Vampire Greek: The Burning King

Roman ran backwards, slamming his assailant into the wall. He turned around, ready to shred it to pieces, when it spoke.

“Ow! Calm down! Have you lost your mind?!”

That voice.

Roman backed up and turned on the lights in his room. Standing next to his closet, rubbing her arm, was Audrey. Or as Aphrodite told him, Willa.

“How did you find my house?” He demanded. “Why are you here?”

She looked hurt.

“I came to warm you. My father wants you dead.”

“Audrey!” Caitlyn shrieked, appearing out of nowhere. She ran past Roman and gave her a hug.

Roman didn’t share the sentiment.

“Her name isn’t Audrey, Caitlyn. It’s Willa. And we already know. Aphrodite told us.”

“Aphrodite? She’s here already?!” Willa pulled Caitlyn off of her and ran in the closet.

“No she’s not here. But she visited twice. She said something about Caitlyn’s parents, and them giving Caitlyn to her.”

Willa peeked out and Caitlyn showed her the bracelets.

“You’re going to be a maiden? That’s amazing. I thought you had to reach maturity before you could become one though.”

“Maybe that’s why she hasn’t taken her.” Roman thought aloud.

“You sound disappointed. What’s wrong?” Willa and Caitlyn both stared at him, waiting for an answer.

“What scares you about Aphrodite?” He replied. “She didn’t seem that menacing to us.”

“I’m not scared of her, but she could tell Zeus I was with you. He forbid me from seeing you.”

“And yet, here you are.”

“Because they are coming for you, Zeus and the others! The oracle has shown them something, something they wouldn’t even tell me. You have a dark and twisted prophecy. So dark that the highest gods are coming to eliminate you.”

Roman’s expression dropped.

“And you... You don’t know anything about it?”

“No. I told you they won’t tell me.”

“Why don’t you ask the oracle yourself? Or, take me to it?”

“We need to get you out of here first! The gods are coming!” said Willa, exasperated.

Roman smiled and backed out the room. Caitlyn and Willa followed him.

“So when they show up, what exactly are they going to do?” He entered the living room, grabbed the remote and turned the volume all the way up.

“Are they going to jump me? Throw fireballs at me? Blast me with lightning... again?" Roman laughed started flipping on all the lights.

“I don’t know much about Greek mythology, but I know Zeus is like the king of the gods. If he tried to kill me once, and failed, what do I have to be scared of? I say let them come invite them in. Hell, I’ll order a pizza.” Roman laughed some more. “Let’s have a movie night!”

“You need to take this seriously!” Willa demanded, frustrated. Roman’s phone rang and he motioned her to be silent while he answered.

“Shh, it’s Barry. What’s up?” Roman walked to the kitchen and grabbed a box of popcorn out the pantry. “Wait, what?” Roman left the kitchen and went towards the front door.

“What did he say?” asked Caitlyn.

“There’s people outside. On my lawn. Right now.” said Roman, looking through the peephole.

Willa rushed forward and shoved him aside. She looked for barely a second before ducking down.

“That’s them!” She said in a hushed whisper.

“No! Barry do not attack them. They’re connected to that girl I told you about earlier. From last night.”

Willa was close enough to Roman to hear what Barry said on the phone. “You literally have gods at your doorstep!”

“Uh, yeah. Maybe. I’m not sure if that’s what they are but you do not need to get near my house. Where are you?”

“Across the street. I was out running and I saw them.”

“Stay away. I’ll update you tomorrow morning.”

“Fine. Be careful man. If anything happens, I’ll split your possessions with Claire.” Barry hung up the phone.

Roman smiled to himself and put his phone in his pocket.

“We need to leave, now!” Willa urged.

“I know. So here’s how we’ll do this. I’ll scope out the back while you-”

Everyone jumped as something loud shattered in the distance.

“What was that?” asked Caitlyn. Willa could’ve sworn Roman’s ears actually twitched.

“That was the back door. Something’s inside.” He replied, eyes darkening. They looked like dark, glistening pools of oil, and he bared his fangs as he snarled.

“No! We aren’t fighting here! Grab my hand!” Willa said to Caitlyn. She had already grabbed Roman’s hand and pulled him back forcefully. He was surprised by her strong grip, but after thinking about it, he realized he shouldn’t be.

“You can teleport?!” Caitlyn asked her, bewildered.

“Only to my home. You’ll feel a tingling sensation, and it may burn a little, but it’s only for a second.”

“This better be quick.” Roman muttered, eyes reverting to normal.

Roman’s right arm grew warm in Willa’s grip. It suddenly got very tingling and started to vibrate. Willa kept her grip tight.

“It will be, but it could be scary for your first time, so it’s better to close your eyes. It’ll end almost as soon as it begins.” Willa explained to them.

Caitlyn closed her eyes immediately but Roman chose to keep his open.

“I want to see what this looks like. What it feels like.”

Willa nodded and closed her eyes. The tingling sensation spread everywhere, down their arms and legs, running through their spines. Roman kept his eyes open but it was pointless. The world went completely dark as they teleported. Everything grew cold and their surroundings simply vanished from existence. Suddenly, everyone was soaking wet and it smelled like rain. It did not rain, not naturally. It was as if someone poured a bucket of water on the three of them. Just when the tingling sensation began to burn, Willa said, “You can open your eyes now.”

Roman blinked several times, bewildered. “What? I thought I had my eyes open!”

Willa laughed. “It’s impossible to keep them open.”

Roman leaned against the white marble wall she was standing and rubbed his eyes, blinking away spots.

“Whoa!” Caitlyn exclaimed, examining the room. The room they were in was bigger than anything she had ever seen. Bigger than a church, a football field, or even an entire stadium. The floor and walls were both made of white marble, and huge torches twice the size of normal people lit the room. The ceiling was lit with three chandeliers but it was so high up they didn’t look like they were even connected to the ceiling.

“Willa...” Roman began, staring in awe just like Caitlyn. “This better not be what I think it is.”