Son of Zeus

Author's Note: This will be an odd one. Before we get started, quick disclaimer. Along with fantasy, this story contains elements of Incest, Non-consent, Nonhuman, and infidelity. But none of that should be a surprise if you know anything about Greek Mythology.

XxXxX

Carissa cursed her father, who had insisted when she was fifteen that his daughter "just wasn't ready for that kind of responsibility." She cursed her mother, who overreacted when Carissa ran over part of their white picket fence when she was sixteen. She cursed the basketball game where she broke her leg last year, and the stupid summer camp she agreed to counsel at that summer.

In the end, Carissa cursed everything and everyone that had gotten in the way of taking driver's ed until now, the summer before her senior year of high school and months after her eighteenth birthday. She cursed them because being an adult who couldn't drive was lame, but also because it meant she had to take the driving course with him.

There were five of them in the car. Carissa was driving. In the passenger seat sat the forty-something driving instructor, half paying attention to her while he texted. In the back were three other kids. She didn't know any of them, they were a grade or two below her, but the boy in the center had made himself known.

Carissa had no idea how old the kid was. Most of the people taking the course were teenagers, but he didn't really look like one. She couldn't pin down what age he was supposed to be. He had a young looking face and the unblemished skin of a boy, but his bare arms showed off impressive musculature. She hadn't seen anyone with a physique like that in her high school. And his constantly frizzy hair was white, like an elderly person. His glasses, which were square, thick, and gray tinted, also didn't give off the impression of youth. And his clothing choices were truly bizarre. While all of his shirts were sleeveless, in every other way they were made to conceal. He wore long billowy pants and shapeless tops. He was one hop away from wearing robes or a toga.

Whatever kind of person the guy was, he was definitely an eccentric. But Carissa didn't mind that. She wasn't judgemental and she didn't particularly care if the people around her were weird. What she couldn't stand was just how much this stranger seemed to care about her.

They never spoke, but whenever he sat behind her Carissa could feel the creep watching. Even now as she was driving, the girl had to remind herself to focus on the road. If she didn't, her eyes would inevitably creep up to the rearview mirror and meet the gaze fixating on her from the backseat. She would glare back, and get lost in those strange, piercing eyes. Through his square, tinted frames, Carissa couldn't even determine his eye color.

"Um, Carissa?" asked one of the kids in the backseat.

Ka-THUNK!

The impact rattled both Carissa and her educator out from their reveries. The girl had to blink a few times before she realized just what caused the commotion: Her fender meeting the curb.

The teacher sighed. "Well drat, Marissa. What'd we say about focusing when we're on the road?"

"I was, sir! I was trying!"

Everyone got out of the car to examine the damage. It was only a ding, but Carissa still felt her heart rising into her throat. Her mom would have a field day with this incident.

The teacher tut-tutted. "This is why we have insurance. These things happen. You shouldn't feel too bad about this, Marissa. I just hope you hold onto the memory so you can do better next time."

"My name is Ca-rissa," said the girl, before adding a belated "Sir. And It wasn't my fault! I was focusing! I was watching the road. But he won't leave me alone!" She pointed at the offending white-haired creep. "He won't stop watching me! I don't know if he's trying to sabotage me or if he's just a perv, but I can't focus on what I'm doing while he's being all weird!"

"Who? Him?" asked the educator. He looked directly at the stranger, and for a second his eyes seemed to glaze over. Carissa watched as the teacher stared at her voyeur, his mouth moving slowly as if he were failing to make words. She wondered if the older man might be having a stroke.

But at last the episode passed and the teacher disregarded the strange figure. "Now, Carissa, if you are having any problems with class you should make a formal complaint or speak to me outside of driving time. But one of the most important aspects of being a driver is accepting responsibility..."

Carissa mutely stood and listened to the spiel on responsibility for what felt like years. When it was done, one of the other students drove them all back to the school in the slightly dented car. That meant Carissa was forced to squoosh in the back, right next to the strange man she'd accused. But now that he was shoulder-to-shoulder with the girl he'd spent the last four weeks ogling, the man didn't spare her a look or a word.

Coward, thought Carissa.

Class finished with a viewing session of another short film about how texting and driving would kill them all. Carissa was about to bike home when she noticed a certain white haired boy going in the opposite direction. She waffled for a bit, but decided this had gone on long enough. It was time to get some answers.

The stranger jumped a bit as Carissa brought her bike to a halt just in front of him. She came to a stop with her bike perpendicular to the creep so as to block his path.

"I think it's time we have a talk, what's-your-name."

The stranger smiled and relaxed his posture. He gave the girl a slight wave. "My name is Junior. Hi Carissa."

Looking directly at him, Carissa noticed that the stranger wasn't carrying any kind of bag on him. His clothes didn't seem to have any pockets either. Unless they were very well hidden, the creep wasn't carrying any phone, wallet, or keys. He was just out in the world barehanded. Something about that made her second guess her choice to corner him.

"Okay Junior," she said, burying any misgivings beneath righteous fury, "What is your deal with me? You know I can see you staring at me, right? You aren't subtle. It's creepy. And how old are you anyway? You know it's perverted to stare at a high school girl, don't you? Guys can go to jail for that. And just who the hell are you?"

Junior shook his head. Carissa could almost see her question washing off of him, as though they were raindrops and he was wearing a poncho.

"I'm nobody, really," he said. "I'm merely another stranger. Passing through town and enjoying the sights."

Junior's eyes crept up her, beginning at her feet and climbing to the top of her head. She found herself shivering at the fixation from behind those strange, gray lenses. Carissa was not dressed immodestly. She had on a white and pink floral sundress. It reached her knees and didn't show off any cleavage. It was cute, but the kind of cute she might wear at Thanksgiving with her family. But when Junior focused his full gaze on her, Carissa felt as though she were dressed in a towel.

The girl resisted the urge to hide herself with her arms. "Then why don't you keep passing through, then? I'm not for you Junior, and I'm not going to this class for you. I just want to get my fucking driver's license. If you keep fucking that up for me, you're going to wish you'd never seen me at all."

The smile split a bit on Junior's face. He didn't look playful now. That should have been satisfying for Carissa, but it wasn't. In the absence of his earlier humor, all that remained was fixated intensity. A shadow passed in front of the sun, and the summer's day was darkened.

When the cloud moved on, the man's face had returned to its previous brightness. "I hear you, Carissa. Loud and clear."

"You do?" she asked.

He nodded emphatically. Over emphatically. His frizzy, bristling white hair bobbed like a thousand alien antennae. "I never meant to scare you. If you don't want me in the class, you'll never see me there again. No problem at all."

Carissa blinked in confusion. This wasn't an outcome she had even hoped for. But it wasn't bad either. She even decided to ignore the insinuation that she was scared of him. "Thank you, Junior. That sounds great. But don't you need to learn how to drive too?"

Junior laughed out loud. "No wonder I like you. Take care now!" And the stranger turned around in the exact opposite direction than he'd been walking in before and strode away.

Her objective accomplished, Carissa wasted no time in riding off towards home. She hadn't made it far though when she heard Junior's voice echoing towards her with a final rejoinder.

It wasn't just the voice that got her attention. There was a presence. In the same way Carissa had been able to feel Junior staring at her when she wasn't looking before, suddenly she could feel him standing immediately behind her. And something else came with the presence. It was a smell. Like burning. It smelled like the Fourth of July, right after the fireworks went off.

Carissa turned toward where Junior had to be, but she didn't see anyone. For a moment too long she searched for him. She was so concentrated on the source of her confusion, she didn't even notice when her front tire collided with the side of a parked car.

Carrisa came out of the collision okay, with nothing but a skinned knee and elbow to show for it. Her bike, twisted and bent in three places, was less fortunate.

Despite her shame and frustration, Carissa was left with no choice but to call her dad for a ride home.

On the way there, the girl could think of nothing but the mysterious Junior's final words to her:

"Be seeing you."

XxXxX

Perhaps if the weather had been more foreboding, Carissa's ominous encounter would have occupied her mind for longer. But it was the middle of summer. For a girl in the prime of her life, there are better things to do than worry about strange boys and phantom voices. Even in a small town like hers, there was a world to enjoy.

So the next day Carissa found herself laying out on a folding chair at the community pool, eating a snow cone with her older brother.

"...and so anyway, it was really embarrassing," said Carissa, finishing her story.

"Believe it or not, you're lucky," said Michael, "You should've seen Mrs. Robertson. If you'd dinged her fender, she would've made a federal case out of it. You could be in the state pen by now."

"But would she have called my mommy about it though?"

Michael rested his chin on his knuckles, assuming the pose of The Thinker as if he were giving the matter serious consideration. "Yeah, maybe the pen would be nice by comparison."

Carissa took another lick from her ice cream cone. She and Michael had a good relationship. Even though he was eight years older than her, the two had always managed to be close. When they spent time together, they were often mistaken for father and daughter. Carissa was far older than the two children her brother actually had, but the mistake was a reasonable one. There was a strong family resemblance between the two.

Both of the siblings had inherited their dad's distinctive nose and their mom's dirty blonde hair. Carissa thought their good genes manifested in other, less distinctly identical ways. She found her eyes drifting down Michael's broad shoulders, tone abs, and the solid thighs his swim trunks did little to hide. She didn't view her brother in a sexual light, perish the thought, but with the age difference they had barely spent any time that she remembered living under the same roof. So it wasn't that surprising that she was more able than most sisters to appreciate his physical attributes.

"Hey, look!" chirped Michal's young daughter, Naomi. "Birdies!"

Indeed there were birdies. Carissa's eyes widened as a small flock of ducks descended onto the less occupied end of the pool. A few frightened swimmers dove underwater and quickly departed to the opposite side.

Carissa had never seen ducks at the pool before. There was a lake not far away, and surely that would be better roosting ground for any waterfowl. The day was rather overcast. Maybe that had somehow confused the animals? Or perhaps they'd been forced to land to avoid an oncoming storm?

Carissa felt a water droplet splash against her exposed tummy. She looked up at the gray, swirling clouds. She couldn't say for sure if it had been rain or just a light splash from the pool a few feet away.

Carissa gave her brother a sidelong glance. He seemed so at peace and comfortable, lounging out on a cool summer day with his family around him. His chest rose and fell slowly as he relaxed, his eyes shut. Not a care in the world, come rain or high ducks. She could stay a little longer...

But she had a long walk home and no umbrella. No, it would be best not to be rained on.

Carissa did the rounds, saying farewell to Michael, his wife, and the kids, promising to be present for Independence Day next week. Finally she grabbed her purse and made off to the locker room where her clothes were stored.

The girl's locker room at the public pool didn't have an actual door. Instead there was just a permanently open portal leading into a passage with two abrupt turns, leaving the inner changing area hidden from passersby. It wasn't an airtight security system, but it was only the community pool. Other than the occasionally snoopy youngster, the social code enforced through gendered signs was normally enough to put off any would-be voyeurs.

The chamber was empty when Carissa entered. She was grateful. Carissa would never have called herself bashful, but she didn't like feeling exposed in front of strangers.

The girl retrieved her gym bag from her selected locker and slipped free of her orange two-piece suit. Idly she slid one hand through her long hair. Where her mane was typically sleek and well conditioned, the chlorine had left it feeling full and tangled. It was fairly unpleasant. She frowned.

She could have ignored it for now and showered upon arriving at home. But that would give it more time to set. Carissa loved her hair, but it could be a fickle beast. Better to nick any potential issues in the bud.

The locker room showers did not have stalls or curtains, just a large empty room lined with shower heads with no accommodations for modesty. Carissa said another silent thank you to God for her current privacy and turned on one shower head, setting the dial to its hottest setting.

It wasn't the same heat she could get at home, but Carissa still groaned with joy as hot water cascaded down her body. It was the perfect contrast to the lukewarm water of the populated pool and the cold water that had splattered from on high. She took a handful of shampoo and lathered it into her hair, scrubbing vigorously.

Carissa closed her eyes to guard against errant suds. As she stood washing her hair, the strangest emotion began to swell up. She was a little bit horny. Completely inappropriate for this public place and totally inexplicable. The girl dismissed out of hand it had anything to do with spending time with her brother. Perhaps she had just gone too long without masturbating. What had it been, four days?

Her eyes still closed against the water running down her face, Carissa touched herself. Her erect nipples. Her supple breasts. Her moist vulva. Softly, she rubbed at her clit.

She had really only begun when she got a sudden uncomfortable sensation. Not an emotion, but a smell that did not belong in a public pool. Ozone.

Carissa rubbed the water from her brow and blinked her eyes open. She felt a chill down her spine. As she came back to her senses, she realized how foolish and potentially dangerous her actions had been. What if there had been people around? What if there had been children, or her brother's family?

With her eyes open, Carissa was relieved to find herself without human company. No one else was in the showers, or in the part of the locker room that she could see. But the smell and sense of unease both remained. Carissa continued to look around, and eventually her gaze fell upon the ground.

It should have been funny, but her stomach dropped when she saw it. Standing unafraid and unashamed at the center of the shower room's entry was a white feathered waterfowl. It stood still as a lawn ornament.

Only its blinking confirmed for Carissa that the creature was animate. For an uncomfortably long time, she and the duck gazed at each other. When she finally worked up the courage to shew it, the creature fled immediately. She dried, donned her attire, and fled the building for home.

Carissa was too lost in her own thoughts during the walk to even mind the rain pouring down on her. Her arousal was entirely dispersed. It should have been funny. But one detail ate at her.

She couldn't forget the duck's piercing gray eyes.

XxXxX

"It's not that I don't want to come, Anna. Really," Carissa said over the phone.

"Then why aren't you coming?" asked her friend on the other end. "Don't tell me your mom grounded you again."

"Not in so many words." Carissa was sitting cross legged on her bed, dressed in her casual outfit of sky blue crop top and black shorts. She twirled a lock of hair around a finger as she spoke. "It's more that I am marooned through negligence. Basically the 'rents are reasoning that since it's my own fault that I no longer have a bike and don't yet have a license, I don't deserve to get around. So they won't drive me unless they decide I need to be somewhere. For anything else I need to either walk or secure my own transportation.

"...But you could always come and get me if you wanted to."

Anna sighed. "I would, Car-y. I want to. But the girls are already getting ready and if we have to drive out of our way to the other end of town, we'll be late."

Carissa flopped backwards across her bed. "I guess it's settled then. I can't walk to your house in the next half hour."

"No, you can't. But weren't there two bikes in your garage? I swear I remember seeing two."

"Hmm. Yeah. But the other one is Mom's."

"Then take it!"

"Well... technically she didn't forbid that, but I do think it would break the spirit of the punishment. Plus if I hurt her bike she would be so much more pissed than she already is."

"Be careful with it then!" Anna pushed. "You'll be fine. Better to ask forgiveness than permission, ya know? If she never said not to, you can always claim ignorance."

It was a compelling argument. One Carissa had used internally before. And she really did want to go.

"Fine, I'll be there in twenty. I don't have time to get cute though, so you'll have to take me as I am."

"You always look cute, babe. And I will take you any day," Anna joked. Then the line went dead.

Carissa jumped from her seat and only grabbed the barest essentials before leaving the room. Said essentials included her wallet, purse, and sliding a bra under her top. She hadn't left the house yet today and had been dressed primarily for comfort. She considered the fact that also wasn't wearing panties underneath her shorts, but didn't think they were short enough for that to cause any issues. Time was short and she had to prioritize.

The girl put on sneakers before making her way to the garage. Her mom's bike was roughly the size hers had been. It was pink instead of green, and had a soft gray seat that matched its handlebars. Carissa ran a hand over the seat's surface. She recalled her mom bragging about how soft it was, how she'd bought some special brand. Indeed it did feel quite good.

The garage door opened and she took off, riding at high speed. Carissa was not excessively athletic, but she was in good shape. Biking came easy to her. And unlike most forms of exercise, it was actually practical and fun. It was especially fun today.