Demigod of Prophecy

I knew when I woke up for school that morning that things weren’t going to go well for me. When I left the apartment I lived in with my mother in midtown Manhattan I swore I saw a girl whose hair was on fire. That’s not normal and it couldn’t have been a sign that things were gonna be sunshine and butterflies. Instead of doing what seemed like a good idea, which was skipping school, I went into the seventh circle of hell that was Anderson Prepatory Academy, which was the third school I was attending in my eighth grade year of school.

Walking into the school, the bad feeling didn’t get better, but started to get worse. I was late, so I knew Mr. Willis was going to be pissed off before I even hit first period. I had barely made it to my locker when he came into the hallway from his office.

“Selene Adams, in my office, right now!”

“Damn it,” I muttered under my breath, “be right there, sir.”

I shoved my backpack in my locker and locked it. I refused to take off my leather jacket even though I knew it would piss him off because it wasn’t part of the school uniform. Taking my time, I made my way down to the principal’s office. To me there was no point in rushing, the man thought I was the anti-Christ anyway. The only reason he tolerated me was because my mom made good money and could afford the stupidly expensive tuition the school charged.
He was waiting for me at the door and glared at my jacket as I walked in. When I looked into his office I saw that we weren’t alone. Standing in the middle of his office was a group of three girls. As soon as I saw them, my instincts said to get the hell out of there. Unfortunately, before I could, Mr. Willis closed the door behind us.

“Ms. Adams, late as always, I see. This is becoming a real problem. We will need to have another meeting with your poor mother. Are you sure your father didn’t meet you before he decided to leave her? I don’t understand why anyone would ever leave someone as caring as your mother.”

“Shut your damn mouth about my father! He was gone before I was born! I never met him!”
“Well maybe there is a reason he never came back. Perhaps your mother told him what a disappointment you are.”

“One of these days, someone is gonna shut that mouth of yours.”

“Well, that’s not gonna be you,” he said before he acknowledged the three girls in the room. “These are the Stygian sisters. They will be starting here next week and their father has left them here today so they can get a tour of the school. Since you owe community service, several detention hours, and were late again this morning, you will bring them around the school. They are going to be your shadows today. Make sure they see what a wonderful school environment this is.”

“Yeah, it’s so great, with a moron like you in charge.”

“MS. ADAMS! I think it would do you well to keep your comments to yourself and take these three on their tour. Start in the library. You will be excused from homeroom.”

“Whatever.”

We walked out of the office and I slammed the door behind us.

“Stupid, moronic, son of a bitch!”

“Is that any way to speak about your elders?” asked one of the triplets.

“He’s not my elder. He’s a nuisance I have to deal with on a daily basis.”

“But he is still the authority in the school isn’t he?” asked one of the other girls.

“I guess. Some people might tell you it’s me. I spend more time in the office than he does.”

“You get into trouble a lot?” asked the third sister.

“I guess you could say that. I’d call them misunderstandings. People don’t understand the way I think and it tends to end badly for them. Or teachers kick me out because I’m not doing too well in class.”

“Do you pay attention?” asked the first sister.

“You know what? Let’s just get this over with. No offense, but I don’t want to have to do this, but the sooner we get going, the sooner it can be done. The library is in the west wing of the school.”

We walked the rest of the way to the library in an uncomfortable silence. There was something about the Stygian sisters. I could almost put my finger on it. It was almost obvious, but my mind couldn’t focus on it. I stayed lost in thought trying to figure it out as we walked into the library, so much so that I didn’t notice the school librarian wasn’t there or that the girls locked the doors behind us.

“As you can see, this is the library,” I started, turning around and realizing that they locked us in. “What are you doing? Unlock those doors.”

“No, hero, we have been sent to find you,” said the sister in the middle, who was obviously the leader.

The three girls were losing their shape. They seemed to be sprouting leathery wings and talons instead of nails. Their teeth grew into fangs.

“What the hell are you talking about?! I’m no hero!”

“Our master has sent us to bring you to him before they find you,” she continued.

They started moving towards me and I started moving back.

“You shouldn’t exist. The Three made a vow. You are proof his brothers have broken the vow again,” she said.

Her sisters weren’t talking. It was creepy.

“Who the hell do you work for? Who are you? I don’t know what the hell you’re talking about!”

“You will come appear before Hades for judgment.”

“Hades? The god in the myth? You guys really need to stop messing with the drugs you’re on. I’m not going anywhere with you.”

“Ah, but you have no choice, hero.”

They launched themselves at me to attack, but I wasn’t going down without a fight. I threw my hands up and tried to block them from clawing my eyes out. When they got right on top of me, something happened that I hadn’t expected, fire exploded from my hands.

The two who hadn’t spoken since we got to the library turned to ash. The leader screamed in rage. That’s when I realized who they were. These three girls were the three furies, sent by Hades himself. They were telling the truth.

“NO! They don’t have control of fire! How can you do this?!”

I was too shocked to say anything. She came at me again and I tried to use the fire again. It came to me, but I couldn’t control it. The fire hit one of the stacks of books which went up like it had been doused with gasoline. The fury flew out of the window. I went to the door, but I couldn’t unlock it. It wouldn’t budge. No matter how much I threw myself at the door it wouldn’t budge. I tried throwing the librarian’s chair at the door. It didn’t help. The fire was spreading. I was panicking.

After what felt like an eternity, when the library was almost entirely engulfed in flames, someone broke into the library. There were several FDNY firefighters and they had broken the door down with an axe. By this point I had curled up on the floor by the check-out desk, trying to keep from inhaling too much smoke.

One of the firefighters picked me up and carried me out of the school, where I was put into an ambulance under the supervision of an NYPD officer. They put an oxygen mask on me and strapped me to a stretcher and took me to the hospital. While I was there, the cop had to stay with me even after my mom showed up.

I was questioned for over an hour once the doctor told the cops I could talk. When the cops were done with me, the fire marshal came to ask me the same questions. Finally, after I had answered everyone’s questions, lying through my teeth to stay out of the psych ward, Mr. Willis showed up to talk to my mother.

“Ms. Adams, I know this is a scary time for you, but I need to speak with you,” he said.

“Of course, Principal Willis. Please, come in. We’re going to be here for a little longer at least. They want to run some more tests on her to make sure there is no lingering smoke inhalation problems.”

He walked in and sat down next to my mother who was next to the bed I was in.

“Ms. Adams, what have you been told about today’s events?”

“There was a fire in the library, Selene was trapped inside and the three girls she was with are missing and seem to have left her there to burn, escaping out the windows.”

“Well, that is one version. But did you know that your daughter was late to school again this morning? Or that she was disrespecting me not more than ten minutes before the fire broke out? I don’t know if we can prove it, but I think that she was the one who set the fire in the library and just got trapped.”

“Principal Willis, Selene is many things, but an arsonist is not one of them. I was unaware of her lateness this morning. I apologize for that, but I cannot sit here and let you say that my daughter is an arsonist.”

I knew better than to say anything. If I lied to my mother, she’d know. Even if I told the truth, Mr. Willis would try to paint me as some kind of liar anyway. I stayed quiet. I just lay there with the oxygen mask on my face.

“I’m sorry, Ms. Adams, but the decision has already been made. Your daughter will not be allowed back on school grounds. The police emptied her locker searching for any evidence that might prove she set the fire. You can get her belongings from them before you leave the hospital. I wish you luck, but your daughter is a danger to herself and others. Perhaps you should consider a reform or military school. Her problems are more extensive than we thought.”

Notes