by Amy Laine
He was heading down to the lobby to play Skee Ball with a friend he made when a wall of grey stopped him. Nico grunted and sucked in for air. Watch it! He almost screamed.
“Sorry,” He said to the man-a lawyer by the looks of it-dressed in a grey suit. The man looked down at him and laughed, an almost evil light flickered in his eyes for a moment.
“You’re the Son of Hades aren’t you?” He asked in a deep voice.
Nico shifted his feet uncomfortably. He motioned for his friend to continue on without him. “I’ll catch up.” He promised glancing up at the lawyer.
“Are you the Son of Hades?” The man demanded, holding up a photo and comparing it with Nico.
Nico was tempted to ask why this strange man had a picture of him, but he kept his mouth shut. There was that question again. It was vague, but somewhere…in this lifetime? Nico wasn’t sure, but he remembered something about dracaenae saying that he and Bianca were born from Hades.
“What do you mean?” Nico asked carefully, sweeping his hair out of his face. “Some bad ladies called us that too… about a…” He drifted off. How long ago was that?
The lawyer snorted but didn’t answer. Finally he looked up and walked away without another word. Nico was about to go join his friend, when he realized his feet were stuck to the floor.
He tugged at his feet, tried to jump up and down, and at one point even got on all fours and started to tug at his shoes. His feet came loose from the shoes but the new Nikes didn’t come out.
Nico cursed and was contemplating on how he was going to get his shoes back when the lawyer came back with his sister. “Smart child,” The lawyer observed. He snapped his fingers and Nico tumbled backwards with his shoes (he was still tugging when they came loose).
Bianca would have laughed if she hadn’t been so
1)angry
2)confused
3)concerned
“Where are you taking us?” She demanded. Part of her was still in the Grand Library reading “Little House on the Prairie.” She longed to find out what happened next with Pa and the wolves.
Maybe, the reason I like the story is because I wished my own family was like that. Complete. Bianca thought inwardly.
She quickly dismissed the thought as silly.
The lawyer looked at her, as if he was still trying to register her question. Finally he spoke; “I am taking you both to a school, where you will be safe. I’ve been given orders- and I must follow them.” He gestured around the area with an expensive sweep of the room, “You’ve been here too long. It is time to see the world.”
Nico scrambled up, his shoes firmly tied onto his feet. Bianca put a protective hand on her brother’s shoulder. “We’re not going anywhere with you.” She insisted.
Nico was still so small. So innocent and uncomphrensive. There was no way; he knew what was going on right now. Bianca could only tell that he still wanted to go play Skee Ball with his friend.
The lawyer shook his head. “You have no choice. Now come, let us ‘check out’ as they call it.” Nico scampered after the man, not knowing this was the last time he’d ever be in the hotel.
Bianca planted her feet firmly on the floor. “I’m not coming.” She stated stubbornly. This was the only safe haven for her and her brother. She wasn’t going back to living on the streets!
The lawyer raised a furry brown eyebrow. For a moment, his image flickered and she thought she saw…a monster? Definitely a monster, with ugly sharpened teeth and claws that looked like they could tear a mountain to shreds. And it was a woman.
“Would you dare defy me?” The lawyer hissed in a ladies voice. It was pure evil and hungry for blood.
Bianca was going to nod yes when her feet moved unwillingly. She found herself marching ridiculously with the lawyer and Nico didn’t notice. He was busy staring at a 3D dinosaur wrecking a 3D building.
“Tell your brother to come with us and you won’t be living on the streets.”
Bianca swallowed and tried to keep her mouth closed but if she left him here…
“Nico, come on. Let’s go.” She forced herself to sound cheerful like this was a normal occasion. Yeah right. Her mind was thinking. This is totally normal. A strange man comes to get you and you start marching like you’re in Macy’s Thanksgiving Parade. Get real.
Nico stopped gawking at the dinosaur (a t-rex actually) and stumbled after them.
“Where are we going now?” He complained. “I like it here! Do we have to leave?” His tiny hands latched on too a pillar. Bianca pried him off, with not too much effort.
Bianca glanced at the lawyer/monster. If he heard Nico, he gave no sign of it. He started chatting with the bellhop and then the person at the register.
Bianca couldn’t hear what he was saying but they both nodded and smiled. Nico crept away again and poked at a glass vase of flowers. The vase toppled and words formed at Bianca’s lips, “No!”
But it was too late. The vase tipped to the left and wobbled on the table. And then CRASH! Whatever left behind was either a pile of wet flowers or cracked and scattered pieces of glass on the floor.
Attendants rushed over to clean it up, glaring at her brother. Bianca pulled him to the side, so no glass could pierce his pale skin.
As they left the Lotus Hotel and Casino, Bianca felt a chill on her back. Nico climbed in the car with the man. Bianca didn’t trust him, anymore then she trusted the cold wind on her back.
She picked up a stick- it wasn’t much but it made her feel better- and climbed in the car.
“Where are we going now?”
