Daughter of Hades

Chapter Eleven

Melinoe

It took me over ten minutes to remember that I'm standing out on the porch and another five minutes to trudge up the stairs to my bedroom. As I reach my bed I flop on to it facing my ceiling. The stars that helped me fall to sleep when I was little, hold an entirely new meaning to me. Stars hold the infinite possibility to expand. If they expand to fast they blow up. That's what my life feels like right now. I have so much new information in my head I feel like it will explode. My stomach is being attacked by mutant butterflies with a vengeance, in fact some of the butterflies turned into mutant pterodactyls and eating the rest of the mutant butterflies.

I'm probably one of the few adopted kids in the world who has never thought about their birth parents. Look where that's got me. Adopted children spend their whole lives searching for their birth parents and here I am. A seemingly ordinary girl who was told that not only was her birth parent alive, but that he was the freaking KING of the Underworld. It wasn't bad enough that I saw ghosts? Now I have to have the evilest dad in the entirety of Greek mythology!

Absently I thumb my locket. Ever since Drake told me that I should open it, I haven't been able to stop touching it. I've tried opening it hundreds of times and I figured it was rusted shut so I never tried again. It been five years since I tried opening it and its probably just more rusted than before. But I can't stop the feeling that I should try it. If I did that would mean that deep down I believe the insanity Drake was telling me.

Before I know what I'm doing my thumb nail becomes wedged between the two pieces of gold. If I were to wiggle my nail even slightly, I would be going along with this idea. I pull my hand back, but my nail must have shifted wrong because the two pieces of metal spring apart. Nothing happens and as crazy as it sounds I'm disappointed. Then I think about what's inside and I hope it has a picture of my birth mother, just so I can know if we look alike.

I grab each piece of metal and gently pry them apart. Unlike before a gust of wind hits my face and I look at my window; closed. I look back down at the locket and drop it. Coming out of the gold locket is a golden vine of light. It sways back and forth like a snake as it comes closer to me. I'm completely frozen as it comes closer. My heart beats so fast I wonder if I'm having a heart attack, as it finally brushes my skin. I cry out as it blends into my skin. It feels as if extreme heat is being pressed to my skin. Its like the first time you see a fire when your little and you go to touch the beautiful colors, but as soon as your fingers touch the flame, you realize that beauty can be dangerous. Just as fast as it came the burning disappears and a feeling unlike any other invades me. It's like all the fear I've ever felt is suddenly gone and I could do anything.

A snap brings my attention to the locket closing. The golden vine of light has faded into my skin leaving me feeling powerful. I hesitantly walk towards the locket and pick it up. I lift the chain up and it begins to thicken in my hand, becoming a full-on chain, but not a plain metal chain, Weirdly it doesn't feel heavy, it's as light as it was when it dangled from my neck. As I pull the chains up and lay it over my arm, I notice what used to be my moon shaped locket, is now a sickle shaped knife. It begins to turn red in my hand. It looks as if its been place in an extremely hot fire, but its cold to my touch. The deepening red continues to spread throughout the chain until it reaches both ends. As soon as the entire chain is encompassed in red, small wisps of flames spark from it.

I look up at my window and see my reflection. It's still me, but I'm holding this molten gold chain that's on fire with a sickle shaped knife swinging threateningly from the end. I admit that the person staring back at me does look badass with the dangerous looking weapon in my hand. I smile at the absurdity and give my wrist a flick letting the gold chain leave my wrist. It makes a sizzling noise as it hits my floor, but the second the last of the chain leaves my hand it turns right back into my necklace.

I walk over to my necklace to see if it will turn into a chain again and the second my skin touches the chain it elongates and turns back into the molten chain with the sickle knife dangling from the end. I grab it with both hands and pull my hands apart from each other to test the strength of the chain, but when I pull the chain, it comes with my hand and the chain becomes even longer. I turn look to my left to see my reflection in the window again, just to make sure this is all real, but what I see confirms that I am certifiably insane. Reflecting at me from my window is the same face I woke up to, but two red spheres are poking out of my forehead. And with shock I realize, their horns. I'm growing horns! Not only that, but resting at the top of my shoulder blades are two bones that bend at an angle and continue another 3 and a half feet down my back and past my butt. On the bone lies a thick skin the houses thousands of feathers. I flex my shoulder blades and the gigantic wings expand outward, smashing into the window and breaking it. To make matters worse below my lower back is a long red tail ending with an arrow point.

I gasp as I take in the whole picture and I drop the necklace. It falls to the floor with a thud and immediately turns back into a necklace. My head snaps up and I look into the window again to see my reflection and I breathe deeply at what I see. My forehead no longer has horns, my back no longer has wings and the tail is no longer present. It's just me the same way I have looked at for the last eighteen years of my life.

I stare at the locket and think back to what Drake said. "Melinoe?" I wonder aloud. "Melinoe Princess of the Underworld." As I repeat it a few times I realize that a normal person would be freaking out right now, well a lot more than I am anyway, but instead I'm excited about learning that I'm more than an everyday human, maybe not as excited to learn I have a tail. But then again, it seems crazy that seeing a ghost isn't the craziest thing that happened to me this week.