She went back to calmly tending the fire
as he made his sudden exit from the hall.
He would be back next time for more of the same.
She would spurn him, still.
“Courage is a kind of salvation.”
-Plato
XIV.
Valerie Hess had a juggling act to perform. Ball one: School. Valerie was an honors student and as it was only a few days before the end of the first semester, Valerie had midterms to study for, papers to write, and a presentation on the heights of various landmarks as they related to the height of Mount Everest.
Ball two: Semi-Formal Chair. As the head of the semi-formal committee during the third week of December, Valerie was in charge of making sure that every student who had paid forty dollars for a ticket received their invitation Thursday afternoon during their seventh period class. That was a logistical nightmare, which was why they did it on Thursday instead of Friday, like the years past. Valerie wanted to be sure that any student who didn’t get their invitation had a chance to hunt it down on Friday.
Ball three: Abstinence Club. Valerie was president and because the semi-formal was the Saturday before holiday break, Valerie also had to run a pledge drive. She spent her lunches the last week of the semester camped outside the cafeteria at a table, convincing students to sign a contract to refrain from sexual intercourse the night of the semi-formal. Valerie at least had a little help in this endeavor, six other members of her club, the newest being Penelope Davis, who had signed up at her mother’s suggestion.
This juggling act was only further complicated by The Pantheon, not because the once weekly meetings were a burden and not because her powers or dreams effected her in any negative way, but because their new common ground seemed to give Nick Morrissey the green light to harass Valerie and belittle the abstinence club. Three out of five days of the pledge drive, Nick decided to hang out by the table to mock Valerie. On Tuesday he engaged her in a debate about his lifestyle where he called her a frigid prude and she called him a breeding ground for venereal diseases. On Wednesday he leaned against the table and flirted shamelessly with any girl who approached the table to sign. On Friday he sat next to Valerie and made sex noises until one of the teachers hauled him off to the office.
Valerie was relieved when Saturday night came and the doors to the school opened and the semi-formal began. She had been decorating all day before ducking out to get dressed for the event. The stress was over. It was out of her hands.
It was a beautiful event. The theme of the dance this year was ice, not that anyone in Olympia Heights Senior High had really seen ice that didn’t come from their freezer. The cafeteria walls were covered in black curtains that disguised it completely. There were ice sculptures that Valerie had gotten donated at every serving table. All of the punch glasses had their rims frosted with sugar. The hall to the gym was draped, too, giving most of the students a sense of disorientation as they didn’t recognize their surroundings without green doors and motivational posters. The semi-formal committee had gotten a great deal on last year’s icicle lights to hang in the hall and all over the gym. The white lights twinkled. June and Devon would never admit it, but Valerie had done a great job.
The food was good, the music was decent for generic pop, and so far nobody had started a cat-fight. June and Zach were dancing cheek to cheek, Devon was making out with a senior soccer player, and there was peace in Olympia Heights. It was as if, for one night, the girls had agreed to stop feuding and just enjoy themselves. Valerie was very pleased with the serenity. June was pleased not to be rushing around coordinating. Zach was also pleased, or at least he would be tonight if June stayed in a good mood.
Diana and Astin Hill had both come stag. Astin was putting his foot in his mouth with every girl he’d asked to dance. Diana took turns accepting dances from the men’s side of the track and field team. Astin didn’t appreciate that.
Even Celene was happy tonight. Yes, Penny had come with Peter Hadley (“Just as friends, mom”) and that had ruffled a few of her mother’s feathers. The good news came from watching them together. Peter stood a foot from Penny’s body as he danced and looked like he had rigor mortis. Celene knew he wouldn’t be seducing her daughter tonight. In her worst paranoid imaginings he’d been a little more slick than this.
Everyone was happy until a freshman spotted someone who wasn’t supposed to be there. Diego Noya, a Miami West student, was grinding with some sophomore girls in a corner. When a fluffy fourteen year old approached Zach to point it out, a few of the other faces in the crowd signaled a warning in his head. Mark Alvarez, Walker Jameson, and William Brown were also crashing the party. The Miami West Titans were in the halls of Olympia Heights.
Zach let go of June’s hips and marched across the gym. He had such presence that the crowd parted immediately. “You weren’t invited,” he roared.
The gym went silent. William Brown held up an invitation that he’d found in the parking lot. “I got an invitation, don’t I?” Brown said.
Zach snatched it.
“And you’re not Kim Tessier either,” Lewis was at Zach’s shoulder, his usual position.
“Just a little harmless fun,” Walker Jameson said. He was the biggest of them all and he didn’t have to step out from behind Brown to be seen. Walker Jameson was striking with olive skin, dark lashes, and a distinguished nose. He had been enjoying flirting with the local girls until Zach had interrupted his fun. The other Titans formed a crowd around him. Astin, Lewis, and Nick mirrored them. All of The Pantheon wished Frank was here. He was the muscle and his power, when it wasn’t used to its maximum potential, looked somewhat human. None of Zach’s backup, as it was, could use their powers in a fight without drawing suspicion.
“You know our school put a lot of time and money into this, so why don’t you go home before it gets ugly,” Zach said with a scowl.
Alvarez looked around the gym. “Too late,” he said. “Who barfed on the chicks ‘round here?”
Zach grabbed Mark’s collar and pulled him up on his toes. Even as tall as Mark was, Zach had a few inches on him. Mark Alvarez, as he had shown at the Halloween Carnival, had a tendency to pick a fight and then realize it was a bad idea. This time no adults saved him; it was the girls. June and Devon were both between Mark and Zach in an instant. June tried to soothe Zach while Devon pushed the Titans back.
“I’m sorry, boys, but you’re going to have to go home,” Devon said. She flipped on the charm and immediately every guy in the gym was rapt with attention, focused entirely on Devon Valentine. “No tennis shoes allowed.” Sure enough, when Zach tore his eyes away from Devon and looked down, he saw Mark wearing gym shoes with his slacks and shirt.
“Yeah, you’re much better leaving now than with the police,” June added. “They’re really bored here so they’ll keep you all night just for something to do.”
“Come on, Mark,” Walker said, being the most sensible of the Titans. “It’s not worth it. Let’s go.”
Celene had pushed her way through the crowd. She joined Devon in forming a barrier between the groups of boys. “Dr. Livingstone is calling the police. Go before they get here. Come on, last chance,” she bluffed; Jason was at home with his kids.
“Fine,” Mark spat. “Losers.” He followed Walker out of the gym. William and Diego ran after them.
“Okay,” June turned back to Zach. “Crisis averted, right?”
Zach nodded. He had adrenaline to burn, now. “Right.”
“You-uh-Devon, can you go ask the DJ to play the Cha-Cha slide? Get the dance back on track?”
For once, Devon cooperated with June. “Yeah, okay.” She disappeared into the crowd.
“Wanna go make out in the coat room?” June needed a distraction for Zach. She knew he was going to fume over the Titans all night if she didn’t do something. Zach was still staring at the spot Alvarez had once occupied. Normally all Zach needed was a suggestion. Right now he was an angry dog, fixated on ma
king sure trespassers stayed out of his yard.
“Zach,” June used his tie to drag him down to her height. She whispered something in his ear. June always sounded awkward when she was trying to be sexy, but the words didn’t matter to Zach. Her hot breath hit his ear and he shuddered. “Wanna go make out?” she repeated.
Zach’s eyes finally settled on June. He glanced back at the gym door, torn between staying on the defensive and getting somewhere with his girlfriend. He knew she was just trying to distract him, but chances like this didn’t come up very often.
“Last chance, Zach,” she said. “You coming?” June turned and walked towards the coat room. Zach took one last look around for trespassers and then followed.
Once they were in the room with the door shut, he pulled her against him. His lips crashed into hers. His hands roamed over her arms and she felt a small electrical tingle. He was doing it on purpose. June was surprised at how attracted to him she was right now. She closed her eyes and hummed against his lips.
They continued like this for a few minutes, staggering around the room in each other’s arms until Zach’s legs hit the edge of a table and he sat down.
He could smell something, something smoky. As much as he didn’t want to stop, the smell was only getting stronger. He pushed June away and locked eyes with her. “You smell that?”
“Smell what?” she took a deep breath. “Someone smoking?”
“It’s not cigarette smoke.” Zach got up and walked to the door, leaving June breathless and dazed behind him. He looked out into the hall. The end of the hall down by the kitchen had zero visibility. It was all dark, gray smoke. There had to be a fire there. Why hadn’t a smoke detector in the kitchen gone off yet?
Smoke started pouring out of the other end of the school, from the hall outside the gym. How many fires were there? “June, get outside now, call the fire department.” He ran down the hall. He could see flames. The suspended ceiling panels were on fire and the smoke detector had been ripped down. Zach nearly ran into a table that had been pulled into the center of the hall. The arsonist had likely stood on it to reach the device and disable it.
The doors from that hall into the gym were locked to keep students from sneaking back in with alcohol. Everyone in the party was dancing, unaware of the roaring flames in the hall behind them.
“Where’s June?” Lewis honed in on Zach. “Lover’s quarrel?”
“Um... the school’s on fire!”
“What?” Lewis shouted over the music.
“The school is on fire!”
“I know, dude! This party is awesome!” Lewis kept dancing.
“No, you idiot.” Zach slapped the back of Lewis’ head. “The building is burning down!”
“The school’s burning down?” Lewis’ voice carried well. People around them stopped dancing. They looked at Zach and Lewis.
Zach nodded slowly, “Yeah.”
A girl screamed and ran for the door. This set off a chain reaction of panic. Valerie Hess felt the collective anxiety pressing on her. She couldn’t calm them all.
People began to push and shove at the door. Someone fell and Lewis watched the crowd walk right on him. Lewis was there to help in a blink; everyone was too panicked to notice him zip across the gym.
“Idiots,” Nick snapped as he ran to the third set of doors, doors that opened to the outside. “Hey, fire exit!” he shouted to direct some of the crowd that way. He wished Frank was here to bust down some walls.
Astin and Diana joined Lewis in helping people who tripped or were pushed over. A lot of dyed pumps were left behind in the chaos and Devon nearly tripped on a pile. That would have been terrible, death by tacky, cheap shoes.
Valerie did her best to soothe the crowd. She liked to think it cooled some of the panic. Everyone got out, though there were a few broken heels and sprained ankles on the way.
“Does that have to be so loud?” Diana thought someone was complaining about the sirens. It turned out to be a bat. The night had turned chaotic quickly. June had jumped all over Zach and kissed every inch of his face when they’d come out of the burning school. Now The Pantheon had gathered around the flag pole.
“I’m pretty sure the arson in this town is connected to us,” Valerie said. “The Epimetheus guy, he called me ‘Hes’ and I don’t think he meant my last name. I think he was threatening us.”
Minnie held her wrap around her arms. “Yeah,” she nodded, “I tend to agree. Epimetheus was the brother of Prometheus. They gave man fire and we punished them for it.”
“Wait, what?” Diana had a hard time focusing on anything when she was within earshot of an animal. “There’s a couple of bats curled under the flag and they’re having this conversation about--”
Nick rolled his eyes, “You think any of us care about bats? Shut up, Hill.”
Astin glared at Nick and Zach gave a warning, “Nick.”
Diana closed her mouth. Minnie repeated what she’d previously said about Epimetheus, word for word.
“So this guy is kicking around somewhere among us, looking for revenge?” Lewis ran a hand through his hair. “And we can be sure he was here tonight. Well, duh, the Titans were here. Maybe one of them is literally a Titan?”
“That’s kind of obvious, Lew,” Astin said.
“Well, yeah, sometimes the answers are. You know, the razor thing.”
“Occam’s Razor,” Minnie supplied.
“Bless you.” Lewis chuckled. “So like, we’re looking at Jameson, Alvarez, Brown, and Noya.”
“But all the attacks have been here. Isn’t it more likely, as we’re all conceived in Olympia Heights, that Epimetheus was too?” June suggested.
“I agree with June,” Devon hated when she did that. “Unless we can prove one of those Miami guys was born here in Olympia Heights, we’re looking for a townie.”
There was silence. They were kids; they didn’t know what to do next. There was a psycho killer after them, but they couldn’t tell the police without being carted off or dissected.
“This is bull,” Astin finally said. “There’s like, fourteen of us and one of him.”
“Yeah!” Zach said. “If we stick together he can’t hurt us.”
Penny and Peter found the group. “Hey,” Penny said, “Mom wanted me to check that you’re all okay.”
“We are,” Zach answered for the group. “You guys?”
Peter nodded. “We overheard the investigation. Cops pulled over those Miami kids a few miles up the road. None of them had liquor or anything to start a fire, though, so they let them go. None of them were saying it, but it was implied that a few of them think it’s related to Valerie and the Miami kid and Evan’s house.” Evan was the only other Pantheon member not at the dance tonight.
“Cops say anyone who isn’t hurt should go home,” Penny added. “They don’t want crowds.”
The group exchanged fearful glances. Zach had to say something. They all knew he was their leader. It was programmed, almost like a memory. When things got tough, they looked to Zach to rule them. “Alright, everyone call my cell when you’re home safe, okay?”
“Yes, Daddy.” Nick was just as scared as everyone else, but he didn’t like the idea of relying on Zach to be his fearless protector. He knew that Zach was the leader, but he couldn’t figure out why. What made him so much better than Nick?
“The man who runs may fight again.”
-Menander
xv.
They lived on the island in absolute peace.
The god had never seen the hardship of war.
He lived there, drinking and singing ‘til day break
and sleeping past noon.
The King of Thrace mounted his attack at dawn
as the islanders had settled down to sleep.
So many were slaughtered while still in their beds.
Screams broke the silence.
The nymphs fled to the trees, hiding with nature.
An arrow struck Dionysus in the leg.
The still-young god had never felt pain before
and never known fear.
He ran with blood pouring down his wounded thigh
and when he reached the cliff the Thracian soldiers
expected their prey to stop and surrender.
Dionysus leaped.
For a moment his push-off equalled the tug
of gravity and he felt like he could fly.
The floating illusion was momentary,
then he plummeted.
He missed the sharp rocks and crashed into the sea.
The white caps of his splash obscured him from sight.
Archers shot at the water but they all missed
the god they hunted.
A sea-nymph drifted out from her cave and wrapped
the god-son in her cold viridescent arms.
Her breasts pressed against his body as they sank
deeper in the sea.
Her lips formed a seal over his as she breathed.
In the sky above them a storm was brewing.
The boy was a governor of revelry,
but also a Prince.
The war between his father-- king of the gods--
and the arrogant mortal Thracian ruler
would not last long enough to be called a fight.
It was a slaughter.
“The young are permanently in a state resembling intoxication.”
-Aristotle
XV.
The investigation into the fire at Olympia Heights Senior High came up with a dead-end. It was officially linked to the serial arsonist, Epimetheus, but there were no new clues as to his identity.
The security cameras in the school were old analogue recorders that used tapes. Nobody had remembered to change out the deck before the weekend, so they were absolutely no help at all.
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