A Haunting Melody: The Golden Lyre

20 | Upsilon

The symbol Upsilon (υ) is highly sought-after Mark among those Hunters who specialise in long-range weapons such as a bow and arrow. This Mark greatly improves a Hunter's aim, ensuring that their aim will be true every single time. Hunters can receive this Mark by shooting an arrow clean through a Siren's heart and killing it instantly.

***

Astrid thought about her mother as she looked at her own face in the mirror. Her father had always told her she got her mom's looks. He always joked that Neil had been stuck with his nose.

Still, Astrid had no idea how true any of it was. Her father had gotten rid of any photos of her mom long ago. She had no idea what she looked like.

She felt a dull tug in her heart as she thought about her mother. There were so many things she wished she could have spoken to her about. She was about to go on her first date. It would have been really great if she could have had a mom to talk to about this stuff.

She wouldn't dare tell Neil. Especially after denying that there was anything happening between herself and Daniel. Still, even if Neil did know, he wouldn't have been any help.

The person she really needed right now was Rose. She had no idea what she was doing and she knew that she would probably need to put on makeup soon. As much as she had felt tempted to ask Rose for help, her pride prevented it.

Rose still hadn't apologised for all of the drama she had caused - not to Astrid and certainly not to Sam.

She took a deep breath and decided to just get it over with. After applying some light makeup, she donned her usual black jeans and a band T-shirt. This one had the ACDC logo on it.

Satisfied with her choice in clothing, she slipped a few knives into her boots and jacket and went to the couch to sit and wait.

Daniel was right on time and seemed a complete gentleman as he opened the car door for her and even gave her a sweet compliment or two about silly things like her eyes and her hair – not that she had done anything different to her hair.

"So where are we going?" Astrid asked as Daniel closed his door.

Date or no date, she liked to be prepared for anything.

"No no. You're not doing this tonight," Daniel smirked.

"Doing what?"

"Taking control of the situation and preventing yourself from having fun, like you always do," he grinned cheekily.

Astrid opened her mouth and then closed it again. She couldn't think of a good response for this, so instead, she decided to cross her arms and stay silent. Daniel didn't seem to mind.

It wasn't a long drive before they had arrived. It was obvious to Astrid where they were going at least a few minutes before they even arrived. The town was exactly big.

"Really? White Lion?" she asked, seemingly unimpressed.

White Lion was one of the more popular clubs in the town, which doubled as a restaurant during the day. They were especially known for their weird and wonderful cocktails.

"I know you think I'm being really common here, but I have a fantastic reason for taking you here," Daniel grinned.

"And what reason is that?" she raised an eyebrow.

"You need to learn to stop caring what other people think. Because guess what? It doesn't matter. So that's why I'm taking you here. I want to see you really let loose. Just this one time, let go," he held her shoulders and looked directly into her eyes, his irises a piercing icy blue in the moonlight.