The Grace Curse

Chapter Twenty-One

I AWOKE TO FIND MYSELF LYING DOWN ON A BED. My eyes gradually began to refocus; Bethany was standing over me looking a little nervous.

Something buzzed. "Wake up ding dong!"

"Shut up Ferrum," I growled. "Where are we?"

Bethany made a nervous face. "The Florian Hotel and Resort, I found those two people you described Aaron and Zoe, we all brought you in. The staff was uh, very...helpful," I cocked my head to the side, Bethany seemed concerned.

I bolted up, now fully awake. "Where is Blake? Where are we? Where is this place? Ah!"

Bethany raised an eyebrow and looked me puzzled. "I...didn't ask the staff. When we got out of the Labyrinth I was standing in front of this place with you. As for your friend, well...I haven't seen him anywhere, didn't Apollo say something about him?" I felt my heart sink. This was my fault. If I would have cooled down and let Blake find me he wouldn't be missing. "Don't think on it too much, I'm sure he's fine," I knew Blake was not fine, Apollo made it clear he was going to hurt him. I decided to tell Bethany what had happened in my memory and how Apollo appeared to me. "He's trying to get to you Chase, don't let him, it's his goal. We'll get Blake back, I promise, just believe in me a little,"

"I know," I looked down. I rubbed my head and felt that it was bald again. Great back to being ugly.

"I barely got you here in time," She continued. "Something was chasing me in the Labyrinth, we are lucky,"

I turned to her. "What about Zoe and Aaron? Have you seen them?"

Bethany shrugged her shoulders and walked from the other side of the room to me. "They're downstairs in the Café, why don't you freshen up first? You seem like you need to. There's a shower and a hot tub. I think it's safe to say you deserve it after all you've been through,"

I nodded and turned away in embarrassment. "OK, give me like fifteen minutes, I'll be down. Please tell the others what happened," Bethany nodded and exited the room. The hotel room door shut with a soft thud.

...

It honestly felt so good to finally take a shower after all the running and fighting. The physical and mental grime washed away with the steaming hot water leaving behind my already tender exposed skin. All the anxiety of Apollo and losing Blake dulled for a moment allowing me to finally breathe. I thought of Ferrum and her determination to help me. I couldn't allow Blake to be just a sacrifice to keep me from Apollo. I cleared my mind and shut off the water. A huge fluffy white towel was on the rack near the shower, I took one off and proceeded to thoroughly dried myself off. I looked into the foggy mirror above the sink and saw my form. My face was still covered in horrible scars and large Greek symbols that it clouded any kind of handsomeness I once had. It also didn't help that I had no hair or eyebrows. How could anyone ever love this? I seriously hoped I'd find a way to undo this, I wouldn't be able to live like this for the rest of my life. No, there's no way.

In the bedroom, I found my clothes washed and folded...weird. I changed back into my now clean blue shirt and shorts. It was refreshing to finally be clean and pristine once more, even though my appearance had hindered that.

I picked up Ferrum and spoke to her. "You know, we barely had time to talk to each other,"

She buzzed in response. "Yeah, I'll be honest with you, I've gained a lot of respect for you Chase. At first, I thought you were very naïve and conceded; but you've proven otherwise, I think you can prove that Apollo's curse means nothing on you!"

"Aww, thanks Ferrum," I smiled. It was a rare sight for me anymore. "I really appreciate all your help, and I want to help you someday become a human again,"