Raising Hell

by S. K. Gregory

  “Yeah, well I think I’m coming down with something,” I said. I aimed my foot at his crotch. He grunted and let me go. I backed away, searching for my knife.

  “What about my mother? Do you know what happened to her?”

  Ares glared at me. “Don’t know. Don’t care.”

  He swiped at me. I jumped back, just avoiding his meaty fingers, but aggravating the wound in my side.

  “I smell decay on you,” Ares smirked.

  “Must be my deodorant,” I said, but I felt like I was going to collapse. I couldn’t fight him.

  He kept trying to grab me and I kept dancing out of his way. Ares was more brute force than stealth.

  “So what’s the plan? How long can that body even last?” I said.

  “Longer than you would think. This world will feel my wrath, I will command armies, I will bring these mortals to their knees.”

  “Nice speech, but I hate to break it to you, the mortals do a good job of killing themselves without your help.”

  “Yes, I’ve been watching.”

  “Watching from where?”

  He made another grab for me and this time managed to grab the front of my sweater. I tried to turn my head away from his rancid breath.

  “Tell me, does this hurt?” he said, jabbing a finger into my side.

  I couldn’t help myself, I screamed. The pain was awful.

  Clark came out of nowhere, leaping onto Ares’ back. As he let me go to deal with Clark, I reached out and ripped the amulet from his neck.

  He lifted Clark by the throat.

  “Put him down,” I yelled.

  He squeezed tighter, Clark’s face was purple as he tried to breathe.

  “Let him go or I’ll destroy the amulet.”

  That got a reaction from him, he glanced down at his neck, realizing it was gone. He threw Clark ten feet away and turned to me.

  “Give it to me.”

  I stood with a large rock in my hand, ready to smash the amulet. “Tell me the truth, is there a way to bring them back?”

  “No, I told you.”

  “You said you were watching, where from?”

  He narrowed his eyes at me. “Our bodies were gone, but our spirits resided on another plane. We get glimpses of this world.”

  “Hades is there? And my mother?”

  He took a step toward me.

  “Stop!” I said, bringing the rock closer to the amulet.

  “Hades is there, Demeter is not.”

  “Where is she?”

  “How should I know? It’s not like we were up there having dinner parties. It was vast, she was probably hiding. She knew how much we hated her and you for becoming Gods.”

  “I pushed it on her.”

  “Give me the amulet and I will let you live.”

  I laughed. “I have poison in my veins, what difference would it make.”

  “Then I will kill him,” Ares roared, going for Clark.

  “No, you won’t.” I slammed the rock into the amulet, then raised it to do it again. I didn’t stop until it was in pieces.

  Robert dropped to the ground as Ares left him. I collapsed onto the ground in pain. I lay there staring up at the sky.

  I should just stay here, just let the poison take me. Then I could be with them again.

  I heard a groan from Clark. I forgot about him. I pushed myself up from the ground to check on him. I guess I could die later.

  18

  “Are you okay?” I asked Clark.

  He lay on his back on the ground.

  “No, I think my shoulder is dislocated.”

  “I’ll get the nurse, she can help,” I said. I headed for the house, feeling the ground move under my feet. Everything was spinning. I managed to get to the front door, what was left of it.

  “Hello? We need some help out here,” I called, leaning on the doorframe for support.

  There was no sign of her. Had he knocked her out? Or worse?

  I stumbled on a piece of wood, nearly hitting the floor.

  As I made my way into the living room, I felt, rather than saw something rush at me from the right. I turned in time to see a baseball bat swinging at my head. I didn’t have time to dodge it and pain exploded in my head.

  “What did you do to him?” the nurse shrieked.

  I tried to crawl away, but she brought the bat down on my back.

  “You killed him.”

  “Ares killed him,” I said, trying get to my feet.

  “I’m talking about Ares! You stupid bitch, we were so close.”

  “Close to what?”

  She planted a foot on my back and pushed me over. I rolled onto my back and glared up at her. “You’re part of that damn cult, aren’t you?”

  “We were, but we found the amulet, we found a way to raise Ares. We tried once before, Robert was the perfect vessel, but it didn’t stick. We needed the elixir, then that blonde bimbo showed up. She wanted to raise him too. Then you went and killed her. I was coming to cut your throat last night, but when I saw the amulet in the car, I couldn’t believe my luck. The Elixir too.”

  “Well you failed. I broke the amulet and the last of the Elixir is gone. Ares will never be free.”

  She was breathing hard now, her face red. She came closer, ready to take another swing at me. As she brought the bat down, I managed to block the blow using a broken piece of wood from the door. The vibration ran up my arms, and I nearly dropped the wood.

  Debra kicked the wood out of my hands, dropped to her knees and grabbed me by the throat.

  “You ruined everything!” she screamed. Her fingers were digging into my flesh and I struggled to get a breath. Black spots started to appear in my vision. I tried beating at her arms, but all my strength had left me.

  I took on the God of War and I’m going to be killed by a fucking nurse!

  My hands scrabbled along the ground, searching for anything to get her off me. My right hand closed around a four inch splinter of wood. I gripped it and swung it directly into her eye.

  I sucked in a breath as her hands released me and she fell back screaming in agony.

  Clark staggered into the house, gun drawn, one of his arms hanging lifelessly by his side.

  “Persephone! Are you okay?” he called.

  I managed a nod before the room started to spin and I blacked out.

  I was floating, drifting, completely at peace. Warmth surrounded me, I knew that I was safe. Out of the darkness, Hades appeared. He looked just as I remembered him, his dark eyes drawing me in.

  “My love,” he whispered.

  “Hades? I was trying to…” I started.

  He shushed me. “Let go. It’s time to let go.”

  I didn’t know what he was talking about. Let go? I vaguely recalled the fight, did he mean let go as in…die? I would be with him again and my mother.

  He came closer, I tried to memorize every detail of his face. “I miss you.”

  “I miss you too, but you must let go. It’s time, Persephone.”

  Suddenly I was hurtling backwards. I tried to make a sound, but I couldn’t. Hades grew smaller and smaller before disappearing.

  “No!” I said, jerking awake to find Clark leaning over me.

  “Persephone? Are you okay? The paramedics are here, you’re going to be okay.”

  I was back in the house, on the floor where I had collapsed. Did I dream about Hades or was he really there?

  I realized what he had been trying to tell me, or my psyche, whatever it was. I had to let go of him.

  For the first time in I don’t know how long, I started to cry, really cry. Clark reached out and took my hand, squeezing it gently.

  Hades was truly gone forever.

  19

  I stood on the balcony of my house, wrapped in a blanket, watching the sun come up. It was always the first thing I would do when I left the Underworld to return home. Sometimes Mother would join me.

  My body ached from the fight, but against all odds I was still he
re. I let the paramedics check me over, but refused to go to hospital, even when Clark insisted. There was nothing they could do for me. Debra was alive, although her eye was destroyed. It served her right after everything she had done. Those cult members were like cockroaches.

  I wondered if what Ares said was true. That they were able to glimpse our world from time to time. Where they up there watching over me? I liked to think so. I hated that I had gotten my hopes up about seeing them again. It was time to face the truth, they were gone.

  “Goodbye,” I whispered.

  I hoped wherever they were, that they heard me. Maybe one day I would join them, but until then I needed to stop obsessing and try living my life. Really living it, otherwise what was the point? Who knows, I could be dead soon anyway. I had made an appointment to see a healer, but whether they were capable of reversing the poison remained to be seen.

  I went back inside to find Cerberus chewing on one of my shoes.

  “Cerberus,” I groaned. He raised his heads and panted at me. Shaking my head, I tried to retrieve the shoe but when I saw the damage he had done I let him keep it.

  “Those were Prada, you dumb mutt,” I said.

  My phone buzzed, I had a text message from Clark.

  Hope you are okay. I’ve been put on leave until my arm heals. I hope we can talk soon.

  Deputy Dan Clark. He had surprised me, more than once. I have a lot of regrets in my life, too many, but assuming I find a cure for the poison, I don’t want to regret not getting to know him, twenty or even fifty years from now. I wasn’t looking to marry the guy, but I deserved to be happy. Even if it is just for a little while.

  When evening fell, I dressed in a tight black dress and went over to Clark’s house. He looked surprised to see me. His arm was in a sling and his face was bruised. It could have been so much worse.

  “I was thinking about what you said,” I said after he invited me in.

  “When?”

  “The other night at dinner, about living for myself.”

  I let my coat drop to the floor to reveal the dress underneath. “Is that going to slow you down?” I asked, pointing to the sling he wore on his arm.

  “Uh, no?”

  “Good.” I started kissing him, backing him toward the stairs and unbuttoning his shirt at the same time.

  We managed to get upstairs without falling. Once in Clark’s room, I pushed him onto the bed and straddled him.

  “Wow, we’re really doing this,” he said. He reached for the lamp beside the bed, but I stopped him.

  “Leave it off.” That way he couldn’t see the wound on my side. The only light came from the landing behind me.

  I helped him out of his sling and his shirt, before moving onto his pants.

  I unzipped my dress and let it slide to the floor, to reveal nothing underneath.

  “You’re beautiful,” Clark said.

  I laughed. “You can’t see the bruises in this light.”

  He took hold of my hips and pulled me toward him, his mouth finding mine. It felt so good to be touched again.

  Pushing him back onto the bed, I climbed on top of him. When he was inside me, I started to move, slowly at first, before picking up speed. It didn’t take me long to climax. It felt like such a release.

  Flopping onto the bed next to Clark, I grinned at him. “Deputy Clark, that was amazing,” I purred.

  He reached out to kiss me. As I curled up next to him, I finally felt like I could rest for a while.

  *

  A clap of thunder woke me. I sat up, confused as to where I was, then I saw Clark beside me. He was fast asleep, snoring softly.

  “Persephone,” someone whispered. It was followed by two more people whispering my name. Lightning flashed and three women appeared in the room. One at the foot of the bed and one either side.

  “Clotho, Lachesis, Atropos, how are you, ladies?” I asked.

  The three Fates, weavers of destiny. I hadn’t seen them in a long time and a visit from them never ended well. One was in the guise of a young girl, the other a grown woman and the last a bent, old figure.

  “Daughter of Demeter, we have a message for you,” Clotho said.

  “I’m not interested, thanks.”

  Lachesis glared at me. “You cannot escape your destiny. Your fate has been written.”

  I rolled my eyes, wishing they would just get on with it. They were going to wake Clark, although he probably wouldn’t be able to see them.

  It was Atropos turn to speak, “Darkness lies ahead, the past is not done with you yet. Only with your death will the Gods truly rest. When spring comes to an end, so too shall the Goddess of the Spring.”

  “Spring? That’s only…four months away.”

  Clotho nodded. “Your end draws near.”

  There was another brilliant flash and they vanished. I lay back on the pillows. Four months. After two thousand years, that was nothing, a blink of an eye.

  I glanced at Clark. We were only just getting started. I thought I was ready for it, that I would welcome my end when it happened, but knowing when it would happen…No. The fates were wrong. I decided the path my life would take. I would find a cure for the poison. I had been through too much to be taken out by something as simple as poison. So I would fight, I would find a way, it’s what I do. Kicking and screaming. It would be a hell of a way to go.

  To Be Continued…

  About the Author

  S. K. Gregory writes urban fantasy, horror and paranormal romance. When she isn’t writing, she works with indie authors through her website.

  www.storytellerskgregory.com