Poseidon (The God Chronicles)

by Solomon, Kamery

  I became vaguely aware that I’d undone the buttons on his shirt, each side hanging down around me as he lifted himself to look at me again.

  “I . . .” He stopped for a minute, uncertainty present in his eyes. “I love you, Audrey.”

  He lay back down, our bare skin gripping to each other as he softly kissed me. I could feel the nervousness in it, his hands shaking as they rose and wound into my hair.

  “I mean it,” he affirmed, suddenly pulling back again. “I’ve never felt like this before—even when I thought I was in love. How do you do this to me?”

  “Do what?” I breathed, knowing he was telling the truth. He’d more or less said the same thing before, but not as clearly.

  “How do you make me forget everything important? What is it about you that makes me what to drop everything and run to your side?”

  “Who knows?” I said, smiling.

  “Tell me you love me, Audrey,” he said, laying back down on top of me and nestling his face into my hair.

  Out of the corner of my eye I caught a glimpse of my wedding day John, his eyes as bright as the sun.

  “I can’t,” I said softly.

  “Then I’ll wait.”

  “Audrey, I’m so sorry,” Amy sobbed. “I don’t know what got into him.”

  She sat her purse down on the counter of the faculty restroom, pulling several tissues out as she did so.

  My delightful day with Sy had come to an end after we spent the day on the couch, watching old movies and eating popcorn. He’d gone home late that night, to my secret disappointment. I’d hoped he would ask to stay over again, but was also relieved I wouldn’t have to try and control myself any more. Every time we were together it seemed like we pushed the boundaries further and further.

  “He was so angry about everything. Even after you left he just kept yelling. I’ve never seen him that way.” Amy blew her nose loudly and used another tissue to pat her eyes.

  “It’s not your fault,” I assured softly, wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

  “But it is!” she cried. “When I first brought it up, he didn’t want to do it. I talked him into it and I shouldn’t have. Please don’t hate us, Audrey!”

  “I would never hate you,” I laughed. “You’re one of my best friends. Now calm down before you hurt that baby,” I ordered sternly, but with a smile.

  “Does Sy hate us?” she asked tearfully.

  “Of course not,” I said, handing her another wipe. “He understands. I think he might have been expecting it to be honest.”

  “How terrible,” she moaned. “I hope he didn’t. I would hate to go out knowing I was probably going to be yelled at.”

  “He’s strong,” I assured her. “He’s not upset. Matthew needs more time, that’s all.”

  “I hope so.” She cried harder still, alarming a teacher who happened to walk in right at that moment.

  “Pregnancy stuff,” I claimed nonchalantly. She gave me a knowing nod and walked right back out into the hall.

  “I’m so relieved you don’t hate me,” Amy finally said, getting herself under control.

  “You shouldn’t have even worried that I did,” I said, hugging her again.

  “And on top of it all,” she said, new tears spilling over. “Our basement flooded this morning, out of nowhere. Apparently, there was a flash flood just around our house. All of our neighbors are fine.”

  “Oh no!” I said sadly. “You don’t have flood insurance either, do you?”

  “No,” she hiccupped. “We didn’t think it was important since we don’t live by a normal flood area. It’s so weird. There hasn’t been any rain or anything for months. Where did it come from?”

  “I have no idea,” I said, handing her another tissue.

  “Thankfully, we didn’t lose too much,” she said, wiping her face as she looked in the mirror. “Everything for the baby was upstairs.”

  “That’s good,” I agreed.

  We walked back to the front office together, talking about her latest doctor’s visit and how everything was coming along. I would never admit it to her, but baby talk was one of the hardest things for me to handle. All I could think of was how I was supposed to go through everything she was experiencing. I was happy for her though, and enjoyed hearing her joy over the matter. I would be a mother someday, I was sure of it.

  “Anyway,” she continued as we sat down. “In a couple of weeks we get to have another ultrasound and hopefully find out what the sex of the baby is! Isn’t that so exciting?”

  “It is,” I nodded in agreement. “Do you have any names picked out yet?”

  “Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that,” she said, scooting forward. “Matthew and I talked about it a few months ago and I’m sure he would still like to do it.” She paused for a moment, hopeful anticipation on her face. “We were wondering—if it was okay with you—if the baby. . . Well, what I’m trying to say is, if the baby’s a boy we would like to name him John.”

  “I think that would be wonderful,” I exclaimed. “Of course, that’s okay with me. What a wonderful thing for the two of you.”

  “Matthew and John were such good friends,” she said with a smile. “I couldn’t think of anything better than that. I’m so happy you’re okay with it!”

  “It’s perfect,” I agreed. “Do you have any girl names picked out?”

  “I don’t,” she laughed. “I really feel like it’s a boy, you know? And all those old midwife tricks say it’s a boy.”

  “How scientific,” I laughed. “I guess we’ll know for sure in a few weeks.”

  “I know!” she agreed excitedly.

  I smiled to myself as we both returned to our work. It was nice to know that even after he was gone, those who loved him were still honoring John.

  My cell phone buzzed in the drawer as I finished typing something and I answered it as soon as I saw who it was.

  “Hello?”

  “Yes, this is Doctor Young’s office calling to confirm your appointment for this afternoon.”

  “Oh,” I said confused. “I didn’t think I scheduled an appointment until next month.”

  “I apologize. You were supposed to receive a phone call reminder yesterday, but we fell behind. Would you like me to cancel then, miss?”

  “No, no,” I rushed. “I must have just forgotten. What time is it at?”

  “Four thirty.”

  “Okay, I’ll be there.”

  “I’ll let her know.”

  “Thank you very much,” I said and hung up.

  Quickly, I looked through my calendar. There was nothing set up for today.

  “How odd,” I mumbled to myself. I usually put every engagement I made into my phone right away.

  “What’s wrong?” Amy asked, tipped off by my mumbling.

  “Nothing,” I answered, sliding my phone back in the desk drawer. “I just forgot something it seems.”

  “A bad something?”

  “No. It’ll be fine.” I smiled at her and then turned to answer the ringing behind me.

  The rest of the day passed quickly and soon I found myself walking into the air-conditioned office of my therapist.

  “How are we doing today, Audrey?” she asked, offering me a mug of herbal tea.

  “Fine, thank you.”

  “I’m surprised to see you back so soon.”

  “Me too,” I confessed. “I didn’t realize I’d set anything up. It’s a good thing they called to remind me.”

  “Well, no harm done,” she reassured me, taking her usual seat. “I added some energy supplement to your drink, I hope you don’t mind,” she added.

  “Not at all,” I said with a smile. “I only got to use what you gave me before once. Apparently Sy moonlights as a natural health advocate as well,” I joked.

  “Meaning?” she asked, sipping her own drink.

  “He took it to his house and I never saw it again.”

  “How funny,” she laughed. “He probably wanted it for h
imself.”

  “Probably,” I agreed, wincing as I took a drink of tea. “Hot.” I smiled and took another small sip. “I can taste the energy stuff a lot stronger than when I used it, too.” I licked my lips and made a face at the sour taste.

  Suddenly, a massive headache overtook me and I felt faint, my mug falling from my hand and crashing to the floor.

  “Are you okay, Audrey?”

  I looked at Mary, a memory pulling at the edges of my brain. I’d seen her somewhere else before, somewhere she shouldn’t have been.

  “Who . . . who are you?” I asked, the room spinning.

  And then I remembered how I had come to know Mary.

  “You—you were in my room! You told me to find Doctor Mary Young and make an appointment. I don’t understand . . .”

  “Give it a few more minutes, Audrey,” she instructed me coming around to my side. “Everything will be clear shortly.”

  Images began to form before me in my mind’s eye. There was Sy, swimming towards me at an unnatural speed. The water swirled around us as he said something to me and slapped my chest, pulling the water from inside me.

  I saw it all, everything I had forgotten from my rescue and how this woman, who was obviously not a doctor, had come into my life. Shock overtook me and I felt even more faint.

  “Who are you,” I asked again groggily, trying to hold onto something.

  “Mnemosyne, Titan of Memory. Tell Poseidon I consider his punishment paid.”

  “His punishment?”

  “For using my water,” she explained calmly. “I had only planned on giving your memories back and you outing him to the world. Could you imagine the number of people who would try to catch a glimpse of him? I knew he would come looking for you, to make sure you were keeping quiet. He would have had nowhere to run, stuck in the dry, dry desert. But then he fell in love with you and it made my revenge so much sweeter.”

  I felt my consciousness failing and reached out for something—anything—to hold onto. Within seconds, my eyes had gone dark and I was falling into an unknown world.

  Chapter Fourteen

  My head pounded as I opened my eyes to the dark room around me. Even without all of its furnishings, I still recognized the office of Mary Young—who was not Mary Young at all. Everything had been wiped clean, leaving no trace of the woman I’d bared my heart and soul to for over a year.

  Gingerly, I sat up, taking my time so I wouldn’t pass out again. Fear clung to me, holding the unknown close and fresh in my mind. After a few moments I finally felt strong enough to stand. I left the empty space and entered the waiting room. It was bare as the room I’d come from.

  I walked down the hall and out the door, noticing the for rent sign hanging in the dusty window. In the parking lot there were no cars but mine. There were no sounds and only one sputtering light on the corner. The sky above me was pitch black, no moon to give me any help. It looked like I’d been deserted by all of mankind.

  Quickly, I got in my car and started driving away, scared of what could happen if I stayed. Who else would I meet in that place?

  It was then that I remembered Sy—Poseidon—again and what he’d done when he rescued me. Fear engulfed me even more as I thought of everything we’d done together. I’d been falling for a man I didn’t even know!

  The list of his offences grew in my mind and I sped up, wanting to get home and confront him.

  How could I have been so stupid? I’d known this man for three or four months and let him sleep in my bed? I’d taken my wedding ring off for him! And he knew the whole time that he that he was lying to me as I was falling in love with him.

  I pulled into our lot and raced up the stairs to his door.

  “Sy!” I yelled, pounding on it.

  There was no answer so I ran back to my car and sped to the aquarium.

  Hurt was building up in me, overtaking my anger. Surely, he would explain things to me and I wouldn’t feel this bad.

  I parked outside the entrance and hurried inside, everything ready to close in mere minutes.

  “Is Sy here?” I asked the girl at the front.

  “He’s up top feeding everything,” she answered me. “Just go on back, the door’s open.”

  “Thanks,” I said, doing as she said.

  I quickly and quietly ascended the stairs, near hysterical levels of panic trying to take over. As I rounded the corner and stepped onto the catwalk, I saw him.

  He was indeed feeding the fish, but not how he’d shown me before. The animals were gathered at the top, watching as a stream of water would rise out and gather food to take back into the pool. Sy would wave his hand and the water would do whatever he wanted, bending and twisting at his whim. A fish would make some type of noise and he would make the same sound back—like he was talking to it.

  “Who are you?” I asked in a trembling voice.

  He snapped around, the water falling back into place. “Audrey?”

  “Don’t come any closer,” I begged, holding my hand out.

  Shock and hurt flashed across his face as he took a step forward.

  “Audrey, it’s not what you—”

  “It is exactly what I think,” I said stronger. “I’ve remembered everything from before and I saw you just now. Who are you?”

  “I’m who I told you I was,” he said raising his hands above his head as he inched forward. “I’m Sy—Poseidon. My brothers are Hades and Zeus.”

  “That is not what you led me to believe,” I said, pressing myself against the wall, as he got closer.

  “It was still the truth though,” he argued.

  The water reflected off his face, making it look like he was a part of it. I realized with a start that he was—he was the God of the ocean that mythology spoke of.

  “What are you doing here?” I asked, more scared of him now than I’d ever been.

  “I came to watch you,” he admitted.

  My skin went cold and I fought to find my voice through the pounding of my heart.

  “Why?” The question squeaked out.

  “Because you saw me using my powers when I saved you.”

  “So? And stop right there, that’s close enough.”

  He stopped half the distance away he’d been at the beginning.

  “Audrey, calm down,” he pleaded, “I’m still the same person.”

  “You’re not,” I said, panic seeping through my veins. “Not at all!”

  “I am,” he insisted.

  “Why did you save me?” I asked, grasping at straws as my mind spiraled out of control.

  “It was something that I needed to do,” he said simply. “Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.”

  “Why did you need to save me?” I asked again, scooting further down the wall.

  “I did something bad,” he answered softly. “I needed to do something to fix it.”

  Tears filled my eyes as the question that had been on my mind ever since I woke up finally broke free.

  “Why did you save me and not John?”

  He froze, his jaw clicking as he looked at me, fists forming as he lowered his hands.

  “Don’t be like that, Audrey.”

  “I want to know!” I yelled hysterically. “Why, out of everyone you could have saved, did you pick me and not John?”

  “Audrey,” he growled.

  “Why would you let an innocent man drown—a boat full of innocent men die—and then save one woman”

  “Audrey, stop,” he ordered.

  “Why won’t you just tell me?” I argued back.

  “Let it go, Audrey,” he said, his hands clenching and unclenching themselves.

  “No! I want to know why you let my husband die!”

  “Because I killed him!” he roared. “There, are you happy now? I’m the reason John is dead!”

  “What?” I asked, slapped right out of my panic mode.

  “I walked onto his ship and killed him with my own knife. Happy?” he growled, walking towards me aga
in.

  I cried out and ran to the left, trying to escape him, but there was nowhere to go.

  “I don’t understand,” I sobbed, turning back to him.

  “We’ve had quite the feud going on over the past couple thousand years,” he said smugly.

  “You—you killed him?” I asked, not knowing how to process everything that was happening to me. I could see clarity just beyond the horizon, struggling to come to me.

  “I did,” he spat out with obvious self-loathing.

  “Why?” I asked, the sounds of my world shattering around me.

  “It’s not important,” he said, kneeling down in front of me.

  “But it is,” I insisted, pressing myself against the wall again.

  “Audrey, please,” he pleaded. “I didn’t know he was your husband. I didn’t know we were going to be thrown together like this. I had no idea who he was until you showed me John’s picture.”

  “You still killed him though,” I said quietly, tears streaming down my face as understanding fully engulfed me. “You’re the reason I suffered through the loss of my whole family.”

  “Audrey, don’t say it like that.”

  “Why did you save me if you were just out murdering a whole ship full of men?”

  “Amphitrite—” he stuttered. “The sea, it has this way of getting me riled up. I couldn’t help it, Audrey! She told me he was out there and I had to go get him. She pushed me to do it, I swear.”

  “You can’t even own up to your own actions,” I accuse anger flickering in my chest as my tears stopped.

  “I saved you because I felt so horrible about what I’d done. I needed to do something to right the wrong. It’s happened more than once, that’s the only way I can feel better. I didn’t know you were his wife; I just saved the first person I saw who needed my help. Please, you have to understand. I never wanted to hurt you.”

  “Saving one life doesn’t undo the fact that you killed all those people,” I said, standing. The flame in my chest was turning into a raging fire, pushing me forward.

  “You need to leave,” I declare folding my arms.

  “Audrey. I love you, don’t do this to me.”