Blinding Night

by Chantal Gadoury

  It was far from what I had imagined the Underworld to be.

  “Where are we?” I asked, loosening my grip on the railing of the boat.

  “Elysian,” he murmured as he rose to his feet, lifting the oar and pushing it back into the water. “This is where I live.”

  Darce maneuvered the boat until we made contact with large, marble dock. He was first to step out of the vessel, then he offered his hand for mine. My legs were still wobbly from the drop. I was sure I would fall out of the boat without help, so I took his hand. He pulled me up in one swift move, and settled me carefully on the marble slab. I was suddenly grateful for the solid comfort of his body, because my legs just about gave out beneath me.

  “You need to rethink your ride on the way in,” I sighed. He waited for my legs to find their bearing, and then he let me go. The playful look on his smooth skin was actually sort of attractive in this light.

  “Perhaps next time you can sit on my lap.”

  With all those bumps and lurches on the way down? Absolutely not.

  “Look who's returned!” A voice boomed behind us.

  Darce and I looked to the entrance. A strange man approached us with a wicked grin. He was magnificent—beautiful even. His shoulders were broad in comparison to his slim torso. I could just make out the sparkling silver in his eyes, nearly hidden away behind a curtain of midnight black hair. His skin was porcelain white, while his tunic and trousers were stark black, coiled in silver embroidery. I couldn’t turn away.

  What was it with Greece and gorgeous men? This couldn’t be real life.

  “Thanatos,” Darce nodded. “I would ask what you’re doing here, but I know better than that.”

  “Reigning in your stead, naturally,” the man replied with a laugh. Even his voice was enticing.

  “Of course you are.” Darce rolled his eyes and huffed.

  “I see you’ve come with a guest,” Thanatos continued, his sharp silver gaze catching mine. “She’s quite the curious human.”

  “She’s here with me,” Darce replied curtly and took my hand in his tightly.

  “Of course,” Thanatos said, lifting a hand towards the pillared entrance. “But she appears to be more alive than dead.”

  “Which is how she should remain, Thanatos,” Darce said, pulling me along towards the maze of pillars.

  “I’m sure I don’t know what you mean, my lord.” The man, Thanatos, feigned offense. “Does the human have a name?”

  “She does.” I looked up at Darce’s face. I could tell by the sound of his voice that he was in no mood for any shenanigans, so I kept quiet.

  Thanatos appeared at Darce’s side, strolling along casually as his silver gaze flicked between the two of us. He looked amused.

  “She’s rather pretty. Minthe will be curious about her.”

  Darce came to an abrupt halt, which nearly tripped me over my own feet. His arm found me though, and wrapped around my waist, steadying my balance.

  “Minthe…?”

  “Did you forget about the ol’ girl?” Thanatos chuckled. “She was quite upset when she found you weren’t here when she arrived.”

  “I don’t answer to her,” Darce said, muttering a silent swear under his breath. His grip on me tightened as he glared at the man. I could feel the tension emitting from Darce. “I only returned because the spirits were starting to follow me.”

  “Ah, yes. She thought that might help convince you to come home faster. Seems it’s done the trick.”

  “That was her?” His words were almost a roar as he glared at the man. Thanatos flashed a pearly white smile.

  “She certainly knows how to play you, Darce. Like a well tuned harp.”

  “Shut it,” he hissed and pushed past the darkly dressed man. None of this was making any sense to me. There was a woman—a woman named Minthe. And she wanted Darce?

  As we left Thanatos behind, I turned my curiosity on Darce.

  “W-Who is Minthe?”

  “She’s no one you need to worry about.”

  “Who was that?” I asked, turning to glance over my shoulder. The man was still there, watching us with an amused grin.

  “Brother to death,” Darce replied sternly. “Thanatos.”

  “Brother to —”

  “Don’t let the title fool you. While he can be quite clever and cruel, he is a trusted friend.”

  “You have friends?”

  With a sigh, Darce nodded. “Yes, Summer. Even the God of the Underworld has a friend.”

  “Maybe there’s some hope for you after all.” I poked his side and laughed. Darce raised his brow with a smile.

  “I hope so.”

  Chapter 11

  I lost count of the many rooms Darce pulled me through. Several of them had walls covered in different types and colors of marble. In many of the rooms, crystal and glass chandeliers hung from the ceilings, washing away the shadows to bring in light. This was far what I had expected. How was it so bright? So alive? Wasn’t this supposed to be where the dead came to stay?

  Wasn’t it supposed to be dark and terrifying?

  Other doors were barred from me, and I couldn’t see into them. I wondered where they led or who they belonged to. What was on the other side? Maybe a spa for tortured souls, or a gym for dead athletes? Whatever the case, I was still inside a five-star hotel owned by an ancient God.

  Darce paused as we came to a long corridor made of white stoned floors and matching marble pillars. Above each pillar were intricate carvings of wildflowers and sunbeams.

  “This is your wing,” Darce said as he took a step to the side. “Many of the doors here are all connected to what will be your set of rooms.”

  “Set of rooms?” I asked, raising a brow. “I don’t get just one?”

  “Never have I known anyone to be so ungrateful as you,” Darce teased as he crossed his arms. I trailed a finger over the curved stone pillar, admiring the smoothness of the stone and the carefully painted designs. Swirls of maroon vines were laced with soft yellow and white flowers. Someone had really taken the care and effort to make the details just right.

  “They’re narcissus blossoms,” Darce explained as he took a step towards one of the doors. “Do you want to see your rooms? I wouldn’t want you to spend hours out here admiring mere fixtures.”

  I replied with a silent nod.

  Trailing behind Darce, I followed him as he opened the door for me. My eyes grew wide as I took it all in. The room, my room, was like a lavish Greek painting. Fixed in the center was a four poster bed with a white gossamer canopy and white linen curtains that fell from the ceiling and pooled on the marble floor. I couldn't help but gawk at the matching white stone walls, pieced together with a tan morder. Several small and ancient tables held vases filled with wildflowers I couldn't name. The decor was breathtaking. There were even tall floor candelabras adorning the dark corners of the bedroom.

  Everything about it felt old—timeless.

  “This will be your space,” Darce murmured from the door. “And each door leads to a different room. One is your bathing area, a living area... This is where you will sleep.”

  It was all a bit much. Too much, really. In the span of a few days I had become parentless and homeless, then convinced by a stranger that I was more than human. The car accident, the hospital, the few precious moments I had to say goodbye, and now an entire Underworld.

  “What about my father?” I asked, turning to glance at him. “You promised I’d see my father.”

  “And you will,” Darce said with a nod.

  “C-Can I see him now?”

  “Eager, are we? Are you afraid I won’t hold up my end of the bargain?”

  “No... I just...” How could I explain what I was feeling? I wanted to see my father again. I wanted to know he was alright. I wouldn’t be able to sleep in the strange, large bed knowing he wasn’t so far away... not without seeing him. Even though I knew everything would be different. He and I would never be able to return to the world
we had been stolen from.

  “I have some things I need to attend to.” Darce said finally, breaking the strained silence between us. “I’m sure you’re quite tired after...our recent endeavors. I will leave you to ‘take it all in’, as they say.”

  “Where will you go?” The image of the terrifying spirit back at the hotel flashed through my mind, and I couldn’t help but shiver. I didn’t want to be alone, but I also didn’t want to admit it aloud.

  “I won’t be far, if that’s what you’re afraid of.” The corner of Darce’s lips curled into a smile as he crossed his arms.

  “I’m not afraid,” I replied curtly.

  “Then perhaps you should take some time to rest,” Darce continued. “And then afterwards, we can sit down and discuss your father.”

  I sucked in a deep breath and huffed with finality, “Fine. Whatever.”

  “I’ll see you in the morning then,” he replied. The door closed swiftly behind him, leaving me alone to the large room.

  A shiver ran down my spine as I glanced around. There was nothing familiar—nothing that was mine. Everything that I had owned, had been left behind. My dad’s apartment... my suitcase... the blanket my dad had given me. Everything was gone.

  Slowly, I sat down onto the corner of the sizable bed and slid my fingers over the delicate linen. This had easily belonged to Persephone once. I knew it. I could feel her very essence lingering still in the walls; as if she too had become a spirit stuck in the Underworld. I laid back into the blankets, curling myself up into a ball.

  Maybe I did need some rest.

  I closed my eyes for a moment, listening... to the nothingness. Everything was so quiet—too quiet. There were no distant sounds of vehicles. No midnight crickets. My mind immediately went to jogging. If only I had a pair of shoes I could wear. I could at least explore. My gaze drifted to the lone door on the other side of the room. According to Darce, it would lead to other rooms that belonged to me.

  He said I should rest, but he didn’t say I couldn’t explore. Especially when he had given me an entire wing.

  I pushed myself up from the cushioned bed and crossed the room to the large, wooden door. Parting it open slightly, I took in the layout of the room on the other side. I almost couldn’t believe my eyes. There were shelves across the walls all filled with books. Shelves and shelves of books! A library? And, it was mine?

  Score!

  I slipped through the door easily, jumping in my skin as the candelabras lining the walls all lit themselves. Motion sensing candles? Who would have guessed that the Underworld was so progressive? I took a step forward, knocking a book onto the floor from its resting place on another stack of books. The room was in desperate need of some serious organization, but I resisted the urge to alphabetize anything.

  Where had they all come from? Did they all belong to Darce?

  Careful of the volumes at my feet, I went to the first row of shelves. My fingers danced along the spines of a few books lying on top of the others. They were all covered in a thick layer of dust. No one had been here in ages. Curiously, I dislodged a book from the center of two thicker books with faded titles. I tried to brush away the layer of dust coating its cover, practically coughing my lungs up in return. As I examined it, I noticed there were several pieces of parchment sticking out from the sides. Somehow, despite its ancient markings, I could decipher the one word on the inside cover.

  Persephone.

  As I flipped through several pages, I began to realize everything was handwritten. All the shapes of the letters were perfectly drawn, perfectly placed just so—as if her writing had been a puzzle she enjoyed piecing together. But what did it say? Though they were faded, small sketches lined the margins. Many of them were vines and flowers, all different shapes and lengths. As I flipped through the rest of the book, a loose piece of parchment fell onto the floor. I bent down to pick it up, but stopped short. A pair of perfectly drawn eyes stared back at me.

  I knew those eyes. I knew the curve of the man’s cheek and chin. Darce. But he was different. He appeared stronger—more God-like. There was a story drawn into them—a story of rage and despair. Maybe that was what had kept my hand from putting it back in the book. Beside his likeness, the word ‘Agape’ had been written.

  “It’s a perfect replica, isn’t it?” A voice came from the darkness, startling me. I was almost sure my heart was about to burst through my chest.

  “I’m sorry?” I asked, trying to do everything to collect myself.

  “The drawing... it’s a perfect replica of him, isn’t it?” The voice asked again. I squinted, trying to see into the dim lighting of the library. I hadn’t seen anyone when I came in.

  “I’m sorry if I disturbed you,” I found myself whispering as I took a step back. “I-I’ll go.”

  A rustling came from the corner of the darkened room, and suddenly a large feathered wing came into view. A tall shadow loomed just ahead of the wing span. I took a step back, biting my bottom lip—doing everything I could to keep myself from screaming. This had to be a dream. The whole thing. Everything. The boat... the ghost in the hotel... even the car accident. I had to wake up, back in the bedroom of my dad’s apartment - with toilet paper still wrapped around my once injured foot. I closed my eyes and squeezed them shut as tight as I could as I took another step back.

  I heard the sound of flapping wings; as if a bird were stuck in a room—fluttering about—and I screamed. I pushed myself back against the door and slid my arms around my head. Maybe if I screamed enough, I’d jolt myself awake.

  “If you keep screaming like that, you’ll surely wake the dead,” the voice said softly beside me. “Trust me when I say they wouldn’t like that.”

  Something soft brushed against my hands, and carefully pulled them away from my face. As I opened my eyes, I was met by the handsome face of yet another man. He was different though from Thanatos. His hair was long and silver, with tips that appeared almost ocean-blue. His eyes were solid back—startling so. He was softer, gentler than the man I had seen at the docks.

  “And you are?” He asked slowly, as the corner of his lips turned into a smile. I fought to find my voice. It was caught somewhere in my throat, and I was almost sure I was never going to speak again. He chuckled as I tried to swallow and part my lips to speak. Maybe I should have just stayed in bed. Why did I always have to be so curious? Maybe Darce was wrong about me being Persephone—maybe I was Pandora instead.

  “I’m Morpheus.” He flexed his shoulders, exposing a pair of large, black wings behind him.

  Morpheus. I knew that name.

  “And you’re...?” He slid his hand against the wall, leaning over me with a charismatic grin. It reminded me of a clip I had seen once on YouTube; a handsome actor from a Japanese drama pressed his hand against the wall beside his love interest and made her swoon. If he was going for something like that—it wasn’t going to work. Well... maybe a little. Only I wasn’t swooning, I was sweating and nervously hoping I could find the right time to escape.

  “Summer,” I managed, sliding away to put some distance between us. “I-I’m Summer.”

  “You’re a human at that.”

  Clearly he wasn’t. But I didn’t voice that fact. Instead, I nodded. He chuckled and crossed his arms against his chest. It was then I noticed that he too was dressed in similar looking clothes as Thanatos; black with silver adornments. Only, he wore a small diadem around his silver head.

  “I didn’t expect him to succeed in bringing you here,” he said softly, shaking his head. “I suppose the dreams I provided helped to inspire him... and you.”

  “Dreams?”

  He raised a brow as he watched me closely.

  “Don’t you know who I am?”

  “M-Morpheus…?”

  “God of Dreams,” he continued.

  “Dreams?” I echoed.

  Morpheus slowly nodded and leaned against the wall beside me. He was tall and graceful in all of his movements. There was somethin
g worldly about him—something calm and comforting.

  “My brothers and I send dreams to the human realm,” he began, “And while they can only affect the mortals, I do have a hand in the dreams given to kings and heroes. And sometimes, if I’m feeling generous, to other gods and goddesses.”

  “Dreams?” I asked again. He began to chuckle and shook his head.

  “I don’t know what Darce was thinking in bringing you here. The Underworld is no place for a mortal.”

  “I’m dreaming now,” I managed, shaking my head. “I’m almost sure of it.”

  “You’re not,” Morpheus said, laughing. “My dreams are well better crafted.”

  His slim fingers plucked a small feather from one of his wings and ran it along my temples. A pleasurable shiver ran down the length of my spine as I watched his dark eyes widen. A haze filled my mind as I watched him strangely transform into Darce. Darce with large, black wings. He leaned forward, brushing his warm lips against mine. I didn’t know how to react; I had wondered what it would be like to kiss him, even if I hadn’t allowed myself to think on it for more than a moment. His hand was gentle as he cupped my cheek and drew me closer to him as his lips moved gently over mine. He tasted tangy—like a sweet citrus. The warmth of his wings wrapped around me—inviting me to feel comforted and safe. In that moment, I knew without a shred of doubt I was loved. That I was worthy of his love.

  I could see an entire history shared between the two of us like a painting. The colors of our life swirled around me, as if he were merely stroking the blank canvas with a wide array of paints. I could feel his dark eyes watching me, his soft lips pressing against my temple in each new scene. I could feel myself slipping farther and farther into the warm, budding haze. Everything about this stranger was perfect. Everything about this man was all encompassing... and strangely—mine.

  As his lips left mine and began to trail to my ear, I heard him whisper, “...my dreams are much lovelier... like this…”

  I blinked and found I was still a far distance away from Morpheus, and Darce was gone. He had never been here. My body had been awoken by nothing more than a tease from the God of Dreams. Morpheus was smiling as he watched me, and slowly lowered the feather away from my temple. I sucked in a breath of air. None of what I had just seen or experienced had been real. As the colorful haze disappeared, I was left feeling cold... empty. Alone.