I stood on a stage wearing a long black and white dress.  My hair was loose around me and shining under a bright spotlight.  The light was so bright that I had to squint, nearly blinded.  Hazy shadows surrounded the stage.  I knew there were people, but that is all I could tell.  Attempting to see better, I tried to raise my hand to shade my eyes but found I couldn’t.  My hands were bound together by rope and another long rope connected my wrists to a third rope that tied my ankles together.  Due to the ropes, I could only lift my arms up and in front to my chest level.  Girls stood on either side of me in a straight line across the stage.

Some of the girls smiled like beauty contestants while others wept silently.  I was just confused.  A loud voice spoke over a microphone, half the words were garbled, while half were crystal clear.

“Eri Sophia Lee!” the voice called jovially.

The crowd cheered and someone yanked me forward to the center of the stage.

“Just turned fifteen,” the speaker announced. “Eri is an avid history student with the motto you can always learn from the past.  She is athletic but does not do well in team sports…”

A mocking boo sounded around me.  The announcer laughed then continued.

“She maintains above average grades, although math is her Achilles’s Heel.  Originally the middle child, Eri is now the oldest since her brother Seth was murdered on her seventh birthday.  She is further proof that a daughter cannot replace a son in a mother’s heart.”

My cheeks burned red as hot tears trailed down my face.  It wasn’t my fault Seth died!

“She comes from good genetics and high fertility.  She is pretty when her mouth doesn’t get in the way and a top pick by our audience. So, the question is… Do you kiss or kill?”

Suddenly I stood naked.  Screaming, I discovered I had no voice.  Desperately I tried to cover my body, but the ropes made it impossible.  A man made of shadows appeared.  He looked me over and smiled.  His teeth flashed white and were the only part of his distinguishable, aside from his shape.  The shadow man towered over me.  Nodding, he waved me back into line.  The crowd went crazy.  Someone dragged me back in place.  Another girl was pulled forward.  The announcer spoke, but I couldn’t understand him. The shadow man approached the girl and looked her over then raised a gun.  I screamed as he shot her execution style.  Her body crumpled to the stage floor.  Someone dragged her away.

“More! More! More!” the crowd roared.

Raising his arms in encouragement, the shadow man faced the audience.  Turning back to the line of girls, he beckoned.  Girl after girl was brought forward, shot, and dragged away. The cheers were deafening to my ears as I cried. The last girl stood in front of me.  She turned her head and I gasped as I recognized my best friend and adopted sister, Summer.  I called her name soundlessly and she smiled sadly. Then her head snapped back as a gun cracked.  Summer’s eyes stayed open as she fell.  Scream again, but making no noise, I collapsed.  Someone caught me and held me up.  The murdering man approached me, confident and grinning.  Tears poured down my face and I knew I was next.  Why had I been saved for last?  Why had he killed them all?

A low chant began and grew slowly as the man just stared at me.  Gaining volume, the chant reached my ears as I wept uncontrollably.

“Kiss or kill…kiss or kill,” the chant called. “Kiss or kill!”

The stage shook under me as the chant roared.  The man threw a hand up for silence and instantly all noise stopped.  Even my breath and tears made no noise.  Grinning, the man pointed the gun as my head.  I wanted, at first, to beg for my life, but then I felt iron slide into my spine.  I straightened, freeing myself from whoever held me.  Meeting the shadow man’s eyes, or at least I thought I was, I set my mouth stubbornly and swallowed my fear.  A cold laugh came from the man and he pulled the trigger.  Nothing happened. Another laugh and the man threw the gun to the audience, who fought over it as if it was a famous singer’s handkerchief. Grabbing me, the man continued to smile, his teeth like a sideways crescent moon in pitch blackness.  Suddenly I could see his eyes, which were a brilliant, bright winter blue. 

“Do you think I would ever let you get off so easily?” the man whispered, his voice chilling my bones. “Your punishment will last forever.  We will go to hell together.  You will be my Persephone.”

Leaning down, the man pressed his face to mine and his darkness swallowed me.

Bolting up in bed, I found myself unable to breath.  My face felt tight and puffy from crying in my sleep.  A shiver ran through my body.  Looking around, I saw my alarm clock and realized I only had ten minutes until my alarm sounded.  My electronic book reader lay next to my alarm clock and I could see that the story of Hades and Persephone still was open. 

“I have to stop reading Greek and Roman myths before bed,” I scowled, mad at myself for putting off my homework reading so often.

Shakily, I got out of bed and went to shower.  Normally, I showered before bed so I could sleep longer, but that morning my face felt crusty. A shower would help me wake up and clear my head. To this day that dream is imprinted in my memory. 

The hot water made me sigh in relief and I began to scrub my face.  Once I felt better, I stepped out of the shower and toweled off.  Wrapping the towel around me, I glanced quickly at myself in the mirror.  Squelching a sigh, I always wished that I looked more like my friends.  While most people had highly mixed genetics, they never really looked like it.  For me, on the other hand, it was clear that I was what they called an all-American mutt.  It probably wouldn’t have been as obvious if I didn’t have unfairly straight blonde hair and deep honey colored skin, contributions of my mother and father. Suppressing a second sigh, I stepped into the hallway. No point in worrying about things that I couldn’t change. 

I had tried dying my hair to black to match my mom’s, but my hair was too porous.  After only a few days it bled out the dye and the only thing that I got for my effort was ruined pillowcases.  My mom had not been happy.  She had forbidden me from dying my hair again after that.  Of course, she had always loved blonde hair, one of the reasons she had been attracted to my father.  She never understood what it felt like to look like your hair and skin didn’t match.  My mother had beautiful black hair that she kept short due to its natural tight curls. But with her elegant bone structure and deep almond skin, it all worked well together. It was different for me. People were always asking where I got my hair dyed or where I got my contacts.  No one ever believed a girl of my skin tone could have naturally blonde hair and blue eyes. It was always such a pain in the butt to explain that both of my parents had blonde hair, blue eyes, and dark skin in their family history.  It was very rare for such genetics to line up, but they had.  My brother Seth had been the same way.  Closing my eyes as I stood in the bathroom’s doorway, I had to shake the idea of Seth from my mind.  The dream had brought up some painful feelings that I didn’t want to deal with that morning.   

My family’s house was larger than average, with a total of three floors.  On the third floor the stairs led to a small landing with a bedroom directly to the right with windows on the front of the house.  To the left of the landing was a long hallway.  If a person turned right from the landing, they would walk about two yards and find the bathroom Summer and I shared on the left, followed immediately by my room.  Summer’s room was directly across from mine.  My younger brother, Peter, had the room by the stairs, which had a small private bathroom.  About four yards down the hall to the left of the landing was my parents’ room.  It would be many years  before I would realized how big my house was back then.  Many apartments were smaller than my parents’ bedroom, not including my mother’s vanity and bathroom.

As I shook off the bad feelings, I took another stepped out of the bathroom, bumping into someone.  The floor was slick from the water dripping off my hair, so I slipped.  Strong hands caught me.  Looking up, I saw winter blue eyes, bright and beautiful.  My mind flashed to my dream and I struggled to get away from the stranger.  Struggling caused me to slip again and the stranger quickly held me tighter, his arms wrapped around my waist.

“Are you alright?” the man asked.

His voice was a surprising combination of educated and rough.

The stranger was young, only about nineteen or twenty.  Long eyes lashes hooded his startling blue almond eyes as they rested on his delicate but masculine cheek bones.  His jawline was long and there was a small dimple in his chin, not enough to be a cleft but noticeable.  The man’s nose was Persian looking, making his softer features less feminine.  The mouth that he spoke from was bowed shaped and a gentle pink.  He was a beautiful man.

“I am fine,” I blushed, straightening and standing properly.

His arms remained around my waist.  Blushing deeper, I found him to be too close.  Someone laughed and the man and I turned to see an older man watching us.

“Arkon, I know I say to be nice to the clients, but I didn’t mean that nice,” the older man chuckled.

Glancing at each other, Arkon and I saw he still held me.  We jumped apart and I tightened my grip on my towel.

“Who are you two?” I asked, hoping not to sound rude.

“Your mom hired us to fix the attic fan,” the older man said.

He gestured to the large fan above us. The fan had been on the fritz.  It was only April, but, in a few months, it would be hot and stuffy and we’d need the attic fan.

“Isn’t it early for you to be here?” I continued cautiously.

“Yes, ma’am, but your mom agreed to it.  We are packed all week, and this was the only time we could make it.  My name is Bryan by the way.  You met my nephew, Arkon.”

Bryan held his hand out to me, and I took it carefully.  Shaking his hand, I felt thick calluses that must have taken years to develop.  Unlike his nephew, Bryan was average.  He stood at an average height of five-eleven with plain brown hair and simple brown eyes. His build was stocky, with thick limbs and fingers.  It was hard to guess his age, because I had a feeling Bryan had not aged well.  Hard lines on his face told me he had worked a lot of labor-intensive jobs.  Bryan’s nose was large and rounded with an unnoticeable mouth.  Compared to Arkon, I saw no family resemblance.  Nephew by marriage is all I could guess.

“Nice to meet you.  I must excuse myself,” I said still wary of the two men. “I will be running late for school soon.”

“Of course.  Don’t let us stop you,” Bryan grinned at me and I felt that I would forget what he looked like after I left the house. 

Slipping by them, I felt their eyes on me as I entered my room.  I shut and locked the door, changing quickly.  Maybe I was being paranoid, but strange men always made me nervous. It had only gotten worse when I hit puberty. Once I had gotten into my school clothes, I slipped by Bryan and Arkon to use the bathroom again.  I brushed my teeth and applied minimal makeup.  Dashing down the stairs, I found my mother in the kitchen. I opened my mouth to ask her about the two men upstairs when I saw two more men in the kitchen.  My mother appeared frazzled.

“Eri, good, you are here,” my mother sighed. “These men are from the city.  They have to clean out our gas lines.  I have an early meeting to get to and I still have to drop off your brother.”

“Why doesn’t Peter take the bus with me?” I asked, bringing up an old argument.

Frowning, my mother gave me the “not in front of company look.” It was my turn to sigh. 

“What do you need me to do, mother?” I asked as I scrounged up food for breakfast.

My mother gave the man nearest her a look that clearly said “teenagers!” The man smiled and then looked at me. He was Hispanic with a very round face, dark oval eyes, and short cut black hair.  His mouth appeared to hold a perpetual smile, which made me think he was a good-humored man.  A five o’clock shadow was already visible on his face and he appeared to be in average shape. 

“I need to leave in just a few minutes.  Could you please write these gentlemen and the men upstairs a check for me?” my mother sighed as if she were already tired of my attitude.

“I have to leave to catch the bus soon,” I protested, but she shot me one of her classic looks. 

“Do not worry, Mrs. Lee,” the second man said slowly.  His voice was rhythmic like a bass guitar. 

The second man was dark skinned, his accent hinting that he was from somewhere in Africa.  He stood in contrast with his partner. His face was very oval with round black eyes and ridiculously long eyelashes that made him look half asleep.  The second man’s figure was wiry and lean, while his partner was average, bordering on stocky. Unlike his partner, the second man appeared to never smile or frown, his face calm and placid.  A well-maintained mustache-goatee combo surrounded extremely full lips. 

“We can always come back for the payment,” he continued in his slow pace. “We have quite a few homes to work on in this neighborhood today.  It is no problem.”

“Are you sure?” my mother asked, hopefully.

“I am sure.  Do not worry.  We will collect payment later for our services.”

“Thank you.  I appreciate it.”

Flashing one of her Sunday Social smiles, my mother shook both man’s hands.  In a few minutes she left to grab her things and my brother.  I poured myself a bowl of cereal and ate silently.  I always hated eating around people who were working.  The men were looking over our gas stove and I felt I was in their way.  In a moment my brother Peter appeared, bustled along by my mother.  Running to me, Peter hugged me, his face in my stomach.  Peter had always been small for his age and, with an eight-year difference, I was more like a second mom than a sister. He also took after my father, so we didn’t look much alike.  He had dirty blonde hair with pale skin. Peter was lucky though, because he did have my mom’s gorgeous deep brown eyes and her curls.

“Bye Eri!” he called, his voice muffled by my shirt.  “I see you later!”

“Bye Peter,” I laughed, hugging him.  “Go be smart!”

He grinned toothily at me and left with my mother.  The two men smiled at me and I blushed.