As Long As I Live

Things couldn't possibly get worse

Here's the thing- you can only act like you don't care about the half goat-half human in your house for so long. I lead Oliver to my neighborhood, and we scampered towards my door. I fumbled for my keys, and speedily unlocked the front door. I ushered the satyr in, and slammed the entry. I leaned on the wall, trying to catch my breath, until I heard my mother call from the kitchen. "Y/n? Is that you." 

My eyes widened in panic, and I quickly pushed Oliver into a nearby room. "What are you doing?!" He huffed. "Just stay here!" I replied, shutting him in the room.

Mom called again for me; this time, her voice was closer. "Y/n?" I answered this time. 

"Yeah. It's me!" I gave my best innocent smile. She seemed to buy it, I just hoped it stayed that way. "Why are you home so early? Shouldn't you be at school?" This one caught me off guard. I hadn't thought of an excuse for being home three hours early, and much less hiding a mythical creature behind me. "Umm.. there uh, there was a fire. Yeah! A fire!" I winced. That was probably the worst lie in the history of lies. Mom raised her eyebrows. "A fire, huh." She didn't look convinced.

Unfortunately, I had already said it, and couldn't take it back, so I kept going. "Yes, and I was really brave and I heroically escaped the school on my own!"

"Yeah, sure you did." Oliver's voice rang out from behind me. I froze, giving my mother a weary smile. She looked at me quizzically. "Y/n, who's that?"

"Uhhhh, i-it's just my friend that I saved from the fire." My voice came out an octave higher than usual. Oliver rattled the knob. "Lemme out!" He whined. Mom went over to the door, and let him out. With a start, I realized that he had discarded his human disguise. Mom gasped, jumping back with surprise. "Hello ma'am." Oliver said politely, fixing his baseball cap. "Can I talk wi-" I quickly interrupted him by covering his mouth with my hand, and pushed him behind me. 

"Uhh, you saw nothing! Okay?" But I knew it was too late. Mom gave me a quizzical look, probably contemplating whether to whack me over the head or rush me to the hospital. I could almost feel Oliver glaring at me from behind.

"Y/n." She said slowly. "What is going on?"

How she stayed calm, I have absolutely no clue. I sighed in defeat, and let Oliver speak. He shot me one last grudging glance, then turned to my mother. "Ma'am, as I was saying, we need to go." 

Mom looked down at his goat feet, and seemed to understand what he meant. She nodded. "You're right. I've waited too long." 

"Wait. Wha-" I started to ask, but she cut me off. "I'll explain in the car." I was pretty shocked, so I didn't question it. We all shuffled into the Toyota and we sped off, completely ignoring all safety precautions. "So, can someone explain something to me?" I asked. "What in the name of Sam Hill is going on here!?"

Mom looked like she was mentally slapping herself. "Look, Y/n. There's something that I should've told you a long time ago. You're not like other kids."

"Wow. Thanks mom. I'm very inspired."

"Y/n, just listen. Your father, he was a very special man. Very charming."

I turned towards my mother, ready for her to just get to the point. "Haven't heard this one before."

"All you need to know is that he was special, which makes you special. It'll all make sense very soon."

Now, you were getting angry. "Yeah mom? It'll make sense, huh. When? When will I be enlightened?"

Mom whispered under her breath. "Very soon."

We pulled up on the side of the road, and mom handed me a backpack, which held my ukulele, some food, and other random supplies. All the things you'd need to go camping in the middle of nowhere with a satyr. "This is as far as I can take you." Her eyes glistened with tears as she grabbed one more thing, my bow, and a quiver full of arrows.

"What do you mean?" I asked, fearing the answer. "You have to continue on your own now. Y/n, listen to Oliver. He'll keep you safe until you reach the camp." I looked at her like she was crazy. "Camp?! What ca-" A roaring sound in the distance cut me off. We all froze, and turned our heads. Oliver whimpered. "A manticore."

Oh geez. Things couldn't possibly get any worse.

Hey guys! It's me back with an update! I know, it's been forever, but I'm trying with all this school stuff and whatnot. Anyway. That's all I have to say for now. So yeah!