TAMING APOLLO | completed

05. blood rituals and the virgins who make them

G A Y L E

05. blood rituals and the virgins who make them

IF you told me twelve hours ago that a has-been Greek god would be drawing summoning sigils on my apartment floor to call upon another Greek god, I'd point you down the street to White Feather.

Yet here I am stood behind Apollo as he draws them upon my floors with white chalk. My heartbeat has quickened, it's starting to feel a lot less like we're heading for the brotherly reunion Apollo spoke of and more of a demonic sacrifice.

I have my doubts.

"We're almost done," Apollo announces loudly, chucking the chalk onto the ground and dusting off his hands against the baggy white top I borrowed him.

He saunters into the kitchen and pulls open a few drawers before finding what he was looking for and closes them.

"This is a bad idea, you guys. What if we summon a demon or something." Thalia states nervously, pacing across the living room.

I want to scream out that she's right, that we should just erase all the suspicious looking sigils on the ground and order some pizza cause not only am I terrified, but I'm also hungry.

Apollo emerges from the kitchen with a sharp knife in one hand and a bag of biscuits in the other, making both Thalia and I wince in shock when he flails it around nonchalantly.

"Nonsense, we're almost done. I just need one more thing." He answers, biting into one of the biscuits I had stored in my pantry.

Great, he rummages pantries too.

"What?" Thalia asks hesitantly, brown eyes fixed on the sharp knife in Apollo's hand. He bites into another ginger biscuit and shrugs.

"The blood of a virgin."

Thalia shakes her head at his words as my lips part.

"Excuse me?"

Apollo doesn't see phased by his notion to use the blood of a virgin to complete his ritual, he just keeps eating my biscuits. "The blood of a virgin." He says again, though his mouth is full with biscuits. "These are good." He murmurs to himself.

He finishes chewing his biscuits and then swallows them, he seems satisfied when he holds up the knife and his eyes dart between both Thalia and I. "So who will it be?" He asks and I scowl at him.

I look to Thalia for help, and he looks at her as well, holding up his knife higher. Thalia's brown eyes widen at this and she lifts up her palms in surrender. "Hell no! Prom night, Johnny Burke, it was a magical experience." She retorts, making Apollo put his arm down.

"Well I guess that leaves — "

"No! I'm not giving you my blood! That's so weird." I shiver at the thought of my blood being anywhere out of my body.

He groans. "I don't need much, okay? I just need a drop or two, do you want to see Ariel or not?" He asks and Thalia smirks.

"Yeah, Gayle do you wanna see Ariel or not?" She chuckles. I can tell that she still doesn't believe that any of this is real, she still thinks she's surrounded by idiots who believe in the impossible.