Welcome To Hades (Hades Series Book 1)

by TM Watkins

  “More than a little.”

  “Do you think that this is enough or do you need another brick?”

  “It will be a squeeze, but I will manage. The question is, what to do beyond that?”

  “Well, maybe you might want to go out and find that victim that definitely does not live in this house.”

  Niko smiled at me again. Filled with amusement and affection.

  “My dear Evelyn, we have an agreement, and I am a man of his word. I will protect you until there is nothing left in me, I promise you of that.”

  “And I promise you. Now, are you going out?”

  “It would be wise. While I am gone, you will need to find somewhere for me to rest during the daylight hours and ensure that your uncle does not find me.”

  “The attic. I think he’s scared of it.”

  “It is just a room.”

  I shrugged, stepping back. Niko moved into position. First out was his head, then the broad shoulders were crammed in tight at an angle. His frame was narrow, but those shoulders were proving to be a problem.

  “Are you sure about this? We could pull another brick out.”

  “It will take too long. I will get there, do not fret for me.”

  After about half an hour, Niko was in a better position. I gripped his arms and pulled as hard as I could manage. My feet were pressed hard against the wall trying to drag him out. Then he popped out as if he had some force behind him.

  I felt winded as my back hit the floor. To make it worse, I had a damp and dusty vampire laying on my body between my legs.

  Niko lifted on his hands, then his arms gave out. His body fell back to mine.

  “Muscle atrophy,” He whispered. “I cannot move.”

  “Can you heal yourself?”

  “It will take time, far too long considering the issues.”

  “So, you need to feed.”

  “That is correct.”

  “You said that you can feed and not kill, right?”

  “I know what you offer, Evelyn. Are you certain this is the path you wish to take?”

  “Well, you are kind of laying on me. Brad comes down here and sees this, he’s going to get super angry because I’m only seventeen. Besides, we said that we’d do what was in the best interest of each other and I wouldn’t be a very good familiar if I let my master die, would I?”

  Niko smiled at me.

  Rolling Niko onto the floor, I sat up next to him and held out my arm. Niko tried to lift his arms, but they wouldn’t stay up so, I held my wrist to his mouth. When the fangs pierced the skin, I winced. It was not nice at all, not that I thought it would be.

  Niko was quite tall, dressed in a suit that seemed rather fancy. I didn’t know much about men’s fashion from sixty years ago so I could only assume that he’d kept up with the times to blend in. Damp and dusty was not the rage at the moment so the outfit would have to go.

  Temporarily, he’d have to borrow from Brad. It was lucky that they were roughly the same size as each other. Brad was a little rounder in the midsection, he liked his doughnuts far too much.

  Colour began to return to Niko, now flushed with a soft pink tone that seemed to fit well with the dark brown hair and sharp green eyes. To me, he looked as if he was in his thirties, but that was not possible.

  “How old are you?”

  Niko pulled his fangs out of my wrist. His tongue slid along the weeping wounds, sealing the skin to stop the blood flow.

  “Quite old. I am uncertain of how many there are, but I am considered to be an elder vampire.”

  His eyes lowered as a grim look crossed his face.

  “At least, I used to be. Take this as your first lesson, my young familiar. Be wary of those around you and do not trust anyone.”

  “Did you trust the wrong person?”

  “I did.”

  Niko sat up, looking a little woozy at first.

  “Do you need to have a proper feed?”

  “I think that is necessary; however, I don’t think that I have the strength to walk any great distance.”

  “Okay, familiar to the rescue. Come on.”

  Wrapping his arm around my neck, I lifted Niko onto his feet. He wobbled, reaching for the wall.

  “How’s that?”

  “Getting better. You’re not really considering taking me to a victim, are you?”

  “Look, I get it. Vampires feed to live, so someone has to die. People die all the time and we kill our own constantly. We’re no better. At least you kill because you’re sustaining your own life. Humans kill others for the thrill of it. So, yeah, I am. What are the rules?”

  “Don’t get caught.”

  Niko and I looked at each other. Slowly a smile emerged between us and quickly turned into a giggle. Who would have thought that I’d be friends with a vampire?

  Chapter 11

  Niko spent the night in the attic, wrapped up in the things that he’d borrowed from his victim. Well, I borrowed. It was not something that I was proud of, but I found that there was newfound happiness in me and I attributed it to Niko. So, naturally, I wanted to please him and make him happy because he made me happy.

  We’d slipped out of the house without Brad realising, then went in search of the perfect victim. Niko did not have any preferences when it came to what they looked like or their gender. The only stipulation that he had was that they were alone and an adult.

  We found a man living in a small house not far from where we lived. He was selected because I suggested that Niko needed to update his clothing. While Niko sustained his life, I packed a bag of clothes and accessories, then found a wash basket to load bed linen into.

  Rather than staying and listening to it, I continued to search for things that would be useful for Niko. The man had a camp bed in his garage, so I dragged that out and set it aside with the other items. I also found his stash of money.

  Acutely aware of what would happen once the body was found, I wore a pair of gardening gloves that I’d found in someone’s garden. Niko could do as he pleased, there were no records of him but me, well that was a sad tale that came from the life that I’d lived with my mother.

  Yep, I had a record.

  Because I was a child, they did nothing aside from recording my details into the system, and that included my fingerprints. I have no idea why they did it. Maybe they assumed that I would steal again and would need the information, maybe they were just jerks. Either way, I had to be careful.

  But that was last night. This was Monday morning, and I was about to leave for school. Brad was driving me, much to my annoyance. Because he had to clock on at nine, he was going to boot me out the door then rush back home. He added that I’d be a lucky girl if he actually stopped to let me out.

  Tiptoeing up the stairs to the attic, I listened to the sounds of Niko rustling the linen as he sat up.

  “Niko,” I whispered.

  “Evelyn, you are leaving for school?”

  “Yeah. Will you be alright while I’m gone?”

  “Yes. I have fed, and now it is time to recover. By this afternoon, I shall be reinvigorated and ready for another conversation with you. I am eager to hear how your first day at the new school goes. Be ready for it.”

  I chuckled.

  “Sure thing. I’ll see you later, enjoy your sleep.”

  “Oh, I will. Goodbye Evelyn. Have a great day.”

  Rushing as quietly as I could, I began to wonder if Brad had noticed my peculiar behaviour. When I found him in the kitchen searching for his keys, I knew that he was completely oblivious.

  “Ready?”

  “Nope.”

  Brad smiled, rolling his eyes.

  “Come on, Evie. One more year and you’re done. Just buckle down and you’ll be out of there before you know it.”

  “Sure.”

  Lifting the bag over my shoulder, I followed Brad out of the house. As I walked to the car, I wondered what he would say if I told him about Niko. I didn’t want him to be kept in the dar
k about it. I would have to discuss this with Niko this afternoon. If Brad went up to the attic and found him, things might get ugly.

  Would Brad be brave enough and walk up those stairs? There was nothing to say that he wouldn’t.

  When he climbed into the driver’s seat, I looked at him as I pulled the seatbelt over my body.

  “Hey, I left your birthday present in the attic so no going up there, okay?”

  Brad frowned with a crazy smile on his face.

  “What is so big that you can’t hide it in your room?”

  I shrugged.

  “You know that I wouldn’t go into your room but sure, I won’t go up there. I wasn’t planning on it anyway. Attics give me the creeps. I think we’ve got a rat problem, I heard something moving up there. It’s not food up there, is it?”

  “No.”

  “Good. Might be nothing left if it was.”

  Brad pulled into the street, slowing behind a long line of cars that were dropping kids off. Next to us on the sidewalk was a group of giggling girls, walking toward the school. Brad huffed a soft laugh, then turned his smirk back to the road ahead.

  “They look like your type.”

  “Go to hell,” I grumbled. “Oh, that’s right. We’re already there.”

  “No, I’m just in another town. You’re the one in hell. Have fun.”

  The car jerked to a stop, Brad looked at me with his cheesy smile that while begging for forgiveness, also didn’t want it.

  “Yeah, thanks.”

  “See you at three. If your schedule changes, let me know.”

  “With what? You haven’t replaced my phone.”

  “You could try getting a job.”

  Rolling my eyes, I closed the door and stepped up onto the sidewalk. The giggling girls were drawing in, looking at me with their haughty smiles.

  Nothing was said as they passed, then they let out their condescending giggles.

  The sooner I was out of this place, the better.

  Chapter 12

  Niko was sitting in a single seat lounge chair when I walked up the stairs to the attic. He was reading a book, next to the lounge was a pile of magazines and more books. Brad said nothing about coming up here, no mention of the mysterious rat. Just a quick how was your day and keep it clean thanks. My answer was borderline.

  Reaching the top of the stairs, I was greeted with a smile.

  “Good afternoon Evelyn. You will be pleased to know that I have spent my day alone. No visitors.”

  “Great. Where did you get those?”

  “Well, this morning after you left, I timed how long it took for your uncle to return so that I knew how much time I had in the afternoon when he left to collect you. Then I formulated a shortlist of the things that I needed to bring me up to speed. You stated that I would not like this era and I wanted to know the exact details, especially about the intelligence of the law enforcement.”

  He flicked his fingers at the closed book on his lap, then lifted it to show it to me.

  “I know this is a work of fiction, but it seemed to be quite factual in the information so I believe it was an ideal selection.”

  The book was crime fiction, and I had no idea if it was well researched or if it was complete rubbish. Niko lifted a magazine, then smiled.

  “It was interesting. I have not had much interest in this type of literature in the past, but it has certainly been enlightening.”

  “And not based on fact. That’s a trash mag, and I would not take any of that on board if I were you.”

  “Duly noted. Now, sit and tell me about school.”

  I sat on the other seat, finding it rather comfortable.

  “Where did these come from?”

  “I returned to our friend. He was most giving.”

  “Duh, the man’s dead Niko.”

  “True. Now, your day.”

  “Boring. Deflating. Demoralising. I dislike school with a passion. Everyone looks at the new kid like they are diseased. This is going to be the longest year of my life. I’ve already got homework. How rude is that? My first day and they lump it on me like I should know what they’ve taught in the previous lessons.”

  Unzipping my bag, I pulled out the notebook and crossed my legs on the seat.

  “Would it bother you to start your familiar training today as well?”

  “Nah, it’s cool. You can talk while I’m doing this. It won’t take long.”

  Niko nodded, putting the book onto the pile next to his chair.

  “We shall begin with the finer details of a vampire. A vampire can go out in the sun, but we pretend that we cannot. We prefer to hunt at night because we know that the world will see less of what happens. We are not restricted to any particular feeding regime and will do what is necessary to avoid attention. Usually, we associate in covens. A coven, as you would expect, has a leader. It also has a sub-leader who is usually the partner of the leader. Some leaders will form a small group of those who he or she deems worthy of being associated with a title of high rank and will discuss matters of importance with them. They hold no power but can be persuasive and influence the leader’s decision regarding those important matters.”

  “Were you in a coven?”

  “I was. We will get to my sad tale another day. Today you are learning about vampires so that you can identify them. Hades used to have many vampires, and I can only assume that is still the case. In the coming days, I’m sure that we will be able to figure out a rough population count.”

  “Is that necessary?”

  “Absolutely.”

  Niko leaned forward, resting his elbows on his legs. The frown he offered was heavy and firm.

  “Be warned, Evelyn. Not all vampires are like me. In fact, once you’ve met another vampire, you might consider me to be quite restrained. If a vampire crosses your path when they are hungry, you will be in trouble. It may not be ideal for me but if they start to attack, tell them that you are my familiar, and that will be enough to stop them. It is prohibited for a vampire to attack a familiar, regardless of who they belong to.”

  “Why wouldn’t it be ideal for you?”

  “Because once you mention my name, they will realise that I am not where I should be and then, they will come here searching for me. Once that happens, they will do all that they can to kill me because they will reason that their last attempt at keeping me out of this town was not enough. When I am dead, your association with me will be at an end, and you will no longer be protected. Neither will your uncle. The vampire will kill you as punishment for setting me free and they will kill your uncle for the fun of it. I say this to ensure that you understand what you face. Mention my name to save your life then return here with haste. Be ready to run because it will be extremely necessary.”

  That was a little more than I needed to hear. Say my name to escape the vampire but be prepared for a whole lot more vampires to come here and kill me. Such a lovely time to be alive.

  Chapter 13

  The words of Niko’s warning lingered in my head as I weaved my way through the corridor at school. When he said that to me last night, I never thought I would realise it was the truth so soon after.

  My locker was in the new section, I had the first one in a long row of a wing that had just been built. I was also the only person to have a locker in this section. Because it was at the end of the corridor, I was still close to the main thoroughfare where the other lockers were. I was a part of their world but not really because no one ever turned the lights on. This section was not in use yet, so they didn’t think it was necessary.

  So, I had to use my locker in the dark. I guess the staff just assumed that like every other kid in this place, I would have a phone with a flashlight built-in. Ordinarily, I would. My last phone broke and Brad was yet to obtain a new one for me. The life of an unemployed minor sucked.

  But, back to the tale at hand. Me, stuffing my books from my morning lessons into the locker, in the dark. Mean girls in the corridor, far too close
to my locker, giggling and whispering. You get the picture, right? You can see what’s going to happen. I hear more than I should. They don’t know I’m here. I’m as quiet as a mouse because I know that I’m about to hear something that’s worth the effort of hiding.

  “Daddy said the master is not happy.”

  Intriguing. My ears perked up.

  “Jeez Audrey, why does your father associate with those weirdos?”

  “Because he said it’s worth it.”

  “They are not going to give him immortality. They won’t give it to anyone. You’re either born into it, or you are their food.”

  “I think he’s trying to get a closer association that will protect us. Dad got all the real estate contracts, and the competition eliminated because of this guy wanting to know what was going on in all the houses in this place.”

  I wonder who her father was.

  “That’s never going to happen.”

  “Why is the master not happy Audrey?”

  “I dunno. Dad went to a job on the east side of the town. He said something about a crack in the wall.”

  My eyes widened, and my breath hitched. As I desperately tried to listen, my heart began to thunder so hard it was pounding heavily in my head.

  “When dad told him there was a crack in the wall and the address, he said the guy went off his tree at the underlings around him. Dad said he nearly wet his pants.”

  The girls giggled. Lockers slammed, and I heard the laughter fade. Quietly I pulled all of the books out of the locker. I knew that I would not be able to concentrate and the afternoon would be a complete write off. Stuffing everything back into my bag, I edged closer to the corner of the wall, hoping that the girls weren’t just a few steps down the corridor. They weren’t.

  So, I hightailed it down to the office.

  The woman behind the counter looked up over the counter when I walked through the doorway.

  “Evelyn, is everything okay?”

  “No, I don’t feel well. Can you please call my uncle and ask him to come and get me?”