Ch. 3: What The Hell Is Going On?!

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     Cherrie got up, a difficult feat with her stomach so ballooned. "I ha'e something for ye."

     "Oh no. The clothes were more than enough," I sighed, but followed her anyway, bringing the bowl of popcorn with us.

     "Actually, if ye would believe it or no, this wasn' from me," She smirked at me, opening the door to the kitchen, rummaging through the cabinets, muttering to herself, wondering aloud where she'd placed it.

     "Oh?" I ate some popcorn as she led me and chuckled as Orion ran to keep up with us. "Then who? You are the only person who knows me here."

     "I don't know, but it was lef' on me doorstep t'is mornin' with a note tha' said 'for Olive'. I hadn't opened it yet." She pulled open a drawer in the kitchen, crying out 'found ya', and took out a small, brown box tied with a chocolate brown ribbon, handing it to me.

     Silently, I took the box, frowning. I glanced up at her, confused at the random gift, worried if I should open it or not. Giving into the curiosity that pebbled my stomach, I opened the lid to reveal a golden chain necklace with an oval shaped locket dangling on the end. Painted on the locket was a bow and arrow. I fingered the painting in silence before pulling the jewelry from the box. I held it in the air, examining it closer, getting a more detailed view of the brush strokes on the painting. Nervously, I clasped the necklace around my neck, wondering what it meant and why it had randomly appeared on Cherrie's doorstep.

     "Ye don' reco'nize it?" Cherrie asked me.

     I frowned. "No, I don't think I have ever seen this before." I pushed open the locket to see if there was a familiar photo inside, or something that could relate this locket to me, and felt something heavy resting on my back, making me jolt in surprise, heart pounding erratically against my chest in fear. My hands shook as I reached for the article on my shoulders and discovered that it was a quiver of golden arrows. Gasping, I took it off and held it in my hands, watching the way the golden color flickered against the fluorescent kitchen light. Attached to the quiver loaded with arrows was also an elegantly carved bow.

     "Impossible," I muttered.

     Cherrie stared in mild surprise at what I held in my hands.

      "What is going on?" I asked her. I closed the locket and the bow and arrows suddenly disappeared. Yet, when I  opened the locket once more, they reappeared again on my back. If I said I didn't play around with the vanishing weapons, I would be a liar.

     "Amazing," Cherrie muttered.

          "Do you know what is going on?"

     "Not entirely, no," Cherrie frowned. "But what I do know is tha-"

     Ding Dong the doorbell chimed.

     I frowned and glanced at the clock, it read 9:15 pm. "Are you expecting someone?" I asked Cherrie, thinking it was odd. It had never really dawned on me before that moment, but in the time that I'd spent with Cherrie she'd never had a single visitor over. 

     "No. Not at all," She frowned, but did not make a move to answer the door.

     "It's kinda late for unexpected visitors," I mentioned, nodding towards the front room. I noticed how it was becoming harder for Cherrie to get around, due to her pregnancy, so I offered to get the door. "I'll get it." I stood from my chair, forgetting the bow and arrows on my back because of the sudden wave of danger that had flooded through the house in a matter of seconds.

     "Oh, no!" Cherrie jumped up to stop me, "Yer okay, I'll get it." She plastered a smile onto her face.

     "Are you sure? 'Cause I can get it," I started to walk towards the kitchen doors, the feeling of a threat edging its way into the air.

The Daughter of Artemis ψ Percy JacksonWhere stories live. Discover now