Gods and Monsters 3: The Rogue Demigod

## *Foreword*

*After the demigods had acknowledged Dhumavati and cured the gods of the deadly plague, they resumed their lives; hearts at ease, thinking that all their problems had been solved now that they were certain every god had been recognized.*

*But, little did they realize that evil never rests, and had even infiltrated among them, biding its time, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. They would soon lose their one of their own to the darkness, and whether they could reclaim him was anyone’s guess.*

## *Prelude*

*Lio raced down the hall, footsteps thudding, echoing off the walls around him. The shadowy figure in front of him turned around the corner, out of sight. Lio stepped up the pace, and turned the bend himself. So close, he was so close. The hall stopped suddenly stopped in a dead end, ending in a wall. The figure stopped, searching desperately for a way out. But there was none. Lio grinned with satisfaction, now taking his sweet time, approaching the figure slowly.*

*“Tamas.” he said, voice dripping with scathing dislike. Tamas slowly turned, a mischievous grin spreading across his face.*

*“Why? Why did you do it?” Lio asked, glaring at him.*

*“Why did I do what?” Tamas asked, his tone sweet and innocent.*

*“You know what.” Lio snarled back.*

*“Oh, you mean take down every god in history? Because it was fun.”*

*“FUN? What do you mean, fun?” Lio snapped. Sensing that he was getting to him, Tamas stepped closer, grinning wider.*

*“Oh come now, don’t play dumb. Surely you know? Haven’t you felt the urge?” he said, voice as smooth as silk.*

*“Urge? What urge?”*

*“The urge to be bad. Come on, admit it, it tempts you.”*

*“Never! I would never turn evil!”*

*“Oh really? So you choose to be good? Like that’ll last long.”*

*“What do you mean?”*

*“Being good is sooo boring. No fun at all. No pleasure.”*

*“Yeah right.”*

*“No, really. Think about it. If being good was so great and being evil so horrible, then why is there still evil, hmm? Surely you know why. You’ve felt it. Why else would you try to hard to be a bad boy?”*

*“Felt what exactly?”*

*“Evil. True evil. The tingle you get knowing you’re truly bad, the power, the laughter bubbling inside you, the greatness knowing that others cower before you, fear you. Feeling unstoppable, like you could do anything, be anyone, and nobody dare stop you. The thrill of it, the excitement, the adrenaline through your veins when you watch the pathetic few try to stop you, and you know they never will. Come on, don’t tell me that doesn’t appeal to you. Besides, what fun is goodness? Yeah sure, big hero saves the day, loved by all, blah blah blah. But after a while it’s not enough, the people need more, expect you to save their sorry lives. Always have to waste every spare moment of your time for them. And do they ever truly appreciate it? NO! They want more, you must do more, everything, more, more, MORE! Can you honestly tell me you want to live like that, be that person, the slave to everyone, or would you rather be the master, everyone bowing before you, giving you all you could possibly desire.” Tamas whispered, stealthily walking closer, seeing the web he was weaving around Lio. His mind was so easy to manipulate. As if he ever thought he could defeat him. Ha! He smiled at the torn look on Lio’s face, seeing the internal struggle. He had him. Now in for the kill.*

*“Come, join us. Nobody will care. Your friends, those ‘goody two shoes’, you really want to waste your time with them? They don’t really like you, just using you. Like that freak, Nahele. Do you honestly think he likes you, especially with the way he treats you? He’s such a stupid wh-”*

*“YOU SON OF A B\*\*\*\*!” Lio roared, punching Tamas right in the face. His head snapped sideways and he fell to the floor, clutching his rapidly purpling jaw. Lio stood over him, breathing heavily with rage, both fists balled and ready to strike at the slightest provocation.*

*“BE GLAD WE’RE AT SCHOOL OR I’D BEAT YOU TO A PULP! DON’T YOU DARE TALK ABOUT HER LIKE THAT! AND IF I EVER SEE YOUR UGLY MUG AROUND HERE AGAIN, I’LL MAKE YOUR LIFE HELL!” he thundered, then stormed off, fuming. Tamas laid on the floor and felt his jaw, moving it gently. It crackled loudly and Tamas grimaced, then grinned once more. He’d done it, he had finally gotten to him. Now it was only a matter of time.*

## Chapter 1

Lio stared absentmindedly at the teacher at the front of the
class, not really hearing her words. His eyes wandered downward without his
notice, then he realized he was staring at the back of Nahele’s head. Man, was
he bored. He pulled out a loose sheet of paper and ripped off a corner,
scribbling a quick message on it and crumpling it, then threw it at Nahele,
bouncing it off her black hair. She whirled around and gave him a little glare,
then picked up the paper, uncrumpling it and reading it.

*Hi,* it said. Nahele smirked and gave him
a little wave. Lio tore off another piece of paper, writing on this one and
throwing it as well. Nahele rolled her eyes and read it too.

*I’m bored*, it read.
Nahele rolled her eyes again and scrawled on the paper, throwing it back.

*What the heck am I supposed to do about it?*
Lio grinned and threw another note.

*Make it rain.* Nahele threw a note back,
and a rapid paper conversation ensued.

*No, I can’t do that.*

*Why not?*

*I just can’t, moron. It’s not in my*
power.

*What can you do?*

*Make a tornado.*

*Then do that.*

*Are you crazy? No!*

*Why not?*

*BECAUSE NO!*

Lio threw back another protest,
which Nahele glared at, then slowly, deliberately, making sure that Lio was
watching her, she picked up the piece of paper and ate it, chewing it up and
swallowing it. Lio snorted with suppressed laughter, his shoulders shaking with
mirth. Leave it to Nahele to do something like that. Obviously their
conversation was over. Or was it? Lio ripped off another piece of paper and
threw it at her. She snatched it out of the air without looking and popped this
one in her mouth as well. Then all their other notes followed, as if she was
disposing of the evidence. Then the bell rang, signaling the end of class and
start of lunch. As they went out the door, Nahele sidled up to Lio.

“Dude, you
have got to stop passing me notes in class, there’s only so much paper I can
eat.” she complained.

“Well then,
why do you keep eating them?” Lio teased.

“Because
passing notes in class is against the rules and I have to get rid of the
evidence somehow.” she replied.

“Why not
just throw them away?”

“Because
the trash can is not as secure as my stomach. Trash can be searched, my stomach
not so much, at least not without a good fight.”

“Why so
paranoid?”

“Because
every bit counts, and you don’t know who is watching.” Nahele stated seriously,
her tone indicating that the conversation was over. They went into the
creepateria in silence, picking up their lunches and going to their seats of
choice, Lio still following Nahele, determined to bug her still. He leaned over
and gave her his most irritating grin.

“*Now* will you make a tornado?” he asked.
Nahele glared at him.

“*NO!*”

“Why not?”

“Lio, we
are *not* doing this again!”

Lio opened his mouth to make one more protest, but was cut
short when Nahele picked up his roll and stuffed it in his mouth. Lio gagged
slightly, then quickly chewed it and swallowed, ready to continue where he had
left off, but abruptly shut his mouth with a snap and raised his hands in a
gesture of surrender once he saw that she was holding an apple with a
threatening look on her face.

“Yeah,
that’s what I thought.” she said, then continued to eat her lunch. Lio chuckled
silently, then finished off whatever food she hadn’t already shoved in his
face.

Soon the
bell rang, signaling the end of lunch and the start of their next class, which
for the two was Physical Deaducation. They left the creepateria and went to the
locker rooms to change into their gym clothes, then headed into the grimnasium
with the rest of their class to wait for the teacher, Coach Igor. He soon came
in, with his signature disfigured scowl on his face and limp in his stride, his
peg leg clunking on the floor with every other step. He strode up and down the
line of students, scowling as he looked at each and every one of their faces,
and the students stared back, wary of what torture he had planned for today’s
class. Finally he stopped in the middle of the line and yelled for all to hear.

“All right
class! Today you get off a little easy. We have a relaxing exercise in store
for today, because I don’t think any of you pixies can take anything harder,”
he barked. Carly, an actual pixie, fluttered her wings and scowled with
indignation at her kind being used as an insult, her steely gaze burning into
the coach’s back. Coach Igor plowed on, heedless of what the class thought.

“Today, we
play DODGESKULL! Now get out there and get to it!” he roared and the whole
groaned. Yeah, dodgeskull, real easy, sure. They grabbed balls and lined up,
waiting for the coach’s whistle. It came, high and piercing, and pandemonium
began. Balls began to fly left and right, whistling from the amount of force
that they were thrown. Several students were quickly taken out, with two to the
stomach, three in the leg, and one with a resounding “*smack!”* to the face. Most, however, like Lio and Nahele were quite
agile, gracefully avoiding the soaring projectiles. Lio looked over to his
friend and noticed that quite a lot of balls were headed her way, and he turned
to see the source. The torrent of rubber inflatables were coming from a group
of three guys, a demon, a werewolf, and an orc, all of which were singling her
out with deadly determination. But Nahele’s reflexes were too good, and she
easily dodged them, looking almost bored. Then, after a near miss from the
demon breezed past her face, she seemed to have enough, scooping ball after
ball from the air and returning them. The orc was the first to fall, his feet
knocked clean out from under him, then the werewolf went down, winded by a
solid wallop to the stomach, and finally the demon, who caught one right in the
face. The three snarled and advanced on the Hawaiian demigod, murder in their
eyes, but a blast from Coach Igor’s whistle stopped them.

“Now, now,
no time for sore losers! Go to the bench and sit it out!” he chided, and the
three sulkily followed, casting death glares at the smug Nahele.

After a few
more minutes of chaos, Coach Igor’s whistle blasted again, this time signaling
the last few minutes of class.

“Alright
everyone! Cleanup time! And I better see everything put away, or the entire
class stays behind and scrubs the floor! I’m sure Ogrethor would appreciate
it!” he bellowed. The class groaned and dragged their feet, but everything was
put away, even the occasional ball that had popped with either an enthusiastic
throw or from landing on a sharp horn, spike or barb protruding for a student’s
body. Once everything was put away, they all filed out to the locker rooms, Lio
and Nahele the last to leave. Then Nahele left, Lio trailing behind her, lost
in thought. He found himself staring at the floor, gazing at three dark
streaks, then he realized what they were. Stretching out across the ground
behind her, three ominously dark shadows followed Nahele.

## Chapter 2

Three dark
figures detached themselves from a shadowy corner, silently running after
Nahele. She suddenly sensed that she was being followed and whirled around,
eyes wide with shock. But it was too late. Two pairs of hands grabbed her arms
and slammed her into the wall, pinned in place by the orc and werewolf that had
been harassing her before. The demon sauntered up slowly, savoring the moment,
relishing her helplessness.

“Well,
well, well, if it isn’t the freak. Hello freak.” he snarled and slapped her
across the face.

Lio, in the
meantime, was trying to dash over to her rescue, but the world seemed to slow
down, as if he were running through molasses, then concrete, the closer he got,
the slower he moved. Finally he came to a complete stop, frozen, completely paralyzed,
too far to do anything. He was forced to watch, helpless, as the trio hurt his
friend.

The demon snarled in Nahele’s face,
leaning in so close she could smell his lunch on his breath, as well as the
faint smell of hell-smoke that all demons bore.

“You made a
fool of me today. I don’t like being made a fool of.” he hissed. Nahele glared
defiantly back.

“Well, it
wasn’t very hard considering how much of a fool you are to begin with.” Nahele remarked
snidely. The teen demon flushed a deep angry red and roared with anger, then
drove his fist as hard as he could into Nahele’s stomach. Lio screamed in
silent anger, unable to make a single sound, straining futilely against the
force that held him. Nahele doubled over, or at least as far as she could with
the other two still holding her. The demon grabbed the front of her shirt and
pulled her back upright, bringing his face close to her until their noses
almost touched.

“Now, you
better apologize to me for that, if you like you face the way it is.” he
growled. Nahele remained silent, instead choosing to kick him in the shin. The
demon roared again, shoving Nahele in the chest and pressing her into the wall,
crushing the breath from her lungs. Then all the three jolted and leaped back,
letting go of Nahele to shake their hands and rub their arms, as if they had
been given a sharp electric shock. The demon shot Nahele a disgusted glare and
motioned to the others.

“Come on,
let’s go. No sense wasting our time with scum like that.” he grunted and turned
to go, the others following closely behind like henchmen, shooting Nahele looks
of puzzlement and a bit of fear. When they were gone, Nahele sank slowly to the
ground, sliding against the wall, holding her stomach and wincing. Lio stumbled
forward, suddenly released from the baffling force that had held him at bay,
and he rushed over to her side.

“Dude are
you okay?” he asked, deeply concerned. Nahele didn’t answer, keeping her eyes
shut and letting him pull her to her feet.

“Are you
okay?” Lio repeated. Nahele slowly opened her eyes and gave him a painful
smile.

“Yeah,
great. I’m perfectly okay, got abs of steel. Wouldn’t be surprised if he had
hurt his hand.” Nahele chuckled, lifting her shirt slightly to reveal a set of
perfectly toned abs. They walked slowly to the locker room together, where
Nahele limped inside to change, Lio waiting anxiously outside. When she came
back out, they walked slowly together down the hall.

“What was
their problem? And who even were they? And what happened to me?” Lio asked,
disgusted.

“Well, they
don’t like me because I am transgender. Not to mention they don’t like the fact
I like guys. I do know them, the demon-incubus to be exact- was Navi, the
werewolf is Ripper, and the orc was Raugr. Very unpleasant guys, Navi
especially, so you can see why he’s the ringleader. He’s actually the reason
why you were frozen, he had you under sleep paralysis. It’s one of the ancient
powers of the incubi and succubi.” Nahele explained.

“What? But
how could he put me under sleep paralysis if I was awake?” Lio exclaimed,
shocked.

“I dunno
how, but his twin can do it.”

“Wait, he
has a twin?”

“Yeah, a
good twin, Ivan. Navi is the evil twin. Well, technically they aren’t actually
twins, they are opposite versions of each other, Navi is from the whole other
negative universe thing. Never mind that now, not important.”

“Hey, I
know Ivan! He’s a really sweet guy, he’d never do anything like that!”

“Yeah, *he* wouldn’t. But his negative universe
self would.”

“What do
you mean by ‘negative universe self’?”

“Well, you
see, there’s a parallel universe to the one we live in, where it is pretty much
the same as ours, but like, the opposite, you know what I mean?”

“No I don’t.”

“Well,
never mind then. I don’t really know how to explain it.” Nahele sighed, and the
two walked out onto the lawn in front of the school, where they separated to go
home, Nahele meeting up with her cousin Lani, then turning to wave goodbye to Lio.
He waved back, then she was gone. Lio sighed, then turned and walked to his
car, where his mother was waiting to drive him home.

## Chapter 3

The next day Lio wandered around school, looking for his
friends while he waited for class to start. Up ahead, he noticed a disturbance
in the crowd. Students were pushing each other out of the way, looking down and
hastily scooting to the side. Lio watched them curiously, moving in a little
closer, but keeping a wary distance. Then the crowd parted before him, and out
walked Lani and Nahele. Or at least Nahele walked. She was pushing a wheelchair
before her, in which sat Lani, both legs bound in plaster casts. Lio gasped and
rushed over.

“Yo, what
happened to you?” he asked, worried. Lani gave him a wry smile, and motioned
for him to follow. Nahele led them down an empty corridor, and once Lani looked
around, making sure that they were truly alone, she beckoned for him to come
closer. Lio leaned in eagerly.

“Can I let
you in on a secret?” she said softly.

“Yeah, of
course, we’re homies, remember?” he replied.

“Good. I
thought I could, just wanted to be certain. You wanna know how I broke both
legs?”

“Well,
yeah, why else would I have asked?”

“Good
point. I broke them in a car accident last night.”

“What!
How?”

“Street
racing. I was one of the drivers last night, then some jerk bumped me, and I
ended up wrapping my Porsche around a lamppost.”

“Aw, dude,
that blows!” Lio groaned in sympathy.

“Eh, it’s
okay, I can heal, and my car is magical, so it magically fixed itself.
Everything is all good. Well, almost. I have to race again tonight, stakes are
crazy stupid high, and I can’t really do that with my legs broken. If it was
just my left leg, it would be fine, but my right is busted as well. And you
know driving is done with the right leg. Anyway, don’t know who will take my
place. Nahele can’t, she’s already in the race, and I don’t trust anyone else.”
Lani sighed and ran her fingers through her boyishly short black hair.

“I can do
it.” Lio said softly. Lani whirled around and gave him a sharp look.

“What?”

“I can do
it.” Lio repeated.

“You think
you got what it takes?”

“Yeah, I’m
sixteen and I know how to drive.”

“Age don’t
really matter, street racing is illegal as is, regardless of age. What matters
is can you drive at ridiculously high speeds?”

“I think
so. Haven’t really tried. Mom won’t let me go more than five over the limit.”
Lio admitted. Lani laughed at this.

“Trust me
honey, you’re going to have to drive well over the speed limit!”

“Yeah, I
figured as much, but how will I drive? I don’t have a car.”

“Don’t
worry about that. That’s the stakes, the cars. You win the race, you keep your
ride, or at leas that’s how it usually is. Tonight mine is the only one up for
grabs. That’s why the stakes are so high this time, I crashed and lost my car,
have to win it back tonight.”

“No
worries, I’ll win your car back for you.” he assured her. She gave him a
dubious look, her eyes piercing into his.

“You sure?
You’re not exactly the most experienced.”

“That may
be so, but I promise, no matter what, you’ll get your car back.”

“Whose car
are you going to take?”

“He can use
mine.” Nahele chipped in, looking at Lio coolly.

“Well, okay
then. Now you two better head to class.”

“What about
you? How are you going to get to class?”

“My legs
are broken, not my arms! I can wheel myself there.”

“Okay, I’ll
see you then.” Nahele agreed reluctantly, bending down to give her cousin a
swift kiss on the cheek. Then the three parted ways, Lani going right and Lio
and Nahele turning left, back the way they had come.

“Hey,
thanks for offering to let me use your car.” Lio said, gently elbowing Nahele
in an amiable way.

“Was no big
deal. I owe you one, helping me out yesterday.”

“But I
didn’t do anything, I couldn’t stop them!”

“Yeah, but
you would have if you could. It’s the thought that counts.” she said, ruffling
his hair fondly, then turned into her classroom, waving goodbye over her
shoulder. Lio waved slowly back, a bit lost in a daze.

## Chapter 4

The day passed in a blur, Lio in too much of a nervous
excitement to pay much attention to his classes. Soon the bell for the end of
the day rang and he sped out of class, searching the crowds for Lani and
Nahele. He soon spotted them together and pushed his way through a mass of
zombies to get there. He emerged, panting and slightly mussed on the other
side, next to them.

            “Hey guys!”
he greeted them.

            “Oh hey,
good thing you showed up. We were talking about tonight, and we think that
since you are probably going to be the least experienced racer there, Nahele
will give you a few crash-course lessons about it. Ah…well maybe not ‘crash’
exactly, but you get the idea.” Lani said, Nahele nodding silently behind her.

            “Okay, but
what will I tell my mom? I can’t say I am practicing for street-racing.”
snorted Lio.

            “Seriously?
You can’t come up with anything?” Nahele chided in.

            “What?” he
replied indignantly.

            “You can
just tell her you’re coming over to spend the night, hang out, sleepover, you
know.” Nahele said, smirking. Lio groaned with embarrassment and texted his
mom.

            *Is it ok if I spend the night @ a friend’s*
house? *he wrote. A few seconds later his phone pinged with a reply from*
Ammit, his mother.

            *Ok sweetie. Bit of a short notice, but I*
guess it’s alright. Be safe and have fun! *It read. Lio chuckled grimly. ‘Be*
safe’, like that was going to happen.

            “Okay, Mom
says I can stay overnight. Let’s get this party started!” he announced, a huge
smile across his face.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

They were dropped off at a two story house with a long
driveway, screened by tall, bushy trees. It was a wonderfully isolated place,
but to Lio it didn’t seem to be the place that he imagined Lani and Nahele
would ordinarily live. Seeing the look on his face, the girls explained.

            “We rent
this place along with a bunch of other Hawaiian students. We don’t all get
along super well, but it is a much better deal than trying to come and go
between school and Hawaii everyday.” Nahele said.

            “Don’t you
guys ever get homesick?” said Lio, who traveled through the Duat to get home
everyday.

            “Sometimes,
but it is very rare. We all keep our culture alive here, so it’s a lot like
being back home.” Lani replied. They all got out of the car and went up to the
house, Nahele helping Lani navigate in her wheelchair. Lio curiously eyed the
pile of shoes outside the door, staring as he watched Nahele and Lani take
their own shoes off and deposit them with the others.

            “Why do you
guys take your shoes off? I mean, I don’t wear shoes myself, but why do you do
that?” he asked.

            “Kind of a
respect thing, sacred space, not to mention keeps the floors clean, so Haukea
won’t give us crap about it.” Nahele said.

            “Ugh, I
don’t like her. Most irritating cousin we have. Always so cold.” Lani groaned,
rolling her eyes as she wheeled herself inside. As it turned out, Haukea
herself was sitting on the couch in the living room, and having overheard her
cousin, gave them an icy glare, then went back to reading her book, tiny
snowflakes drifting off her body to fall and melt on the black leather of the
couch. They passed her as they moved on to the kitchen, an icy breeze tingling
their skin as it emanated from her.

            “Would you
like a drink? Soda, juice, iced tea, weird mystery thing that Moana made from
what looks like seaweed?” Nahele asked, opening the fridge and rummaging
through the stuff inside.

            “Uh, iced
tea. And who is Moana?” he said, a bit weirded out by the last option.

            “She’s
another cousin, daughter of Auntie Namaka.” Nahele explained, handing Lio a
tall glass of tea. A tall, beautiful Hawaiian girl glided in, tossing her long
black hair over her shoulder, reaching past Nahele to grab the weird green
drink that she had been talking about.

            “Talking
about me?” she asked teasingly, then turned to Lio with a big, beautiful smile.

            “Hi, I’m
Moana, but you can call me Kai. ‘Moana’ has become a bit of an annoyance since
the normies made that movie about a princess named that. No doubt they based
her off of me.” she said, then walked elegantly out of the kitchen, seaweed
smoothie in hand. Nahele rolled her eyes.

            “I swear,
the only decent cousin I have is Lani here.” she grumbled.

            “Aw, you’re
so sweet!” Lani cooed, batting her eyelashes at her cousin. They laughed and
then turned back to Lio.

            “You want
to go outside and have me teach you now, or later?” Nahele asked.

            “Now is
good.” Lio replied, feeling a cold breeze on his back, his spine crawling as if
under the reproachful glare of Haukea. Nahele led him back outside, then into
the garage, flicking on a light to fill the shadowy space. What he saw before
him made Lio stop short, mouth hanging open, deeply impressed.

## Chapter 5

There, crouching in the space like a panther ready to
spring, the artificial light gleaming off its polished surface, was a sleek
black car. It was a BMW i8 Spyder, and its body was sleek, aerodynamic, and its
headlights seemed to glare fiercely at those before it. It looked like someone
had cut a swath of the night sky, plucked out all the stars, and gave it
attitude. It was undoubtedly the sexiest hunk of machinery Lio had ever laid
eyes on. And to think Nahele was willing to trust an amateur driver like him
with it. Yep, that was just confirming that girl was crazy. Said crazy girl put
a finger under his chin and gently pushed his mouth closed, snapping him back
into reality.

“Are you
sure you can trust me with it? And where did you get it? How can you afford
it?” he managed to gasp out.

“I doubt
you could make so much as a scratch. This baby is bulletproof. Or at least my edition
is. I had it specialized. I didn’t buy it, it was a gift from Aunt Uli, goddess of
sorcery. All my cousins got one.”

“You all
got an i8?” Lio gasped, wishing he had a generous aunt goddess like that.

“No, at
least not a real i8…” Nahele hesitated.

“Wait, so
this is a fake?” he exclaimed, shocked.

“Not
exactly. You see, the cars we got were shape-changers, an invention by Uli.
They could take on the form of any vehicle we desired, as long as it was made
of metal. So, this is technically just as real an i8 as any other, but a bit
souped-up, it just wasn’t made by BMW. With such abilities they are more
valuable than any other car, and Lani’s is the exact same way, so even more
reason to win it back. Now, you wanna get this party started or what?”

“Heck yeah!”
Lio said eagerly. Nahele popped open the driver’s door, which swung up into the
and gestured for Lio to hop in. She went around the other side and took a seat
in the passenger’s side. Lio gazed around him, admiring the black leather
interior. Everything was so sleek and futuristic.

“Okay, we
won’t be trying the car out just yet, I want to make sure you know what is what
first. Got it?” she said. Lio nodded.

“Now, this
is the steering wheel. You use it when you want to make a turn. Pull it left to
go left, and right to go right.” she said. Lio glared at her. But Nahele
pressed on, seemingly oblivious to his disapproval.

“The pedal
on the right is the gas, you press it when you want to go. The pedal on the
left is the brake, you use it when you want to stop. This is the gear shift, p
is park, r is reverse, n is neutral, and the others are the other gears. This
is the ignition, you turn it to make the car start.” she said, in the kind of
tone one uses on small children and slow people. Lio finally burst out,
interrupting her degrading lesson.

“Nahele! I
know what the steering wheel is for. I know what the pedals are for. I know
what the gearshift is for. I know what the ignition is for. I know all the
basics of a car, I’m not stupid.” he growled. Nahele threw her head back and
laughed.

“I’m just
kidding! I know you know how to operate a car, if you didn’t I wouldn’t let you
anywhere near this thing! Okay, since you know the basic parts of the average
car, let’s go over the parts only found in this car. See this switch?” she
said, pointing to a small metal switch just below the gearshift.

“Yeah.”

“That goes
to this,” she opened the storage compartment below the switch and between the
front seats, revealing a metal gas canister inside.

“This is a
can of nitrous oxide. It helps speed up the car even further than normal. Only
use it as a last resort, as it is very risky to drive at such high speeds, you
can lose control of the car and die.” she said, looking him directly in the eye
as she did so, her tone and face absolutely serious, giving him a moment for
the gravity of it to sink in. It did, and he gulped at the thought.

“Now, if
this thing leaks, there is one surefire way to tell. If you inhale it, you
won’t be able to stop laughing.”

“What?
Why?” Lio asked, confused as to why he would find a gas leak humorous.

“Nitrous
oxide…laughing gas…geez man, don’t you ever pay attention during Mad Science?”

“Of course
not! That stuff’s boring!”

“I should
have known. Anyway, it is also used as an anesthetic, so you won’t feel any
pain, which trust me, can be a very bad thing. If you get those symptoms, pull
over immediately, forfeit. You can suffocate and die if there is too much gas
in the car, it will replace the oxygen in your blood. And don’t think you can get
away with just rolling down the windows. At that speed the pressure difference
will suck. And don’t think the ac will help much. Basically, this whole thing
is dangerous, so be careful out there. Got it?” Lio nodded.

“Now, would
you like to take this baby out for a test run? Nothing too speedy, just to get
used to the feel.” Lio nodded again, this time more eagerly. Nahele fished out
the keys from her pocket and handed them to him, but before he could turn the
ignition, Nahele suddenly grabbed his wrist to stop him.

“I almost
forgot. I have to introduce you first. Magical cars are tricky, they must know
and recognize you to work properly. Lio this is Maka’u, Maka’u this is Lio.
Okay, now you can get started.” she said, releasing his hand. He turned the
ignition and the car immediately started with a rumbling purr, quiet, yet
belying great power beneath the hood. He smoothly shifted into drive and the
car pulled elegantly out of the garage and down the driveway. The wheel turned
easily beneath his hand and the car responded gracefully. So much power was
under his complete control. It felt great. But there was another matter on his
mind, and he brought this up to Nahele.

“Why did
you have to introduce me to the car? Magic or not, that does seem a bit weird.
And why does it have a name?” he asked.

“All
magical things have names. You have heard of named swords, so why not named
cars. Magic cars are temperamental and very loyal to their owners. If a car
doesn’t recognize you, it might try to maim or kill you by driving out of
control. Or it might transform into something you didn’t want, like a small
tricycle. Talk about embarrassing. Since you have never seen my car before
today, I had to make sure it would know you and wouldn’t misbehave at the
race.”

“Okay, but
what about Lani’s car? Will it recognize me? And if it would transform into
something silly, isn’t that a good thing, since they won’t get a good car?”

“Lani’s car
knows you, that one is a bit more trusting, and it knows you’re Lani’s friend
from the times you rode in her car with her. It would be a hindrance to a
thief, but also do you really want to have to go through the trouble of finding
a single disguised magic car out of all the vehicles on Earth? It could be
anywhere and anything!”

“Good
point.” he said, and then on they drove in silence, Lio thoroughly enjoying
every second he spent behind the wheel. He was even more excited for tonight’s
race than ever before.

## Chapter 6

Lio and Nahele pulled slowly down the street, searching for
the telltale crowds of people and sports cars. They soon found it in an empty
parking lot, a dozen or so stalls filled with parked cars. Lio eyed the
competition. Those were some mean looking cars, and their drivers looked like
they meant business. He pulled into a stall next to a dark purple Bugatti, and
killed the engine, stepping out to follow Nahele to the only conspicuous car
there, a rather beat up looking pickup. There the crowd gathered, all pushing
in towards the pickup’s owner. He managed to squeeze his way through to the
middle, and saw that the center of attention was a fellow classmate, a weredog
girl by the name of Jackie. She held a clipboard and was holding it out to one
driver at a time, where they signed their names and a description of their cars.
As he waited to sign in himself, he looked around at his fellow drivers and
opponents. To his surprise, he recognized most of them. There was Serpentine
Viper, his face unreadable as he watched the other drivers; Helen Ios, who
tossed a strand of fiery red hair over her shoulder and glared angrily at
anyone daring to look at her; Miya Hanzaki, who was strapping on a pair of
athletic gloves; Haukea Ahu, whom he was surprised and shocked to see and who
avoided eye contact with him; and even Clawrina Wolf, who seemed much too young
to be able to legally drive, let alone race. Finally it was his turn to sign
in, which he did as quickly as he could, feeling awkward as everyone’s eyes
burned into him. He scurried back into the crowd and searched for more familiar
faces. Then, to his shock, horror, and complete disgust, he saw two more he
knew and wished he didn’t. There stood Ripper and Raugr, the werewolf and orc
surly glaring into the crowd. He felt cold inside and it was all he could do to
not fly at their faces and rip them to shreds. And where was the third of the
Despicable Three? He searched the crowd, intent on finding the incubus’s face,
but there was no match. It would seem the scum wasn’t here. Pity. He would have
used another punching bag. Ah well, he would have to settle for kicking the
butts of those two and get even with the third later. Now was the time to win
it. Jackie raised her hands in the air to call for attention. The group went
silent and gave her their fullest attention, even the most defiant of the group
was still.

“All right,
now that we got all the racers, we must go over the prize you are all racing
for! If you will kindly look to the left on that there platform, we have Lani’s
lovely cherry red Mustang, up for grabs! The rules are simple, come in first,
get the car. Got it?” Jackie yelled. A cheer of affirmation rose from the
crowd.

“Good! Race
begins in five minutes! Drivers, to your cars! Any last minute touch-ups, do
them now! When you are done, line up at the starting line!” she continued, then
dropped her hands, dismissing the group. The drivers each went to their cars,
Lio’s heart pounding as he checked the tires and the gas gauge. Everything
appeared to be in working order. He sat down in the drivers seat and nervously
patted the dashboard.

“Alright
Maka’u? We got this.” he said, partly to the car and partly to himself. He
turned the key, the engine faithfully roaring to life, seeming to give it a bit
extra to reassure its driver. Lio watched the cars around him, clueless as to where
the starting line was, and when the purple Bugatti next to him started up and
drove off, he followed it and pulled up next to it once more, a line forming on
either side of him. The race was about to start.

## Chapter 7

A pretty werewolf ghoul in a tight, short, pink dress with
long pink hair to match walked up, delicately balanced on ridiculously tall
heels, checkered flag in hand. She raised her hands to get the drivers’
attention.

“Drivers,
start your engines!” she yelled. All along the line was the sound of cars
starting. Lio followed suit, reassured by the roar of his own car starting as
well.

“Get set!”
The drivers shifted from park into neutral, pressing the gas a couple times to
rev the engines, seeking to impress and intimidate the competition. Lio pumped
the gas a couple times, delighted with the deep roar that he got in response.

“GO!” the
ghoul screamed, waving the flag wildly. Lio and the other drivers shifted into
drive and gunned the gas, blazing past the excited werewolf. Lio slowly pressed
down on the gas, and the i8 responded beautifully. Within a couple of minutes
he was in the front of the pack. He whooped and laughed, stoked at his easy
success. Or so he thought. Another driver, this one in a fiery gold Maserati
with flames painted on the sides pulled up next to him, easily keeping pace.
Lio looked over, shocked, and met the haughty gaze of Helen Ios. She smirked
and pressed the gas harder, pulling up ahead. Lio growled and followed suit,
matching progress. Once he pulled up a bit past her, she pressed on and pulled
in front of him. They continued this for a while, Lio speedometer ticking from
eighty to ninety to one hundred miles per hour. A sharp turn suddenly loomed up
ahead, and Lio swore, turning his wheel just in time to avoid the oncoming
telephone pole. He could feel his wheels skidding beneath him and his heart
pounded, certain he would lose control and flip over to his certain demise. But
the car was a tough machine, and its tires firmly gripped the asphalt, and he executed
the turn wonderfully. Then out of nowhere, Helen’s Maserati smashed into his
left side and he swore again, swerving back to compensate. Badly shaken, he
took a few deep breaths to settle his nerves. Maybe she had been thrown off
course by the turn too. He shook it off and continued driving. Then she was
back, matching his speed perfectly. He looked over and saw her snarl at him,
then jerked her wheel violently to the right. She smashed back into his car and
he swerved to avoid her. What was her problem? This was a race, not a
demolition derby! He pushed the gas as far as it would go, his gauge reading
140 mph. Helen zoomed up to meet him and collided with him again. Really
irritated now, he jerked his wheel to the left and smashed her back. She gaped
at him in anger and yanked her wheel to keep on the road.

She was soon back, trying to push
him off the road. But he wasn’t having any more of her crap. He pushed right
back, and for a couple hundred feet their cars were pressed together,
screeching and shoving as they both tried to push each other off the road. The
finish line was coming up, marked by bright flags, and finally, disgusted with
her failure, Helen pulled away, keeping pace with him, then her car jerked and
accelerated, blazing past Lio, blue flames spewing from the exhaust. So, she
had a canister of nitrous oxide too, huh? Well, two could certainly play at
that game. Lio flicked the silver switch, and his car jerked in response, and
the car sped up, engine screaming as he blew past her, blazing across the
finish line at 160 mph. The crowd around him erupted into cheer, leaping up and
down and screaming. He downshifted the gear and eased off the gas completely,
then applied the brakes, slowing the car to a stop, pulling off the road onto another
parking lot and turned off the car, relieved, heart pumping hard with
adrenaline. Helen soon arrived, pulling off the road and into another stall,
giving him the ultimate death glare. Bit by bit, other drivers arrived and
parked, until the last one, a hot pink Jaguar, pulled up. Then the drivers
moved as one towards the platform on which stood Jackie, megaphone in hand and
huge smile across her face.

“MONSTERS,
GIVE IT UP FOR TONIGHT’S DRIVERS!” she yelled into the megaphone. The crowd
roared in response. Jackie leaped down from the platform, grabbed Lio’s hand
and pulled him up onto the platform behind her, then threw their arms up into
the air, her strong grip crushing his numb hand, but he was too exhilarated to
care.

“HERE IS OUR FIRST PLACE WINNER!
GIVE IT UP FOR LIO DUAT!” she announced. The crowd roared again and chanted his
name. He smiled wildly, caught up in all the excitement. He had won, he had
really done it!

“Here are the keys, now go have
fun!” Jackie said, handing him a keychain and pounding him on the back. He
leaped down from the platform, and the crowd rushed up to meet him, shaking his
hand wildly, pounding him on the back and slapping his arm companionably. Then
the crowd parted, revealing Nahele charging towards him, a huge smile across
her face.

“YOU DID IT!” she screamed and
threw her arm around him. She lifted him off his feet in a surprising feat of
strength, the pair laughing wildly. Then, caught up in all the emotion, Nahele
kissed him. Lio’s ear seemed to ring, and after a moment, they realized what
they were doing and Nahele quickly let go and backed off, blushing deeply and
ducking her head.

“Yeah… I did it.” Lio said
awkwardly.

“Yeah, you won, it’s great.” Nahele
awkwardly mumbled back.

"Yeah, great.” They remained
like this for a bit, the awkwardness of it almost palpable. Then Nahele looked
up past Lio and frowned.

“Hey, isn’t that Tamas?” she said,
pointing. Lio turned to look, and sure enough, the tall figure of Tamas pushed
his way through the crowd. Another figure, this one of a ghoul, trotted up to
him, and as a beam of streetlight hit her, Lio was shocked to se it was his
main rival, Helen. She pressed herself against him and placed one hand against
his chest, pouting up at him, saying something too low for the other two to
hear. He smiled sympathetically and said something back, then kissed her hand,
putting his arm around her, and they turned and walked away, Helen leaning her
head against his shoulder.

“Ugh. Those two. So mushy and
kissy.” Nahele grunted.

“Yeah gross.” Lio agreed, and they
walked towards Lani’s red Mustang.

“Oh! Here’s the keys.” Lio said
quickly, tossing Nahele both sets. Nahele tossed one back.

“Silly, you can’t give me both
keys!” Nahele chuckled.

“Why not?”

“Well, I can only drive one car at
a time.”

“Well, can I drive your car and you
drive Lani’s?”

“My car is mine, and you have to
drive Lani’s car, race rules. It’ll look suspicious if they saw me driving it,
they’ll think I stole it, or arranged it with Lani.”

“But we did.”

“Yeah, but they don’t need to know
that.” Nahele smiled, and they parted ways, Lio heading nervously towards the
red Mustang. Nahele said these things were named and edgy about who drove them.
Maybe if he knew what its name was, it would trust him. He looked at the
keychain in hand for any clues. A small nametag glittered from the key ring. *Lauahi*, it said. He approached the car
nervously.

“Hi, uh, Lauahi. It’s me, Lio.
Remember me, Lani’s friend, rode in front passenger seat until Nahele showed
up?” he said, feeling super awkward. He got no response, so he inserted the key
in the door and unlocked it slowly. Still no response. He climbed gingerly
inside and closed the door. Nothing. Then he put the key in the ignition and
started the car. It roared to life, and remained a cherry red Mustang. He
breathed a sigh of relief and drove it carefully off the platform, searching
for Nahele’s black i8 Spyder. He spotted it, stopped just before it went onto
the highway, waiting for him. Once he got there, they pulled off onto the
highway, Nahele in the lead. They started the journey back to Nahele’s house,
Lio’s insides feeling warm and happy with his victory… and a little something
else.

## Chapter 8

The two cars pulled up into the demigods’ driveway, both
drivers feeling elated with their victories. Outside the door, waiting for
their arrival, were Lani in her wheelchair and Moana, who had come with her to
make sure she didn’t run into trouble with her unfortunate new set of wheels.
They watched as the gleaming vehicles pulled up and parked in front of the
garage, a huge smile spreading across Lani’s face as she recognized her beloved
Lauahi, her treasured cherry red Mustang. Lio and Nahele got out of their cars
and Lio bounded up to the two, an enormous smile on his face as well.

“You did
it!” Lani cheered.

“I sure
did! I told you I would!” Lio exclaimed, still a little breathless at having
won the first time he ever raced. Lani beamed up at him and wheeled in closer,
running her hand along the polished side of her reclaimed car.

“Ah, it’s
so good to have you back my dear.” she said softly. She turned and wheeled back
to Lio.

“Normally
I’d give you a thank-you hug, but I’m a bit too low to do that. Maybe Nahele
could do it for me?” she said, giving Nahele a teasing glance. Lio suddenly turned
awkward, gazing at a rock on the ground with incredible fascination.

“Uh, yeah,
she already kinda thanked me for it. Very thoroughly.” he mumbled, and Nahele
intently studied a tree, her face turning a bit pink, which she was glad
wouldn’t be visible in the dark.

“Oh? Did
she now?” Lani said in an interested voice, her smile turning to one of
mischief as she waggled her eyebrows at her blushing cousin.

“Oh shut up
and get inside, Wheelie, it’s getting cold out here.” Nahele grumbled and
pushed past them, walking quickly into the house, head held high with
indignation. Lani chuckled and followed.

“Come on,
champ. You’ve had a hard day, you need to go to bed. Hopefully not in the same
one as Nahele.” she teased. Lio hid his face in his hands and a rude noise
emanated from the house, indicating that Nahele had overheard and disapproved.

"C’mon
Lio, I’ll show you to the spare room.” Nahele said in a disgusted voice,
leading him down the hall to a staircase.

“You kids
behave now!” Lani called, determined to have one last jibe at their retreating
backs. Nahele rolled her eyes.

“She hasn’t
even heard what actually happened and she’s already giving me crap. We’ll be
hearing about it for weeks. That’s your room, by the way.” she said, pointing
to a door on the right. Lio opened it to see a simple bedroom, devoid of any
personal touches. It was quite comfy looking, with a large bed, dresser, desk,
and plush rug that his feet sank blissfully into.

“The
bathroom is at the end of the hall. You’ll need a change of clothes…I guess you
could borrow some of my old stuff…from back when I was…you know…” she said,
trailing off before she could say ‘a guy’, turning her head away awkwardly. But
Lio understood and nodded. She looked back up at him and smiled.

“Might be a
bit of a odd fit though, I’m taller than you.” she said, and indeed she was, by
at least a good five inches or so. She ducked inside her room and rummaged
through a box on the closet floor. She returned a bit later with a shirt and
jeans.

“You’ll
have to make do with wearing your undies twice. I don’t have any you can
borrow, and besides, that’s just weird.” she said, handing him the clothes. Lio
chuckled nervously and went into the bathroom to shower.

He
took a nice long shower, enjoying the warmth from the hot water, then climbed
out and realized something. He had forgotten to get a towel. How embarrassing.
He stood behind the door and pounded on it. A little bit later Nahele’s voice
filtered through the wood.

“Yes?” she
said, muffled. Lio sighed and blushed.

“I forgot
to get a towel.” he said in a flat voice. On the other side of the door Nahele
cracked up, and he could hear her laughter growing fainter as she walked down
the hall. A minute later she returned and he opened the door a crack to grab it,
making sure he was well hidden. He left the bathroom a few minutes later and
knocked on Nahele’s closed door.

“I like the
shirt, but don’t you think the pants are a bit short?” he said sarcastically.
Nahele looked down at his hippo feet, which were completely covered by the
overlong legs of her old jeans. She laughed and held onto the door for support.

“Yeah, I
tripped on my way here.”

“Graceful.”
she said, and started to close the door, calling out “Goodnight” before it was
shut.
            “Goodnight.” Lio said back
softly, then awkwardly shuffled back to his room, all the while trying not to
trip over the pants again. He made it back without too much incident, and
stripped down, going to bed in his underwear.

## Chapter 9

Lio was abruptly awoken by the sound of someone pounding on
his door. He jerked up into a seated position, not fully awake yet, but awake
enough to recognize Nahele’s voice.

“Rise and
whine, sunshine! Up and at ‘em! Gotta get going before the girls eat all the
good food and leave us with the gross stuff!” she yelled. Lio groaned and
rolled out of bed. Quite literally. He slowly picked himself up and put on his
borrowed clothes, untangling his braids from their morning mess. Just as he was
about to step outside his room, he tripped over the overlong pants again.
Frustrated, he rolled them up to his knees, uncaring at how uncomfortable the
rolls of denim were against his legs. He rushed down the stairs, his oddly
shaped feet quickly pounding out a rapid beat on each step. He skidded into the
kitchen and sat down in a rush, blowing a stray braid out of his face. Everyone
else was gathered around the dining table, waiting for him. Lani, a couple
places away from him to his right, raised an eyebrow at his demeanor.

“Let me
guess, Nahele told you we would eat everything good before you got here?” she
asked.

“Yeah,” he
puffed.

“I can’t
believe you fell for that. We would never do such a thing, we always wait for
the last one, it’s respectful. She always does that to the newbies, she likes
to see them panic.” Lani explained, rolling her eyes.

“What?” Lio
exclaimed, whirling on Nahele, who so happened to be sitting just to his left,
furious at being tricked. At the steamed look on his face, Nahele began to
crack up, cackling wickedly as she buttered a roll.

“You dirty
little-” he started, right before Nahele stuffed the roll into his mouth. She
seemed quite fond of doing that. He glared at her and chewed up the roll, then
silently dished himself more food, pretending to ignore her. But she just quietly
laughed at this silent treatment and stole a strip of bacon from his plate. He
frowned and stole a chunk of fruit from her plate in retaliation.

After they
had gotten done eating and stealing each other’s food, the entire group cleared
the table and headed out the door to go to school. They all piled into their
cars, Lio riding shotgun with Nahele, Lio watching the landscape blur by as
they drove.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

After half an hour of driving, they arrived at their school,
just in time to make it to class before the bell. Lio went to his homeroom and
sat down in his normal spot. Then, to his surprise, an unfamiliar ghoul plopped
her stuff down next to him. Hmm, she must be new, he thought, and paid it no
more mind, too busy thinking about last night. At least, until the new ghoul
interrupted his thoughts.

“Hi! You
drive really well!” she said cheerily. That was it, no introduction or
anything, just straight into something confusing.

“What?” he
said, baffled.

“The races
last night. I was there. Don’t you remember me?”

“Sorry,
no.” Certainly he would have remembered her if she had been there, such purple
hair was hard to miss, that shade wasn’t exactly subtle.

“Ah, my
mistake. Not the best way to hit it off. How about I try again? Hi, I’m Kaasi.”
she apologized, never dropping her cheerful tone even for a moment.

“Lio.” he
replied simply, still feeling weird about her.

“Oh, it’s
so good to finally meet the legendary champion. I heard some rumors flying
around that that race had been your first time. Is that true?” she asked. Lio
felt very uncomfortable that this unfamiliar vampire groupie was taking such an
interest in him. He was sorely tempted to move, but there were no other seats
open, and that would just be plain rude.

“I don’t
know about legendary, but yeah, that was the first time I ever raced.” he said.

“Wow,
really?” she gasped, much to his annoyance. Really, this fan-girl thing was
getting on his nerves. She leaned in really close, until he could practically
count her eyelashes, her cloying perfume wrapping around him. Ugh, that stuff
smelled sickening, he hated perfume. He leaned back in response, wishing he
could somehow escape. Maybe if he asked to use the bathroom.

“That’s
very impressive, Lio.” she said softly, gazing at him with big adoring eyes.
Urgh, she was really trying too hard. But one mustn’t be rude, so he stiffened
his resolve and put up with it, and tried not to inhale too much of her
perfume. Then she scooted even closer and put her hand over his. Now that was
really too much. He quickly jerked his hand out from under hers and stuck it in
his pocket, smiling awkwardly. It looked more like a pained grimace. Her hand
had felt cold and clammy. Well, what do you expect from the undead.

“Um, excuse
me…” he said, and raised his hand, praying to any gods who were in earshot,
hoping desperately that the teacher would look his way. Sure enough, Ms. Volts,
a Frankenstein type monster, looked directly at him, her gaze sharp over the
top of her black glasses.

“Yes, Lio?”
she asked, her voice commanding.

“May I use
the bathroom?” he asked meekly.

“Certainly.”
she replied with a permissive wave of her stitched hand. He eagerly leaped to
his feet and rushed out as fast as he could without it looking like he was
fleeing for his life. He hurried all the way to the boy’s bathroom and burst
in. It was blissfully empty and he leaned against the wall, panting. That ghoul
really freaked him out, and not in a very nice way. There was something about
her that made his skin crawl unpleasantly, as if there was something *off* about her. He huddled in a corner of
the bathroom and alternated between washing his hands and rubbing them, trying
to erase the ghost memory of her creepy touch. He shuddered as he remembered
her voice. It seemed to worm through his brain, sickly sweet, trying to
hypnotize him. Yikes. He pulled out his phone and earbuds, blasting some of his
favorite songs in an attempt to force out the slimy remnants of her voice in
his head. He was in there for a long time, and he heard the bell signaling the
end of class ringing dimly past the seal of his earbuds. He popped them out and
cautiously headed back to his class to grab his stuff. He carefully peered into
the room, keeping alert for the weird vampire ghoul. Thankfully, the room was
devoid of all but the teacher, who eyed him, but said nothing. He gratefully
gathered up his books and headed for his next class, hoping for a bit of peace
there. If he had to keep running out of class like that, his grades would
plummet, and Mother certainly wouldn’t be pleased.

## Chapter 10

Lio walked down the hall through thick crowds of students as
he moved to his next class, Biteology, keeping an eye out for his friends and
that vampire. He saw neither, which was a disappointment considering the former
and a relief with the latter. He sat down at his spot, where he was surrounded
on all sides, Bonny Yip to his right, Aletha Pendragon to his left, and Bruce
behind him. The seat in front of him, he knew, would be occupied by Ike
Doppler, who was a bit of an ass, but at least they had a mutual understanding,
leave me alone and I’ll leave you alone. But to his surprise and dread, Ike’s
spot was filled with that vampire girl, Kaasi. He groaned inwardly and tried to
strike up a conversation with his other desk buddies. But Bonny was very shy
and hardly said an audible word before blushing and freezing, petrified. Bruce
behind him was cool if not a bit surly, but it hurt Lio’s neck trying to look
back there so often. He gave up with those two and turned to Aletha. She turned
out to be quite nice, if not a bit surprised at first with being talked to,
then pleasantly warm as she grew comfortable with the idea, even if having
giant wings made her dreadfully clumsy.

“Oops, oh
dear, not again!” she said as her wing knocked her pencil off the desk for the
fifth time. She stooped to retrieve it once more, and in the amount of time she
was down there, Lio’s eyes wandered to the front, an action he regretted
immediately as it happened. As if she had been waiting just for this moment,
Kaasi made eye contact with him, and waved her fingers at him, a big, charming
smile on her face, then winked. He gagged slightly, and quickly averted his
eyes, then stooped to help Aletha, who seemed to have gotten her horns stuck
under the desk. He helped her unstick her head from the table, and they spent
the rest of the class in even friendlier terms. Every now and again Lio would
look up, trying to see the notes on the board, but every time he did, Kaasi was
there, trying to get his attention by acting flirtatiously. Eventually he gave
up and started copying the notes from Aletha’s paper. Then the bell rang for
his next class and he hurried away, sticking close to Aletha, hiding in the
great furl of her massive wing in an attempt to avoid detection by a certain
member of the undead. It seemed to work, or at least Kaasi found Aletha’s great
height intimidating, for they went unbothered into their next class,
Geogremetry. This time he was taking no chances and sat himself down in the
thickest cluster of students he could find, surrounding himself on all sides
with merfolk, werecats, and dryads. Feeling quite safe in his little bubble, he
watched as Kaasi tried to push her way past a cranky ivy dryad, who shot her
such a venomous look that she immediately back down and had to settle for the
closest spot she could find to him, which was five seats away. He breathed a
sigh of relief, then curiously sniffed the air, which was pleasantly perfumed
with the natural fragrance of blossoms. He found that the lovely smell was
coming from the cherry dryad to his left, and he gave her a small smile. It was
nice to have a good smell to drive out that vampire’s bad smell from his
memory. He went through this class in a peaceful bubble, feeling quite
refreshed. Might have been all the fresh oxygen from the surrounding dryads
photosynthesizing. Then the bell for lunch rang and he filed out with all the
rest, then the dread and panic came snapping back at the creepateria, where he
saw the vampire fighting her way through the crowds to get to him. His heart
sank. Oh dear gods no, not again.

## Chapter 11

Lio grabbed his tray of food and quickly searched the room
for his friends, desperate to get to them before Kaasi got to him. Then he
spotted them and hurried over, dropping his tray down next to Nahele and taking
a seat beside her, scooting in as close as he could get, hissing in the
surprised demigod’s ear, “Dude, you’ve got to help me. There’s this vampire
groupie that has been stalking me all day, I can’t seem to get her off my
back.” And sure enough, as if summoned by his words, there she was, standing
with her lunch and characteristic overlarge smile.

“Yes, how
may we help you?” Nahele asked, her tone blunt and cold. Kaasi started at the
demigod’s unfriendly demeanor and tried to turn on the charm.

“Oh I just
wanted to ask Lio something. Do you have a girlfriend?” she said, aiming the
last bit at Lio. He choked on his food and swallowed quickly before he actually
suffocated. Wow, she was getting personal. Nahele glared up at her, her eyes
frosty.

“Yes he
certainly does. Me. Now piss off.” she snapped, turning her back on the
impertinent vamp, who blinked and turned away, walking back across the
creepateria to sit at a different table. Lio let out a sigh of relief and
turned to Nahele.

“What do
you mean, ‘me’? Since when were you my girlfriend?” he asked. Nahele shrugged.

“Hey, man,
I’m just trying to watch your back. I just said the first thing that popped
into my head and hoped she found me scary enough to leave it alone. No big
deal.” she said dismissively, but avoided eye contact with him. Lio grinned
slowly.

“Yeah,
sure.” he said sarcastically, but he let her be and they finished their lunch
in silence. The bell for their next class soon rang, and they filed out, Lio
heading to his next class, Music.

When he
arrived, he went straight to his drums set, and taking his place behind it,
brushing nonexistent dust from it fondly, picking up his drumsticks. They
slipped perfectly into his hand, their presence reassuring in his hand, as if
they belonged there. Ah, finally he would have some peace and quiet. Okay maybe
not quiet, but definitely peace.

“Oh hey,
you play the drums too?” a sweet voice said, shattering what little peace Lio
had been able to regain. He looked up in horror, and sure enough, there was
Kaasi, staring at him will her unsettling smile. His mind raced, trying to
think of an escape. Well, he certainly couldn’t skip this class, he loved it
too much, and he could try telling the teacher, but she wasn’t here yet, and
what would he tell her? He absentmindedly started spinning his drumsticks in
one hand, then it hit him. Quite literally. One of the sticks flew out of his
hand and smacked him in the face. That’s it!

“Yeah, I
do. Care for a demo?” he asked, drumsticks at the ready. Kaasi nodded eagerly
and Lio started to bang out the loudest and fastest rhythm he could, making it
impossible for him to hear much else. Kaasi tried to accolade his performance,
but her voice was drowned out in the racket. He kept it up as long as he could,
arms starting to feel leaden, then to his relief, he dimly heard the bell ring
and their teacher, a skeleton woman named Ulna De Muertos, entered, electric
guitar slung across her back. She looked at the furiously playing monster and
smiled, then waved for his attention, signaling him to stop.

“Very good
Lio, I love your passion.” she said, her voice heavily tinted by her Latino
accent.

“Singers to
the right please.” she said to Kaasi, pointing to the other side of the room.
Lio hid a smile. Thank the gods for Ms. Ulna and her no-nonsense demeanor with
new students. The others students trickled in, each dividing up into their
instrumental groups. When everyone was in the room and in their places, Ulna
raised her hands for attention.

“Okay,
attendance. You all seem to be here, so next thing. We have a new student
today, a singer, and as is our tradition in this class, we shall now hear her
sing. Come on up, Kaasi.” she said. Lio looked over at the vampire ghoul, and
felt satisfaction at the look of sheer horror on her face. But, she stood up
gracefully and delicately made her way to the front of the class. Upon reaching
the front of the class, she stood up straight, composed herself, tossed her
hair over her shoulder and took in a deep breath. She opened her mouth and
began to sing. And the world came to a stop.

## Chapter 12

The words coming out of Kaasi’s mouth were in a language
none there recognized, but the melody was breathtaking. She had the class
under her enchantment, holding them merely with her voice. Lio struggled
against its beauty, determined not to be seduced by its charm. But it was quite
hard. He concentrated harder, and the song began to change, at least to his
ears alone. Under the beauty of it was a certain nastiness, like barbed wire
covered in fur. Shocked by his epiphany, he looked around the classroom to see
if anyone else had noticed. But everyone was spellbound. At least, everyone but
Charnelle. She looked rather uncomfortable and she looked over at Lio. Their
eyes met and an understanding passed between them and she shuddered, showing that
she too felt the dark undertones. There was not much either could do to
disaffect the rest of the class, so they sat in uncomfortable silence until she
was done. When the last note had slipped from Kaasi’s mouth and finished
ringing around the classroom, the class remained silent for a moment,
processing what they had just heard, then loudly showed their appreciation,
bursting into applause and cheers. All except Lio and Charnelle, who still felt
weird about the whole thing.

Ms. Ulna,
however, appeared only mildly impressed.

“Eh, it was
okay for an amateur. We’ll have you singing like a pro by the end of the year.”
she said dismissively. “Now class, let’s work on that number we have been
practicing this month. A one, two, one, two, three, four!” And with that, she
waved her skeletal arms through the air, directing the students through their
song. Lio, his part still to come, dug around in his pocket and fished out a
pair of earplugs, then shoved them into his pointy ears. You had to be careful
when the sirens got going, or who knows what you might end up doing. He had
gotten them in just in time, as Aria had started up, her clear, high, beautiful
voice threatening a few hearts and a few windows. Then her girlfriend, a feng
huang named Meifeng, joined her, their voices interweaving into the most
spectacular melody that slipped a bit past Lio’s earplugs and chased away the
last dark strains of Kaasi’s voice. At least for now. Then Ulna’s hand waved
his way, directing him to start playing, which he did with his usual gusto.
Soon the entire class was going, the room vibrating with their music. It felt
great, and Lio savored the feeling of the vibrations pulsing through his body,
lighting up every nerve, his heart throbbing in time with the beat. He felt so
alive, so in tune with everything. He soon got lost in the music and everything
else ceased to exist. The class replayed their song several times, then the
bell rang loudly, crashing Lio’s trance-like state. He rose and reluctantly put
his drumsticks down, picked up his backpack and filed out of the class, heart
filled with peace.

Charnelle
appeared at his shoulder and walked alongside him as they went down the hall.

“Hey, Lio,”
she said.

“Oh hey,
wassup?”

“You heard
it too right? In Kaasi’s voice. That mangled barbed wire thing.”

“Yeah, that
was freaky. Grated on my nerves. What do you think that was?” he said. But
Charnelle didn’t get a chance to reply. Her head suddenly began to throb
painfully, and she sank to the side, leaning against the lockers as she
clutched her head.

“Hey,
what’s wrong?” Lio asked, concerned at her sudden change in behavior. Charnelle
didn’t respond, for she was far away. Her vision clouded over with another
scene.

*Two figures stood before her in a darkened*
room, like an abandoned office. She started as she realized she was no longer
in the school hallway, and her breath caught in her throat as she recognized
one of them, her heart pounding as she hoped desperately that she wouldn’t be
caught. The figure to the right stepped into the beam of a weak overhead lamp,
revealing sandy blonde hair and pale features that twisted into a look of sheer
irritation.

*“Ike, really, that was the best you*
could do?” a dark voice said from the figure to her left. The monster to the
right rolled his eyes.

*“Of course not. That vampire ghoul*
is the most irritating thing on earth, no wonder nobody likes her. And I hate
being her, she makes my skin crawl with her flirtiness. And that voice, that
annoying voice, yuck! I don’t think I can handle it much more.” Ike complained.

*“Well, Kaasi isn’t perfect, but did*
you at least manage to plant the root of evil in Lio’s mind?”

*“Yes, of course. I can do that much*
in her form.”

*“Good. You can take on whatever form*
you choose now, so long as you can continue to turn him. You may go now.” the
dark figure replied. Ike gave a little bow of the head, then a violet aura
shimmered around him then faded to reveal a vampire girl similar to Kaasi, but
her hair hung around her jawline, and her clothes were less girly, with a
leather jacket over a sparkly purple top, shredded jeans and high heel boots.
She turned and walked away, disappearing into the shadows. The shadowy figure
remained, standing in thoughtful silence, then his head shot up and he
stiffened, as if sensing something was amiss. Then he turned suddenly and
looked straight at Charnelle. He stepped towards her and threw back his hood,
revealing dark chiseled features and brown eyes that glowed red.

*“You!” Tamas hissed. “Always*
interfering. Don’t worry, I’ll be sure to deal with you later!”

Charnelle stood up suddenly, stiff as a rod, her red eyes
open wide with shock and realization. Then a hand appeared on her shoulder,
causing her to jump and whirl around, surprised.

“Hey, calm
down! What happened?” Lio asked. Charnelle relaxed and patted his hand before
brushing it off her shoulder.

“Nothing,
just a vision, that’s all.” she sighed.

“Really? Of
what? You looked quite horrified while you were out of it.” he said.

“It’s not
important. At least, not yet.” she said dismissively, then turned and walked
away. Lio stared after her, confused. Something was not right, and she knew it,
but what was her reason for hiding it?

## Chapter 13

Lio woke up and rolled over, reluctant to get up. He
squeezed his eyes tightly shut and clutched his head, his skull throbbing. He
didn’t feel much like going to school today, but he knew his mom would not
approve. He got up slowly, his head spinning, and gingerly got dressed,
reflecting on his dreams from last night. It was so odd, even more than most
dreams.

*It*
had started out with him being weak, so very weak and helpless. He despised
dreams like that. Then he was angry and lashed out, striking some shadowy
figure. It felt good, and he felt stronger from it. More dark figures
approached, and he punched these as well. It felt so good, so powerful, all who
appeared before him crumbled or fell back, retreating from his growing might.
He felt himself growing, taller and taller, and he soon towered over all. He
looked out over a mighty kingdom, and he knew deep down that it was his, and
only his. Nothing could stop him, he was invincible! Other figures surrounded
him, only these did not retreat like the others, they crowded in close,
cheering his name, hailing his superiority. A song, a voice so beautiful, rang
through the air, weaving itself around him, speaking of his greatness.

Lio shivered and rubbed his head.
That was weird. Not to mention, that singer sounded uncomfortably like Kaasi,
but better. Yuck. He finished getting dressed by putting on his cap, then went
out for breakfast with his mother. Ammit was waiting for him at the dining
table, a spread of the local cuisine before her. He piled his plate with food
and soon bolted it down, his conversation with his mother kept brief. He was
late for school, and she was about to be late for work, dealing with those who
were “late” in a different way. When he was done, he grabbed his backpack and
raced outside. The outdoors was dark and hazy, as it always was, lit by a red
glow from a colossal lava lake to the left. The air was filled not with the
sound of birds singing, but of souls screaming, crying, hissing, whispering. Turquoise
trees rattled in the wind. Strange shapes formed from the fog and bones crawled
across the ground with a horrible clicking. Such was the nature of the Duat,
his home. He concentrated, and the air around him shimmered and warped,
twisting into a black swirling portal to the Overworld. He leaped through, the
voices of those lost souls growing louder, then fading away, and he appeared a
few dozen feet away from the front door of the school. He landed as gracefully
as one could on hippo feet, wishing he could teleport that easily through the
realm of the living, but it only really worked in the Duat. Pity really, the
Duat became boring after a while. There were only so many lost souls a monster
could handle. Almost made looking at the school ghosts unbearable.

He looked at his iCoffin and almost
jumped out of his scaly and furry skin in shock. Two minutes till school
started, and his homeroom was all the way on the other side. He madly dashed up
the steps and raced down the hall, weaving and occasionally smashing around and
into the school’s zombie population, frantic to get to class in time. He made
it, but just barely. Just as he skidded through the door, the bell rang loudly.
He slipped into his seat with a relieved sigh, then stiffened up as he
remembered the events of yesterday. Oh no, was Kaasi here too? He searched the
room with dread, but he couldn’t spot so much as one flash of her violently
violet hair. He sank back with relief, then his eyes flicked to the door and he
stiffened up again. There! That purple! Walking right through the door! But the
vampire that was sporting this particular hair color didn’t look completely
familiar. Her hair, while being the right shade, was the wrong length, cropped
short along her jaw. Her eyes, while being the same color as Kaasi’s, were not
even the slightest bit flirty, but flinty. Her fashion sense was totally
different too. Kaasi dressed like a girly irritant, this vamp actually dressed
cool, more like Lio’s style with ripped jeans and a leather jacket. She did
share a fondness for glittery purple shirts, however, but it was toned down by
the rest of her style. She looked much cooler and tougher. And she was headed
his way. Yet again, the only available space in the classroom was next to him.
She completely ignored the teacher’s severe gaze at her being late and plopped
down next to him, pulling this and that notebook out of her bag without giving
Lio so much as a glance. Lio was perfectly okay with being ignored, he still
wasn’t fully comfortable with the idea of another vampire so much like Kaasi
being near him. Said vampire was still searching her bag for something, shoving
her arm almost to her shoulder as she rummaged, a look of annoyance on her
face. Finally she pulled her arm out with a soft curse. Only now did she
acknowledge Lio’s existence.

“Hey, uh, do you by any chance
happen to have a pencil or pen or something I can borrow?” she asked, awkward
with having to interact with someone.

“Yeah, sure.” he grunted and handed
her a pen.

“Thanks. I’m Kei by the way, just
thought you might want to know who you’re lending stuff to in case you have to
hunt me down to get it back.” she said.

“I’m Lio. You might want to know
who you’re borrowing stuff from.” he replied.

“Cool.” she smirked, and that was
the last thing they said to each other for the rest of the class. The silence
was rather awkward, but Lio was cool with that. Better awkward silence than
awkward invasion of his personal space. The class went by without much event,
then the bell rang, and they filed out for their next class. For the first time
ever, he went to Hiss-tory with a spring in his step, remembering he had this
class with Nahele. And also, it seemed, Kei, since she too had walked into the
Hiss-tory room and taken a seat. He searched the faces of the other students,
looking for one in particular. And sure enough there she was, Nahele, sitting
up in her usual spot. And instead of taking his usual spot in the seat above
her, he decided to hell with assigned seating and sat down next to her, heart
fluttering.

“Hey.” he said, beaming.

“Well, somebody looks happy to see
me! What happened, is this the real Lio? Or have you been replaced by an
ALIEN?” she replied dramatically, eyes wide as she leaned away from him as far
as she could, almost falling out of her chair, her joke about aliens earning
her an offended glare from Astranova.

“Aw, come on, dude! Really?” he
said back, exasperated.

“You know I’m kidding.” she said,
sitting back up and giving him a friendly punch in the arm.

“Ow!” he whined jokingly.

“Weakling.” she shot back, then the
bell rang signaling the start of class.

## Chapter 14

Class passed by without either of the two noticing, as they
were too busy bugging each other to really pay attention to class, only
occasionally glancing at the front long enough for Nahele to take notes. And
every time she did, Lio would snatch the pencil right out of her hand and she’d
have to wrestle him to get it back. He soon stopped after the fifth time, when
Nahele threatened to bite him, her teeth bared in a snarl. He edged away from
her and tossed her pencil back, eyes wide in mock terror. Then they annoyed
each other in a variety of little ways until the bell rang for the end of
class. Up next was Dead Languages. Boring. But at least Nahele had this class
too.

They took a seat, Lio yet again
ignoring the seating chart and sticking close to her side. They pulled out
their books, heavy dusty tomes that made them sneeze, and pretended to be
paying attention, ignoring Mr. Rotter’s instruction on the various nuances of
snarling and coughing. They were already confident in their linguistic skills
without having to learn some bizarre apparently lycanthropic dialect. Lio was
certain he would never need that sore throat of a mess when he would someday
work in the Duat. So, instead they goofed off, Nahele doodling on her paper and
Lio gazing off into space, reflecting on life, which wasn’t something he
usually did, but life had been so odd recently.

Of course, there was him and
Nahele. It was obvious that they liked each other, he certainly liked her, and
from her reaction on race day, there was no doubt the feeling was mutual. They
were just too awkward and shy to make it official. Maybe someday soon they’d
find the courage.

Then there was yesterday. Who was
that weird vampire ghoul, and what the heck was her deal? First totally
invading his personal space (thank the gods Nahele made her back off), then her
strange singing? How come he and Charnelle were the only ones to notice? What *had* they even noticed? A memory of
Kaasi’s song sprang unbidden into his mind, echoing through his skull with its
eerie resonance. Suddenly, his head began to throb as the song’s shadow grew
louder, drowning out the noises of the classroom. He doubled over, grimacing,
as he tightly clutched his skull, as if trying to keep his head together,
literally. After a few moments, a cool hand touched his shoulder and the
headache eased, the strains of song fading away. He raised his head and met
Nahele’s concerned brown eyes.

“Dude, what
happened?” she asked softly.

“I don’t
know. I was just thinking, then BOOM! Headache.” he said, shuddering.

“What did I
tell you about thinking? Now you’ve overexerted yourself!” Nahele joked, but it
was plain that she was still anxious about him. He sighed, suddenly tired and
leaned his head against her shoulder, not caring anymore what anyone may think.
It was an oddly refreshing action, as if she was recharging his own energy.
Well, whatever it was, he sure felt a lot better.

The bell announcing lunch rang, breaking through everyone’s
thoughts and causing a mad scramble to leave. Lio and Nahele leaped up and
hastily shoved their belongings in their backpacks, then joined the crush of
students on their way out.

“Hey, hey
Lio! Wait up!” a voice called, and Lio whirled around to see Kei shoving through
the crowd towards him, a hand outstretched towards him holding his pen.

“Your pen.
Sorry I took forever to give it back.” she apologized.

“Nah, it’s
cool. Thanks.” he replied, reaching out to take it. Their fingers brushed every
so slightly as he took his pen back, and he jolted as if electrocuted. His
headache suddenly returned tenfold, his vision blacked out, his sense of
balance was gone, and a horrible keening shriek lanced through his brain, like
Kaasi’s song, minus all the pretty bits. He swayed and collapsed, tightly
gripping his temples as he reeled. Nahele quickly caught him, holding him close
as his head spun, unable to regain his feet.

“Dude,
what’s with you? This is the second time you act funny today!” she asked, her
voice gentle yet concerned. He slowly straightened up, holding tightly to
Nahele, his vision not quite back yet, grainy like static on an old T.V. He
shook his head to clear it, and looked at her, his face fearful.

“I’m not
sure, but I think I can guess. Gotta wait though, I’ll tell you when we have a
bit more privacy. It’s weird and I don’t want the whole school to know.” he
said. Nahele nodded and they walked to the creepateria, arm in arm, just in
case Lio collapsed again and only for that reason. No, really.

## Chapter 15

Lio and Nahele sat down with their lunches at the most
isolated table they could find, huddled up in a corner.

“So, what’s
happening?” Nahele asked again.

“I am not
fully certain yet, but do you remember that vampire ghoul yesterday? I think it
has something to do with her, she makes me feel something I never did before.”

“Oh?”
Nahele asked suspiciously, her eyebrow raised as she gave him a doubtful look.

“No, not *that* way. You know I like only you. No,
she makes me scared, and I never get scared…okay maybe since that one time my
mom got sick, but nothing like that since then. Anyway, yesterday, that
vamp-Kaasi’s her name, by the way- was in all my classes, including Music. She
got up and sang in front of the whole class, and everyone liked it…except me…oh,
and Charnelle.” he explained.

“Well, that
just shows you and Charnelle have good taste in music.” Nahele joked.

“Seriously
though! It was so weird, it sounded great at first, then I kinda blocked her
out, then it was so freaky! Her song turned *dark*!
It was like I could hear evil in there! Me and Charnelle both heard it! And it
won’t stop, it keeps popping back into my head! And every time it does, I get
this gnarly headache. Speaking of which, after class I talked to Charnelle, and
while we were talking, she collapsed too! She didn’t want to talk about it, but
think maybe she was affected like me? And maybe we weren’t the only ones! Maybe
there were a few others who got it as well!” he gushed, eyes widening. Nahele
remained carefully neutral, not wanting to get excited and make things worse.

“Do you
really think there were others? Did anyone else look like they heard it too?”
she asked.

“Well, no,”
he said, deflating with disappointment.

“Well,
maybe they were just good actors and didn’t want it to seem like they knew
anything was amiss.” she hastily added, not wanting Lio to think he was alone
in his insanity. “Let’s go ask Charnelle what happened to her.”

They got up and searched the creepateria, and sure enough,
there she was, sitting with their other friends and laughing at something
someone had said. They wove their way between the tables until they were at her
side, Lio tapping her shoulder to get her attention. She looked up, surprised,
freezing mid-chew.

“Hey, uh,
can we go outside, the three of us?” Lio asked, waving at her, Nahele and
himself. She nodded, and looked to the others, who gave their own nods of
assent. They knew and trusted Lio, certain it was something important and that
he had his reasons for speaking only to her and not them. Those guys were such
good friends.

Lio led the trio outside the creepateria into the hall,
which was blissfully empty of students and Mr. Ogrethor, the cranky custodian.

“Okay, so I
was wondering if you remember last music class?” Lio asked.

“Of course!
It was only yesterday after all!” Charnelle laughed.

“Yeah, but
do you remember Kaasi’s singing?”

“Yes, kind
of hard to forget that creepy tune!”

“And
remember how you collapsed after class when we were out in the hall?”

“Well, yes,
but that was because I had a vision, not because of Missy Sparkle Pants’ lack
of talent.”

“Yeah, but
did you happen to get a headache?”

“Yeah, but
so what?” Charnelle replied, her tone becoming evasive. Lio knew that he had
struck a chord with her and pressed on.

“Do you
normally get headaches when you get a vision?”

“Well…no…that
was the first time.” she said slowly.

“Aha!”

“What do
you mean ‘aha’? What aha?”

“I’ve been
getting headaches myself, especially when I remember that class! Though for
some reason I got another one when I bumped into Kei.”

“Who’s
Kei?”

"A new
vamp girl. Looks a bit like Kaasi, but way cooler and less weird. Or at least
until she zapped me.”

“Weird.
Well, I haven’t been getting any more headaches, but I believe you. Something
was definitely off about that ghoul. I wouldn’t worry about it since Kaasi has
left. Anyway, we should get back in there before somebody steals our food. Nice
talking to you again.” Charnelle said dismissively, then turned and walked back
into the creepateria, leaving Nahele and Lio to ponder over her words. But she
hadn’t told them everything. While it was true that she had no more headaches,
she wasn’t sure that Lio’s situation was quite over just yet. Kaasi may be
gone, but it sounded like the other one was now here. So soon, she hadn’t
expected to see her so soon. It was quite unusual and normally someone trying
to disguise themselves would have done better, like wait a day or two before
showing up again. It was too odd for a new student to last only one day, then
disappear and be seemingly instantly replaced by another. Shoddy work, somebody
could catch on. She knew what Tamas was like, he wasn’t the careless sort, so why
the rush, surely there was a good reason behind this? Whatever it was, it
seemed that Lio wasn’t quite off the hook yet.

Then her head throbbed, just like it had yesterday.

*There stood Ike, in*
the same dark room in front of the same dark figure.

*“Phase two?” the dark voice asked.*

*“Complete and successful. You should*
have seen him reel, like I hit him with a cattle prod.” Ike replied.

*“Ah, good. Anyone onto you yet?”*

*“No, Kei is a much better persona*
than Kaasi. Less obvious and more normal.”

*“Very good. Keep up the good work*
and it won’t be long before the root takes an unshakable hold. Then we’ll have
him, we’ll show them that I am unstoppable. Now go!” the dark voice hissed. Ike
gave a short bow and turned around, a violet light glowing around him dimly,
then faded away to reveal the same vampire ghoul as before, the second one with
short hair. Then he/she was gone and the dark figure turned once more, his
glaring red eyes locking with hers, making her unable to look away, and she
gasped as sharp pain lanced through her skull.

*“Tsk, tsk, tsk, dear sister, hasn’t*
anyone told you it is not polite to eavesdrop on the business of others? I do
hope you at least have the sense to keep your overlarge mouth shut. No matter,
I will have removed you soon enough. Soon dear sister, soon.” Tamas said, then
the room faded away to black, his glowing eyes the last to disappear. The world
slowly came back into focus *and Charnelle stood up straight, rubbing her*
forehead, then making her way back to her seat. No, Lio had not seen the last
of his troubles, and it seemed, neither had she.

## Chapter 16

Lio and Nahele went back to their table and sat down, slowly
eating as they silently contemplated what Charnelle had just told them. But
before they could say anything about it aloud, the bell rang, and they got up,
threw away their trays, and went to class. They had no more chances to discuss
much of anything, as they now were back under the torturous tyranny that was
Physical Deaducation. And today, they had casketball. A little safer than
dodgeskull, but they were both certain that Navi and his two henchies would
find someway to make it painful. After they had changed and regrouped with the
class in the grimnasium, they split into two teams, and Lio and Nahele were
both thankfully on the same team. Nahele was one of the first to get chosen, as
despite some conflicts some may have with her gender identity, there was no
doubting that she was easily one of the tallest there, at a sizable 6 foot 8
inches, and it seemed, still growing. No wonder how she had gotten her name,
which meant “forest” in her native tongue.

They split up and the game began.
Coach Igor blasted his whistle and the two teams were off, trying to steal the
ball from each other. Little ‘Uku Li’i was there too, weaving between the
player’s legs. Lio felt sorry for her, surely she was too short to play
properly being a menehune and all, but to his surprise, she did quite well,
ducking beneath players and attacking from below. Many a monster was paying
attention to those at eye level and weren’t suspecting to have the ball stolen
from down under, so it was easy pickings for the Hawaiian fairy, who would then
pass the ball to Nahele, whose height made scoring a basket quite easy.

In a few minutes they were up by
several points, the opposing team eating their dust. Unfortunately, said
opposing team just so happened to have Navi, Ripper and Raugr, and they weren’t
looking too happy about it. Yet more humiliation from the freak. Lio spotted
Navi nearby and shivered at the look of sheer hatred that he was giving Nahele.
He was surprised she hadn’t caught flame by now.

Then Coach Igor’s whistle blasted
once more, signaling that the game was over, and Lio and Nahele’s team had won.
Their team cheered and high fived one another, with special attention given to
Nahele and ‘Uku Li’i, who were being slapped on the back and lifted in the air,
much to Nahele’s amusement and ‘Uku Li’i’s dismay. When they finally hit the
floor again, Lio went to Nahele’s side, beaming, but keeping a wary eye on the
fuming demon. The class filed out and headed for the locker rooms, and this
time Lio saw it coming. There the three were again, trailing after Nahele, hoping
to catch her off guard and teach her a lesson again. He felt the paralysis once
more as Navi tried to freeze him to keep him from interfering, but this time
Lio wasn’t having it. He pushed against the force, quickly becoming angry at
Navi’s audacity. Before it could solidify, Lio managed to break through the
invisible wall, feeling the metaphysical fragments tumbling around him. Just as
the three reached Nahele, he reached them, charging full force and slamming
Navi into a wall, with much more force than necessary. Navi swore loudly and
shoved the Egyptian demon off of him.

“What the hell’s your problem?” he
bellowed, furious.

“Keep your filthy hands off her!”
Lio yelled back, equally furious.

“What’s it to you? How are you
going to stop me?” Navi retorted.

“Like this.” Lio said, pulling back
his fist and driving it straight into Navi’s face, powered by Lio’s frustration
at being to helpless the first time, and his outrage at someone daring to pick
on his girl. He heard a sickening crunch and felt the cartilage of Navi’s nose
give way beneath his knuckles. Hot sulfurous blood gushed down Navi’s face,
horribly dark against his pale skin. He touched his face and swore even nastier
when his fingers came away red. He swung at Lio’s head, anticipating a solid hit…but
Lio wasn’t there. His fist breezed through air, and Lio reappeared on his
right, then drove his fist into Navi’s stomach. The incubus doubled over, too
winded to swear and Lio turned away from him, gesturing to Nahele to leave.
Navi’s buddies stepped forward to block him, but quickly backed down when Lio
threatened to lunge at them as well. He took Nahele’s hand and led her out of
there, scowling in disgust as he eyed the three.

As he walked down the hall,
Nahele’s cool hand in his, he replayed the fight over and over in his mind. It
had actually felt *good*, finally not
being helpless to just watch and not act. Navi was lucky Nahele was there, or
else Lio would have given him a much harder time than just two hits. How dare
they! How dare three guys gang up against one ghoul? That was so unbelievably
cowardly! Pity he didn’t get a chance to punish the other two, but maybe they
would take their leader as an example and leave them alone.

Nahele stopped suddenly, and Lio,
lost in thought, kept going until he was pulled back by her grip on his hand.
He looked up at her in surprise and saw that they had reached the main
entrance…and that they were still in their gym clothes. He reluctantly met her
eyes, expecting to see her giving him a look of fear or disgust, but to his
amazement, her eyes were gentle and even a bit…was that admiration?

“Our rides are here,” she said,
nodding her head to the group of cars in the school’s driveway. “I’ll see you
tomorrow.” And then she leaned down and kissed him, just a fleeting brush
against his lips, but still enough to shock him. he just stood there, frozen,
staring at her, then she gave him a shy smile and let go of his hand, then
bounded down the stairs as gracefully as a gazelle and trotted across the
asphalt to her car. She looked back at him and gave him a small wave, which he
returned dazedly. Then she got in her car, started it up, and was gone. He
walked slowly down the stairs and to his mother, who was waiting for him next
to a swirling portal of darkness. They leaped through the dark vortex together,
stepping into the Duat and home.

## Chapter 17

Lio, early for class today, stepped into his homeroom, and
the teacher looked up at his arrival.

“Oh, Lio,
Headmistress Bloodgood wanted to see you in her office.” Vivian Volts said
shortly, her voice soft and sad. Lio’s heart sank and his stomach felt heavy.
That could not be good. He turned and stumbled his way to her office, reluctant
to get there, but also fearful of what would happen if he didn’t. Finally he
reached her door and knocked softly. The door opened and out stepped Navi, with
a bandage on his nose and a smug smile on his face.

“Oh you are
so going to get it.” he smirked as he went past. Lio growled then stepped in.
Bloodgood looked up and her face was sad and weary.

“Ah, yes,
Lio, please have a seat,” she said, beckoning towards the chairs in front of
her desk. Lio sat down, his feeling of dread increasing tenfold.

“Lio, I
have been told of a most alarming incident within these halls. Someone has told
me that you had been getting in fights with other students.”

“Let me
guess, it was Navi?” he growled, his anger at that incubus overruling his
anxiety.

“Well, yes.
Lio, do you realize the consequences? This could mean suspension.” she
continued.

“What! But
he was fighting more than me! I was fighting in self-defense! He was just
picking on people!” Lio exclaimed.

“Is that
so? What happened?”

“Well, yes
I did fight him yesterday, but that was the second time he tried to hurt her. I
was trying to protect her! He beat her up the first time and I couldn’t stop
him! He was somehow projecting a force field to stop me! The second time I was
trying to stop him before he could hurt her!”

“If that is
true, then why hadn’t you told anyone the first time?” she asked. Lio remained
silent and glowered sullenly at her desk. She sighed and popped her head off,
placing it on the desk.

“Well, if
you will tell me who this ghoul was, then maybe I can tell what happened and
pass a better judgment.” she sighed.

“Nahele.”
Lio said quietly, reluctant to get her involved in this mess, hoping she would
understand.

“You may go
now.” Bloodgood said softly, and Lio got up slowly and left, still heavy with
dread. He trudged back to class and sat down, sitting in a zombie-like trance
throughout the whole class, Ms. Volts occasionally giving him a concerned
glance, then her classroom phone rang, and she picked it up, nodded and put it
back down. Then the bell rang, and she approached Lio.

“Bloodgood
wants to see you back in her office.” she said. He just nodded numbly and made
his slow way back to the headmistress’s office. He pushed her door open, and
there sat Nahele, who gazed at him with worry. He sat down next to her, barely
registering her presence.

“Now, Lio,
Nahele confirmed what you told me. It seems as though Navi was the one who
started this mess. But you do realize that even still, you acted violently and
must face the consequences. Since you were trying to act in self-defense, I
will lessen your punishment. You will not be suspended, but you will have
detention today, and I must call your mother. I will talk with Navi about this
later. He seems to be quite the repeat offender. You two may go now.” she said,
dismissing them. They left her office and walked a bit down the hall, then
Nahele stopped him, turning him around and forcing him to make eye contact with
her.

“Oh, Lio,
I’m so sorry! If only I hadn’t kept quiet, you wouldn’t be in this mess!” she said
softly, then pulled him into a tight hug, holding him as close to herself as
she could. He was still stiff with shock at first, then relaxed and leaned into
her, taking comfort in her presence. He fought back tears and they held onto
each other tightly.

“It’s not
your fault,” he whispered. “I should have done something. I should have warned
you. I should have stopped them.”

“As it is,
it is no use wishing to undo what is past. It has been done, and we must move
on, have faith in the future.” Nahele whispered back, kissing his cheek,  then releasing him and pulling back, then
took his hand and walked down the hall by his side, taking him to his next
class, Biteology.

He took a
seat in the same spot he had last class, in the middle of Bruce, Bonny, and
Aletha, but made no attempt to talk with any of them, too sick with worry. His
mom would be upset. He hated seeing her upset. Aletha looked at him with
concern a few times, but he paid no attention to this, doing his work with the
halfhearted automatic air of a machine. His next class was spent the same way,
not noticing that in each class was Kei, in place of Kaasi, and before her,
Ike.

Lio spent lunch in a sad daze,
picking at his food and leaning on Nahele in silence. Sure, he had always
presented himself as a bad-boy, but now that he was actually experiencing what
that was truly like, he wasn’t altogether sure that he liked it much anymore.
He didn’t even give much enthusiasm during music class, going through the
movements without really paying them much attention, completely missing the
fact that Kei had taken Kaasi’s place here too, but favored rapping over opera.
Ms. Ulna noticed his demeanor, and eyed him with concern as she conducted the
class. Then the last bell rang. He trudged out of the classroom and headed back
to Bloodgood’s office to await the rest of his sentence.

"Ah, Lio,” she said when he
arrived. “Your detention is with Coach Igor in the grimnasium. You’ll go meet
him there now. I contacted your mother. She wants to talk to you as soon as she
can.” Lio nodded morosely and headed to the grimnasium. Ironic that his
detention would be there, considering that was where his trouble started. He
pushed open the door and saw to his surprise that he wasn’t alone.

## Chapter 18

 There, with a broom in her hand, was Kei,
standing next to Coach Igor, both seemingly having waited for his arrival.
Coach Igor handed Lio another broom and instructed the two to sweep out the
entire grimnasium, and that when they got done, they could mop as well, then he
turned and left them to it. When he was gone, Lio turned to Kei, talking while
they swept.

“What are you doing here?”

“Same as you, detention.”

“Yeah, I figured, but what did you
do?”

“Eh, I don’t remember, doesn’t
matter, it’s not my first time. Just got to remember, it’s not a jail sentence,
and it isn’t suspension or expulsion either.”

“Yeah, I guess not. Still not too
great though, don’t know what I’m going to tell my mom.”

“What did you do to get here?”

“I got in a fight.”

“Really? And you only got
detention? Why?”

“The other guy was worse, I was
just defending myself.”

“Who was the other guy?”

“Guys, plural, but they were Navi,
Ripper and Raugr.”

“Ah yes, I know them. I hang out
with them sometimes, don’t really know why, don’t really like them. They are
horrible, love to gang up on people, and have a history of it. Alone they are
pretty bad, but together they are worse, they follow Navi, and he’s the worst.
I can understand why Bloodgood let you off easy, they probably got suspended.”

“Really? What are they like?”

“Well, let’s see. Navi is an
alcoholic, despite the fact he’s underage. He lies about how old he is to get
into bars, even has a fake ID, then he starts a bar fight and gets banned from
coming there ever again. There has to be at least several dozen bars he’s
banned from for life. Then there’s Ripper. He loves to gamble, even though he
isn’t too good at it. Three years ago he once ran out of stuff to bet and put
his cousin up as stakes. He lost, and it was to Raugr too, which brings me to
Raugr. Horrible guy, abused the poor ghoul until a centaur finally came and
rescued her. I only waste my time around them so I can get intel on the people
to avoid.” Kei sighed. Lio just stared at her in silence, shocked at how anyone
could be so disgusting. But, here it was, and to think, they all hated Nahele.
He had to protect her, what would happen if she fell into their hands. He
shuddered at the thought, then burned with anger. If they ever dared to so much
as glance at her, he would beat the daylights out of them, regardless of what
the cost maybe. There was absolutely nothing he wouldn’t do for her.

            Kei leaned
over, grinning broadly, pausing in her sweeping.

            “By the
way, that was a lovely job you did there on Navi’s face. I have never seen so
spectacular a purple. He looked like he ran face-first into a brick wall! Pity
you didn’t manage to do Ripper and Raugr as well.”

            Lio
chuckled at the memory. Navi’s face had been quite bruised this morning, and
the swelling had reached his eyes, making them puffy and pinkish. And that
bandage had topped it all off nicely. He hoped it still hurt that accursed
incubus.

They
soon finished sweeping and began to mop, swabbing the floor in companionable
silence. It looked as though Lio had made a new friend, or at least an ally,
even forgetting that weird shock and headache he had gotten from her yesterday.
When they finished, Coach Igor returned, releasing them to leave for home. Lio
and Kei walked out, waved goodbye to each other, then went their separate ways,
Lio’s heart sinking once more as he saw his mother waiting in the parking lot,
dark portal to the Duat swirling beside her. He joined her and they stepped
through, the howl of undead voices twisting around them.

## Chapter 19

Lio and Ammit stepped out of the portal into the darkness of
the Duat, walking towards their house, a simple stone structure carved with
hieroglyphs. Ammit led then into the kitchen and sat Lio down at the dining
table, sitting in the chair next to him.

“Honey,
what happened?” Ammit asked softly, knowing she need not elaborate.

“It wasn’t
my fault.” Lio replied stubbornly, leaning back and crossing his arms tightly.

“But what
happened?”

“I was
trying to defend her. They were ganging up on her, three against one. It wasn’t
the first time either. They had beaten her up before, and I couldn’t stop them!
I couldn’t stand by the second time, I had to save her!”

“Who was being
beaten up?”

“Nahele.”

“Do you
have feelings for her?”

“Yes.” Lio
admitted reluctantly, embarrassed to be making such a confession to his mom.

“I see.
Well, I do not blame you. In our family we have a strong sense of justice,
comes from punishing the wicked. And this is amplified when you are in love
with the one being hurt, so I understand. I am not angry with you, from what I
heard from the principal, these guys were known for this behavior. But remember
to be careful in the future. You of all monsters should know that those who do
wrong get their punishment in the end. Who knows, someday you may have to eat
their hearts, but that day is far off. You are better than they, remember this.
Protect her if you must, but avoid fighting when you can. Understand?” Ammit
said softly. Lio nodded.

“Good. Now
come here.” she said, rising to her feet and holding out her scaly tan arms.
Lio got up as well and let her pull him close, his mother plucking the cap off
his head and planting a kiss on his forehead before plopping the hat back down
where it was. She released him and he stalked off to his room, heart slowly
lightening with relief. His mother wasn't angry, and he wasn't suspended
either. Yeah, it had sucked at the time, but everyone still cared for him. He
would be okay.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

Lio spent the rest of the day in contemplative silence,
eating great quantities of the curry Ammit had brought home from the nearby
restaurant run by an Indian ghost, keeping completely quiet the whole time.
Then he showered and went to bed in silence, the muted wailing of the dead
soothing him to sleep.

His dreams
were strange, a repeat from a couple nights ago.

*He was weak once more, not as badly as he was the first time. It seemed as though punching that demon’s face had given him a little extra dream-strength. He felt more in control, and he felt as though he could gain more strength if he did it again. There was that shadow again, no wait, two shadows, no three! It was that despicable trio, and he surged towards them with the unstoppable power of a tidal wave. He swung at them, passing through their shadowy forms, the shadows collapsing and dissolving. Song twisted around him, more beautiful than before, no longer twisted, but simply lovely. Was this what they heard? It was nice.*

*Then another shadow emerged. He lunged towards this new adversary, determined to defeat this opponent as well, but the shadow easily dodged his swing. A deep silky voice filled his head.*

*“Now, now, don’t do that. You won’t take any pleasure in striking me. But I can give you more power, even more than you would gain from defeating those weaklings. I can make you great, I can make you invincible. No one would dare hurt her again, you can keep her safe, forever. You love her, I know you do, wouldn’t you like to keep her safely by your side?” it whispered.*

*“Yes, I do. I love her, I want her to be kept safe.” Lio said softly back, sounding almost hypnotized.*

*“Good. If you wish this, then you must surrender. Surrender to me and surrender to the music. You hear that song, right? It haunts you, but it won’t leave until you surrender to it. You have been making a mistake, fighting it, but you mustn’t anymore. It will make you strong, it holds the key. Follow the song.” the voice whispered.*

*Follow the song…follow the song…. follow the song….*

*The words echoed through his mind like a mantra*, and he woke up. His head felt fuzzy and he
rubbed his blurry, burning eyes. He groaned and slowly sat up, squinting out
the window. It was still dark outside, but then again, the Duat was always
dark, that was kind of part of the whole afterlife thing. But it didn’t seem as
if Ra had passed by just yet, so he collapsed back down, rubbing his head and
thinking about what he just dreamt. Wow, that was weird. He recognized that
creepy voice, but who was it? He struggled with this for a moment, but the
answer eluded him. Eh, maybe it wasn't important. He rolled over and slipped
back to sleep, this time blissfully void of any dreams, weird or otherwise.

## Chapter 20

A blinding light blasted through Lio’s window and he bolted
upright, squinting out his window at the source. There, passing down the red river,
was the sun boat of Ra, glowing brightly with light and warmth, beckoning the
new day with its magnificence. Crap, he was going to be late. Time was a funky
thing down here, you never know what time it really was Upstairs, but he liked
to make sure he was up there the same time as the sun. Sure he lived in the
Eighth Gate, four gates from the end of Ra’s journey through the Duat, but he
liked to give himself the extra time to struggle his merry way through the dead
to his usual portal.

He leaped
out of bed, scrambling to put his clothes on despite the fact he was half
asleep, realized that he was trying to put his jeans on in place of his jacket,
and once he had put on his pants where they really belonged, rushed out the
door, his hippo feet slipping and sliding on the polished granite floor. He
managed to steer himself into the kitchen, collided with the table, and
snatched several cinnamon rolls before his inertia sent him out through the
door. He managed to regain his footing on the blackened dirt, scattering a
group of misty spirits with his sudden arrival. He bit into one of the cinnamon
rolls, chomping off half of it in one bite. He walked down his usual path to
the portal, going at a much easier pace now that he was outside.

A sulfurous
breeze swept across the river, bringing with it sparks thrown from the surface
of the nearby fire lake. The sparks burst and faded as they collided with the
turquoise leaves of a nearby tree. He had never truly noticed how lovely his
home was, but it really did have a certain hellish charm to it. Then a moaning
like the wind that just passed by, only louder, reminded of why he was here.
The dark portal swirled before him and he stepped through, clinging tightly to
his breakfast so it wouldn’t get ripped from his grasp by the magical forces
that allowed his daily inter-dimensional commute.

He stepped
out at the school stairs and raced inside, gulping down the last of his
breakfast. He managed to skid into his homeroom and his seat just before the
bell rang. He let out a sigh of relief and relaxed, sinking into his seat.

“Hi there.”
a voice next to him said. He started and turned to see who it was. There sat
Kei, with a slightly awkward smile of concern.

“Oh, hi.”
he replied.

“How did
things go with your mom?”

“Not bad
actually. She wasn't very upset, just told me to take care in who I punch.”

“Pity. It
would be nice if you could cream the other two as well. Speaking of which, I
hear you kicked butt at the race.”

“Yeah, I
guess.”

“Those two
were quite sore about it. Care to do it again? It’s kinda funny watching them
get all upset. There’s going to be another race tonight, if you want to come.”

“Yeah, I
guess I would. Those are starting to grow on me. Oh wait, I can’t.”

“Why not?”

“I don’t
have my own car.”

“You can
borrow mine.”

“Thanks. I
seem to be borrowing people’s cars for racing a lot recently.”

“So, see
you tonight? I’ll come get you.” Kei offered. Lio thought about that and what
Nahele would think about him being picked up by another girl.

“Nah, I can
teleport. Just tell me where.”

“Downtown,
a couple blocks south of the Maul. There’s an abandoned warehouse with a large
parking lot. We’ll all meet up there.”

“Sounds
good. I’ll be there.” Lio agreed, and Kei grinned.

“I’ll look
forward to watching you kick their butts. It’ll be great. I’ll be sure to catch
their tantrums on video to show you tomorrow.” Kei laughed. Lio laughed with
her. Maybe vampires weren’t so bad after all. Then, as if triggered by that
thought, the ghostly memory of Kaasi’s song rang through his head, winding its
way between his thoughts until it was the only thing in his mind. He grimaced
and poked his forehead. Okay, maybe not all vampires. Some still really sucked.
*Follow the song,* echoed the dark
voice from his dream, weaving into the singing. No thanks, there was absolutely
no way he was going to follow that racket anywhere. As a matter of fact, he was
now determined to avoid opera at all costs.

## Chapter 21

Lio leaped out of the shadow vortex, arriving at an almost
equally dark parking lot, lit by only a few unbroken streetlights, and the
headlights of all the cars parked there. It was a sharp contrast to the last
race. That had been very bright, lit by not only streetlights and headlights,
but floodlights that had been strung up and powered by car batteries. A shadowy
silhouette appeared out of a thick swathe darkness and came towards him. At
first he stepped back, certain it was the strange being from his dream, but a
weak beam from an overhead streetlight revealed it to be Kei, and he relaxed,
but only just a little. Vampires still made him uneasy.

“Ah, you
made it! Good!” Kei greeted him.

“Wouldn’t
miss it!” he replied cheerily.

“Come on,
I’ll take you to register with the coordinator.” she said, gesturing him to
follow as she turned and walked back the way she came.

“Is it
Jackie?”

“No, this
race was organized by someone else.” Her tone was final, like the slam of a
coffin lid, and Lio gulped, but he didn’t dare pursue the topic. Who was this
coordinator, and why did it sound so ominous? He almost lost his courage, but
the memory of the thrill he had felt when he drove fast combined with the
chance to get even with Navi’s gang was too rich an opportunity to pass up and
he followed. Their feet pounded against the asphalt, echoing off the warehouse,
the sound lost and lonely.

She led him
to a pitch black Mustang, as dark as Nahele’s car, but unlike hers, this one
had an air of maleficence. He shivered, but approached it, as this was where
all the other racers where gathering. The group was actually quite small, even
smaller than the group in the last race. The crowd parted as he approached,
revealing the monster they all surrounded. Lio stopped short and gasped with
horror.

There stood
Tamas, casually leaning against the black beast of machinery, his wicked face
as handsome as ever as he gazed at Lio a lazy yet mischievous way, as if he had
all sorts of plans for the Egyptian. Lio backed away, shocked.

“You!” he
exclaimed.

“Yes, me.
Long time no see.” Tamas agreed, his smile growing wider.

“What are
you doing here?” Lio demanded, earning him a few raised eyebrows and hushed laughs
from the other drivers.

“Same as
you, I’m part of the race. Now, are you going to sign up or not?” Tamas said,
holding out the clipboard to him.

“No! I
refuse to have anything to do with you!”

“Aw, come
on! Please?”

“No! Not
after what you did!”

“Come now,
I thought we were friends? Forgive and forget and all that?” replied Tamas,
putting down his clipboard on the hood of his car, coming over to Lio and
putting his arm around his shoulder, his voice silky and inviting. Lio threw
off his arm and backed as far from the evil demigod as he could, a wall of
racers forming behind him to stop his retreat. He looked wildly about him. the
other drivers smiled, slow and easy, and to Lio’s horror, he saw that they all
had pointed fangs. Vampires! All of them! He even recognized a few. There was
Ellavamp, Lissavampy, Nellavamp, Lenard Smith, and even Percival and Tessa!
Tessa gave him a cruel and haughty smile, and sashayed over to Tamas, leaning
her head against his shoulder and placing her hand on his chest, cuddling up
protectively to him. This dimly registered in Lio’s panicked brain. Wasn’t
Tamas dating Helen? But Tessa’s demeanor suggested he was dating her instead.
He didn’t have long to ponder this though, for Tamas sighed in mock surrender.

“Ah well, I
was hoping you’d think otherwise, it would have made this a lot easier. But,
looks like I have no choice now. Guess I should have seen this sooner.” he
sighed, and dissolved into a thick cloud of black smoke. The smoke spun towards
him at a surprising speed, soon surrounding Lio completely. It stung his eyes
and burned his throat, making his head swim. He hastily clapped his hands over
his nose and mouth, and squeezed his eyes as tightly shut as he could, sealing
out the smoke.

But,
supernatural or not, even a demon demigod of the afterlife needs to breathe,
and he was forced to take a quick breath before he fainted, sucking air in as
quickly as he could from between his fingers. But it was just enough. The black
smoke slipped in through the tiny gap and into his lungs. He gasped and coughed
his hands flying from his face as he pounded his chest to get the smog out.
More flew in swirling thicker and faster around him. His head spun and his
lungs felt like they were on fire. His eyes felt like they were being melted by
acid and his ears rang. He coughed, hard, forcing out the toxic pollutants, but
with each cough was a pained wheeze, and this just brought more smoke in. His
head pounded with the lack of oxygen, and his vision faded to black. He collapsed
onto the asphalt and lost consciousness, the vampires forming a ring around
him. The black smoke trickled from his lungs out of his nose and open mouth,
merging with the thicker cloud that surrounded the poor Egyptian demon. The
cloud condensed and reformed into the figure of Tamas, who stood over him and
clucked his tongue, shaking his head with pretend pity.

“Poor guy,
if only he would have listened to reason.” He said as he gazed down at Lio.
“Ike?”

“Yessir?”
Kei said, stepping forward and giving Tamas a sarcastic salute.

“Pick up
this sorry mess and put him someplace less dirty, maybe on your hood?” Tamas
ordered, and Kei bent down, scooping up said sorry mess and hauling him off to
a purple Maserati, dumping him on the hood and patting him on the face.

“Come on,
stupid, wake up! I haven’t got all day!” she growled, her voice gruff and deep,
revealing her true identity. Lio stirred and Kei’s voice shifted, resuming its
female tone. He groaned and his eyelids fluttered as he slowly came to.

## Chapter 22

Lio groaned and slowly opened his eyes, the murmuring figure
above him slowly coming into focus.

“Hey, wake
up!” Kei said, her red eyes furrowed with concern.

“Unk.” Lio
grunted. He slowly raised his hands to his pounding skull.

“You okay?”

“Mmnyah.”

“What
happened?”

“Idunnopfff…”
he slurred. And he really didn’t know. He tried to remember what had happened
before he blacked out, but it was all so fuzzy. His brain hurt even more, as if
the effort was too much for it. He slowly sat up, Kei watching him closely.

“I think
you should go home, I don’t think you can drive in your condition.” Kei said,
her hand on his shoulder, holding him up so he wouldn’t collapse again.

“No, I’ll
be fine. It’s clearing up already.” He jumped off the hood of Kei’s car and
staggered as he landed. He shook it off and walked away, his gait unsteady and
weaving, as though he was very dizzy. Kei shook her head in exasperation and
followed him. They arrived back at the black Mustang and sign-up crowd. Lio
managed to make his way back into the middle of the circle, reaching out to
grab the clipboard from Tamas, who watched him carefully, judging his reaction.
But Lio didn’t seem even the slightest bit upset about the evil demigod’s
presence.

“You okay
there?” Tamas asked, staring intently. Lio just nodded and impatiently gestured
for the clipboard. Tamas handed it to him, a slow smile spreading across his
face. Lio hastily scrawled his name and walked away, still rubbing his temples.
Tamas watched him go, and when he was certain he was away far enough, gestured
for Kei to come close.

“Keep an
eye on him. He’s been turned, but it might take a couple minutes for it to
properly stick. Until then he’ll be a bit disoriented. He insists on racing,
but we can’t having him wrapping himself around a tree just yet, he still is
useful, so give the car a bit of a magic assist, okay? Just a quickie spell to
keep it on the road. Got it?” Tamas said softly.

“Check.”
Kei affirmed, and followed Lio out to her car. He was leaning against the
driver’s side, but quickly straightened up once he saw her.

“Here’s the
keys. I’ll do a quick inspection before you get going, gotta make sure these
ruffians didn’t pop the wheels or anything.” she said, tossing him the keys and
crouching down next to a tire, squinting as she pretended to examine it for
leaks. When she was sure he wasn’t paying attention, she whispered an
incantation over the wheel, which glowed slightly then faded back to normal.
The only difference was that the tread thickened and the tire puffed up a bit,
re-inflating to the proper pressure. She then popped open the hood and
pretended to examine the engine, whispering another spell over this as well.
All the dirt and grime flew off, the oil changed itself and even the wiper
fluid refilled. She went around the whole car, muttering under her breath, the
car rejuvenating in response. Soon it was as good as new if not a bit better. She
nodded to Lio, who was already in the driver’s seat, keys ready in the
ignition.

Once she was well out of the way,
he started up the car, the engine roaring to life with a ferocious growl. It
wasn't quite the same as the last car he drove, that one was power, but more
like a partnership, working together smoothly, but this was like power barely
restrained. He could feel the heavy layers of spells on the vehicle, keeping it
on the road. He frowned and shook his head to clear it, and the sensation fell away,
as if it had only been his imagination. He shifted the car into drive, then
rolled up to the starting line. There weren’t as many drivers in this race as
there had been the first time, but their cars looked as intimidating as their
owners, which is to say, very. But he wasn't worried. He was certain he could
take these guys. Painted skulls on your hood? Ha! That’s cute. He dealt with
skulls and their undead owners on the daily, paint didn’t intimidate him! All
the drivers shifted into neutral, then stepped on the gas to rev their engines,
showing off their power. Then, a vampire ghoul, Soulia Energy by the looks of
her, stepped up in front of the line of cars, flag in hand. She smirked at
them, then raised her arms.

“On your mark!” she yelled.
Everyone watched her, hands on the gearshift and feet on the brake.

“Get set!” Everyone shifted into
drive.

“GO!” she shrieked, throwing her
arms down, whipping the flag towards the asphalt. Everyone slammed on the
accelerator and blazed past her, doing their best to pull up first early,
pressing their cars to speed up as quickly as was machinely possible. Lio
gripped the wheel tightly as he pushed the pedal towards the floor, muttering
encouragement under his breath.

“Come on, c’mon!” he hissed. The
car seemed to respond to his pushiness, like “Oh you want speed? Here you go,
I’ll give you speed!”. The Maserati slowly picked up speed, overtaking everyone
else. As he passed her, Nellavamp snarled at him, her pale face scrunching up
into a horrible mask of anger. Her running mascara, which normally looked sad,
now was intimidating, like war paint. She pressed the gas harder and brought
her blood red Bugatti up next to him, coming uncomfortably close. Then on his
other side, another Mustang pulled up, and Lio looked over to see who it was.
Grinning cockily back at him was Lenard, who gave him a flirty wink then pulled
in front of him, mirroring Nellavamp, the two cars coming closer in a pincher
move. Lio snarled back and shoved the gas to the floor, sending the Maserati
zooming up ahead before they could touch him. The wheel began to vibrate
slightly, and his grip on it tightened till his knuckles turned white, his
hands locking until he felt like he’d never be able to let go. He had never
been this tense about driving since the first time he had gotten behind the
wheel. He cast a quick glance behind him in the rearview mirror. There, only a
few feet away, were both Nellavamp and Lenard, both glaring at him and slowly
gaining, ready to catch up to him and try the pincer crush again. But he sure
as heck wasn't going to let that happen. He looked up ahead, and could see the
finish line, only about a quarter of a mile away. He pressed the gas as far as
it could go and the car blazed over to it.

"C’mon, c’mon!” he muttered again,
teeth tightly clenched, entire body tense. In a few minutes he had passed the
line, going well over 100mph. He completely let off the gas and began steadily
applying the brakes, knowing he had only a hundred yards or so to come to a
complete stop. He pressed the brakes harder and the stench of burning rubber
filled the interior of the car. It began to slow, wobbling almost out of
control the whole while. Eventually he got it to stop, and pulled off the road
to park. One by one, the other drivers followed, getting out of their cars and
jogging back to the finish line and the waiting crowd. When Lio was within
sight, the crowd slowly began to cheer, first with one or two, then the whole
crowd going into a roar. He grinned breathlessly back until his face hurt. Yes!
Only his second race, and he won again! Two out of two, what a great record. If
he kept this up, he’d become a racing legend!

With his head swimming with such
thoughts, he reached the crowd, who pounded his back and yelled their
congratulations in his ears, deafening him, all the while pushing him to the
center, where Tamas was waiting. When he arrived, Tamas spotted him and raised
his hands for silence, which he got quite quickly.

“And here’s our winner, Lio
Croshiph Duat!” he yelled, grabbing Lio’s hand and raising it into the air,
making certain everyone knew, which they already did. The crowd cheered once
more, all eyes upon the Egyptian, eyes that gleamed in the dark. They looked
almost…hungry, but Lio didn’t notice, too caught up in his exhilaration. Then
he spotted Kei, weaving through the crowd towards him, an amused smirk on her
face.

“I did it!” Lio cheered, throwing
his hands in the air with jubilation.

“You don’t say? Alright hero, calm
down so you can hear me.” Kei said calmly.

“Yeah?”

“It’s getting late, and we are
expected in other places, so the victory party will be continued tomorrow. I’ll
pick you up at the school parking lot and take you there. Got it? Good.” she
said, then turned and walked away without getting Lio’s response. He pushed his
way out of the crowd, still giddy with glee, walking into the night towards his
portal to home, not looking back so much as once.

But in doing so, there was
something he missed. When they were sure he was out of earshot and line of
sight, Nellavamp and Lenard stepped forth towards Tamas.

“Ugh, that was awful! I hate
losing! This had better have been worth it!” Nellavamp groaned.

“Yeah.” Lenard agreed. Tamas smiled
at the two as if they were two children who had not gotten a chance to play with
their favorite toy.

“Does this make it better?” he said
sweetly, pulling a wad of hundred dollar bills from his pocket and waving them
in front of him. The two vampires put out their hands expectantly, and Tamas
peeled off several bills, giving some to each and tucking the rest back into
his jeans. The vamps counted their money, about 400 each and nodded slowly with
grudging approval.

“You’ll get away with it this time,
but next time, I better get a bit more.” Lenard said, giving Tamas a dark look.

“Same.” Nellavamp hissed.

“Now, now children! Don’t be
greedy! Uncle Tamas can only give you so much allowance! Now go, you’re job
here is done! And I expect to see you at tomorrow’s party, we must have all
hands on deck!” Tamas said mockingly, dismissing the two. They grumbled, but
turned away, walking down the street to their cars. Tamas watched them go,
grinning nastily, the moonlight glinting off his white fangs.

## Chapter 23

Lio yawned and stretched, feeling content with the world.
His head was back to normal, and for the first time since he had punched Tamas
in the face, he had a normal dream instead of his usual weird nightmares. And
it was a Saturday, and he had a party to go to. He leaped out of bed and started
pulling on his clothes. Just then his phone buzzed and he fell over trying to
put on pants and reach his phone at the same time. He managed to grab it before
he went down, and checked the screen as he lay on the floor. It was a text from
Nahele.

*Hi.*

*Hey.*

*Wassup?*

*Going 2 a party.*

*Cool! Who’s holding it?*

*Tamas.*

*Wait wut? U sure that’s a good idea?*
Tamas is evil.

*I’ll be fine, no worries. Luv u,*
bye! *Lio texted back, then put his phone down and focused on hunting down*
his hat.

When he had
finished finding all his wardrobe, his went to the kitchen to wolf down his
breakfast, which he was done with in about five minutes flat.

“Love you
Mom, bye!” he yelled over his shoulder before he burst out the front door.
Ammit stared after him, her mouth silently working with all the words she never
got to say. Lio had never done that, even when he was in a rush he found some
time for her.

He raced
down the path, leaping over skeletons and zigzagging past turquoise trees,
blazing through ghosts as if they weren’t there, the dead turning to watch him
go, confused. There wasn’t anything chasing him, so what was his rush?

Finally he
came to the spot of his usual morning portal, but nothing was there. He had a
clear view all the way down to the Hall of Judgment, completely uninterrupted
by the swirling mass of shadows he was hoping for. He frowned, puzzled, then
remembered that he only got automatic portals on weekdays…and today was
Saturday. Great. Looks like he was going to have to do it himself. He closed
his eyes and concentrated, envisioning the school parking lot. He summoned up
all his will and released his desire into the universe. He opened his eyes
eagerly. There was…. nothing. He huffed in frustration and tried again,
thinking about the school so hard his ears popped. Then there was a tugging in
the pit of his stomach and his bones fizzled with energy, then both sensations
faded. He opened his eyes once more to finally see the dark portal before him,
a bit unstable and not to elegant looking, but nevertheless, there. He leaped
through before it could collapse, the usual sound of souls shrieking blurring
together, and he emerged at the school parking lot. He grinned broadly at his
success, then his eyes rolled into his head and he passed out.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

Lio slowly came to, woken by an insistent nudging from
something at his ribs. He opened his eyes to see a purple haired vampire
staring down at him, and realized that the thing poking him was her foot.

“You sure
pass out a lot.” Kei said, partly amused. “Now come on, we haven’t got all
day.” She turned and walked away, not waiting to see if Lio would follow. He
scrambled to his feet, rubbing the back of his head as he jogged after her. She
arrived at her car and got in, Lio hopping into the seat next to her.

“So, where
are we going?” Lio asked as they headed down the road.

“It’s a
secret, you’ll find out when we get there.” Kei replied mysteriously.

“Okay
cool.” Lio said, staring awkwardly out the window, wondering when they were
going to get there, not the least bit suspicious of where “there” may be.

## Chapter 24

“There” turned out to be a dance club, down an alley and out
of the way. Kei nodded to the bouncer, a burly troll dude, who nodded back, his
dark sunglasses glinting in the light. They stepped into the club and Lio was
nearly blasted back out by the sheer volume of electronic music blaring from
massive speakers. Strobe lights of every color imaginable, including
ultraviolet, flashed from the ceiling, threatening to give one a seizure, and
the room was packed with teens, all swaying and dancing in time to the beat,
their collective body heat making the place stifling. All in all, it was ultra
cool. Kei led him onto the dance floor, weaving between bodies, Lio struggling
to keep up, or at least keep her in sight. As he passed through, he spotted
Donny and Amy dancing together, Donny staring at his girlfriend as if he still
couldn’t believe she was dating him.

“Hey man!”
Donny greeted Lio, sounding a bit dazed. Lio managed a nod back before he was
swept away again.

Finally he made it to the other side, which was mostly clear
of people, except for a group of monsters around one table. And seated at the
head of the table was Tamas, smiling wickedly with his arm around Helen, who
was sitting on the arm of his chair, leaning against his with her arm draped
lovingly across his shoulders, her eyes condescending. There was also Navi,
Ripper and Raugr, eyeing Lio closely, but he paid no mind to any of this. When
he reached the table, Tamas beckoned Lio to sit in the chair before him. Lio sat.
Tamas then leaned forward, placing his elbows on the table and interlacing his
fingers under his chin.

“So Lio,
how do you like my domain?” he asked, his voice silky.

“It’s
pretty wicked.” Lio said appreciatively. Tamas laughed and leaned back.

“ ‘Wicked’
is all we do here. How would you like this to be your life as well?”

“Well, I
don’t know…” Lio started.

“Oh come
now! Look around you! Daily parties, all the friends and music a monster could
possibly want. It’s the teenage dream, all right here!” he replied, spreading
his arms expansively. Lio looked back at the dancers. Yeah, it sure did look
fun. And his favorite song was playing. He looked over to the DJ stand and saw
that his classmate, Andromeda-42, was the one mixing the music, her glowing visor
flashing in the multicolored. She was very good at what she did, probably the
best for miles around. There was no way things would get dull with her around.

“Don’t tell
me this doesn’t appeal to you?” Tamas nudged. Lio nodded slowly.

“It does.”
he admitted.

“Very good!
Sugar, drinks!” Tamas exclaimed, snapping his fingers for service. A purple
succubus appeared, a tray with several glasses in hand. Tamas grabbed one, then
gave another to Helen, and passed the last to Lio. Lio stared dubiously at the colorful
liquid.

“This isn’t
alcoholic, is it? Because you know we’re underage.” he said suspiciously.

“Nah,
course not! It’s better, it’s enchanted!” Tamas said, knocking back his own
drink, Helen sipping slowly beside him. Since nothing weird seemed to happen to
them, Lio took a cautious sip. It was quite nice actually, cool, fruity, and a
bit floral, like perfume, but not disgustingly so. Then a tingling ran through
him, starting from his feet and racing upwards. When it reached his face, it
tickled his nose and he sneezed, nearly spilling the drink. Everyone chuckled
at his reaction. Tamas waved at the succubus, who went to Lio’s side and sat
down, perching elegantly on the armrest. Uncomfortable with her proximity, he
looked up at her, about to say something about it. But when he met her glowing
green eyes, all thoughts of protest vanished from his mind. She smiled
seductively down at him and he found himself smiling back.

“Lio? Lio!”
Tamas called, snapping his fingers in front of the dazed demigod’s face.

“Hzuh,
what?” Lio said, tearing his eyes away from the demoness, startled. Tamas
smiled at him, amused.

“So, what
do you think?” he asked.

“Of what?”
Lio replied, still a bit dazed.

“The drink
of course.”

“I like it,
what’s it called?”

“Nymphaea,
I do believe. Have some more.” Tamas replied, eyeing him carefully, glass
raised to his lips. Lio obliged, the blue liquid cooling from the inside out.
He soon drained the glass, and set it down regretfully, wishing he could have
some more. It was wonderful stuff really. He felt so peaceful and content.
Sugar took off his hat and stroked his hair, her touch sending tingles down his
spine.

“So, tell
me, would you care to join me here? You can have all this, whenever you want.
Do we have a deal?” Tamas asked.

“Yes.” Lio
agreed.

“Excellent!
Now go, dance, have fun!” Tamas exclaimed delightedly, and Sugar took Lio by
the arm, pulling him to the crowd of dancers, swaying along to the beat. Lio
stood there awkwardly for a moment, wondering what to do now, but everyone
seemed to be having such a good time and the music was so catchy, he found
himself joining in, the beat carrying him away. They danced together on the
crowded floor until another ghoul popped up, a blonde haired werewolf whose
blue eyes were fixated on Lio with significant interest.

“Mind if I
cut in? Thanks doll.” she said, pushing Sugar aside without waiting for her
response. Sugar rolled her eyes in disgust, but the two were already lost in
the crowd. She slipped through the dancers and headed back to the table.

“Ah, there
you are. Have you gotten it?” Tamas asked.

“Yes.”
Sugar replied, holding up a few strands of golden hair, placing them in Tamas’s
outstretched hand. Tamas fingered the strands, chuckling softly to himself.

“But…” she
continued.

“But what?”

“Will he
remain here? Are you sure you got him?”

“Of course!
He’s under a triple enchantment! Between my smoke, that drink, and your lovely
charm, he’s a goner. And when I finish with these, he won’t be going
anywhere…ever again.” Tamas replied, holding up the strands to the light. They
gleamed gold, reflecting the multicolored lights.

## Chapter 25

*Lio was racing down a dark alley, chasing a hooded, shadowy figure. He could hear its panting, the frantic heartbeat, the smell of its fear in the air. Lio grips his knife more firmly, sensing the chase was about to come to a close. Sure enough, a solid wall loomed ahead, the bricks firmly blocking his quarry’s escape. The figure turned slowly around, pale face fearful.*

*"W-what do you want?” the figure asked, voice quivering with terror.*

*“You know what I want.” Lio growled back. The figure shook his head, large eyes fixated on him, his hood slipping off, revealing pointed ears.*

*“The medallion! Hand it over! I know you have it!” Lio roared, bodily slamming the elf, pressing his knife against his throat, the cold steel biting into his skin. "C’mon!” Lio pressed, pushing the knife a bit harder. A thin red line appeared against the snowy skin, and the elf fumbled in his pocket, then pulled out a silver medallion, engraved with arcane symbols and hanging from a thick silver chain. Lio snatched the relic from the elf’s trembling hand, then took his knife away from his throat. The elf sank to the ground, gasping for breath and holding his throat. Lio turned and walked away, tossing the medallion in the air and catching it, admiring the way the light glinted off the metal.*

*Lio walked down the block, and turned into another alley, heading towards the dance club. He pushed through the crowd of monsters, weaving purposely towards the back. He emerged near the tables, where Tamas was waiting expectantly.*

*“Did you get it?” Tamas asked coldly.*

*“Of course I did.” Lio scoffed back, placing the medallion in Tamas’s outstretched hand. Then his vision went black and he keeled over, eyes rolling into his head.*

Lio came to, everything slowly coming into focus. He saw Tamas leaning over him, face scrunched with concern, and he swore he saw him slip something silvery into his pocket. But everything was still so blurry, it must have been his imagination. Then he realized someone was stroking his head. A beautiful vampire ghoul was staring down at him, pouting prettily with worry.

“Are you okay down there? You passed out again. I think you’ve been dancing too hard. You haven’t been getting enough liquids, you must be dehydrated. Soulia, grab him a drink, will you?” Tamas said, aiming the last bit at the vampire holding Lio’s head. Soulia reached over to grab something out of Lio’s line of sight, then brought it back and pressed it to his lips. Lio sipped carefully, and he recognized it as the blue drink they served here. It was so sweet and cool, soothing his worries away.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

*Lio was in the ruins of some ancient Egyptian temple, following a crumbling staircase down a dark, secret tunnel into the Earth. At the bottom was an altar, with the statue of some long lost god standing in an alcove. It was probably some distant relative of his, but he paid it no mind, instead focusing on the section of wall beneath it. He ran his fingers over the hieroglyphs, then pressed a few of them, and they sank into the stone, then the wall slid back, the chamber filling with the noise of stone scraping against stone. The weak light fell upon another small cabinet like chamber, in which a black stone knife, glowing with an unnatural light. It was obviously ancient and sacred, meant to be left alone, but Lio grabbed it anyway, stuffing it into a pouch at his side. Then a portal appeared next to him and he leaped through, reappearing in the dance club.*

He awoke on the floor once again, being tended by Tamas and one of the many ghouls that stayed by his side. The ghoul poured more blue liquid into his mouth and all ill feeling faded away.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

*He was at a monastery somewhere in Tibet, raiding one of the altars for a brass* vajra*, slipping it into his pocket, grabbing a nearby* phurba*, committing a great act of sacrilege in doing so. Then he disappeared before the monks arrived.*

He was one the floor once more, Tamas prying both relics from him, one from each hand.

And so on the next few days went, each day a new sacred item
pillaged from some holy place or other. Sometimes it was just something as
mundane as someone’s wallet.

A sword.

A spear.

A trident.

Cash.

A hammer.

A chalice.

A crown.

A stick
covered in runes.

Another
trident.

A feathered
robe.

And worst
of all was when he woke up covered in blood with a gruesome lump clenched in
his hand. When he experienced this one, it took ten glasses of the blue drink
and being tightly held by Sugar to keep him from going nuts, tears streaming
down his face. Tamas tried to reassure him by claiming that one of the vampires
must have accidentally spilled their dinner on him, Tessa watching him
distastefully-and a little bit hungrily- over Tamas’s shoulder. Lio sobbed
regardless, rocking back and forth as he tried to get the bloodstains off.

## Chapter 26

*Lio had been missing for fourteen days, with nasty reports of him popping up, robbing someone, then mysteriously disappearing once again. His mother, Ammit, had been searching for her son in the Duat, and his friends looked in the land of the living. But, nobody has yet to find him, and they were growing frantic. On the fourteenth day of his disappearance, his friends got together, determined to search for him as a group, and they wouldn’t take failure for an answer.*

“Hey guys,
I got your text, what’s going on?” Kimmy asked, the last to arrive for Lily’s
hastily called group meeting. Lily, Lani and Nahele were already there, all
three looking stressed and strained, Nahele’s eyes dark and haunted looking.

“It’s about
Lio. He has been gone for so long, two weeks, and the rumors we have heard
about him…I’d hate to think of what has happened.” Lily said. Kimmy’s eyes
widened.

“I’ve heard
about that! It’s horrible! We have to stop him!” she said, her voice growing
with hysteria.

“How are we ever going to stop Lio
if we can’t even find him!” Nahele exclaimed, almost ripping her short hair out
in frustration.

“I don’t
know! I’m not omniscient!” Kimmy wailed back, equally distressed. Then Nahele
looked straight at her, her eyes wide with realization.

“You might
not be, but we all know someone who is.” she said slowly.

“Charnelle!”
they all exclaimed in unison.

“One
problem. I haven’t seen her around for a while, and she’s in my homeroom. Has
anyone else seen her?” Lily said. Everyone shook their heads.

“What are
we going to do now?” Kimmy huffed.

“How about
check the attendance records in Bloodgood’s office?” Lani suggested. Everyone
stared at her, aghast.

“How on
earth are we going to do that?” Kimmy asked, her face scrunched into a look of
confused disgust. Their discussion was interrupted by a splash of water against
the nearby lockers, signaling the arrival of Sue Nami, Bloodgood’s ruthless
assistant. She rushed towards them, her face twisted into a fierce snarl.

“No
gatherings of non-adult entities in the hallways!” she screeched.

“Ah, I
think there’s our answer. Kimmy, you must put her under mind-control.” Lani
said in a low voice.

“What! I
can’t do that!” Kimmy hissed back, but was unable to say more as the irate
water monster was finally upon them.

“Well? Were
my words not understood? Get out of the way or else get deten-Oh.” Sue Nami
snapped, breaking off mid-sentence as she made eye contact with Kimmy. Her eyes
grew wide and her face slackened, her mouth falling slightly open as Kimmy’s
mind took hold. Then she turned abruptly and went back the way she came, her
progress continually reported by Kimmy as she steered the assistant through the
crowds of students.

“Ah, she
just splashed Toralei and the werecat twins. They don’t look very happy about
it. Okay she’s at the office, thankfully Bloodgood isn’t there. We found the
attendance book, she’s flipping through it…. there! Shavokar, Charnelle! Wow,
eighteen absences in a row! That’s going to be a parent-creature conference,
and a possible suspension, ouch!” Kimmy said, her a faraway look in her eyes as
she kept track of Sue’s actions.

“Enough
about that, get out of her! We’ve got what we need.” Lani said, and Kimmy
blinked, severing the contact between her and the headmistress’s assistant. She
reeled and held her head, swaying precariously in place.

“Ugh, she
had such a foul mind. All sloshy and weird, I got seasick!” Kimmy exclaimed as
Lily rushed to catch her.

“Well, that
just confirmed what we all suspected. Charnelle is missing too. We are no
closer to finding Lio now.” Lani sighed, resigned.

“Argh! Pity
we can’t just sniff them out!” Nahele hissed in frustration.

“Hey,
that’s it! Sniff them out! We can find someone who can track them using smell!”
Lani said, her face lighting with excitement.

“Yeah, but
who? I doubt the werewolves have strong enough noses to pick up their scent
after so long.”

“Maybe not
the wolves, but maybe a god. Who do we know among the demigods that has a
sniffer that strong?”

“Hey, what
about Anuntehp? She’s the niece of Anubis, and she’s in my class. If anyone
would know Lio’s scent, it would be her!” Lily said. They all agreed and jogged
down the hall in search of the Egyptian demi.

“Say, I
don’t know who Anuntehp is. Could you describe her to me?” Nahele asked.

“Sure! For
one, she has a striking resemblance to her uncle. She has black fur, a fluffy
tail, black hair in a shaggy Mohawk, brown eyes, dresses like a guy in all
black, and has a big old gold amulet around her neck. Not too hard to miss.”
Lily replied. They continued to search the hallways in silence, the only noise
being puffed breaths and the slapping of their shoes on the tile floor.

“There,
that’s her!” Kimmy exclaimed, pointing to a ghoul that fit Lily’s description,
who was busy sifting through her locker. They came to a halt around her,
panting, and she turned abruptly and jumped, startled by their sudden
appearance.

“What’s
going on? What are you guys doing?” she asked, holding her books close to her
chest like a shield, eyes wide and wary. Kimmy panted a moment longer then replied.

“Sorry…not
time to explain much…very long story…but we really need your help… emergency!”
she gasped. Anuntehp still eyed them with caution.

“And why
exactly do you need me?”

“You have a
great sense of smell and we need you to find someone for us.”

“Why not
ask a werewolf? They have good noses too.”

“They’re
not strong enough, it has to be you.”

“Why? What
do you want?”

“We have to
find Lio. You have to sniff him out.” Nahele chipped in earnestly. But Anuntehp
shook her dark head.

“No can do.
Haven’t picked up his scent in weeks. It’s like it has been scrubbed off the
face of the planet.” she said. Everyone’s shoulders bowed, hearts sinking.

“Wait! What
about Charnelle? Can you find her?” Kimmy suggested, and everyone’s hopes rose
again.

“I don’t
know. Who is this Charnelle?”

“She’s a
vetala, a kind of Indian vampire. We have to find her, she’s missing too.”
Kimmy replied. But Anuntehp was shaking her head again.

“I dunno.
Asian monsters are out of my jurisdiction, I only do Egyptians.”

“Oh come
on! She’s dead, well, undead, so you should be able to find her, Asian or not!
Besides, aren’t the dead all the same? Just do it for Lio!” Kimmy exclaimed,
frustrated at the jackal demigod’s stubbornness.

“Alright,
for Lio.” Anuntehp agreed, then put her books back into her locker. She faced
them again and put her shiny, black, jackal nose up into the air and took a
deep sniff. She turned her head this way and that, rotating like a satellite,
sniffing the air with her quivering nose the whole time. Then she stopped
suddenly and took several big whiffs, squinting as she concentrated. Then her
big ears shot straight up.

“Got it! I
got her scent! Weak, but definitely there! Come on, let’s go!” she announced,
eyes bright with success.

“What,
now?” Kimmy protested, shocked.

“Yes, now!
The longer you wait the staler the scent! We must get going before it’s lost!
Besides, if you delay, there’s a greater chance something worse can happened to
her.”

“But what
about our stuff? It’s still in the classrooms!” Kimmy pressed on.

“Trevor can
handle it. We gotta go NOW!” Lily butted it, grabbing Kimmy’s hand and dragging
her down the hall, the four following Anuntehp and her magical nose.

## Chapter 27

The five burst out of the main entrance and into the parking
lot, Lani now in the lead as she raced towards her cherry-red Mustang.

"C’mon
guys, we’ll take my car!” she yelled over her shoulder. Everyone piled in and
buckled up, Lani starting the car and blasting them out of there, tearing down
the drive. Anuntehp rolled down her window and stuck her face out of the car,
sniffing for Charnelle’s scent.

“Turn
right!” she barked and Lani swerved right, onto the highway. They blazed down
the asphalt, guided through turns by Anuntehp’s nose. Trees started to spring up
on either side of the highway, then thickened into a forest.

“Left,
here!” came Anuntehp’s sudden command, and Lani swerved off the highway, onto a
sketchy looking dirt road, then stopped.

“Why did
you stop? She’s down that way! I’m certain of it!” Anuntehp exclaimed, staring
at Lani in shock.

“Yes, I
don’t doubt it, but there is no way a Mustang can handle potholes like those!”
Lani sighed, staring pointedly at the deep holes that were profusely scattered
across the road.

“Alright
Lauahi. We need a Jeep.” she continued, patting the dashboard. At first there
was a moment of awkward silence, then the car began to shift. It slowly rose
from the ground and the seats flowed and shifted from luxury to functionality.
From a sleek shape, the body of the car took on a more boxy form, and after a
few visual details were altered, the transformation was complete. Lani hit the
gas and they went hurtling down the road, bouncing as they ran over potholes. The
forest grew darker and eerier. As students of a monster school, they were used
to such things, but even this was creepier beyond what they knew, and Kimmy
shivered, gazing at the twisted shadows around them.

“This place
gives me the creeps, and not in a good way!” she whispered. Nahele chuckled
awkwardly beside her, clutching her elbows for comfort.

“It kind of
reminds me of a place back home. Down in Opihikao, in the Puna district down by
the coast, we have this beach park, Mackenzie. That place is crazy haunted.
Normally that wouldn’t be too bad a thing, we all talk to ghost at school on
the daily, but the ghosts there are really unfriendly, they won’t talk to even
monsters.” Nahele said softly. Kimmy shivered again and scooted closer to her.

“There are
many ghost stories about that place. First, it was the site of what is called
‘The King’s Highway’. Ancient Hawaiians used to use it to travel from one side
of the island to the other. And some say that the same travelers never stopped
using it, even hundreds of year after death, tramping down the path at night as
‘Night Marchers’. Then later on, the park itself was built by convicts in the
1800’s. Many died of dehydration and disease, then their bodies were buried
somewhere in the park. And later there were the murders. Lots of them. All
brutal, and the bodies rarely found. People see floating lights, people walking
through trees, campfires that aren’t actually there; heard ghostly voices from
lava tubes, footsteps outside with no one there, bloodcurdling screams; their
tents are shaken, they’re choked in their sleep, their dogs freak out. It’s all
very freaky.” Nahele continued, weaving a spell around the hushed group, all of
whom were listening intently to her words, eyes wide and wary as they searched
the trees.

“It’s
actually a lot like here.” Nahele finished, causing many to gulp in fright. But
Lani pressed on, driving the group further down the road, determined to find
their missing friend. Then the trees suddenly parted, revealing an overgrown
clearing tangled with weeds. In the midst of the clearing was a small shack,
old and falling apart, wood walls rotting, tin roof rusted and full of holes, windows
shattered and dark, staring like shadowy eyes. Rusted unidentifiable metal
parts littered the grass around it, mixed with a few mangled pieces of
furniture.

“Oh great.
There just had to be the creepy haunted house. Couldn’t be complete without
one.” Nahele said sarcastically.

“Please
don’t tell me she’s in there.” Lily said. Anuntehp sniffed the air.

“Yep,
sadly.” she sighed. Everyone groaned and very slowly got out of the car. When
Nahele, the last of the group, got out, Lani snapped her fingers and the car
rapidly shrunk until it was no bigger that her phone. She slipped the vehicle
into her pocket and turned to go, then noticed everyone’s weird stares.

“What? I
don’t want it to go missing.” she protested. Then, as a group, everyone tightly
holding hands with someone else, they made their way towards the creepy house,
Anuntehp sniffing the air. She pushed the door, which slid open with a hoarse
rusty screech, sending cold chills up everyone’s spine. They stepped inside
cautiously, looking around the room, taking in all the eerie ambience.

“Wow, this
place is really freaky. School is freaky too, but that is a quaint freaky. This
is seriously freaky.” Kimmy whispered, wishing she were at home, safe in her
family’s bright temple with Suka, their giant parrot standing guard outside.

They walked across the room, carefully looking behind things
and in cabinets, searching for any sign of Charnelle. Then Anuntehp spoke up.

“Here.” she
said simply, pointing down at the floor. The others gathered around her,
staring at the floor. There, cut into the wood of the floor, was the square
cutout of a trapdoor. The dark wood was covered in strange, menacing symbols
drawn in a mysterious liquid and the door was held shut by a large,
serious-looking iron lock. At the sight of it all, Kimmy shuddered and pressed
herself against the person closest to her, who so happened to be Nahele, who
put her arm protectively around her friend and pulled her close. Anuntehp took
a deep breath, gathered up her courage and bent down, grabbing hold of the lock
and giving it a sharp twist. It broke with a sharp *Ping!* and came off in her hand. Then she quickly threw back the
trapdoor, and it hit the floor with a loud *Bang,*
the others flinching at the loud noise. The trapdoor opened up to a deep dark
hole. They leaned over to look down in it then shrieked and leaped back. Out of
the impenetrable darkness, two large red spots glowed back up at them.

## Chapter 28

The sound of footsteps against wood echoed through the
ruined shack. The red spots rose upwards and the weak light hit them, revealing
that they were really a pair of eyes glowing from the head of a white haired ghoul,
who four of them recognized. Charnelle emerged from the dark depths, rubbing
her backwards wrists.

“Finally!
Took you guys long enough! Do you have any idea how boring it is down there, no
food, water, light? It got really dull after I chewed through the ropes-very
gross stuff, rope, very unappetizing, too dry, and bland, very stringy, wait,
where was I? Oh right, I chewed through the ropes on my hands and feet! Well,
at least the ones on my hands, I untied my feet, very awkward trying to bring
your feet that close to your face. After that, there was nothing to do.”
Charnelle rambled, chiding the bewildered group, her demeanor surprisingly calm
for someone who had been imprisoned underground.

“Aren’t you
upset at being trapped underground, with nothing?” Lily asked.

“Why should
I be? I don’t need food or water, and I am nocturnal. I don’t mind being
underground at all, as a matter of fact it’s quite like home. Vampires are very
comfortable in confinement. No, the only thing that bugs me is that my idiot
brother had the audacity to stuff me down there in the first place.” Charnelle
replied, shrugging.

“Wait,
Tamas put you down there?”

“Of course!
Who else would?”

“Why?”

“Because he
knows that I can see all and will try to use that to meddle in his business.
You all might have seen those sigils on the trapdoor. They are designed to
prevent my ability to see the future and reduce my undead strength. He’s quite
a prat, Tamas is. Let’s go, the sooner we get out of here, the sooner we can
give him a good kick.” Charnelle said, striding confidently out the door, not
waiting to see if the others followed, which they did. Then she came to the
clearing and stopped, her backwards hands on her hips as she stared at the
emptiness.

“How did
you guys get here? Fly?” she said, raising her eyebrow with amusement.

“No, we
have a car.” Lani said, pulling out the miniaturized vehicle from her pocket.
She tossed it to the ground and it expanded back into full size, then sifted
into a van to accommodate all six ghouls. They piled in, then Lani steered the
van back down the road, bumping over each and every pothole as she drove as
fast as she dared.

Soon they
arrived back at the school. The instant Charnelle stepped out of the car, she
collapsed, a vision hitting her with the force of a telepathic
eighteen-wheeler. The other ghouls caught her, eyeing her with caution, waiting
expectantly for her verdict. After a few minutes or so, she rose unsteadily,
holding her head.

“Okay, so I
got a vision.” she said rather obviously. The others tensed, waiting on
tenterhooks. “It’s about Lio. I know where he is.”

“Really?
Where?” Nahele said anxiously.

“I can’t
say, just in case Tamas is watching. But I can tell you this, you can’t come.”

“What? Why
not? He’s my boyfriend out there! I can’t just stand by!”

“Tamas is
expecting you to try to rescue Lio, so his henchmen are waiting for you. Well,
he expects Lio’s friends to get him, but he has focused on you. He knows you
are strong and desperate. People will do anything for love.”

“Well then, *I* won’t go. But someone else will.”
Nahele said, her tone indicating that this conversation was over.

## Chapter 29

Nahele drove up her driveway and parked in front of the
Hawaiian demigod mansion, taking a deep breath as she looked up at it. She got
out and entered, then climbed up the stairs and headed into her room.

She went
into her closet and kneeled on the floor, reaching into the darkest recesses of
the closet and pulled out a cardboard box, placing it in front of her. She
stared at it for a long time, reluctant to open such a heavy reminder of her
past. But she had to; Lio’s life was at stake. She pulled open the flaps and
reached inside, pulling out a dark grey suit, the cloth still in good condition
despite being all folded up in there for over a year. She stood up and reached
into the closet once again, grabbing a hat from the shelf, hidden as far back
into the shadows as the boxed suit had been. She began to strip, then, upon
looking down at herself, snapped her fingers and made a roll of bandage appear
out of thin air. She wrapped this as tightly as she could around herself,
flattening her chest as best she could. It had taken her forever to get those,
many treatments to show the slightest bit of femininity, and here she was,
hiding it all. She pulled on a button up shirt and then the suit, pulling on
the kind of black dress shoes that were frequently associated with government
agents. She gazed into a mirror and brushed her hair up into points, then
topped it with a fedora. There, in the mirror, stared back her self from one
year and six months ago, when she had been a guy, her face fierce and totally
masculine. She squinted and her image rippled, revealing black geometric
tattoos etched across her face. She knew the same transformation had occurred
over her whole body, revealing many more designs across her entire form. She
shivered at the sight. She felt so naked without that illusion protecting her
secrets. She walked down the stairs and out of the house without looking back,
heart heavy with shame.

She arrived
back at the parking lot, where the others were awaiting her return. Lani had
known her from before, as they were cousins, but as Nahele got out of her car,
more than a few eyebrows raised and jaws dropped. For Nahele had transformed
from an awkward tomboy ghoul into a gorgeous young man.

“Dude, you
look like some kind of islander mafia. Where did you get that outfit?” Lily
asked.

“Never mind
that, what’s with the tattoos?” Kimmy asked, staring at the lines of black
triangles that decorated her friend’s face.

“The
tattoos are not important. Let’s get going, the longer we wait, the more Lio
could be in danger.” Nahele said coldly, sliding into Lani’s van. Kimmy looked
at Lani, confused, but Lani just shrugged and got into the driver’s seat, the
others following after her.

Charnelle,
in the front passenger seat, was giving instructions to Lani.

“Okay, head
out of the school. Now turn left and keep going.” she said. Lani obeyed and
headed down the road. Soon the trees turned to buildings, and in twenty minutes
or so, they were in the city.

“Turn
left here, now right, then straight two buildings. Okay, we’re here.” Charnelle
said, her voice sad. Everyone gazed out their windows to see where they were.
To their left was a dark alley, empty except for one cruel looking male troll leaning
casually against the wall, and everyone’s hearts sank. Alleys never meant
anything good, especially dark ones.

## Chapter 30

The group got out of the van, Charnelle in the lead. The
vetala ran her hand across the wall as she walked, searching for the entrance
to where Lio was hidden. She stopped just a few feet away from the troll, who
eyed her suspiciously. She stared right back at him, eyes narrowed in thought.
When he saw the size of the group, the troll stood up straight, no longer
leaning against the bricks.

“Ey, what
are you doing here? Get lost!” the troll grunted angrily. But Nahele wasn't
taking any of that attitude.

“None of
your business.” she growled, her voice deep and gravelly.

“It is if
you’re trying to get in. Who the hell are you? yYou sure as hell ain’t on my
list.” the troll snarled back. Nahele leaned in close, until her breath tickled
him.

“No, but
you’re on mine. Of people I have to beat up if they don’t get out of my way.”
Nahele replied. Her voice was so cold even her friends shivered, and the troll
shifted uneasily, looking nervous, or at least as nervous as a troll wearing
dark sunglasses could look, which wasn’t very. He moved aside and turned away,
pretending that they no longer were there. Nahele nodded with satisfaction and
turned to the now-present doorway. Charnelle stepped inside first, everyone
else following closely behind, and they were nearly blasted back by the sheer
volume of music that greeted them. Once their ears had adjusted, they stepped
further in, partly disoriented by the throbbing lights. The dance floor was
packed with monsters, many from school, but none paid them any attention,
except when they were rudely elbowed out of the demigods’ way. Charnelle wove
through the dancers, heading straight for the middle, on the trail of some
mysterious lead.

Then they
spotted a dark demigod, who was watching them closely, his face revealing his
distaste. Tamas. Nahele’s stomach burned with anger, and the crowd seemed to
sense their combined hatred, stopping their revelry and drawing away, creating
a clearing around them. Nahele spotted Lio standing to Tamas’s right, Sugar
tightly gripping his arm, glaring at her, and Nahele’s rage increased. She met
Tamas’s eyes, which narrowed with fury.

“You!” they
both spat. Lightning crackled up and down Nahele’s arms, ready to be hurled
right at the evil demigod’s face. But before she could, he exploded into a
cloud of thick black smoke, swirling angrily towards her. The crowd around them
shrank even further back, crying out with alarm and doubling over, coughing as
the poisonous fumes entered their lungs. Nahele frantically searched for a
plan. She thought about hurling the lightning at him regardless, but it would
certainly go through and hit someone, maybe even Lio. She looked at him as she
said this, meeting his bewildered green eyes, and a random thought hit her.
What was it that he asked her to do? *Make a tornado*,his voice whispered in her head.

She
concentrated, imagining the vortex she’d need. It was a crazy idea, but it just
might work. Let’s see now, they were in the Northern Hemisphere…that meant that
winds moved widdershins. She spun her finger counterclockwise through the air,
imagining that she was stirring it. It swirled around her hand eagerly, a
slight disturbance at first, but slowly growing as she fed it her power, until
it was a visible funnel cloud, small and confined to the room, but big enough
to tug at everyone’s clothing. She released it and it spun towards the smoke,
sucking it up and isolating it to the middle, concentrated into an angry
spinning cloud.

The cloud
thickened and took on human form, then hardened until Tamas stood in the middle
of the miniature tornado, snarling angrily at Nahele. He slashed his hand
through the funnel cloud, dispelling it, then turned and ran, heading to the
back of the club. Nahele was about to follow, then she looked back at Lio. He
was staring incomprehensibly at her, Sugar still holding onto him possessively.
Nahele approached them, glaring directly into Sugar’s eyes. She felt the air
shift around her, growing sweeter with cloying scent. Sugar was trying to
seduce her, Nahele realized, but it wasn’t taking hold because she didn’t
realize that Nahele wasn't an actual guy. Nahele stepped closer, her eyes
blazing with fury, and Sugar’s eyes widened with realization, then she let go
of Lio, turned and ran away as well. Lio just stood there, staring at Nahele,
baffled. Then she realized another thing, the purple succubus had him under her
spell as well. Nahele snarled and grabbed the front of his shirt, pulling him
close.

“You’re MINE,
gods damn it!” she growled, then kissed him, pressing her lips fiercely against
his, holding him as tightly as she could. She poured all her emotion into the
act, all her anger and love, and Lio jolted as lightning jolted through him,
burning its way through his body, purging out the strains of Tamas's darkness, and leaving
his bones tingling. The air crackled and filled with the powerful scent of a
million flowers and trees, the world’s worth of nature in one breathe, blasting
the dark fog from his mind. She finally pulled away, and he shook there
shakily, staring at her in awe.

“Nahele?”
he whispered, then collapsed on all fours, throwing up violently, emptying his
stomach of its vivid blue contents.

“Wow, you
kiss that badly?” Lani said, eyebrows raised as she watched his violent
reaction.

“No! His
body is just purging the poison from itself. I forced it out.” Nahele replied.
Lio stopped hurling and slowly regained his feet, wiping his mouth with the
back of his hand. He looked up at her and beamed, his joyful smile lighting up
the whole room.

“Nahele!”
he exclaimed, stepping towards her.

“Now, now,
no more kisses until you wash your mouth out!” she chided, holding out her
hands to stop him. “Oh, who am I kidding, I missed you.” And with that, she
gave him a quick peck on the lips while the others made noises of disgust.

“Ew! How
can you do that? I mean, I’m all for love, but, gross!” Kimmy said, making a
face. Nahele looked at her over her shoulder.

“There’s
worse things in this world, like that scumbag we just let get away! Now after
him!” Nahele said, then led the way after Tamas.

## Chapter 31

The demigods and vetala started after Tamas, following
Nahele off the dance floor towards the back, where sat a few tables and chairs,
glasses of some blue liquid sitting on silver trays. Lily paused y one of the
tables and picked up a glass, furrowing her brow as she delicately sniffed it.
She recoiled at the floral scent and threw the glass to the floor, where it
shattered, spilling its contents on the polished wood.

“Lotus!
Ugh! Smash all the glasses!” she exclaimed, sweeping the top of the nearest
table, sending more glasses to the floor.

“Why,
what’s the big deal?” Kimmy asked, she and the others staring at her in
confusion.

“Haven’t
you ever heard of the *Odyssey*? On the
island of the Lotus Eaters, Odysseus’s crew ate the lotus flowers and forgot
everything, they lost sense of time and never wanted to leave. This drink is
nectar extracted from those flowers! They must have been what kept Lio here
this whole time!” Lily replied angrily, smashing every glass she could find. The
others gasped in horror and joined her. Soon the floor was covered in broken
glass and bright blue nectar, the smell of flowers filling the air. That done,
they resumed their pursuit of Tamas. Lio spotted a flash of tan skin and black
hair, and pointed victoriously in that direction.

“There!” he
exclaimed, and they all rushed to the spot. Lio got there first, cornering the
evil Indian, who smiled innocently at him. Lio ignored this and slammed his
fist as hard as he could into Tamas’s jaw. His dark eyes rolled into his head
and he collapsed, unconscious. A violet aura glowed briefly around him, and he
paled, turning into a blonde, pale-skinned monster boy. Lio stared at him,
confused.

“Ike! Tamas
was using him all along!” Charnelle exclaimed, looking sadly down at the
doppelganger’s still form. So that’s where the annoying dude had gone, in
disguise for Tamas’s vile work. No wonder he’d been unable to make it to class.

Then Lio
spotted Tamas again, heading down a secret passage to heavens knows where. He
was certain it was really him this time, and they all set off in pursuit, Lio
in the lead once more. He soon caught up to the demigod, just a few steps
behind, determined to break his nose just as he had Navi’s. Tamas cackled as he
noticed that he was being pursued, certain of his escape. He turned a corner,
and ran-*SMACK!* -into a tanned fist,
falling to the ground, face bleeding freely from his split lip. Nahele stepped
out from behind the corner, her face set with grim satisfaction. Tamas lay on
the floor, looking sheepishly up at the towering demi. But before anyone could
do anything, two female voices squealed with concern, and two sets of footsteps
hurried towards them. They turned to see Helen and Tessa racing towards them,
their eyes wide with worry. They both dropped to their knees beside Tamas,
concerned.

“My
darling!” Tessa exclaimed.

“Sweetheart!”
Helen cried. Then they both looked at each other, then Tamas’s sheepish face,
then back at each other.

“What are
you talking about? I’M his girlfriend!” they both exclaimed.

“No, *I* am!” they replied. They glared at each
other, then back at Tamas. He chuckled nervously and dissolved into a swirl of
black smoke, which floated down the passage as fast as it could, leaving behind
a very disappointing empty space behind.

“You don’t
mean-” Tessa started.

“That two
timing son of a b-” Helen interrupted.

“I’M GOING
TO KILL HIM!” Tessa shrieked.

“OH NO YOU
DON’T!” Helen bellowed back.

“AND *WHY NOT*?” Tessa snapped angrily.

“BECAUSE *I* AM GOING TO KILL HIM!” Helen roared,
then both ghouls turned and raced down the passage after Tamas, both determined
to give him a piece of their minds, or more accurately, their fists. The others
watched them go, surprised that their rescue mission had been interrupted by the
bad guy’s two jilted girlfriends.

“Well? Are
we going to go after him?” Lio asked.

"Nah,
I’m sure those two got it, there won’t be much left of him when they get done.
Let’s just release these poor dancers. They’re under the same spell, they drank
lotus nectar too.” Nahele said dismissively, turning back to the pulsing dance
floor.

“How are we
going to release them? You can’t kiss everyone here.” Lio replied, glaring at
her, daring her to defy him.

“No, but
there is another way. We must first take out the DJ.” She replied, weaving
through the dancers.

“But what
did Andromeda do? Surely she’s innocent.”

“Andromeda
is, but that isn’t Andromeda-42 up there.”

“How do you
know?”

“She’s on
tour in Asia, with Kara as her bodyguard.” Nahele said, reaching the DJ stand.
She raised her hand, summoning a ball of lightening to threaten the android
with.

“All right
you, get lost!” Nahele snarled. Andromeda-42 turned and glared at her, or at
least as much as a robot wearing a visor could, which wasn't very much at all.

“Oh, and
why should I? Everyone loves me, I am the famous Andromeda-42, they’ll riot if
you kick me out.” the android replied haughtily.

“They
would, if you were Andromeda.” Nahele replied, then heaved the turntable off
the stage, tumbling it backwards into Andromeda’s metal chest, knocking her to
the floor.

“Get up
Vanadium-43, and get out of here!” Nahele snapped, hurling lightning
uncomfortably close to the android, leaving a blackened patch on the polished
wood floor. The android glared at her again, and her form shimmered and
changed, revealing that her appearance had been no more than a hologram. In her
place was another android, this one glowing blue and purple instead of rainbow,
and dressed in a flowing, luminescent silk dress, but other than that, looking
almost identical to Andromeda-42, albeit with a nastier look on her face.

“May I
introduce to you Vanadium-43, Andromeda-42’s rival.” Nahele announced, waving
towards the angry android on the floor.

“I am
indeed Vanadium-43, and much better than anything Andromeda could ever wish to
be! *I* should be the one on tour, not
that lousy bucket of bolts!” she exclaimed, her visor turning red with anger.

“Ah, put a
cork in it and get out!” Nahele snarled, her eyes murderous, and Vanadium leaped
to her feet, bolting past the demigods and out the door.

“Now, let’s
get to work!” she said, watching the android go.

## Chapter 32

Nahele took a deep breath, closed her eyes and began to hum
deep in her throat, the sound vibrating through everyone’s lungs. The dancers
slowed, looks of slight confusion on their faces, as if they all had suddenly
remembered something important, but couldn’t quite fully remember what. Then
her voice pitched higher, slowly at first, then higher and higher until their
ears rang. Then she began to form words, but none in any language they
recognized. Two more voices joined her from the crowd, weaving into her voice
in a three-part harmony, and two figures stepped forth from the crowd,
revealing themselves to be Aria and Meifeng, their eyes also closed as they
sang along. The melody was beautiful and complicated, raising all sorts of
emotion, making everyone stir and twitch with nervous energy. Lio’s heart
pounded as he listened. The sound was fantastic, it made him want to run and
shout and laugh hysterically, and it him feel as if his heart was about to
burst with joy. Memories flicked through his head, reliving all sorts of
wonderful times. Then the song changed again, lower and slower, soothing
instead of exciting this time. All the raging emotions faded away, replaced by
calm and clarity, and the crowd closed their eyes, swaying contentedly to the
song. Then it ended, and the last note faded away slowly, leaving everyone
feeling peaceful and happy. The crowd slowly broke out of their spell, looking
around them and at each other, glancing at watches and phones, then jumping as
they saw the time, and rushing out the door, realizing they had been expected
back home weeks ago. Lio watched as a few of Tamas’s goonies took advantage of
the exodus to hide their own escapes, keeping an eye on Ike’s mop of blond
hair, sticking out like a tan flag. That guy had been quite a troublemaker,
disguising himself as Tamas so that they’d chase him instead, allowing the real
Tamas to get away. But where was Kei? The vampire ghoul’s purple hair was
nowhere in sight. Then he jumped as someone tugged on his jacket sleeve. He
turned to meet Charnelle’s red eyes, which were staring at him with concern.

“There’s
something I ought to tell you.” she said, her voice low to keep the others from
hearing, and pulled him a bit away from them, making sure they were out of
earshot.

“What is it?”
Lio said as softly.

“You know
Kei and Kaasi? Well, they weren’t actually real,” she started slowly.

“What do
you mean?”

“They were
actually both Ike in disguise. I had a vision about him and Tamas, and it
showed Ike taking on their shapes.”

“Really?
Wow, that’s disturbing. Why did you keep that secret?”

“I don’t
know. I see now that I shouldn’t have, it might have saved us quite a bit of
trouble. I’m sorry.”

“That’s
okay, we’re all fine now. I’m glad you told me late than never. Let’s go back
to the others.” Lio said, patting the vetala reassuringly on her shoulder
before turning back to the rest to watch the last few dancers trickled outside,
the demigods following them and heading back to their car. Charnelle followed
more slowly, shaking her head in disappointment. He still didn’t get it, did
he? Ah well, hopefully he’ll realize it. Soon.

## Chapter 33

The demigods met up in the hall at school the next day to
talk about the events of yesterday.

“Hey Lio!
How you doing today? How did your mom react when you got home?” Nahele called,
beaming at her boyfriend.

“Great! I
never fully realized how foggy Tamas was making my mind. Mom was stoked to have
me back, she hugged me so tight I don’t think my ribs will ever be the same
again!” he replied, rubbing his chest as it ached with the memory of his
mother’s enthusiasm. Everyone laughed and he smiled. It felt good to be back
with them, chatting casually and of his own free will. He glanced over at
Charnelle, whose face was tight with worry, her red eyes boring into his own,
as if trying to tell him something. Then he remembered what she had told him
yesterday about Ike and the vampires. Hiss eyes widened as a suspicious
realization dawned onto him.

“Nahele?”
he asked.

“Yeah?” she
replied, smiling happily.

“Doppelgangers
take on the appearance of actual people, right?”

“Most of
the time, yeah.”

“And Ike is
a doppelganger, right?”

“Well,
duh!”

“So, you
know how he took on the appearance of Kaasi and Kei? You don’t suppose that by
any chance…”

“What?”
Nahele asked. Lio quickly explained what Charnelle had told him.

“Oh my
gods!” Nahele gasped, her eyes growing wide as she realized the implications.
“Those ghouls! They could be real! If they are, we have to find them! They
might be in danger!”

Charnelle
stepped up, clearing her throat to get their attention.

“Um, I
think I may have an idea of where they are.”

“Where?”
Lio and Nahele demanded, perfectly in sync.

“When I was
locked up in the basement of that abandoned house, I could feel the presence of
other beings down there. I dismissed it as rodents or spiders or something, but
when I think back on it, they felt much larger than that. I think they may be
somewhere down there.”

“We’ve got
to go get them!” Lio exclaimed.

“We can
take my car, I know the way. Charnelle, you go tell the others where we’re
going, then come meet us down in the parking lot, we need you to come too.”
Nahele said, turning to race down the hall, Lio close behind. Charnelle ran the
other way, searching the crowd for their friends.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

They pulled up at the ruined shack and hopped out of
Nahele’s car, which she then shrank and slipped into her pocket to keep it
safe. Lio stared at the ruined building. It was enough to give monsters the
creeps, and he shivered at the thought of what could possibly be in there.

“Freaky
place.” he muttered.

“I know
right? I was locked in the basement.” Charnelle said cheerily, boldly striding
towards the open doorway, the smashed bit of wood that once had served as a
door hanging from one rusted hinge. Lio and Nahele followed her inside, Lio
quickening his pace to keep up. He didn’t want to go in there, but better to be
in there with company than out in the equally creepy forest alone. He
delicately stepped inside to see Charnelle staring down at the rotting wooden
floor. There was a trapdoor, covered in eerie symbols. She just stood there,
staring at it, not making a move to open it.

“Why are
you just standing there, open it.” Lio said.

“I can’t.
It’s charmed against vampires.” Charnelle replied, unmoving. Nahele stepped
forward and boldly threw the trapdoor open, the wooden hatch slamming against
the floor with a loud *Bang!*  Lio looked down the dark hole, his eyes
adjusting from the gloom but still unable to see a thing. Charnelle led the way
down, marching confidently down the stairway. Lio followed more cautiously,
carefully placing one foot before the other, slowly poking his way through the
darkness, Nahele following behind. When they reached the bottom, everything was
pitch-black, and Charnelle’s voice emanated from the shadows.

“Hm, it
would appear a bit darker than I anticipated. Can anyone make a light?” she
said, her voice mildly interested. A pinkish light filled the room and Lio
turned to see Nahele holding up her hand, a glowing flower floating just above
her upturned palm. The light chased away the shadows of the basement, and fell
upon two huddled figures, two sets of eyes glowing back at them.

## Chapter 34

The rosy glow revealed two ghouls, seated back to back on
the floor, bound with rope and gagged with grimy cloth shoved and tied into
their mouths. Kaasi looked terrified to see them, but Kei glared defiantly at
them, daring them to do their worst. They were in terrible shape, pale even for
undead, dark circles under their eyes, the skin around the ropes raw and
spotted with bruises from previous struggles against their bonds. Lio moved
cautiously towards them, both pairs of eyes watching him closely. He carefully
tugged the gags out of their mouths and undid their ropes, dropping them to the
ground. The two vampires struggled to their feet, pushing against each other’s
backs to help them up. They rubbed their wrists and Kei glared at them, less
defiant and more concerned now.

“Kaasi,
Kei? Are you guys okay?” Lio asked.

“What?
Who’s that?” Kei snorted, her face twisted into a look of scoffing confusion.

“What? But
aren’t those your guy’s names?”

“No! I’m
Adrasteia, and she’s Aoide.” the vampire said.

“Oh. But
then where did the names Kaasi and Kei come from?” Lio said, turning to give
Charnelle his own look of confusion.

“You know
how everything about this situation was all mixed up. Nothing is as it truly
should be.” she replied cryptically. Lio glared at her, then his face relaxed
and his eyes widened as his brain processed her words. The letters of the two
names rearranged themselves in his mind. Kaasi…Isaak, Kei…Ike. They weren’t
real names, they were just anagrams of Ike’s name! That rotten little shit! He
didn’t even have enough creativity to make decent names! And to think, his real
identity was there all along and Lio was too thick to notice. Wow, that was
embarrassing. He cleared his throat and turned back to the two vampire ghouls.

“Well,
you’re free to go. We can take you back to the school, if you like.” he
offered.

“That’ll do
nicely. I do have to pick up my car, it’s been there since we got kidnapped by
that filthy halfblood.” Adrasteia said calmly, Aoide nodding behind her.
Charnelle flinched at the remark about her half-brother. Halfblood was such a
harsh term, especially when said with that much contempt behind it.

Lio led the
way back up the stairs, the two vampires close behind him, Nahele once again
the last in line, closing the trapdoor behind her, then seemed to think better
about it. She closed her hand, making the glowing flower disappear, then leaned
down and grabbed the spelled chunk of wood, ripping it from its hinges with one
violent twist, then threw it into the air and blasted it with a bolt of
lightning, incinerating the mass of evil sorcery to nothingness. The others
jumped and stared at her.

“What? It’s
one less piece of wicked junk in this world, and good riddance too, I’d say!”
she said, head held high as she silently dared the others to argue with her.
But there was a general murmur of agreement all around, and they headed outside
the shack, the vampires squinting against the blinding sunlight, throwing up
their arms to protect their eyes, their skin smoking slightly as the light
touched their cursed bodies.

“Oh dear, I
totally forgot! Here, get in quick!” Nahele exclaimed, slipping her
miniaturized car from her pocket and tossing it to the ground, the vehicle
expanding rapidly to normal size. Nahele took her place in the driver’s seat,
Lio hopping into the passenger’s side next to her, leaving the three vampires
to sit in the back, Charnelle squished awkwardly between the other two. The
five remained silent on the way back, all the way to the school.

They pulled
up to the parking lot, and everyone filed out, the two vampire ghouls walking
away without so much as a backwards glance.

“You’re
welcome.” Lio grumbled as he watched them go. They had just gone through all
the trouble of rescuing those two from being imprisoned in a basement in a
creepy old shack, and they didn’t even give so much as a thank-you.

“Bah,
they’re vampires, of course they’re rude, what do you expect?” Charnelle said
casually, and the other two stared at her, surprised that she’d say something
like that about her own kind.

“But aren’t
you a vampire?” Nahele said, eyebrow raised.

“What, no!
I’m a vetala! There’s a huge difference!” Charnelle sniffed with mock
indignation, then turned to leave, throwing one last smile over her shoulder to
them. Lio sighed and leaned against the car.

“Well, it’s
gotten late, school’s out, guess we all have to go home now. I hate having to
travel by portal, but it’s the only way to reach the Duat!” he groaned, eyeing
the swirling, screaming vortex of darkness that had appeared nearby.

“You know,
you don’t have to live there, in the Duat, if you don’t want to. I mean, the
house I have with my cousins has a ton of extra rooms nobody is using, they’re
just there gathering dust…I mean, if you’re interested.” Nahele mumbled
awkwardly.

“You mean
come live with you?” Lio asked playfully, sensing her discomfort.

“Well,
yeah, that was the general idea.”

“That’d be
great, I’d love that! I’ll ask my mom tonight.” he replied, then leaped through
the portal.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

“Honey, are
you sure about this?” Ammit asked, her eyes wide with sadness and worry as she
took in the sight of her son standing there, a large packed bag over his
shoulder.

“Yeah Mom,
positive.” Lio replied.

“Oh, my
baby boy is already moving out, and he’s not even eighteen yet!” Ammit fussed.

“Mom! It’s
only part-time! I’ll be here on weekends, well, some of them, and I’ll be back
during breaks! It’s only for school days! Besides, you won’t have to spend so
much energy opening a portal to school for me everyday!” Lio protested before
his mom could get too embarrassingly mushy.

“Oh well, I
suppose I can survive. It was bound to happen soon enough. Come here, let your
mom give you a hug goodbye!” she said, rising to her feet and sweeping Lio into
a crushing embrace, planting kisses all over his face. Lio wrinkled his nose,
but didn’t stop her, squeezing his mom as tight as he could. Finally she let
go, stepping back and wiping a tear from her eye.

“You be
safe now, dear, and don’t forget to come see me!”

“Don’t
worry, I’ll be fine, I’ll be in a house full of powerful demigods, it’ll be
great. Love you mom, see you.” he said, then stepped out of the house and
through the portal awaiting him, his mom tearfully watching her son slip
through the dimensions and seemingly out of her life.

\*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*          \*

Lio stepped out of the roaring tear in the fabric of
space-time, and into the second story hallway of the Hawaii demigods’ mansion,
where Nahele was waiting for him.

“Got all
your stuff?” she asked, eyeing the one bag he had.

“Yup!” he
said, lifting it into the air.

“You sure
pack light, unlike some of our classmates who insist on packing five bags of
shoes.” Nahele remarked, and Lio laughed. “Anyway, remember, the room you
stayed in last time?”

“Yeah?”

“That’s
yours now.”

“Sweet!” he
said, entering said room and dropping his one bag on the bed. “I have all sorts
of plans for this place, red paint on the walls for one, then probably take out
that wall…”

“Lio, NO.
We’re not allowed to do that.” Nahele chided.

“I’m
kidding, it’s perfect. Now, what’s for dinner?” he replied, smiling. It was
good to be in his new home.

## Chapter 35

Lio and Nahele were curled up on the sofa, eating cookies
while watching a rather poorly done old horror movie on T.V. with all the
lights turned off for maximum scary effect, as that movie needed all the help
it could get.

“Hey, look,
it’s my uncle!” Lio joked, pointing when the demon car in the film blew up,
revealing a monster in the flames. Nahele let out an amused snort in response.
They remained silent for a moment before Lio spoke again.

“Nahele?”
Lio asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Yeah?” she
whispered back.

“Are we
dating?” He could barely see her in the flickering light from the television
screen, but it was enough to see the look of outrage on her face, her eyes wide
and staring.

“Are you
kidding me? Of course! I sure as hell wouldn’t kiss you so much if we weren’t!”
she exclaimed.

“Really?
When did we start dating?”

“Oh, I
don’t know, maybe the time we first kissed, you moron!” she said sarcastically.

“Oh. Just
wanted to be sure.” he replied. Nahele picked up a cushion and whacked him in
the face with it.

“OW!” he
cried, laughing and trying to block her further attacks. Then the light
suddenly came on.

“AH!” they
both yelled, folding up their arms to shield their eyes from the sudden burst
of light.

“Are you
kids behaving yourselves? It’s awfully dark in here!” came Lani’s teasing
voice, and they looked over to see her standing by the light, finger still on
the switch. Kai and a few of the other resident demigods were standing there,
waggling their eyebrows suggestively, earning them a hurled pillow from Nahele.

“Get your
minds out of the gutter!” she snarled, and Lio laughed harder, clutching his
stomach and falling over.

Yeah, it was good to be home.

The End.

## Characters

First row: Lio, Lani, Jackie

Second row: Serpentine, Charnelle, Ike

Third row: Helen, Meifeng, Aria

Fourth row: Tessa, Sugar, Andromeda-42

Fifth row: Donny, Amy, Soulia

Sixth row: Trevor, Kimmy