Wrath of Hades (17 page)

Raven shook her head.

She had seen those eyes before, but where?

“You didn’t have that the last time we met.” He reached out and picked up the disc, turning it slowly over as he studied it.

“It was a recent birthday gift.” Raven groaned as the words came out of her mouth. They sounded so lame.

“It is a unique gift for a unique individual.” He smiled at her, revealing a mouth full of pearly white teeth that stood out against his dark tan.

“Right.
Who are you? Where am I? And how is it you seem to know me?”

The guy gently let the disc slide out of his hand. He picked up a lock of her hair and brought it up to his nose. “You smell just like the ocean.”

“Probably because I was just swimming in it.”

“It’s where you belong.”

“Excuse me?” Raven’s eyebrows shot up.

“You belong in the ocean, not stuck on land like the others.”

Raven snatched her hair out of his hands and took a couple of steps backwards away from him. As good looking as he was, he was now giving her the creeps.  “I really think I need to be going.”

“You just got here.”

“There are people waiting for me.” Raven put a little more distance between them. She shivered. There was something really off with this guy and the longer she was near him the worse the bad feelings got.

“I think you should come with me.” He held out his hand to her.

Raven shook her head. “I don’t think so.” She shook her head. He definitely made a really pretty package, but that was the only thing going for him if she trusted her feelings. And this time she knew she had too or she was going to be sorry. Going anywhere with him was a very bad idea.

“It seems our time has been cut short.” He looked past her out toward the ocean. “We will meet again, and you will come with me.”

“Not even in your dreams,” said Raven.

“Oh, but you will.” The guy bowed before he turned and jogged toward the trees.

Suddenly Raven found herself surrounded by several very angry looking males and females, all carrying spears and wearing just a little more than loin clothes and gold and silver chest plates decorated with shells and jewels.

“Go after him,” said a tall female who didn’t look much older than Raven. Several people took off toward the tree line in the direction the guy had gone. The female turned her attention to Raven. “You don’t belong here.”

“Being here wasn’t exactly on my agenda of things to do today.” Raven crossed her arms. She refused to let the girl intimidate her.

“It is forbidden for outsiders to be on this island. How did you get here?” The girl’s tone was cold and hard.

“You’ll have to ask two really naughty dolphins about why they brought me here.”

One of the males leaned over and whispered something in the head female’s ear. Her eyes widened. She stared at Raven. “Where did you get that necklace?”

Raven looked up and shook her head. “Why does it always come to the necklace?” She glared at the girl. “It’s a family heirloom. It doesn’t belong to you or to anyone else. It only belongs to me so don’t even think about trying to take it. It will make me angry and you don’t want to see me when I’m angry. Bad things tend to happen to people when I’m angry.”

The female narrowed her eyes. “You will come with us.”

“I don’t think so.”

“You don’t have a choice.”

“I’ve got a lot of choices, and going with you definitely is not one of them.” Raven glanced at the tree line, wondering if the shadows there would be enough to open a doorway to get home.

“Are you planning on following
Morven?”

“Is that his name? You can have him. He may be good to look at, but he’s way too creepy for me.” Raven rolled her eyes.

“I don’t believe you,” said the female.

“I don’t really care what you believe.” Raven grabbed the spear out of the hands of the nearest female as she spun and swept the female’s feet out from under her. Raven leaped over the female and moved away from the group surrounding her. Before the stunned group could move,
Raven held up her hand and envisioned the water encasing them in a watery net.

“Get her!” screamed the head female. But before any of them could move, the ocean water obeyed Raven’s command and engulfed them in a huge watery net.

Surprised, even frightened gasps erupted from the group. Not one of them moved. It was as if they were afraid to touch the water.

“I told you not to make me mad.” Raven threw down the spear and ran for the tree line, hoping the watery net would stay long enough for her to get out of there.

“After her!”  The female’s voice whipped through the air.

Raven didn’t bother looking over her
shoulder, she knew the watery net was gone. She focused on the darkest shadow she could see and kept running.

“Don’t let her get to
Morven.”

Raven skidded to a stop just inside the shadow of the trees. She held up her hand and waved it in an arching motion as she envisioned her attic room.

The shadow door opened.

Raven didn’t hesitate.

She stepped through the doorway and into her attic room.

Turning quickly around she waved her hand again in an arch as she envisioned the doorway closed. The last thing she saw was the angry, but scared face of the female warrior.

Raven took several deep breathes. She looked over at the ocean painting. The two dolphins were back in their original spots. Raven shook her finger at them. “That was a dirty, rotten trick you pulled. I will get you for that.”

Keeping an eye on the pair of tricksters, Raven left the attic.

CHAPTER
16

More times than not, I find my thoughts drifting through the things that have happened to me over the years, but especially the things that have happened over the last few months. Could I have done things differently? Should I have done things differently? Those questions are always present.

Maybe I’m just second-guessing my actions.

Yeah, I know I am.

I’ve been doing that a lot.

Ben Stone.

I still haven’t heard from him, and now I wonder if I ever will, especially with what happened with Xander, the gargoyle and one of Agent Morrison’s men in black.

Xander Stone.

Ben Stone.

Coincidence?

I think not.

Same last name.
Similar looks.

Was Ben really my friend, or was he at Crystal City High School just to spy on me? Did Xander send him? Is Ben a gargoyle too? I’ve only officially met one, and that wasn’t exactly a good thing either. But I know there are more gargoyles. Xander said so, and I don’t think he lied about that.

I just wonder what will happen the next time Ben and I meet. And we will definitely meet again. Of that I have no doubts. It’s just the rest that bothers me.

I had no clue—or maybe I just didn’t want to see them—that Ben was anything but my friend. Heck, I thought Ethan was more than just a friend, but all it took was one stupid arrow to change all that.

Poseidon is the first to tell me I can do better than Ethan. I know his judgment is clouded by some issue he and Cerberus have with each other, but I’m beginning to think he’s right. There is someone out there for me. Someone who won’t turn on me for any reason, at least that’s what I hope.

But for now, I have to deal with the mess I’ve got.

                            --Raven Weir’s journal

The house was different, but Raven couldn’t explain how or why she knew. The house was just different.

Raven paused at
her bedroom door and listened. A lot of noises were coming from downstairs, and from the amount she was hearing it wasn’t just one person.

It was a lot of people.

Raven shook her head. Getting a shower and clean clothes would have to wait. She had to find out who was in the house and what they were doing. She couldn’t take the chance of it not being people she knew. Too many people were out to kill her, besides she was supposed to be the only one in the house.

“This is ridiculous! I can’t even take a shower in peace.
I have to worry about enemies in the house.” Raven headed for the stairs. She stopped at the top of the stairs and looked over the railing. No one was in the hallway, but she could hear someone moving stuff around in the living room. “There had better be a really good explanation.” Raven was halfway down the stairs when Pauline walked out of the living room. 

“Raven!
Where have you been?” she screamed when she saw Raven. Pauline ran over to her and threw her arms around Raven.

“You’re crushing me!”

Pauline let her go. “Sorry.”

“Why are you here? Shouldn’t you be at the dance with Billy?” asked Raven.

“I’ve found her! She’s in here!” Pauline yelled instead of answering Raven.

“I’m not lost. What are you talking about?”

“Raven, where have you been? We’ve been so worried.” Professor Snyder ambled over and hugged her. “Disappearing like that without telling anyone was not a smart thing to do, especially with the zombie problems increasing.”

“I was just up in the attic.” Raven looked around. “Why aren’t you at the dance?”

“The dance was two nights ago,” said Pauline.

“Two nights ago?”
Raven’s mouth dropped open.

“Yeah, it’s Sunday,” said Professor Snyder. “You’ve been missing since sometime Friday night.”

“I wasn’t missing.” Raven stared at Professor Snyder.

“Go tell Leslie and the others that Raven’s been found,” Professor Snyder said to Pauline. “The rest of you, let everyone else know that Raven is safe and at home.” He turned to Raven. “Let’s go to the kitchen and talk.” He raised an eyebrow at her.

Raven rolled her eyes. “I wasn’t missing. You’re joking about it being Sunday, aren’t you?”

Professor Snyder slowly shook his head. “No, I’m not.”

Raven frowned. “It’s really Sunday?”

“Yes, it is. We’ve torn the town apart looking for you.”

“How is it possible? It can’t really be Sunday, can it?” Raven asked herself. She followed Professor Snyder into the kitchen.

“Diane, darling, w
ould you get Raven a cup of hot chocolate?” Professor Snyder sat down at the kitchen table.

Raven sat down in one of the chair so her back was to the wall. “I don’t see how I could have been gone that long.”

“Are you okay?” asked Diane as she put a mug of hot chocolate in front of Raven. “We were worried. You should have said something to someone. You shouldn’t have disappeared. I know you’ve been under a lot of stress, but it’s no excuse.”

Raven looked up at Diane. “I didn’t disappear. I knew exactly where I was—for the most part.”

“Where were you?” asked Diane.

“To start out, I was here in the house all alone while everyone else went off to the dance or to where ever it was they went. So I decided to go up to the attic and read.” Raven picked up the hot chocolate and smelled it.

“You cause us all to panic and you’re blaming us?” Diane’s voice rose.

“You’re accusing me of disappearing. I didn’t disappear.”

“If you didn’t disappear, then where were you?” asked Professor Snyder.

“I was in the middle of the ocean
swimming with a pair of very naughty dolphins.” Raven crossed her arms.

Diane stared at her. “You just said you went up to the attic to read. How did you get from there to the middle of the ocean? It’s a couple of hundred miles to the nearest beach.”

Raven shrugged her shoulders.

Diane sank into one of the chairs. “This isn’t making any sense.” She took a closer look at Raven’s clothes. “What is that all over your clothes?” She reached across the table and touched the sleeve of Raven’s sweater. She brought her fingers to her nose and smelled.
“Salt. You’re clothes are covered with salt.”

“I told you I was swimming in the ocean with a pair of dolphins. It’s not my fault if you don’t believe me.”

Diane stared at her.

“You were swimming in the ocean with dolphins?” Professor Snyder sounded skeptical.

Raven looked up at the ceiling and shook her head. It was almost like the scene from her dad’s journal was replaying itself. “This is going to sound really strange, but somehow, and I don’t know how or even why, but I went into the ocean painting in the attic. I got too close to the painting and one of the dolphins pulled me in.” Raven looked from the professor to Diane.

“Extraordinary!” The professor’s face lit up. “Is this the first time? What did it feel like when you found yourself in the painting?”

“Ryan enough.” Diane put her hand on her husband’s arm. “Raven, maybe you should stay out of the attic until we figure out what’s going on.”

Raven frowned.
“But why?”

“I’ve never heard of anyone of our kind ever being able to go into a picture.”

Raven started to correct Diane, but stopped herself before she did. Somehow the painting was a doorway. Was she the only one who could open it? Did it work the way the Shadow Express did? Raven had questions but decided to keep most of them to herself. “No one’s ever been able to do that?” she asked.

“No one,” said Diane.

Raven started to get up, but sat back down. “I’ve got another question.”

“We’re listening,” said Diane before the professor could respond.

“Have you ever heard of a group of warrior-like people who could literally walk out of the ocean?”

Diane thought for a little bit. “No, I’ve never heard a group like that, but it doesn’t mean they don’t exist.”

Raven nodded. She could have sworn she saw a strange look in Diane’s eyes. But it was gone before she could say anything, leaving her wondering if she had just imagined it or not. “I’m going up to take a shower. I’m starting to smell a little too much like fish.”

“That would probably be a good idea,” said Diane. She got up and walked over to the sink. “While you’re in the shower, we’ll let the others know you’re home safe and sound.”

Raven got up and walked to the doorway. “I really didn’t mean to worry anyone.” She turned and went up to her room without speaking to anyone.

About thirty minutes later, Raven emerged from her bathroom surrounded by a dense cloud of steam. It swirled around her as if it were alive. She wore a gray sweatshirt that came down to her knees, but she still shivered when she stepped into the cooler bedroom. Wrapped around her still damp hair was a blue towel. Raven walked over to the closet and went inside. Two minutes later she came out wearing a pair of blue jeans along with the long, gray sweatshirt.

She sat down in front of the dresser and started toweling her hair dry when a knock at the door startled her.

“Who is it?” she called out.

“It’s me,” said Diane. “Can I come in?”

Raven really didn’t want to deal with Diane, but what was the use of putting it off? “The door’s unlocked.”

Diane opened the door and walked in. “Can we talk?” she asked as she closed the door.

“If you want,” said Raven.

Diane sat down on the bed. “I didn’t mean to come across so cold and unfeeling,” she said.

Raven shrugged her shoulders. She knew Diane was hiding something, and sooner or later she was going to find out what it was, but not tonight.

“I’m trying to apologize, and it’s not an easy thing for me to do.”

Raven turned around. “There’s no reason to apologize. I thought I was only gone for a few hours, but obviously I was gone for days. You were worried.”

“Yeah, I’m worried, more so now.”

“Why?” Raven turned back around and picked up a comb. She started combing at the end of her hair, trying to get the tangles out. Usually it wasn’t too bad if she used enough conditioner, but the sea water and the wind from the beach had done a real number to her hair. Even the tangles had tangles. It was going to take her forever to get them all out.

“You’re warrior-like race that came out of the ocean.”

Rave looked up in the mirror at her. “You said you didn’t know anything about them.”

“I don’t,
not personally that is.”

“And what does that mean?” Raven kept working on the tangles.

“There was a rumor.”

“A rumor?”
Raven rolled her eyes. “Great now we’re dealing with rumors. Just what I wanted to hear.”

“Well, you will want to hear this one.” Diane tossed her hair over her shoulder.

“I’m listening,” said Raven. She gave the comb a hard tug. It came free of her hair, but a clump of tangled hair came with it. “Not funny,” she muttered.

“It involves one of the first experiments the scientists conducted at the Atlantis outpost.” She paused. “The experiment had something to do with crossing the DNA of the humanoids of this planet with DNA our archeologists found of the original inhabitants of
Byssolar.”

Raven stopped and looked at Diane.
“Byss—what?”

“
Byssolar. It’s a planet in the Delmarth region. It’s basically a water world—a huge ball of water in space. But underneath the water are the ancient ruins of the original inhabitants, the Byssolarians. Several DNA samples were found and our scientists thought they could use it to create a hybrid Byssolarian to re-introduce into the planet.”

“So you were trying to recolonize the planet?”

“In a manner.”

“And what do you mean by that?” Raven sounded a little suspicious.

Diane closed her eyes for a minute. “The ruling family,” she said after she opened her eyes, “commissioned the hybrid project. The consensus was the hybrids would do the work needed on Byssolar to get it inhabitable for the ruling family and whoever else they sent to the world. The hybrids would then become the guard of the ruling family.”

Raven shook her head. “Sounds more like slavery to me. Would the hybrid
Byssolarians have any rights or say in what happened to them?”

Diane slowly shook her head. “That’s not what the ruling family wanted. And they got what they wanted.
Usually.”

“Usually?”

“Something happened this time. Something malfunctioned in the transport vessel taking the entire group of hybrid Byssolarians to the Byssolar. Shortly after it launched, it crashed in what is now called the Pacific Ocean. There were no survivors. At least that was what the official report said.”

Raven chewed on her bottom lip. “But there were survivors. They just didn’t let anyone know they had survived.”