I smiled wide at her and she sat curiously on the floor as I called for
my muses to bring the chariot. When they came only three of them were driving it was Clio, Thalia,and
Melpomene. They hopped off and hugged me. “We missed you. The sun only shines regularly while you’re
gone.” They said. And Jana stepped between them and me. “Um, who are they?”She asked. And pointed
to my muses. “Oh those are my muses and that is my flying chariot.” I said simply. She looked at me and I
could hear the gears clicking in her head. And she just nodded. “You mean to tell me that you’re the um. .
. you’re uhhhh. . . . uhhh. . . . “ I nodded in excitement and finished her sentence. “Yeah. I am the god of
the sun, Apollo.” At this point I thought she would run off screaming but she smiled at me and hopped on
the chariot. I smiled and my muses got on with us. As we flew through the sky I could feel the wind in my
hair and I could feel the sky alive in my head. And when I looked over I could see Jana laughing as she
touched a cloud. She looked like an angel with the clouds around her. She looked at me and she grabbed a
small cloud and she threw it at me. And soon she was throwing cloud lumps at me and we laughed and
were covered in clouds by the time we arrived at Olympus and she tried to cover her shock but I could
see it in her eyes. And we walked into the grand meeting room and I could hear whispers from nymphs
and draiads and minor gods. This was the first time I was the object of gossip. We had arrived just in time
for the summer solstice meeting. My muses put a throne next to mine for Jana. And she was looking at
everything and soon her eyes stopped at Artemis. My sister looked at me nice and long and she ran into
my arms and hugged me and as she did she whispered into my ear. “She was much more beautiful than
any of us imagined and she is okay with this, well that makes everything much easier for all of us. Ahh, I
missed you. You’ve been gone for two months. It just hasn’t been the same without you around.” And she
turned to face my soon fiancée with a wide smile. Jana looked at her and hugged her and some people
gasped because no one ever touched Artemis like that especially to give a sign of respect but Artemis just
laughed and hugger her back. Zeus walked into the throne room and sat down and all was silent as we
watched him. He looked at Jana and smiled widely at me. “Is there anything that someone would like to
say?” I stood up. And glared at Hera, “Father, your wife seemed to realize that my soon-to-be fiancée was
matched with the wrong person when she matched Jana with Johan. Now I might not be an expert but if
he was going to hit her why would you match them together. For you to approve of this is simply
unacceptable.” I said and she looked at me like I was missing something obvious.
“My dear son, when you were angry you spoke from your heart. You told that woman that you loved her
and I sure couldn’t have been able to get you to say that if you hadn’t been angry, so I had to fabricate a
way for you and her to realize that you both love each other. If I hadn’t put them together it would have
taken another two-thousand years to get you to tell her you loved her. I must say that I should have done
this years ago if I had known it would work so wonderfully.” And she looked dreamily at me and Jana.
“Thank you, Hera. I would have like this a couple of years ago.” And she waved her hand over all of the
room. And Hera laughed. “I suppose but it makes you really appreciate this now.” She said with a soft
voice. And then my sister spoke. “I agree with the entire council when we say welcome. We are so happy
for you to become a part of our extended family.”
The entire roomed hummed in agreement. We went through the other problems people had in no time at
all. Soon it was over and we went back to my palace. All of my muses waited for me and I still
remembered all of their names. “Clio, Thalia, Melpomene, Euterpe, Terpsichore, Erato, Polymnia,
Ourania, Calliope. See, I still remember all of those names and I missed all of you.” They crowded around
me and I tried to speak to all of them but realized that Jana was alone and I lead them to her. She waved
to all of them and hugged herself closer to me. And they observed her. “You guys, this is my soon-to-be
fiancée, Jana.” That’s when they all crowded around her and they all talked about themselves to her and I
figured that she was okay at the moment. I walked out to the court yard and found Athena; she was
standing there with her head in her hands. She was crying and she looked up. “Congratulations, well I
guess. But do you know what it means if you have kids?” she asked. “No. what are you talking about? Is
there something you would like to tell me?” I asked. She looked at me with pure hate in her eyes. She
showed me a picture of her new born children but they looked like they were thirteen years old. They
smiled arm in arm. “Those are my children.” She noted and soon I wasn’t in the courtyard anymore. I saw
two kids and they were yelling at two other kids. And I suddenly realized that those were Athena’s kids
yelling at each other and they both had a person next to them and with a start understood that those
were me and Jana cilia’s kids. I was instantly in the courtyard again and she looked at me with
understanding in her eyes. “We were wrong. Our kids are going to turn on each other. They will all die and
it’s our fault.” We looked at each other and knew that this would not be leaving our mouths to anyone.
Not even the people we were in love with. Just then Jana came running. And she was smiling the widest
smile I had ever seen. “I like those muses of yours they are very funny. And they showed me the rest of
the palace. I can’t believe you live here! Oh this will be so much fun. And is it okay if we look at all of the
other places? I would really like that.” She was more excited than a kid locked in a candy store overnight. I
looked at her and tried to keep a smile on my face and she looked at Athena. “Whose this, love?” she
asked and Athena looked at her proudly. She held out her arms. “I am Athena, Goddess of wisdom and
battle strategy. Nice to meet you.” And they hugged. That’s when they both looked at me and said at the
same time, “You have some explaining to do.” And I knew there was no getting out of this one. So as I
started to explain we sat at one of the benches in the wide courtyard.
 3. Explanations, I can explain, well, no I can’t

When your boyfriend/ soon-to-be fiancée tells you he is the god of the sun the last thing you should do is run
screaming. When he tells you that take it as an opportunity. When Andrelo told me what he was I wasn’t surprised
at all. I had always known there was something different about him and now that I knew there were no more
secrets we were able to be closer. When he asked me to marry him I knew that it was a bad idea. And I didn’t need
the entire vampire world thinking that I was a hick. But I honestly wasn’t ready for Apollo to make me his wife. I
was ready however for him to tell me who he really was. He looked at me with excitement. “Do you want to see
something really cool?” he asked. I just nodded, he whispered something. And with a flash of light a thing came
flying forward. When I looked closely it was a sun chariot. He gave me an unfathomable look. “I am the god of the
sun.” he said. There were three girls in it and they looked about fifteen. They all stared at Andrelo. Now under any
circumstances I would have been okay with them hugging him but these were not girls. They were goddesses, they
looked like angels.
All of them had bright blonde hair and the most beautiful violet colored eyes. They were all slim and graceful. They
moved like dancers and they were even more graceful than vampires. When they spoke it was like they were
singing a beautiful melodic, sweet tone and they all looked very close to him. I shoved my way in between them
and looked at Andrelo. “Um, who are they?” and I pointed to the girls. All of them were smiling they most hypnotic
smile. He looked me straight in the eyes, “These are my muses and that is my flying chariot.” He looked like he was
waiting for me to run screaming and yelling bloody murder.
But I just smiled and he looked at me in surprise when I hopped on to his chariot. “Well what are you waiting for?”
I asked. He nodded and looked me straight in the eye again. “Have I ever told you how much I love you?” and I
couldn’t really seen anything but him and I could hear the muses sigh in a dreamy sort of way and I kind of felt
sorry for them because even on earth they would never find what they truly wanted.
And Apollo grabbed me by the waist and kissed me nice and long and it felt like I would melt right through my
body. He looked at me and had a mischievous smile on. “Let's go to Olympus.” He pronounced and we all got on.
When we were up in the air I could really feel the clouds. They were like the softest cotton candy and they would
cling to my skin in a soft wet way that made me want to touch them more. I had a feeling that Apollo was make
the clouds materialize just so I could feel them and when I looked over it nearly stopped my heart. He was so
intent with the reins, his hair was blowing past him and I thought I had never seen anything so beautiful. He looked
at me and chuckled, “You like those, that’s just the beginning.” And soon we were giggling and we stopped, I
looked up. It was Olympus.

To say that Olympus was fit for a king would be an understatement. There was more than a dozen buildings. They
were all made of the most brilliant marble and each one was so alike yet so different. The first one was the largest
and it was an electric blue with a lightning bolt above the door and I knew this was Zeus’s palace. There was one
that was that shimmered silver and had flocks of peacocks around it. And there were two golden rings interlaced at
the top of her doorway. Next to that one was a small house that struck me as haunted and I knew that this was the
house of Hades. There were skeletons walking around it like they were guarding it. Then we were running through
the courtyard, “what happened?” I asked. He looked at me and went on running. “We’re going to be late for the
summer solstice meeting.” He said and I instantly felt nervous. This was where all of the gods met. This is where
all of his family would judge me. I started to flatten my hair and the silk Armani tank top I was wearing. But Apollo
stopped my hands. “You look perfect.” He assured me. And we walked two large doors and all of the gods looked
absolutely fascinating. There was Hera, who had long flowing silver hair. She was wearing a chiton that glowed like
gold and this beautiful woman smiled at me and winked. Next there was Zeus and he had a shaggy beard and his
eyes were electric blue, like he could zap you with just one glance. In truth, it kind of scared me but I still felt at
ease at the same time. It was magical. Next there was Hermes and you could tell it was him because he had on Air
Jordan’s that fluttered restlessly, just like their owner. Hermes was talking an more than twelve phones at one
time. He looked at me and gave me a nod.
Suddenly I felt this overwhelming urge to rip something and hurt someone and by looking around I could tell it
was Ares. He smiled at me but there was nothing friendly about his smile. It was dark and cold and I wanted to just
run away from him but I was hypnotized and Apollo shot a glance at him and sneered. “Remember what me and
Artemis said.” And Ares, god of war, actually looked scared. And soon I saw the most beautiful woman I had ever
seen in my life. Her eyes were the most brilliant blue; they sparkled like a lake of the purest, cleanest, most
amazing water. Her hair flowed down her back in a graceful braid. Her hair looked like melted gold and when she
moved it fell in the most perfect waves. Even now that I look back, I don’t think I had ever seen a face as beautiful
as hers and I was envious. Envious that I couldn’t have those eyes or that hair. She looked at me and giggled.
Then we came face-to-face with a girl that looked about twenty- seven. She looked at me and her eyes were as
cold as the undiscovered part of the moon. She was wearing a silver dress, her hair was braided into a silver circlet
and her hair was a pale blonde. She was carrying a crossbow and quiver; she looked like the fiercest animal. From
her familiar features that I was used to on a man, I realized this was Apollo’s twin sister, Artemis, she looked rough.
Like she had a thousand years of fighting and was getting tired of it. But her face slowly formed a smile and she
hugged Apollo and he blushed. She whispered something to him. “She is much better than Cassandra. I think she
will fit in just fine. It’s about time you found yourself a wife. She is absolutely amazing. I wouldn’t have made a
better choice. You know how I have to look out for you baby brother.” And then she turned to me. She had out a
hand but I nodded and hugged her. The entire room gasped, I pulled away quickly, not knowing that this was
unusual behavior. My face flushed a deep red. She just laughed and beckoned for me to sit. That’s when the
meeting started. Now when you imagine a meeting of the gods you expect for them to talk about regular stuff. But
no one told me that when they would talk about the weird things, like a Pegasus needing an extra wing, they
would speak as if asking for a cup of sugar. All the time I’m sitting there I’m thinking about what could get any
weirder than a Pegasus, nothing, right. Wrong. They talked about lost souls that needed their tonsils removed,
they all cheered about how the latest hero had just slayed a dragon and stole an apple from the tree of youth, Ares
laughed when they discussed Cyclops’ missing eyes. Soon the weird meeting was over and we went his palace.
Now I was expecting a quaint little house, but of course, I should have known that that was not was I going to get.
I should have guessed that from the day that I just experienced. This palace was like no other. The pillars were a
glistening gold and they shot rays of sunshine into the sky. The flowers in the garden were swaying and singing and
would make anyone light up. But they were not regular flowers, but you could have guessed that from the singing.
His muses were collecting the nectar and putting it in little jars and they set them on a pond that would wash them
away to the human world.
The muses gasped and looked at me. It took me a moment to realize that they weren’t looking at me, but at
their lost father so-to-speak. And they hugged him and squealed that they had never expected him to come back
so soon. I just watched in amazement. They were like the perfect little family, each one of them understood each
other and they were all so close. It sort of reminded me of the Brady bunch but without the mother. And with a
rather electrifying start, I realized that I was their mother. Or I would be in a couple of years when I was ready to
get the handle of all of this. And even though all of this was pretty heavy to take in I knew that this is what I
wanted. I didn’t know how long I was going to wait on it but this is what I most definitely wanted. Soon the muses
were walking toward me, all of them looking at my long hair, my military boots, or maybe my darkened make-up.
But soon they were all swarming me asking what my favorite color was, now when nine beautiful girls go up to
you it may be a little overwhelming. But thank goodness to the sensible one of the group. “Why I think we should
give the poor girl some space,” yes! I screamed in my head, “I mean, we would want to overwhelm her. I think she
has had enough of that from this whole place. She needs to get used to the scenery before she can move on to the
people.” And I wanted to thank her but I just couldn’t remember their names for the life of me. And I knew hers
was on the tip of my tongue.
“Oh, how rude of me, I am Ourania. I believe I have never met such a lovely woman. I can’t believe we are
meeting for the first time. I do believe that Apollo always watches you though.” And soon they were all joining in.
“and he likes to look at you when you walk to school.” Another said, “Oh and when you laugh he lights up like a
flame. And it’s always hotter where you are.” I really just stopped listening to the comments, they made but soon
they were leading me through the palace.
And I cannot describe what I saw maybe I can come back to that when I realize what words can describe what
wonders can lay beyond such a large building. I’ll get back to you on that. But when I finished my tour I ran out to
the courtyard in the middle of this amazing plaza and saw Apollo sitting with a woman, the woman had red rings
under her eyes so I could tell she had been crying. But when I looked at her closely I was absolutely mortified by
her beauty, she was, and I think anyone would agree, as more beautiful than Aphrodite. Her hair was like braided
around her head and the rest of her hair fell down her back like melted chocolate and glazed strawberries. Her skin
was the color of butterscotch and cream, it was a beautiful combination. Her figure was slim but strong and she
had her invisibility cap next to her. And her shield was on the floor. She looked like the kind of woman you would
need to think twice about before attacking. She was absolutely amazing to me.
She looked at me and smiled and I thought I would faint. It was like a little kid meeting Cinderella for the first
time. “Hello, I am Athena. Goddess of wisdom, battle strategy, home economics, and many others that I always
forget.” She rose gracefully and hugged me. There seem to be a lot of hugging going on today, it felt sort of right
but also out of place. We sat and Apollo started to talk about all of this. The palace and the gods and the magical
creatures. “We’ve always been. We just appeared out of nowhere. But maybe we were here for a reason. I really
don’t care. But the point is that when people stopped believing we just stayed. And many of the gods wanted to
turn human, to age, you know, be happy. Well we just couldn’t do it. So we started to adapt and that’s when
humans found out about us. But humans thought we were nothing but fun fantasy stories. We come from time to
time you can tell. Because we leave marks in whatever place we’re in. But most people strike them off as their
imagination.” And soon he was going on about the child hood that all of them had and soon I knew every god by
name. When I got home that night I hadn’t realized how much time had passed. I was so absorbed in all of the
stories he had told me. He flew me to my balcony. I sighed, not wanting this night to end unfinished. I was craving
more now.
“Why must you go?” I asked in a silky voice. I was hoping that maybe that would draw him in. He smiled. But there
was an angry glare in his eye. “What do you think your boyfriend will say?” he said and now I was the worried one
but I didn’t let it show. “I already asked him. I think he is avoiding the question. “ He looked at me with pleading
eyes. They were telling me not to go any farther. But I never listen to what people tell me. “Come on. It will only be
the night. My family went hunting. They always go together. But I prefer to go alone.” He looked at me and
stepped into my room. I was dog tired. This had been one of the most complicated, enchanting, and tiring days of
my life. I fell on my bed and Apollo sneaked into bed next to me and his warmth was more than comfortable. He
waved his hand over my eyes and the last thing I heard before going to sleep was him telling me an ancient Greek
lullaby.
I awoke in the middle of the night. He was asleep. But he looked so beautiful. He had his eyelids carefully covering
his eyes beautifully. His hair was messed up, but it looked nice. More untidy than it usually was, I really liked it. I
looked around the room and sighed happily. My family would be gone all weekend; they prefer to leave to more
remote places in the world. I fell back into my pillow and stared at the ceiling until Apollo woke up. He looked at
me and smiled. We sat for a while just sitting there in a silence that was well understood and happily accepted.
“You know, I think this is a plan.” He said. I turned to look at him and stroked his face. “What are you talking
about?” I asked. “You know, your plan to get me to sleep with you.” I laughed at such a funny possibility. “And why
would I do that?” And I laughed internally because he would think of such a possibility.
I would fantasize about him with me, though. How his arms would feel tangled in mine and his body would
send a tingle through my body when we touched. I expected him to answer but he just looked at me with a tingling
smile. He traced his fingers down my body and I was clinging closer to him. He smiled and grabbed the small of my
back. “Or maybe it’s mine. Maybe it’s my plan to seduce you. Do you think you might fall for it?” he asked. He
grinned evilly and continued to trace his fingers down my body. My eyes rolled back into my head. “I think it might.
If you try hard enough. Yes I might.”
I sighed; I was too weak for me to lie. It was the middle of the night and I was falling under his enchanting spell. I
guess that’s what it was, a spell, or maybe I was just that vulnerable. He kissed me and I pulled myself closer. We
stayed that way for a while, when we pulled away it was sunrise. We sat for a while, just enjoying the time we had.
“Are you hungry?” I asked. He nodded and we both went down stairs to the kitchen. I started to cook and he
wrapped his arms around me. I turned on the music and I danced around the kitchen. We ate wonderfully, “So
what do you feel like doing today?” he asked as he pigged out on the food, all of the eggs Benedict, pancakes,
sausages, biscuits, waffles, and many other things I had prepared. My family preferred to feed twice a month, but
me being the half human that I am decided to eat human food and only suck what blood I needed from my victim.
They didn’t need to die. “I don’t know maybe we could watch a movie.” But Apollo was already starting up the
stairs to the music room. That was my personal get-away that was where no one could interrupt my melody, my
peace. But he walked in there like he was expecting a cave full of bats, he grinned when he saw all of the
instruments. He grabbed the flute, he started to play. I hopped on the stage and started to answer what questions
the flute would ask me with music.
The notes soaked into my skin, the melody filled my voice, and there wasn’t a single thing that couldn’t be said
with music. He stopped mid-song, looked at me in amazement, and beckoned me to sit with him at the edge of the
stage. “Um, what the hell was that?” he asked. He looked at me with eyes full of wonder, waiting for me to
answer. “Well I used to dance a couple hundred years ago. As a professional, you know.” He shook his head. “No, I
don’t know, I am absolutely amazed. My muses couldn’t dance a hundred times better, believe me, I’ve seen.” I
laughed but he turned serious. “Why?” He asked. “Um what?” I asked. “Why won’t you be my wife? I have spent
two thousand years waiting for you and I get refused. Do you know what that means to my self esteem.” He
looked pained, as if he meant every word he said. It broke my heart; I just wanted it to stop. I was about to say a
witty remark but I felt light headed. My vision started to go blurry; I just saw Apollo’s worried look before I fainted
and past out. Little did I know I would awake to the worst and best night of my life.
 4. Fighting for the girl I love

She collapsed in my lap and I gasped. The lights all around seemed to dim, I looked at her pale face. It was thin, like it was
clinging to her skin, she was paler than pale, and she looked like she was choking. “Please.” She begged me, “Find me
some blood.” I knew there was no way in hell that I would get her some in time. I had the best idea; I could help her
without really having to. She would be in a coma in couple seconds, I shook her shoulders. “Suck my blood. Hurry up.”
She looked confused. When she spoke it came out soft, “What, I can’t do that. You could die, I couldn’t.” I shook head.
“Are you sure?” she asked. I nodded quickly and she came closer. She put her cool fangs to my neck and she bit me. The
pain was more than I could handle. It was like there were a thousand knives in my neck, she continued and I shoved away
the pain. This was so she wouldn’t die, it was worth it. She let go, and fell onto my arms. “Sorry, I’m sorry, I know it hurt.”
Kind of, you think. I thought to myself. She fell into a coma, I grabbed her body, I knew a little about vampires because
Hades had taught me a little. I put her on her bed. I ripped her shirt open and brushed her chest. I tried to heal her fast. I
could feel the medicine from my hands working, in a couple of minutes she coughed but would wake up. She just slept, I
sat there with my hands on her stomach trying to get her to wake up but she wouldn’t. I sat there for two days and two
nights, I wasn’t tired but I was worried. On the third day she sat there, I removed my hands. I heard a slam but I wouldn’t
leave her there. I heard the door to her room open and I snapped my head. There stood the one person that I hated more
than anyone. Johan. He looked at me with a look that was mixed with anger, murder, and absolute rage. His teeth pulled
over his lips, he yelled in rage. “What the hell do you think you’re doing to my fiancée, you bastard?” He said. I grimaced,
“Your fiancée,” I said the word with disgust,
“Was about to die. She wasn’t drinking much blood, she fainted.” I said but when I saw her face I smiled at her. “Oh, stop
fucking with me. I know you want her, you have since you met five months ago. But she’s in love with me, so you can go
running back to your stupid emo friends.” He laughed and now I was getting mad. I wasn’t emo; I don’t know why people
called me that, so now I was pissed off. “I don’t love you. You were just like my father. You lied, and that was
unforgiveable.” I turned and saw Jana standing up looking at Johan, she walked forward and held my hand, and she
looked at me reassuringly. “I did no such thing. I was nothing but honest, now my character is a different thing. I merely
stretched the truth a little.” He laughed. I hated that laugh more than I hated him. “You know I have an idea. Johan how
would you like to fight a fair match to see who’s the better man.” I laughed on the inside, he had no idea that I was a
Greek god. And he was about to find out. He looked at Jana, “And the winner gets to marry that slut, right there.” He
pointed to her. I was pissed even more now, how the hell does he think he can get away with that? The answer: he’s not
going to. We walked around the room, I waited for him to make the first move. He kept volleying so I decided that I
should speed up things. Fire erupted next to him, he flinched. “Is that all you can do? I must say that is pathetic.” He
shook his head. I flashed fire all around the room, he wasn’t quick but I still couldn’t burn him. Soon he walked toward
me, he swung. It had begun, the fight for my true love. I was not going to lose. He was a fighter, he was getting me in
headlocks, and biting me. I imagined my quiver in my hands and they appeared. I took out an arrow and shot. It shot him
square in the shoulders. He fell to the floor. I checked his pulse, he was dead. I was finally able to be with the person I
wanted most. She looked at me and she walked over to his body. She ripped his head off, the sound remained in my
head, and it was like a thousand nails scratching a chalk board. She looked at him with disgust but when she turned to me
she smiled. “Will you marry me now?” I asked. She nodded, “I can’t. There are some things I need to figure out. I can’t
love you until I’m sure I’m stable.” She looked at me; I knew there was a lot that we were going to need to deal with
along the way but being with her would ease the trip. I knew she loved me, even if she didn’t say it. This moment felt like
the only thing that matter in this world was her and that was enough for me. This moment felt like it was meant for us,
but a noise ruined it. There was a cracking noise, a sound that felt like Velcro; suddenly Johan was crouched on the ledge.
He sneered, “You have a very bad decision to cross a chosen one. I will come back soon.” He was gone, just like that.
There was something unsettling about it. What was it he called himself, a chosen one? Jana started to pace, muttering
about death, time travel, vengeance, and a vial of liquid. “This is bad. This is bad. This is very bad.” She was pacing faster
than a regular human. She was worried and I needed her to stop. I grabbed her arm and sat her down, her breathing
calmed. She breathed in that heavy scent and she just looked at me. “You still haven’t answered my question. Why won’t
you?” I said. She huffed, as if expecting me to say that sooner or later. “You know, when I was growing up in Greece with
Orillia I always had fun. She and her husband had treated me like family. I was a beautiful woman in my older years. Just
as my mother had predicted. My black hair was in a braid and people loved my eyes. They said I could be a daughter of
Zeus. I loved the way everyone either wanted me or wanted to be me. I could see the women watch me enviously as I
was courted by a general. But he didn’t love me; he was going to be wed to my friend, Theodora. She was beautiful but
people said she couldn’t even reach my level of beauty. I was soon looking around for a groom. I found an absolutely
beautiful person in Devero. He was everything I wanted and needed. He was a general in the army, he knew a lot about
everything, he thought that women were supposed to know about the same things men did. We grew old, or at least he
did. I watched as he reached thirty, thirty-five, forty. I asked him if he wanted to join me in immortality but he refused.
Saying that we would be together in each other’s hearts. He gave me a locket and a ring that day, because he had
forgotten it on our wedding day.” She touched her heart and pulled out a locket and on the chain was also a ring. She
opened up the locket and she had a picture of him. She must have gotten it from time traveling. She let warm beads of
tears run down her cheek. “Devero loved me. He loved me every time we fought and every time we laughed. He would
spend hours with me if I was scared from a nightmare I had. I loved him, too. He was everything I asked for and
everything I needed. We would spend hours thinking about what we would name our children. I remember those days
with the greatest happiness I could have known. And maybe more. When he left it was like there was nothing else to live
for. I started to wear black thread. I wouldn’t come out in the daytime and I lived in caves. In some ways I was a real
vampire. I started to feed on humans to see if I could feel something other than extreme depression. I found Orillia again
but never strayed far from her. She soon started to collect family members but I wanted nothing to do with them,” her
eyes seemed far away and then she smiled, “Emile would constantly flirt with me. I laughed as he tried to get me to go on
a date with him. And I explained that I had no interest in him courtship. You see, after Devero everyone just seemed, you
know plain. I knew that as long as I still had him on my mind I couldn’t love anyone, he was just too important to forget.”
She started to whimper and started to weep. She put her head in her hands and looked at me with what was a pained
expression. I just looked at her; she looked like she was talking about something she had been forced to say. I just nodded
and looked at her. She stared into my eyes, “You’re the first man who has run through my mind more than Devero. That
means a lot.” And she kissed me and soon we were lying on the bed. She was tracing my fingers with hers and we sat
there. There was a timid knock at the door and we both got up. Her mother looked at me with surprise and she looked at
Jana with worry. Jana’s expression hardened. “You know my fiancée, yeah well, um, he. Is. One. Of. The. Chosen. Ones.”
 She said it slow as if to make sure that Orillia heard her. Orillia’s eyes and face showed multiple emotions, like fear,
wonder, confusion, and all of them looked wrong on her soft face. She looked like a little kid who had just been told that
Santa wasn’t real. I left so she could explain and also, needed to see if things were good at that old gold palace in the sky.
Things weren’t, everyone was running around and Artemis ran up to me. She frowned. “Ares is missing and no one can
locate him.” I looked at her and I decided to get some fun out of this. “I’ll look for him, this could be fun.” She looked at
me suspiciously but didn’t ask questions. “Fine. I shall give you some of my finest hunters to accompany you. There will
be Delilah Selene, Jenna Luna, Shelia Electra, and Melamine Agilaz. They will be most excited.” And her hunters appeared
as if they were being called. They all had a quiver and looked as fierce as animals. We left on this adventure that could
lead us anywhere. I arrived to Jana’s house and I found her on her bed crying. She had out a piece of paper and there was
perfect cursive on it.

My dearest love,

I have tried to write this letter many times, it just seemed harder than I thought. I am alive and well, after the funeral you gave me a nice woman turned me back to my old
self. She said that I had time to heal and that I could take all the time I needed. I tried to find you but when I went to look for you, you were gone. Our house was empty, the
house where me and you spent so many nights in each other’s arms. The house where we prayed to Zeus and Hera and other gods. I remember what it was like in those days,
how we were so deeply in love. And as you are reading this I am trying to find you. To once more hold you in my arms and whisper, I love you, in your soft chocolate brown
hair. As we remember why we fell in love in the first place. I have missed you for an eternity. I miss the way I could feel so sure when you were around. Without you this
couples of years have been unbearable, I feel like I have had nothing to live for. You were the epicenter of my existence. I remember the first night that we consummated our
love. That was when you told me you loved me for the hundredth time that evening. I will never forget the way we were in those days. If you have found yourself a new
groom, well then I shall not intrude. He will be very lucky to have you but remember what I told you. I will be in your heart and I in yours. I was hoping to be there in three
days time. If you have not yet wed I look forward to meeting you and wondering what you have been doing. I miss you, I love you, and I also should tell you something. I still
feel the way I did when I first saw you. Like the world could spin right, now because I knew you loved me. And I’m praying to the gods that you love me, too. I don’t know
what has happened to you or if you changed at all. But know that in three days time I will be there to guide you the way I did when we were married. I still remember how
you looked at me in fascination as I taught you to read. And I still hold the same views. I am eager to find out about your life and all you have done.

Yours forever until death,

Devero Aklaman

I looked at the note reading it twice before she took it back. Her eyes had this glow that wasn’t present until now. She was
clutching the note to her chest and she looked at her watch. It was 12 a. m. she started to pat her hair down and comb it.
She looked into a vanity mirror. I felt deep jealousy, this dude was about to ruin my plan, I had waited this long just to be
put off again. But then I looked at her, her ten inch grin and her glowing skin. She needed him more than I needed her. My
hunters looked amused; they just said they sit down downstairs. There was a loud knock at the door and she ran inhumanly
to the door. I and my hunters waited for Devero to walk in. Jana gasped and she hugged him, she stood there for a while
and she kept crying. I’d like to say that Devero was ugly, but I can’t, to be honest with you. He had broad shoulders, his hair
was cropped to the side, he had blue eyes, and he had strong muscles. I mean, I didn’t have a prayer. He looked at me and I
actually smiled, I mean I was kind of pissed he had stolen my girlfriend but this dude was way to cool to stay mad at. He
smile went wider, “And are you one of Jana’s friends?” I smiled wide, too. This guy was cool so maybe he could be trusted.
“Yeah, I’m Apollo.” I said. He nodded, “Like the god of the sun.” I shook my head, laughing. “No, I am the god of the sun.”
and Devero stuttered and got down on one knee. “My apologies, your majesty, please forgive my thoughtlessness. I have
never seen a god and you are by far one of the most magnificent one I could ever imagine.” I stifled a laugh, He stood and
shook my hand vigorously. “Devero, please stop this. I came to Earth to be normal.” Devero nodded and he looked at Jana
cilia. Their eyes met and he kissed her. I looked at Delilah and she blushed a deep, deep red and lowered her eyes. She
moved a piece of hair and I realized that she looked absolutely beautiful. I realized that maybe if I was going to lose Jana
Delilah would be there as she had been for hundreds of years, we were like family but now there was something beneath
that was barely starting to show. I grabbed her arm and pulled her into the hallway. “What was that about?” she asked. I
moved closer to her and I breathed, intentionally trying to throw her off. “How long have you loved me?” I asked. She
looked into my eyes and she showed sadness and happiness. I could feel a dream coming into my mind, it was hers. We
were lying on a bed she was laying there and I was pressing my cool body to hers and she ripped open my shirt. I started to
kiss her and she kissed back, signaling that she like it. She breathed, and I didn’t need godly powers to know where this was
going. I pulled out of her mind; I was overwhelmed by how much I was feeling like love and passion. I know you’re probably
thinking that this isn’t right, but Jana was married and I saw the girl I loved for sure in front of me. I mean I loved Jana but
like a sister. I grabbed Delilah and I kissed her, I knew she was who I was waiting for. She had been there all along, but
there was just one problem. My sister wouldn’t be happy. I knew that much. But suddenly I heard a voice in my head. It was
Artemis; she was happy but furious at the same time. You know, if your girlfriend hadn’t just dumped you I might be furious.
She huffed mentally. I guess I knew she would fall in love with you, three hundred years with you, I expected this soon
enough. I also guessed that maybe she was the one; she would birth your children. I knew she liked you, I would hear it in
her thoughts. I am honestly happy you have found the missing puzzle piece to your existence. I was honestly happy, too. It
was like half of me found itself. She was the piece that had been missing all along; she was all that I had to live for. Even
seeing it in those silver-blue eyes, I knew that Jana didn’t even hold a billionth of the interest that Delilah held for me. She
was all that I could ask for. She was what I needed, from the satisfied look on her face I could tell she knew that. “So now
what do we do?” I huffed, I knew that as much as she did. But I had an idea of where to start, I felt the small ring in my
pocket. It was a metal band but in the center was a ball of light, it signified how much I loved the person who put it on. It
meant they were my light and joy. I got down on one knee and looked into her eyes, she was what I wanted forever. “Will
you, Delilah Rose Anne Selene, do me the most joyful and happy honor of marrying me?” her eyes brimmed in tears and
instead of saying something cliché she just nodded and got down on her knees to kiss me. Her lips were like a magic fire,
one that could only be doused with her love. Passion burned through me and I felt fire and ice on my lips. Jana’s kiss was
nothing compared to Delilah’s. I wish I could have experienced these years ago, our breathing slowed and we looked at
each other. “You know, when I was thirteen my mother had me marry this boy. His name was Alector, he was the nicest
person I had met. But he caught the Black Death, he died in two months. When he died I realized he had left me so much
pain. I never wanted to feel that, so I joined your sister. She was the only person who understood me. But when I saw you,
it was like angels were singing in my head. You looked so sad, but when I made you laugh, I heard that and in that moment I
decided I loved you.” I also remembered that day, I was sad after Artemis got hurt, Delilah walked up to me and she said
that she thought she had seen a horse on its’ hind legs, her joke was cheesy but she meant well. We looked out from the
hallway, “I think Jenna and Melamine will be happy to be commanders of the hunters.” She laughed, so did I. I knew they
had wanted her job for many years. Now they would get it, yes they would be happy. Shelia, yeah, not so much, she has this
idea that all men are idiots and that they are the worst thing next to the invention of sex. I had a feeling she would only be
happy if Artemis told her to. But I was okay with that. I had Delilah that was enough. We walked out into the living room,
Devero bowed to me, I needed his loyalty now. “Hey would you all like to go on a trip with me and the hunters, and, um,
well my fiancée.” Delilah blushed and everyone turned to her, she looked all of them in the eye. Jana squealed in delight,
she ran over and hugged me, she looked Delilah and held out her hand for the ring. Delilah showed them all and there was
a blinding flash of light in the room. I laughed, “Calm down, love. Your feelings are making the ring’s power stronger.”
Delilah looked at me in surprise. “You mean that whatever good feelings I have cause the ring to glow?” she asked. I
nodded, trying to get her to put the ring away. She did but she was still oozing with happiness. Devero spoke with great
appreciation, “Oh yes my lord, and we very greatly would like to accompany you on a hunt. It would be my honor to
accompany you. This is very amazing, my lord.” Devero bowed, now I was kind of getting tired of this kid. “Devero, I am
honored by your loyalty, but please I just want you to look at me like I’m a person.” I told him slowly so he could
understand me. He nodded slowly, a wide smile stretched across his face. “Okay. . . . Apollo.” And Jana rolled her eyes, she
punched my arm. “So when will we leave, Lord Apollo, may I suggest dawn?” Melamine asked. I nodded, “We leave at
dawn, But now we celebrate!” and Devero brought a can of beers. We would have an amazing night, then we were hunting
down a god.

5. I guess I was wrong, I don’t love him

When I woke up Apollo was fighting Johan. Now the last thing I expected him to tell me was that he was one of the
chosen one. He ran off and me and Apollo at on the bed he looked at me and I waited for him to ask me the question.
When he did I just huffed and began my story about my first and only husband. I talked about us and how Devero taught
me to read, how we traveled all around the world. I remembered those times amazingly. But soon Orillia was in the room
wondering where Johan was. Apollo looked at me and left out the window. I told Orillia what had happened and she said
that she would need to finish hunting. She hand me a small envelop and she looked nervous. I checked who the
addressee was and right there in cursive I knew after two-thousand years was an address:

Devero Aklaman

1260 maple st. in Chicago, Illinois

To my dearest love, Jana Cilia. I love you.

I cried as soon as I read the entire thing, when I looked at the date it was three days ago. The one person who could save
me was coming back. After I thought I had lost him forever. He would come and I wasn’t even presentable. He was my
husband for Christ sake. Apollo looked at me, “What does he look like?” he asked. I told them to stick around and find
out. That’s when the bell rang, my heart was beating like a drum and my eyes were brimming with tears. I opened the
door and found my husband. He looked the way he had when he married me. His square shoulders relaxed, probably
because I was still alive. His smooth muscles showed in his plain t-shirt with a black vest. His hair was shorter than last
time but its deep brown color was still nice to see. Those deep blue eyes lurked with the excitement that had been there
for years but just seeing it made me cry in happiness. He looked into my eyes and he grabbed me hands, “It has been too
long, Lilli. I can’t even begin to make up the hurt that I must have cause you. But now we won’t ever be torn apart.” I just
shook my head and kissed him. It was like the first night we spent as husband and wife. I could never truly forge that
moment or those years. He was here now and it was like half of me was back from the dead.