Persephone

Chapter V

Twenty minutes later I was sitting at our computer watching the security feed replay for the police. I looked over at my mother. She looked so vulnerable curled up on the green papasan chair with her feet tucked under her. Her eyes were wide with fear as she watched the incident replayed on the monitor.
“I didn’t hear a thing.” I reached over and patted her hand, and her guilty eyes turned to me. “Not until he yelled.”
I didn’t know what to say. I’d never seen my mother afraid. She didn’t get scared—she got organized. She juggled being a single mother, a small business owner, and having a busy social life with an ease I envied.
Seeing her frightened made me feel worse. My hands shook as I answered the questions the officers asked me before leaving with a copy of our security feed. My mother locked the door behind them and stood there with her back to the door, looking lost.
“Do you want to talk about it?” she asked.
I shook my head, kneeling to pick up the scattered flowers. “He scared me.”
I started with surprise when my mother knelt beside me, picked up various objects from the floor, and put them in their proper place in the drawer. I hadn’t heard her cross the room.
“Was this a frat prank, or do you think he was a psychopath? I mean, why would he come after me?” I thought of the feelings I’d had of being followed, and the strange snowstorm on the highway, and the meeting with Orpheus. I shook my head. “It just… Nothing makes sense anymore. Did you hear that guy? He said I was Zeus’ daughter? And that I couldn’t lie? You don’t get much crazier than that.”
I swallowed hard. If I really was going crazy, imagining voices and being paranoid, was that what I would be like? Assaulting random employees in flower shops?
I need to tell her. This wasn’t just scary, it was serious. What if I got bad enough to hurt someone?
“I think he was disturbed.” Mom gathered the business cards and put them back on the counter.
“Mom, I think I’m going crazy.”
She blinked. “What?”
“Lately really weird stuff has been happening to me, and I know it’s not real. It can’t be real because no one else notices it.”
She pulled the chair behind her and sat down. “What sort of things?”
It all came out in a jumble. “I’ve been having these weird feelings, and everyone acts strange around me. There’s this thing that happens with their eyes and suddenly they don’t act like themselves anymore. And the weather.” I shook my head. The more I talked the stranger it sounded. “I don’t want to go nuts and start attacking people.”
“Oh, honey.” She put her hand on mine and drew me to the chair beside hers. “You’re not going crazy. This is my fault. I thought I’d have more time to tell you, more time to prepare you.”
“Tell me what?”
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she spoke, the words seemed to fall out of her mouth against her will. “You’re a goddess.”
“Mom, I’m serious,” I said, annoyed at her for taking this so lightly.
“So am I. I was going to wait until you graduated. Build up a support net of people who would understand, but if you’re already coming into your powers, I’ve waited too long.”
My forehead wrinkled incredulously. “You actually believe this?” There was no trace of humor in her voice.
She gave me a level stare and continued talking. “You had to act normal and fit in to be safe, and that would be much more difficult if you knew you weren’t human.”
Not human? My head was spinning. It was genetic. Of course it was genetic. Crazy ran in families. “Mom, I think we should call someone. Tonight was stressful, but—”
“This isn’t a nervous breakdown, Persephone. You are a goddess.”
She seemed to change every time she said that word. It was like she was less my mother and more something else. Her expression grew more detached, her eyes somehow got older, wiser. Looking at her, there was nothing comforting about her that said mom. This was something else. Something powerful.
Something scary.
No. This was insane. Everyone secretly wished they were special. But in all my dreams of discovering I was a superhero, or a witch, or maybe even a princess, I’d never gone as far as goddess. That was too pretentious. Only seriously disturbed people thought they were gods. The words my mother had spoken weren’t some tolerable fantasy that could be indulged; they were dangerous.
“Stop saying that! If I were a goddess, I’d have powers and could have blown that guy away!”
“We aren’t as powerful as we used to be. Most of the remaining gods are those who were associated with nature. People still believe in and fear the world around them. We are lucky, Persephone. As the Goddess of Nature, my position is fairly secure.”
“You think you’re the Goddess of Nature?” I interrupted in disbelief.
“I primarily preside over agriculture.”
I thought of our shop. “Like Demeter?”
“I am Demeter, or Ceres to the Romans, or hundreds of other names depending on the time or culture.”
“Of course.”
She sighed, looking old and weary as she studied me. “In time you will come to terms with your divinity. For now, all you need to know is that you’ve been discovered, so we have to leave.”
“Wait!” I cried, alarmed. “Leave? Leave where?”
“Athens. We have many places we can go—”
“Like moving? We can’t, Mom! I’m halfway through the school year! What about the shop? What about our home? I can’t leave Melissa—”
“Melissa will come with us, of course.”
“How? Mind control? I doubt Mrs. Minthe will be okay with you taking her daughter!”
I had to do something before she did something crazy, like putting our house on the market or kidnapping my best friend. I glanced over at the phone, wondering who you were supposed to call when your parent went crazy. Was that a 9-1-1 thing, or should I Google the local psych ward? What would happen to me if my mom had to be committed?
“Minthe is one of my priestesses. She will go where she is told. Melissa is your priestess, and she needs to be with you.”
“Uh huh, sure thing, Mom.”
“As for school, you have an eternity to finish your education. I hope we’ll be settled by the end of the break, but if not—”
“Eternity?”
“Yes, dear. You’re immortal.”
I laughed. “Of course. How silly of me. An eternity in high school—what could be better?” My eyes widened as she emptied the cash register and headed to the back room where we kept the safe. “What are you doing?”
“Persephone, we have to leave here! There’s a reason you’re the first full deity born in thousands of years. It wasn’t safe before, and this place is no longer secure.”
“If you’re a goddess, can’t you just, like…smite anyone who comes against us?” I tried to reason with her as she tucked all the shop’s cash into her purse. “If we can’t do anything special, why would anyone come after us?”
“Because you’re a daughter of Zeus.”
I stifled an hysterical giggle and waited until I was sure I could speak. I knew if I laughed right now I would never stop. “Mom, don’t be gross. If you’re Demeter, then Zeus would be your brother, not to mention he was married.” She looked at me as if trying to figure out the relevance of that statement. “To someone else!” I waved my hands, frustrated. “You really expect me to believe you had an affair with your brother?”
My mother took a measured breath. “It doesn’t work like that. We were created, not born. Genetically we have nothing in common with each other. Brother and sister are human titles for the relationship we have with each other. And marriage is different to gods. Humans have a much narrower moral code—”
“Rather shortsighted of you to raise me as one then.”
“Nothing I do is shortsighted. If you’d like, we can discuss the different customs and moral standards between gods and humans on the road. We have a long drive ahead of us. Now get in the car.”
I decided to humor her. It was either that or take her seriously, and I couldn’t handle that. If I treated this like a joke long enough, maybe she would crack a smile, or laugh and admit she was just messing with me. It could be true. Mom had a horrible sense of humor. “I suppose Mount Olympus is a rather long drive. But hey, I’ve always wanted to meet my dad.”
“The majority of the gods died thousands of years ago when Olympus fell.”
Okay, I was done humoring her. “Mom, I’m only sixteen.”
“I couldn’t let you come into the world back then,” she said, catching my hand. “Those were terrible times. I waited until you would be safe. I cursed my priestesses with immortality so I would always have worshippers—”
“Doesn’t sound like much of a curse.”
“And when the time was right, I arranged for Melissa to be born. I’ll curse more priestesses for you over time.”
“Well, thanks for that.”
My sarcasm was lost on her. “As a child of Zeus, you’re especially blessed.” She released my hand and turned to take a last look around the shop. “You will be successful in anything—”
I couldn’t listen anymore. I bolted out the door and dashed into the parking lot. My mother had lost her mind to a delusion of freaking Greco-Roman proportions. This was my fault. I’d brought home too many of Professor Homer’s myths.
I fumbled with the keys, watching the door of the shop for my mom. My car roared to life before she got the door opened. I slammed my car into drive and tore out of the parking lot, narrowly avoiding the tree in its center. My cell phone rang and I silenced it, throwing it in the back seat. I turned the radio on when I turned onto Lumpkin Street.
When Five Points disappeared from my rearview mirror I let myself cry. What was I going to do? I didn’t know a lot about crazy people. Was this the first step before my mom went on some kind of murderous rampage? Oh my God, would she take my suggestion to smite people seriously? I had to warn Chloe not to come back to the shop.
I reached for my phone instinctively before remembering it was in the back seat. I glanced in my rearview mirror. The screen was still lit up, indicating a call was coming through. I remembered Mom saying Chloe wasn’t coming back after the deliveries. I’d just have to hope that was the case.
The stores and traffic faded behind me, replaced by trees and winding roads. I realized I’d driven toward Melissa’s farm. I needed to warn her in case my mom really did try to kidnap Melissa. Mrs. Minthe could help me. She could tell me what to do.