The Child of Hecate

Chapter One - Who am I and Why am I in a Bus?

"We'll arrive in 5 minutes! Stay with your partner. Don't lose your worksheet. And if any of you precious little cupcakes cause any kind of trouble on this trip, I will personally send you back to the campus the hard way."

That was the first thing I heard when I woke up. From even a single look at the speaker, I immediately knew his name and I assure you that I have never even met him before. Coach Hedge was the name that popped up in my head when his eyes met mine, he wore a baseball cap and held a bat in his hand as if he was warming up and going to hit a homer. Hedge had a wispy goatee and a sour face, like he'd been kicked in the groin and the pain lasted for eons.

I admit he looked pretty intimidating, if only he wasn't only five feet flat.

I heard someone from the back say, "Stand up, Coach!" Nevertheless, it made Hedge mad. He scanned the bus for the offender then his gaze stuck to me. I felt my blood roam faster in my veins, my eyes widening due to his unspoken false accusation but then I noticed he wasn't looking at me.

He was looking at the guy behind me.

The guy behind me, Jason (I think, still don't know where these names are coming from), looked paralyzed with fear. I could literally feel the chills going down his spine.

It was a bad move turning my head that fast; my neck was still stiff from sleeping against the window. Jason and the girl sitting next to him, Piper (I demand to know what part of my mind is supplying me with names of people I don't know), were having a pretty serious conversation and Jason took all of it as new information, as if he just knew about these things a few seconds ago:

Jason: Can he talk to us that way?

Piper: Always does. This is the Wilderness School, where the kids are animals.

Jason: -mutters- This has to be some kind of mistake...

Suddenly, the boy next to me, Leo (I am so done asking myself how I know these things), turned to face Jason, "Yeah right, Jason. This is all fake, we're actually being framed! I didn't run away six times and Piper didn't steal a BMW."

Even with my back turned, I could feel the heat rushing to Piper's cheeks in embarrassment, "I did not steal that car, Leo!"

Leo nodded, playing along with her, "Right! You talked the dealer into lending the car to you!" He said with a laugh before he sank back to his seat. He turned to me with a ridiculous looking smile on his face, "Huh, can you believe her?"

I don't know how to respond to that. Yes? No? Does he even know me? Do I know me? Wow, keep up with these philosophical questions, what's-your-face. Yep, we're getting somewhere. I know everyone's name on this bus aside my own; did I hit my head on the way here?

Leo took the pen nestled in my ear (I didn't even realize I had a pen), "So," He said, writing his name on the worksheet, "Not talking, huh? Well, page me if you do." I wanted to talk to him; I just didn't know what to say. I kept my eyes on the worksheet, the name Leo Valdez in red ink on the top right corner. He looked up at me; I quickly reverted forcibly looking outside the window. Leo poked me in the shoulder with the pen and held out the worksheet to me, "I hope it's okay if we share the thing, I used mine days ago for spit wads." I nodded in agreement, I wasn't even going to use the sheet, "Hey, did I spell your name right?"

I took the thing from him and saw that he connected his name to mine with an ampersand.

Leo Valdez & Angela Márquez

So that's my name! Thanks, Leo.

"Yeah," I nodded again, "That's right."

He looked at me in astonishment and looked to the heavens, "She speaks! Oh my, praise the lord for the miracle set upon this day!" Leo said his arms on my shoulders like he was going to cleanse me of the Holy Spirit.

I couldn't help but laugh at him, "Dude! Stop it." More laughter, Leo proceeded to say random things and made them sound like he was performing an exorcism on yours truly, "And by the power invested to me by whowantstobeanexorcist.com, I cleanse thy Angela of the evil set upon her by the rancid beef and cheese tacos that this abysmal school provided."

I barely know the guy, but he was pretty cool. It made me reconsider it whenever I see the mischievous look on his face, should I trust him around sharp objects or assume he's on some kind of "substance" that keeps his fingers going wild, fiddling with the buttons of his army fatigue jacket.

Either he was high on sugar and caffeine or just naturally very hyper.

"Leo," He was still laughing, I tried to stop him. I felt a presence of some kind approaching even if there was none on the bus, "Leo, dude, stop it." I slapped his hand off my shoulder and then looked him dead in the eyes, "Stop it."

The bus stopped abruptly, making the people onboard go wild and the lights started to flicker. He looked at me oddly as if I had something written on my face.

"Someone's cranky from their 5 hour nap," Leo said raising his eyebrow at me, "What the big deal?" I looked to the front and saw Coach Hedge struggling to get back up on his feet, "He's going to come up to us." I managed to say without stuttering, Leo was giving me a harsh look as if I deeply offended him.

He shrugged in return, "He's on the steps of the bus doors, why do you even think he's going to approach us?" My eyes averted to Coach Hedge who was now behind Leo, "What's going on Valdez?" He asked.

Leo sneaked a look at me, well, how about that!

I told you so.

He looked at Hedge and motioned to his ear, "Sorry Coach! We were having trouble hearing you, could you possibly use you megaphone and repeat that last bit again?" Leo asked. Hedge grunted like he was pleased to have an excuse, he went back to the front and unclipped the megaphone from his belt, repeating the instructions he given earlier.

But instead, his voice came out like Darth Vader.

The second time he tried, the megaphone blared out and said, "THE COW GOES MOO!"

I looked back at Leo, stifling a laugh, "How?" He winked at me and grinned cheekily, "I am a special boy." The laughter was broken by Jason, asking us who he was and what he was doing here. Leo and Piper looked at him oddly, taking his question as some kind of prank. He looked really confused, serious even.

Leo glanced at me and turned my head back to turn away from Jason, "Don't worry about it, he's just joking. Probably trying to get me back for that shaving cream on his Jell-O thing from last week, aren't you?" Leo asked Jason.

Jason really looked genuinely and truly scared, "Man, I am not joking!"

Leo's grip on my shoulder made me remain in my seat, keeping me away from looking at Jason. I heard muffled voices then, as if Leo had asked them to keep it that way to prevent me from hearing them. I heard mentions of my name and the words serious, afraid, and I can't.

You can't what, Leo?

I heard a loud thump at the front, I saw Coach Hedge with his megaphone smashed to bits on the bus floor, "THAT'S IT! The back row just earned a week of clean up duty!" The kids in the back muttered curses, loud enough for the others to hear but somehow muted so Coach couldn't.

Leo jumped back next to me and sighed, "There's a shocker." I leaned closer to my seat, looking closer to the faces of Piper and Jason through the wedge,

Piper: Did you hit your head or something? You really don't know who we are?

I saw traces of anxiety and helplessness in Jason's face, "It's worse than that, okay? I don't even know who I am."