The Daughter of the Sky // Wattys 2016

Chapter 3

         Dreams suck.

        Yeah, yeah you might have some cutesy little fantasy that plays in your head about making out with Brad Pitt when you go to sleep, but that's not exactly the case for me.

     Ever since I was a little girl, I'd been having weird, vivid dreams; lately, I was having this recurring one about drowning in the middle of an Arctic body of water. It always started off the same. Usually, I was alone and floating on a huge jagged chunk of ice. Everything would seem serene and there was even a golden eagle that would occasionally swoop down from the turbulent sky above and look at me as if it were keeping an eye out for any signs of danger or just trying to protect me.

     Momentarily, my deep rooted fear of water would dissolve, and I'd almost forget where I was; but then out of nowhere a jet black stallion with enormous feathery wings would plummet out of the stormy grey clouds and barrel straight towards me with cold, murderous eyes.

     The only sound I could hear was the eagle screeching in agony. It could only watch helplessly as the horse with wings came after me.

     The waves below the ice keeping me afloat would begin to stir violently and then everything would go dark and cold.

     I was underwater now. The waves' temperature would fluctuate drastically between freezing to burning in a matter of seconds. One minute, my whole body would feel as though it was on fire. Every muscle in my body would scream, consumed in virtual flames. Then, without warning, the Arctic water would change. The water consuming me would feel like a thousand sharp and tiny razors were grazing my skin one by one. My mouth would open, fighting to scream against the thrashing waves engulfing my body, but it was no use.

     All that I could could hear was the distant sound of fighting above me. I couldn't distinguish the differences between the voices, but it was three different men bickering violently in an ancient language. 

Meanwhile, I was drowning and not one of them could hear me screaming. No one cared that I was completely alone. I looked down and began to see a crack forming at the bottom of the ocean. As it opened, I could see what appeared to be lava rising from the abyss; however, when I began to sink further and closer to the opening, I realized it wasn't lava at all. It was the burning bodies of everyone I loved. They were screaming in pain and reaching towards me with their scorching hands.

       Suddenly I felt another rush of water on my skin, but this time it was different. It wasn't brutal, crazy, or malicious at all. It came from a blue plastic sandcastle mold.

I gasped for air and violently sputtered water out of my mouth and nose. The sound of thunder rolled gently in the distance and mingled with the sound of gentle rain droplets colliding with the ocean; I knew exactly what was happening. It was a storm. California had been in a drought for nearly six months and a tropical storm formed out of nowhere. Talk about a weird day.

    "D-Danny? What happened?" I tried to strengthen my grip on reality as I regained consciousness.

Danny's eyes were wide in horror. The color of his skin had changed from a healthy tan glow to a clammy shade of beige. He looked at me as if I were a ghost and I had no idea why. All I remembered was lying out in the sun and it being blocked by...oh no.

All of a sudden the memory of Bull-Man came rushing back to me fast, like I'd been hit by some freak train going a hundred miles an hour.

     "Some...thing tried to kill me," I was struggling to find the right words to describe Bull-man.

"Orion, what exactly did the M-" Danny paused as if to stop himself from saying something he shouldn't. "What did he say to you? What did he want?"

    "He...he called me a thief. He said...some guy, H-Hades, would have my head," I stammered hoarsely.

    'Return what you have stolen you demigod thief'. The words spun around and around in my head like a never ending carousel.

    As soon as I said those words my best friend's eyes went wide with fear. "Not again. Oh Gods, this cannot be happening again."

   "Again? Danny what are you talking about?" I  felt frustrated not being able to make out what he was saying. None of this made any sense.

   "Come on," Danny extended a hand out to me warily, ignoring all of my questions.

   "What's going on?" I looked to him for some sort of explanation - surely someone had messed up my ADHD meds, or I took the wrong vitamins, or maybe I was on one of those hidden TV shows where they prank people.

   "I'll explain everything when I can, we just need to get your parents and leave. Now. We're not safe here." He used a tone I had never heard him use before and it struck fear into the very core of my soul.

   "Leave? Where are we going?"

   "New York."

   New York?!

   "W-why? I don't want to go to New York." I yanked my hand free of Danny's grip to look him in the eyes. They were full of honest fear and panic. This had to be serious. It wasn't some sick cosmic joke.

   "They've found you and once they've found you, you're not safe anymore."