A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

13 | Epsilon

The symbol Epsilon (ε) is given to a Hunter that successfully kills a Siren while it is in an animal form. This mark gives the Hunter a heightened sense of smell, much like that of an animal.

***

Astrid examined herself in the mirror with an emotionless face. She never usually put any thought into how she looked, but she knew Rose would complain if she didn't make an effort to look nice.

She pulled out a long-sleeved, bottle green shirt which Rose had given her for her birthday and slipped it on. She opted for her favourite pair of black jeans and her combat boots, one of the two pairs of shoes she owned.

She looked over at her weapons belt longingly but knew she could never wear it to a party. She couldn't bring herself to go completely defenceless, however, so she decided to hide two small throwing knives in her boots.

She felt a familiar knot form in her stomach at the thought of the party she agreed to attend. She wondered how Rose would act, now that she was single again. She recalled the days before Rose had started dating David and a visible shiver racked through her.

Rose had a history of hooking up with random guys, knowing perfectly well how much it used to upset her and Sam. She wished Rose would treat herself better.

All she could do was hope that the night would pass by quickly. She didn't relish the idea of being abandoned along with Sam, who would most likely be just as miserable as her.

She wondered why Sam wanted to go at all.

Giving herself one last glance in the mirror, she set her posture right and took a deep breath, "Neil, I'm ready!" she called out, leaving her room and heading for the front door.

"Give me a minute! I'm just finishing this email!" he replied, his voice floating through from his room.

He had been putting a lot more time into his work lately. Astrid decided to sit in the car and wait for him to come when he was ready. She didn't want to add to his stress if she could help it.

***

When Neil pulled into the busy driveway of Connor's house, Astrid swallowed hard as she looked at all of the people emerging from every direction.

"Be careful, kiddo," Neil said, smiling weakly at Astrid.

She felt a pang in her stomach as she gave her brother a pleading look. Usually, he worried a lot about her safety, but for some reason, he never seemed to be bothered by parties.

She wished he would just tell her she wasn't allowed to go after all. At least then she'd have a reason not to go.

"Yeah, whatever," she grumbled, before stepping out of the car and pulling down her top.

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do!" he called out from his window as she started walking to the front door.

"So I can do anything?" she asked teasingly, recalling Neil's party days. He used to come home drunk almost every night. She guessed it had been his way of coping with his grief.

Neil shook his head but smiled nonetheless. She was relieved he didn't live that lifestyle anymore. She waved as he pulled away and when he had rounded the corner of the street and disappeared from her sight, she took in her surroundings.

There was a small group of people smoking and chatting idly underneath a Jacaranda tree nearby.

She decided to go through the front door, which was standing open and was immediately greeted by the pungent scent of alcohol and smoke. Her sensitive nose made it difficult for her to enjoy herself a lot of the time, but this was on another level of disgusting.