Thanatos : The Red Dawn

(27)The Cherry-Sway

And the poor neighbour's cat, Rascal- I nearly gave him a heart attack after chasing him with a garden sheer when I mistook him for 'Mortem'.

I climbed into the car and quickly locked the doors.

Thanatos pulled at the passenger's door handle and sighed loud enough for me to hear. I rolled my eyes and started the engine- vacantly looking ahead.

"I called shotgun, angel. This is a crime against the sacred 'shotgun' gods..."

I tried to breathe in slowly to suppress my annoyance. "You have the mental capacity of a four year-old."

I didn't bother to wait for his retort as I reversed the car out of the driveway and out of the wide, double gates of our property. I had a feeling he was going to go mess up my room or something while I was away, but at this point, I really couldn't care less. The man was like a toddler- he needed constant attention and praise. I wasn't going to spend my last night in Caneyville entertaining the 'god of childish-antics'. I had a friendship to save.

I turned my flicker on to turn onto the highway. Sonya's house was a few minutes away and the highway was the fastest route. I looked right to see if it was clear, but as I turned my head to look left to do the same- a small yelp escaped my mouth.

"Hi." Thanatos' voice was a husky drawl of sarcasm.

I hit the brakes and clamped a hand over my mouth to stop me from giving another surprised shriek. My eyebrows furrowed up in confusion as I stared at him, my eyes the size of tennis balls.

How the hell did he do that?

"Magic..." The god of death said as he flicked on the radio with one swipe of his long, tanned finger. His hood was off and I had a clear view of his vibrantly, blood-coloured eyes and deeply dark hair.

The song Poison, by Alice cooper, blared through my car's speakers and I slowly removed my hand from my mouth, but my eyes stayed fixed on the mythical being beside me, who was now nodding his head in appreciation at the song.

A car horn woke me from my stupor.

"How rude, Aurora. People are trying to commute."

For a short moment I shot him a disbelieving look of 'why are you in my car', but decided to just get out of the way first before asking any questions.

I quickly raised my hand to show I was sorry and pulled away into the highway, making sure the path was clear.

Once we were on the long highway, I steadied our speed and turned into the least busy lane so I could give Thanatos another very incredulous look. He was already looking at me- or looking wasn't the right word. It felt almost like he was examining me? I froze in my seat.

"Why are you in my car?"

"How else am I going to make sure you don't get yourself into trouble?"

"You are trouble!"

He chuckled proudly as my hands flew up from the wheel, making the car swerve a little. "Careful now; we don't want you kicking the bucket before your big day."

"Ugh! You're unbelievable!"

"Thank you." Thanatos flicked through the radio channels, searching for something to listen to- or annoy me with, but I quickly slapped his hand away and turned the radio off.

"This is my car and you do not fiddle with my car! I'm dropping you off on the next corner."

Thanatos sighed dramatically and proceeded to play with my hair like a cat with string. "Fine. Guess I'll just head back to your house; maybe watch a movie with your parents, maybe go through your underwear drawer... Hmm... Or I could always burn down your house? That sounds like fun. Make a bonfire; roast some marshmallows."