The Blood of Athens

by Amy Leigh Strickland

“Thank you,” Celene said. She tried to enter, but the bouncer stepped in her way. “We are full.”

  “My daughter is in this club,” Celene said.

  “She is grown up. She take care of her self.”

  “She is not a grown up,” Celene hissed. “She’s fifteen.”

  Nick put his hand on Celene's shoulder. “Come on. I have a better idea.”

  Nick took her wrist and pulled Celene down the street. “No offense, Dr. D, because you're a total MILF, but they wouldn't let us in because I'm just barely eighteen and you're not twenty-five anymore.”

  Celene wasn't sure if she should be offended or flattered. She knew what MILF stood for, after all, and it wasn't very polite.

  “So how do we get in?”

  Nick shrugged. “I dunno. I just didn’t want you to stand in line arguing. That’s embarrassing.”

  Celene shook her head. “Well how did they get in if they’re not eighteen?”

  “They’ve got hot girls with them. Duh. That’s how night clubs work. They’ll take an Evan if it gets them Penny and Minnie.”

  Celene scowled. “Alright. So we wait?”

  “Or,” Nick said, looking around at the line outside the club, “I could try to get in with one of those lovely ladies over there.”

  “We wait,” she said, ignoring Nick’s suggestion. “They have to come out some time. And when they do, I’ll rip them a new one.”

  Lewis and Minnie pushed their way through the crowd until they had made it to the table that the rest of The Pantheon had claimed. Teddy was gesturing wildly as he told a story to Astin, Penny, and Evan.

  Lewis clamped his hand over Teddy's shoulder.

  “Do you have my hundred Euros?” Teddy asked.

  “Plus some. We'll talk about that later. Just saw cops talking to the manager at the back. They want to close-off this joint. Time to go.”

  They hurried to stand up. Nobody wanted to be delayed in getting back to the hotel before they were missed.

  “Where's Peter?” Penny asked.

  “Taking a leak,” Teddy said.

  “Someone should get him.”

  “No problem,” Lewis said. He turned his head towards the bathroom and narrowed his eyes. His lips moved as he whispered. “Got it,” he finally said. “Unless he wasn't in the bathroom, but the cops were out at that end of the club, so I'm not risking my ass to drag him out of the bathroom.”

  Peter had spent the evening alone. He had only come along on their late-night excursion to be close to Penny, but she had spent the evening talking about music with Astin and Evan, and Peter had spent it sitting in a corner booth, invisible. At first he had let himself slip out of sight to see if anyone would notice. They hadn’t. He had spent the last hour people-watching, and only had risen to use the bathroom when a couple had invaded his booth to make out.

  Peter scanned over the graffiti on the door of the bathroom stall. What could he have done differently? He thought he looked good, or as good as he could look when all of his clothing came from Goodwill. His clothes fit, and wasn’t black flattering on everyone? Maybe he should have flirted with other girls or sat near her and laughed at her jokes. That kind of jovial facade was just not Peter.

  Peter left the bathroom stall and crossed to the sink. He turned the water on, finding that it went from freezing cold to scalding hot, and never rested anywhere in between. After a rushed hand-washing job, he pressed on the large button for the hand drier. He spotted something odd in the mirror.

  The stall directly behind him was cracked open, but there were feet showing beneath the door. Peter turned and knocked. “Dude, your door is open.”

  No response.

  “You alright?” he asked. He was a bit worried that, if he opened the door, he'd find someone passed out with their drawers down. He asked again, then gently pressed on the door, giving the occupant plenty of notice to push it closed.

  The door swung open. The man sitting on the toilet was wearing clothes stained black with blood. His eyes were wide, one red with the blood of a burst capillary. He appeared to have multiple stab wounds, as well as bruising around his throat. Peter staggered back as the first drops of blood wicked through the corpse's trousers and dripped onto the tile floor. The man's mouth hung open, his tongue hanging out. Resting there was a single gold coin.

  “Not again,” Peter mumbled.

  “It's in here,” someone said, obviously American, through the door. “I just went to take a piss and there was a dead guy. You gotta call the police.”

  Peter ducked into another stall. He couldn't be caught with a body in the bathroom. He'd already been associated with enough suspicious deaths to last him a lifetime. Like turning off a television, Peter's image disappeared. He waited by the bathroom door, and when the manager opened it to come look, Peter slipped out behind him.

  The other members of The Pantheon made their way to the front door and waited across the street. It was getting so late that it was early again, and the group knew they would be dragging on their tour tomorrow. “Where is he?” Teddy asked, tapping his foot impatiently.

  “Right here,” Peter said. Teddy jumped.

  “Shit, don't sneak up on us like that,” Teddy said, glaring at a seemingly-empty space beside him.

  “Guys,” Peter said, still invisible. “We need to talk.”

  “We sure do,” Nick said. The group turned to see Nick and Dr. Davis walking up the street.

  “Benedict Arnold,” Lewis murmured.

  “We were just about to come looking for you. You seven are in deep--” Celene started.

  Peter interrupted her. “No offense, but we've got worse things to worry about.”

  “Peter?” Celene asked, staring at the empty space between Penny and Teddy.

  “I'm this way because I had to sneak out of the bathroom,” he said. “Before the police came.”

  Celene rolled her eyes. “What did you do?”

  “Nothing,” Peter said. He lowered his voice so that he was just barely audible over the sounds of late-night traffic on the busy street. “I mean, someone else did something. There was a body,” he said. “There was a dead guy in the bathroom. All jacked-up.”

  “Cool,” Nick said. “Murder in Athens.”

  “Wait, there's been a serial killer in the news,” Minnie said.

  “Yeah,” Peter said, “Remember that article we read on the plane? The police said he liked to kill in public places--”

  “But they never released an M.O.” Minnie said.

  “Right, well... it might be a total coincidence, but I'd say this guy knows his Greek history.” They all waited for him to go on. “The killer left a coin in the guy's mouth.”

  “Coincidence or not,” Celene said, “I don't want you seven seen at the scene of another murder. Let's get back to the hotel. I'll let Jason scream at you when we get home.”

  “A mad bull is not to be tied up with a pack thread.”

  -Greek Proverb

  xii.

  The infants were twins, but only half-brothers.

  One was the true son of their mother's husband

  and the other belonged to the mighty Zeus.

  The boys shared a crib.

  Jealous Hera plotted to kill the bastard

  and sent a pair of most poisonous serpents

  to visit the infants in their crib at night.

  Herakles woke up.

  When their mother sensed trouble under her roof

  she ran in the room to find one child sleeping

  while the other child waved two strangled serpents

  and gleefully laughed.

  “Act when you know.”

  -Delphic Maxim

  XII.

  “We’ll be in town for Haley’s birthday,” Elizabeth Livingstone said as she hugged her nephew. Paul Livingstone loaded their suitcases into the trunk of his Lexus while his sister fussed over Jason. “You’re getting grey. Pretty soon we won’t be able to tell you and your father apart.”

>   Jason ran his fingers through the sides if his hair. “Yes, well, working with teenagers, you age quickly.”

  They said their goodbyes and pulled out of the driveway. Jason went inside and sat down with a fresh mug of coffee. The kids were in the living room, coloring pictures from My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic and eating toaster waffles.

  Jason perched his mug on the ceramic coaster next to his computer and opened his email. There was an incredibly cryptic message from Celene waiting for him.

  Jason,

  Everyone is safe.

  Celene

  He chewed on the edge of his tongue as he mulled that one over. Surely Celene wouldn't send an email about just that topic unless it had some relevance in their lives. Everyone is safe? Was there some reason they shouldn't be?

  He was just reaching for his mug of coffee when his phone vibrated in his pocket. Jason jumped out of his chair to retrieve it, hoping that it was Zach finally getting in touch with him. It was Frank.

  “Frank,” he said when he answered the phone. “Everything alright with the baby?”

  Devon's voice spoke over her boyfriend's phone. “You need to come see this. Really.”

  Jason frowned. “Alright. Uh... let me call the sitter. It might take me a while. Is this an emergency?”

  “Uh,” Devon hesitated.

  “You know what, don’t tell me over the phone,” Jason warned.

  “Okay,” Devon said. “You’ll see when you get here.”

  Jason pulled up outside the Guerrero home forty minutes later. The house was owned by Frank's aunt, but his aunt and his mother worked days, leaving Frank and Devon alone with their new baby. Devon had only been released from the hospital the morning before, and Xander had been given a clean bill of health. What could have changed in twenty-four hours?

  Frank came to the door when Jason knocked and cracked it only an inch to look outside. When he saw Jason, he rushed him inside with a very conspiratorial wave.

  “What's going on?” Jason asked. “Is it... horns or something?”

  Frank walked silently towards his bedroom; Jason followed.

  Until a few months ago, Frank's room had been sparse with a few posters, basic furniture, and the occasional dirty sock on the floor. Devon had taken over since moving in. The walls had been repainted a sea-foam green and, mounted on the wall, was Frank's football jersey from Olympia Heights Senior High. It was framed with a photo of their team, the Olympia Thunder, gathered around the state championship photo from December of this year. Devon had thrown out Frank's tattered comforter and replaced it with the red quilt from her old bedroom. Most noticeably, the once bare room was now filled with baby toys, baby clothes, and baby books. The cheerleading team had gone overboard hosting her baby shower.

  Jason crossed the room to Xander's crib. He looked down. Just Sunday morning, the infant had had thick, dark hair. Jason's own daughter, Haley, had come out of the womb with almost black hair, only to sprout blonde curls by her first birthday. But this had been three days, and what he saw now was not natural at all. Xander's hair, once thin, black, and straight, was now a thick mass of springy curls, as tight as fleece. That wasn't the extraordinary part, however. What Jason saw was impossible. The hair on that baby's head was the color of pure gold.

  Xander looked up, and Jason looked back into his green-blue eyes, the same color as Devon's. “That's not normal, right?” Devon asked.

  Jason shook his head. Xander smiled. “No,” he said. “That's not normal. Devon, pull the blinds. Frank... do you have an electric razor?”

  “You're going to shave his head?” Devon asked, alarm evident in her voice. “Is that really necessary?”

  Jason tore his eyes from the infant and nodded at Devon. “It is,” he said. He took a deep breath. “I've got something to tell you both. We have a new friend... Mr. Spade.”

  “It is of the nature of desire not to be satisfied, and most men live only for the gratification of it.”

  -Aristotle

  xiii.

  Zeus was not the only god known for his lust.

  The god of the sea had as many affairs.

  His desire was not confined to his marriage.

  This is one such tale:

  When Poseidon set his mind to seducing

  Demeter, the true goddess of the harvest,

  she did not reciprocate his interest,

  so she fled from him.

  The goddess took the form of a dappled mare,

  and so Poseidon turned into a stallion,

  and in like form he chased her across the earth

  and overtook her.

  Demeter bore an offspring from his conquest.

  As they had both taken the form of horses,

  their new child was a stallion, a hero's mount

  they named Areion.

  “Our sins are more easily remembered than our good deeds.”

  -Democritus

  XIII.

  The escapades of the night before hadn't done much to hinder the waking hours for The Pantheon. Their bodies still weren't used to the time difference between Florida and Athens anyway, and there was plenty of time to sleep on buses. They had spent the morning sleep-walking through the National Archaeological Museum, but a nap on the bus followed by the discovery of a foreign caffeinated drink in a bright red can had renewed their energy.

  The afternoon tour was to the Kerameikos cemetery. The enormous ancient cemetery featured low stone walls and crumbling columns that divided patches of green grass. They had walked through the museum shortly after lunch, looking at ancient pottery much like the pieces they had seen in the National Museum that morning. Red clay pots were painted with black bases and scenes of static figures enacting ancient myths. After a walk through the museum, they made their way out into the cemetery. To keep them on task, the art teacher had given them a scavenger hunt of statues to photograph.

  Peter and Penny had snapped the bull on her pink camera and the lion had been directly next to it. They traveled with a group of students being chaperoned by one of the history teachers. The group had stopped to listen to Mr. McCracken read a tour pamphlet about a relief of Athena when Peter saw something just beyond the palms behind them.

  “What’s that hole?” he asked, leaning to whisper to the closest ear.

  He had asked one of the soccer players, and the other boy looked around before saying, “What hole?”

  “Uh, you know, the gaping cave mouth right behind us.”

  The boy kept looking before turning back to listen to Mr. McCracken. “Stop messing around, Hadley.”

  “I’m no--”

  “Whatever. Loser.” He shoved Peter’s shoulder, but not hard enough to make him fall.

  Peter fell back in the crowd and drifted to the left until he was standing next to Penny. He nudged her with his elbow.

  “What?” she hissed, shooting him a glare. She was trying to listen.

  Peter tipped his head back over his shoulder. “Look.”

  Penny turned around and laid eyes on the mouth of the cave. She looked back at Peter.

  “Can you see it?” he whispered.

  “Of course.”

  “Blockhead over there can’t.”

  “What?”

  Peter smirked. “Let’s check it out.”

  The group was allowed to wander for a few minutes. They had reached the meet-up spot for the tour. “Don’t leave my sight,” Mr. McCracken said. “But you can take pictures and talk until the other groups catch up.

  Peter approached the hole. To the others, it was just a patch of green grass with a few slabs of stacked marble laying around. To Peter and Penny, however, the ground sloped downward and dipped under the marble, which framed a doorway to a black pit below. Peter looked down into the hole. There was a path that winded inside and vanished in the dark. “I wanna go in,” he said.

  Penny looked down the same hole and shook her head. Just looking down it made her feel claustrophobic. She wanted to get away, but
she was dying to know what was inside. “Not with everyone watching.”

  “It’s gotta be another portal, like the one at the Acropolis,” he said.

  “And it goes down? Three guesses where that leads to.”

  Celene’s group was reaching the end of the tour. She was surprised to find that Nick, the student who, last year, had been one of the worst-behaved students in her chemistry class, was helping to keep order and move things along. Her group stopped in front of the relief of Athena, and Minnie, who Celene had surrendered the pamphlet to, told her classmates about the carving.

  Celene’s eyes fell on Penny and Peter. They were standing at the entrance to a cave. Celene had seen that cave in her dreams. It was a hell-mouth. It was the entrance to Hades that Demeter returned to every spring to wait for her daughter. Celene abandoned her group and walked as quickly as she could across the grass.

  “Penny,” she hissed. “Penny. Get away from there.”

  Penny was staring down into the darkness and listening. She swore she could hear something below calling to her. Her mother’s voice broke her out of her focus and she whirled around.

  “Dr. Davis,” Peter said quietly. Some of the students were watching them. “They can’t see this, so take it easy.”

  Celene looked around at the students. Curious eyes waited for Celene to go on. She took a deep breath and wrapped her hand around Penny’s arm. “Come here, I want to show you this relief.”

  “I’ve already seen it, Mom.”

  Celene lowered her voice to a whisper, “I don’t want you near that pit.”

  Penny nodded. “Alright.”

  Peter watched Celene drag Penny away from the cave. He glanced back down into the darkness before shaking his head. He was never going to get a chance to explore with all of these eyes on him. He quietly said goodbye to the promise of answers and rejoined the tour group. It was nearly time for dinner anyway, and Peter was starving.