Mortal Stream

Chapter 1: First Days

I attend Panthea Academy. It’s not a castle with turrets and dungeons like in those wizard or vampire stories. It resembles a castle in no way. It is, however, a huge campus with five dorm buildings (Styx, Lethe, Phlegethon, Cocytus, and Acheron). There are seven fields (Moon, Mercury, Venus, Sun, Mars, Jupiter, and Saturn). Nine main buildings that make up the learning facilities (Ulysses, Bradwr, Dis, Limbo, Mouna, Gleuto Hall, Gifre, Fraud, and Cyril) and the four giant titanium gates are guarded by, a ‘Charonite’ with a huge, terrifying dog. So roughly translated, I’m in hell. Which is a little oxymoronic since it holds the children of gods.

I don’t even know exactly where I’m located. I arrived in a foreign land and that’s all I know. Even then, I only know it’s foreign because we crossed an ocean. There wasn’t a destination on the plane ticket or the website. Nothing that would even hint at a location. There is a phone number and everything else is done through the web. I received my ticket in the mail with no address in the upper left-hand corner. Just the Academy’s crest.

On my second day on campus, in second-period physical education, I saw him. He was in gym shorts and a white muscle shirt. He had a sweatband around his head, and he was running around throwing a football for warm-up. However, it wasn’t him who caught my eye first.

I stopped when I saw him, as if my feet were stuck. My escort, Eyre, sighed next to me.

He was tall, lean like a cowboy, with golden hair and honey gold eyes. I had never seen someone so beautiful.

“That’s Kellee. He’s one of the gods of the school," Eyre said, dreamily.

“Gods?” I asked.

“You know, hot, rich, popular, worshiped by all.” She laughed.

“Ah," I said.

As if he knew I had been looking at him, he glanced at me and winked. My stomach did somersaults.

The teacher chose then to call the class to attention. Since I was new, I had to stand in front of the class and introduce myself. You know how it is. Teachers think they’re doing you a favor by completely humiliating you as if it's not awkward enough being the new kid at almost eighteen years old! I wanted to sink into the floor. I hated public speaking. But I did it anyway.

What choice did I have?

“I’m Olena Isadora.” My eyes skimmed the beautiful bodies in front of me. Yes, there were several. Front and center was gorgeous Kellee watching me with a grin. It was almost predatory.

And yet, he was still gorgeous. My heart pounded in my chest. He nudged the guy next to him as I spoke and nodded in my direction. I felt myself flush and turned away as I finished my introduction. “I’m from Rhode Island and moved here two days ago."

Everyone was looking at me. I hated that. My cheeks flushed further. Mrs. Philby nodded with a terse smile. “Welcome, I’m sure. Now, we need you to learn the ropes. I see your gui-”

“Mrs. Philby."

I turned to the voice that spoke, the green eyes that seemed to glow.

“Yes, Mr. Andrew?”

“I’ll be happy to show Olena the ropes." He smiled.

I almost forgot to breathe. My heart flipped.

“That’s very kind of you, Mr. Andrew. Go ahead, Ms. Isadora. And everyone else,” she turned to address the class, “begin today’s routine."

I didn’t move. He walked to me. There were smiles and whispers all around and I had no idea because I could do nothing but stare. What was I supposed to say to someone of this…

perfection?

“Hi,” he said. “Shant.” And he offered his hand.

“Lena," I said, and placed mine in his. I about choked at the sudden unwelcome warmth that sprang to life within me. My body hummed with wonder; my mind swam as if under a spell.

Shant smiled wider, his eyes twinkling. He glanced down to my arm where the customary morning doodle of a skull and a snake was surrounded by my anxiety-induced doodles. “You’re an artist?” he asked.

I glanced down a little embarrassed. “Just doodles.”

“They’re really good.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. I’ve been drawing on myself for as long as I can remember.

Everyone I had known back home was used to them and rarely commented. I felt a little awkward with his attention on them, feeling incredibly exposed.

“Come on,” and he pulled me along, hand-in-hand. “I’ll introduce you to my friends."

It was more of the same kind of people. Shant was one of the beautiful “gods of the school” as Eyre had called them.

He stopped us in front of three others, two more guys and a girl, one of the guys being Kellee. The girl was phenomenal, with long brown hair that was rich like chocolate. Her eyes were a deep green and her skin was so smooth, it looked like satin. She smiled kindly, but her eyes portrayed boredom.

The two guys were similar looking. Light hair with gold eyes. Breath-taking smiles.

“This is Kellee and Treziure Meli and Nahtkhah Cinta."

Nah… what? They must have seen the confusion in my expression because the four of them laughed.

Then the girl held out her hand. “Kay," she said.

I took her proffered hand. “Lena," I said.

Another girl came over and pulled Kay away without so much as glancing at me. “Taia Raissa. She’s not very sociable," Shant said.

I nodded as Kay turned and waved in departure. I waved back awkwardly.

Shant showered me in attention for the entire class period. Fortunately, I was decent at most sports and that day’s activity was basketball. It was a weird phenomenon since I was young.

My mother told me once that it was in my blood, which I had thought funny since to this day I have still never met an athletic relative.

Shant insisted on putting me on his team. When he asked if I was any good, I managed to smile a little and shrug.

“Point guard, please," I asked.

A couple of the others, whom I learned were Ring and Steve laughed. Kellee completed our team. Shant grinned. “Alright, Lena. Point guard. I’m shooting guard, Ring’s small forward, Kellee is power forward and Steve is center."

I nodded. “Do we do plays or have plans?” I asked.

Ring giggled and hit my arm lightly. “You hard core?” she asked me.

I shook my head. “Played a little when I was younger."

Not all that much younger. Just last year, but then I wanted to be with my friends rather than put the time and energy into practice. And my boyfriend. I had a lot of fun with Jake. The thought of him made me grin. I should text him later.

Shant shook his head. “Just do your thing and have fun."

I was guarding Treziure. He was a good head taller than me and built like a hunter with bulky muscles and silent aggression. Sometimes being small has its advantages. I stayed out of

the first few rounds to get a feel for how they played. A girl on the other team fouled Steve, knocking him to the ground. They weren’t as easy on the girls as they were in the school I came from.

This was nice to see.

“Come on, Lena. Show us what you can do!" Steve shouted as we ran down to defend our court.

I didn’t mind giving him a playful grin. This was something I was confident in. I was standing in front of Treziure as he showed off a little for my benefit, I’m sure. I smiled shyly and in the middle of a cross over, I picked it from him and stole away down the court. There was a cheer from my teammates as Shant ran ahead. I saw a chance as he shot up in the air in front of the hoop. One of the opposing team members tried to block my progress so I spun around him and hauled the ball in the air right before Shant hit his max height. He grabbed the ball and slammed it into the hoop.

There was a deafening cheer around the room as Steve and Ring barreled into me laughing. I couldn’t help but laugh too. Shant jogged beside me as we made our way back down the court.

“You’re a tease, you know that?”

I couldn’t help the blush that rose. I’ve never been called a tease before. Not in any conversation or subject.

“I love it." He bumped his shoulder against mine before jogging ahead.

“Let’s do it again," Kellee called, giving me a wink.

I was an excellent point guard, something I was already well aware of, and my team won by a landslide. It must have been pretty impressive because the antisocial Taia accompanied Kay to congratulate me on my performance.

It was a good thing we had half an hour before our next class because I desperately needed a shower. When I left the locker room, Shant was waiting outside the doors. I continued to walk by with only a smile in his direction.

“What, you show us your talent and now you’re too good for me?” he teased.

I almost didn’t pick up on the teasing and looked at him like he was crazy. Shant laughed, a sound that was fairly close to heaven as far as I was concerned.

“This weekend. A couple of friends and I are going to throw you a welcome party.

Therefore, you have to come."

It was overwhelming, just hearing the words. They’re throwing me a welcome party.

These are the popular kids. The athletic kids. The gods of the school (little did I know then that it was very true, their being called gods) and they wanted to hang out with me. I’d never been

amongst either of those cliques back in Rhode Island, despite my basketball talent. I was one of those who floated along in the middle not causing too much intentional disturbance in the tide.

“So, what d’ya say?” he asked after I didn’t answer him.

I could only nod. Then he flashed me that gorgeous smile. I felt my heart flutter.

He walked me to my next class and introduced me to two of his friends there, Maden and Attikus. Or Mady and Atti as I found others calling them.

“Hey Atti,” Shant said. “I want you to meet my new girl.”

The one called Atti turned. He rolled his eyes at Shant before he looked at me.

Something in me sighed. His dark eyes settled on mine and he stared. “You,” he whispered.

It was as if my soul was alight. Finally, it breathed. His dark stare bore into my whole being

- woke it up. This is life, it said. He is home.

I heard Shant laugh beside me. “Take care of my girl.”

Atti looked at him. I saw white-hot anger as he glared furiously at Shant before turning back to me. He gave me a serene smile and sighed. “Attikus,” he offered, holding out his hand.

“Lena,” I returned, placing mine in his. That was when the zing appeared. It shot through my whole body, finding places it knew as if it had been there before. As if it had found its way back. My stomach fluttered. How had I ever lived without the zing?

I saw Atti still, as if he was experiencing the same thing I was. He was staring again. But there was something about his stare. It was… consuming?

I took this moment to look at him. I know I said Kellee was beautiful, but no one was more perfect than Attikus. Storm gray eyes, fine platinum blonde hair, with light perfect features.

I shivered as if a slight breeze rushed over me. As if in confirmation, Attikus’s hair moved like it was caught in a light wind.

My shiver broke his gaze. He gave me a sad little smile and moved to the side of the door, arm out, waving me in. “Come on.”

He led me to a table and gestured to a chair next to another guy. He took the seat on my other side.

Atti reached behind me and shoved the other guy. “Mady, meet Shant’s girl.”

There was something about the way he said it. Shant’s girl. It wasn’t a statement like, hey, this is interesting. It was more like, hey I’m not sure what to make of this.

“Shant…?” he asked. His head tilted and his eyes moved between Atti and me for a moment. “Why?” he asked.

I wasn’t sure how to answer that question. “We have gym together,” I said lamely.

“First,” Mady said.

“Uh… second period.”

“Mmm.” Then he smiled brightly. “I’m Maden.” He leaned back. “My girlfriend Syna.”

“Hi,” Syna said with a brilliant smile. She was the first person I’d met so far today not breathtakingly gorgeous.

I waved and the class started.

They were a couple of jokers, teasers, those rather mean kids that picked on the underdogs in class and out. But it wasn’t the underdogs they picked on here. It was… I suppose I relate them to the Goths of my old school. They were the dark-color-wearing, black make-up, crazy-color-haired kids that gave them evil looks. But all they did was return Mady and Atti’s comments with looks, never returning the taunts. I had to praise them, silently of course. Mady’s girlfriend joined in now and then, as did a few others, but I stayed quiet.

I was never a kid that was picked on, but I had a few friends that were back home. I wouldn’t typically be friends with these people, but to me, they were the nicest guys I’d ever met.

Atti was always making sure I was caught up and sharing his book with me since mine hadn’t come in yet. Syna was sweet and always smiled kindly and made small girl talk.

The three of them escorted me to my next class where I was introduced to Shant’s sister Glorey, Treziure and Kellee’s sister Ari, and Ignatius. Syna had warned me that Ari wouldn’t be very friendly. But Ignatius, or Iggy, was very friendly. Almost too friendly. And I don’t mean in a

“nice person” kind of way either. He’d have kissed me in the middle of the class had I let him. I was thankful for Glorey. Halfway through class, seeing my distress I presume, she inserted herself between the two of us. Iggy frowned at her but didn’t say anything. She gave me a roll of her eyes and excused his behavior.

That put me between Ari and Glorey. Ari wouldn’t so much as look at me. She did look through me at times when she spoke to Glorey.

When the class was over, I booked it back to my room. The campus was big enough with enough dorms that I didn’t share a room with anyone. No one did. I wondered how they kept the sexes apart. It didn’t seem to be that well-staffed to have a chaperone on each landing. And yet, I’d not seen any pregnant teenagers or nurseries.

When I settled in, I called Yndea, my best friend back home. And we talked for hours, three to be exact. I told her all about the guys I’d met.

“Yndea, Shant is amazing. I swear I’m falling in love with him.”

She was silent for a moment. “Oh yeah?” I could hear the skepticism in my voice.

“Omg, Yndy, I am. He’s so sweet. And beautiful. I swear his green eyes glow when he looks at me.”

“What about Jake?”

It took me a minute to even remember Jake. “Oh,” I said aloud, worrying my lip. Jake. I adored Jake. “Oh,” I said again.

I glanced down at the doodles I was scribbling on my leg. Jake. I sighed.

“Tell me about the guys again,” she said.

I did. She insisted I take pictures and send them to her. I swore I’d try. Then I told her of the two very different sides of Mady and Atti. I told her about basketball and Iggy and Glorey’s intervention.

I let her go when someone knocked on my door. I glanced at the clock. 6:45. No idea who it could be. I answered it to find Shant, Mady, and Atti there with huge grins.

“You plan on starving yourself or do you have a stash of food in here?” Atti asked as Mady poked his head in to look around.

“It’s surprisingly refrigerator free," Mady said.

I tried to pay attention to the two that were talking to me but Shant was giving me this smile that made my heart want to scream. He was watching me with glowing eyes and I couldn’t take my eyes off him.

“In other words,” he finally said, quietly, “are you going to come to dinner?”

“You’ve already missed most of it," Atti added.

“Oh," I said, realizing I was a little hungry. I always lost track of everything when I talked to Yndea. I couldn’t help it. It was like we were in our own little world when we’re together or on the phone and nothing else existed.

“Aren’t you hungry?” Atti asked after another moment of my silence.

“I guess I am. A little," I replied.

“Then let’s go," Mady said and grabbed my hand, dragging me out the door while Shant shut it behind me.

He was still very much watching me. I craned my neck to look back at him. His smile widened a fraction.

 Mady kept my hand and was chatting animatedly as he pulled me along. Atti was a little behind me on the other side and Shant was a pace further back, but his eyes shone in the dim hallway like nothing I’d ever seen before.

I had no choice but to tear my eyes off Shant or I might have run into something, even with Mady guiding me along. I tried to concentrate on Mady and Atti’s conversation on either side of me, especially when they were asking me questions or telling me something, but all I could feel was Shant’s eyes on me from behind. I could feel the flush all over my body wondering what he could be thinking and why it was affecting me so much. It felt… warm.

The dining hall was in the big brick building right off the main one. Its name was Gleuto, what else? Mady pulled me along to the far table, where there were several people I recognized, and many more I didn’t.

We stopped at the table next to Syna and she hopped up and gave me a wide, friendly smile. “I was hoping they’d find you. I thought you might be hungry."

“Thanks," I said and let Mady pull me down onto the bench next to him.

Atti pushed between me and whoever it was that was on the other side while Shant went around to the opposite side of the table and sat across from Syna. From seemingly nowhere, a plate piled with a variety of many different foods was placed in front of me.

I felt self-conscious sitting there with so many people I didn’t know and well aware that most of the rest of the school was watching us. I had a feeling they were always watched and used to it. But I wasn’t. I’d never been watched this closely in my life. It was unnerving.

I was again introduced to many more people but the only name I hung on to was Aless and only because she was very chatty and kept trying to pull me into the conversation. She liked to say my name a lot, too.

We were one of the last groups to leave the hall. The ‘gods of the school’ were very noisy and didn’t care if they had an audience like most ‘popular’ groups tended to. They were loud and cause laughing fits in which almost the entire group was pulled into. I say almost because Ari did not once laugh. She instead turned the volume up on her iPod. There was also another guy, further down the table who didn’t laugh much either. I saw him smile a little. Just… a shadow of one. I never thought I’d know what that meant, but I do now.

He never looked up, but I kept feeling watched from that end of the table. Every time I looked, nothing. Yet I kept looking. It was weird, a strange feeling, like I knew something, someone from a different life, and the memory was tickling my mind every time I looked.

Syna lived in my building along with Glorey and Morey, whom I remembered being introduced to at dinner.

Mady, Atti, Shant, Syna, Glorey, Morey, Aless, and I headed back to my residence hall.

Glorey was leading the way to the top floor and into an empty common room where we spent the

remainder of the evening before curfew, laughing and talking. I learned a lot about these people that were befriending me.

For instance, Shant and Glorey had another brother and sister, and yet none of them were full-blooded siblings. They shared the same father, but each had different mothers. I was at a loss of what to say to this, but they laughed about it. It was a common practice among the parents of these kids who had many siblings from different parents, usually the father partnering with many different women. I almost felt left out because I shared both parents with my siblings.

An odd thing to feel like a misfit for really.

I learned that Aless frequently spent the night in Iggy’s dorm. I caught myself in the middle of asking how that works. How do they not get caught? I cut my question short before I finished asking and turned bright red.

They all laughed.

“It’s not hard," Shant said. “When you know the rules."

“Rules?” I asked.

“One,” Aless said. “Never sleep with the boy or girl another of the group is sleeping with."

“Two," Glorey said. “Those in the same building and on the same floor cover for each other no matter what."

“Three," Syna said in an almost sing-song voice. “Back-stabbing is strictly prohibited."

“We do not sneak around or lie," Morey said. “We always go to the appropriate party when something of a specific sort is needed."

“No sabotage amongst the group," Atti said with a glare at Shant.

“Olympians always watch each other’s backs," they all chimed in. Then they laughed.

Olympians? I wanted to ask but didn’t.

Syna must have known what I was thinking. “Olympians. It’s like… a sorority. I’m not one and neither are you, nor will we ever be. But the rest of them are. Most people you’ve met today are, too."

“Olympians," I said. And for some reason, I glanced at Shant. He had that god-like smile again, his eyes glowing once more. It made me think of the Greek gods on Mount Olympus. “Like the gods," I said absently.

“Yes!” Aless said excitedly.

It was so sudden and chirpy it made me jump. My attention was stolen by Mady as he carried the conversation on in a totally different direction. More rules. The no-no’s; school rules, which were meant to be broken and what I had really been wondering more about when I asked

about the rules to begin with; who was off-limits - Mady, in case it needed to be pointed out, Ari and Rhett are together somewhat – so beware if Rhett tries to use you to make Ari jealous as he most often tries when they’re having one of their school-wide tiffs. Then I had warnings about specific groups: Goths were a strict off the chart’s avoidance; the nerds were used for specific purposes only, not befriending. There were reasons for all these rules that, as we went along, would be explained if need be.

We were kicked out of the common at nine-thirty by Mr. Hesper, the building’s night watch.

The ones who didn’t reside there were sent back to their dorms.

Glorey walked me to my room and talked happily to me as we went. It was nice to know I got along with all the right people. I smiled at her when we got back to my room and opened my door. We said our good-byes and as I was shutting my door, she suddenly stopped it with her hand. So, I opened it again.

“One more thing, Lena. One last rule and the most important," Glory said with a look like she’d be the one to personally see to the consequences if I broke it. “Never, ever repeat the secrets you see because we have a lot."

I nodded. Secrets I see?

“You have to actually promise me this. And your word is binding. I won’t get into the costs of breaking the rules, but they’re deadly."

I thought she was joking, but I could see she was not.

“I promise," I said.

Glory looked at me for a long time, her eyes shining just like Shant’s had. Then she smiled. “Great. Because we really like you. Good night, Olena." And she went down the hall.