3. Sam
3
SAM
H ow the other half live! I have a nice enough place with my TV salary, but it’s not any place like this. I have been here once before when Apollo threw an industry party. I was dumbfounded then, but there were also two hundred people filling the space, as well as a dance floor with a small orchestra.
Now that I was waiting in the foyer alone, the expanse of the space was overwhelming. This is how a movie star lived, and I was jealous.
However, I would never be able to afford the cleaning bill! The marble in this place had its own marble, if you catch my drift. How the hell did they keep all of this white furniture clean? They had children. God, it made me anxious.
They made me anxious.
To a normal person, they would consider me a celebrity in some ways. I was always there on the carpet, interviewing people who acted like they knew who I was. Most celebrities did know who I was, but I never got invited to anything that wasn’t work-related. I was a tool that they used – never a real friend. I knew my place, and my place was not here.
What did they want?
It was fucking weird.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.” Hy walked to the bar. “Can I get you anything? After one of those events, I need a bourbon. We wanted to get the kids all settled in first, though. The new sitter gets them all wound up with too much playtime.”
“No worries.” I felt like an interloper during their private time, but they had invited me – no, they demanded that I come over tonight. “Do you know what this is about? I’m…”
“They’ll be with you in a few minutes.” He shrugged. “I think you should have that drink, though.”
My mind spun with all the myriad of possibilities. Maybe they wanted to have an orgy? I knew these Hollywood/Valleywood types, and it wouldn’t surprise me. But they seemed too happy, too cozy within their family bubble, and there were the kids sleeping just down the hallway – that wasn’t it. If it wasn’t sex, they must need something from me. Maybe they were afraid that the movie wouldn’t release well? They were going to make me some kind of offer, weren’t they? My press exposure for something in return. I didn’t do that. When I became a journalist, I promised myself that I would keep my integrity no matter how crappy the job.
“Here,” Hy handed me a bourbon over a large round ice cube. “I think you’re going to need that.”
“You’re making me nervous.” My hand shook as I held the glass.
“Sorry.” He shrugged again and walked over to the large white couch before sitting down. “Take a load off.”
“Hy, I don’t mean to sound like an asshole, but can you please tell me what the fuck is going on?” I pleaded.
“I will,” I jumped so hard I almost dropped my glass. My nerves were getting the best of me. Tim stood at the entrance with a hard look on his face. “Hi, Sam. Thank you for coming over. I hate to keep you waiting, but those kids won’t go to sleep unless we tell them a bedtime story. Please, sit down.”
“You have a drink on the bar.” Hy leaned back on the couch.
Tim walked over and grabbed his drink before joining Hy on the couch and taking his hand gently in his.
“I am really confused.” I walked over to the large chair that faced them and slowly sat down.
“I’m sure. I should have been the one to tell you instead, but sometimes I get a little woozy after I… How do I explain this?”
“I think we should start with the truth.” Horus’ deep voice said soothingly. He and Apollo walked over to the couch and sat down beside their mates.
“I agree. The rules are in place for a reason, but when you’re named… The truth must be told for him to have a chance.” Apollo glanced at Horus and Tim, who nodded in agreement.
“A chance?” Now, I was starting to freak out. This cryptic conversation they were having was beginning to truly rattle me. “Will someone please tell me what’s going on? You’re freaking me out.”
“Wait. It will only get worse,” Hy frowned. “When I heard the truth, it changed everything.”
“The truth of what?” I gasped.
“Our world.” Tim looked so sad; it only confused me more. “It’s a lot to take in, but… You have to understand before I can tell you anything else, or you would never believe me and possibly think I’m insane.”
Apollo sighed. “What do you know of the old gods, Sam?”
“Greek myths? I mean, we studied it in World Civ when I was in college.”
Apollo grinned. “Not just Greek, but all of the different cultures that have existed throughout time. You’re a shifter?”
“No. I’m a very weak Elemental. I was sick when I was a child, and most of my abilities never grew. I’m a grower,” I answered glumly. It had been a sore spot for my entire life.
“Ah, a caretaker of our planet and all the green spaces we need to survive. You know of the Dryads, then?” Apollo leaned forward and placed his large hands on his knees.
“Tree people? Of course. They are few and far between, but some tribes still exist in the hidden groves.” I managed to still my hand enough to take a sip of the bourbon. It burned as it went down.
“Exactly. You know that Dryads used to be known as minor deities to the people who lived near the wooded areas. Humans would leave them offerings as a way to keep travelers safe as they journeyed through the woods.”
“I didn’t know that.”
“What you need to understand is that the gods are as real as you or me. The Egyptian, Norse, Greek, and so many others – it’s incredibly convoluted and don’t even get me started on how the world was formed and created in so many ways, but it’s true.” Apollo looked at me sadly.
“So…” I frowned. “Zeus lives above us in the clouds?” Yes, I sounded like an asshole. I was just in shock that this was where the conversation went. It was insane.
“No, he lives on Long Island. But does he live? Yes.” Apollo laughed, and I felt a cold chill trickle down my spine.
“Wait. You’re saying that all the gods are real, which matters to me for some reason?” It finally started to make sense, and I was annoyed that they were wasting my time. “I mean, that’s a wild… Are you pitching me a new script or something? This is just weird. Why did you call me over here for this?”
“Maybe it’s best if I…” Apollo stood up and started unbuttoning his shirt. Shit – had I misread this whole thing. Maybe it was an orgy? “You should squint? I’ll try to keep it dim.”
His skin glowed, and I could feel the heat radiate off of him as if I were being bathed in pure daylight. He… How do I say this without sounding insane? He brightened, and the room became so bright in one final burst of sunlight that I had to shield my eyes.
Just as suddenly as he became a living star, the light dimmed once again, and he stood there in front of me with a grim look on his face. “Hi, Sam. My name is actually Apollo, and I’ve been alive for millennia. This is my husband, the Egyptian God Horus, and you know our husbands for who they truly are. This is a secret that we keep so fiercely because if people knew the truth, well… There have been many prophecies about what would happen, and it’s bad. So, we hide who we really are. Our groves are gone, for the most part, and we had to find new ways to be worshipped. Without that, we fade. The two of us became movie stars, the new gods of worship. Others have found other ways to exist. But this has been ours.” He sat back down and smiled as if that explained everything.
I took a deep breath and stared at them before answering. This was not how I expected my day to end. “I am… I mean, you glowed, but does that make you a god? I… I don’t know what to think. Are you trying to get me to join a cult?”
“Nothing like that.” Horus laughed. “All of the old gods exist in this world, and that is all that we want. We want to live and have someone to love.”
Apollo grinned at me, and looking at him standing there half-naked – it was easy to believe he was a god. He looked like one. But that would make no sense. That would change everything I had ever thought about creation and life, wouldn't it?
“They’re eternal, Sam. At least as far as we know. Trust me, I have met a few now, and it’s always… a new experience.” Hy grinned.
“Ok… Let’s say that I believe you. I’m not saying I do, but for the sake of this conversation and me going to bed sometime soon. Fine. Gods exist, and I’m in the living room of two of them.” I was on the verge of running out of here as fast as my feet could carry me.
“Most of us have faded to the point that they have lost most of their power. Now, they exist more or less like everyone else in the magical community,” Apollo replied calmly.
“We have our fans, and Apollo has the sun. As long as there are people who choose to bathe in its light – who choose to put us on a pedestal as celebrities, we have retained most of our power,” Horus replied.
“Horus? What? Do you turn into a hawk? You’re a god-shifter?” I was trying to understand why they needed to share any of this with me. I could ruin them with an expose of their godlike cult if I chose.
“That and more.” He winked, and for a quick second, a blue aura glowed around him.
“Did you just…” I stammered.
“Show him,” Tim whispered. “Show him the book. I think it makes it easier to comprehend.”
Apollo stood and went over to a bookshelf and placed his hand upon a scanner. A small door opened, and he pulled out a leather-bound book. “This is my history in film for the last hundred years.”
“Hundred years?” I smirked.
“Yes. I’ve never aged. I am an eternal being, Sam, as long as I choose to stay.” Apollo walked over, and every muscle in his torso rippled with his movement. It was a nice distraction since my brain was actually imploding.
I took the book from him and opened it. There he was. I flipped through it. Universal, Paramount, MGM, and so many others. Apollo standing with Chaplin at a premiere on Hollywood Boulevard. Chaplin looked so young. Headshots with a different name – a different hairstyle – a beard. How would he have accomplished this if these were real?
I took out my phone, opened IMDB, and found him. I found him under each name, but his appearance altered just enough. Never aging? This was true. I could find the historical records of these people, who were all the same person, but no one had ever noticed. “How? How did you get away with this?”
“Every ten years or so, I would… Disappear or retire. Then, I would come back with a different look. A different hair color, sometimes. Trust me, it’s very hard to dye the hair of a God. I sometimes had to dye my hair almost daily. But this was what I wanted. They wanted to believe, and because of that, I was able to stay in the limelight.”
“This is… Well, this is new. Alright… You are old and haven’t aged in all that time. I’ve never heard of that happening before. And you’re telling me it’s because you are a god?” I was flummoxed. But the truth was here and verifiable on an even quick search.
“Yes.”
“Alright.” I downed my drink. “I don’t have any other explanation, I guess.”
“Then let me continue.” Tim stood up and came to take the glass out of my hand before refilling it and bringing it back to me. “Have a sip. This is going to be the fucked up part.”
I chuckled. “Good God, you all do not know how to break anything gently, do you?”
“It’s best to rip the bandage off fast, Sam. There was a reason that Apollo found me. He is the God of the sun, right? But he’s also the patron god of many other things. The Laurel tree, the arts, and prophecy. Seers are very rare, but you know that they have existed, right? The magical world has a record of them and their prophecies.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “That’s true. They are very rare, but the magical world knows they exist.”
Tim shook his head happily that I wasn’t going to fight him on this part. I think he had been prepared since I had taken everything else with a sneer. “There is always one seer that exists in the universe who is the embodiment of Apollo’s powers. They are called…”
“I know this.” I chuckled. “The Oracle of Delphi.”
“It’s nice to meet you.” He stood there and smiled sadly at me.
“You?” I gasped.
“Sadly, yes. Trust me, I’m not a fan.” Tim looked at me and frowned.
“He’s also never wrong. The true oracle is the only being besides the Fates who can see the future.” Hy’s voice caught me off guard. He had been fairly quiet during all of this.
“But never clearly. It’s always in the form of some kind of prophecy, and it’s usually in verse. It gives me bad headaches. But because of our… close proximity being mates… It has altered and changed in a way that it never has before. Now I also see glimpses and feel things that the oracle has never had the ability to do.”
“That’s why I’m here?” I looked at him and felt my gut clench.
“Yes. I saw something that you need to know. It’s tied into so many other prophecies that I’ve had over the last couple of years. Now it also involves you.” He sounded so sad as he told me this. It almost broke my heart.
“This is just getting weirder.”
“I understand, but that doesn’t make it any less true,” Tim answered sternly. I felt like a teacher had reprimanded me.
“What did you see?” I asked. “Wait… Do I want to know this?”
“You have to.”
“Fine.”
“You have received a package, and I assume that it’s from a group of people that can only be described as terrorists. They are called The Truth, and their goal is to pull back the veil on the magical world. A prophecy I had last year says that the world will burn, and war will come. If truth prevails, the world will fall, fire and brimstone the angels call. It’s a line from my first prophecy about The Truth. Now, I’m afraid that they have their sights set on you, and I can’t figure out why beyond your show. It’s popular even beyond the magical world. But whatever is in that package is meant to ensnare you. Maybe they are trying to recruit you or use you for their nefarious aims. I saw the flash and the face of a man waiting in the darkness of your office. You’re not safe, Sam. That man means you harm.”
My gut told me that Sam believed every word he just spewed onto me. It was too much. But I could feel his fear.
“Is there more? You’re saying I can’t go back to work, and that probably means that I… I can’t go home either, can I?” Did I believe him? I believe that he believed it. If it were true… It meant I was in danger. But why? I was no one.
“No. It’s not safe. If they are waiting for you there, I assume they are looking for you everywhere. I just wish I knew why.” Tim growled. It was actually kind of cute.
“Medea has seen something,” Apollo grunted. “She’s always a step ahead and has been for over a thousand years.”
“Medea? Like the play?” I couldn’t believe I was even starting to believe what they were telling me. But I was.
“Like the witch turned goddess. She suffered so terribly by our carelessness that Hecate turned her into an immortal and bestowed her with many gifts. Her powers have grown. I wouldn’t doubt that she also sees things that should have remained hidden.”
I moaned. “You’re saying she has prophecy, too?”
“No. Not like that, but being a part of the Chthonic goddesses means that she has ways of scrying into the future. Her powers are as dark as the underworld, and I hate visiting Uncle Hades. He’s grumpy and always annoyed.”
“Uncle,” I chuckled. Maybe my mind was finally melting.
“You can stay here if you like.” Hy broke the moment of going crazy by being so nice.
“Probably not a good idea?” Apollo shook his head. “Medea has already set her sights on us once, and I’m sure she probably knows about you being Delphi.
“You think someone would tell her. Doesn’t everyone hate her?” Tim looked at him, confused.
“Like I said, she has her own ways of knowing. He’d be safer with Eros. If anyone can keep him safe, it’s Uncle Eros.”
“Uncle… Isn’t he supposed to be like a little kid with wings?” I tried to imagine that cute little cherub as Apollo’s uncle.
“Just wait. And do not mention Cupid. He hates being compared to him. Eros is the oldest of all living beings that reside on Earth. He’s also the strongest of us, as his entire power is based on emotion. He’s constantly charged. If anyone ever looked like a god – trust me, it’s him.”
Tim went rigid, and the glass slid out of his hand. In a movement so fast that I almost missed it, Horus caught the glass in his outstretched hand. “Tim?” He put his hands on Tim’s shoulders to steady him.
It was the most freaky thing I had ever witnessed. His eyes rolled back in his head, and they went pitch black. The air wheezed out of him as he opened his mouth.
“The stage is set – the lights will dim, but a foe arises from within. If Truth is known, then Truth will win – Magic in the world will end. Only one shall keep her power and it grows stronger by the hour. The sights and sounds of the fray can keep no norm away. From heaven fire will rain – from below a sunken terrain. Pacts are shattered – no friends remain – the world will slide to the insane. If vines there be then vines can save and keep the secret safe away. Behind the curtain – the last trick played, upon the trickster to the grave. His mate will call to no avail. The world has fallen, so ends the tale. Unless the mate can save the trick, only then will the veil stay thick.”
His body went limp, and Horus caught him as he slowly sat him down onto the couch.
“Sorry, that was… I need a glass of water, please?” he asked breathily. “That answers some of our questions, I think.”
“Oh, I have a lot of questions. That was a…” I couldn’t pull my jaw up from the floor. I was now absolutely terrified.
“Yes, a prophecy, and it’s about you. Once spoken, the prophecy cannot be stopped unless the one it’s about takes up the quest.”
“A quest? Like a trip?” I huffed.
“No. You have to figure out what the prophecy means and stop it from happening.” Hy sighed. “I hate when this happens.”
I glanced quickly between them as they stared at me sadly. “What if I don’t?”
“The world will burn and turn into chaos. We go to war – the magical world against the normal one, and neither side will survive.”
“Fuck…”
“There’s someone else that the prophecy doesn’t mention by name, but we can assume it’s about him. He’s in danger, and we need to get to him quick.” Apollo stood up and paced over to the window.
“Who?”
“My brother, Hermes. He’s on the inside of The Truth, trying to find out everything he can and slow them down until we can figure out how to stop them. You look a lot like him, actually, for a human.”
“What am I supposed to do?” I pulled my head down between my knees. The room was starting to spin, and I was not ok.
“You’ll stay here tonight, and tomorrow you will meet the god of love.”
“Sure. Why not?” I laughed. “This is… I think I might get sick…”
I did. I also stared at the ceiling all night as the thought of impending doom felt like a vice around my neck. I knew the others weren’t sleeping either. I could hear them walking around. Then, the oddest thought hit me.
Do gods even sleep?