Chapter Seven-Home
Hestia came up with the plan.
I was to go home, tell my mom that they called last minute at school, and that I had to go right away, but they didn’t allow cell phones, or allow students to go home for visits because they thought that it would distract them. The goddess got me my homework that I had missed, and let me tell you, I sorely regretted staying so long.
The place I had been that whole two weeks was a writing camp, intensive that the leader of my writing club, Mrs. Navetta had recommended I go to. And I didn’t know about the death of my friends in a horrible hit and run accident.
My bag was packed, and homework roughly scribbled on in an attempt to get started. That hadn’t gone so well, especially with Qatir, Shotka and Sam all trying to get me to go out and practice with them.
Hestia was driving in a mini van covered with glamour today to say ‘Accelerated writing course! We’ll get you where you want to be!’
I told Hestia what I thought of her logo. Not the best idea I’ve ever had.
We pulled into my driveway and I had an unusual sense of déjà vu. It felt the same way it did every day that I came home on a normal school day.
Stepping out of the car carefully, I avoided the puddles. I shivered, the weather being colder than I was used to. It was pretty much always sunny in the Room, and I had gotten used to the tank tops and shorts Sam had let me borrow.
The wind blew me forward and away from the car, causing me to grab onto Shotka’s out stretched arm. He laughed and got out to help me carry my things inside.
We picked my group leader to go along because he looked the most nerdy of all the people I had suggested. He knew more about English stuff than the rest of us, so he was elected to be the trustworthy proof I gave my parents of where I’d been.
Alex rode in the front seat, much to mine and Shokta’s annoyance. We kept trying to talk about what we would do when I came back, but Alex would interrupt with a question for Hestia or something.
It was aggravating.
Shotka brought my bag to the door and waited nervously while I pulled my key out of my jeans.
As soon as the door was open my younger brother launched himself at me. “Iris!”
“Josh!” I answered, but I didn’t really hug him back. I’m not much of a hug person.
My group leader just stood uncomfortably in the doorway with my bag.
“Come in Shotka, its okay.” I said.
He stepped in, setting my bag on the tile in my mudroom. The wash machine was running loudly. I wondered if any of my laundry had been done. If not, I had nothing to wear. Clothes had a tendency to form piles in my room instead of in the sorter.
I heard my mom call my name once, and then suddenly she and my dad were there.
Their eyes flicked between Shotka and I. None of us were sure what to say until my mom asked “Where have you been?”
“I’ve been… at writing camp…” I lied weakly.
“Really.” it was clear she didn’t believe me.
“Yeah. Uh, I was with Shotka Meyros… um… yeah, this is him.”
Luckily for me Shotka chose to continue instead of letting me struggle.
“Mrs. Carter, lovely to meet you. I’m the leader of Iris’s group. Our group is comprised of different types of people who enjoy writing. This is a good opportunity for Iris to embark on, certainly because this immerses her into a culture of many styles that she won’t be exposed to at school. Programs of ours include things like poetry, short stories, novels and many more, allowing her to expand her horizon in the writing industry. Her writing club teacher, Mrs. Navetta, I believe recommended her.”
The many big words Shotka had carefully chosen on the way here seemed to do the trick. My parents mouths were slightly open as they stared at my leader.
I laughed nervously, and picked up my luggage. “Um… I guess I’ll bring this upstairs while Shotka explains the rest.”
I left the room to the Hermes group leader, and trotted up to my room.
It was so much different than my tent in the Room.
My bedroom seemed to big, I felt as if I should be stooping to enter like I did with my shared tent, but instead I had to reach up to touch the ceiling.
Even though it was the end of May, it was slightly cool, like a bit of winter had been contained in its walls just for this moment.
I smiled, breathing in deeply. I love the smell of my room. I can’t describe it, but it just feels like home, where I belong. When I asked other people if they notice something different when they walked into my space, they all answered no. None of the rest of my house smelled this way, it was just my room. And I savored every second of it.
I set my duffle down on the immensely dirty floor. Nothing had moved from its place. Clothes were still strewn on the floor, books and papers everywhere. I maneuvered my way to my bed and sat down with a sigh, unloading the duffle bag.
If anyone who knew me well looked into that bag they knew I hadn’t packed it. I’m surprisingly clean when it comes to packing, and I like things to be folded neatly and in appropriate places. (the duffle had been thrown in my hands right before I had to go with a shout of “Hurry up your going to be late!” from Sam)
That was not the case for this pack.
Apparently Qadir, Shotka and Sam had attempted to put my things away for me because if it had been Hestia, I know that there wouldn’t be a baggie of sweet tarts labeled ‘do not share’
As I began to pull things out, I began to laugh. Each thing came with an explanation of why it was there. Sam packed me a few black tanks and shorts ’cause I need something sensible to wear, I didn’t bother to explain to her that I normally wear some type of black anyway, and an emergency pack of ambrosia in a small tub along with two water bottles of nectar.
Ambrosia and Nectar was something I’d gotten used to in the last week or so. It was unbelievably good, they tasted like nothing I’d had before. Probably because I hadn’t eaten or drank anything that came close to how much power those held. Even the littlest bits of ambrosia could heal a large sword slash, and nectar gave you so much energy that I was literally bouncing off the walls the first time I had it.
Shotka had been the one to pack the gummy worms, sweet tarts and mountain dews. Those were also labeled ‘Emergency’
Qadir had included my bow, somehow squished inside the bag, and a dagger with the inscription, ‘keep practicing! Your going to need it when you come back’
The rest was a Hodge podge of all the random items I’d collected during the two weeks I had stayed in the Room.
There was the shell from the salt water lake, and my winged hat that Shotka had given me on my first day. Amy, my room mate was seldom around, but on that first day she had also given me a bracelet with my name inscribed onto it with the classic Hermes wings at either end of it. Underneath the leather it said Hermes, March, 2010.
The last thing to come out of the bag was a medium sized smooth, round stone, with a chunk out of one of the edges. It was striped, with dark gray and light gray alternating in almost equal portions.
Hestia had explained to me right before I left that when the dark gray stripes began to lighten and blend in with the other gray, I needed to hurry and get back to the Room. It meant something was happening that I needed to be there for.
She also showed me how to make a distress call with it, and the darker the light gray got, the closer they were. I had no idea how she got a simple rock to do all that, but she told me it had something to do with where it came from. It was also like a beacon, showing other holders of stones where I was. They would only work for demigods, so Hestia made sure that she had someone with a rock near her at all times.
I set all these things on my bed and smiled happily.
In that second I wished that I could tell my parents, but I knew that was impossible. Hestia had forbidden it, saying that if I did, all Hades would break loose. My parents might not allow me to train with Hestia, which would probably result in me being brutally killed by some monster. Especially since the “powers” we all supposedly had wouldn’t work for me.
Not really how I plan to spend the rest of my life.
I had almost forgotten about Shotka until I heard him yell “Um… Iris, I got to go!”
Hurrying down the stairs, I rushed into the mudroom. “Oh, hey, sorry.”
“Just wanted to say good bye and that I’ll see you next weekend. I explained everything to your parents…” He trailed off and began to edge for the door.
“Yep. Well I’ll see you Friday.” As I closed the door behind him, I could feel three pairs of eyes on me.
“So.” My dad began. “How come you didn’t feel the need to tell us before you left that you were entered into this thing?”
“The Ro- oh, the writing thing? Well, I didn’t know I was eligible until I got the call on Friday and then…it all went down hill from there.”
My mom nodded. “Well, your off the hook this time, but I want a schedule of when your meets and such are.”
“Mom, there aren’t meets. This isn’t a competition. It’s more of a… well I don’t know what it is exactly but its not that.”
“But Shotka said something about you possibly needing to be taken out of school at random times in order to prepare for … meets. He said that we should be flexible, and that you might have to leave for long periods of time when you travel across the country.”
I tried not to look puzzled. “Oh, he probably means when we… uh… go and compare work with other programs like this one around the country. Yeah, I have no idea when those are going to be, but I can ask this weekend.”
“Well good.” My mom looked satisfied and I mentally thanked Hermes that they didn’t seem to concerned. Shotka must have used some glamour or something. I still had no idea how that worked, but Qadir promised to show me this weekend.
My dad left first, and went back into the living room. Next went my brother, ear phones back in, I-pod touch clutched in hand. Then my mom, leading me into the living room with her.
“So what did you do while you were there?” She asked curiously.
“Well… we pretty much wrote…” I said.
“Oh. Did you meet any new people?”
“Shotka, Sam, Qadir, uh… Amy, my roommate there, Alex, this really weird, annoying kid, Kevin, he’s the stables manager-”
“Stables manager?” She interrupted.
“Yeah. They have horses there cause they give some people inspiration and… basis to write their poems and stuff.” Horses, ha. More like Pegasus. Those were real, I do have to admit, I’ve touched them, and their bites are definitely not imaginary.
“Fun! So I know who Shotka is, but who’s Sam, and the rest of them?”
The interrogation took the rest of my Saturday afternoon. It was extremely nerve wracking. I kept thinking the whole time that I was going to slip up and she was going to figure it out, but nope. I stuck with the lie the entire time.
It was dark outside by the time she had finished. I retreated up to my room, and instead of doing homework, I wrote a letter to my friends. They don’t get cell service in the Room, so I hadn’t been lying about that part of it. Neither did they have internet, but they did receive mail. Hestia decided that it was the only way that half-bloods should keep in touch during the week lest a monster or something followed you to the Room, and then they all knew where it was if they didn’t already.
The attacks had gotten worse. I hadn’t been exposed to any of them, being a newbie meant that while other people went out and fought, I was told to stay inside Hestia’s cabin with a few other people.
It was extremely boring, and I kept trying to convince the goddess that I was useful. My skills with the bow hadn’t been enough to persuade her yet though, so I had been working with Qadir on a dagger after the last attack, about two days before I decided to come home.
I don’t know how Qadir expected me to work with my bow or dagger here. My parents would probably call the police on me.
That’s about the time I saw the small tube of silver that I’d missed while unpacking.
Written on the side of the bottle in curling letters was the words ‘Glamour-Property of Iris Calypso Carter’.
I fingered it not sure how to use it. Like I said, Qadir was going to show me how it worked next weekend, but here it was. In my bag. So tempting.
One of the only things I knew about glamour was that it wasn’t meant to be used for just anything. But I couldn’t resist. I wanted to see what all the fuss was about.
I uncapped the silver capsule and stared down at the shimmering substance inside.
It was the same color as the tube it was in, but it seemed to change from liquid to solid, to a powder type thing, then a gas that seemed as if it would disperse into the air around me but never did. I wasn’t sure I wanted to mess with it any more. It was unsettling to watch it shift and move.
I quickly shoved the cover back on, and put it back in the duffle. Who knows what could happen if I tried to use it?
Just as I was closing my bag, footsteps could be heard slowly climbing up the stairs. Instinctively, I crouched down, pulling my knife off my bed. I held it out in front of me, creeping towards the top of the stairs until I realized the foot falls were strangely familiar.
My mom was walking up the stairs! I quickly raced back to my messy bedroom, shoving my bow and knife into my closet, slamming the door shut at the last second.
“What was that for?” My mother asked, startled.
“Nothing.” I stammered.
She stared at me quizzically but continued on towards her bedroom door. “I’m gonna take a nap. Try not to be loud ok?’
I nodded, not trusting myself. Knowing me, I would probably spout something random that had nothing to do with the conversation we were currently having.
She shut the door to her room and I sighed in relief. Thank the gods.
I slumped back onto my bed. This was going to be harder than I thought. Keeping this a secret from my parents was going to be a full time job. I was going to have to learn how to be an expert deceiver.
The next morning, when my alarm went off, I work up, immediately assuming my most threatening ninja pose.
Then I realized what the noise was and felt like an idiot.
My towel and clothes sat on my desk, like they were every morning. I felt myself slipping into my old routine, as if the two weeks I had spent in the room never happened.
But they did. The knife at the bottom of the pile was proof of that. Qadir had told me to always keep some sort of weapon handy even if I didn’t know how to use it.
So down the stairs I went, turning on the shower and waiting for it to warm up.
The window above my head reflected the light back towards me. It made me nervous to not be able to see out beyond its glassy surface. Sam had told me many ghost stories about what happened to demigods who went home before they were ready.
The darkness outside was not making me feel very confident about going to school and facing everyone I knew all over again. Well… almost everyone else I knew.
They were waiting until my visit this weekend to burn them. As mean and creepy as that sounds, I knew it was the right thing for them. They should be honored and not buried somewhere underground. They both would have hated that.
It took me a minute to notice that in my day dreaming the mirror had fogged up with the steam from the now blazing hot water.
I stepped into it, trying to let the steady stream calm my frazzled mind. Two weeks was not normally long enough to get over the deaths of my two best friends, but this wasn’t a normal situation.
It wasn’t like I was moving on or anything, but I felt like they were in a better place, and that they had escaped the trouble that they would have had to face if they had lived. I would never had been able to keep them as friends. They would figure out something was wrong, and then it would all go down the drain.
So I knew this was a much better way to end up than some of the alternatives. Such as being sent down to Tartarus and being torchured for the rest of eternity.
I switched the water off, and sighed. Being late for school on my first day back was not an option, considering that I didn’t have all my homework done yet. Hopefully I would be given some slack.
I pulled on my favorite red coca-cola tee shirt and a pair of blue jean shorts. It looked cute in a subtle way, kind of the same way I was.
Breakfast was pretty simple. A bowl of Captain Crunch, and milk was all. After my brother finished his, I quickly made my lunch and headed up towards my room
Once in my own private space, I opened my duffle bag and pulled out the water bottles full of sobe. I drank a few sips and immediately felt awake and at least semi-ready for school.
Flinging my back pack over my sholder, I walked down my stairs, feeling like I had never left.
By the time I got to school, there was only two minutes left until the bell rang. I groaned inwardly and jogged down a maze of halls I knew only too well.
The bell dinged just as I flung my backpack down and sat in my seat. Mrs. Gunther. It was horrible. What a way to come back. First hour a class so difficult and boring that no one even wanted to try and pass the class. Except me. I was one of the only ones with an A. What can I say?! English is my gift. Well, my normal gift. The other was an uncanny ability to shoot arrows through things, but that doesn’t count in adults definition of the “Real World”.
Me...again. as usual, i loved it. some minor spelling mistakes but nothing life threatening...well, for you anyway. iris maybe. Very clever with the pink Sobe, i love pink Sobe (does that make me a demigod? i think I'm too klutzy to be one lol) but it was a nice touch