It was very late at night. The soft sound of the rushing wind outside the plane lulled many passengers to sleep. The lights were dimmed, and yet, a small area was lit by one girl's book light as she drew in a medium sized sketchbook. The girl shifted around and pulled one knee up close, setting her foot on the chair so her leg leaned against the wall of the plane. The passenger next to her shifted also, and the girl paused as she waited to see whether he would awake. The teen passenger began to snore, and the girl sighed safely and continued her sketching.
Anne, the girl, wasn't tired at all. If anything, she was more awake than usual, as if she just drank a full cup of coffee. Here she was on an airplane, for the first time even, waiting to arrive in Europe with her high school classmates. Had she wanted to go? No. Was she excited? Not really. She had wanted to stay at home and enjoy her Christmas break with her best friends and new stuff, but no, her parents suggested this trip, since she was taking a Greek Mythology course next semester anyway. Plus it would be a chance to get out of her room and explore.
Anne put away her pencil and picked up an ultra fine sharpie, and started inking her sketch. The only way she agreed to this trip was because everyone would have plenty of free time during the week in Greece, and she was allowed to bring her art stuff with her. As long as she didn't have to hang around some of the older boys (who were often rude and haughty) or the popular girls (who were prissy and conceited), she would be fine.
As Anne finished her sketch, she sighed. Just one week in Greece, over New Years, then she could go home and paint, draw, sketch, and whatever else she wanted until school started again in January. She just had to live through the next few days.
"And here is a painting of the goddess Aphrodite, the most beautiful of all the goddesses." A tour guide said as she walked around the museum, a group of teenagers followed. "Aphrodite was the goddess of beauty, love, and sexuality." Two boys whispered and laughed. The tour guide walked on, ignoring the boys. "In some tales, she is referred to as a daughter of Thalassa and Zeus, the chief god of Mount Olympus. And here we come to a sculpture of Apollo..." The group moved to a sculpture of a tall, fit man.
The boys laughed again and whispered, a little more loudly so most of the teens heard. "Why does everyone have to be naked?"
Anne sighed and clutched her messenger bag closer to her. She gazed at each work and was just beginning to enjoy this trip. Each work was so anatomically correct, so precise. Why did those boys have to make fun of every beautiful thing they saw?
"If I made a sculpture of a naked person I'd be sure to make a fortune." One boy said, and several other teens laughed, forgetting the tour guide.
"Ahem. Since you're all distracted, we'll break for lunch."
The teacher nodded and led the teens outside onto the patio, where everyone split off into their cliques and pulled out their lunches. It sure wasn't summer weather, but it was definitely warmer than the 20-degree weather back home.
Anne settled herself on top of a short retaining wall with her peanut butter sandwich, carefully positioned so she could hear everyone's conversations.
"Hey... I wonder if Aphrodite had a human counterpart?" One girl giggled. The blonde next to her giggled too. "If she did, maybe it's me?"
"Or me!" A brunette joined in the laughter.
Maybe it's me... Anne wondered, just for fun. With long black curly hair and blue eyes, she wasn't ugly, but she didn't particularly work hard on her looks. Her morning routine consisted of getting up, showering, pulling on some jeans, sneakers, a t-shirt and her favorite arm sleeves, and pulling her hair into a ponytail.
"Pu-leese! If anyone's Aphrodite, it's me!" Another girl, one who was particularly popular, spoke up. The other girls just laughed and enjoyed themselves, and the boys talked among themselves about the sculptures some more.
Anne chewed slowly and pulled out her sketchbook and an HB pencil, and started another sketch, this one of her own version of Aphrodite. This time though, she'd have a beautiful, Greek robe, and hair that curved around her robe-
"Well well well? Little Annie's drawing the naked pretty girl." A boy snatched her book away.
"Give it back, Marcus. And don't call me Annie." Anne reached for the book, but Marcus pulled it away.
"Aw, c'mon, join the group. You can't sit on the wall all day." He threw it on the ground and walked away as his friends looked on and laughed. Anne grunted, picked up her book, and walked around the corner, away from her arrogant classmates.
"Jerks..." She muttered under her breath as she walked farther and farther away from the patio, lost in her own thoughts.
The sun shone warmly, but it was still cold enough that Anne pulled her jacket around her arms. She turned into a quiet but open alley and rubbed her cold hands- it seemed a little too cold with the sun shining like it was. "I can't believe I'm stuck here for a week." Anne shivered.
"And I can't believe my luck."
Anne jumped and turned, startled at the sudden voice. She thought she had been alone. "W-Who's there?" She stammered.
"Why, my dear... Don't be afraid..."
The voice sounded so cold and sinister that Anne began to back away, before a terrifying dark figure emerged from the shadows.
"I'm just here to take what is mine."
Anne screamed.