The Hunters of Artemis: A Siren's Call

3)Stranger Danger

Three hours later, the worst part of boarding a trolley to downtown Kenosha wasn't that I had no real idea where I was going. It wasn't that I spent the last couple hours aimlessly walking or that I started a fight with the only real friend I had in this town. The worst part wasn't even that I was on a trolley that was pretty much going around circles in downtown Kenosha.

It also wasn't the fact that it started raining as night approached. As I stared out my window as the trolley kept making stops and pickups, the very worst part of replaying my argument with Sam was realizing that he probably wasn't wrong. I really was always putting myself in the midst of both our father and Sam's relationships.

I was always contributing my two cents even though I didn't care for their commentary when it came to my own life. I was always causing mischief by pushing my father and brother to their limits, doing all the things I knew I really shouldn't be doing. I've never liked following rules, plain and simple.

It was as I nearly smiled at the thought of how furious our father would be if Sam told him I run off that I realized my brother may have had a point – I am conceited. That was a sad realization.

"Close your eyes and count to ten," I whispered to myself. That was the saying my mom had always told me when Sam and I would struggle with something. Closing your eyes and counting to ten sometimes provided you ten seconds of clarity you wouldn't have had before counting. God help me, I knew I needed the clarity. All I wanted was life to return to the way it had been in my childhood. Mom and dad were both in love and happy. Mom was always around when you needed her. Dad didn't bury himself in work and become an absentee parent. Sam didn't need to multitask playing big brother and alternative parent figure. Back then, I would've been thrilled to be back in Kenosha with my loving but harebrained grandparents. Now as I rode the dark trolley through the downtown area, this town was just a sad reminder I didn't have a happy family life. I hadn't for years.

"Closing eyes and counting to ten; as if that would help anything," an annoyed voice grumbled a couple seats behind me. The man who spoke held an accent that couldn't be placed. It was strangely tinted with maybe an English accent crossing with an Australian one. It took me a moment to register someone had just made fun of my off-hand comment to myself. A female somewhere behind me sighed. "She is mortal, Triton. Human's develop coping mechanisms for when life becomes a tad difficult," she said, her voice sounding as lovely as a gentle breeze. "They are not too different from ourselves, fairly similar, even."

The male snorted at this statement. "Difficult? She is someone who does not look as though she has reached her twenty-first year of living. The fact that young mortals believe they need coping mechanisms is a joke in itself."

It took me a minute to register that the two were talking exclusively about me. It was shocking to think people would be talking this loudly about someone right in front of them. I talk about people behind their back all the time, but at least I could say I held the decency to do it in a whisper. I sunk lower in my seat.

"Perhaps the girl is having a bad day," the female voice allowed, yawning ever so slightly.

"Yes. I bet she has it difficult with her porcelain skin and pretty features. Perhaps she struggles beating men or women away with a broom over their jealousy for her beauty," the man with the lovely accent snorted.

I swiveled my head while trying to overhear the rest of the strange conversation. Were they still talking about me? It seemed as though they were. "You seem to be forgetting you are a mortal at night, friend. One who must rely on human transportation to transport himself places."

The male softly laughed. "I gather you are trying to strike a point, Ara?"

"My point, old friend, is that you should have thought about speaking about the mortal in front of her while she is able to hear you. Now, you have just let on that you are speaking about her. Why else is she craning her neck to listen in on your words?"