Freya & Taurus

The Twelve who have created our world and kept peace and order in our lands have slept soundly in the heavens for hundreds of thousands of years. But something stirs in them now. The threat of war shadows the planet and the universe. A threat that has built over the last century. In an attempt to save these worlds from the looming threat, the spirits of The Twelve have manifested in twelve unsuspecting humans. Sonia, Freya, Jaison, Ehno, Elric, Hanna, Atsidi, Ty, Layna, Kellina, Shasti, Jerric.

Freya, spirit of Taurus, hear me, Aphrodite. You are one of The Chosen. Your faith and loyalty, friendship and love, and power of the harmonious bull are necessary to win this war. It is time. Awaken, Freya. Reunite with Taurus and The Twelve and bring peace once more to our worlds.

*****

“Earth to Freya. Do you read me?”

Freya turned her gaze to the woman’s lips. “Hm?”

“Did you hear a word I said?”

She shifted her gaze to Mel’s familiar green eyes. “No. Sorry.”

“Where are you today?”

Freya turned back to her computer screen and sighed. Before her, empty-eyed models stared back at her, their bodies mere hangers for the beautiful clothing they displayed.

“Did you have that dream again?”

“I don’t know why I told you about it. You think I’m crazy.”

Mel pulled a slip of scrap paper from its hiding spot under the mousepad. She held it before her and smiled. “I like this one.”

Freya grabbed the slip, crumpling it in her fingers, and tossed it into the trash beside her desk. Mel frowned, crossing her arms as she leaned against the desk.

“Doesn’t matter,” Freya mumbled.

“The dress? Or the dream?”

“Both.”

“The dress is prettier than anything I’ve seen Dunn make. And the dream is just a dream.”

“It’s been happening more frequently. Almost every night now.”

“I think you should show him your design.”

Freya pushed herself away from her desk, wheeling backwards. “So the bastard can take credit like he does everything else? I don’t think so.”

“You work for the bastard.”

Freya shook her head. “I’m an intern. I don’t even get paid.”

“There might be a position at the end of your internship.”

“Why would I want to work for that guy?”

“What else are you going to do when you graduate?”

Freya stood, scooping her purse up from the floor with her. She swung the bag over her shoulder. “Find a job at another company.”

“You don’t know how long that could take. You should stay here until you can find something else.”

Freya smiled. “You just don’t want me to leave.”

Mel blushed. “Beats the catty bitches I have to deal with here. Plus, I’m a nobody here. You could be a somebody.”

Freya eyed the scrap paper laying on it’s own in the wastebasket and shrugged her shoulder. “Lunch tomorrow?”

“Do I look like a starving model?” She placed her hands on her hips as if to insinuate her womanly curves.

Freya smiled. “See you tomorrow, then.”

Freya’s heels clicked on the linoleum floor as she passed desks and offices. She kept her head down as she walked until she rounded the corner into the empty hallway. She paused at the elevator, waiting for it to open its doors before deciding for the stairs instead. Her steps echoed off the stairwell walls as she trotted down. Could I use this as an excuse to skip the gym?

The warm sun kissed her cheeks as she emerged out of the cold building. The breeze blew gently through her hair as she made her way across the parking lot. Her car beeped twice as the doors unlocked and she slid into the driver’s seat. She threw her purse against the seat beside her where her gym bag waited. She sighed at the bag. The gym was only right down the street, and what did she have waiting for her at home in an empty apartment?

She turned the key in the ignition and pulled out of the parking lot, making the familiar drive to the gym. It was still early and unlikely to be crowded. Freya changed quickly in the locker room and made her way to her favorite treadmill in the corner to begin her usual routine. She flipped to her work-out playlist on her iPod and placed the earbuds carefully in her ears as the music drowned out the world around her.

She focused absentmindedly on the tv screen across the room as her mind drifted back to the recurring dream. She could hear the voice clearly in her mind, but otherwise, it was complete darkness. That was what bothered her the most - a dream of only audio and no visuals, unlike a dream she had ever had before.

She raised the speed on the treadmill as she scanned the gym. The afternoon sunlight looked so appealing at that moment. It had felt like a lifetime since the sun had emerged from the winter gray clouds. It was warm for early March, but Freya couldn’t be more excited for spring to arrive so she could escape the humdrum gym routine.

She watched as the usual regulars made their way around the gym. Some smiled and waved as they passed her and she nodded in response as the sweat began to bead on her forehead. She was thankful she never saw any of the sweaty strangers outside of the gym, and even more thankful that none tried to engage in much more than their usual pleasantries. She had grown accustomed to their casual hellos and how are yous. She had an unspoken relationship with the people she encountered at the gym. They were simply her gym buddies and nothing more, and no one ever tried to push that. No invites to coffee or dinner. No lame pick-up lines. Just her and them working out, each in their own worlds until they smiled their goodbyes at the end of their sessions.

Freya had lost time at the gym. She hadn’t expected to be more than an hour, but when the world outside began to darken, Freya’s stomach began to growl. She changed quickly in the locker room, wiping the sweat off her body with her towel. She left her sneakers on, throwing her heels in her gym bag and nodding goodbye to her gym buddies. The evening air was chillier than she expected as she hurried to her car. The headlights turned on, plastering their yellow beams against the gym’s brick wall. She pulled out of her parking spot and once more on to the road, this time towards home.

Freya navigated the familiar roads through the little city, once more lost in thought. She turned off the main drag and down the backroads of Huntingdon Valley. Without the street lights and headlights to guide her way, she had only her own car’s lights to show her the way, but she could have driven the road with her eyes closed. She was familiar with every twist and turn that led to her little apartment seemingly in the middle of nowhere.

A pair of yellow eyes flashed before her and she slammed on her breaks. Deer were no surprise to her, but the dark shape before her was much larger than any deer she had come across before. She peered into the darkness, the massive form just out of the line of her headlights, its eyes glowing. Freya honked the horn of her car in hopes of scaring the creature back into the woods. Instead, the creature stepped into the car’s headlights, revealing the massive form of a bull.

Freya blinked at the animal before her, now standing in front of her car. She was certain that there were no farms in the area. Not even a zoo. Wherever this bull had come from, it was a long way away from home. Freya put her car into park and fumbled for the cell phone in her purse. But who would she call? Animal Control? She opened the internet in search for a number when an eerie voice filled her mind. A voice she had heard before. And it called to her.

She let her phone fall to the floor as she peered at the bull once more. She got out of the car and stood facing the bull as a figure appeared from the darkness. The tall, slender woman was striking in appearance. Her thick, golden hair fell around her shoulders in delicate waves. Her face was pure and soft, her eyes kind as they gazed upon Freya. She rested her hand on the bull’s back as she stepped forward. 

“Oh my god,” Freya mumbled. “Was I roofied?”

“It is time, Freya.”

“Time? Time for what?”

“The fate of this world lies in your hands. You must reunite with the other eleven and bring peace to this world.”

“Oh my god, Mel, this isn’t funny.”

“The Gigante have been awoken. They will be reunited and they will destroy this world.”

“The what? Mel, stop. I don’t know why I told you.”

“Your dreams were real, Freya. I am Aphrodite, your Thea. You are the human born in my spirit. Taurus is your Ouranos; your zodiac partner. He will guide you to the other eleven where you must fight together to defeat the Gigante.”

“What the fuck…”

“Your questions will be answered in time. Trust in Taurus. He will guide you and protect you. Work together. Find the other eleven. Save this world.”

Freya watched as the goddess disappeared into the night, leaving the bull behind in her wake. The bull sighed, lowering its head. Freya stared at the bull, her lips pinched together.

“I don’t exactly have permission to have pets in my apartment,” Freya said to the bull, “so this will have to do.” She lifted an old, rotting board from it’s weak hold on a fence post, encouraging the bull through the makeshift fence in the woods. The bull looked to Freya blankly and sighed.

“I’m just gonna… go home now. And when I wake up in the morning you won’t be here.”

She stared at the bull for another moment before shaking her head and heading back towards her car. She snapped the buckle into it’s hold and took one last look at the bull through the windshield. It’s eyes glowed back in the beam of the car’s headlights. Freya shifted into reverse down the little dirt road, bringing her back to the main road. She looked down the dark path before pulling forward. 

When she reached her apartment, she pulled into her usual parking spot. She fumbled with the keys, unlocking the door and stumbling inside the dark room. She sighed as she let her bags drop to the floor. She kicked off her shoes as she walked and let her body fall onto her bed in the next room. She pressed her face into her pillows and groaned.