The Curse of Betrayal (13 page)

“Damn-it,” I say when I look around and realize I’m in some sort of dream. I wouldn’t really know, except for the edges of my vision being distorted and blurry. It’s like looking through a frosted window. Dead giveaway.
 

I walk down a barely lit hallway until I hear voices coming from a somber room. I walk towards it hesitantly and push open a door, revealing two people I hoped to never see together again. My stomach flip-flops at just the sight of them together, and I try to listen to what they’re saying.

I’m in what looks like a study with a large desk set up in the center of the room. It’s a rich cherry that matches this weirdly scary place. I look between Ollie and Hades and try to figure out the purpose of this meeting. Ollie looks upset, while Hades looks annoyed. By their demeanor and clothing, I can’t tell if this is past, present, or future.
 

“You can’t keep coming down here, kid,” Hades says, flipping through a bible-sized note book. “I see here from my records that Eurydice is alive right now. Why are you not with her?”
 

“I wanted to see if we could make some sort of deal,” Ollie says. Hades lifts a finger to him, gesturing him to continue with its little wiggle. “I need to be the only one in her life. Can you make this happen?” he asks with desperation in his voice. He walks up to the desk and places both of his hands on it, like he can barely stand without its help.

“I could, of course. But why would I?” Ollie looks as if he might cry, and there is a moment of reticence. I rush towards Ollie, hoping that he can see me, but when I reach him, he doesn’t notice me.

“Ollie!” I yell to him, wanting to understand what’s going on, but it’s too soon that my sight is removed, and I’m falling into the lurid hole that I’ve grown accustomed to hating.

“Where am I now?” I ask. My eyes open slowly, one at a time. The room is stark white and brightly lit.

“Don’t worry, sweetie.” A soft, woman’s voice rings out from the hallway. I look to her and spot the nurse wearing a white coat. She has beautiful blonde hair, but the sight of her shakes me.

“Am I okay?” I try to move each of my fingers and toes so I know they work. Luckily, they all wiggle.

“You’re completely fine. You have a mild concussion now. I fixed your head right up and it’s perfectly fine, again. When you’re ready, you can go.” She watches as I sit up on the cot. “Just don’t fall asleep in your next class.” She laughs to herself at some joke she just made.

“How long was I here?” I swing my legs off the cot and let the blood flow normally through my head. I get a little lightheaded, but it fades quickly.

“Just about ten minutes. You fell asleep briefly, which is not good for a concussion, so I had to wake you up.”
 

“What hour is it?” I pray that I haven’t missed my session with Professor Onassis. I really wanted to ask her about my jail dream and start controlling the dreams. I need to figure out how my reoccurring dream suddenly changed.
 

“Seventh is just about to end.”
 

“Great,” I mutter, grabbing my back pack off the floor and walking to the door.

“Oh, sweetie. Just sign right here since I performed work to your head. Gotta keep track of when powers get used on students.” She hands me a clipboard from her desk with a piece of paper on it. I sign my name quickly on the dotted line and then rush out of her office towards the gym. On my way there, the bell rings signaling the end of seventh.
 

“Damn,” I whisper under my breath. I sprint to the locker room to change. I don’t think going out in the cold with my gym shorts is acceptable. I’d become a Popsicle within seconds.

Once I’m dressed, I sprint using my turbo speed to the Admin Building.
 

CHAPTER NINE

it’s about to be a boy fight

“Hi, is Professor Onassis here?” I ask the secretary when I get to her office. The secretary seems friendly enough, but she rubs me the wrong way for some reason. It may be the weird quirk to her eye brow or her flaring nostrils, but I don’t like her. I feel like she’s sizing me up when she looks at me.

“In her office, dear,” the thirty-something year old woman tells me, making me feel twelve. Her age strikes me as odd since I haven’t seen a nephil who’s at that in-between stage. Either she looks older than she is or she’s just starting to age. Or maybe she’s just human. Maybe she’s some unknown creature that I haven’t learned about. I’m starting to think that anything is possible these days.
 

“Thanks.” I realize I’ve been staring at her for too long, so I rush back towards the office. I lightly knock on the door to signal my arrival and am greeted with her hearty voice.

“Come in,” she says in a fluttery voice like a bumblebee.
 

I walk in while Professor Onassis is on the phone and take a spot on the couch near the bookshelf. I try not to bother her while she talks, so I peer at the bookcase, looking at the titles filling it. She has some classics like Jane Austen and Emily Dickinson, but then there are some crazy titles like
Spears, Swords, and Swing Sets
—what the hell does that even mean?

“Sorry. That was my mentor talking my ear off. I swear some people just can’t take a hint.” She excuses herself, clearly frazzled as she gets up from her swiveling chair to sit next to me on the small sofa. “How are you today?” Her deep violet eyes meet mine with question.

“I’m good. I just played rugby and basically died.” I laugh it off, but Professor Onassis’ eyes widen in shock.

“What do you mean you died?” Her voice is high pitched and tense, and her eyes trail up and down my body, in search of injury, I’m guessing.

“Well, I got kicked in the face and blacked out. Next thing I know, I’m waking up in the nurse’s office.”

“Dear gods, you gave me a fright.” She clutches her chest, and I realize that this little old woman really could have had a heart attack. I feel pretty bad for scaring her. But I did kind of die.

“Sorry. I may have exaggerated that a tad.” I shrug, hoping she accepts the apology.

“Well, now I know you have a sense of humor.” She winks at me, and I like that; although I almost just inadvertently killed my mentor via heart attack, it still managed to deepen our connection.
 

“So, how was the rest of your day? How is your roommate treating you? Have you made any new friends?” She fires off questions at me. I’m a little taken aback, but I answer, wanting to tell her everything about me.
 

“Kara? She’s great. We get along really well. I guess I’ve made some friends, but I don’t feel accepted, really. There’s this one girl who definitely doesn’t like me. It’s weird, but it reminds me of my old school, where they were mean to me,” I confess, finding a connection between Lisa and Becca without even realizing it.
 

“You were bullied at your old high school?” Professor Onassis brings up her pad of paper and writes down some scribble that I can’t read or even track since her petite hand moves so swiftly.

“A little bit. I just found out a couple months ago that it was because she thought I stole her boyfriend, but she turned the whole school against me for years over it. It was rough. To be honest, I’m glad to be out of there.”
 

“I’m sorry that you had to go through that.” Her voice is honest and true, and it makes me believe her that much more. “I can guarantee that won’t happen again here.” She makes her own plea to protect me.
 

“It’s okay. It kind of made me stronger towards the end. I stood up for myself, and it felt really good.” Remembering when I hit Becca, I realize I was finally able to let go of whatever scared me about her. Bullies are nothing but cowards—they’re insecure, and they take it out on the weaker person.
 

“It seems like something else is bothering you.” She digs deeper, frowning at me as she tries to figure me out.

“Well, I’ve had this dream,” I tell her. “It’s been happening over and over again. I usually see the same thing, but last night it changed. I saw more, and it’s really freaking me out. I’ve never had a recurring dream, and this one seems farfetched.”
 

“What happens in the dream?” She starts writing down notes again as I speak.

“I wake up in the same dark black jail cell. Normally, I just hang out in there for a while, but last night, these two guys who I’ve met before came in. One is Hermes and the other Hades. They were draining the prisoner across the hall from me of blood and putting it into a vial. Then Hermes spoke to me.”

“You’ve met both Hades and Hermes?” She eyes me with shock and horror. “In real life?” She clarifies mostly for herself since I heard the first time perfectly.
 

“Yeah, I went into the Underworld with Ari, um… Professor Aristeus, to find out about my mom and this curse, and we talked with Hades. Hermes walked us towards the exit. I actually saw the cell from my dream in real life,” I explain, remembering that same room as I put the pieces together in my mind.
 

“Why don’t we start with you telling me about your trip down there, and then I can start to figure out the dream,” she says, and I delve into the past, telling her every last detail of my trip, not holding back. She stops me to ask questions throughout the story, but I get it all out for the first time ever.
 

I love having her undivided attention. It’s great having someone listen to me and really seem to care. To be honest, Professor Onassis acts more like a therapist than a guidance counselor, and oddly enough, it doesn’t bother me like I thought it would.
 

Our hour comes and goes, and it’s dinner time when we’re done. I say goodbye to her, and then run back to my dorm room to decompress before I have to rush to the student center for dinner.

After unlocking the door, I throw my bag on the ground and dive into the bed, relishing in the feel of safety. I let out a sigh and plan to take a nap when a rustle comes from the other side of the room.
 

“Someone tired?” Kara giggles as she emerges from the adjoining door. I jump back, startled, not realizing that she was even in the room. I’m not used to having a roommate, and I keep forgetting that she lives here, too.
 

“You scared the crap out of me!”

“Sorry. I’m just doing homework,” she says as she walks back to her bed and sits among a large pile of books strewn about. She has that stressed out look that I’m familiar with, and I feel her pain. “So, you have to tell me.” She turns her big blue eyes on me.

“Tell you what?” I ask her back, flustered.

“About Ari!” she exclaims, jumping up and coming onto my bed with me. She crosses her legs, sitting crisscross at the end of it and waits for me. “After seeing the way he went after you last night, I want to know more about your relationship. Have you two had sex yet?” Her question makes heat rise up my neck, leaving my face crimson, I’m sure.
 

I’ve never had anyone straight up ask me like that. In fact, I never even told anyone I lost my virginity when I was with Ollie. The only friend I had was Junior, and although we told each other everything, that would have been way too awkward, so I kept it to myself.
 

I groan, feeling out of my comfort zone. “No, we haven’t had sex yet. Can I be honest with you?” I have an urge to confide in yet another person. It’s crazy how fast my walls are coming down, but I don’t let the thoughts frighten me. Kara has proven to be a big mouth, but I know she would never do it on purpose.
 

“Of course. I want you to be!” She grabs onto my hands and clings to them, letting me know that I can trust her.
 

“I had sex with Ollie a while ago. He was my first, and I truly, truly love him. But then I took this trip with Ari, and my feelings took a complete one-eighty.” I drop my head in my hands, hating how slutty I sound. “I know it’s this curse that’s messing with my feelings, but I feel so guilty about it all. It’s not fair to the guys, but sometimes I feel like I’m in love with them both—just differently.” A tear trickles down my face, and I catch it on my finger, hating how much I’ve been crying lately. I’m not even depressed—just frustrated with the entire situation.