Athena
Throb.
Throb.
Ache.
That was what woke me up. My arm was throbbing and it felt as though a thousand needles were piercing my arm. I touched the throbbing arm and felt that it was bandaged. Like yesterday, I found it difficult to open my eyes. I must have been knocked out hard by whatever was injected into my neck. I still felt drowsy from the injection, and my limbs felt like logs of wood. I peeled my eyes open with much difficulty to realize that I was at the same place where I was kidnapped. It was morning already.
How long did I spend there? I stood up so fast my head started spinning.
They set me free but why?
Then a thought entered my head–the gift. I suspected that it could be what was hurting but there was no time to look at it. I had to get out of there before they returned. I quickly ran back home, not stopping until I reached my house. I banged continuously at the gate and at the same time looking back to see if anyone was behind me. The security guard opened the gate.
"Miss Williams...."
I ran past him without waiting for him to finish his statement. When I got into the house, my parents and siblings were in the living room. Mum was the first to see me.
"Where were you and why are you just coming back?"
"What do you mean, mum?
"You sent a message to me saying that you would be visiting a friend, and that was yesterday! You weren't returning any of our calls."
I was confused 'cause I don't recall sending any message of that sort.
She then saw the plaster on my face and the one on my arm.
"What happened to you?"
That was not important, I needed to see the text message because I was damn sure that I didn't send any message when I left the house. By the way, I left my phone at home.
"What message, mum?" I asked.
"First tell us what happened to you. How did you get hurt?"
"Please, mum. Show me the message."
She showed me the message on her phone. What the hell?
"I didn't send that!"
"Who did?" It was Ares.
I had no answer to that question. It was probably Carlos and his gang of brutes. Blue eyes have been the most terrible person I've met in my life and I don't want to cross paths with him ever again.
"Scratch that," Ares said. "Where were you and why couldn't we track you?"
I wondered why too. I couldn't believe that I spent more than half a day with those brutes.
"And why are you dressed like this?" Dad added.
The questions were making my head spin.
Wanting everything to end, I slowly unwrapped the bandage on my arm, wincing now and then. I dreaded what laid behind the bandage. Hopefully, it wasn't that bad. I remove the bandage fully to reveal a tattoo—a tattoo of a black scorpion.
What the f*ck? My subconscious cursed.
"You went to get a tattoo!" Ares yelled grabbing my arm.
I kept staring at the tattoo in anger. Those bastards gave me a permanent mark on my body.
"Th-that-that's not it!" I stuttered.
"You better have a good explanation for this, young lady. It is so unlike you to sleep outside of the house. You got a tattoo for Christ's sake!"
"I was kidnapped, " I started.
It was all silent.
"What?" Ares exclaimed.
I sat on the couch, it would be a long explanation.
****
"Spanish?" dad asked after the explanation. Mum kept holding me like she was scared I'd vanish into thin air.
"Yes."
My brothers were seething.
"No wonder we couldn't find you. They probably disabled the tracker. Did they hurt you, Princess?" Apollo asked.
"No."
Ares was already on the phone with the district commissioner of police. I had a feeling that their boss was not someone to mess with. If they could send my mum a message from my phone even though I left it at home, I'm pretty sure that they would be able to evade the police.
"They knocked me out with a sedative. When I woke up, I was by the lake where they picked me up and had this tattoo on my arm."
"I don't recall having Spanish enemies. Perhaps a new enemy?"
I shook my head. "They aren't enemies of yours, daddy."
He scowled. "Then whose? Who got my daughter into trouble?"
I didn't reply. I was fully aware that Dante was the one they were after not me. I was just a pawn in their game used to rile him–an unnecessary pawn. Dante and I have nothing going on. He told me that I shouldn't be seen with him and I tried to tell blue eyes that.
"I don't know, " I lied. "The only clue they left was this tattoo." I pointed at the tattoo.
Why did I lie for Dante? I asked my subconscious.
'Do you want me to answer that?' She replied.
No!
'Thought as much,' she said.
'They permanently marked our beautiful skin!' My subconscious wailed.
The realization of that saddened me. I never wanted a tattoo.
Dad thought for a while, then said, "Get Scar on it. Have him find out what the tattoo means, " Dad instructed Apollo.
"But Dad, we don't know if it is related to the—"
Dad cut him off. "What does it look like?"
Apollo didn't reply.
What on earth were they talking about?
I looked at mum and she met my gaze with a confused look. It was obvious that she had no idea what the men were talking about.
"You should go up and get out of those clothes. I'll call you when the police arrive, " she told me.
I went upstairs, took a shower, and climbed the bed. After going through my missed calls and messages, I texted Dante.
'We need to talk,' I typed and sent.
He replied almost immediately. 'Emergency?'
I frowned. Didn't he want to speak to me?
I typed back, 'It's nothing,'
Since he didn't want to speak to me, I'd rather not tell him. I was about to hit send when my subconscious said,
Don't be stubborn, Athena. We need him, my subconscious said.
Sighing, I deleted the text and retyped,
'Yes, it is urgent.'
He texted back, 'I will pick you up from school tomorrow.'
That was all. His straightforward texts pained me. It felt like he didn't want to speak to me. But his friend hinted that he had been talking about me. Perhaps I read it wrongly. Maybe he talked about how much my presence annoyed him.
What next? I asked my subconscious.
'You should stop calling me that,' she replied.
Calling you what?
'Your subconscious,' she answered.
Isn't that what you are?
'Yes, but I don't like to be called that.'
What would you like me to call you?
'Call me by my name,' she said.
All these years together, and you never told me you had a name.
'Your stupid ass never asked.'
Well, what is your name?
'It's Mona.'
"Athena!" Mum called out and walked into my room.
"Yes, mum."
"I've been calling for a while, what were you doing?"
I've been talking to my–to Mona and didn't hear my mum calling. One of these days, she would get me into trouble.
'Amen to that,' Mona cheered.
"Sorry, mum. I was lost in thoughts."
She sat on the bed. "I know you have been through so much in the past twenty-four hours. I can't imagine what you might have experienced. But I'm here if you need me."
I nodded and hugged her.
"Baby," she started. "Did they touch you?"
I knew where she was heading. Thankfully, they didn't touch me but blue eyes gave me the scare of a lifetime when he implied that he would.
"No, they didn't."
She let out a sigh of relief. "I am glad to hear that."
"The police are downstairs, you have to give your statement," she said and I nodded.
We climbed down the stairs together. There were two police officers downstairs. I sat down and explained everything again.
"Do you know the name of any one of them?" one of the officers asked.
"Yes, Carlos. He seemed to be the second in command or something. He was the only one who could talk to the boss."
The officer shot his partner a look and the other one returned it.
"Did you say Carlos?" the second officer asked.
"Yes."
I was troubled by how weird they were acting.
Did they know Carlos?
"Did he have green eyes?" the first officer asked.
I was surprised because I didn't mention that.
"Yes, " I replied again.
"Spanish?" he asked again.
"Yes."
The two men shared a look of panic. I was now certain that they knew Carlos. But why did they look so scared?
"Can we see the tattoo?"
I showed it to them and they stood up immediately after seeing it.
"We have to go now. We have gotten her statement already, " the first officer said.
"I'd advise you to drop the case. Your daughter is back and unharmed. Don't stir up more trouble for your family, " the other one said to my dad. They left in a hurry, leaving all of us confused.
Hey lovelies❤️❤️
It's your favorite author🤭🤭
It took me so long to write another chapter cos I was ill. Don't worry, I am better now.
So, what do you guys think of this chapter? I feel it is filled with dialogue but the dialogues were necessary.
Why did the police officers act that way?
Dante is breaking Athena's heart😩😩
This chapter is dedicated to AiderKwin. She is a wonderful writer. Check out her book "The Mansion" you will love it and her characters as much as I have grown to love them. Especially Desmond 🤭🤭☺️☺️😍😍😍
QOTD:
What is your favorite superhero?
Mine is the Batman 🤭❤️ 🦇
Don't forget to vote, comment, and share with your friends.
~Angel~