Prime (Book 1 of the Godling Trilogy)

3- Olympus is Ninety Stories High

We were about five minutes away from home when I finally realized that my cavity never actually got filled, and it was just sort of this half-ground-down tooth. It was starting to hurt. Or maybe that was just a part of the pain from the scratch marks.

Henry handed me a couple tissues which I used to stop the bleeding and the rest of the ride was spent in a sort of awkward/shocked silence as I frowned and held bloody tissues to my cheek. This was actually a pretty normal scene for Henry and me, since I broke my jaw once playing softball. Well, actually by getting punched in the jaw by some angry chick after I beat her at softball, but nonetheless, I'd been here before under different circumstances.

Now something was different, not just the fact that my morality had been wrenched out of my grasp, but the obvious looming realization that monsters exist. I had gone my entire life thinking that it was just humans and animals, but now it seemed as if there was some sort of cross in between. A thousand questions reeled through my mind on repeat: What is a Lamia? How many of them are there? Are there different types? How come I couldn't seem them, then suddenly I could? Why did they look human? Why were they dentists? Why did they call me a godling? How does Henry know about this stuff? Are they the only things out there trying to kill me?

All these questions bubbled in my throat but as they fought for dominance and first priority to be spoken they never actually were said out loud. As I was trying to sort out what to ask first, I ran out of time.

We pulled into my driveway just as tears began to pour down my face. I honestly don't know why I was crying. Maybe I was frustrated, angry, scared or sad. Probably a little bit of them all. I was mostly confused which was probably the right thing to be at the moment. When you get attacked by demon snake monsters for the first time you're not just gonna sit there and be like, 'Ah yes, that made sense.'

Though I probably should have been a little more surprised or shaken than I was. Maybe it was the fact that I was used to the adrenaline rush, the feeling that I have to fight for my life. It's something I did all the time out on the field. But I don't think that was completely why I wasn't going ballistic at the moment. I won't go so far as to say 'I knew I was special'. I'd just grown up hearing stories, reading books, and watching movies where the unsuspecting hero is thrown into a magical world, so I guess you could say I was used to it. I spent so much time in my life telling myself that I'd be one of those characters, I'd somehow be more than just plain ol' Lea or at least Earth would have a little more to offer than what reality television shows. Now that I found out I was right all along, it was kind of exactly what I expected. Except a little less elegant. I'd daydreamed my entire life of myself turning out to be a witch or superhuman and now the idea didn't seem like such an impossibility.

Henry opened the front door for me as I clomped up the steps of the front porch. As soon as we were inside Henry called out.

"Noel!" This too was a déjà vu moment for me. Often Henry would pick me up from practice and I'd be injured somehow and we'd come home and he'd yell that way. My mom always took it as her cue to get the medical supplies and a face that said 'Again?'

This time she rounded the corner from the kitchen into the hallway and saw me with the side of my face bleeding.

"Lea! What'd you do this time?" She asked. She didn't sound angry with me, my mother hardly ever got angry. She was more exasperated and a little surprised. I'd managed to get myself in trouble at the dentist; this was a new low for me.

Henry stepped forward to meet her before she got close enough to inspect my wound, he stated simply, "Monsters."

My mother's expression changed instantly withering from her usual attempting-to-look- disapproving-but-is-actually-amused smile to something I'd never seen before. The closest thing I could relate it to is sheer horror, like she'd just been told I had terminal cancer and had two days to live. Her blue eyes lost their spark and her jaw hung loose as she stared at Henry, then she began to shake her head.