“No? Okay, if we move on now, we can finish before it’s feeding time.” I start to walk toward the winding path, passing Drake who stares at the group of souls warily, a snort coming out of his nostrils. I see out of the corner of my eye one of the souls extend their hand to stroke Drake. I wait for a second, allowing the soul to get close enough, before intervening.
“Ah, I wouldn’t do—”
The soul screams as Drake bites her hand. I would leave her like that to teach her a lesson, but I don’t want to drag her with me when I ride back. I let out an exasperated sigh as I walk past the souls who are following me and back to Drake. I pry the horse’s mouth apart, allowing the soul to take her hand out.
“Learned your lesson? Don’t touch things down here,” I tell her before walking back to the head of the pack. I continue to walk down the winding path, and we eventually get to the bottom where the demons are waiting eagerly for the new arrivals.
“Here is your first look at demons. You will be seeing a lot of them while you are here. Unfortunately, you will not be seeing what they are capable of yet, but I’m sure you will later. Try to keep up,” I call back at the souls.
“Back off. You can have the next batch,” I tell the demons. They look like they want to argue, but most of them keep their mouths shut. The ones that do argue don’t act on their complaints. As we walk through the group of demons, I can sense the souls starting to get scared; I would be too if I were in their situation. The demons are looking at them like they’re food, and this is true.
A short walk later, we arrive at Tártaros, where the souls live near the biggest fire pits of Hell. Again, I am glad that I’m not in their situation, as they have to live with five others in small mud huts. The demons live closer to the mansion, in much nicer accommodation.
I turn to address the group again. “This is where you will be staying for the rest of eternity.” I push open the door to the closest hut and show them the inside, which is empty apart from the souls staring up at us with scared looks on their faces. The things that are needed on Earth to survive are not needed here. They survive off nothing; after all, they are dead.
“If you have any problems, feel free to suffer. Do you have any questions?” I ask the group.
A man raises his hand, obviously more confident.
“Yes?”
“Two things: who are you and what the hell is feeding time? Do we get food?”
“One, I told you earlier I am Hades’ daughter—” I start counting the points with my fingers—” and two, feeding time is my favorite time of the day when the demons feed on the souls. It’s kind of like a big hunt that we all take part in. That doesn’t mean you’re safe during the other times of the day, though. Demons can feed whenever they want. It’s just a fun thing for us to do together. Also, I don’t appreciate you using my home’s name in that way.” I end with a quick, sweet smile.
“Oh,” the man says, losing his confidence.
“Is everything clear? Are there any other questions?” I ask, looking around at their faces.
“Yes, I have one. What do you think you’re doing?” my dad asks from behind me in a low voice.
I scream and jump around to face him. “Shit!”
“Missy, watch your language! If I don’t see you back by the writing, cleaning it off in ten seconds, there will be consequences,” he advises before disappearing.
When I don’t move straight away, his voice resounds all around us as he uses his “Devil voice,” as I like to call it. “Five seconds!”
I groan.
“Okay! Keep your hair on. I’m going!” I shout back in the same way.
“Sorry about that. It looks like our little tour has been cut short. I hope you enjoy your stay here, or preferably don’t,” I say to the group of souls in my normal voice with an apologetic smile.
Thunder echoes around Hell before lightning flashes through the air. My dad has a flair for theatrics. Zeus, dad’s brother and my uncle, gave the power to my dad as a “thank you for taking the underworld” gift many years ago, and when I was born, I was also given this power.
“Here we go again,” I mutter. I turn to my dad who suddenly appears beside me. I look at him with an innocent smile.
“What did I say?” he asks in a fed-up tone.
“A lot of things. You have to be a bit clearer,” I respond, lifting my hand to show him the small gap between my thumb and my index finger.
When his nostril flare, accompanied by a look in his eyes that says, “Don’t play with me.” I quickly amend my statement. “Sorry, Sir!” I shout with a salute. “I was just trying to have fun with the new souls. They were going to be my dinner.” I whine and pout.
Like the demons, my dad and I have to drink blood to survive. My dad tried to explain it to me when I was younger, but I never really got it. It has something to do with us being, technically, not alive, and the blood helping our body to function as if it was. Along with the blood, we can also eat what is considered normal food on Earth. The souls have an endless supply of blood in their “bodies.” They wouldn’t be of any use if they didn’t. However, fresh blood from a living human tastes much better.
“Get back to work, Scar.” My dad sighs.
“Fine,” I groan. After waving at the souls watching us curiously, I run back up the winding path, past Drake, and to the half-cleaned wall. I pick up the soaking sponge and press it against the wall. I watch as the water drips, turning red from the blood as it goes.
***
After one last scrub over the wall, I step back to admire my hard work. Dad will probably get me to clean everywhere else now, I think to myself as I drop the sponge into the bucket.
Wiping my hands on my pants, I walk to Drake who is patiently waiting for me. He makes a sound when he sees me, obviously glad to be getting away from all the souls walking past. I detach his reins from the post and put them in my left hand as I lift myself onto the saddle. Drake takes a couple of steps forward, eager for us to move.
“Come on then. Let’s go home,” I tell Drake as I kick his sides. I steer him down the steep path at a slow pace and kick him again when we get to the bottom, starting home at a fast speed. I close my eyes, listening to the rhythmic pounding of Drake’s hooves on the hard ground, trying to get the courage to ask my dad again.
I love living down here, and I would never change it, but I’ve always been curious about Earth. Lately, I’ve been trying to persuade my dad to let me go and live up there for a year so I can see what it’s all about. It’s not like I’ve never been up there before; my dad had taken me along countless times when he had to go up, but they were never long enough for me. I’ve never experienced Earth fully.
My dad, however, was good enough to teach me how to drive when I asked. He also makes sure that I have all the things I need to keep up to date with the current events and the lingo in most languages up there so I wouldn’t sound out of place. It’s always through books and newspapers he finds on his visits.
So far, all I have received from my dad in response to my constant pleas are the different variations of the word no. I am determined tonight for him to change his mind.
I open my eyes and find the stables almost right in front of us. I pull back the reins, slowing Drake down to a walk before stopping outside the doors. The guards have changed, and I meet a new one outside the doors.
“Nice ride?” she asks.
I smile, moving my head from shoulder to shoulder. “Yeah, what met me at the destination wasn’t so nice, though,” I tell her.
She’s bound to have heard what happened. She chuckles, not engaging in any more small talk.
As we walk past the wall, holding all the equipment, I pause Drake and remove his gear before picking up one of the many brushes. I run it down his back, smoothing out his hairs.
The same servant from earlier scurries up to me and curtsies. As I place the loose straps over Drake’s head, I look the soul over.
Her face is slightly red, t
ears pooling in her green eyes. She tries to give me a smile, but it comes out more as a grimace. Her messy, light blonde hair is made darker by the blood matting it to the side of her face. I look her clothes over and see that her clothes are dirty, blood-stained, tattered, and crumpled. The souls don’t just stay the same age they are when they die, but they also stay in the same state. If they die brutally, you will see it.
“You alright?” I ask, turning my attention back to Drake, clipping a rope to his harness.
“Yes, ma’am,” she says quietly, looking down, extending her hand to take the rope from me.
I purse my lips slightly as I look at her.
“You know that demon earlier outside, did he, by any chance, have anything to do with this?” I ask, still holding the rope attached to Drake.
“I don’t know if I should say, ma’am. After all, I am in Hell, and I deserve it after what I did,” she mumbles. Her young face stares at me, waiting for my command. She looks fragile and innocent, and I feel slightly sorry for her. I am always told that I get my compassionate side from my mother, as she was once human before my dad changed her.
“How old are you?” I ask.
“Um, I died when I was seventeen, but that was in 1965.”
What did she do? She must have noticed my eyes widening because she continued, “I killed four people and was shot dead by the police in a high-speed chase.”
Suddenly, I don’t feel so sorry for her anymore; I thought she was going to say something totally different.
“Where were you from?” I inquire.
“Miami, Florida. Ma’am, I’ll take your horse now.” She bows her head.
Happier now that she is rightly suffering, I pass over the rope to her, leaving her to battle with Drake.
***
I step through the front doors of the main house to find Tybalt exactly where I left him. He raises his big head from his paws when I enter.
“Come here, boy,” I tell him.
He jumps up and comes toward me. At the sound of Tybalt’s paws hitting the tiled floor, my dad pokes his head out of the door of his study. When he confirms that it’s me, he exits and walks into the entrance hall to meet me. He smiles at the ecstatic Tybalt, whose body is swaying with his tail.
“He wouldn’t move, even when I told him to,” my dad says.
“You know who your master is, don’t you?” I look down at Tybalt, holding his face in my hands.
I look back up at my dad, whose smile has faded from his face, his strong arms crossed.
“Why did you feel the need to act out?” my dad asks.
“I was trying to have some fun until someone came and spoiled it. I was going eat out tonight with them being my dinner. The new souls are my one source of fun down here. There is really nothing else that I can do. I keep asking if I can get out of here for a year before I start helping more down here to run Hell, but you say no. So, I’m going to ask again, and this time, remember what I just did and how you felt about it. Ready? Can I have a year on Earth?” I whine and pout.
As always, he rolls his eyes and shakes his head. I’m breaking him.
“Alright, I didn’t want to do this, but you leave me no choice,” I warn him. I deepen my pout and throw in my puppy dog eyes.
His eyes quickly avert from mine, letting me know that he’s cracking even more.
“What about a year in Olympus with your aunts and uncles? I can sort that out. They’d love to have you!” My dad tries to compromise.
I put my hand on my hip, cocking my head to the side with an eyebrow raised. “Dad—” I smile “—I love them and all, but can you imagine me in Olympus for a year? I would drive them, you, and the souls there mad. I need a break from this life.”
I see his teeth grind together. I internally jump up and down, throwing my hands around. I’ve got him. He only gives me that look when he knows I’m right. He exhales.
“I can’t believe I’m saying this, but alright, you can go.” He finally breaks fully, relenting. I shriek in delight, letting my excitement finally show. “Someone else can deal with all the trouble you cause,” he mutters.
“Yay!” I exclaim, running to hug him with Tybalt following me, not exactly sure what is going on. Before I can make contact, my dad puts his hand up, and I skid to a halt.
“There are conditions,” he tells me.
“Of course, there are.”
“One, you will come home every other month for a week. And two, you will go for exactly a year from the date you arrive, no longer.”
“Whatever. Thank you!” I skip the rest of the way to my dad, and he pulls me into one of his big hugs that I love.
“Alright, decide when you want to go, and I’ll sort everything out. I need to deal with something now, but I’ll see you for breakfast tomorrow,” he says as he pulls back.
I nod before he walks around me and out the way I came in. I bend down to hug Tybalt as well, knowing I won’t be able to take him.
“I’m finally going!” I squeal.
Feeling upbeat, I straighten up and make my way to the kitchen, dancing as I sing a tune in my head. The only times I was able to listen to music were when I went up to Earth with my dad, and now that I’m going up for a year, I can’t wait to know more about it.
I enter the modern stainless-steel kitchen and walk to one of the big fridges. I love to cook, so my dad makes sure that it’s stocked with everything that I may need, keeping it up to date with everything on Earth, including appliances. I pull open the heavy door to one of the fridges, retrieving a bag of blood, which has been taken from one of the many souls by torturous means. One fridge is set to a cooler temperature, whereas the one we use for the blood is set at a higher temperature (at 98.6°F or 37°C). If we were to leave the blood outside, it would be at boiling temperature after a couple of seconds. Satisfying my hunger, for now, I dance back out of the kitchen and up to my room, looking forward to what’s to come.
Chapter 2
A Day in the Life of Hades
When I enter the dining room the next morning, I find my dad already sitting there waiting for me.
“What’s for breakfast?” I ask, sliding into one of the many chairs.
“Waffles sound good to you?” he asks, amusement shining in his blue eyes as he looks up from his writing.
“Of course,” I respond. He knows I would never turn down waffles.
Curious as to what he’s doing, I pull the papers away from him and turn them to me. I look down at them and chuckle. They were all contracts. I push the papers back to him.
He produces his pen that he uses to sign all the contracts, making them unbreakable, as the servants walk in with plates piled high with waffles and a jug full of blood from the souls. Once the jug and waffles are placed in the middle of the table, the servants bow their heads and walk out of the room.
I reach for the jug and pour myself a glass as my dad spears a couple of waffles from the plate in the middle, having signed the contracts.
“So, what do you have planned for today?” he asks, making conversation, as I reach for my own waffles.
“I’m thinking about repainting the message,” I joke but quickly amend my statement when I see his furious look. “I actually don’t have a lot planned. I was going to start packing, as I’ve decided that I want to go up to Earth in the next couple of days.” I cut a triangle of the waffles topped with cream and chocolate sauce and shove it eagerly into my mouth.
“I’ll sort that out when I’m up there today, distributing these. Where do you want to go?” he asks.
There are so many places on Earth that I can go to. I think back to the servant working in the stable.
“Miami, Florida, USA,” I tell him. Whenever I visited with my dad, America was my favorite destination.
“Okay, as I’m not here, I need you to go to the Styx Lake and supervise,” he requests.
I swallow my mouthful before groaning playfully.
“Ugh. Fine, if I have to. But you hav
e to get me a car and motorbike when I go up,” I negotiate.
He ponders it for a moment and then adds onto my clause.
“Yes, but you also have to help at the lake tomorrow.”
I grin, extending my hand to him. “Deal, but only if they are both day shifts.”
He takes my hand in his and gives it a firm shake.
We finish the rest of our breakfast in silence, and while the plates are being cleared, I go back upstairs to get dressed. I open the door to my room and look around this familiar room that I love. My big comfy bed sits against the wall to the right of the door.
I walk into my walk-in closet and flick the switch. Fire lights up in niches in the closet’s walls. I decide to wear all black to look more intimidating, so I walk to one of the many drawers, pick out a pair of black ripped jeans, and throw them onto the cushioned stool behind me.
I walk further into the closet, past another door, hunting down a black vest. Once I find it and my leather jacket, I move to my shoe collection and grab a pair of black boots.
After finding all my clothes, I step out of my closet, turning the fire off as I go, and step into my bathroom. I am instantly met with hundreds of reflections of myself looking back at me from all angles. I move past the sunken bath and put my clothes on the counter next to the sink. I then take my pajamas off as I walk to the shower.
***
Once I am clean and dressed, I walk back into the main room. Being the daughter of the lord of the underworld has it perks, like inheriting some of his powers, as is expected. Along with the superhuman senses, strength, and speed that all demons have, and the power over storms, I have also gained the ability to teleport in the blink of an eye and compel any human, dead or alive. I usually use teleportation to get around, and today, I also decide to use my power over thunder for extra effect.
I picture the Styx Lake with my eyes closed, visualizing myself standing there. I feel my feet hit the ground, which is softer than the one in Hell, and summon thunder and lightning.
I survey the familiar terrain. The actual lake is massive; you won’t see the other side where the lake meets the dark sky because it is blurred by fog. The ornate gate where all the souls enter the afterlife and all the demons and angels enter the human world is far away from the hubbub where the boats pull up at the docks to pick the souls up.
Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate) Page 2
