There are many places one would never want to be during a storm, be it at work or at school per say. Well sadly I was stuck in the latter.
The storm outside had turned the world into a soggy mess, with rain pouring down steadily and the sky a gloomy gray. It seemed like no one in their right mind would brave the weather, leaving the streets eerily empty. With a sigh, I gazed out the window, my eyes tracing the rhythmic dance of raindrops against the glass.
The classroom felt stuffy and cramped, and I couldn't wait to be out of there. The sound of rain tapping against the windows was almost soothing, but it also made me feel more isolated. I just wanted to be home, warm and dry, away from the dreary weather and the monotony of the day.
My phone buzzed in my hand, and I glanced down to find a message from my mother, asking me to be careful on my way back home as the news said it that the roads would be quite flooded.
"Adrian Evans?" The voice cut through the hum of the classroom, pulling me from my thinking. I glanced up to see Mrs. Roberts at the front of the room, peering over her glasses with the practiced patience of someone who'd seen it all.
Mrs. Roberts was a figure straight out of a whole extinct era, with auburn hair that looked like it went through a midlife crisis of it's own, though it had long since settled into a neatly restrained style. Her wardrobe seemed stuck in the late 90's, as if she had missed the memo on modern trends by a decade or so.
"Here," I replied, my voice barely rising above the drone of the storm outside. My attention drifted as I idly fidgeted with the black tungsten ring that dangled from the leather cord around my neck—a nervous habit inherited from my mother.
The storm's fury battered the windows, a stark contrast to the mundane roll call. Mrs. Roberts continued, her voice a steady anchor amidst the chaos. "Alright, welcome back. Can anyone tell me how the myths of Prometheus and Pandora illustrate themes of human suffering and divine retribution in Greek mythology, and what is the connection between these two myths?"
As if on cue, Dylan's hand shot up with practiced precision. Dylan, was the son of the famous scientist, Dr. Stone. Though when Dylan was born his father had vanished and the folllowing week Dylan's mom passed and he had vanished, reapearing again at the age of 16. All cases where dropped and he went to live with his uncle. We just a month later and been close friends since, even if I was keeping a very deep secret from him.
"The myths of Prometheus and Pandora both illustrate themes of human suffering and divine retribution. Prometheus defies Zeus by giving fire to humanity and is punished with eternal torment. In retaliation, Zeus creates Pandora, who opens a box releasing all the world's evils. Together, these myths show how divine actions lead to human suffering and the consequences of defying the gods."
"Very good, Dylan," Mrs. Roberts said, her voice cutting through the low murmur of the classroom as she wrote the answers on the whiteboard. "Now, can anyone tell me what were the contents that emerged from Pandora's box?"
A silence fell over the room, punctuated only by the relentless pounding of rain against the windows. After a few moments, Mrs. Roberts walked back to her desk, her shoes tapping rhythmically against the floor. She pulled out a long wooden stick—a relic from her days as a stern disciplinarian. "Adrian Evans," she called, her gaze fixing on me. "Can you answer the question?"
I glanced around the room, desperately searching for a hint in the sea of blank faces. "Uh, trapped air"
"Not quite." Mrs. Roberts replied, her tone mild but firm. "Does anyone else want to try and answer the question?"
Dylan was about to raise his hand. "Not you, Mr. Stone. We all know that you know the answer. Alright since nobody can answer, then let me pass some sheets to each of you, you will answer the questions as we watch a video on the topic. Write as much as you can as we will be having a test on it tomorrow."
As she handed out the review sheets, the room buzzed with the rustle of paper and low chatter. Half an hour passed in relative quiet as everyone focused on their work.
But even the educational video couldn't compete with the storm outside. The rain battered the windows with a relentless fury, and flashes of white lightning streaked across the dark sky. My gaze drifted to the football field outside, where the rain was turning the grass into a glistening expanse of darkness.
Suddenly, a bolt of lightning struck the goal post with a deafening crack. I jumped, my heart racing, as the field was illuminated in a stark, electric flash.
"Hey, Adrian, did you see that?" Dylan whispered urgently, leaning in close.
"Of course I did," I whispered back, my eyes still wide from the sudden brilliance. "It was pretty close."
"Yeah, it's kind of cool," he admitted, sounding a little too excited.
"I guess. I thought it was kind of scary," I replied, trying to mask my own unease. But just as I turned to focus on the video again, another flash of lightning illuminated the field. This time, something caught my eye—a dark shape standing just outside the window, barely visible against the torrent of rain.
I squinted, trying to make out the figure, but the storm seemed to swallow it up. My heart skipped a beat. "Dylan," I whispered urgently, "I think I saw someone out there."
Dylan followed my gaze, her expression shifting from curiosity to concern. "Are you sure? It's probably just the storm playing tricks on us."
I leaned closer to the window, trying to get a better look. When lightning flashed again, I saw him—standing just outside near the goalpost where the lightning had struck. He was unlike anyone or anything I have ever seen, there was no way that he was even human.
The man stood calmly just looking around, his black trenchcoat fluttering around him due to the wind. Now why did I think he was not even human? Maybe it was the two ram-like horns coming out of his head and the tail, maybe it even was the fact that he had such a lanky and unantural body. You take your pick.
His head seemed to sweep the area, scanning the school with an intensity that made my skin crawl. Then, in a moment that felt like it was happening in slow motion, he turned and looked directly at me. His eyes, glowing with an eerie yellow light, pierced through the rain and the glass with an unsettling, almost predatory focus. I recoiled instinctively, my heart pounding in my chest, and quickly turned away from the window.
"Hey, Dylan?" I whispered urgently, my voice barely audible over the storm's roar. "Do you see that man outside by the goalpost?"
Dylan glanced up from his desk, his expression one of bemused skepticism. "What man?" He looked out the window, frowning. "The goalpost is a good five miles out on the football field. With this storm, there's no way you can see anyone clearly out there."
I glanced back toward the window, but the woman was gone. The storm and darkness seemed to have swallowed her. Dylan was right—how could I see that far? And why did I still feel the weight of his gaze, even though he had vanished?
"I—I think I'm just a little exhausted," I stammered, trying to dismiss the unsettling image from my mind. "I must have imagined it."
Dylan shrugged, unconvinced but indifferent, and turned back to his desk. "If you say so."
As the day dragged on, I found it hard to focus. I doodled absentmindedly on my page, but my thoughts were consumed by the vision I'd seen. I fidgeted with the black tungsten ring around my neck, its cool weight offering little comfort. My nerves were on edge, each thunder and flash of lightning intensifying the anxiety I felt.
Thoughts swirled in my mind like a chaotic storm, each one crashing into the other with increasing intensity. My grip tightened around the ring as I just stared down into my desk.
Suddenly, a sharp voice cut through my thinking. "Dude, come on!" Dylan's voice jolted me back to reality as he gave my foot a gentle kick. I blinked and looked around, realizing that the classroom was nearly empty. Only a few stragglers remained, hastily packing up their belongings.
"You've been fidgeting with that ring again," Dylan said, concern etched in his voice. "Are you good, man?"
"Y-yeah, let's head home," I replied, trying to sound more confident than I felt. I grabbed my bag and stood, my gaze instinctively darting toward the window. For a fleeting moment, I hoped to see the woman from earlier staring back at me, but the storm had obscured everything outside.
We exited the classroom together, Dylan's voice cutting through my thoughts. "Dude, are you paying attention at all?" He nudged me with a playful shove.
"I'm sorry, I kinda zoned out a bit," I admitted, rubbing my head as if that might shake off the lingering unease.
Dylan rolled his eyes with a smirk. "You're always so apologetic. Come on, grow a pair, man!" He laughed as he opened the door and we stepped into the hall. "I've got to stop by my place for a bit to change, then I'll stop by the bakery in like a half hour. I really hope your mom made more of those... uh what were those lotus cookies called again?"
"Luminelle Pastries"
"Yeah those things, man those things taste really good!"
"Yeah I hear you, I'll ask mom to make you some when you come over."
"Man really! Great! You rock man!" He grinned and glasped me on the back. I watched as he took off to his car. Before I could take another step, a voice interrupted me. "There you are." I turned to see the same woman from earlier standing in front of me. My breath caught in my throat as I gripped my necklace tightly.
Now that I had a good look at her, she seemed to be around my age. Her jeans were tucked inside some combat boots and her tank top revealed the laurel wreath and owl tattoo on her outer bicep. She still had the armor on though
"Uhm, can I help you?" I spoke up after a while,
"You have quite the sharp vision for a Veiled," she replied flatly, scanning our surroundings. "You saw him didn't you? Look you need to come with me."
"Hold on, who are you? You can't make me do anything." I replied, taking a step back as the girl sighed and reached over and grabbed me by my collar and pulled me toward her with more strength then I thought that she had.
"You really don't have a choice, either you come or I smash your face into those lockers until you agree."
"Okay, okay! Stop pulling so hard!" I yelped as I was dragged.
☉☉☉
"So you're going to tell me what's going on?" I asked, drinking my coffee as the girl sat across from me, her arms crossed. This girl looked to be quite older than me, her blonde hair was tied to a single long braid that hung down her right shoulder. Her eyes were gray, and she had this cut on her ear. I looked down at her armor, it was greek, and seemed to be made out of silver. Her bracers had an owl engraved into the design, is she cosplaying a character?
"To start off, I don't know who or what you are. No normal Veiled can see through the Veil. It is a powerful shield that blocks you mortals from seeing anything supernatural. So who are you?"
"I don't know what this Veil or Veiled is, and to be honest everything you say makes no sense."
"Who are you?," she asked again, glaring at me suspiciously. I set my cup down and sighed, this girl was definetly a part of that world...
"I can not tell you who I really am as that is very personal but my name is Adrian Evans, did I see something outside the window earlier? Yes I did. Do I know how you even know that I saw him as you where nowhere close? No I do not."
"I see," She said after a while as she stood up to leave after checking her bracers. "I have to go, I am ruining out of time."
"Hey, you haven't even told me your name!"
"Forget you ever meet me." With that she walked right out the coffee shop without another word.
"My god, she really needs to get some help." I muttered playing with my ring.
☉☉☉
"Welcome back, Honey!" my mother called as I opened the front door. "How was school? You were out later than usual."
My mother has cared for me ever since she and mom had adopted me. My mother, Sophia, had brought me to England with her when she excaped Ogygia. I was around 1 at the time, both my parents were massucured and it was thanks to her that I even survived, the ring I have was the only thing my birth parents had left for me.
Mother told me that I had inherited my fathers good looks and my mothers black hair and amber eyes. It was quite easy to tell that I was adopted. Mother was a short woman with long curly blonde hair and green eyes, she looked like a princess, no wonder Mom had fallen for her.
My mom, Addison Evans, it is her last name that mother and I had taken. She was this tall, loud and brash latina woman that would at any second roll up her suit sleeves and break her heels to wrestle and beat up anyone that dared to insult or hurt her family. I loved both of them deeply and it was thanks to them that I had learnt alot about both of their passions.
Mother was a cook and opened a backery called the "Twilight" where she cooked alot of different pasteries, several from out home town. Take the Luminelle, they were first created by temple cooks in Ancient Ogygia as offerings to the goddess. Lotus shaped golden pasteries filled with cocoa cream.
Mom on the other hand was a Judge, having studied all her life for the potition and it wasn't until you went and watched her work that you would understand why she got the name, The Judge from Hell.
"Great as always." I replied. "But that storm—it must have been the worst weather we've had in years."
"A storm like this is good for our garden, and it cleans the earth, dear boy," she laughed, walking over. "Though, not as good for business."
"Speaking of which, I hope you didn't overdo it," I said, setting my bag aside. "The doctor told you that you need to heal after that fall you had."
"Don't worry, " she replied, waving me off. "Besides I had Yuki to help me."
Speaking of the devil, Yuki was walking down the stairs. Yuki was this young korean girl with unusual white hair that was four years younger than me. Yuki was adopted like me several years ago and she spent all her time helping mother in the backery or studying law with mom.
"Mother, would you like a cup of tea? I was going to make some."
"Oh yes, that will be wonderful." Mother replied cheerfully before turning to look at me. "So what happened at school?"
"What do you mean? It went great, nothing wrong."
"Kid, you're fidgeting with that necklace of yours again, just like your mother does with her earrings when something bothered her. I know you're nervous. What happened?" Mom spoke as she entered the house removing her trechcoat and high heels.
"I saw something weird today," I admitted after a while. "In my last class, I thought I saw some demon outside in the rain."
Both my parents froze as mother was the first to speak. "Are you sure?"
"Yeah, had horns and everything."
"I see. And did this… demon do anything?" Mom asked, her hands were clenched and they did not look good.
"No, he looked at me but he vanished." I replied. "Than this girl dragged me to some coffee shop and demanded to know who I was, didn't tell her anything."
"I see," Mom muttered, not taking his eyes off the counter. We were just standing there in silence until Yuki walked over with a cup and handed it to mother.
"Oh, thank you, dear."
"You're quite welcome," she replied. "This storm really is something. It's been going for about ten hours, think it will last all night?"
"I believe so," mother smiled as she drank the tea. "Great tea, as always."
She set her cup down and turned to me. "Adrian, you should go get your chores done, and then get some rest."
I nodded, feeling a mix of curiosity and apprehension. "Alright." I said, standing up.
As I went to start my chores, my mind kept drifting back to the events of the day. Who was that girl? The rain pounded against the window in a soothing rhythm, but my thoughts were anything but calm.
I finished my chores and then sat down to do my homework, the questions swirling in my head. The storm outside seemed to mirror the storm within me, each raindrop tapping out a message I couldn't quite decipher.