The Pantheon (28 page)

Zach shook his head, “Frank took Diana to the hospital.”

Her twin blanched. “What-- why?”

“
Epimetheus stabbed her.”

“
Where’s your car? I have to go to her!”

Sirens wailed. The noise had alerted someone.

“
Where’s Dr. Livingstone?” Evan asked.

“
He’s on Frank’s couch.”

The police screeched up next to the pack of teenagers. Nobody said anything; they let Lewis spin the story for them.

Lewis had a silver tongue and the story, though improvised, wasn’t unreasonable. He knew, from previous encounters with the hot-headed younger Alvarez brother, that he drove a van, and that made the story he told them seem plausible.

The tale was told with detail and certainty that the Alvarez brothers, who were clearly paranoid schizophrenics, believed that the chance collection of Olympia Heights students were government spies and set about trying to kill them. He claimed that the students had been randomly targeted and kidnapped and brought to the Miami apartment for interrogation. They had escaped and been chased to the alley by Alvarez.

The theft of the Pithos was explained as another extension of this delusion. Lewis told the police that Mark Alvarez had ranted about the government covering up aliens and that the Greek vase held proof of it.

As for the electrocution of James, Lewis told the police that he wasn’t sure what happened, but that he hoped the electrician for the building they were behind was ready to defend himself.

The police took statements from the others, who had listened closely to Lewis’ story. Parents were called. They were back in Olympia Heights by nightfall.

“
A man may learn wisdom, even from a foe.”

-Aristophanes

xxiii.

The Titanomachy had raged on for years.

The battles brought floods, earthquakes, and fires to earth.

Zeus stood on Mount Olympus and hurled lightning bolts

toward Mount Orthys.

Athena called out the warning to their troops.

Hermes had come with news of the enemy

sending their army to march on Olympus.

Zeus ceased his barrage.

The King called all his family together.

“
They’ve sent monsters to capture our home,” he called,

“
But we will hold this place until we are dead.

The Titans shall fall!”

They descended the mountain to take their posts.

Only Artemis stayed to fire her arrows.

Prometheus kept the gates of Olympus,

armed, ready to fight.

“
Son of Iapetus,” Zeus called to his friend,

“
My advisors tell me not to trust your word.

They wonder why a Titan would fight with us.”

Zeus watched the Titan.

Prometheus took his time to find his words.

“
Kronos long ago lost sight of his duty.

We are here to govern men and he, instead,

spurns his sacred charge.”

“
He spends his time devouring anyone who

threatens the security of his title.”

Zeus said, “It is good to have you on our side,”

and clapped his friend’s back.

“
I will fight along the side of who is right,”

he replied, “no matter who my father is.”

Prometheus rested his helm on his head

then went off to war.

“
Consider the time.”

-Delphic Maxim

XXIII.

Zach Jacobs lay awake for some time in the early morning. He mulled over the memory for half an hour, looking for any indication that Prometheus may have been deceiving them. There was none. He had truly been an ally once.

Zach got out of bed, still unable to shake the guilt of taking a life. It was no accident. It had been necessary. That didn’t make it easy.

It was Valentine’s Day. Two weeks had passed since Zach had killed the Titan. The papers had reported that the brothers had kidnapped students from Olympia Heights and burned Dr. Davis’ home because of a schizophrenic delusion. They reported the numerous incidents that had taken place leading up to it: the fight during the first game of the year, the near-brawl at the carnival, and the crashing of the semiformal. These showed a pattern of aggression in the youngest Alvarez brother and were cited as indication that Mark Alvarez was out of touch with normal social boundaries. There was no remaining Alvarez family to exonerate the brothers. In fact, the police found no legitimate record of James and Mark Alvarez even existing before August a year and a half before. This seemed to further prove the theory that they were hiding from the government for some odd reason.

The Pantheon now had the cover of being a support group for the victims of the killers. Diana was still hospitalized, but awake. She’d required a blood transfusion and the doctors had re-inflated her left lung. She wouldn’t be running track this spring.

Zach got dressed and headed to school. The hype of their “kidnapping” was settling down and he no longer had sympathy as an excuse to be late for class. Zach pulled into his assigned parking space. One row over, Devon and Frank were making out next to his motorcycle. Devon had a single rose in her hand, a gift from her oversized boyfriend.

Zach entered the school and stopped by the nurse’s office to see how Dr. Livingstone was doing. He had been treated the night of the battle for smoke inhalation and bruised ribs and sent home amidst rumors of an affair with Dr. Davis. The pair did their best to avoid being seen talking together until the rumors died down. Jason was still walking stiffly from the beating he’d received two weeks prior.

“
Hey, Lightning,” he chuckled as he saw Zach walk in. “How is everything?”

“
Good. I got a call last night saying they’d finished their investigation.”

Jason nodded, “They did. Now you can go back to being a completely normal teenager.

Zach laughed at that thought, “Right.”

Jason just smiled back. He had been questioned about the case after it came to light that he had been seen leaving Celene’s house in flames the day of the fight. Taking a lesson from Lewis’ artful lies, Jason pretended to reluctantly admit to an affair with his colleague. He had called Celene immediately to fill her in on their fictional tryst.

“
Any update on Diana?” Zach asked.

“
Astin said she’s being discharged tomorrow.”

“
That’s great!”

“
She’ll draw a lot of attention off of the rest of you. Not many people here can say they’ve been stabbed.”

Zach talked to Jason for a few more minutes. When the warning bell rang, Zach rushed to his locker.

Things were falling back into a pattern of normalcy at Olympia Heights Senior High. Diana would be home soon. Dr. Davis had gone back to watching Peter and Penny from a distance but not interfering. Nobody was being burnt or drowned. Yet one thing had not gone back to the way it had been. June still wouldn’t talk to Zach. He set his bag in front of his locker and leaned his forehead on the door while he spun the combination. Valentine’s Day had the power to make anyone who was single realize just how lonely they really were.

Frank and Devon walked by holding hands. The girl who had the locker next to Zach was reading a card and sucking on a heart-shaped lollipop. Zach just felt sickened by all of the sentiment.

He opened his locker and was shocked to see a flood of pink and red cards pouring from the top shelf. They were all from different girls. He picked them off the floor and counted them. Twenty three.

Someone laughed. Lewis leaned against the wall next to Zach’s locker. He had a way of sneaking up like that. “The word is out, huh?”

Zach looked over briefly at Lewis before reading the extremely suggestive message on the first card. It had been sprayed with a fruity smelling perfume and the signature was loopy with a heart dotting the I. “What?”

“
The reign of June Herald is over. It’s safe to enter Zach Land.”

Zach slowly began to smile. Lewis was right. He’d spent five years with June, the last of which had really been comprised of more downs than ups. Now he could pursue whoever he wanted without guilt. Zach was a free man.

“
This is good,” Zach said. The bell rang to be in homeroom. They were late. “This is really good. I think I’m going to enjoy this semester.”

“
Hell yeah! I think I’m going to have to live vicariously through you, Lightning.”

Zach started down the hall, now grinning madly. So what if June wouldn’t talk to him? Zach was a Greek god. He could have any girl he wanted.

The future was looking bright.

Acknowledgments

There are a lot of wonderful people who made this book possible. Thanks to Anna “Banana” Heim and Sam Albro for letting me bounce my first ideas off of them. Special thanks to Dr. Mary A. Doll, my World Mythology Professor. Her passion for myth rekindled my own.

Thanks to my mother, who encouraged my interest in reading. Thanks also to my father, who handed down his slightly twisted sense of humor.

Thanks to my artists friends, who gave me the means to see my visions come to life. All of the artists on
http://olympia-heights.com
volunteered their time and talent to help promote Olympia Heights in exchange for a copy of this book. A special Thank You to the family at Matter Deep Publishing for believing in this project.

And finally, thanks to my husband, Kyle Strickland, who put up with my defensive nature while helping me edit my novel. This book would not have taken shape without him pushing me to make it better.

Please visit
http://olympia-heights.com
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