Asphodel eBook final0

by Hammond, Lauren

  Mom had a point. When we moved to Klamath Falls, we rolled up in a station wagon from the 1970’s, with our belongings tied to the roof. Wearing clothes from Target and no one asked any questions. To them we were just another ordinary family in a new place.

  Because of my modest upbringing, the elaborate decorations in my room leave me awe-struck, spinning in a circle, taking everything in several times.

  Walking over to the bed, I fall backwards onto the mattress that could sleep at least five people and roll over. I’m drained and exhausted. More than anything I’m depressed. “Damn you, Hades,” I mumble, letting out a yawn. Then I make a mental note. I can’t lie here and curse myself and Hades and keep on pouting about being here like a child. I won’t accomplish anything by doing that. I should be doing something about my entrapment, like trying to come up with a plan. I should be trying to figure out a way to get out of here on my own.

  Tomorrow is a new day. Tomorrow, first thing, I am going to get out of this hell-hole. With that in mind, I drift off to sleep. Maybe I’ll wake up tomorrow and realize that everything that happened today was a nightmare. Maybe tomorrow, I’ll wake up in my own house and in my own bed. Somehow…I doubt it.

  Demeter

  Those who are not parents could never fully understand how much a parent loves their child. They wouldn’t understand the bond. Demeter knew that bond, she knew it well. But that bond seemed distant now, that bond seemed like it was about to disappear.

  Demeter was certain that she was going crazy. Persephone had only been gone for hours, but to her it felt like days. For the longest time, after Hades had pulled her under, Demeter walked in a circle through her backyard calling out her child’s name. The Goddess convinced herself that she’d just imagined everything that went down. She’d convinced herself that Persephone had just wandered off. Maybe her child was just frolicking in the meadow behind their house. Maybe she was deep in the forest searching for wildflowers.

  Even though Demeter knew neither one of those scenarios were real, she kept pretending they were because she knew that was the only she’d push through. Otherwise, she’d be an emotional zombie for decades. Maybe even centuries. She could not face the fact that the God of Death had taken her child and she might never be coming back.

  Unable to sleep, Demeter strolled along the sidewalk in her neighborhood, calling out her child’s name. “Persephone! Persephone!” She couldn’t understand why she was doing this. She knew where Persephone was, but in the back of her mind she still hoped—no—prayed that maybe everything that just happened was an illusion.

  Demeter stopped in front of her driveway and stared painfully at her house. A vision of Persephone popped into her head and a faint smile curled on her lips. Persephone was walking down the driveway on her way to school and she was standing the doorway waving goodbye to her. During that moment, as she reminisced of that fond memory, it took everything inside of Demeter to stay standing and not collapse on the pavement.

  She heard a voice behind her. “Mrs. Jones?” The voice belonged to the neighbor boy, Adonis. The one Persephone walked to school with every morning.

  At first Demeter said nothing to the boy. She was in a trance-like state, staring blankly at the smooth concrete on the sidewalk in front of her. Then she took notice in him, staring at his perfect features and she could have sworn that she knew him from somewhere. She could have sworn that she’d seen him before. She shrugged off the thought. She was blinded by grief and her mind was playing tricks on her.

  But the boy didn’t just leave when she didn’t answer him. “Mrs. Jones, are you okay?” Still, Demeter remained silent. The boy walked around in front of her. “Is Persephone ready?” he probed. “We’re supposed to walk to school together.”

  She blanched at hearing the sound of her daughter’s name. And the only words she could manage were, “Uh uh. No.”

  Adonis scrunched his eyebrows together. “Is she sick?”

  “Yes,” Demeter lied. It wasn’t that she planned on being dishonest. It was that she was overwhelmed with grief and the boy kept on reminding her of Persephone and how she might never see her again.

  “Oh,” Adonis said. “Well, tell her I hope she feels better.”

  “I will.” The she turned to walk up her driveway.

  Back in the kitchen, Demeter sat at the kitchen table and laid her head flat against the wood. She wasn’t physically capable of doing anything. She could not eat. She could not sleep. She didn’t even think she was capable of using the restroom if she had to.

  More than anything she blamed herself for Persephone’s disappearance. Why hadn’t she been able to see past Hades trick? In the past she had always been able to see past his tricks, why not now? All of a sudden a loud bang echoed from the front door, but Demeter remained in her chair with her head down. She didn’t feel like seeing anyone else today.

  Seconds later loud heavy footsteps paraded down the hallway and a presence lingered in the doorway. “Demeter,” Zeus said. “I came as soon as you called.

  She had completely forgotten about calling Zeus.

  “He took her,” she whispered.

  Zeus inched closer and Demeter lifted her head slowly. Tears brimmed in her eyes and Zeus took her head in his hands. “Don’t worry,” he said thoughtfully. “I’ve set a plan in motion. We are going to get her back. We will get her back.”

  Persephone

  I’m not dreaming. The sad reality sets in when I wake up hours later in the same bed I had fallen asleep in. But, during my slumber a dream did come to me. And in that dream was a message. A message that showed me how to escape.

  I remembered talking with mom about Charon, the ferryman. The minion of Hades who ferried the souls of the dead across the Styx from the land of the living. Aside from Hades, he is the only other immortal who can cross both realms. He could take me back. I haven’t eaten anything since I’ve been here, so there’s nothing to bind me to this world. A grin sweeps across my lips. Maybe today is going to be a good day after all.

  Much to my surprise, Hades must have decided that while I slept I was worthy of having my door unlocked. This is a blessing, well; a blessing to me, but it will be a disaster for Hades. I wonder what he’ll do when he discovers that I’m gone. Flinging the door open, I glance down the hall warily. It’s abandoned and the silence fills my ears. Turning, I close the door to my room quietly, and then creep out into the hall. The rubber on my tennis shoes squeaks against the marble flooring. I wince glancing over my shoulder. I’m making too much noise. So I remove my shoes, tuck them under my armpit and continue walking.

  Once I reach the end of the hall, I stop in front an open door. Peaking inside, the room appears to be some kind of control room with glowing buttons, gleaming chrome, and televisions everywhere. Spread across, below the wall of televisions, is a massive keyboard with various buttons and gadgets.

  For someone like me, who is always letting my curiosity get the best of me, this room is a playground. I want to know what all these buttons are for. I want to push them. Stepping inside, I stroll over to the keyboard staring at a giant red lever labeled earth. Hmm. I wonder what will happen if I pull the lever. Will the entire underworld fall apart and break off into pieces, crumbling like the twin towers? I shrug. “Nah.” So I pull the lever then wait. Nothing happens. Maybe it’s useless. Or maybe it’s broken or something. My eyes dart around the room. I’m wasting time standing here contemplating whether the lever I just pulled is broken, so I head for the door. But I only make it a few steps and the whole room goes black. What’s going on? Maybe the lever is like a light switch. Maybe if I push it up, the lights will come back on.

  Pivoting on my heel, I strut back to the lever. My arm is outstretched and my fingers inch closer. I’m just about to push the red bar up when a bright light reflecting off one of the television screens catches my eye. Turning, I face what is behind me. My mouth drops open, my eyes widen.

  Rotating on its invisible axis is a hologram vers
ion of earth. With bright blue, green glowing colors, and tiny red dots placed sporadically all over it. I smile, kind of amused. It looks like the earth has what mortals call the chicken pox. I slink closer to the hologram in awe. The lights flicker in my eyes and I reach out to touch it, but when I do the tips of my fingers skim right through it. I jump back, startled when a computerized voice screeches, “Name please.”

  “Name please,” the female voice repeats.

  I don’t have a name to give her. I’m puzzled. Then it dawns on me. This has to be how Hades keeps track of all the dying mortals in the world. Or all the mortals in the world in general. When you have to give them judgment on how they’ll live out eternity, I imagine that you have to watch them throughout their lives too. The world continues spinning and I wonder something; I wonder if Hades can keep track of the immortals too.

  “Name please,” rings out a third time.

  Stepping forward, I’ve got an idea. “Demeter Jones,” I say softly. Maybe if I can actually see mom I might feel a little better inside. I’m more worried about her than I am myself.

  The earth whirls around so fast it becomes a blur. “Locating, Demeter Jones.” All of a sudden the hologram earth vanishes. In place of it is a picture mom. Underneath her image are written words.

  Demeter Jones

  Member of the Immortals

  Goddess of the Harvest and Fertility.

  Most recent place of residency – Klamath Falls, OR.

  “Wow,” I gasp. Hades really does know everything. Focusing on the floor, I exhale and then I hear it…sobbing.

  Mom’s photo fades from the screen. In place of the photo is a streaming video. I’m baffled and elated at the same. How is Hades able to do this? Does he plant cameras in every household on earth? The questions in my head drift away when I get a better look at mom’s face. Her eyes are bloodshot, with purplish circles underneath. Like she hasn’t slept in days. Her skin is pale and her cheekbones are sunken in a tiny bit. If I know her, she hasn’t eaten either. She hangs her head low and sobs uncontrollably. Zeus steps into view and places his hand on mom’s shoulder and caresses it gently. “Demeter, we’ll get her back. I promise.”

  I try to touch the hologram, but just like before, my fingers slide right through it. “Mom!” I shout. “Can you hear me?”

  She can’t.

  Seconds later the feed disappears and is replaced with the hologram earth again. Seeing mom like that shreds me to pieces. I’m pounds of raw hamburger being forced through a meat grinder. Red and pink pieces curling onto a Styrofoam tray, waiting for the butcher to package me for sale.

  No more distractions. No more exploring. I have to get out of here. Now.

  Stomping back to the keyboard. I push the lever up with so much force I almost snap it off. I am going to get out of this realm of doom and gloom. No matter what it takes.

  Persephone

  After getting lost three times and wasting what seems close to two hours, I finally find my way to the double doors that lead outside of Hades palace. I take a deep breath and yank the doors open, stepping out into a realm of emptiness, death, and misery. And after standing outside the palace for only seconds, all I want to do is turn around and go back inside.

  There’s something levitating in thick air of the underworld that makes me feel like every ounce of goodness has been drained from my body. Now I can see why Hades is the way he is. If I had to look at this devastating depressing realm every day for all of eternity I’d be bitter and cold too. The exterior of the palace is made of black hardened rock that reminds me of tar, bubbling for centuries in a tar pit, then cooling permanently in odd shapes and sizes. Circular towers stretch upward pointed like a sewing spindle, disappearing into a line of heavy gray smog. Dead trees line the walkway, with limbs like broken bones, bent and misshapen. And encircling the perimeter are asphodels. Asphodels everywhere.

  I run over to the white and pink speckled flowers, determined to destroy them. I rip the asphodels from the ground, tear them in pieces, throw them down, stomp on them and kick them. If I never see another asphodel for the rest of my immortal life I’ll be perfectly content with that. But it doesn’t matter. Seconds after I’d destroyed some of them, the bare spots on the ground are replaced with new ones. The white blossoms bloom before my eyes like they’d been sleeping all winter and have just been graced with the spring sunshine.

  Screaming in frustration, I drop the remaining flowers in my hands and sprint through the canopy of dead trees. Bats flap their wings above my head and I use my arms as a shield and cover myself. The walkway made of grayish clay stretches on for a half a mile and I’m too afraid to drop my arms. This place is full of uncertainty and I have no idea what it has in store for me. And I assume that means there will be worse things than a few bats.

  At the end of the walkway, I come to a halt and peak through my arms. Thick, impossible to see through, smog looms above me, but I don’t see any more bats so I lower my limbs. Two feet in front of me is a wide gap in the ground. Connecting each side is a narrow cemented bridge. A bride so narrow, it looks almost like a balance beam. Peering over the edge of my side of the gap, I shudder at the drop. It has to be at least one hundred feet. Jagged rocks stick out at various angles and I wince when I think about having to recover from a fall that severe.

  Backing up to give myself some running room, I make a mental note to just sprint forward and not look down. But then I center on the other side of the gap. There is a wall of smog so thick it reminds me of a brick wall. A barrier. A blockade, keeping one side of the underworld away from the other. One side is Troy, the other a clever Greek king named Agamemnon. The Trojan wall was a fortress of safety, but the entire world knows that no matter how big the barrier, cement can’t block intelligence.

  I know my freedom waits on the opposite side of this gap. Even though I’m terrified of what awaits me, dead things mostly, I have to push through it. I just have to. Adrenaline pumps though me and I hop up and down amping myself up. I close my eyes and exhale, listening to the calm sound of rushing water. “This is the key to your freedom,” I say aloud. I’ve come to the conclusion that the only way I’m going to find this Charon guy is by crossing this bridge.

  So I charge forward, feet pounding into the clay, staring straight ahead. Loose rocks breaking off and smacking into the walls of the deep ravine fill my ears. Panting, I keep going, pushing myself. A few more paces. A few more paces and I’ll be on the other side. And before I realize it, I’m an immortal wrecking ball blasting through a wall of thick gray smog.

  Hades

  The God of the Dead leaned against the wooden frame of his future queen’s door. Her comforter was flipped over and her violet satin sheets were a crumpled mess. She had definitely slept in her bed, but that left him wondering; where was she now?

  Puzzled, Hades strolled into the adjoining bath, to see that every item in it was still in place. None of the towels had been used. All the expensive luxurious soaps he had purchased were still in their fancy wrappings and the bathtub was bone dry.

  In the hall, he examined the marble tile, hoping to spot some footprints or something to give him some explanation on which direction she might have gone. He knew his realm. He knew the wicked and despicable things that lurked around every corner and he feared for his future queen. He’d been hostile with her yesterday and he assumed she might be angry with him. That was the last thing Hades wanted. He wanted to show the Goddess he’d been obsessed with for thousands of years that there was more to him than what he’d put off the previous day.

  He loved the fact that she was a bit defiant. It meant that she wasn’t weak. He couldn’t have a weakling sitting in a throne next to him. The realm of the dead chewed up weaklings and spit them out.

  All of a sudden, the sound of Cerberus’s thunderous footsteps pounded through the narrow hall. Stopping at Hades feet, the three-headed dog hung his middle head low, his snout planted on a particular portion of the black marble. Hades bent d
own and stroked each one of the dog’s three heads. “Good boy,” he cooed.

  Straightening up, he pointed his finger at his best friend. “Cerberus, heel.” The dog sat down and all three tongues from all three heads rolled out, hanging as the pet panted.

  Cerberus licked his master’s face and Hades planted his fingers against the marble and closed his eyes. In a last ditch effort he infiltrated Persephone’s mind to find out exactly where she was going. Then the mighty God laughed out loud. Persephone was definitely clever. He’d give her that.

  And now he knew exactly where to find her.

  Persephone

  Shadows. There are shadows everywhere. Big ones. Small ones. Shadows of different shapes. Circles. Triangles. Squares. The shadows are eerie and creepy and as they pass over my face they make me feel cold and empty inside. The shadows are swallowing my years of existence. Eating me alive. The shadows won’t disappear until I’m a robot. Luckily for me, I’ve lived for a long time.