Caffè Misto

Chapter 7
“What are you doing at Starbucks?” I asked him.

“What am I doing here?! I’m the one who runs Starbucks. A nice little profit.” He said smugly. “And I bet you demigods thought all you were dealing with was monsters.” A sneer was stretched wide across his face. “Oh no, I am far worse than any dumb monster. I am FEAR. Mortals are so easily manipulated. Everyday thousands of worries go through their minds. Is the coffee pot on? Is there enough coffee? Oh, it’s so fun!”

“But, but, the monster chain!” I stuttered.

“Yes, well, true, there IS a chain. I learned that years ago. I send them out whenever necessary, but mostly I let them roam free, do what they please. Any stubborn mortals, I get personal with. Plus, did I mention we came out with two new flavors of smoothies?”

“You’re a monster.” I told him.

“Hey now,” his eyes flashed dangerously. “Is that any way to treat family?”

“He is our cousin.” Natalie supplied.

I turned to her. “Nat? Not helping.”

“Oh. Sorry.”

“Is he my cousin too?” asked Emma. I ignored that.

“That’s mean,” Rebecca told him. “How would you like it if you had an uncontrollable, fear driven, need for coffee?”

“Would you like a cookie?” Phobos asked innocently.

“No! Why does everyone keep asking me that?”

“That was you?” I cut in, “Fix it! Give Seth his memory back!”

“Anyway,” He replied, ignoring me. “I like where I am. I have everything I want. After all, I am a GOD.”

“You’re only a minor god.” I pointed out, “And I bet even some of those are more powerful, AND I bet the major gods have power OVER you.”

He turned to me, his glowing eyes murderously staring me down. Uh oh, I thought, ''maybe I should have just shut up. ''He cocked his head to the side, as if contemplating artwork. He asked with sarcastic curiosity, “So dear cousin, what is it you fear?” His eyes glowed bright red. All of a sudden I was in a field. A battle was going on around me. Half-bloods were fighting monsters of all kinds. Things weren’t going well for us, I could see it. Almost everyone had a wound of some kind. Then, I zeroed in on Natalie. Her leg was bleeding and she was tired. A hellhound came up and started to fight her. All looked good for a while, but then her leg gave out. With one smooth bite she was wounded, badly. I wanted to run to her, to help her, but I couldn’t. I stood there, helpless, as I watched her die. I looked around, filled with grief. Everywhere my friends and family were dying. Rebecca, Seth, Annabeth, Molly, Leanne, Kate, Emma, Claire, Michael. Even my dad was there, but even he didn’t survive. I was alone with the dead, crying, and then I blacked out.

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