Anti-Hero || Leo Valdez

44 - Snake Queen Gives Me a Flashback and More Trauma

someone on wattpad asked for "why does the universe hate me >:(" aka via's "angry playlist," referenced in chapter 6, so i just threw this together lol. https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6euPZWkBfrCIRojGar8W6v?si=751325e659c14d07 When she's really mad and feeling that feminine rage she exclusively listens to Scene Queen :)

"Smooth Criminal!"

"No, Thriller!"

"Smooth Criminal!"

"Thrillerrrrrr!"

"Ughhh, you just don't like it cuz you're scared of the zombies."

"No, I don't like it cuz it's really hard."

This scene seemed familiar.

"But also because of the zombies."

"Viaaaaa, you think everything about zombies is scary. That's why you're too scared to play Plants v.s. Zombies."

This had happened before.

"I had three nightmares!"

Via looked around at her childhood home, and the day came rushing back to her.

Seven-year-olds Via and Pat were currently home from school because they had lice, and the shower caps that hid their mayonnaise-covered hair was proof of that. Their mother, aunt, and grandparents, who had to alternate babysitting around their work schedules, had allowed them to neglect their homework and watch tv and play games on their iPads. Currently they were in the den, because it was their grandparents' house and that generation had a front room and a den instead of just one living room. The twins had been playing Michael Jackson: The Experience on their PS3 for the last thirty minutes, and they could never agree on which songs to dance to.

"Neeeeeee-naaaaaaa, Via won't let me pick Thriller for Michael Jackson!" Pat yelled, throwing his head back. He had a blue band-aid on his chin. Via remembered why: the previous day they'd been running up and down the hallway pretending to be Sarah and Bailey's horses from Horseland. Pat had failed to clear a stack of pillows they'd been using as a jump and got a bad case of rug burn.

Catalina, who was currently babysitting while their mother was working, popped her head out of the kitchen. A box of Hamburger Helper was in her hand (Everyone in the family except Grandpa John was famously bad at cooking anything that didn't have clear, written instructions, and none of the adults had a lot of time to cook between their jobs and Catalina's college courses). Wow, this was a really long time ago. Nina hadn't even adopted Vada yet.

"Why don't you guys do The Way You Make Me Feel?" she suggested.

"Oooooh," Tiny Via and Little Pat crooned, excitedly clicking on it. That was one of the only songs they could agree on, the others being Bad and Don't Stop Til You Get Enough. They liked them not just because they liked the songs, but also because their difficulty was either easy or medium. As the song started up and the twins started dancing (though it wasn't that good, because they were seven), Via felt a wave of nostalgia.

This had been her life; living with everyone who mattered: her mom, her grandparents, and Catalina; her only concerns were getting to chose the song for the Michael Jackson Just Dance spinoff, making sure she and Pat got exactly the same amount of everything whether it be chocolate or chores (so it was fair), and begging her mom for a pet. The only monsters that plagued her dreams were the zombies from Plants v.s. Zombies, and the only arrows she'd ever shot had come from her plastic Merida archery set, and they had little suction cups on them.

This had been her life before she discovered she was a demigod and everything came crashing down and her life was ruined by monsters and war and struggling for survival.