Apollo's Prophecy (Book One)

Chapter Seven

     It had been a long night for Danika. It wasn't a night of waking up and struggling to fall back asleep, but her dreams were so stressful and vivid that she remained restless in her sleep. She dreamt about Dr. Evantin the whole night. Some dreams included him being at the hospital with her and others had them together in much more intimate situations. She hated that she enjoyed the latter dreams not only because she was embarrassed by her attraction to her professor, but also because it confused her.

     Some of the dreams made Danika fear Dr. Evantin, and others made her feel good. She had even had a nightmare where she woke up to him standing in front of her bed watching her, but when she closed her eyes and opened them again he was gone.

     Even without a good night's sleep, Danika was excited to be exploring the island with her classmates. Harold was being his usual cheery self for the tour. Dr. Evantin, on the other hand, wasn't showing much emotion. He simply looked relaxed and content. Danika would sometimes feel him looking over at her and would pretend to look at something near where he was sitting, but every time she was about to look he would look away, not giving their eyes a chance to meet.

     The hotel had all-inclusive breakfasts and dinners so Danika took the opportunity to hang out with Marcus and Julie. She didn't care much for the other students in the class. A lot of them seemed snobby while the Kiwi twins were just enjoying life. Sure, they had a lot of money, but they didn't act like they were special because of it.

     After dinner, the twins decided they wanted to order drinks again. It was a school night so Danika passed, but promised them that she'd do shots with them before a free day and play drinking games in their room. Instead of heading upstairs, Danika decided to go out for a walk in the lovely night air. The temperature had gone down along with the sun, making it just cool enough for her to not become sweaty.

     Danika took the time to think about her strange dreams. She felt dumb about taking the statuette and wanted to find a way to return it to Dr. Evantin, but she would have to devise a plan on how to do it without coming clean. Maybe if I sneak it into his desk or bag when he goes to the washroom... She decided to head back and see if Dr. Evantin and Harold were still drinking together at the bar. Before she left for her walk she watched them order another two pitchers of beer so it was likely they were still there.

     "Crap," she muttered when she realized she had been walking around aimlessly. None of her surroundings looked familiar as she attempted to retrace her steps.Shit shit shit shit shit... Danika hit a dead end. "Definitely the wrong way," she worried before turning around. She stopped dead in her tracks.

     There were three men standing at the end of the street. They all wore hoods and stood in a line, spaced apart just enough to make it impossible for her to run between them.

     "What do you know about Apollo?" one of the men spoke, his voice unnaturally deep.

     "What are you talking about?" Danika asked, trying to keep her voice steady. The men all took a few steps closer, forcing her to take one backwards.

     "You try playing dumb with us? We know you're his," a different one spoke. His voice also didn't sound human-like.

     Danika's heart was racing. She couldn't keep herself from panicking. She knew there wasn't much space behind her and there weren't any gaps large enough for her to squeeze between the buildings. She was cornered.

     "Please let me go home. I'm taking a mythology course and I know that's the name of a Greek god, but that's it. I swear!"

     "Tell us what you know about Apollo," the men chorused, making the ground shake.