Chapter Text
Natalie Scatorccio hated Christmas.
She particularly didn’t like winter to begin with, but Christmas? It was worse. Christmas reminded her of all of the years she had to scrape in garbage-paying jobs while all the kids got to spend Christmas Eve with their families.
Someone had to make money so the company would not cut the gas, so they wouldn’t freeze to death in the four walls of rotting wood you could barely count as an actual house. That was probably why she never believed in Santa; she was the one who made other kids believe in Santa. She thought about how she used to wrap gifts with her small freezing hands.
Natalie remembered the envious, twisted feeling she got in her stomach watching the kids who got to be… just kids. No hunger, no blooming bruises to hide with long sweaters, no apologies to rehearse when you mess up a job.
That was why it didn’t feel real when she finally got to be one of these kids, a 18-year-old kid that is. Still, she would pinch herself sometimes just to remind herself that this life was hers. A part of her was still afraid that it could get taken away at any second.
Everything started at her 18th birthday. Natalie and her best friend Kevyn had gotten into a stupid fight. She never thought it would end up in a juvie. But there she was. Happy birthday to me, she thought. Such a wonderful way to start a new age. She would have to serve her punishment, obviously. There was no one to bail her out. Hell, even the thought of it was a stranger to Nat.
So, when a certain Ms. Taylor came to visit her in the juvenile center, Natalie was surprised for sure. She had never known any Ms. Taylors. But this? Damn, she was not expecting this. Her douchebag of a father left Natalie’s mother Vera, before Natalie was even born. She never knew who he was, and she never cared to know. At least, that was what she had been telling people. Say this long enough, she told herself, you will believe it eventually. However, when the lady told her that he was part of a big god representative lineage, Natalie just laughed. She laughed so damn hard that she nearly pissed herself.
She gave a quite short answer, only two words. Fuck off. Who let her out of the psych ward for her to tell some bullshit about her father? Then, Ms. Taylor made an offer. A one that Natalie couldn’t even think of rejecting. A get-out-of-the-juvie-free card. All she had to do was go with her. To some weirdass rich-kid private school. Natalie had handled worse; she could handle stupid rich kids. Or she thought so back then.
That was how she ended up in Wiskayok Academy, where the Greek Gods were real. And all of the kids? The kids were supposedly some kind of Divine Representative. From the outside, the school seemed like a typical over-the-top rich-kid boarding school. However, the inside… That was where everything got freaky.
Natalie would never believe it if she hadn’t seen it with her own eyes. All the kids with their freaky, magical powers. She couldn’t do any of the things yet, so it was a surprise they even let her in here, but she guessed there had to be something Ms. Taylor knew. And the thing about handling stupid rich kids? That was harder than she thought.
Natalie always had a huge problem with fitting in, but it was never this bad. The worst one was the headmistress’s daughter, Jackie, who was the Aphrodite Representative. She even found a nickname for her. Burnout. What the fuck was that supposed to mean? And wherever she went, her best friends, Shauna Shipman and Lottie Matthews, followed her like little puppies, very judgmental puppies for sure.
At least, Shauna was like that. She always looked at Natalie with some kind of judgment in her eyes, a kind of judgment that would always remind her she was of the lower class. Lottie Matthews… She was different. She wasn’t as judgmental or mean as Jackie and Shauna were. However, she didn’t know a lot of things about her.
She had a different personality compared to the other two for sure. She was quieter, more mysterious. She never saw any judgment in Lottie’s eyes. Her eyes even kinda looked sad, she once thought to herself.
The only friend she (kind of?) had there was a girl named Misty, the Hephaestus Representative. She seemed sweet, but she was… Weird in her own way. Still, it was better than being completely alone.
So, she was waiting for Misty to pick her up for the Christmas Party of the Wiskayok Academy. She didn’t know what to expect, to be honest. She had never been to a party among the rich, except for the one time she worked as a waitress at Randy Walsh’s family’s home.
That party ended with a tray of shrimp cocktail spilled on a senator’s wife and her getting screamed at for a solid ten minutes while holding back tears.
Yeah, she was better at fixing things and maybe even shooting than carrying tables. But on the bright side, this one couldn’t be worse, right?
She turned to the mirror and smudged her mascara a little bit. This was a habit of hers that she couldn’t have gotten rid of. It was never smudged enough.
While she was checking her eyes in the mirror before a soft knock on the door made her jump.
It must have been Misty.
Her curly blonde hair was tucked under a ridiculous beanie shaped like a gingerbread man. “Hi, Natalie!”
Natalie smiled briefly, “Hey.”
Misty pushed her punch to the air. “So, are you ready to party all night? I heard that some of the Dionysus kids plan to spike the punch tonight. It will be amazing!”
Natalie was sure Misty had never drunk any alcohol in her life, ever. And she had suspicions about how amazing the party would be as well. But she didn’t say anything about it. Instead, she just said, “Yes, I am… excited.” She was not.
The hallway outside her dorm room was lined with glimmering fairy lights, like someone had vomited Christmas spirit all over it. Gilded garland shimmered along the banister. Every surface reeked of cinnamon and expensive indulgence.
“Will you be drinking the punch tonight?” Misty asked with a wondering voice.
“Hell, yeah. Whatever helps me get through this night.” Natalie answered.
“I brought you a matching heart-shaped ring to mine. So people would get we are best friends, isn’t it cute?” She handed Nat a ridiculous looking heart-shaped ring. Would it be rude if she said that she didn’t like it?
“Thanks… It doesn’t match my outfit today. I might wear it with another dress. Cool?” Nat asked.
Misty’s smile faltered for a second, but just for a second. She nodded enthusiastically.
“Oh, totally! It’s, like, super versatile. You could wear it on Valentine’s Day too. Or maybe if you ever go on a mission and need a focus ring for channeling…”
Natalie blinked. “Channeling what?”
Misty tilted her head, a strange glint in her eyes. “You know. Powers.”
Right. Powers.
Natalie didn’t even know what kind she was supposed to have. Or if she had any at all. They kept saying it would “awaken” eventually, that “blood reveals itself in pressure.” Whatever the hell that meant. Sounded like cult-speak. Sounded like bullshit.
But then again, this entire school was bullshit. Pretty, gold-dipped, god-touched bullshit.
As they descended the wide staircase leading toward the ballroom, she could hear the music already. Strings and synth, rich and haunting. Definitely expensive. The kind of music you’d hear in the background of a movie right before something beautiful and terrible happens.
She hated how her heart was racing.
The main doors were propped open, and the moment Natalie stepped inside, it was like falling into a dream she didn’t belong to.
White marble floors dusted in shimmer. A crystal chandelier that hovered, not hung, above them like a glowing jellyfish. Tables that adjusted their size depending on who walked by. People, glowing. Actually glowing.
She tightened her fists to stop her hands from shaking.
Misty led her through the crowd with a springy bounce that didn’t match the heavy atmosphere pressing down on Natalie’s chest. She passed girls with silver tattoos shimmering under their sheer gowns, boys with ember-colored eyes who whispered in tongues she couldn’t place. Some wore togas. Some wore tailored velvet suits. Every single one of them looked like they belonged here.
Then there was her. Secondhand dress. Combat boots. Hair she’d tried to tame but gave up on halfway through. Burnout.
She grabbed a glass of punch and downed half of it.
Misty gasped. “I thought you were kidding!”
Natalie wiped her mouth. “Guess I’m not.” She answered, smiling.
While she was about to take another sip of her punch, a hand held her arm. A cold but gentle hand with long, delicate fingers. Lottie Matthews, she thought.
“Can I speak to you in private?” Lottie asked. Why the fuck Lottie would want to speak to her in private? This was the same Lottie Matthews who trailed Jackie like her own designer purse. But now… She had that look again. The mysterious, sad look that she would notice. It was as if she was grieving for something, or someone.
“Uh… Yeah, I guess.” She answered. She felt her heart racing, like this was one of Jackie’s games. Maybe Lottie would act kind just to dig up some secrets for Jackie’s fun. She had a shitload of secrets as well. She reminded herself once again to be careful.
“I will be back in a minute, Misty.” Nat added. She saw Misty’s face faltering once again but she smiled through it.
“Okay, I will be here… hanging out with my other friends. I guess.”
While Nat and Lottie were walking outside the gym she checked out Lottie’s white dress, and her shimmering makeup. She had left her long, black, wavy hair down, which were braided in general. Natalie liked her hair like that better. Looser. Softer. It had a nice vanilla smell to it. She had always like vanilla smell.
After they left the gym, Lottie locked eyes with Natalie. Natalie felt her heart beating faster, once again. “I am listening, Lottie. What’s the deal?”
Lottie put her hand on Natalie’s arms again. Natalie felt her skin crawling.
“You need to leave this party. I saw a vision… of you dying, in this party.”
What. The. Fuck?