American Gods: The Girl Of Lightning

Not a word

"Are you a god?" I looked at him, not breaking the intense gaze he was delivering. Wednesday ran a hand through his hair and frowned.
"All will be revealed soon." He said, trying to be reassuring. I crossed my arms and looked at him. "Tell me the truth or I'm not saying anything." He raised an eyebrow and another rumble of thunder came from outside.
"You seem awfully entitled to get me to say something." He said, standing up and getting a bottle of something from the fridge. I cleared my throat and retorted. "Aren't I? You pull me from my life and spill these lies about being my father? Then something happens to me and you act like it's my fault!? Yeah. I'm gonna he entitled to some fucking answers." He poured himself a glass of scotch and drank it down in one gulp. I continued. "Then, some man saves my fucking life and tells me that Gods are real-" he froze in place when I said that.
"Who?" He sat back down, bottle of scotch in hand. I glowered at him. "Who told you gods are real? What was his name?" His voice was brimming on furious. He poured another glass. The thunder outside got louder, adding to the intensity of the moment.
"Answer my question first." I stared at him, he stared back and brought the glass up to his mouth and drank.
"I can't answer it until you tell me exactly what the fuck happened to you." I rolled my eyes and grabbed my shower stuff. I brushed past him and headed towards the bathroom. "Get. Back. Here." He growled, not turning to face me.
"I'm gonna take a shower and thaw out. When I get out, I might be more willing to talk about things. But for now, fuck right off." I closed the door and locked it. Waiting a moment before moving, I listened as the thunder continued outside.
I stripped down and cranked the shower to hot. Examining my body under extreme scrutiny, I found the wounds to be healed up and the bruises almost gone. The hot water soothed my nerves, melting away the ice that manifested in my stomach. I shuddered and scrubbed myself, working the soap into my hair and scouring the grime away. Once I was clean, I stepped out and dried off, dressing in sweatpants and a shirt. I gathered up my shower stuff and went back into the room. Wednesday wasn't in there, but Shadow was. He was on a bed, watching TV.
"Wednesday will be back soon. He needed to go for a walk." I nodded and put my stuff back in the duffel bag. "Do you know where I'm sleeping?" I tidied up my bag and perched on the couch.
"Yer sleepin in the bed, Shadow is in the couch and I get the floor." Sweeney said, startling me. I hopped off the couch and apologized. I sat on the bed, wrapping one of my blankets around me. I refused to look at the TV screen, feeling a growing sense of panic when I did.
"Ya okay there lass?" Sweeney said, I looked over at him. He raised an eyebrow quizzically. "Yeah. I'm fine, just a rough night." Shadow shook his head. "You've been gone for more than a night. Almost 4 days." I looked up at him confused. "What do you mean? It was only one night?" Shadow shook his head again. "What happened to you?" I looked down at my lap and ran my hands through my hair. "I don't remember. Not everything at least." Shadow crossed the room and began getting settled on the couch, kicking Sweeney off. I gave him one of my pillows as he grumbled on the floor.
"Tell me what you remember." Shadow looked at me with an intense look. I felt my face get warm and I shook my head. "I want answers. Before I say anything." Shadow tocked an eyebrow and at that exact moment, the door swung open and Wednesday was there, shopping bags in hand. "I see everyone is all ready for bed." He mused, closing the door and taking off his wet coat. He sat the bags on the small table next to the mini fridge.
"I brought some medicine, in case you are feeling ill. And some food of course. We are straight on the road tomorrow and not stopping for a while." He tossed me a bottle of NyQuil and I clumsily caught it. He grabbed a change of clothes and went to the bathroom. Once the water started and he wasn't listening I turned back to Shadow. "I really pissed him off, didn't I?" Shadow nodded. Sweeney laughed from the floor. "He was fucking furious. Not at you, per say. But absolutely furious." I felt hot shame burn into my cheeks.
"You really don't remember anything?" Shadow asked, peering at me quizzically. I wrung my hands together and didn't look at him. "I think a god tried to kill me." I mumbled, staring at the blanket covering me. It was dead silent in the room for a moment. I looked up at Shadow. He was just staring at me. I looked over at Sweeney, he was sitting up and looked at Shadow. "See. This is why I didn't want to say anything! It could've been some kind of fever dream or something!" I felt my face go hot and I pulled the blanket over my head. I curled up into a little ball and ignored everyone else. I heard Shadow shuffle and then hushed whispers between him and Sweeney. I felt my eyes burn and tears began dripping down my cheeks, getting lost in the blanket. I closed my eyes and tried to ignore the feelings boiling inside my chest.
"Hey." A hand touched my shoulder and I flinched. "What." I muttered, shrinking away from the touch. It was Shadow, he pulled the blanket away from my head. His weight made the bed dip down and suddenly I was wrapped in his embrace. I stiffened, he pressed my head to his chest and began softly stroking my hair.

I just sobbed. The walls came crumbling down and I let myself cry while Shadow comforted me. He just kept stroking my hair and rocking me back and forth. I let all the feelings I had locked away for the past 17 years out. He pulled me into his lap and kept stroking my hair. For the first time in almost 18 years, I felt safe.