One day while he was at work I finally gave in and let myself sleep, doing so in a ball on the couch. He woke me when I felt the top button on my dress open and I shrunk away, batting him away from me. He laughed as though he didn’t care.
No matter what I did or said, it didn’t stop him and eventually I lost the will to fight. As much as I wanted to shut down, turn my conscience away from what was happening, I couldn’t. I was so hyper aware of everything that was happening it only made it worse.
After that it didn’t stop, it grew more frequent and eventually I resolved to run away. I didn’t get far; he cornered me with his truck threatening to just run me over if I didn’t go back with him.
I considered it for a moment, wouldn’t death be better than this life?
But then I still needed to absolve my sins. I must’ve done something in my life for this to happen to me. There had to be something about my demeanour that had encouraged him to believe I was available for his use like this.
He kept me locked in a walk in closet after that. He wouldn’t even dignify me with a bedroom. When he needed or wanted something from me he took me out of the closet, took what he needed and put me back like I was a toy.
After a while I realised I was dying anyways, perhaps I should have just called his bluff that day on the road and spared myself the dramatic decaying. My days disappeared, time became obsolete and I just lay there on the floor: a broken shell of who I used to be.
One day the door opened up and I stopped fighting, I just laid there and waited for it to come but it didn’t.
“Valentina?” The voice was so kind, gentle, and concerned. He crouched down next to me, brushing my matted and dirty hair out of my eyes as he frowned sadly at me. As I turned to meet his gaze I felt my stomach knot. I could see in his eyes he knew what had happened, I could see he had the power to stop it... But who was he? Why hadn’t he?
“I’ve come to take you away Valentina, I’m going to pick you up. I’m sorry if this hurts.” He lifted me up, cradling me carefully in his arms as he turned and left the closet.
“Who... Who are you?” My voice was horse from weeks of disuse and crying. It ached as much as my body did even when I didn’t use it.
He looked down at me, his clear blue eyes bearing down into my soul for a moment before he spoke again, “my name is Atlas.”
I frowned. I didn’t know anyone by that name. It was such a strange name.
“How did you find me?” I said quietly, trying to blink through the exhaustion that was crawling through my body.
“I will answer all your questions later, for now I’m going to help you sleep. When you wake up I promise you will be better.” I couldn’t imagine how that was possible when my abused body felt broken beyond repair but I didn’t have the chance to ask anymore questions when suddenly my mind simply gave in and I slept.
When I woke again I was in the comfiest bed imaginable. I was warm and I felt my strength returning to me. I was dirty though, but I was thankful the kind stranger hadn’t cleaned me himself.
Pushing the blankets off me I looked around the room, it was plain but everything I might need was there. It didn’t give me any indication of where I was though. To my right there was an attached bathroom where I thankfully managed to shower and take stock of my condition. I was gaunt and bruised, but I couldn’t feel the pain anymore. I washed the tangles out of my hair, brushed my teeth and finished, staring at myself in the mirror until I started to feel uncomfortable about it.
As I left the bedroom and came into the small, attached apartment I felt a panic and worry seize up in my chest. Had one captor taken me from the first and brought me to a home exclusively for his use?
Someone knocked on the door making me turn to look at it in worry. Taking a deep breath I slowly made my way over to it and opened it just a crack. Atlas stood there, smiling gently at me.
“Good morning Valentina, may I come in?” I swallowed and nodded, stepping away to give him room to enter. As he got closer I took the necessary steps back, keeping my distance from him.
“I’m not here to hurt you.” He said simply, walking past me and sitting on the couch. He looked at me like he expected me to join him so I did, protecting myself by sitting in the chair directly across from him. He smiled, all right with my decision as he stared at me for a long moment.
“You look better, are you feeling a little better?” I thought about it and shrugged slightly.
“Well, I hope you’re not too uncomfortable. I didn’t want to overwhelm you too much, hence the simple apartment but if you want anything... please tell me and I will arrange for it to be brought to you.
“Thank you.” I said quietly, “but why are you doing this?”
He folded his hands in his lap and bowed his head slightly, “I know that what I’m about to tell you is going to sound strange. Everything you’ve been taught about God and religion will only make this seem more fantastical and ridiculous but I hope that you might keep an open mind...” I conceded and nodded my head for him to continue, a frown no less creasing my brow. “Good, alright. Well, my name is Atlas. I am a Titan. Titans were a race of elder Gods who ruled on Mount Olympus before the Greek Gods you would know as Olympians took over.”
“Greek Gods?” I frowned, shaking my head. There was only one God, one Father. Not many. I was very diligent about my homework, I loved to read and never once had I ever heard about this.
“Yes. Greek Gods. They call it the Pantheon; it is a collection of different Gods all blessed with the power to control one specific facility of life – the heavens, motherhood, death, love, home, war, wisdom, fire, sun, and moon... Each facility was once an important aspect to the Greek way of life. But these Gods lost their faith – people began to forget them, replace them... They replaced them with your God in fact. It was easier for people to believe in a solitary all-powerful figure instead of a dozen all-powerful Gods and dozens of other smaller ones under them. So when their faith began to wane Zeus, King of the Gods, asked me to take their souls and put them to sleep in the earth. Then, when the time came and humanity needed them to be restored and return the world to its former glory and rid it of evil, they would be awakened. It’s been over two thousand years and the time has finally come... I released the souls and they went out into the world. They found the vessels that were best suited to host these Gods - humans who had shared similar experiences with their Gods and Goddesses, mortals who had wisdom from their human lives that would help their Gods rule in a way that would be different from the last time. You are one of these Gods, Valentina.”
If I was supposed to keep up with what he was saying he was crazy. My mind was racing, reeling in disbelief at his lies. I wasn’t a God - that was sacrilegious! There was one God, one Father and I most definitely was not him.
“No, I’m sorry. You’re wrong.” I stood up, silently addressing the fact I didn’t want Atlas to stay any longer. He looked sad as he stared up at me but nodded his head, setting a book down on the arm of the couch.
“I know this is very difficult for you. I’m not trying to make you uncomfortable, but if you want more answers you can read this. It’ll tell you everything you need to know when you’re ready to learn. If you need me – for anything, just leave the apartment and think about me. The mountain will bring you to me.” I frowned at him, what he was saying made no sense. Mountains were not realised in the way humans were, they didn’t have physical abilities to bring someone to another place.
“Alright.” I said nonetheless, my tone betraying just how crazy I thought he was. I had traded one form of captivity for another, one vicious captor for a crazy captor. I was grateful he had saved me from my uncle but all this talk of other Gods, magical doings, and all from a man named Atlas... It was too much.
Atlas nodded his head and left then, excusing himself and leaving me alone. I looked around the empty apartment before going to the door and putting the locks on, all four of them. I felt safer now, that strange man co
uldn’t come back.
I lingered by the door for a moment before turning and moving into the kitchen. My stomach was aching I was so hungry, my confusion and bewilderment momentarily excusing the aches but now that I was alone again it was all I could think about.
When I opened the fridge there was no food inside, hadn’t he just said he had provided me with everything I needed? What was the point if there was no food? I closed the door again before checking the freezer, still nothing. I checked the cupboards next but they were as bare as they day they had been hung. I’d kill for crackers and cheese if only there was even that.
Reopening the fridge, checking for juice on the door or something I gasped suddenly, staring in horror at the box of crackers and platter of cheese right next to it staring back at me.
That had definitely not been there 30 seconds ago.
I closed the fridge again, trying to figure out how I had missed that. I had only just been thinking, specifically, about crackers and cheese. One part of my mind tried to convince me it was magic but I shook my head, refusing to accept it.
Magic wasn’t real; magic was satanic.
I couldn’t help but test the theory, if only to debunk it as I thought about strawberry milk and reopened the fridge. Sure enough, next to the other things, was a carton of strawberry milk.
“Impossible. It’s not real.” I muttered to myself, leaning in to grab the box of crackers. I expected it to be an illusion but when my hand curled around the physical box I nearly dropped it in further surprise.
“I’m hallucinating.” I closed the door again quickly, thinking about anything and everything I could. Raspberries, hamburgers, eggs, butter, lettuce, carrots, jam, chocolate, sausages, peppers, radishes... And when I opened the door again it was overflowing with all these things. My breathing grew laboured as I struggled to cope with what was happening. Even if I was starving I was too afraid of this food to eat it.
What if there was something wrong with it because it wasn’t real? What if it made me sick?
I set the box down on the counter and backed away, looking around the room again. I wasn’t entirely sure what it was I was looking for but I didn’t find it.
I ended up on the couch, curled into a ball and staring at the wall. It was too much to wrap my head around; I didn’t even know where to start. Magic, Gods, this place... I still wanted to go home, but I didn’t even think that was possible anymore. I had to be quite far from home to be in a place where magic existed. I was scared. I couldn’t trust anything and I didn’t know what was real or what was an illusion anymore.
I sat there for some time; resisting everything about this place until the pains in my stomach became so bad I caved and got the box of crackers again. Unwrapping the first tower of saltines I examined them carefully with all of my senses before slowly bringing one up to my lips for a taste. I was expecting something other than what they were. But it was real. It was all real...
Giving in completely to the hunger, I got some of the strawberry milk from the fridge along with the crackers. I could nearly believe it. But if the food was real though, my mind reasoned, perhaps Atlas wasn’t all that crazy after all.
I found myself sitting on the couch and staring at the book that Atlas had left behind as I made my way through the entire packet of saltines. He had been gone for close to an hour, he wouldn’t be hovering any longer to see if I did open it – if he’d even done that in the first place – and there was nothing wrong with taking an academic stand point with all this, was there?
No, I resolved, there wasn’t. It didn’t hurt to learn more about my situation, knowledge came from understanding. So I reached out, replacing the crackers in my hand for the heavy tome Atlas had left behind. It looked ancient, the weathered cover faded in places from use and the pages themselves were yellowed and ink stained. Wherever Atlas had gotten this from it looked real that much was certain.
Tentative and unsure I opened the book and started to read through. It taught about the history of these so-called Gods and the stories that surrounded them. There was nothing factual about them in the book; it was simply a collection of legends that I felt Atlas was putting way too much stock into. But then how did I explain the fridge?
When I finished reading a few hours later I wasn’t any more convinced than I had been when I started. If my skepticism had been reduced, it was only by a fraction. I needed more proof from somewhere that wasn’t directly from Atlas. Maybe if I could find something else to back up what he was saying...
I replaced the half empty box of crackers and refilled my drink before crossing through the apartment back to my bedroom. I set the book down on the desk in there and paused for a moment, staring at the brand new laptop that was sitting there. I’d never had one before, but my older brother had let me use his sometimes for schoolwork. I looked around, stupidly, as if checking to see if there was someone else around who could be the owner of the laptop before pulling the chair out and sitting down. With the help of the Internet I might be able to do a quick search to back up Atlas’ story.
The more I searched the more my stomach knotted at the idea that this was actually all real. He was telling the truth, the book was telling the truth. How was that possible though? My entire life I had been told there was only one God, one singular celestial Father who had the power to create the world and destroy it. A Father who had given his only son for our sins...
I felt light-headed as my thoughts spun around, trying to gather momentum despite still feeling the resistance of a lifetime of learning. I still wanted to cling to all those beliefs I’d known for my entire life. How was I supposed to uproot everything I’d ever believed in just because one man told me I was a God? If I was a God I’d be able to do Godly things, right?
I closed the laptop, frowning to myself. I didn’t want to admit it but I had to go and find Atlas, I had a few more questions I needed to ask him before I got too confused about everything.
First and foremost I needed to know who my so-called God was if I was actually what he said I was.
Chapter Three
I was worried about leaving the apartment and not being able to find my way back. But just as Atlas had promised I left the apartment and as soon as I was out in the hallway, thinking hard about finding him, a door appeared in front of me. I stared at it, somewhat in horror, surprised by its sudden appearance before carefully reaching out and grabbing it. My body was tense, expecting something to happen as I took the handle and turned it but instead it opened up into an office.
It reminded me of the Prime Minister’s office in a way, very regal and old-fashioned. Atlas was sitting at his desk, a massive scroll unrolled in front of him and he was staring intently at the contents. He didn’t even look up at me, or give any indication he knew I’d entered the room, leaving me a bit more time to take in my surroundings.
He had more of those tomes he’d given me, piled on the bookshelves around the room. He had a collection of things that looked otherworldly.
And in the middle of the room there was a massive golden globe.
It was almost bigger than me and each continent was intricately carved into it with gilded calligraphy written over each one. I expected to see the names of the countries but the writing was in a language I didn’t know and there were symbols all over it that reminded me of satanic practices.
Coming around the globe I looked down at Atlas’ scroll, he was watching a blue dot on a map. It was moving slowly before his eyes flicked to a second moving dot, this time black, and poised over where England would’ve been on a regular map. He touched it and the dot expanded into a black circle that took up most of the scroll. It slowly faded out and an image appeared in its stead.
A young man was standing on a street corner, he looked dirty and tired, sick even, as he smoked a cigarette with almost an obsession. His eyes were full of pain, I felt sad for him. A woman came into view and he stepped forward toward her. I thought maybe she was his girlfriend but then
, by her reaction I could tell, she had no idea who he was.
Atlas looked up at me, appearing almost surprised to see me before he closed the screen with a flick of his wrist and quickly rolled the scroll up.
“What was that?”
“A map; I’m tracking the others.”
“There are more Gods?”
“Of course, there is an entire pantheon. There are dozens of other Gods.”
“Why aren’t they here then?”
“It’s not their time to come yet. They still have things they need to do in their mortal lives before I can bring them here.”
“Why?”
Atlas smiled and I worried he could sense that I was coming around to all of this – albeit slowly. I didn’t want to give him the wrong impression.
“Because part of being a specific God is having a shared history with their God, so some people still need to experience things as mortals in order for the celestial union to occur. It’s their destiny.”
Now destiny was a concept I, finally, understood.
“Was... My uncle my destiny?”
Atlas looked up at me and frowned, torn between giving me the truth and protecting me. It was a look my father had familiarised me with. “Have you read the book then?”
He changed the subject, leaving me unsure if I should be angry or grateful for that.
“I did, and I did some research on the computer. I have a few questions.”
He nodded and stood up, “I’ll be happy to answer them so long as I can. Let’s go somewhere more comfortable though.” He waved his hand and suddenly the room around us changed completely. No longer were we in an office, but a comfy waiting room. The seat I had been about to sit on turned into a couch I was more than happy to flop onto while Atlas’ desk disappeared and he was sitting in a lounge chair.
“So, ask away.” He smiled at me in a friendly enough way that momentarily I didn’t feel embarrassed for my belief or disbelief. I wasn’t sure which one made me more uncomfortable.
“I read about the Greek Gods... And say I believe you, about me being one – which am I supposed to be?”
Gods Save the Princess (Grace of Gods Book 2) Page 2
