Blood of the Ancient Gods: The Beginning (3 page)

"Those aren't even closely related," Lilia said. "But either sounds exciting. My classes are general this year as well but I think I want to become a lawyer or a child advocate of some kind. I've not totally decided yet."

"You're going to be in school forever," Veronica said. "I just want to do something I love. I'm thinking of becoming a writer or journalist. I'm taking two english classes, a math, and a science. I also plan to apply for the yearbook team."

"What about you, Tala?" Anima asked.

"I want to be a social worker and I'm also taking general courses this semester. I'll be looking for a job soon and some volunteer work. Not too much to distract from school, but I'll need to do something on my downtime."

Wow, they were a boring bunch. Anima was going to have to get them to live a little and she knew just the thing.

"Speaking of downtime, I know of the perfect fraternity party being thrown by Mu Ksi Psi tonight and I'm sure the Psi Zeta Phi girls will be there. It will give us a chance to learn more about the sorority because I don't know about you girls but I have plans on pledging," Anima said.

"Ohhh, party. I'm definitely there. Count me in," Veronica said.

"I don't know. It's our first weekend. Maybe we should take it easy," Lilia said.

"Oh, come on. We have no classes yet so why not have a little fun. It may be the last chance you have before you become busy with classes," Anima coaxed.

"Tala, are you going to go?" Lilia asked.

"We could go for a little while. If we don't like it we can come back early," Tala said.

Anima squealed and clapped her hands together.

"Perfect! We still have several hours before the party. I say we run to the mall, eat, and do a little shopping. Let's go. Should be easy to catch a cab," Anima said.

Ten minutes later they were in a cab and heading to the downtown mall.

"Maybe we can fit in a mani/pedi if the shop isn't busy," Anima suggested.

"That sounds great!" Veronica said.

"Sure, we'll see how much everything's going to cost," Tala hedged.

"No worries. My treat, I insist before you start refusing," Anima said. "This is great, we're going to be the best of friends."

The cab let them out at the mall and Anima paid the tab. It wasn't the biggest mall she'd ever been to, but it would do. They wasted no time getting down to business with finding outfits, eating, and a little spa treatment. Three hours later they were on their way back to campus to get ready for the party. Anima had even managed to get the girls to agree to a bit of makeup. They were all going to look amazing for their first college party. First impressions were the most important.

Besides, one never knew what boys they would run into. It wouldn't do to look like an extra from
Thriller
when out. Maybe if the girls found guys they liked they would loosen up a bit, especially Tala who seemed to be the mother of the bunch. Lilia seemed to take her cues from Tala, while Veronica was all over the place. The girls couldn't be any more different from each other and Anima planned to get to know them as individuals and not as a group. She just had to bide her time.

"We have roughly five hours to get ready for the party," Anima said.

"Five hours? Why would we need to take five hours to get ready? I can be ready in thirty minutes or less," Lilia said.

Anima's jaw dropped at the thought.

"You can't be serious. Don't you need to shave, moisturize, or do a makeup practice run? Please someone tell me she isn’t serious," Anima said.

"We've never taken long to get ready for anything. Even Veronica never takes more than an hour," Tala said.

"You guys are killing me. I'm going to go prepare for what could be one of the biggest parties this year," Anima said.

Several hours later Anima had dragged Tala, Veronica, and Lilia across campus to the Mu Ksi Psi fraternity house. The party looked to already be in full swing. Tala was starting to get a headache just thinking about it.

"What's wrong, Tala?" Anima asked.

"I don't think this is a good idea. Maybe we should just go back to the dorm," Tala said.

"Oh, no you don't. We've not even stepped foot in the front door yet. You have to give the party at least an hour," Anima pleaded.

"Yeah, Tala, stop being a party pooper. This could be a new beginning for us. You don't want to be known as the weird, stuck up girl do you?" Veronica asked.

"I really don’t care what anyone thinks of me," Tala said. "But I'll give you an hour and then I'm leaving. The rest of you can do whatever you want."

Tala hated parties. She didn't know why she'd let herself be talked into coming out. Parties were always too loud and after the first ten minutes she wanted to go home. Plus, she hated making unnecessary small talk and yelling to be heard over the pounding bass of speakers.

"Oh look! It's the Psi Zeta Phi girls. Let's go introduce ourselves," Anima said.

"Let's not," Tala murmured.

Reluctantly, she followed behind Anima as she led them to a back corner of the house.

"Hey ladies! I'm Anima and these are my friends Tala, Veronica, and Lilia. We're thinking of pledging your house when the time comes," Anima said.

Tala frowned at the announcement. She didn't remember agreeing to anything of the sort. She wasn't a sorority kind of girl. Maintaining her scholarship, taking care of Veronica and Lilia, and finding a part-time job were her primary concerns. She didn't have time for much else. Especially not parties and whatever else sororities did throughout the year.

"Hi! I'm Chrissy, these are my fellow Zetas. I'm the current president of Psi Zeta Phi, and we love new pledges. What year are you girls in?" Chrissy asked.

"This is our first year but I don't think we can pledge until next semester or next year right?" Anima asked.

"That's right. First year students can't pledge until next semester. We take grade point average into consideration," Chrissy said.

"Great, we're really excited," Anima said.

"I just love your enthusiasm!" Chrissy exclaimed. "Why don't y'all hang out with us tonight? We can show you what it would be like to be a Zeta."

"What an amazing idea. Lead the way," Anima agreed.

Yes, the sorority life was definitely not for Tala. She'd only been in their presence for moments and she didn't like any of them. They were too damn upbeat and happy for her taste. Looking down at her watch, she grimaced. She had at least fifty more minutes of this torture. From the look on Veronica's face she was considering it and she knew that if Veronica wanted to pledge and she didn't, Lilia would be torn between the two. Tala shook her head in disgust. Although she didn't want to be in a sorority, it looked as if she might end up doing it anyway.

Lilia freaked out anytime they weren't together for more than a couple of hours at a time. She wouldn't be able to stand it if they all weren't together after class hours. For the first time in her life, Tala regretted their co-dependent relationships. Maybe it was time to find their identities. It didn't mean they loved each other less but they also didn't have to spend every waking moment together. This could be the chance they needed to explore separate hobbies—but now wasn't the time to bring it up. She'd give it a few weeks before she said a word.

For now, she would endure the torture of being at the party. They’d only been there ten minutes and already it felt like hours. Next time she would be stronger and say no. Parties made her jumpy. She wanted to find a nice corner to hang out in until her hour was up, but she needed to keep an eye on Veronica and Lilia, so she followed them through the crowd to the other Zeta girls Chrissy led them to. They had to shout over the music to hear each other and the conversation was boring and lacked depth. All they wanted to talk about was which fraternity guys were the hottest. Tala would rather stab her eyes out with a rusty nail then join in on the conversation. Only forty more minutes to go. She could do this…she had to do this.

Chapter 2

Loki looked up at the building that read Public Library in big, bold letters. He'd had to change out of his godly garments and into something in the current human fashion. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, Loki ascended the steps and made his way inside the building. He went to the front desk and requested access to one of the computers. Luckily he kept up with human technology and knew his way around searching records and newspaper articles.

Once the nice, older librarian had him set up in a cubicle with relative privacy, Loki reflected on what he should look up to narrow his search for the perfect vessels. This would not be as easy as he'd first believed. Opening up a search engine, Loki typed in people involved in unexplained events. Several thousand results came back. Loki thought for a moment before narrowing the search to incidents that had occurred in the last twelve years. The results became much smaller. Fifty or so links came up. The first article caught his attention:
three orphans receive full ride scholarships to minerva university
.

Well wasn't that interesting. What made them orphans? Loki clicked the link and a picture of three pretty girls came up. They had a certain look about them that called to him. They could possibly be the answers to their problems. The article had their names underneath. After writing them in his notebook and scanning the article, Loki went about searching their names for information on what happened to their parents.

Loki started his search with Tala Reynolds.

CHILD SURVIVES FREAK WOLF ATTACK - PARENTS RIPPED APART

After a day full of family fun and camping Simon, Ruth, and Tala Reynolds were attacked by a wolf pack. The pack attacked only Simon and Ruth leaving little Tala without a scratch on her besides the ones inflicted mentally.

With no other family to claim her, Tala was handed over to Child Protective Services. Not only did this little girl go through a horrific ordeal, she's been put into the system.

"Interesting," Loki murmured.

Why was she spared while her parents ripped to pieces but not little Tala? She was only six at the time so the wolves would have had no problem killing her as well. Loki made more notes in his book next to her name and printed out the first article and the one he'd just read. Lilia Evans was the next name he did a search for her and once again, his curiosity was piqued.

CHILD ONLY SURVIVOR WHEN CAR GOES OVER BRIDGE

A family vacation became a double accidental drowning. Amanda, Matthew, and Lilia Evans were on their way to Florida for vacation when the unthinkable happened. Specifics haven't been released but their car smashed into the guardrails and went over the bridge into the water below. Witnesses called emergency responders right away but the only body recovered was an unconscious, but alive, Lilia Evans. People are calling it a miracle. The car was suspended for several minutes before rescuers went into the water looking for the family. But if you were to ask Lilia, I'm sure she would say it was a curse and not a blessing. Lilia will be placed in Child Protective Services and hopefully a family member comes forward to claim her.

Loki was intrigued. How does a human live underwater for that long without dying? She was only eight at the time of her parents' deaths. There was something about these girls but he had one more to look up before he acted on his instincts. He was pretty sure these were the girls he wanted but he just needed to look up Veronica Lacey to be certain. Loki printed out Lilia's article then did a search on Veronica.

EXORCISM GOES HORRIBLY WRONG

What strange things does a child need to display for a family to decide an exorcism needs to be preformed? I'm sure that's the exact same question John and Nicole Lacey asked themselves about their six year-old only daughter, Veronica. Neighbors say strange things took place in the weeks prior to the couple's death. Veronica had changed and wasn't herself. But medical professionals are saying child abuse. No sane parents would attempt to remove a demon from their child. The specifics of how the couple died are not known at this time, but the priests present are currently undergoing questioning at the police department. Veronica has been taken to Child Protective Services while the matter is being investigated and her relatives can be located.