Apollo's Prophecy (Book One)

Chapter Five

     Danika was very content with her day. Most of the students on the trip were there to earn credits in conjunction with going to the beach, but Danika was truly passionate about mythology. She had taken down many notes and captured countless pictures of the Acropolis. She knew she'd be drawing a lot of the architecture she captured during the school year whenever she had free time.

     Julie and Marcus decided to go for a soak in the hotel's hot tub after they got back, but Danika decided to stay back and eat dinner before backing up all her pictures and notes onto her computer and memory sticks. She rinsed her plate and made her way to the room after grabbing her bag from the front door.

     The moment Danika walked in, she saw the silhouette of a person standing in her room. She quickly turned on the light and prepared to scream for help, but no one was there. "Great, now I'm being haunted," she groaned before walking over to her bed and opening up her laptop. Julie and Marcus soon came back and Danika was relieved that she wouldn't be alone anymore. "What happened to the hot tub?"

     Julie shook her head and frowned. "Turns out most people that come to Greece don't want to use the hot tub so they only prepare it if you put in a request ahead of time."

     Danika laughed and shook her head."Well there is a beautiful beach down the road from here. We can always use the hot tub when we come back here. I'm sure the other hotels will have one too."

     It wasn't long before Danika began dozing off. All of her files had successfully transferred over and she had no reason to stay up. Julie and Marcus were already passed out on their own beds so Danika quietly shut her laptop and turned off the light in the room. She relaxed in her bed and closed her eyes. It felt nice going to sleep without a bad headache, but she still couldn't get Dr. Evantin's face out of her mind.

***

     Danika never imagined being in school on a Sunday. She wasn't necessarily annoyed about it since the course didn't follow a traditional structure. She actually looked forward to the topic of the day, nymphs. The only thing Danika had to be annoyed about was the fact that Dr. Evantin had plagued her dreams again the night before.

     "Now I'm sure some of you have heard of dryads and naiads, but there are many more types of nymphs. If you completed the reading for this class you should be able to get most of these," the professor spoke as he handed out a sheet of paper.

     Danika smirked the second that she saw it. There were several blank spaces on the page, with the only instructions being to list and describe all the different types of nymphs.

     The class had ten minutes to complete the little pop quiz, but Danika was done in two. For a moment she had mixed up Napaeae and Nereids, but quickly fixed the mistake before bringing it to Dr. Evantin.

     "Done already?" The professor asked as if he never expected it from her.

     Danika nodded. "It's in alphabetical order too."

     Dr. Evantin looked amused as he checked off all of the answers. "It looks like I have a new answer key."

     Danika loved using her ridiculous mythology knowledge for something useful like earning credits. She loved being familiar with everything the professor spoke about, and felt proud to be correct most of the time. She no longer feared judgement from her classmates because none of them would see her again after the summer was over, except for Julie and Marcus if their plans worked out.

     "Echo is by far the most famous nymph, known for being cursed by the goddess Hera and falling in love with Narcissus. Because of this myth, most people assume that nymphs would steer clear of males. This is false. Have any of you heard of Daphne?"

     A few of the students, including Danika, raised their hands.

     "Well, Daphne was a Naiad. Would any of you like to tell the class what you know about her?" The professor looked around, but no one raised their hands. Danika noticed that his voice had an edge to it and for once she didn't volunteer.

     "Danika, I feel that you would have heard something about her."

     God damn it. "Yes," Danika answered. "Well, from the myths that I've read, Daphne was originally a Naiad and Apollo was in love with her because of Eros. She didn't want anything to do with him, also because of Eros. Apollo was persistent, so she went to her father, who's river god Peneus, and asked for his help. He turned her into a laurel tree before Apollo could get to her and he made her his sacred tree."

     Dr. Evantin didn't look impressed. "That is certainly the most famous version, so you're not wrong considering this is a mythology and not technically a history course."

     Danika swallowed, feeling uncomfortable at Dr. Evantin's reaction. He wasn't acting like himself and almost seemed emotional.

     The professor paced as he continued speaking. "From my studies and travels I have learned a different version of the story that I love to share. In this version, Daphne and Apollo were in love, but Peneus did not want her involved with such a powerful god. He was jealous, of course, so when Apollo was away Peneus turned Daphne into a tree thinking it wouldn't harm her. In the end, Daphne ceased to exist because the tree was cut down. It is not known who was responsible."

     "Oh," Danika whispered. "You're right. I've never heard that version."

     Dr. Evantin looked at her with an expression that almost looked sad.

     "I always wonder what the gods would think about these stories if they were real," Danika said, trying to change the subject.

     Dr. Evantin smiled for a moment, but his previous expression returned before whispering, "You would be surprised." It was so quiet that even Danika barely heard it.

     What does he mean by that? She thought to herself. The look Dr. Evantin had on his face made it seem as if he were longing for something. She watched intently, but one of the students interrupted the silence, which broke the intense stare.

     "Wait, isn't it nymphs that tried to lure men to their deaths?"

     The professor chuckled. "Those would be sirens."

***

     The class ended and everyone packed up and left as quickly as they normally did. Julie and Marcus were waiting outside after Danika told them she wanted to speak with the professor about one of their upcoming assignments.

     Dr. Evantin was straightening out paperwork when Danika stopped in front of his desk. He looked up and smiled, but it didn't reach his eyes. "Is there anything I can help you with?"

     Danika nodded. "Earlier when we were talking about the nymphs you said that I'd be surprised at what the gods would think about the myths. What did you mean by that?"

     The professor's expression didn't change. "I think that head injury of yours is making you hear things," he responded before walking out of the room.

     Danika's mouth fell open. She wanted to question him further, but felt frozen in place. How does he know about that, but no one else remembers? She shook her head and finally managed to move and leave the classroom to meet her friends. The entire way home she talked to herself in her own head, leaving Julie and Marcus to converse with each other.

     This is impossible. It was just a dream. Julie and Marcus said I went home with them. The hospital doesn't have any record of me being there for goodness' sake! Danika sighed. Someone had picked her up and brought her to the hospital before she blacked out. She swore that she heard a voice in the hospital room before she opened her eyes.

     Was it him? Danika immediately shook her head at the thought. No, he would've said something. It doesn't make sense. Deep inside Danika knew that nothing about her situation made sense nor was there a logical explanation for it. She was determined to figure things now and would no longer take no for an answer.

     I'll find out no matter what it takes.