Chapter One
Chapter One
THE LAST customer of the day was slowly leaving. Phoebe reached down to pet her dog, Ace, and moved to close up shop. Since graduating high school, she had worked in fairs across the country as a fortune teller, saving money. She did not know why, but when she touched somebody's hand, she could read their thoughts. Although she could not divine their future, she could make educated guesses that were enough to bring customers back. After saving enough money, she had finally opened up her own shop.
Removing the scarf from around her hair, Phoebe let her red curls cascade along her shoulders. Ace sniffed at some of his dog food while she reached over to grab her purse. Before she could close up, a knock at the door surprised her. In front of the door, she saw one of the most gorgeous men she had ever laid eyes on. Curious, she opened the door and let him in.
“Hello! How can I help you, Mr...?” She paused and waited for him to respond.
“My name is Apollo Mikos. Pleasure to meet you, Phoebe Williams.” The blonde-haired man reached for her hand and shook it. Instantly, a vision arose before her eyes of Apollo and her rolling around in bed sheets. Waves crashed outside the window—a storm was brewing. As the vision of Apollo entered her body forcefully, Phoebe pulled her hand back. The vision went away, but it left a slight blush on Phoebe's cheeks. Reading the minds of other people was occasionally embarrassing and often felt like a major invasion of privacy. Still, she found herself wishing that she could have held his hand a little longer to see where these thoughts took her.
Motioning toward the table and chairs reserved for clients, she asked if he wanted to sit down. Apollo just shook his head.
“I need your help with something, but not like that.” He shrugged his shoulders. Tall and well-built, Apollo had blue eyes and chiseled features. He wore a dark black suit that made all of his muscles ripple beneath the fabric.
Confused, Phoebe looked over at him. “What do you mean?”
Sighing, Apollo looked into her eyes. “You will probably want to sit down for this.” Still uncertain, Phoebe sat down and waited for him to speak again.
Gazing out the window, Apollo framed his thoughts. “I know your mother, Rhea. I also know what you really are and I need your help.”
Phoebe was aghast. “What do you mean? I don't have a mother. I grew up in foster care after my mother left me there when I was two.”
Apollo shook his head. “Before you were born, your mother was r***d. They never found who did it and Rhea lived in constant fear. Soon, she discovered that she was pregnant with twin girls. She planned on naming one Cassandra and the other Phoebe. Due to stress, genetics, or just bad luck, Cassandra was stillborn. For a long time, your mother managed to hold it together and take care of you. From what I've heard, the trauma of the r**e and having to see a reminder of it every day was too much. She gave you up. The added stress of losing a daughter caused her mental state to break, and she checked into a mental institution.”
Leaning back in the chair, Phoebe tried to take it all in. This stranger was telling her things about her life that she didn't even know.
“How do you know all this? And if it’s true, where is my birth mother?”
“I know you must have a lot of questions, but for the moment, I need your help.” From the back of the room, Ace growled slightly. Phoebe didn't notice the growling, but Apollo shot a wary eye at Ace.
“What could I possibly do? How do I know that you are telling the truth?”
Apollo shrugged. “I could take you to your mother and she could tell you. Then, we can move on to the step where you help me.”
The desire to meet this mystery woman who had given birth to her so long ago was too much. Phoebe nodded her assent and grabbed her jacket. Leaving Ace at the fortune teller’s hut, she got into the car with Apollo. As he opened her door, her hand brushed against his arm. Reading his mind again, she saw an image of herself thrown back onto the table and Apollo drawing a knife down her body. It didn't look threatening in the vision. Instead, it looked like some type of foreplay.
Sighing, Phoebe pulled back her hand and got into the car. She occasionally saw s****l fantasies about her in thoughts of other men, but Apollo certainly had the most focus. As the car started, she turned to Apollo. “So, what is the rest of the story that you needed to tell me?”
Looking over at her as he drove, Apollo bit his lip. “I honestly don't know whether it’s better for your mother to tell you. What do you want?”
Phoebe motioned toward him. “I'd rather find out now if that’s possible.” Nodding, Apollo began his tale and cautioned her not to interrupt until the end.
When the world was new, there was a wide variety of species created, and humans came in many forms. During this time, a specific kind of human known as a daemon came into being. These daemons each possessed a god-like trait. These abilities included shape shifting, contacting the spirit world, or moving things using only their minds. From these daemons, legends about gods were created. To the average people, daemons were superhuman.
Bickering and constant conflicts broke out among the daemons. To settle the dispute, they made a deal that each family of daemons would rule their own territories of the world. Since each family tended to have certain kinds of abilities, this was reflected in the mythology of the region. For people like Apollo and Phoebe, mind reading, mind control, and prophecy were just a regular part of life. Their family of daemons had moved over from Greece one hundred years ago.
In keeping with the tradition of their people, each baby was named after a figure in Greek mythology. Phoebe's mother, Rhea, was a daemon and had once been able to change how someone felt. Rhea could calm a room instantly before her mental issues started. Phoebe's talent was reading someone's thoughts. If her twin sister had lived through birth, Cassandra would have been a prophetess.
Other tribes or families of daemons had different abilities, traditions, and powers. For their tribe, individuals could only have children with people from the same tribe. Although Phoebe was not part of it yet, her tribe had been gearing up for conflict. With globalization and the movements of different daemons, the old tribal boundaries and agreements had been broken.
Apollo paused for a breath and looked at Phoebe. “Any questions yet?”
Phoebe froze. She had no clue what to think. His entire story would sound completely ludicrous, except she could read minds and her name was a character from mythology. Deciding for the moment to just assume he was truthful, she asked him a question. “So this is the backstory. But when you came to my shop, you said that you needed my help. For what?”
“A Qilin was born.”
“What is a Qilin?” Phoebe frowned. None of this was getting any easier to understand.
“As the myth goes, a Qilin was a creature that resembled a giraffe with dragon-like features. According to legend, a Qilin appeared before the birth of a great leader or wise man. Unfortunately, we are not entirely sure how the Qilin could foretell which person was the new leader.”
“So a giraffe with dragon scales was born?” Phoebe asked.
“That was the myth. In reality, the Qilin is chosen by a random selection of names. For the Chinese daemon, a system of divining blocks is used. They ask the gods if a name is correct and drop the blocks on the ground. The way the divining blocks fall show if the answer is yes or no. About 30 years ago, two parents went through every name they could possibly think of for their unborn daughter. Finally, they threw out Qilin because it was the only name out of thousands that they had yet to say. Although they checked and rechecked the blocks, the answer kept coming up as a yes. Qilin Wang was born about 30 years ago. To find a great leader that will unite our clans or at least end the fighting, we need to find Qilin.”
Phoebe’s mind began racing with many questions but before she could ask a single one, they arrived at the mental institution. Nervous, she let Apollo check in for her and they made their way through the hallways. Sitting in a day room and working at an easel, Phoebe saw a woman with dark auburn hair and dull green eyes. With a start, she realized that this must be her mother. Never had Phoebe felt so certain about anything before. Walking up to the woman, she placed her hand on Rhea's arm.
In a stream, visions and fragments of visions floated across her mind. She saw a man approaching Rhea in a dark alleyway. A silent scream rose from her lips as the man choked Rhea and pulled up her skirt. Trying not to see the vision, Phoebe was locked in place as the man came into Rhea. As Rhea struggled and cried, he lifted his arm to knock her out. The memory ended and a new one filled her mind. In it, Rhea was crying over a cup of tea and staring at a pregnancy test. In quick succession, the birth followed and the stillborn daughter.
Finally, she saw Rhea talking to a little girl who must have been Phoebe. Rhea was trying to hold the baby Phoebe, but the child just kept crying. As soon as the child was put down, the crying would cease. Terrified, Phoebe watched as Rhea realized what was going on. The child was seeing through her memories of the r**e and the anguish that followed. Crying, Rhea sat away from the child. The memory broke apart and Phoebe looked up.
In front of her, the real Rhea smiled kindly. “I knew you would come someday, dear. I always hoped to meet you in person.”
Phoebe waited a moment to catch her breath. The violence of the r**e, the terror of Rhea and the child hanging in the balance were too much for her. She could see why Rhea ended up in a mental institution. Haggardly, she asked, “Is that why you gave me up?”
Rhea nodded. “I didn't want to. Even though you reminded me of him, you were my daughter. But I couldn't keep you from reading my thoughts and you kept seeing the worst event of my life played over and over. There was no way that you could grow up with a normal life after that. I am glad to see the woman that you have become.”
Leaning back, Phoebe nodded. “So it is all true then? About the daemons and the Qilin?”
Rhea sighed. “Yes, I am afraid so. That prophecy must be a lot to handle.”
“Prophecy?”
Rhea darted her eyes toward Apollo. “You didn't tell her?”
Apollo shook his head. “It wasn't my place. She needed to meet you first and see that what I am saying is real.”
Rhea nodded. “Not long after your birth, the ghost of Cassandra visited me. Instead of an infant, she appeared to me as an adult. She told me that the killing of the Qilin would reveal the great leader who would bring peace among the daemons.”
Phoebe paused. “So Apollo needs me to find the Qilin so he can kill it? How will that work?”
Turning to Phoebe, Apollo shrugged. “I have narrowed down where the Qilin may be to San Francisco's Chinatown. After her birth, her parents sent her to the United States to hide her. All you need to do is touch the arm of girls that are about 20-30 years old in Chinatown and read their thoughts. From their thoughts, you will be able to find which girl is actually the Qilin.”
Phoebe nodded. Everything seemed so strange, but she had lived as an oddity all her life. At least now she had a reason that explained her abilities and why she grew up so alone. “I'm in. Let's go find the Qilin.”
