me, but you can never drop it. Bring it to your face, and ask it to help you find your soul mate. Then, you kiss it.”
Kallos reaches out for it, and Aphrodite hands it to her. As soon it touches her hands, she gasps. It feels like it is burning right through her hands. Kallos looks up at Aphrodite who just nods. “It will get better.” Kallos brings the burning black necklace to her face, and can feel the blistering heat against her lips…
“Please,” Kallos has to pause; the burning is almost too much, “help me find my soul mate.” She swears it grows warmer when she asks. As soon as her lips come closer to it, she wants to pull away. When she places her lips on the necklace, she is thankful that it cools down. She sighs in relief; the necklace is like ice cold water relieving a burn. It is almost as if it’s telling her that it’s sorry. She looks back up at Aphrodite, and she is grinning. “So, all I have to do is put it on them, and it will change?” Aphrodite nods and hands Kallos a second necklace. Kallos groans and repeats the process.
“I will make sure that the necklaces will return with you. Normally you can’t take anything from here, but I will allow this.” Aphrodite walks over to Kallos and hugs her. “Everything will be fine, my dear. Remember, I am always with you.” She leans in and kisses Kallos’ forehead. “Good bye, Kallos,” and she vanishes. Kallos really does hope that she gets that power.
She shuts her eyes and thinks about being home in her bed soft and warm; and is surrounded by all of her things. She thinks of her parents and of the Hunter boys, which makes her smile.
Kallos is holding the necklaces tight in her hands and feels the cool air on her face. She knows that she is home. She looks at her alarm clock, and it’s almost time for Sean and Ian to be here. She sits up and takes a deep breath. How many people find their true soul mate? She knows that it can’t be many. She can hear her dad yell for her. She gets up and glances in the mirror. Her hair is a complete mess, and most of her makeup is on her pillow. She sighs; she doesn't have enough time to fix herself up. She sets the necklaces on desk next to her laptop in her room before heading downstairs. Kallos stops just shy of the bottom of the stairs and fingers combs her hair and wipes her fingers under her eyes to clear off the blackness from her eyeliner and mascara. Thank goodness she doesn't smell. She walks towards the voices; she sees Ian and Sean sitting in the living room.
When Kallos walks in, everyone stops talking. She narrows her eyes at the boys, and they look away. She looks at her mom, and Mom looks different. Her mom’s normally beautiful face has no makeup and Kallos can see the dark circles under her eyes. Kallos also notices that her mom's face is red like she is angry. Her mom never gets angry. She is the gentlest person ever. Kallos looks at her dad and he’s the only one who keeps eye contact with her.
“Kallos, why don’t you sit down?” She nods and heads to the couch. Ian and Sean move apart so that she can sit between them. When she is sitting down, they both grab a hand. Her dad clears his throat; Kallos squeezes both of their hands and let’s go. “We are going to have some rules for you two living here. First rule is that you two aren’t allowed in Kallos’ room alone. The second rule is that you will be home by five on school nights. And, the last one but certainly not least is when she is in pain you two will be there, no matter what time. Do you two understand?” Her dad’s voice cracks a little.
“Yes sir” they both say together.
“Mr. and Mrs. Dean, all we want is for Kallos to be safe and not be in pain. We both went through it, and you can’t comprehend the pain. It is the worst pain in the world. It feels like your body is being slashed into million pieces. I watched my brother go through it first, and it frightened me to death,” Ian says. Kallos feels bad they had to