"Yes, All Wise Athena." You are such a cool goddess.
"If you attempt to leave this place, you will find yourself in Hades, a land of eternal torment. If you displease me or Apollo, you will be sent to Hades. Do you wish to spend eternity in hell?"
"No, All Wise Athena." So that was how they got the other girls to stay without attempting an escape. The girls actually believed there was no way back to Earth, and they lived in fear of going to hell.
"You are now a maiden. You have no name. You are here to serve the gods. That is your sole purpose."
Lara gulped. She could guess how Apollo wanted to be served. A little bed and breakfast, with her as the menu. She wasn't going to be getting manicures and massages. This wasn't a resort. Or a spa.
It was a bizarre vampire cult.
CHAPTER 22
Jack slammed a fist through the back wall of Room 102. The college girls screamed and huddled together.
Robby grabbed his arm. "Go back to Romatech. Now. I'll clean up here."
Jack pulled away. "I failed her! How could I fail her?"
"Get a grip, Jack." Robby glanced at the doorway as Phineas dashed in. "Phineas, take him back to Romatech."
"I'm not leaving," Jack growled.
Robby seized him by the shoulder. "She's no' here." His face softened. "We'll find her, Jack."
"Oh, shit." Phineas approached them. "Apollo's got-"
"Yes, he does," Robby interrupted. "Now get Jack out of here. I'll be along shortly."
"I don't need a babysitter." Jack teleported away. He arrived on the grounds at Romatech and ripped a branch off an unsuspecting tree.
Phineas ducked as the branch flew over his head. "Dude, I'm sorry. We're gonna find her, you know."
Jack stalked toward the Romatech entrance. "I'm going to rip Apollo apart." He fumbled in his pockets for his ID card. Merda. His hands were shaking.
"I got it, man." Phineas swiped his ID and activated the hand sensor.
Jack turned and gazed at the woods surrounding Romatech. Lara could be anywhere. Lara! Lara, can you hear me?
"Whoa! That was loud." Phineas held open the door. "How far can a psychic message go?"
"No more than a hundred miles or so." Jack closed his eyes and concentrated. Nothing. She couldn't hear him.
How could he fail her? After all his promises to keep her safe, he'd failed her. His heart twisted with fear. Stay alive, Lara. Stay alive till I can find you.
It was happening all over again. He'd failed his first love, Beatrice. He hadn't been there for her, and she'd died, thinking he'd abandoned her. And now he wasn't there for Lara.
Robby appeared. "I altered the lassies' memories, but there wasn't much I could do about the hole in the wall." He strode toward them. "We'll find her, Jack."
"Yeah, we will," Phineas agreed. "She's gonna be all right, dude."
Jack wondered if prayers could be heard from the ninth circle of hell.
Lara was still kneeling on the hard marble floor. She tried to take her mind off her fear and aching knees by remembering her lessons on escape. First, she needed to gather information. She couldn't decide where to escape to until she knew where she was.
She would have to stay out of trouble, and hopefully, remain unbitten so she could keep her strength up. She needed to look for anything that could be used as a weapon. She needed a means of communicating with the outside world. And she needed to assess the other prisoners here to see if any of them could become allies. The guards were out of the question. They looked completely brainwashed, and they were armed.
"Guards," Athena spoke. "You will fetch two maidens."
"Yes, All Wise Athena," they answered in unison.
Lara tilted her head a little so she could see. The guards opened the door and left. The sandals on the taller one made a high-pitched squeaky noise with every other step.
She heard different footsteps approaching.
"Athena." It was Apollo.
Lara swallowed hard. She hoped he wasn't hungry.
Athena glanced back at her. "Stay."
"Yes, All Wise Athena." You're so wise and awesome.
Athena walked outside the room. "Yes, My Lord Apollo?"
Lara strained to hear their conversation. They didn't bother to lower their voices very much. She guessed they didn't consider her much of a threat.
"Those two vampires nearly caught me," Apollo grumbled. "They looked really angry."
"They're probably some of those stupid, bottle-drinking Vamps," Athena hissed. "I swear I hate them and their self-righteous attitude, like they're so much better than us. We have every right to a fresh meal."
Lara grimaced. They made her feel like a whole meat patty minus the sesame-seed bun.
"I think they were expecting me," Apollo said. "We're going to have to find new hunting grounds."
"No problem," Athena answered. "There are colleges all over the Northeast."
Now that was interesting. They must be somewhere in the Northeast.
"At least this location is still secret," Apollo said. "They didn't follow us here, so they obviously don't know where we are. What about the new girl? Do you think she could be working with them?"
Athena laughed. "No way. She's even more foolish than the usual ones."
Lara rolled her eyes. Great. Well, she would continue to act clueless until she was ready to escape.
"Good," Apollo said. "Get her ready. I'm going to do the Selecting Ceremony in five minutes." He strode away.
Lara heard two female voices in the distance. "Greetings, My Lord Apollo."
"Come, maidens," Athena called to them. She returned to the room. "Rise, maiden."
Lara figured that was her. She rose stiffly to her feet and looked around. There was an electric light overhead. Fancy that. The Elysian Fields had electricity. These other girls were totally messed up with vampire control if they didn't realize they were still on Earth.
The room was bare except for a large wooden trunk and a bookcase filled with folded gowns. No books. Well, who needed books with All Wise Athena around?
Two redheaded young women rushed into the room. They bowed. "Greetings, All Wise Athena."
"We have returned early tonight with a new maiden," Athena said. "You will prepare her for the Selecting Ceremony, which will begin in five minutes." She strode from the room.
Lara recognized the two girls from the case photos. One was Vanessa Carlton, who had disappeared from Columbia University in May. The other was Kristy Robinson, who had vanished from NYU in April. What a relief to see them both alive. "Hi, I'm Lara."
They winced and glanced toward the open door.
Vanessa quickly closed it. "You'll get in trouble if you use a name," she whispered. "We're maidens. We only get a name when we become a Chosen One."
Kristy clasped her hands together, grinning. "And one of us will be chosen tonight!"
"Oh boy." Lara attempted a smile.
"Hurry." Kristy dashed to the bookcase. "Take off everything but your underwear. We have to get you dressed." She plucked a folded white gown off the shelf and shook it out.
Lara inspected the two girls as she kicked off her shoes. They were both dressed in long white tunics that were clasped on the left shoulder, leaving the right shoulder bare. Two long strips of white linen were attached to the tunics beneath the arms. These strips were wrapped around, crossing the midriff in front and back, then tied off in front at the waist.
Lara pulled her T-shirt off, then removed her jeans. "Do you guys know where we are?"
"We're maidens," Kristy repeated. "Didn't All Wise Athena explain it to you?"
"She said something about the Elysian Fields." Lara pulled off her socks. "I don't suppose she means the Champs Elysées in Paris?"
The girls gave her blank looks.
"You know. France? You don't want to die without seeing Paris."
Vanessa's shoulders slumped. "It's too late for us. We can never go back." Her eyes filled with tears. "I miss my family and my friends."
"Don't cry," Kristy hissed at her. "If you look bad, you'll never be chosen. Besides, you'll get to see your family again someday."
"Yeah." Vanessa frowned. "After they die."
"Why would you have to wait?" Lara asked. "We could just leave here and go home."