Abstruse (Azriel)

Chapter One

The ground was covered in a thin layer of half-melted snow this morning. The same as yesterday. And the day before. The same thing happens everyday in my life, since I left dad, except somedays Ellie (My 10 year old blithe sister), and James (My fatuos 7 year old brother) are at his house. My alarm goes off at 7:00. I am ready for school by 7:40, and I walk half a block to the bus stop. The bus takes me to school where I learn nonsense that I am not even somewhat interested in, nor will get me a job. I come home, and either go to soccer practice, or just read, right now I just read because the coaches got exposed to some wacky virus on a soccer-coach vacation they go on every other year, so now they have to be contained for, like, 3 weeks. I was just sitting on the coach, re-reading The Hunger Games for, like the 100th time when my mom walked through the door, after dropping Scar and Josh off at my dads. This is how the conversation went:

Mom: "Moose needs a walk" (Moose is our 3 year old lab-looking mutt. I didn't pick the name)

Me: "Good, go take him"

Mom: "he's your dog"

Me: "he's also Scarlett's dog, remind me when she walked him last?"

Mom: "She's not even here"

Me: "She was about ten minutes ago. Moose didn't need a walk then, did he?"

Mom: "She was doing homework" I rolled my eyes

Mom: "Hailee Castellanos."

Me: Last time I checked, having a contest to see who could make the best slime-cake is NOT homework."

Mom: "I'm not arguing with you, Hai" (She calls me Hai, pronounced Hay, short for Hailee.)

So after that I just kept grunting and groaning as I walked out the door. The wind tickled my nose, unlike the sharp nips of last weekend. It's the end of November. It should keep getting colder, not warmer. Spine straight, chin high. Don't let her win. I know it was kind of stupid, but between me and my mom there was always some slight competition. Who would be stronger, and less naïve. Of course, her being the boss of me, and 30 years older made it super unfair, but it was close. People always say I am just like her, and I do act a lot like her in front of people, but think totally different. She wants me to be a fun-loving, light hearted, kind little girly-girl. If you haven't guessed already, I am the opposite. I am also pretty inure to her telling me I am not normal in the nicest way possible. Ok, enough about my mom and I's relationship. I'll tell you about me and my dad. In the simplest way, my parents divorced when I was in 2nd grade (I am 15 and in 9th grade now), and fought for like, 2 years before that. My dad got this old, ugly house that's about 15 minutes away from my moms, and happens to be right behind his brother's huge, new, modern house, and down the street from his sister's slightly bigger house. My cousins are all under the age of 12 and we ended up at their houses more than my dads. When I went to 3rd grade he became a huge jerk. He made fun of me whenever he could, and my grandma ended up doing all the house chores. When I turned 11 I told my mom everything, and my mom went to court, but it didn't change anything. However, I knew if I went back there he would be mad that I told my mom everything. So I didn't see him for about 3 months, but then his brother died, and I had to go to the funeral. I was scared to death, but made it through by avoiding him completely. Here I am, 4 years later, only hanging out with my soccer team, and half-addicted to reading; my mom's right. I'm not normal. Moose growls, and I jump back into reality. I look around, and there is a squirrel that seems to be teasing him. That's the bad thing about southern Michigan, to many squirrels, oh and the weather. It's kinda weird. I knee Bunker lightly in the face and he chills out. I'm just gonna cut through this parking lot; maybe there's less squirrels there. I take a step into the dingy, almost abandoned church parking lot, that I would not go in if I were in a horror movie. Good thing I am not in a horror movie. It smells like spoiled milk and wet concrete. I round another corner and see some clumpy white stuff. Definitely spoiled milk. I crunch my nose and turn to keep walking, but I run into something- scratch that- someone. What the heck? I take a step back, and almost wince when I see a huge dude; HUGE. Like, bigger than the rock. He has shaggy golden hair and looks like he's in his mid-twenties. He begins to talk, with this deep voice. Don't let him see that you're scared. I gather all my confidence and straighten my back, lifting my chin slightly. 

"Listen kid, my not-really-boss wants to talk to you."

 I must have looked as confused as can be, because he says 

"Trust me, I am just as confused as you are." 

He drops his voice to a mumble, and I don't know if he meant for me to hear. 

"What do the strongest Illyrians in history want with a little mortal girl from across the sea?" 

Mortal? Illyrians? Across the sea? He must have read my face because he tells me 

"You'll get answers here. At 7 tonight. Don't be late. They won't hurt you"

 I look at the ground in bewilderment, and pinch myself. I just imagined that. I must be going crazy. I looked up, to make sure it was all in my head, and there was nothing there. I immediately run out of the creepy parking lot, and a big black bird in the distance catches my eye. That's one huge bird.