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Chapter 6 Odd
It’s been two weeks since the start of class and the professors have been moving at a fast and unrelenting pace. Leo and Rocky are second year students, so I don’t have any classes with them.
Angela sat across the table from me in the library, she’s my assigned partner for a project we’re working on. It was getting late and I wanted to have some dinner before I went to bed. Angela was a great partner and is actually in the same dorm on the second floor. We left the library and started walking back towards the
dorms.
“I’m going to stop and pick up some food at the corner restaurant, do you want anything?” I asked her. “I’m good thanks. My roommate picked up a pizza, so I’m going to head back.” She said.
“Sounds good, I’ll see you on Monday.” I said to her and stepped inside the restaurant.
Ten minutes later, I had a takeout box with some meat filled moussaka and walked the remaining block alone to the dorms. It was Friday night and the dorms were pretty quiet. Most were out enjoying the night life of Athens. I entered my dorm room and opened the window to let the night breeze in.
My phone is connected to the bluetooth speaker in my room, so I played some music. I opened the takeout box and found a generous helping of moussaka, bread and Greek salad. I sat at the desk eating and feeling the fresh breeze blowing. Halfway through I started feeling stuffed and decided to take a shower before I slipped into bed.
I washed my hair, soaped myself up with my favorite French vanilla wash and shaved my legs. I stood under the hot water thinking about tomorrow. Tomorrow was Zach and Sydney’s mating ceremony. Here I was, halfway around the world and yet I still felt painfully close.
I dried off and put on my pajamas. Then I ran a large tooth comb through my towel dried hair. I stepped over to the window and looked out for a moment. My view faced east, over the top of a tree. I could see other buildings and the forest in the distance. I closed and locked the window before I pulled the curtains shut.
I turned off the music and reached for the takeout carton to place in the refrigerator for tomorrow. The rest of the moussaka was gone, I had only eaten half. Someone had finished the rest of it while I was in the shower.
I checked my front door to make sure it was locked. Maybe Leo had stepped in and helped himself? I sniffed around and there was no scent of anyone in my room. Of course, Leo and Rocky can’t really be scented while they’re taking those masking herbs.
I laid in bed staring at the ceiling. The stolen food forgotten as I frowned thinking about Zach’s ceremony tomorrow. I suppose it’s a good thing I didn’t have to suffer through it tomorrow in person. Maybe I should do something fun and distracting tomorrow. I drifted away to sleep after sulking for a few moments longer.
I woke up in the morning to the sound of my phone ringing. My father was on video chat. He had been so worried the last few times I had spoken to him, that I hadn’t asked him about the Olympus Blood Moon pack that belonged to some fabled beast. The last thing I wanted was for him to send a babysitter over to watch
- me.
“Good morning dad.” I answered.
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“Hello Princess. Did I wake you?”
“No, I was just getting ready to start my day with some breakfast and maybe go out to Delphi to see the
temple.”
“That’s over two hours north of you. Is Kosta taking you?” He asked.
“I was thinking about taking a bus.” I told him.
“Nonsense Raven, Kosta is available to take you anywhere. I’ll call him for you.” He insisted.
“Dad, I’m perfectly capable of making my way there.” I said.
“I know you are, but a private car with an experienced tour guide will be much more comfortable for you then a crowded tour bus.”
He had a point; I’d be stuck with the tour bus all day. “Fine, call Kosta.” I conceded.
“Do you need anything?” He asked.
“No dad, I’m good. What’s mom doing?”
“She’s been busy with Vannica getting things ready for the ceremony.”
“Of course, she is. Listen, I should get going, I need to get ready.”
“I love you Princess.”
“I love you too dad, give mom a kiss for me.” I hung up before I had to listen to anymore mating ceremony
news.
I walked over to the bathroom to brush my teeth, hair and get ready. There was going to be a lot of walking on the sacred path at Delphi, so I put on my sneakers with denim shorts, tank top and a light jacket. My phone dinged, I looked down to find a message from Kosta. “Be there in five minutes, don’t eat breakfast.” I grabbed my sunglasses and headed out the door. There was some commotion in the lobby downstairs when I exited the elevator. Sara was Angela’s roommate and was talking to Karla and a university security guard.
“Here comes Raven, maybe she knows something.” Karla said.
“Good morning.” I said.
“I’m Gus, university security. We found Angela’s backpack just outside and she did not come back to her dorm last night. Do you know anything? When did you last see her?” He asked me.
“I was with her last night at the school library. We left just after 8:00pm and walked back together. I stopped down the street at Cristopalous Taverna to pick up dinner. Angela walked back alone because Sara had ordered pizza.” I told them.
“She never came back to the dorm.” Sara said.
“It was Friday night, maybe she had other plans?” Karla suggested.
“Does she have a boyfriend?” Gus asked.
“I don’t know.” Sara said.
“Okay, we’ll keep an eye out. Karla please call me when she gets back. Hopefully she’s just been out having a
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good time, this isn’t the first time this has happened, certainly won’t be the last.” He said.
“Should we call the police?” I asked.
“You have to wait two days before an inspector will look, but I’m sure she will be back soon.” He bowed out
the front door.
That’s odd, Angela seemed like a quiet and reserved person, not the party type at all. I saw Kosta’s car pull up, “I have to go, I’ll see you later.” I said.
“Where are you off to?” Karla asked.
“Kosta is taking me to Delphi.” I told her.
“Ahh, good. Enjoy the trip and take some pictures.” She called out behind me as I walked out waving goodbye.
“Kalimera, Raven.” Kosta smiled as he held the door to the back seat open.
“Kalimera.” I wished him a good morning and stepped up into the black Mercedes G–Class.
We pulled out into traffic and a motorcycle pulled up alongside of us. I couldn’t see the driver because he had a full face covering helmet on, but he had a very muscular body and his biceps were as big as my head. He could have easily passed us but was maintaining the pace next to us.
“There’s a small taverna that has excellent breakfast just ahead, we can stop in and get something.” Kosta
said.
“Sounds great, thank you.” I said. Kosta had to be well into his forties, but sometimes it’s hard to tell with a werewolf. I wondered why he was living in the city and if actually belonged to a pack or had a mate. I wasn’t at that level to ask him just yet, so my curiosity had to wait.
Kosta parked the car on the busy street and opened the door for me. We stepped into the restaurant and the delicious smell of food and Greek coffee hit me.
“What is that?” I pointed to something coming out of the oven that looked like pizza.
“That’s Ladenia, a flat bread with tomato, onion and olive oil. It’s very good with a side of sausage.” Kosta
told me.
“Sounds great!” I smiled and Rae yipped in my head.
Kosta ordered the same for both of us, the Ladenia with sausages. He carried the food to the car, and I carried a coffee for him and a tea for myself. Soon enough we were driving outside of Athens, eating and talking.
“This is fantastic.” I said and continued to enjoy my breakfast.
“This Greek sausage is so delicious and juicy.” Rae purred at me.
We continued to drive north, Kosta was pointing out landmarks and sights during the drive. He was a wealth of information on Greek history. The first werewolves descended from Greeks thanks to the Greek Gods. He told me the story of the first werewolf, King Lycoan of Arcadia was turned into a werewolf by Zeus.
“Is the beast of Greece really a descendant of King Lycoan?” I asked.
Kosta nearly spit his coffee out at the mention of the beast. “You know about the beast?” He asked nervously.
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“Leo and Rocky are the other two wolves in my dorm. They told me about him.” I answered, not wanting to give him the full details at the night club in case he was reporting back to my father.
“The beast in an old children’s tale to get naughty pups to behave.” He told me. I could sense a nervous under
tone.
“Look, we’re almost there.” He said changing the topic. We were climbing the beautiful hill sides on a two lane road. The scenic view was spectacular! It made me wonder how the ancients made the journey to the higher
elevation.
We slowed down and Kosta turned into the second parking lot. A motorcycle passed us by, and I tried to get a better look at the driver. He looked like the same rider from this morning, surely this wasn’t the same motorcycle from Athens. Was it?
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