The Red Stone

The Red Stone - Chapter 2

An unexpected surprise

While I was staring frozen at the man looking at me, thousands of questions ran through my head. Some of them were the frustrated questions like "Who is he? What is he doing here? Why is he staring at me?" And some of those questions were answered in my head. "Like I even care" I thought. "Maybe he was just one of my mom's partners in the station." Everything was new in this town from me that lately it was so normal being a curious person. Okay, maybe curious wasn't only the word that described me at those moments. My head was so messy ever since we left our home I just couldn't do anything else but to make sure that this new place was going to be the same or even better than my old life.

"wait, is he going to get inside? Really?" Usually there are no visitors in this house except the guys who got in and painted my bedroom.

The stranger came inside, so I walk out of my room and went down the stairs carefully; trying not to make a sound to announce my arrival. I went down step by step, slowly, smelling the crambled eggs and bacon my mom cooked. Usually she doesn't even touch the kitchen; I did almost all the cooking but today was different. I was the first that arrived to the kitchen, so that gave me time to prepare myself and act like I didnt see anything or like I didnt care. Because he saw me. But my mother didnt. The eggs and bacon smelled delicious. I wish that my mother cooked more often; still that won't happen. I placed one egg and some bacon in my plate and grabbed milk from the fridge. When I sat down I realized that although this was a evry special breakfast, I couldnt eat anything. Before asking myself why, I heared steps going inside the kitchen. First of all my mom came in. She was mid tall with green eyes and blond hair; just like me. I wish I was that beautiful though; she always arrived with a bright smile on her face, one I could never make. Then he got inside the kitchen and all the questions that were made in my mind suddenly came in like a flash of a camera hitting my eyes. A sudden and unexpected shiver went through me and I tried to seem distracted. My mom was the first breaking the silence.

- Good morning sweetheart! I hope you slept well last night.

When she realized I wont answer she continues

-"Oh..." -she laughed- "where are my manners? Kat, this is uh...." -she hesitated and looked at the man instead. That surprised me a little. Did she forgot his name? Did she forgot to ask? Or was it something else? The third question was the right one I guess because the man replied while holding out his hand towards me.

-"Ares, the god of war."

I tried not to laugh. Of course I didn't believe him....at first. I shook his hand inmediately after he answered.

-"Is that suppossed to be a joke or something?"

Suddenly I started feeling a sudden pain in my hand; he was squeezing my hannd too tightly. A painful look ran over my face and I tried not to gasp as well.

-"I never make that kind of jokes" -he said and I nodded. "Is he really the god of war?" .

Then he added - "well, aren't you going to sit down again? You were having breakfast." - I sat down again on the round table and looked at him, then back to the plate. The wooden table had four chairs matching perfectly. My mom sat on my right and the "suppossed" Ares sat across me and served himself a bit of scrammbled eggs in his plate. It didn't make any sense. I am not stupid; I read greek mythology since I was a kid when my mom started teaching me about it. I knew exactly who Ares was. He was the greek olympian god of war. At first he wasn't a god, but Zeus made him one. His throne is made of the skulls he fought. I tried to act like I believed him, to see how far he got.

-"So, if you are the god of war, aren't you supposed to be at the Olympus?"

Ares stiffled a laugh -"The Olympus is boring. I decided it was better to check up on you."

-"On me? Why?"

Suddenly my mom turned pale. I never saw that color on her face, except when she was too nervous, but that only happened a few times. As a cop, she needs to stay calm at all times and show no fear. But now she did. I looked at him and then back at my mother again. He saw where I was looking too and he looked at her. Inmediately she looked away. I decided to change topic; I wasn't being of any help at all. Although I couldn't help wondering why. What were they hidding from me? I pretended to cough a bit and continue.

-"Nevermind, I think i should go now." -I didn't want to leave my mom alone with that guy. He looked like he was completely insane. But what else I could do? I was afraid I made things worse just with my presence. So I stood up and he inmediately rose too.

-"I think that you should sit down". -He wan't asking. He meant it. I sat down and he did so then.

I couldn't help it -"What is going on?"

-"For all this years you have been dissapointing me. Now it's time you make me proud for once and for all."

-"What do you mean?" - I replied. I watched with the corner of my eye at my mom. She wished to speak but she couldn't.

He spoke again -"You are my daughter, and it's time to fulfill your duties".

I paled just like my mother. -"What are you..." -I never could finish the sentence because I saw a light hitting my eyes. Just like a camera. But this time was real. My mother stared at me while he looked amused. He wasnt looking at me, but above me. I lifted my face up and saw it; a symbol. I didn't know what it meant but then I started to feel weight over my hand. And when I looked at it, I saw a sword. It was an iron silver sword with a black leather grip.

-"Woah!" -I stood up of the chair rapidly and took a few steps back making the chair fall. How did this appeared in my hand? It didnt look heavy and it matched my black nail polish. Wait, black nail polish? I saw the black sleeves in my arms. But I wanst wearing a jacket. I automatically look at myself. From shorts, a blue tank top and simple sandals, I turned to black pants, a blood red t-shirt and black boots. Fear, confusion and surprise were the feelings I had that moment. I turned to look at him but he wasn't there. He vanished. My mother was still staring at me. And from that moment I did believed him at some point. He wasn't normal, nor human. Otherwise how could this have happened? I couldn't ask any more questions because I felt the house shake. It was like steps, huge steps. I looked out of the window and I saw what I thought i would only see in movies or in book covers. A monster.

My mother reacted before I did. She grabbed my arms and made me face her while I was still in shock. While she was staring at me I saw her eyes were full of confidence but I didn't know why. She said firmly

-"Run. And don't look back."- And I did.