A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

11 | Omicron

The mark, Omicron (ο), is a privilege only given to those who were born into one of the original Hunter families, namely the Laskaris, Castellanos, Drakos and Speros families. This mark gives Hunters the ability to read Greek writings without the need for any learning of the Greek language.

***

There was a strained silence in the car as Daniel drove Astrid back home. He had royally screwed up any chance he might have had with her now...

"Astrid?" he asked nervously.

Astrid didn't respond as she continued to watch the cars pass by out the passenger window.

Daniel cleared his throat and continued to speak, "there's something you should probably know."

"What?" she asked irritably, crossing her arms and staring ahead.

"That key we found, it has three teeth, right?" he asked.

Astrid silently retrieved it from the glasses case she had hidden it inside and looked at it intently.

"Yeah?" she mumbled.

"I think I've seen that key before," Daniel flinched as he anticipated her response.

"You what?" Astrid asked incredulously as she looked over at him, "and you're only saying this now?"

"I know, I'm sorry. I should have told you sooner. I just really wanted to spend some time with you outside of hunting. I see now, I was wrong."

"You're unbelievable! Where did you see it?" she asked angrily.

Daniel let out a sigh, "my family has a journal they've passed down through the generations.It's technically mine now. I can't exactly remember what it said about the key, but I know where to find the book. It's somewhere in my house," he said seriously.

"Then we should really go and get it," she huffed, crossing her arms.

Daniel swallowed hard as silence shrouded the car once again. He really messed up this time. She probably hated him now.

***

It was late afternoon by the time they had arrived at Daniel's apartment. It was going to get dark soon.

Astrid stuck a couple of throwing knives into her boots and then strapped a knife belt around her waist, before packing throwing knives into the pouch attached to it and sliding her short sword into its place.

They walked in silence up the stairs until they made it to the second floor. Daniel eventually stopped in front of a door - number 13.

Daniel unlocked the door and waited for Astrid to enter the dark room first. He followed shortly after and flicked the lights on to reveal a humble apartment that sparsely furnished. It looked like a typical bachelor pad.

"Is your mom home?" Astrid whispered.

"No, she's probably at the bar by now," Daniel said, checking the time on his phone.

"Oh," Astrid replied.

She looked around the apartment, feeling unsure of what to do with herself. It felt so strange being in Daniel's private space.

"So where do we start looking?" she asked uncertainly.

"It's probably in my room somewhere," he shrugged, walking through a door to their right. Astrid stood awkwardly at the door as she watched Daniel scan the bookshelf on one of the walls.