Silent Solitude

Chapter 23

Once upon a time, my mother had told me that some stars didn't shine as bright because they were farther away. I had asked her why, but she hadn't had an answer.

Sometimes, stars were further away because they wanted to hide. That was my personal take. Sometimes, the stars were thousands of lightyears behind, and they wanted an escape.

A constellation that nearly always hid from sight, Andromeda.

One of Grave's favorites. Her story was often side by side with Medusa's—my personal favorite.

Andromeda had been a beautiful mortal and daughter of King Cepheus and Queen Cassiopeia. Her parents angered the gods, telling everyone she was more beautiful than Aphrodite herself. So, she was sentenced to be sacrificed, but Perseus, a hero, asked to marry her if he killed the monster she was sacrificed to.

She was one of the few in Greek mythology with a happy ending.

Medusa, on the other hand, was tragic. 

She was originally one of the Gorgon sisters and devoted her life to worshiping Athena. Those who did so needed to be virgins their entire life, to commit. One day, however, Medusa meets Poseidon, God of the Sea, and he raped her. Vulnerable and weak, Poseidon left her at Athena's temple, and the goddess cursed her to turn any man who looked at her, into stone.

She was cursed for being raped. Which honestly sounded a little too relatable.

Even now, as I arrived to the local bar, I'd wondered if I was cursed.

It probably hadn't been a wise choice to drive in my current state, but I'd driven high before, and it wasn't to the point where I couldn't control myself. It was a few minutes of a drive, 10 to be exact. The roads had been bare, and I hadn't had it in me to care. I'd stopped by home to change and get ready, so by the time I'd left, I'd had plenty of time to sober up.

Austin met me outside "Everyone's here, it's been a while since we've all been together."

I smiled. "Indigo told me about your condition, how are you feeling?"

"Nothing sleep couldn't fix," he joked, but I gave him a look.

"You sure you're okay?"

He smiled. "I'm okay Josie, don't you worry your pretty little head," he grabbed my hand. "Everyone's waiting, we can talk later, but just enjoy yourself tonight," he paused for a second and watched as I stumbled. "Are you drunk?"

I shook my head. "Nope."

He frowned. "Are you high?"

I nodded "Just a little."

"Right," he sighed "I'll make sure you aren't alone tonight,"

I liked that.

Nobody would hurt me if I wasn't alone.

I let him pull me to our friends. They were sitting at a more secluded table, everyone held a drink but Roman and Magnus.

Leslie spotted me first and rushed up to greet me. That distracted me from the nerves I got as I glanced at Roman.

"Josephine! You came!" she was clearly drunk, but not as much as a few days ago, which was a relief. We were also at a bar, so I assumed she was using it as an excuse to drink more than she could usually get away with. She looked down at my dress and squealed. "It looks so pretty on you. And the bag! So adorable."

"Thank you. I love your necklace, it's so cute," I complimented.

A small little sun with a pink gem in the hollowed middle.