(Ch. 1) A Very Odd Day

Red. Red clouds, red sky, red sand. As far as the eye could see, there was only red. Not like a sunset that bathes the land in scarlet light, for the light seemed to emanate from the very trees, the earth, the sky and everything around her. She heard the sweet release as the waves broke gently upon the sand, softly licking her bare toes. Staring up at the crimson sky, taking in the beauty of a far away day, she sighed with a vague comprehension. She slid her fingers through the satin sand, reveling in the warmth radiating from the core of this far away world, and pulled herself to her feet. The wind softly whipped her rouge hair across her pretty, young face, and she distractedly brushed it out of her alarmingly green eyes. The sea swirled and writhed from beyond the horizon right up to her. She had been to this place before. This place of warmth and comfort, of peace and tranquility, she could barely remember life away from here. A deep longing ate at her insides; her heart begged her to stay forever in this bewitching crimson world.

Then she heard the most enchanting and alluring melody floating along the breeze. At first, its origin eluded her, and she turned this way and that, searching the scarlet sea, and sand and trees, she must find the maker of such a beautiful sound. She flew between the trees, tripping here and there over a red thistle or a red tree root, until the music became louder and she realized that it was a woman singing.

“Where the sea meets the land,
When all is lost and found
Where the child becomes a man
When our world is tightly bound
You will see my son, my dear
You will hear his cry
He will bring you peace, my dear
He will let you fly.”

She continued her journey towards the voice with enlivened fervor, as the richness of the song seemed to reach a climax. She felt that if only she could get a few feet closer, she would find this wonder.

“Persephone… Persephone where are you?”

“No.” She groaned feeling herself slip away. “No.” She repeated as she opened her stunning green eyes and beheld a tall, dark-haired, blue-eyed boy looking down at her grinning.

“Still in bed huh?” He chided still smiling. “You’re gonna make us late.” He walked the length of her small dark bedroom and threw back the curtains over her spacious stained glass window, blinding her momentarily with pure, yellow sunlight. “You were dreaming about Mars again weren’t you?”

“Orion Allen Cole Smith, what do you think you are doing?” Persephone swung her long tan legs over the edge of the bed and shivered, wrapping her comforter tightly around her. “It’s not Mars, no-brain, it’s just…” Decrescendoing to a whisper she relived a moment in that world.

“It’s just… a dream.” Orion teased as he tossed her favorite green sweater and a pair of dark-denim jeans in her general direction.

“Sometimes you are such a freak!! It’s August, I am not wearing a sweater to school.” Persephone threw it back in his face as she jumped out of bed. Her bare feet touched the freezing hard wood floor causing her to jump unattractively around until she found the pretty pink and purple butterfly rug in the middle of her room. “Why is it so cold in here? Are Mom and Dad up to something weird again?”

Orion gestured at the open window beyond the messy contents of her room. “Look out there.”

Persephone slid her bright blue, and sparkly toenailed feet into a pair of worn, soft, purple slippers, and began to pull back the wavy red mane of her hair into a high, tight ponytail. Then shivering a little more, drug her feet toward the open window and peered out into the bright morning. Kids were making their way down Secret Service Dr. in mittens, scarves, and big, bulging coats. But the real shocker was the six inches of snow blanketing her front yard and every other yard down the street. Staring in bewilderment, she stood there a few moments with her mouth agape as some kids walked by kicking up snow at each other. “What the…?”

“Freak arctic front, or so weather lady Martha Rodriguez of channel 5 news said this morning.” Orion wadded up the sweater into a tight ball and pegged Persephone in the back of the head with it. “C’mon, we’re gonna be late and I promised Mike we would give him a ride so he doesn’t have to listen to Mr. Piedmont lecture him about High School Ethics again.” He made a disgusted face at this last statement. “Now Michael,” He started with a phony, pompous, french accent. “you must focus in high school. You must pay very close attention in class and stop hanging out with the ‘Rough Crowd’.” He added finger quotes here at rough crowd.

Persephone was now dressed and frantically searching her room for something. “Mr. Piedmont, like my snooty math teacher Mr. Piedmont?” She was tossing clothes around and riffling through a stack of rather eccentric shoes, finding one gem encrusted emerald platform shoe and holding onto it.

“Yeah, that’s the one.” Orion laughed, retrieving the mate of her shoe on the other side of the room and holding it up to her.

“How does Mike know Mr. Piedmont?” Sitting down on the small bed and strapping on her shoes, Persephone glanced up and grabbed a shimmering lip gloss off of her cluttered nightstand.

“Old family friend, I think Mike’s Dad met him in France a long time ago.”

“Well, you definitely got the old part right.” She slurred as she applied the lip gloss and finally appraised herself in the full length mirror on her closet door. It was lined with all kinds of memorabilia, stickers saying things like ‘Comfort the disturbed, disturb the comfortable’ and hundreds of photos of friends all collaged at weird angles.

“You look freakish, just like you like it, c’mon, let’s go!” He grabbed her arm before she could reach up to readjust her hair, and pulled her from the room, down the long dark hallway, passed the family photos on the walls and down the stairs.

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Anne Smith distractedly brushed a loose strand of her rich auburn hair away from her nose and readjusted her black, cat-eyed glasses. The pancakes were almost ready, and she could hear her children rushing down the stairs. “Daisy-girl.” She chimed from the colorful, oversized kitchen. “You kids are going to eat before your first day of school!”

“Mom, we’re running late already!” Orion whined as he sat down hard at the small breakfast table opposite the stove. “Is it almost ready?”

Anne smiled as she removed the vanilla ice cream, chocolate syrup and whipped cream from the purple refrigerator, and placed them on the table near her son. “Chocolate chip pancake sundaes for my sunshine!”

This brought a smile to Orion’s face and he kept quiet as he traced a bright orange flower laid into the stained glass tabletop with his finger. Persephone sat down next to her brother and starred at the table. “Hey Mom, when did you do this?” She motioned to the stained glass admiringly.

“Oh, last night, your Dad and I couldn’t sleep. OOO, check this out!” Anne set down the now-finished pancakes on the table and slid her hand across the wooden frame near Orion’s legs. Suddenly the glass lit up, showering the entire kitchen with multi-colored light, illuminating a beautiful wildflower covered valley scene inlaid in the stained glass.

“Wow that rocks Mom! You are such a hippie.” Persephone traced the outline of a crimson blossom, the light staining her flesh rosy, memories of her dream blurred her vision suddenly, and it took her a moment to shake the red glaze from her eyes.

“Eat up now my Daisy-girl, school starts in twenty five minutes.” At that, Allen Smith sauntered into the kitchen yawning, and scratching the back of his head. He was wearing his usual uniform; baggy, faded blue jeans and a crisp white t-shirt. His dark wavy hair offset by piercingly blue eyes, fell over his forehead in a tousled mess. Taking Anne into his long, tanned arms he dipped her dramatically and kissed his wife.

“Blech, get a room.” Orion rolled his eyes and shoveled one more giant bite into his mouth before jumping out of his chair and heading for the door. “Bye.” He threw over his shoulder with a flap of his arm.

Persephone smiled silently at her parents, love was something given freely in her home and she was used to such displays. She rose from the table, placing hers and Orion’s plates in the peach-colored sink and washing her hands.

“Bye Mom… Dad, be good.” She chided good-naturedly.

“We will if you will.” Allen snatched his daughters hand and pulled her into a great bear hug. “We love you Daisy-girl.” Persephone enjoyed the pet name her parents had given her as a child, but rolled her eyes at the juvenile connotation.

“Love you too.” She shot back dislodging herself from her fathers grasp. Grabbing her book bag and car keys, she flew out the front door after Orion.

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Secret Service Drive was surprisingly easy to navigate in the shiny metallic blue Volkswagen, despite the inches of snow on the ground. As if by magic, the streets were clear and amazingly dry. Persephone turned left onto Senate Circle, silently praying her thanks for the good street conditions, Texas drivers were notoriously ill-prepared to drive on snowy asphalt. Pulling up to the third house on the right, Persephone pushed it into park and glanced up at the small white brick house labeled one hundred. Leaving the car running, she hopped out and danced through the snow to the front door and rang the bell. A simple, merry rendition of “Stayin’ Alive” wafted through the house and seconds later a petite, but shapely girl opened the rose colored door. Slipping a pair of impenetrably dark, round-framed glasses over her azure eyes, she slid nimbly through the door and shut it silently. Long black hair hung over her pale face and black cherry stained lips.

“Fiona!” A voice chimed from within the house. “Baby, are you leaving?” Just then a small woman who looked amazingly like the girl stepped out shivering. Her blond hair braided on either shoulder loosely unraveling. “Here sweetie, take this.” She shoved a small wad into her daughters hand and kissed her forehead affectionately. “Drive safely Daisy-girl. Have a wonderful day; new horizons are in your horoscope today. I consulted my crystals, and I believe you will have a satisfying adventure if you are careful and safe. Here.” She then shoved two small wads into Persephone’s hands and gestured towards Orion. “Go with God, Allah, Diana, and Yahweh.”

“Uh… thanks Mrs. Jones, we’ll be good.” Persephone grabbed Fiona’s hand and began skipping back toward the car.

“Bye Mom.” Fiona finally returned after her mother’s repeated farewell.

“Your mom is even weirder than mine.” Persephone laughed as she opened the passenger door and removed her brother to the backseat to make room for her best friend.

“Don’t forget Mi…” Orion began but was quickly and rudely interrupted by Persephone’s answer of:

“Yeah, yeah, Mike, I got it brat.” She cranked up the stereo to drown out her brother’s reply and headed down Senate Circle toward Lincoln Loop to pick up Michael Freedman-Clay, Orion’s best friend.

Mike lived in a small cottage with a white picket fence. As they pulled into the driveway, Orion hopped out of the car and, noticed an ‘80’s model, bright yellow Volkswagen Beetle pulling up right behind his sister’s much newer version of the famed car. He trudged up the snowy walk to the door and rang the bell. Within a few seconds a petite, silver-haired, bespectacled man joined him on the porch. Orion towered over the older gentleman; it made him very uncomfortable to share the cramped front stoop, and have to look down to greet the newcomer.

“Hello Mr. Piedmont.” Orion offered the greeting like a peace treaty.

“Mr. Smith.” Piedmont countered haughtily in a strong French accent, and turning, once again stared unblinkingly at the silent door. They stood side by side for a full minute before Orion jabbed the bell again uneasily. “I am quite sure Clara heard the first ring, there is no need to be rude, Mr. Smith.” At that moment Persephone laid on the Volkswagen’s horn and threw her hands up as Orion turned in her direction, shooting her a look that could kill. Hands clenched into white knuckled fists, Orion held onto what little self-control he possessed as he listened to Mr. Piedmont mumble incoherently under his breath, catching just enough to know that he and his sister, most likely his entire family were being ridiculed. Just then, Clara Clay opened the door meekly and smiled warmly at the two fuming males on her front step.

“Augustus, Orion, how very good to see you both this lovely yet amazingly cold morning.” Mr. Piedmont took her hand and laid a small, proper kiss upon it.

“Clara, I have come to escort Michael to school this morning, and yes, it is a very odd morning indeed.” Glancing loathingly at Orion he added. “Is he ready? My car is running.”

“Hey, wait a minute, Mrs. Clay, Mike asked me to give him a ride, my sister’s waiting for us.” Orion interjected.

“Oh dear.” Mrs. Clay’s pale face paled a shade lighter as her fingers habitually adjusted the golden-gray bun on her head. “Michael, are you coming? There seems to be a situation that requires your immediate attention.” They all heard a few loud thumps, and then Mike appeared behind his mother. His dark skin and sophisticated clothing was a stark contrast to her simple country dress and fair complexion. Seeing the two together reminded Orion for the thousandth time that his best friend was most definitely adopted. From behind his mother, Mike could only see Orion and smiling broadly he greeted his friend with gusto.

“Hey O-man, let’s get outta here, I do NOT want to be stuck in that ugly, yellow bug.” Just then Mr. Piedmont grunted and stepped into his view, clearly ruffled by the insult.

He crowded Orion off the step and replied icily. “My ugly, yellow bug is running in the driveway and I need to speak to you before you start this very important day.” He smiled grotesquely.

“Oh, uh… Mr. Piedmont, I didn’t see you there.” Mike faltered for just a moment before regaining his composure and smiling back. “I promised Orion that I’d teach him how to tie a square knot this morning, so… we’ll have to talk some other time. I’m so sorry. Mom, I love you.” He placed a small peck on his mother’s cheek and dashed away with Orion before anyone could say another word. They crowded into the backseat of Persephone’s car laughing as an enraged Mr. Piedmont huffed back to his car, glaring at them before he sped off, narrowly missing a trash can in his aggression.

“What’s his problem?” Fiona shifted in her seat to eye Mike who was still smiling to himself.

“I have no idea.” He replied, now smiling at her. “He is constantly on my back about school, like my grades aren’t good enough already. My mom thinks straight A’s are acceptable.” They looked at each other for a moment before Fiona slid back around and turned to Persephone.

“Let’s get going, we still have to pick up our schedules and find our classes.”

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“Attention Howard F. Herrin High School student body, welcome back, the administration and faculty hope you had a fun, productive summer vacation. This school year we are planning…” Persephone groaned audibly and slid down in her chair. First period, the first day of school and already she was bored. Again she scanned her schedule, and again she saw only nothing interesting; Algebra II, Physics, English, and Economics today, tomorrow; Swim Team, College Prep, World History and Study Hall. Well, she thought, at least she had Swim Team. “Also, try-outs for Baseball, Softball, Swim Team and Volleyball have been postponed indefinitely due to the unseasonable weather conditions.” Great, sighing Persephone pulled a pencil from her bag and began writing a note to Fiona. At least they had one class together, unfortunately it was Mr. Piedmonts’ 4th period Algebra II class, and that was six and a half hours away. As Principal Dunlap’s morning announcements came to a close, her English teacher, Mrs. Meadows handed out text books and immediately assigned thirty pages of reading and a three page report on the life of C S Lewis, all due at the next class. This year is gonna be killer, Persephone thought as she opened the book to page one ninety four and began reading.

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By lunchtime, Orion and Mike already had dates for the following weekend. The love struck girls, Lilly and Jenn, were at the lunch table when Persephone and Fiona sauntered up.

“I see you have new groupies already.” Fiona scowled at the bubbly blondes who in turn raised their chins and eyed her haughtily. “What’s next? Are you two gonna tour the school wooing every moronic freshman with a ponytail and tight skirt?” Lilly stood up and opened her mouth to speak but when nothing clever came to mind she grabbed Jenn by the hand and stormed off to the sound of Fiona’s condescending laughter. “Yeah,” She called after them. “Nice come back.”

“You are so mean girl.” Persephone whispered when they were well out of earshot, and Fiona had stopped laughing, resuming her usual morose attitude.

“I saw them insulting a heavy-set girl this morning in the atrium, then laughing as she ran off crying. They deserved it.” Nothing more was said. Even Orion and Mike didn’t complain. Fiona was always justified.

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The day drudged on seemingly endlessly. Finally fourth period rolled around and Persephone and Fiona found themselves dragging their feet slowly into Mr. Piedmont’s classroom. The bell rang just as they walked through the door.

Scowling at them both, Mr. Piedmont suddenly grinned and announced quite loudly, “You two are tardy. Go to the office and get a slip. And maybe, ladies, an after school detention will teach you not to make that mistake in my class again. We have a tremendous amount of work to do today.” He turned to the class, dismissing them with a disdained flick of the wrist.

When they reached the office it was complete chaos. Faculty members were rushing around, whispering to each other, as others typed continuously on computer keyboards and groaned as they read the screens.

“What is going on here?” Persephone queried incredulously. A student aide who was working in the office named Jeremy Hind whispered as he walked by them.

“Computers crashed, no records, no schedules, they can’t even record the attendance for today.” He smiled and gave them a thumbs up before running out the door on an errand for the vice principal.

“Girls!” A shrill, unpleasant voice called from behind them. “What are you doing here?” They turned to see the front desk receptionist Ms. Meyers eying them suspiciously.

“Mr. Piedmont sent us to get tardy slips.” Persephone answered.

“Well, tell him we don’t give out tardy slips on the first day of school.” Then Ms. Meyers was gone before she’d even dismissed them.

When they got back to Mr. Piedmonts classroom he was lecturing. The entire class was silent, frantically copying down notes off the overhead projector, as Mr. Piedmont rambled on incessantly. There were two empty seats left, both in the front row; unfortunately they were on opposites sides of the room. Mr. Piedmont grinned wickedly at them as they entered the room.

“Where are your tardy slips?” He pried as they took their seats on either side of the chalkboard.

“Ms. Meyers said there aren’t any on the first day of school.” Fiona smirked right back at him as his faded into his usual unattractive frown.

“Well then, you’d better retrieve a pencil and paper from your book bags and write quickly, you have already missed two pages of notes, and we are testing over this material on Friday.” Now it was his turn again to smile at the unhappy looks on their faces.

When the final bell rang to leave school, the halls were instantly packed with students going in every direction. Orion and Mike literally ran into Fiona and Persephone on their way to their lockers.

“Listen,” Orion started. “Mike has to go see Mr. Piedmont now, would you guys mind waiting a few to give us a ride?”

“Why not.” Persephone acquiesced. “We have d-hall anyway, if we skip it, he’ll make us do push-ups or weed his garden or something.”

So, the four of them made their way begrudgingly toward Mr. Piedmont’s classroom as the halls emptied astonishingly quickly.

“Why is everyone in such a rush?” Mike queried. “Besides the obvious.” He added as an afterthought. Just then they passed by a window and all four took a double-take at the sight that met their eyes. The sun shone down on luscious green grass, speckled with hundreds of tiny, white flowers. The snow was completely gone. They all headed for the door and were hit by a breeze of hot, humid air. “It must be ninety-five degrees out there.” Mike said astonished. “What is going on here?”

“That’s the question of the day Mike.” Fiona countered her eyes still on the kids winding their way down the sizzling sidewalks. She did not notice Mike glance at her from the corner of his eye.

“Well, we’re not gonna figure anything out standing around here all day. Let’s take care of this stupid Mr. Piedmont business and get outta here.” Persephone added as she led the group down the hallway toward the classroom.

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As they approached the door, they noticed a strange red light emanating from inside the classroom. Then they all stopped dead in their tracks as Mr. Piedmonts booming French accent engulfed the silent hallway.

“He is not ready I tell you. It is my job to decide when, and this is not the time.”

“Who is he yelling at?” Persephone mouthed as a much quieter, calmer voice replied from inside the classroom, muffled to their ears pressing against the other side of the door.

“I think it’s a woman.” Mike whispered.

“Well, let’s find out.” Orion smiled devilishly as he silently turned the knob and opened the door just a crack.

The sight that met their eyes was mind blowing. Mr. Piedmont stood before the chalkboard bathed in crimson light that radiated right from it. But the chalkboard was changed, there were no longer mathematical equations and explanations, but in their stead was a glowing, morphing vortex with a strange red woman in the center.

“Augustus please, there is no need to raise your voice, we will be discovered. And my judgment on the matter has already been made. It is time, we need him, Elios needs him. He cannot learn all that he needs to know there, with you. It is time. You have seen the signs; the chaos spreads even to that world.” Mr. Piedmont exhaled deeply, his shoulders dropped and his head hung.

“I will bring him here, you can do the rest. My bones are too old; I fear I cannot make the journey to you again.”

The woman sighed. She closed her large scarlet eyes and brushed a tendril of wavy red hair behind her ear with a gnarled, bony hand. “I understand I too am old, much older than you. But my wrinkled face and decrepit body will not stand in the way of destiny. Bring him here and I will take care of him. Then you can rest your weary bones.”

Mr. Piedmont turned to go as the children realized they would be caught eavesdropping on this incredible conversation. They rushed away into the girls bathroom just as Mr. Piedmont came limping down the hallway.

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When the echoes of his footsteps died away they all stopped holding their breath and just stared at each other. Not one of them could think of a single thing to say, though images and thoughts flooded each of their minds.

Finally, Mike cleared his throat, breaking the deafening silence, and spoke. “He was talking about me.” He stated indifferently.

“What, how do you know that?” Orion asked incredulously.

“I don’t know, but I’m sure of it, he’s looking for me.”