Guardian of Atlantis (The Children of Atlantis) (4 page)

“So, what did you get me?” she tried opening it, but it refused to budge. She looked at all the sides until she realized there weren’t any seams—anywhere—showing where it might open. Out of frustration and curiosity, Raven shook the box.

Nothing rattled.

“Funny.
Really funny.
How do I get into it?” She brought the box closer to her face, just in case she’d missed something earlier.

She inspected the box several times. Raven kept coming back to the inlaid design. She traced the circle with her fingertip. A wave of energy rolled off the box. Raven almost dropped it out of fright. She traced the design again. Another powerful energy wave rolled off the box and surrounded Raven.

She did it again and was rewarded with a stronger energy wave. Raven touched the symbols in the center, wondering what they meant.

Poseidon.

Zeus.

The names popped into her brain.

Raven frowned. Greek mythology wasn’t her favorite subject, so why would her mom buy her something related to it? It didn’t make any se
nse, especially after the huge
fit her mom had when she found out about the Greek mythology unit Raven was studying in her freshman literature class a couple of years ago. The next day, when Raven got home from school almost everything in the house was packed and her mom was making weird excuses for the sudden
move.

“If mom didn’t put this here, then who did?” Raven looked around again. The windows and door were shut, but it didn’t make her feel much better. The thought of a stranger in her room, going through her stuff was just a little too creepy.

She stared at the box.

“Maybe mom did get it for me,” she tried convincing herself. “Now, I’ve just got to get it open.” She stared at the inlaid picture and thought about the waves of power that rolled off when she touched the pattern.

Raven put the box on the desk. She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ve got nothing to lose,” she said.

She put her hand over the design and let it hover just over it. Raven could almost feel the energy building up somewhere behind the design. “You can do this. There’s nothing to be afraid of,” she told herself and waited for someone or something to stop her. But her wait was for nothing. Wetting her lips with her tongue, Raven closed her eyes and pressed down hard on the design. A wave of pure energy shot through her fingers and up her arm and spread throughout her entire body. Images flashed through her mind at incredible speeds creating a seamless blur of colors. And then as fast as it had started it was over.

The images gone.

The energy gone.

Raven’s heart pounded against her ribcage. Her ears roared with its sound. She gasped for air, having at some point forgotten to breathe. Raven opened her eyes and unclenched her fists. Something fell out of her right hand and landed with a loud thud onto the desk.

“Wow!” The words slipped out of Raven’s mouth as her bottom jaw dropped. The jewelry box was gone. In its place was a silver necklace.

Raven stared at it, unsure if she should pick it up or not. Curiosity won. She picked it up by the chain, if it could be called a chain, because it didn’t look like any she had seen. There were no links. The silver wires were woven together, making the chain look almost like a single wire, except it was fluid in the way it bent and curled around her fingers. The pendant hanging from the silver wire was a thin silver disc about two inches in diameter. A blue crystal trident surrounded by flames was embedded in one side of the disc. On the other, in the same blue crystal was a lightning bolt surrounded by the same blue flames as the trident.

“Pretty,” whisp
ered Raven. She twirled the pendant
. The blue crystal caught the light and sent blue streaks da
ncing across the walls. The disc
pulsed with energy, but Raven ignored it thinking it was her excitement or her imagination. The missing jewelry box forgotten,
Raven
put on the necklace, taking a moment to
admire the strange, unique pendant
.

“Raven, are you coming down?”

Raven let the pendant drop.
“Coming, mom!”
She stuffed the rest of her things into her bag and left, turning off the light and closing the door behind her.

Suzan
ne was putting a platter of bacon
on the table when Raven walked into the kitchen.

“It smells good.” Raven sniffed. “And I’m starving.”

“As long as it took you to get down here, I doubt that.” Suzanne turned back to the stove and
grabbed another platter filled with scrambled eggs
.

“You made enough for an army.” Raven dropped her bag beside her chair and sat down.  She grabbed a slice of toast of
f of one of the small plates
.

“I know how you eat.” Her mom laughed.

“Oh, wow! Another present?” asked Raven, spotting a small box wrapped in emerald green paper and tied with a bright pink ribbon, sitting next to her glass of orange juice.

“Another present?
I got you just one present.” Suzanne turned around, holding another platter of food in her hands. “It’s on the table next to you
r
juice.”

“What about the other present. The one you left in my room?”
asked Raven.

“I didn’t leave anything in your room,” Suzanne frowned.

Raven put down the slice of toast. “Then were did this come from?” She held up the pendant so her mom could see it.

Suzanne gasped. The platter of food in her hands crashed to the floor. Food and broken pieces of pottery flew in all directions.

“Mom, are you okay?” Raven dropped the pendant as she jumped out of her chair. The chair fell over backwards.

“Where did you get that?” whispered Suzanne. Her face grew pale. Her eyes widened.

“Mom, what are you talking about?” Raven took a step toward the frightened woman.

Her mom took two steps back.

“Mom?”
Fear crept into Raven’s voice.

“Where did you get that?”

“Get what?
This necklace?”
Raven held up the pendant again.

“Yes. That!”

Raven shook her head in confusion. “You gave it to me. Didn’t you?”

Suzanne’s eyes widened. “No. Your birthday was yesterday. Nothing happened. This is a mistake.
Just a big mistake.”
Her words were almost gibberish. “It isn’t real.”

“Mom, what are you talking about?”

“Someone had to have left
it
here, but who? Who’s watching this place? Who knows we’re back?” Suzanne paused for a minute. “Ceto,
she
’s the only answer.” She turned her back to Raven. “She did this.”

“Who was here?” asked Raven. “Why would someone be watching the house?” She started to take a step toward her mom, but decided it wouldn’t be a good idea.

“What do I do? What do I do?” Suzanne wrapped her arms around herself.

“Mom?
What’s wrong? Who’s Ceto? What does this necklace have to do with it?”

Suzanne took a deep breath and let it out slowly, but she didn’t say anything, just stared at the cabinet in front of her.

“Mom?”
Raven lowered her voice, making it softer. She was used to her mom’s strange behavior, having experienced examples of it over the years. But this was off the chart weird and
it scared her.

The ticking of the kitchen clock echoed loudly through the quiet room. Raven tried
swallowing but her mouth had gone
dry.

Suzanne turned around. “I’ve got the interview and you’ve got school. Being late on your second day won’t look good.” She ran a hand through her hair.

“But what about the necklace?
And who is this Ceto person?”

Suzanne blinked several times. “I can’t be late. The first impression is very important.” The broken shards of glass crunched under her feet as she walked through the room.

“Mom!”
Raven didn’t know what to think. She had never seen her mom like this.

Suzanne stopped. “What do you want?” she asked without even turning around.

Raven stared at the woman. “What about breakfast? What about this mess?’” The floor was covered with glass and food and her mom wasn’t telling her to help clean it up. Something was definitely wrong.

“Breakfast is over. We have to go.” She started walking out of the kitchen again.

“But I just got down here. We haven’t eaten yet.”

Her mom stopped at the door to the garage and picked up her purse and keys. “I guess you should have gotten down here when I first told you instead of playing around.” Suzanne turned and glared at Raven.

“Who are you and where’s my mom?” Raven raised her eyebrows. “You knew I had to get dressed. Why the sudden rush to get out of here? Something’s going on.
Something that involves me.
I have a right to know what it is.” Raven crossed her arms. Her mom must have forgotten about how stubborn Raven could be when she wanted something.

“There’s nothing going on
that
concerns
you. Not everything revolves around you. Go get into the car.” The muscles in Suzanne’s left cheek twitched.

“Who is Ceto? And why are you so upset about this necklace?” Raven asked again.

“I’m not upset. Don’t worry about Ceto. She’s no one. We have to go.” Suzanne looked ins
ide her purse. “Did I put my
glasses in here?” she asked herself. She shoved stuff around in the purse. “Ha! There they are.”

“Now you’re lying to me,” Raven accused her mom. “What’s going on? It’s got to be bad if you’re lying to me.”

“There’s nothing to talk about. Just go get in the car.”

“But mom—”

“You have a choice. Go get in the car and I’ll drive you to school. Or you can walk to school in the rain. Make a decision, but make it quick. I’m leaving.” Suzanne went into the garage.

Raven sighed. Her mom had her. She looked at the mess on the floor then at the food on the table waiting for someone to eat it. The present peaked out from behind her juice glass, tempting her to stop and pick it up. Raven started reaching for it, but stopped herself. She didn’t have time to waste on the gift. It would be there when she got home. Raven follow
ed her mom into the garage.

3

For a long time after dad died, I had bad nightmares. For a while it got so bad, I thought I was seeing monsters everywhere.

One night I woke up screaming from a particularly bad nightmare. By the time mom got to my room, I was hysterical. The monsters from my dreams were now residing in my closet and under my bed. And I was not going to calm down until she chased them away.

Mom humored me. She looked in the closet, under my bed and in my bathroom. Of course she said there was nothing there. I told her it was because they were scared of her and had run away.

Mom laughed and told me there were no such things as monsters. They weren’t real.

She lied to me.

Monsters are very real.

I know because I’m one of them.

             
--Raven Weir’s journal

The Pinewood High parking lot looked like a deserted cement pond, minus the ducks. None of the yellow school buses had made it to school yet. Even the teacher parking lot was almost empty. But with the storm it wasn’t surprising. And the streets being barricaded because of flooding didn’t help. Everyone was searching for alternative routes to get to where they were going, and a few drivers totally forgot how to drive in the heavy downpours. Wrecks and cars stuck in flood waters littered the streets. Police and rescue workers were everywhere.

Several times on the way to school, the tires hit a patch of standing water, sending the car hydroplaning. Each time, Raven felt her heart jump into her throat. She was sure they were going to fly off the road and get stuck, or worse, crash into another car. Even with the school almost deserted, Raven was relieved to see it because
it meant
her ride was over. The idea of kissing the grou
nd popped into her brain, causing
her to giggle.

“What’s so funny?” Suzanne glanced over at Raven.

“Oh, nothing.”

“Nothing?”

“Just thought maybe I should kiss the gro
und when I get out of the car,” said Raven.

Suzanne pulled up to the front of the building like she did the day before, except this time the crowds of students weren’t trying to get into the building.

“Raven—”

“Mom—”

They both spoke at the same time. Raven shrugged her shoulders and reached for the door handle.

“Raven, wait.”
Suzanne put her hand on Raven’s arm.

Raven didn’t say anything. She let go of the handle and waited for whatever bomb her mom had to drop.

“Raven, I’m sorry.” Her mom sighed. “I’m sorry for the mess I made of everything. I’m sorry about how I reacted this morning. I just hoped—I was surprised to see the necklace. I just wanted a normal life for you.”

“What’s going on?” asked Raven.

Suzanne closed her eyes. Her shoulders drooped. “I’m not the right person to tell you.
The fact is
I don’t know the whole story, only bits and pieces of it. I wish your dad was still here.”

“Does this Ceto person know?” asked Raven.

“Yes,” she whispered. A lone tear drop ran down the side of her face. “Tonight I’ll try to answer all your questions and maybe Ceto will grace us with her presence and answer the rest.”

“Whatever,” mumbled
Raven.

“Raven, I am truly sorry about my behavior this morning. You have to believe me.”

Raven got out of the car and walked stiffly through the rain to the building. She heard her mom drive away, but she refused to look back. By the time she reached the front door, her clothes were soaked and her teeth rattled because of th
e damp cold seeping through the wet clothes
and into her bones. Her hiking boots squished and squeaked on the polished tile of the empty hallway. She glanced behind her thinking someone was there, but the only thing she saw was the watery trail she left.

“The janitor’s going to spit nails when he sees that,” groaned Raven as she entered the restroom. Raven looked in the mirror behind the sink and pulled her hair loose from the ponytail. She grabbed a handful of paper towels out of one of the dispensers and dried her hair the best she could before she pulled it back into a ponytail.

“Did the rain make your blue dye run?”

Raven looked into the mirror only to see Elizabeth sneering back at her. “And what rock did you crawl out from under?” She sneered back at Elizabeth.

“Good one. But not good enough,” Elizabeth crossed her arms.
“If you’re not trying to prevent a dye mess, then what are you doing?”

“None of your business.
Just crawl away.” Raven waved her away.

“Oh, you don’t think I’m leaving that easily do you?” She raised her eyebrows at Raven.

“I can hope.” Raven pulled her still damp hair into a ponytail.

“Like that’s going to help. If I were you, I’d run, not walk, to the nearest hair salon, get it cut really short and the color changed. Almost any color will be better on you than that horrid blue.”

“Would you give it a rest!” snapped Raven. “The hair stuff is old. This isn’t a dye job. It’s my natural color.”

“Right.”

“You’re just jealous.”

“Me?
Jealous?”
Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “Why would I be jealous of you?”

Raven stood up tall and put her hands on her hips.
“Because you have the same dull, blonde hair as half the girls in this town.
There’s nothing special about it. It doesn’t even sparkle in the
sun light. My hair may not be pretty according to you, but
because it’s so black,
in the light it has a beautiful natural blue shimmer.”

“At least I don’t stick out like a sore thumb and draw all the teachers’ unwanted attention.”

“At least I don’t sneak around destroying other people’s sculptures,” mocked Raven.

Elizabeth rolled her eyes. “We’re back to that? Give it a rest.”

“Just leave.”

“What and miss the fun when Marley finds the mess you left in the hallway? I can’t wait to see the fireworks.” Elizabeth threw her head back and laughed.

For a minute Raven could have sworn she was staring at a witch straight out of a fairy tale. “Ha. Ha. You’re so funny.” Elizabeth’s superior tone rubbed Raven the wrong way. She wanted to slap the girl silly, but that was out of the question. “Why
don’t you do something decent and c
rawl back to your hole and leave me alone.”

“I don’t think so.” Elizabeth stepped behind Raven.

Thunder boomed. Both girls jumped.

“The weather’s so crazy. I’m sick of it,” muttered Elizabeth. “I want the rain to go away!” She stamped her foot. “And I mean now! It wasn’t supposed to rain today.”

Elizabeth’s childish behavior surprised Raven. It didn’t fit the impression she had formed about the girl.

The lights flickered several times.

“That’s never happened before,” whispered Elizabeth.

“Thunderstorms cause power outages all the time. It’s no big deal.” Raven shook her head.

“No here.
Not at this school. Too many of the children—
i
t would be too dangerous of something like a power failure happened.”

“You’re making no sense.” Raven turned her attention to her wet clothes.

“You really don’t know. Do you?”

“Know what?”

Before Elizabeth could answer, a low hissing growl floated around the room. The lights flickered again, but stayed off a little longer this time than before. The hissing growl vanished when the lights came back on.

“How did you do that?” Elizabeth’s voice quivered.

Raven checked each stall. “It wasn’t me and no one else is in here.” She glanced at Elizabeth. “Are you sure it wasn’t you?”

Thunder vibrated through the building and the lights flickered again. Elizabeth screamed. She pointed at the mirror. “There!” She slowly backed away.
“In the mirror!”
The wall stopped her retreat.

“I don’t see anything,” Raven stepped closer to the mirror, “except us.”

“F-face!
There!”

Raven frowned. “Of course there’s a face. It’s a mirror. It was your reflection. Duh! With the lights flickering, you looked stranger than normal.”

“It wasn’t my reflection. There’s something in the mirror.”

“There’s nothing there.” Raven rolled her eyes.
“Just what I needed today on top of everything else.
You’re not just mean, you’re crazy too.” She shook her head.

“There. The face! It’s right there in the mirror!” Terror filled Elizabeth’s voice. “The mirror!” she repeated to herself.

“There’s nothing there.” Raven turned to look in the mirror and found
herself
facing a woman with pale skin and black hair. Dark sunglasses covered her eyes and most of her face. Her hair rippled oddly in severa
l different directions at once.
The woman or rather her head, because that’s all that was visible, smiled.

Elizabeth let out a blood-curdling scream and ran out of the restroom, the door slammed shut behind her.

Raven tried moving too, but her feet grew roots.

She stared at the woman in the mirror. “How is this possible?”

“You’re in danger. Be suspicious of everyone’s motives. Trust no one, especially family.” The musical tones of the woman’s voice wove a hypnotic spell around the edges of Raven’s brain. “Even I am a danger to you.”

Thunder roared from somewhere above the school. The mirror rattled in response. Raven shook her head clear of the fuzzy cobwebs created by the woman’s voice. ‘Who are you?” whispered Raven.

The woman
’s smile grew bigger and warmer. “I am your—” she sighed. “Who I am isn’t important. What’s important is your safety.
Your survival.
Without you, we are all doomed. I wish there was another way, but the Fates dictated the path you must follow a long time ago. And I’ve had to accept
it
, just as you will have to accept your destiny.”

The woman glanced behind her. For a split second Raven could have sworn she had seen several snakes in the woman’s hair. When the woman turned back around, her smile was gone.

“Be careful who you trust. Your life depends on it. You and you alone hold the key codes to Atlantis. Be strong. There are some who will try to use you to get Atlantis and some, like Zeus, who will do absolutely anything, even kill you, to get it. Protect yourself, but make sure no one—absolutely no one—gets access to Atlantis. Z
eus is desperate
. With it, he will be invincible and he will destroy us all.”

Atlantis?
Zeus? Those were just myths.
Stories.
Raven shook her head. How can a myth hurt me? Her mind reeled. Who was this woman? How was she talking through the mirror? The questions dipped and twisted until Raven felt like she was going to throw up. The hairs on her arms stood up and the air felt heavy with electricity. The individual strands on her head moved with the electricity as if they were alive. A thunderous crash vibrated through the room and through Raven. The lights flickered again.

“Remember my warning. Protect yourself. Protect Atlantis. And remember, I have a
lways loved you and always will
my precious daughter.” The lights went out. The woman’s voice faded away into the inky void and Raven was left alone in the pitch black with only the sounds of her ragged breath and the ferocious pounding of her heart.

The lights came back on.

Raven stared at the mirror. The only face
reflected
in the mirror was
her own
wide-eyed, pale face.

The woman was gone.

Cautiously, she moved closer to the mirror and touched the spot where the woman’s face had been. To
Raven’s
surprise the mirror was cool, not warm like she expected it to be. “Okay, it’s official. I’m going crazy.” She bit her lip.

“What are you doing in here? Who’s in here with you?”

Startled, Raven spun around. “What are you doing in here? This is the girls’ restroom.” she asked the
old
man standing there.

“I’m asking the questions.” Joe Marley, the janitor, stood inside the girls’ restroom. His hands, balled into fists, hung at his sides. Dressed in black pants and white, long-sleeved shirt
which
had seen better days, Joe Marley glared at her with his piercing gray eyes. His upper lip turned up in a bit of a snarl of glee for having caught someone breaking the rules.

“Students are supposed to be in the cafeteria not hiding out in the restrooms,” Marley said in a rusty growl.

“I wasn’t hiding anywhere. I was drying off. It’s raining outside you know. And I got soaked,” explained Raven.

“Not my problem. B
esides you don’t look wet to me. But you do look guilty of something.” Marley stepped closer to Raven. “Now who’s in here with you?” He paused. “And what are you doing?”