Chapter 1 #3
I close my eyes and sigh, allowing the exchange. I feel the tension in my body leave.
The tension drains from my body. A bitter, salty taste coats my tongue. “Shit, did you have to make a mess?”
My shadow shrugs. “I should have made more.”
My phone rings. It’s Hecate. “Yeah?”
“I think we have a bigger problem here.”
SORAYA
I changed my mind. It all began when I walked down the stairs only to see the back of my uncle’s dark bald head.
I was about to call him when my aunty came into view.
She looks regal in her blue and gold dress; her brown skin glows in the evening’s light.
Her hair is silk-pressed straight in defiance.
I don’t know how she managed a silk press in this humidity.
“Once he marries her, we get 1.5 million,” my aunty says.
My uncle grunts. “Once Soraya is dead, the trust from Mom and her parents comes to me.”
My aunt’s voice is cold and businesslike. “We will inherit all. And two million dollars from her husband.”
My uncle laughs, blocking his mouth with his hand. “I have no idea why Elias wants her dead. But I am grateful.”
If I die? I’m worth more to them dead than alive. Someone always wants something from me. They want to use me to the point of death. I back away slowly. Where do I go? I smile as a staff member passes me.
How do I get out of an estate in the middle of Bakersfield’s countryside?
Okay. Okay. I can do this. I can breathe. My heart is beating against my ribs, and my hands are trembling so bad, petals are falling from the bouquet.
I walk slowly away from the courtyard. I know the wedding planner will be looking for me.
Hopefully, Michelle holds them back. I hide behind some columns, inching my way out to the parking lot.
I walk into the valet booth. I see one young man flirting with a cute waiter.
I open the case with the keys, and I grab as much as I can.
Tucking the bank card between my breasts, I leave the flowers under the booth’s table.
I grab my chest and run to the parked cars. My heart is pounding, and sweat is running down my back. I can’t turn back now.
I press the different fobs, but none of them work.
“Excuse me, ma’am?”
No, no, no… A fob connects with a Nissan Altima. Who is driving this? Don’t care.
I race to the car.
“Ma’am, aren’t you the bride?” The person’s voice is getting closer.
I drop the remaining fobs, pick up my dress, and run. If I can make it to the small town, I will be fine.
The car’s light flashes when I click the fob.
I open the door and lock it… then jump as the valet taps the window.
“Um, ma’am.”
I ignore him. I press the start button, and the car rumbles under me.
I lower the window a smidge. “Give me a ten-minute head start, then go in and tell them. I can’t.”
His shoulder drops, and his mouth tightens. “Go.”
My heart leaps as I begin the long drive out of the driveway. I look in the rearview mirror, and I see one of Elias’s men. I need to speed up.
If I make it past the small town, I can get to a phone or…something.
I have no plans, but I haven’t felt this free in months. The tall poplar trees whisk by as I speed down the driveway.
A guard stands in front of the open gate. He thinks I won’t run him over for my freedom. As I near him, he begins to wave his arms frantically over his head.
I press down hard on the horn. “Move.” Sweat runs down the side of my face. “MOVE.”
Oh God, I am about to commit murder. I press the horn again, gesturing with my hand. “FUCKING MOVE.”
Finally, he dives to the side as I drive through the open gate and drift to the right.
I laugh at myself because I never thought I could do this.
I pass by green pastures, grazing cows, and tall trees.
I smile for the first time while I observe the surroundings.
I hope I am going the right way. A laugh burst from my lips.
This is crazy. But this was the first instance, I was doing something for me.
I turn the radio on, and Lenny Kravitz’s “Fly Away” surrounds me in the car.
Ha, this is a sign! The guitar chords make me feel like a rebel.
I grab the back of my head with one hand and unclip my veil.
I lower the window and throw it out. The rearview mirror shows the veil traveling over someone’s fence.
I raise one hand, pump it in the air, and scream out, “WHOOO HOOO!”
I can see the edge of the town ahead of me. Freedom is right there; I could taste it. I look in the mirror, and my soul drops as I see three cars and dust coming up behind me.
“No, no.” I speed up again as Lenny cheers me on. God, they are too close. Just then, I see a sign, but I can’t make out the words.
Shit, the streets are closed off. There are paparazzi in the town. I drive around the dial in the middle of the city and park the car to the side of a café. How the hell do I exit the car without anyone seeing me?
I turn the engine off and leave the keys in the cup holder.
The rearview mirror shows Elias’s men emerging from the car. They’re in suits, aviators, and earpieces.
The paparazzi already have their cameras up right as the men begin to spread out. I can make a scene. The paps will follow, making it impossible for Elias’s men to get to me.
I open the door and breathe. I hike my dress up and run. As expected, being in a white dress and running catches some eyes. The paps race after me. I don’t know if this is a good plan, but I am desperate. I run past an antique store.
“Run, child.” I hear a voice in the wind. But running in Le Kero six-inch heels, with a soft crepe wrapped around the ankles, is not for the weak. Hell, running in heels should be an Olympic sport.
“Stop her!” someone shouts. I make a left turn, sprinting down a long, narrow alley, and I see a dead end. Shit, I miscalculated.
No, I can’t give up. I can hear the snapping of the cameras and Elias’s men shouting my name. Is this how it’s really going to end? I can’t go back. I slap my palms against the brick wall.
“No, please…no.”
Then I hear it. The sound of a door closing. Huh? I look to my right. Wait, was that alley always there? Who cares? I sprint and halt at the front of a store.
“What a peculiar place…” The door is bright red, richly decorated with intricate wrought scrollwork and flower motifs.
It’s beautiful. The wooden door looks aged, but that just gives it character.
There are two lanterns hanging on the side.
The name that appears above says “Wanderlust Emporium.” It looks so old and Gothic.
I can’t see inside the store; it’s just a mismatch of books and items surrounding each other in organized chaos.
I reach for the handle, and I pause, glancing up. A stained-glass panel crowns the doorway, catching the light. In the center, a painted chalice seems to float midair… an illusion of glass and sunlight. It’s beautiful.
“Where did she go?”
That smacks me back into the present. I push the door and enter.
“Welcome to the Wanderlust Emporium. Look around and see what speaks to you.” A voice calls out from behind all the knickknacks and thingamabobs.
I wring my hands together. “Um, hi. I need help. I just need to hide.”
“Hmm.”
I look around the store closely, and then I realize, no…these are antiques. My heart leaps for joy. Oh, the things I can discover here! Maybe after this is all done. I can come back…help her organize her stuff.
A tall Black woman in pinstripe pants and a white shirt comes out. Her hair is dark, voluptuous, and bouncy. Her eyes were doe-like, but they looked…I don’t know, ancient.
“You want to hide?”
“Please don’t throw me out. I can’t pay. But I can give you my ring.” I slide the engagement ring off. It’s a flawless emerald-cut diamond flanked by two sharp baguette diamonds and set in platinum. Its screams, “My fiancé has money.”
The woman looks down at the ring, takes it, and sighs.
“Hmm.” That’s all she says as she stands close to the front door.
I begin to step back, and my puffy dress almost knocks over a box with a beautiful necklace. I bend to pick it up.
“Leave it. Come stand by me, child. They can’t see you.” The lady dip her hands in her pockets.
I pick up my dress and move beside her.
One photographer stops in front of the store with Elias’s head of security at his side.
I clutch my throat, and to my surprise, they don’t see us.
“Where the fuck is my bride?” I step a little as I hear Elias’s voice.
“Please hide me,” I whisper, my fingers tightening around the dress.
“They can’t see us, child.” I watch as Elias turns the corner of the alleyway, heading straight toward the store.
As he stops, his hand grazes against the door.
“Hmm, he is a different one, isn’t he?” The lady says. Eventually, they all leave. Only Elias looks back, but someone calls his name, and he continues walking.
My shoulders drop as I release air out of my lungs. “Thank you, Miss…”
“Moira.”
“Thank you, Miss Moira. Can I wait here for a few minutes, please?”
Moira nods. “Of course, but I encourage you to look around and see what speaks to you.”
I smile shyly. “Your whole store calls to me.”
“What do you do for work?” She asks as she pushes past a sarcophagus. To an untrained eye, it looks like a prop, but with the gold setting and the hieroglyphs, I am 99% sure it’s real.
“I restore art at the Balmont Museum. Well, I used to. After this…”
I pass between two towering stacks of books. What catches my eye is a rare book. I touch the spine of Myths of Men and Gods.
“Gods interest you?” I hear Moira’s voice, but I can’t see her.
“Everything interests me. I love your store,” I reply, passing my hands over an ornate wood frame. I notice the use of pastels in the painting of some ballerinas in rehearsals. This is an Edgar Degas painting! This is worth millions.
“May I sit on this chair?” I ask, pointing toward a wooden folding chair. Moira’s head peeks out from behind a glass case.
“Yes, on that one. Not the one behind you.”
I unfold the chair and sit on it. I reach for the bottom of my dress and unbuckle my shoes and slip them off. I rest them to the side.
My foot kicks a box at the side, and I hear a jingle. I look down, and there is a gold chalice lying on bronze plates and spoons. I reach down and hold the stem of the chalice. It’s old, tarnished, and in need of some TLC.
My fingers graze over the vines on the chalice and the woman sitting on them. It feels hot. I want to put it down, but I can’t.
The rim has a braided rope around its edge. As I run my fingers down the stem, I raise the chalice above my head and see a symbol of two spears, a Roman soldier helmet, and a shield.
So, it’s Roman? But the way the cup is designed looks older.
“Hmm.”
Moira picks up the box that held the chalice and walks away with it.
“Oh snap, sorry. This was in the box.”
“No, keep it.”
Keep it? “It’s gold. This has value I can’t—”
“No, it’s yours. But know this: If you drink from it, its fate is bound to you…forever.”
I look down at the chalice now resting on my lap. “Oh, no; that’s not scary at all.”
Moira comes back and stands in front of me. “You can leave now; the coast is clear.”
I get up and walk to the door. I turn and smile. “Thank you for protecting me.”
“Remember what I said about the cup.”
The door opens, and I step out into the night on a street in the city of Bakersfield. A street that is nowhere near the countryside. What the hell? I hold my chest, looking back to the store…and it’s gone. There is an empty store with a sign that says, “Jimmy’s Ice Cream Coming Soon.”
The red door, the stained glass window…all gone.
“Okay, don’t panic,” I say. Breathe…It’s okay. Maybe it’s a trauma response, or maybe I was dreaming. But the chalice in my hands tells me that this was no dream.
“My goodness, that’s a pretty dress,” a lady says as she walks past with a small terrier in her arms.
Right, I need to change. Now.
“Excuse me.” I run after the lady.
She stops and smiles; her puppy bucks, trying to get out of her arms.
“Is there a thrift store anywhere in this area?”
“Um, no. But Keke’s Dress Shop would love your dress. She will trade you something else for it,” the lady replies.
“Can you show me where Keke’s is?”
“Sure. I’m Allison, by the way. Walk with me.”
I pick up the side of my dress and walk alongside Allison. “I’m Soraya.”
ARIC
“She is dead.” That’s what the doctor said. I hate the aroma of death. You would think that being the God of War, the smell of death would comfort me. Some people’s death does. But this child…not Zara. Seeing her little body on the morgue’s table…I want to kill Cerano and his men all over again.
I close my fist, feeling the buzz of power swirling inside it. I look at Hecate, who is standing to the side of the young girl’s bed.
“I hope they go to the depths of Tartarus.” Hecate touches the child’s black curly hair.
I open my fist, and two gold coins sit on my palm. “Do me a favor. Get this to Charon. I want her to have easy passage to the Elysian Fields.”
“As for the other girls, with the help of the police, their parents were contacted. But Nisa, she has no parents.”
“I am sorry she doesn’t have parents. What orphanage are you sending her to?”
“I’m still looking.”
I nod. “Tell me what your choice is, and I will be patron to the orphanage until she is eighteen.”
Hecate nods, taking the coins from me. She looks at the deceased child once more and disappears.
“I am sorry, little one. May the Elysian Fields grant you peace and happiness.”
I feel a measure of guilt. Maybe if I were more diligent, this wouldn’t have happened. I drag my hand down my face.
My phone ringing breaks my thoughts. I reach into my pocket and pull it out.
A number from Seattle shows up on my screen.
“This is Kallistratos.”
A sultry chuckle comes over the phone. “Aric, baby, it’s Cherry. I’m in the area, and I wanted to know…”
I know what she wants. A free dinner and a night she will never forget. Cherry is an exotic dancer turned entrepreneur. She owns four of the best strip joints here in Bakersfield. Was I in the mood for company tonight? No, but having a body to fuck my aggression out on….
“Hey, darling. Want to meet me at my apartment in the city?”
It didn’t take long for me to make arrangements. Maybe the best way to ease my guilt is to fuck.