This Never Happened (Olympus Drive Chronicles)

Part 7- Cattle theft is a crime (also I am kidnapped)

So I'll back up a little prior to me being kidnapped. Again. I mean like, I realize I'm technically kidnapped right now.  But like, more kidnapped. Anyway.

It took a while for us to find a boat to take us to the island Dara specified. I confess I was entirely complacent in that. I had no rock to cling to anymore. No hope of a meaningless revenge. I had Juno, and Ian, and we could pretend our days would last forever.

It was over a week before the boat could be chartered. And we were content to fill those days with walks on the beach and lazy, long lunches in the cafes, Ian and I hopelessly trying to speak Greek. Then in the evenings after a fire on the beaches, we would retire to the hotel. And Juno and I would slip off to her room, to make love until I could no longer have strength to think of anything at all.

Ian must've known we were together, at that point. He was old enough. I suppose it was sordid of us to have an affair so obviously around him, holding hands, touching faces, her sitting too close to me. He said nothing. I said nothing. I was beyond explaining my dead man's lack of chastity, my morbid obedience to her charms. She wanted me, I knew. So she could have me. I was aware she was entirely likely to be my half-sister. I asked her to take away at least that doubt from my mind. She did, if only because that was the only way which she would have me.

I cared little. I still do. It is the least of my crimes. I could not become more disgusting to myself than I already was. And until you have known the horrible loneliness of knowing there is no creature out there that could be prevailed upon to love you as you are, then you cannot know how willingly I went to her arms each night. Wanting to believe however long I could be of some value.

And so our days passed all too quickly. And my pretended peace was at an end. And we were chartered to the island.

"Apparently ever since a disaster some years ago, the island is deserted except for some cattle who are quite violent towards tourists," Juno read off her sister's notes.

"So what, we are literally Supernatural Pest Control?" Ian asked, leaning too close to the edge of the ship for my comfort.

"Yes, basically that is what I am. You two will stay on the boat," I instructed.

Juno rolled her eyes at me. We both knew fully well she was far more deadly than I to man or beast.

"It's my dumb job. I will at least go and look around," I reasoned, "You two can come help if the animal is quiet or whatever but all three of don't need to go tripping around the island getting attacked by wild animals."

In truth, Juno probably would have gone with me if it had just been the two of us, but as Ian was there she reluctantly agreed to stay so that he would. As it was, she agreed, and I went ashore alone to look around and see if I could catch a bull.

Did I have any idea how I was gonna do that?

Absolutely not! I did not come into this experience with plans.

In fact, by the time the bull gored me, I was just wandering around thinking about how the quest would be over eventually and I'd have to decide what to do. Or what it would bring me. Or where I'd go. Ask to die again? Live? For my brother, for my nephew the only semblance of a family I have? I supposed that was noble but entirely hard for me. Even after that night on the beach, there were still hours I forgot how to breath and wished it all to be over. Those ghosts of the past, such a pleasure to me in life, now in their death simply haunting my mind.

Anyway. That's what I was thinking about and that's  why I didn't notice when the bull sneaked up on me and gored me.

By gored, I mean the horn going directly through my stomach and pushing important sort of things out.