Page 25 of Wild Hunt
After all, the Fenris Wolf was his father. It wasn’t out of the realm of possibility that they had interacted at some point or another.
Finally, I told myself I was just being paranoid and resolved to get on with my life. If Fenrir did have any idea about my controversial parentage, I was sure he would’ve posted it on flyers all over the school by now. In the beginning, I thought he was different from the others. Maybe that was what made the hellhound stunt sting so badly. Now I knew the truth. He was just as bad as Loki and Hades were, if not worse. He was just better at hiding it.
When evening fell, I decided to go for a walk around the grounds. It was the only time I could really get any nature time to myself without being harassed. The further I got from the Academy, the more I began to relax.
It didn’t really feel like I had wandered all that far, but I knew from the vantage point of the portal that the forests surrounding the Academy were vast. Somehow, I’d walked to the end of them. I found myself on top of a hill overlooking a valley with a lake full of water that was so dark it looked like shimmering sapphires.
I knew I should go back to the Academy. We weren’t allowed off grounds, and while that generally applied to visiting the nearby city of Atlantis, I doubted going into the wilderness was an acceptable loophole. Still, I wasn’t ready to go back just yet.
I had told Dionysus my theory that Fenrir was the hellhound, and he’d believed me even before the asshole admitted it himself, but he agreed that using that info to clear my name would just dig me into a deeper hole.
I was a complete mess and while he was always there to lend a shoulder and a listening ear, I didn’t want to burden him with the particularly emo mood I was in that night. He had enough to worry about on his own, and I was responsible for much of it. I knew he didn’t blame me, but that made me feel even guiltier.
As I walked over to the edge of the water, it seemed to grow darker the longer I gazed at it. There was something mesmerizing about it. A sense of safety and bliss enveloped me, like Dionysus’ ecstasy, but even gentler. All the stress and sadness lifted off my shoulders just like taking off a cloak, and for the first time in months, I actually felt relaxed.
Something about my reflection caught me off guard. I saw movement even though I’d been still by the water for several minutes. I peered into the water and realized it was growing fuzzier, swirling in a hypnotic pattern.
My instincts railed at me from deep inside, but the euphoria was drowning them out. My eyes were so heavy, but I couldn’t even blink. I couldn’t look away.
My arms seemed to extend without my mind telling them to, and my fingertips brushed over the cool water as it rippled like silk. I could hear a voice within, calling to me.
Calling my name.
It was such a sweet sound, but it beckoned me powerfully. I felt pulled in, almost magnetized as I moved closer and dipped my toes in the water. As I sank further, the water only reached the tops of my knees. Strange that such shallow water could be so dark.
I walked in deeper and deeper, drawn toward that sweetly singing voice. It had turned my name into a song, an intimate cadence meant only for the two of us. The water rose higher and higher, and only when it reached my chin did I realize what I was doing.
In a panic, I tried to move back, but something was pulling me in. The shelf of the lake gave out and I was dragged deeper and deeper under the surface. Water rushed into my lungs and the downward torrent crashed over me, rendering my efforts to escape futile.
That singing voice turned wicked and the gentle cadence of my name became a cackle.
I was drowning. The realization swept over me like the violence of the water, but it felt like it was happening to someone else. My arms and legs struggled for a time, because that was what I was programmed to do, but they gave out just as independently.
The whole time, I sank deeper and deeper. Impossibly deep. The voice became a soft song once more as the water grew still, as if it had no more reason to fight now that I had stopped struggling.
I felt the darkness closing in and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I’d always imagined it would feel terrifying to know I was about to die, but it didn’t. Whether it was the same hypnotic spell that had lured me into the water in the first place or something else entirely, I felt only peace and tranquility.
Giving up wasn’t just inevitable. It seemed so inviting.
The sound of a bloodcurdling scream pulled me from the darkness, and I felt a hand wrapped tightly around my wrist, dragging me upward. My body lacked the strength to move on its own, and my oxygen-deprived mind could barely register the fact that the voice now screaming in agony was the same one that had lured me into the lake.
I couldn’t make out the sight of my rescuer through the water, and I blacked out again before I had the chance.
The next thing I was aware of was the agonizing pressure in my chest. Someone’s hands were on me, compressing my sternum rhythmically. CPR.
Given the sound of his furious cursing, it wasn’t working.
I recognized that voice…
The pain had stopped. It took me only a second to realize that probably wasn’t a good sign.
“Come on,” he said gruffly, putting all his agitation into the furious compressions. I could only feel it faintly, then not at all.
When I finally opened my eyes, I could see everything. Including my lifeless body stretched out on the grass beside the lake as Hades loomed over me in defeat.
When I looked down, I could see through my body. Shit!
I rushed forward, trying to move closer since I seemed to be hovering a few yards in the air. I managed to stand near him, but my attempt to reach out and touch my body just led to my hand going right through.
