Alem's Book Corner: 06/09/15

Unlocking Olympus

Chapter Four: Adamaris

I just killed the engine of the car, parked at the reserved lot for tenants when my mobile phone rang. Taking it from my dashboard, I tapped it and placed it between my ear and shoulder so that my hands were free to gather my bag and keys.

“Did you see it?” Cadence’s voice crackled from the other line. Her question made me look up in the ominously clear, dark sky. The lightning and thunder had ended fifteen minutes ago, now the heavens were calm. The nagging need to know what happened in Olympus still burned in my gut.

I went out of the car, managing to keep the mobile pressed against my ears, “I saw it Caddie.”

“Do you know what it was? What happened up there and how did it look like?” She asked her voice eager to get information. I grinned; it was a typical Cadence thing to ask.

Bleeping the car door to lock, I went straight to my building, holding the phone properly against my ears. “I have no idea. I also want to know what exactly happened.”

I could imagine her rolling her brown, doll eyes. “Of course, what do you know?”

Her sarcasm made me chortle as I pressed the button for third floor in the elevator pad. The door closed. “What I know is that Jubilant Street is now safe from harpies.”

“That’s great, Adam. Are you hurt anywhere?” She asked, turning motherly in split second. I mentally assessed my physical condition.

“A couple of wounds in my shoulders, a bad lump on my parietal and that’s it.” I told her, reciting the wounds I got from my fight.

“Are you going to need stitches?” She asked as a follow up question. I met her in my college; she knew what I was in one glance. See, that’s her gift: her eyes. Her eyes could see everything and through anything. Not like laser eyes, that would be too cool. I think she is some kind of a psychic. She told me that she has witch ancestry and that her bloodline was blessed by the Goddess Hecate, the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghost, necromancy and all that crazy Halloween stuff you can think about.

Cadence is not a doctor or affiliated in any medical sciences. She is just plain genius and in my line of work (not that it gets paid or anything), I had been in the hospital too many times I stopped counting so she became an asset. She practiced some old school stuff in healing, she used magic like she used the potty (my analogy skills is also a gift, suck it). It was as easy as breathing.

“Nah, I can manage. Can you figure out what happened earlier, see if you can gather information about the current state of Olympus?” I stepped out of the elevator and traced the steps to my unit. I fished the key out from my pocket and unlocked my door.

I wouldn’t admit to any soul that I jumped from surprise when I entered my apartment and saw her, sitting on my jelly bean couch. Her curly, dark auburn hair was in a bun at the top of her head as she turned to grin at my direction.

I forgot to mention that Cadence is technically blind but because of her gift, she could function like any normal people. She could see our energy, even things at rest, as per Cadence has a unique energy and aura so she knew if something was on the way. What she couldn’t see was what normal people could see (how objects look like, how I look like, how trees look like and all that stuff). That sucked. But it never bothered her and that was something really admirable.

“What the heck are you doing in my flat?” I asked, closing the door behind me and threw my bag on the other couch across her. Her head followed my bag and it came back to me.

“You’re home!” She observed.

Shaking my head, I went to the kitchen and straight to the refrigerator to get a bottle of Corona. I could hear her from the kitchen, “I am just about to go,”

“Stay for dinner!” I called out after I popped the cap from the bottle and took a swig. I took another bottle and opened it.

“Are you cooking?” She inquired.

“Yes. We are going to phone that pizza place at the corner of the street.” Her laughter drifted from the other room. I went back to the living room and flopped beside her, “What brought you here?”

“I am here to discuss to you my theory about what happened earlier.” She said, asking for the other bottle in my hand. I gave it to her and she quickly took a long pull from the bottle. “Ah, I was thirsty.”

“You could have taken one out from the refrigerator.”

“And have you clacking on my ass because I am taking stuff from your house without permission?”

I looked at her in incredulity, “You were in my house without my permission, that’s breaking and entering. That’s illegal. And then you’re worried I’ll…be clacking because of a bottle of beer?”

Cadence gave me a wide grin, her honey colored eyes was twinkling from mischief, and she said “You have quite an unpredictable logic.”

“Coming from you huh, that’s something.”

“Anyway, I think some kind of civil war is happening up there.”

“That’s not new at all, how many civil wars had happened up there over the millennia? Those sons of bitches have nothing better to do in their miserable immortal lives so they create wars. But what happened earlier never happened before. It wasn’t Zeus.” I said, my eyebrows frowning as I thought about it.

She hummed, “You are right, but when I meant civil war, it is the Gods versus something else.”

I looked at her inquiringly, “The titans?”

She shook her head, “Maybe,”

Sighing, I finished my beer before I spoke again, “They are full of shit.”

“You are one of them, Adam.” Cadence was looking in my direction, her eyes were soft.

“You are also full of shit.” I grouched, causing her to chuckle.

“I will also be ah… figuring out what happened.”

“Yeah, call those mojos you call your friends over the, what do you call that?” I questioned,

She snorted, “Parallel world,”

“Yeah, that.”

“Your wounds are closing neatly, that’s good. Next time you should be careful in your fights. Avoid being wounded. You heal quickly but that doesn’t mean you can’t die.” I averted my gaze and took a swig from my bottle only to remember I already finished it.

She sighed, “And I think something dropped down here in our city during that storm caused by Olympus.”

She got my attention again, “Something?”

“I could feel a different aura,” Cadence shrugged.

“I’ll drive around the city tomorrow.”

“You need me to come with?”

“Nah,” I brushed her volunteering off.

After class, I drove around the city to scout anything unusual. I wasn’t able to submit that damned essay because after Cadence and I talked last night, we spent the rest of it, watching Supernatural. It was ironic how she loved watching shows when she couldn’t even see it. She liked hearing it and imagine what was happening, she told me once.

I wasn’t lucky that day or even the next days because I wasn’t able to figure out whose aura Caddie told me about. It took me two weeks to discover what it was.

I was just passing by the Victorian Street when I felt it.

I couldn’t be mistaken that a God was around here.

I parked the car on the side street, scanning the empty streets. Aside from that brawny energy, some other creatures were around it. It was covering up its scent, like a disguise but I have always had the skill to identify human to non-human. It is a skill you develop over time.

I revved up the engine and looked for the source of those unusual energies until it brought me across a café, two blocks down from where I stopped earlier. I read ‘Lockheart café’ from the sign board and fought the urge to roll my eyes.

The snort was inevitable though, “Seriously? Could they think of a lamer name than Lockheart?”

I parked my car to a reserved area for customers and went out, locking the car behind me. I purposely strode towards the establishment and opened the glass door. I was knocked out by the stench of dryads upon entering and I immediately rearranged my face, staring at them blankly but cataloguing much of their unearthly beauty. One man was inside, having coffee and a plate of sweets. Dryads never play fair, but not all of them were twisted and crazy.

They weren’t kind either. Nothing which came from the loin of titans was kind or good. Not even me.

They greeted me but I paid no attention to what they said. I went straight to a vacant table and sat. Someone came to me, definitely a nymph. Her hair was a bright color of red and orange: autumn. I gritted my teeth and locked my jaw.

“One espresso,” I bit off.

The nymph, unaware of what I was smiled brightly. Your charm wouldn’t affect me, monster, I thought to myself. Just as the thought crossed my mind, I internally winced, a monster calling a monster, what a comedy show.

“Coming right up!” Her high pitched tone grounded in my nerves like a sand paper. I carefully maintained my neutral expression, watching the dryads with subtleness as they interact with each other. One of them owned that aura, I was sure of it.

But which among them?

Someone gave me the mug of coffee I ordered and I had to clench my jaw in order to stop the stream of curses from escaping my mouth. I looked up to see her. She was extremely gorgeous, like the dryads, it was unearthly. There was this elegance in her composure, just like of a goddess. My insides turned cold as my eyes followed her form as she went back at the counter.

“Damn,” I hissed.