Barcode: Legend of Apollo (30 page)

I feel her skin on every bit of my existence, and more importantly, I hear thoughts of her love for me. They’re not old or cherished. They’re new and confused. In fact, she’s hated me ever since I saved her from the creature.

Realizing that I can read her thoughts, I pray she can’t sense mine. I don’t want to kiss her. There’s no reasonable explanation for me to fall in love.

Though I need Michelle to keep living, I want to die. Everyone I love hurts me. The only woman that loved me was murdered, because her son was supposed to be a monster.

As porky begins to minister, Michelle shakes her head. Something, probably common sense, pushes me into her lips, into a true heaven.

The connection strengthens the power I feel surging through my tattoos. My codes process the enticing data while my mind analyzes the seductive skin on her soft lips. Chills break dance across my torso. As I hold her arm, I feel the same eruptions. I’ve connected to something greater than the universe. Maybe it’s what Kode called a soul.

After jointly pulling away, we stare at each other intensively. Suddenly we break into a quiet laughter. I rest my lips on her forehead while listening to the pastor, still exchanging connections through our barcodes.

“I’ve heard that many of you struggle with your faith and you wonder,
is The Writer real
? Raise your hands if this is true for you.”

Some woman blurts, “Put your hand down Arnold.“

“No. That’s fair, and thank you for being honest Hercules, but there is nothing wrong with disbelief in The Writer. Not all of the gods believe in him.”

The small group begins chattering.

Pastor Gordon interrupts them. “I don’t blame any of you for being perplexed. Life is confusing and so is religion. The Writer’s story evolved from several religions around the world. As the Earth’s population began to intermingle, those from various backgrounds became more blended. People were defined by region versus color or ethnic makeup. As the cultures merged, so did religions.

“After the war, people were lost. Who could they believe in to save them? Prayers to their gods were going unanswered. Violence had become the way of life. Suddenly, mysterious messages appeared in mailboxes and emails over the world. They were encouraging and promoted the maintenance and dedication towards faith.“

A soft piano plays in the background as a woman hums lightly.

“During this time, half of the world was impoverished and looking for something to drive them forward. A revolution started that nearly sparked another war, but the Olympians intervened and children with tattoos were born. Some of the more pleasant gods like Dionysus, Apollo, and Helios decided to open arenas where countries could fight for territories based on their amount of wins, instead of sacrificing the lives of soldiers.

“That’s when people began praising humans born with barcodes as deities. That’s also how The Writer became widely known. It was the first Helios hosts that popularized The Writer. Helios praised Him for maintaining the war and keeping battles between politicians, not innocent citizens.”

“Who cares? Should we believe in some invisible god just because of Helios?” Arnold asks, boldly interrupting the explanation. “If you knew the current host of Helios, you wouldn’t think very favorably of The Writer.”

The people try to hush Arnold, but the pastor eats up every word.

“No, I agree with you. It’s not because of Helios that we appreciate The Writer; it’s because of the messages
we
receive. In this library, there are nothing but books written by man, just like the Bible was during the time of Christianity. What makes the words special are not what you read, but what you interpret. If your interpretation says that there is no Writer, then that’s what is written on your heart. Maybe your disbelief will strengthen another.” The pastor projects his voice loudly with his conclusion, “We each have a purpose, but it’s our choice to write that purpose into our own lives.”

“That I can agree with pastor.”

The group reads three passages from
The Everyday Bible: Helios
.

There are hundreds of Everyday Bibles that people write in order to detail their own life experiences and interpret their messages from The Writer. Even Dennis, the library absentee for the past few years, writes in his every night. I have considered using the one Hayley gave me as a gift two years ago.

After a small choir sings and the people trickle out, Michelle leads me from the stone pillars. I never want to leave this small place with immeasurable feelings crammed between us. She doesn’t either. But we both fear Arnold enough to not be found stuck together. Nevertheless, we take the risk of holding hands until we depart from the reserved area. Before we’re in sight of the exit, I swing Michelle around for one more kiss.

The expression on her face reads:
It took you long enough. 
“And Spencer,” she says as though the sentence were connected to her thought.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t die. I need you, too.”

Thirty One

Days before final exams, Hannah, Michelle, and I meet in Casey’s room to see if I can lift one of my weights one last time, but it doesn’t work. I’m not upset. I’ve received a grandiose amount of help from the two friends. Their support pushed me further than I could ever imagine in the past two weeks. I can’t regret where I am.

All three of us are able to work out with all eight marbles, but none of us can budge my golden weights.

I’m just happy that things are somewhat back to normal. Michelle and I agreed that there’s no future for us. Even if I were to stop pursuing Hannah, there’s no way I could leave one friend to be with the other.

Michelle and I debated this for hours.

Eventually, she said that she couldn’t hurt her best friend. I understood and agreed. Hannah’s one of my best friends as well. Michelle also revealed how Hannah feels about me. Supposedly, I’m her “closet husband” and she’s more jealous than I imagined. It seems that other girls on campus knew of her affection towards her
future husband
and were viciously threatened if they did more than hold a simple conversation with me.

Honestly, I would have done the same if any guy were dumb enough to flirt with her.

During my conversation with Michelle, I avoided admitting that I still have feelings for Hannah. In fact, I treated the topic like a plague.

If I hooked up with either girl, there’s no way we could all remain friends. The lose-lose situation turned out to be our present predicament.

I stare at Hannah as she claps her hands and smiles. “It’s okay! You still have a week.”

“Nah. I have to let my muscles relax before the exams. If I have to fight Monte or Kode, I’ll need all the strength I can get.”

Michelle scratches her head, “What’s up with you and those guys? I know about the threat to your life and all, but that can’t be it. You weren’t this hyped up when you were leaving for Dubai to fight Mohammed’s stuck up son. He was threatening to kill you too.”

Hannah nods and tilts her head in a suspicious way, as though she didn’t care to hear my reply. I could be reading too much into it, but it seems she’s always a bit distant when I mention Kode’s name. I started noticing it after confessing my ability to hear him. She was pretty pissed that I didn’t tell her for so long and asked if Michelle knew. Being the smart man I am, I lied.

Clearing my throat, I practically cough up my response. “I kind of need to be ready to become the first king of America this summer.” I duck my head, close the cabinets, and walk away.

Michelle chases me down, a little too close for comfort. Too close would normally mean five feet away before my barcode goes berserk for her. But this time she swings right by my face to stop me from walking away. She blares, “What do you mean ‘king’?”

“I guess, I forgot to tell you that,” I mumble. “You see, it happens that this summer my bandages have to be removed, and I’ll fight Helios. After beating him, I’ll have power over all his territories.”

Simultaneously, they yell, “What?” Hannah’s staring at me. Both their faces are beautifully distracting. When I think back on it, I hated the past few weeks of training. Their bodies do not present a productive learning environment.

“I thought you said Dennis didn’t want you fighting Helios.” Hannah watches me closely.

“He hates the idea, but he doesn’t have much of a choice with his investors pressuring him. Anyway, that’s why Dennis is always working. He’s developed some extensive security for our borders to make sure Helios doesn’t get to me before I come into my power.”

“Yeah right. Dennis wouldn’t work so hard to protect the West Coast just for your safety,” Hannah asserts as though they’re best buds. She laughs and throws her hands on her hips.

On the other hand, Michelle’s waiting impatiently for the next word to leap from my lips. She has a different type of disbelief. It’s the
oh my goodness, I love gossip
type.

“No one knows this besides the professors and investors for this school, but the academy’s logo is my barcode.”

Michelle blurts, “Shut up.”

Even Hannah follow through with, “No it’s not.”

“Whoa. Not so many big words ladies.”

“It’s a cross from Christianity, you idiot,” Michelle says, punching me in the arm.

“No. It’s more similar to the cross of Saint James, but it’s divided into three segments like the two parts that power my arms and the long sword that strengthens my torso. That logo didn’t appear until the day after my birth.”

I try walking pass the women, but they become road blocks with tons of questions. Because I don’t want to enter an argument, we start a light brawl that can’t end well for me. I’m strong, but taking on two goddesses means I’m at a disadvantage, and it shows.

Not waiting for one to attack, I throw Hannah on the mat and swing Michelle out of the way, but they both trip me up in the process. The quick recovery catches me off guard, and I find my body wrapped by both women as I’m glued to the floor. The dreams I had of them holding me down felt nothing like this. I tap the ground and they release me.

They fold their damn sexy legs yoga-style as I elaborate on what I know.

“The nation is relying on me to defeat Helios. I’m supposed to challenge him in a few years after my bandages are removed. Then, I move to Sacramento into a castle that’s being built for me.”

Hannah leans in, “That’s crazy. You’re not strong enough to fight him yet.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, but I agree. I can hardly lift my own weapons.”

“That doesn’t mean you can’t get there,” Michelle blurts out unexpectedly.

“Yeah. When Dennis removed the bandages from his fingers, he gained the nickname ‘The Black Hand’ for his demonic power. Supposedly, he killed over a thousand gladiators in one day to gain control of California. My entire back is wrapped, so you never know. Still, if I die, a lot of people will lose hope. Dennis will lose everything he owns and several investors will leave the West Coast.”

Nearly stuttering over her words, Hannah asks, “Why would they do that?”

“Helios doesn’t follow the rules of gaining territories by arena matches. He is the first to use bombs, military attacks, and other means to gain his regions since the arena battles have begun. He’s taken over most of Northern California. You see, every powerful arena has a strong brute that holds Helios from taking them over. Because he doesn’t follow the territorial rules, everyone is always worried that he’ll attack. For us, Arnold’s the real reason Helios doesn’t come our way. But to the investors, I’m the man.”

Michelle scratches her chin comically and speaks as if she was an old wise man, “Because you are rumored to have greater power, people come here to have you as their protector.”

Hannah laughs at her best friend and adds, in a more serious tone, “If you lose a match, people will think you’re not ready for Helios.”

“Right. Technically, I’m supposed to be the baddest thing alive. That’s why Dennis tried fixing my matches up until last year. Punch them once and they fall out flat.”

The two women start a fake boxing match. Michelle swings at Hannah. Though she misses, Hannah dramatically collapses on the ground. That’s actually a great depiction of how badly the match I had last year looked. The student my father paid off practically had to fall on his own in order to lose.

Michelle tickles Hannah to get her back up. After they fight a bit, Michelle asks, “What now? You must not think that Dennis can buy Monte.”

“After what happened last year, there’s no way he’d try rigging another fight for me. He’ll have to let me go all out this time. Plus, I
know
he couldn’t buy Kode.”

An alarm sounds and the room suddenly turns pitch black. Stupid Professor Gonzales! How would making a room black help in an emergency? She’s creepy. It’s as though she wants us to die.

The women and I run out of the room and into the hallway. If we’re caught, Hannah could get into a lot of trouble. Students living in the dorms are supposed to be in their rooms by nine o’clock. And if she gets kicked out, she’ll have nowhere to stay.

“Spencer, I’m going to sneak her back home. You make sure no one follows us,” Michelle says, crouching and taking Hannah by the wrist.

Michelle’s legs and Hannah’s arms create an orange and pink glow as they dash down the hall. When they’re nearly out of sight, I hear footsteps behind me. I rush towards the sound, assuming a professor or security noticed us. My heart beats rapidly as I think of how to create a diversion.

“What are you doing here?”

The look on Leo’s face tells me that something’s wrong. “I got a text from Kode. He warned me that you’d be in trouble if I didn’t come.”

“What?”

Just then, Kode peeks his head out of a nearby door and whispers, “Over here.”

I roll my eyes and walk towards the devil. Leo grabs my arm and asks, “You’re really going with him?”

I nod, “He always has the most interesting adventures. I find myself getting a little bored when he’s not around.”