What I wrote last night

Rachel glanced outside of her penthouse window, looking over the afternoon lights of the fabulous Las Vegas strip. It was New Years Eve and tonight she was going to party, just like the rest of the world was when their time zones struck the fateful 12. Her delicate, yet talented hands brushed through her black hair, the silky texture nice underneath her tanned skin. In the background she could hear the low sounds of her parent’s television, probably playing some soap opera for her mother while her step-father was out running the casino below. She sighed lightly, her warm breath fogging up the window, causing a small smile to dance along her lips. Taking her hand from her hair which fell down to the middle of her back, she pressed her finger against the cool, smooth glass and drew a smiley face. It was unusually cold in southern Nevada, even for the end of the year…though she didn’t care; she actually preferred the cold weather to the hot, dry climate of the desert.

She could still remember the trips up to Tahoe and Canada that her mother would take her on for skiing…oh how she loved to ski! She was no Olympic level athlete on skis, but she was no amateur either...she could certainly hold her own in many regional contests. However recently, those trips weren’t as common because of the summer camp she attended to protect herself and her family from monsters. Rachel was no ordinary mortal…not by a long shot. She was the child of Apollo, and not the guy selling kebabs down the street. Her daddy was the great Greek god, or rather GGG. The god of the sun and music and such, although he really didn’t pass much of his grand powers down to her…well maybe the accuracy, but that she thought to be earned by her training in the hands of her brethren and the all wise Chiron; the centaur.

She stood from the comfortable teal window seat and stretched, raising her arms above her head with a small yawn before walking towards her closet, the mahogany doors expertly crafted with elegant designs set in the wondrous wood. She had an hour until she had to get to the party, but it was a fifteen minute drive and she wished to get their early, to help everyone set up, so she thought that she might as well go now…once she had gotten dressed of course. She had selected the new Jason Wu botanical gown, the one her aunt had given her for Christmas, along with the dark heels that went along with the black dress. She changed into the sleek gown the floral patterns along her upper body and back complimenting her form as she did a quick spin before the grand mirror she had. She smiled slyly, walking over to her jewelry and sliding on a silver bracelet, before picking up the necklace she had been given so long ago.

It was elegant, and smooth to the touch, though one could always feel certain warmth coming from its metallic surface, no matter where you were. The cord was of nothing special, just a smooth metal string...but the charm was of bronze, stretched into the image of the sun. She smiled softly and slipped it onto her neck, positioning the sun charm in the middle of her body, where it would look the nicest. She reached into her jewelry box for something else when her white iphone began to play ‘Hold on till May’ by a band her friend Shiro had gotten her to listen to over the past years they had known each other. With a quick movement back across the room to her expertly made bed, she selected the device and swiped her finger across the phone, viewing the texts.

‘Rachel what time r u coming 2nite?’

She groaned, hating when people refused to use proper English…or whatever language they knew and went to a ‘text speak’ style. Sure, it was much simpler, but it also annoyed her to no end. After a quick reply to her good friend, she slipped on her heals, grabbed her purse which held the collapsed forms of her deadly demigod weapons and headed towards the door. “MOM! I’m heading out now, I’ll be home late” She shouted and left, advancing towards the elevator at the end of the wonderfully designed hallway. Once to the large doors of the elevator, she pressed the button and rode it down to the lobby.

After a quick wave to the doorman, she left the building and headed along the brightly lit streets, smiling at everyone that passed. She made her way to the corner and paused, sticking her hand into the air and waving it. “TAXI!” It wasn’t long after that when a shiny yellow cab pulled up and the door opened.

“Need a lift missy?” The driver asked with a smirk, and after a brief exchange in information, Rachel got in the taxi and looked out the window. However, it still took her a moment to realize something was wrong…very wrong. The cab driver was heading out of the city! Rachel sprung into action at once and attempted to yank open the slide between the driver and the back seats, but it was locked tight. So were the doors, and the windows. Rachel had walked right into a trap, of a monster no less! She could just hear some of her bullies back at camp now, making fun of whatever memory she had left at how the stupid Apollo girl walked right into a trap. Then again, Rachel was not known to suddenly give up.

She glanced besides her and grabbed her purse, the dark leather course against her sweaty fingers as she dug around inside, before her hand rested on the metallic cylinder, which she pulled out and uncapped. At once the cylinder expanded in her palm, becoming longer and heavier, until the transformation was complete and she was left holding a single handed, double bladed sword, fashioned in a Greek style she could not remember, although plenty of her friends at camp could. “I will not be contained!” She stated a glanced back at the front seats only to gasp in horror. She was doomed.

At some point while the child of the sun was arming herself the driver had locked the accelerator and departed from the vehicle, leaving her to journey on to her doom….a five hundred foot drop into the Colorado river. She took a moment to stare at her impending doom before spring into action, the short distance between the automobile and the cliff becoming shorter by the second. Swinging her arm as hard as she could in the limited space she smashed through the clear plastic divider, sharp shards flying everywhere as the car reached, then passed 88 miles per hour. However, this wasn’t the 80s, she wasn’t in a Delorean, and this taxi was in no way a time machine.

Thankfully, she was small and flexible, which helped her squeeze into the front seat after dropping her blade with the rest of her things. Her blue eyes roamed over the various dials, although the only thing that would be useful to the girl was the brakes. She stomped her foot to where the brake should have been…but her foot didn’t hit it, and glancing down she saw why: the brake had been removed violently. Her hand flew to the emergency brake, and now she could see the edge of the cliff, closing fast. Frantically she pulled on the emergency brake, but it simply would not budge in her hand. Risking a glance at her possible death sentence, she knew she only had milliseconds do save herself, somehow. 60...50...40...30... She was almost out of land when she yanked hard on the wheel, but that only made things worse. The tires could simply not take the sudden turn and the taxi flipped, the glass shattering and the metal denting as the cab continued to death roll….right over the cliff, hurtling down the three hundred foot drop to the water below, but from this height…the water would be just as bad as concrete.

Inside the cab it was no joyride either, Rachel had grabbed onto the wheel and refused to let go, desperately pulling back on it as if it was a plane, but with no effect. Cuts from the glass lay over her, although she ignored the pain, staring down as the water closed in within seconds. She closed her eyes and waited for impact, waited for thanatos to appear with his glossy black ipad and check her name off….but death never happened, instead she felt a ripple of air, a blunt blow to her torso, and then a flash of white as she blacked out.

When she woke she wasn’t in the car, and she wasn’t in the water…she was by a fire….wait, fire? She burst up with a painful grunt and looked around for whoever had saved her…only to find herself alone in the night, in the middle of nowhere. The river roared behind her, and the car apparently with it...along with everything else. Well….not exactly. In five minutes or so, her weapons would reappear with her...but that was five minutes of being unarmed. She examined herself and sighed, her dress was all but destroyed, her heels were gone, and her hair was a mess. Not to mention the cuts she had along her arms and legs from the glass. “Great...there goes a $9000 plus dress…”She muttered to herself as her two clinder containers appeared in her hands. She grinned, although at this moment Rachel would have preferred to have her bow.

A sound from across the fire roused her from her thoughts and she again opened one of the metallic containers, allowing the sword to form for a second time that night. Without making another sound she crept closer and saw a dirty girl messing around with something in her hand, although she couldn’t tell. From what Rachel could tell, the other young lady was a brunette…or a dirty blonde, it was hard to tell in the flickering light of the quickly dying fire. Although before Rachel could say anything to her, the other girl broke the ice and spoke.

“Dancing with death is not something you should do you know” The girl stated, her voice very smooth, but also hiding much pain. Her accent was not from around Nevada, or even New York for that matter…but it did sound familiar. She thought maybe one of the Aphrodite girls at camp had a similar accent…Italian? No…but it had to be European. The girl turned and as she did, the firelight fell across her pale, angular face. Her sharp blue eyes gleamed in the light and in her hands was a medium sized sword, the tip obviously sharp while the sides looked duller. Rachel thought she had seen the sword before….although she couldn’t place where. The entire driving off a cliff thing had really messed her up.

“Wh…who are you?” Rachel stuttered, already finding that she didn’t like this strange girl, even if she had saved her life from drowning. She held her blade steady, the celestial bronze gleaming in the presence of the fire.

“One such as you. Now if you would please, I don’t like blades being waved in my face. It’s not nice, and it pisses me off, judging a book by its cover” The blonde said, her accent, or accents pointing through and it was now that Rachel remembered where it was from….and she wasn’t liking this girl anymore because of it.

“Demigod? Well then, let me guess who your degusting mother is Aphrodite….” She continued on briefly in Greek, not comfortable in cussing in English with such vulgar language. Though that was the wrong thing to say, and the other girl moved quickly, stabbing straight towards Rachel upper thigh, obviously trying to cripple her.

“I am no child of love, there is no way I would be one. Your false accusations only made me want to end your miserable life. Now fight me like a true Roman!” She shouted and watched as the girl that had accused her of something vulgar block her blade and respond with a slash, not what the dirty blonde was expecting, but she adapted and parried, raising her foot up and kicking Rachel in the stomach, sending her into the river. “You lack form, your footwork is horrible and your blade skills are mediocre. You fight with an outdated system, and you are also exhausted. How do you think you could actually win against me?” The girl asked, mocking her as she pulled out a crossbow and pulled an arrow into place, pointing it at Rachel. “You’re lucky I’m not going to kill you” She grinned and pulled the trigger.

Rachel gasped, feeling the dart hit her and inject her with something, but before she could say or do anything she collapsed into a pile of pebbles, the darkness closing in…


Rachel woke up in her own bed, groaning. She was in one piece still, which was good, although she hurt like hell and she was still covered in scratches. Sunlight filtered in though her window and her iphone lay besides her, buzzing nonstop. That wasn’t surprising, seeing she had missed the party and the fireworks, so her friend Shiro would be on her back about it for at least a week, and she would have to explain her torn up dress. She grunted as she reached for her phone, but instead of feeling the glossy screen, she felt a paper. Frowning slightly she brought it in front of her face.

‘Better luck next time Greek. Next time don’t party with death.

L’