Goddess of War

by Waverly Scott

  I followed her like a lost puppy; staring up at the large temple as we went. Drawings etched in the stone at the top appeared to wrap around the building. She walked into the temple and as I followed everything faded away. I ran after her, trying not to lose the woman, but it was useless. She vanished along with everything else.

  When my eyes fluttered open I saw a soft light stream in through the window in front of my desk. My body felt like it had been run over by a bus. I sat up and held my head for a few minutes before realizing I had no idea what time it was. I opened my bedroom door just enough to listen for my parents. I took a few tentative steps out and paused near the stairs listening. I heard the muffled voices of my mom and dad, with some clinking of pans. I didn’t know if I should expect breakfast or dinner.

  I got back into my room as my alarm clock started to buzz.

  Morning.

  My homework sat on the desk still untouched. The assigned chapters for English weren’t read, and I was exhausted. I turned off the alarm and went back to the bathroom. It was time to get ready for class. I was screwed. I really couldn’t afford any more incompletes. Even with the hour free time I had between classes I knew I would never get everything done.

  Shit.

  I stood in the shower letting the hot water run over my body. The heat felt so good on my sore muscles.

  “Cara!” I heard my mother’s warm voice call up to me.

  “What?”

  “Breakfast is ready, sweetheart,” she said.

  “Mm hmm,” I climbed out of the shower and wrapped a warm, fuzzy towel around my body.

  I rubbed at my eyes, still trying to clear my vision. All I could think about was that temple. The building was burned into my brain. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t forget it. I slid into a pair of jeans and a sweater. I didn’t feel like messing with my hair, so I let the natural curliness over take my head. As I sat at the table, Dad had his newspaper and Mom put the plates on the table while I poked at my eggs and nibbled at my toast.

  “Honey, what’s wrong?” mom asked, sipping at her coffee.

  “Bad dream,” I mumbled.

  “Are you alright?” Dad put his paper down and examined my face.

  “I’m fine. It was just a bad dream.”

  “Okay.” He picked the paper back up and got lost in it again.

  A honking horn disturbed the quiet breakfast. I grabbed my bag, and ran for the door.

  “I’ll see you after class,” I called out to them.

  “Do well,” Dad called out absently.

  “Always,” I hollered back.

  I stood on the porch for a long moment staring at my friend's idling car. There was no way I was telling her about what was happening. There was no way she would believe me or that she would be able to keep it a secret. The queen of blabber.

  Chapter Three

  I slid into the passenger seat of Brandy’s car and held onto my bag. I stared out the window and said nothing.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked.

  “Nothing,” I mumbled.

  “Liar. You’re not talking. What’s wrong?”

  “I didn’t sleep well,” I semi lied.

  “Uh huh,” she said, shaking her head. “Coffee?”

  “That’d be awesome.”

  “Alright.”

  I sat back in the heated leather seat and closed my eyes. The woman’s lifeless face flashed in front of me. Her dead gaze stared at me. The man’s maniacal laughter rang in my ears. I don’t know how long I was out of it because the next thing I knew Brandy was putting her car in park.

  “Let’s go.”

  “This isn’t Starbucks,” I said, peering out the window.

  “There are other coffee shops ya know.” She smiled.

  “What is this place?”

  “I discovered it a few days ago. Their caramel mocha latte is amazing.”

  “I hope it’s amazing enough to be late.”

  “Oh it is,” she smiled, grabbing her purse and shutting off the car.

  *******

  “That was really cutting it close,” I mumbled to Brandy as we did a speed walk down the stone corridor of the Cathedral of Learning.

  “Yeah, but their coffee is so worth it,” she said, before taking a long sip of her latte.

  I nodded sipping at the delicious elixir in my cup.

  Brandy pushed the heavy wooden door open to our class. Thankfully the professor wasn’t there yet. I sat at my desk while we waited for him to show up, zoning out to my own little world. The temple and that woman invaded my thoughts. My sketchbook sat on my desk so I opened it and started to draw the temple. Being so distracted made it hard to keep my little visions a secret. The last thing I needed was for anyone to think I was insane.

  “Cara?”

  “Huh?” I covered the picture with my arm and looked into Brandy’s inquisitive face.

  “What’s wrong with you?” she asked, furrowing her brows at me.

  “Nothing, Brandy. I’m just a little distracted today,” I mumbled, trying to be sly about shutting the sketch book.

  “I know when you’re being a liar, Cara.” She laughed.

  “I’m not lying.” I smiled at her.

  Her emerald green eyes sparkled and her silky blonde locks fell down in front of her face. She was such a beautiful girl. A twinge of jealousy struck me as I patted at my own curly, brown hair.

  “You’ve been acting weird,” she grumbled.

  “I’m not acting weird.”

  “Yes you are.”

  “Fine,” I snapped.

  “See.” She turned, and slunk into her chair. It was obvious our conversation ended.

  I sighed, and let my head fall to the desk. I was ready for the day to be over and it hadn’t even started yet. I sat at the back of the class and stared out the window slowly sipping at my coffee. The small wooded area near the school seemed more eerie than usual. At first, I thought I hallucinated, but the figure never moved even after I blinked and rubbed my eyes. It looked like a really tall man stood in the tree line. He wore all black and a hat. I thought maybe my imagination got the best of me, but it felt like his eyes were stuck on me. I tried to ignore him, I tried focusing on the black death and plague that ran rampant in England, but my gaze was stuck. Just as mysteriously as he appeared, he was gone. I didn’t know what to make of the weird guy.

  It had to be my imagination getting the best of me.

  The dinging gong from the grandfather clock in the center of the Cathedral interrupted my thoughts and I was so thankful. I shoved my books into my messenger bag and vacated the room.

  “Cara? Where are you going?”

  “I’ll catch up to you later, Brandy. I have something to do!” I waved to my friend. I felt bad for ditching her, but I needed to be alone. I couldn’t risk being around her when it happened again.

  Visions and strange men in black wasn’t how I wanted to spend the remainder of my first year in law school. I exited the gothic tower into the crisp, cool day heading straight for the library. If there was one place I could find a place that could give me an answer.

  “Cara! Hey wait up,” a cheery voice called from behind me.

  I turned and saw Logan flashing me his amazing smile. He jogged down the path catching up to me. His shirt stretched tight over his torso. He ran a hand through his sandy hair.

  “Hey,” I smiled at him, my cheeks flushing.

  “Nice hair,” he laughed.

  My smile faded and my hand shot up to my hair. “Oh, yeah well, I didn’t have time to do my hair this morning.”

  “It looks good on you,” he smiled.

  I giggled.

  “So, where are you going?”

  “The library before heading to Nineteenth century British literature,” I said, still blushing.

  “Sounds enthralling,” he laughed.

  “It’s not so bad,” I said quietly, biting my lip.

  We walked shoulder to shoulder, not saying a
word. My stomach did somersaults and I wanted to giggle like a little school girl when he was near.

  “Do you care if I join you?” he asked, holding the door open.

  “Not at all.” I smiled, stepping into the welcomed warmth.

  “What are we working on today?”

  “Um, Greek mythology,” I said tentatively, looking around for a quiet corner.

  “Interesting.”

  “A side project of mine.”

  “All right. Well, let's get to it then.”

  Depositing our bags on a table, we scoured the racks for any book we could find on the Greek culture and myths. There were more than I thought there would be. I watched as the clock ticked by, skimming through the books finding absolutely nothing on visions and time travel.

  “Are you finding what you’re looking for?” he asked.

  “Nope.”

  “So what exactly are you searching for?”

  “I don’t even know.”

  “Just myths?”

  “Yeah. People turning into Gods.”

  “That’s rather fascinating.”

  “It’s an interest of mine. The old stories are pretty cool,” I mumbled, thumbing through an old, leather bound book I found in the ancient religion section.

  “I hate to cut our reading time short, but I have to get to class,” he said, standing and stretching.

  “Me too.” I slammed the dusty book shut and shoved it in my bag.

  “Find anything?” he asked.

  “Not a thing. I didn’t really expect to. It was a long shot.”

  Logan leaned in and awkwardly hugged me before running out the door. I could feel my heart speed up as I watched him head another building on campus.

  Oh God.

  The chiming of a clock somewhere in the building jolted me out of my daydream.

  Shit!

  Brandy stood near the door waiting for me. I could see her leather clad toe tapping furiously as she held up her wrist. She smacked at the watch wrapped around it. We were late.

  “You could have gone to class without me!” I shouted at her.

  “Oh please. Like I’m going into that awful class without you.”

  “It’s not awful. It’s a perfectly wonderful class,” I said.

  “Perhaps for you.” She rolled her eyes as we hurried down the stone corridor.

  I couldn’t tell if she was still mad or not. She knelt on her seat, trying to flirt with Deryk in front of her. She pulled the usual Brandy flirt; tossing her hair, running her fingers through it, giggling, and touching his arm. Nine times out of ten it worked for her. It had since ninth grade.

  I slid into my seat, waiting for class to start. I pulled out the book we were reading along with my sketch pad. While I tried paying attention a small headache started. It was a small twinge behind my eyes. It swallowed my head and turned into a full blown migraine.

  Oh no! Not now!

  The classroom around me became distorted. The stone walls swirled around, the people twisted and changed. Before I knew it I stood on the steps of the temple. I panicked. I had no idea what happened in the class. For all I knew Mr. Clarence Rhodes tried to call on me and my body would be sitting there doing nothing.

  “Hello? Can someone help me? I need to get out of this dream!” I shouted to nobody in particular.

  “What’s wrong?” The woman descended the stairs looking concerned.

  “I need to wake up from this dream. I’m in the middle of class and this cannot happen right now,” I explained as calmly as I could. Which wasn’t calm at all.

  “Why do you think this is a dream?”

  “Isn’t it? I was just sitting at a desk in the middle of Oakland. How can I be in Greece in the blink of an eye?”

  “Not everything has to be logical,” she said, cocking her head to the side and narrowing her eyes at me.

  “I don’t understand,” I cried, tears streaming down my cheeks.

  “Cara, life is not as simple as you think.”

  “No shit! I’m supposed to be in class. Why are these happening at the worst times?”

  She looked at me with such a disapproving glare, but waved her hand. She swirled and faded away. The entire world did. I blinked a few times and looked around the room. My heart pounded and I felt like I wanted to vomit. Clarence went on about the some big thing that happened in Britain and nobody seemed to notice my, well, whatever it was. A wave of relief rushed over me. It must have only been a few seconds, maybe minutes. I didn’t want to think about how it was possible. I didn’t care. So far, my little secret was safe and somehow that woman controlled them.

  Chapter Four

  With the temple still fresh in my mind, I started to draw. At least with a picture I might be able to find out where it was. If I figured out where it was at, maybe it would make more sense why I hallucinated about the place. I kept my head down and my book open as Mr. Rhodes droned on in the background. I managed to not get called on during the entire class, leaving me free to doodle the beautiful building. I was so engrossed in my artwork I didn’t notice when we got some free time at the end. Brandy must have forgiven me because she decided to distract me from my sketch pad.

  “What is that?” she asked, disappointment plastered on her face when she saw that the drawing showed up and not something to gossip about later.

  “I don’t know. It’s just a doodle,” I mumbled, trying to remember the feeling of the sun on my face, or the smoothness of the marble under my hands.

  “This looks like more than a doodle, Cara,” she said as she snatched the suspicious pad off my desk.

  “It’s nothing. Honest,” I said, trying to grab it out of her hands.

  “Why don’t I believe you? Come on I’m your best friend. You can tell me.”

  “Alright, just don’t tell anyone. Having you think I’m crazy is enough. I’ve been having these really weird visions or daydreams the past few weeks and it’s always about that place.” I pointed at the drawing in her hand.

  “What is it? Where is it?” she asked, turning her head this way and that while staring at my sketch.

  “I don’t know,” I replied exasperated. I could feel my cheeks flush as she narrowed her eyes at me, examining my expression and how I reacted to her every word. I knew how Brandy thought. I knew how she worked. I saw her do it to a million people over the years. This is what she thrives on. Humiliating others. Even me.

  “Well, let’s ask Clarence,” she said, waggling her eyebrows.

  “No. Don’t do that. It’s nothing, just a building from a daydream.”

  Too late, she held the paper behind her desk and walked lightly toward his desk. She slid the pad under his nose and smiled. Mr. Rhodes put his grading pen down and picked up my drawing. He glanced at her as she pushed her honey blonde hair behind her ear.

  “Who drew this?”

  “Cara,” she sang.

  “Miss Grey I didn’t know you were so artistic. Or that you’d ever been to the temple of Athena,” he said, looking at me from over his silver rimmed glasses.

  “I’m not, and I haven’t,” I said nervously, pushing my hair out of my eyes.

  “You drew a perfect replica of the temple of Athena Parthenos. You must have at least seen a picture of it.”

  I shook my head, keeping my dark gray eyes locked on my shoes.

  “How did you know what it looks like then?”

  “I don’t know,” I lied.

  “She has been having weird, dreamish visions about it.”

  “Visions? Interesting.”

  My heart sank. I knew he would send me to the therapist's office, or the nut ward.

  I waited, and instead of shipping me to the psych ward he handed me the paper, and opened one of his desk drawers. Riffling through a few books, he pulled out a hard backed one, The Parthenon: The Height of Greek Civilization. He found what he looked for after flipping through a few pages. There was the temple. Exactly like the one I had drawn. I was in awe. I was confused. I d
idn’t know what to think.

  “How is that possible? I’ve never seen this place before now.”

  “It is odd. Maybe you saw it once before and remembered recently.”

  “Maybe.” I bit my lip and stared at the temple. It was a real place. I couldn’t believe it.

  I closed the book and went to hand it to Clarence, but he just pushed it back into my hands.

  “Keep it. Read it. Learn something for a change. Maybe it will shed some light for you, and if not at least you’ll be learning some Greek history.” He smiled.

  “Thanks,” I mumbled as I returned to my seat.

  I sat at my desk and flipped through the book. A few pictures actually caught my eye. Glancing at the clock, I still had ten minutes left before the next period started, so I read. For a history book, it was not terrible. It caught my interest which did not happen often.

  ****

  “Cara, I couldn’t help but, uh, see all the books on Greece lying around your room. Is it a school project?” Dad asked one evening while we're eating dinner.

  “Oh, no, just some reading; figured it was time to study up on my heritage.” My obsession with all things Greek had grown exponentially over a few short weeks and my room was a shrine to the ancient culture. I had read nearly every book the library offered and ordered anything relevant I could find from local bookstores.

  “I see. A new found interest?” he asked as he cut his chicken.

  “Yeah. I just found a book I liked and kept reading,” I said as I poked at my potatoes.

  “Would you ever want to go there?” Mom asked, studying my face.

  “Yeah, that’d be awesome I guess. It’s so beautiful and at least half our family is from Greece.”

  “Indeed. Your mother grew up in Athens,” Dad said before shoving a forkful of meat in his mouth.

  “I remember her telling me that once.”

  “I’ve been meaning to go back. I do miss the country,” she said with a faraway look in her eyes.

  “You mean we’re going to Greece?”

  Chapter Five

  A warm May breeze blew in through my window bringing with it the smell of roses and lilac. My neighbor’s yard had turned into a magnificent floral array over the past month, and I had a front row seat. I enjoyed watching Mrs. Roberts putz around her babies. She took great pride in her flowers, shrubs, and trees. I enjoyed afternoons of lemonade while sitting in the soft, green, grass under the large Oak bordering our yards while my big bear of a dog played with her little Yorkie.