Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate)

by Charlotte Carol

  I recall the movie that Adrian had on when the cops were asking about Meredith. The scientist in it was doing the exact same thing. This turns the temperature of my anger from simmering to boiling. I spin and give Adrian my best sadistic grin, which even has the guard in the corner shifting away from me.

  “Let’s start off easy,” I say as I walk to the chair again. I start to undo the chains and sling them through a loop on the ceiling. I pull it sharply, causing Adrian to be lifted violently from the chair, eliciting a cry from his lips, his toes scraping the floor. I stand in front of him, my fingers intertwined as my arms hang by my sides.

  “What do you know about the revolution?”

  He doesn’t reply instantly, his chest heaving with his rapid breaths. I hear him swallow before he answers hoarsely.

  “Not a lot. I only know that someone is gathering supporters and bringing new demons back with them from Earth.”

  I listen closely to his heartbeat, which is already fast from the torture, and look at his eyes, wanting to see if he’s lying to me. I sigh, acting disappointed.

  “Come on, Adrian. You know better than that,” I say, keeping the false disappointment and adding false disbelief at his actions. “Don’t lie to me. You know more than what you just told me.”

  I stroll back to the wall of torture devices and pick out one of the tamer ones—a gun. I take the cartridge out and start to fill them with bullets laced in the Demons’ Torment. I slam the cartridge back into the gun and return to Adrian.

  “We’re going to play a little game. Every time that I hear a lie, a bullet will be fired into your body. That sounds fun, right?”

  Adrian changes the way he is hanging slightly but doesn’t say anything. I shrug and start to walk in a circle around him.

  “What do you know about what happened today?” I ask.

  “Nothing,” he answers shortly.

  I wait to see if there are any signs that it was a lie, but nothing happens to make me believe it is. They must have decided without his knowledge. I relax slightly, glad that we don’t have to worry about him controlling everything from his cell.

  “Are you the ones creating the new demons?” I fire off another question, not giving him any time to relax.

  “No. I’ve been trying to find out who is and how,” he mumbles.

  I stop and narrow my eyes. This is not any fun after all; the cartridge of bullets is still full.

  “How did you first find out about what is going on? More specifically, how did you find out about the revolution and plan to take over Hell?”

  “From other demons talking,” he states truthfully.

  “About starting it?” I ask.

  “No.” When he says this, his heartbeat rises. Almost straight after him saying it, I lift the gun and pull the trigger. He lets out a cry, twisting away from me and the gun. Things are starting to look up.

  “Tell me the truth, Adrian. You were once my friend. I deserve to know why you want to hurt me!” I shout at him.

  He hangs his head but not in shame, more out of tiredness. “If I was the one behind all of this, then how is what you’re doing to me now any different? You’re hurting me,” he points out.

  I lift my gun, not looking at him, and pull the trigger again causing another shout of pain.

  “I told you the truth. You can’t say I’m lying because you don’t like what I said.”

  “I shot you because what you said isn’t the truth. The two things are totally different. The pain I’m causing will help me get answers. We can stop this right now if you just tell me the truth. So, answer the damn question!”

  “I was there,” he admits. I lower the gun slightly as I wait for him to say more. “But I said no to joining and tried to stop others.”

  “Who else was there? I need names or descriptions,” I demand.

  “I—I don’t remember,” he pleads. I shake my head and pull the trigger again. “Please, Scar—”

  “Don’t you dare say my name like that!” I shout angrily as I pull the trigger again. My eyes go to Tybalt in the corner who is lying comfortably watching me from where his head is resting on his paws. I purse my lips, contemplating whether Adrian will be more compliant when he is on the other end of what Tybalt can do. I let out a whistle, getting Tybalt’s attention, causing his head to lift up.

  “Threaten,” I command, and with that one word, the loving, adorable dog is replaced by a vicious killing machine. He jumps up from his spot and stalks toward where Adrian is hanging, his canines bared, his snarls and growls filling the room.

  I know if I were in Adrian’s position, I would need a new set of underwear. I notice, however, Tybalt is holding back, and I realize I have been as well. I could have gone straight for the worse tools and forced his answers out. Instead, I’ve given him a chance to go without any pain. We both, deep down, still see him as the friend we used to know.

  “As you well know, with one word, he can rip you apart. Now, do you want to give me the answer I want?”

  “If I tell you, I’ll be killed,” he cries out in panic.

  “And if you don’t, you’ll be killed anyway. So make up your mind. Either I kill you after you are tortured, or they can kill you.”

  He closes his eyes as he moves yet again, trying to find a comfortable position. I am about to open my mouth to encourage him, but he stops me when he begins to list off six names. I don’t recognize them all, only a few I know to be guards.

  “Okay, Tybalt, lie down,” I instruct. The growls immediately stop, and he returns to the loving animal as he moves back to his prior position. “Is that it?”

  He nods. I pull the trigger.

  I ignore his attempts at getting me to believe him, shouting over them as I make my way back to the wall.

  “Don’t fucking lie to me. Who else was there?”

  When I can walk no further, I look back at Adrian and see that he’s shaking his head, silently telling me he’s not going to say anymore. I clench my jaw as I look back to the wall and swap the gun for a knife. I flip it over in my hand as I watch Adrian. He continues to shake his head, his eyes imploring me to leave it. With one last flip of the knife, I lift it and throw it into Adrian’s shoulder.

  “Hold that for me,” I say as I make my way back in front of him. I cross my arms. I believe him when he says that he’s not part of the revolution, and this gives me relief that he didn’t betray me. However, I do not feel guilty for everything that is happening or what I did. He has information about who is behind this whole thing, and he kept it to himself. I need to know everything he does, and that means getting him to talk, and the only way I can get him to tell me the things he doesn’t want me to know is by making it the better of two options. At the end of the day, everything I do to him will heal.

  Well, maybe. I step closer to him and pull the knife from where it is lodged in his shoulder.

  “You saw what I can do with a knife,” I say to Adrian, referring to when I gave Meredith the scar. “So, are you going to give up the names?”

  His face goes white, but he doesn’t say anything.

  “Okay,” I say, stepping back from him again. I look to the guard in the corner, who is still standing as far away from me as he can without making it look like he’s actively avoiding me. “Would you go and get a barrel and fill it with water?” I ask.

  He nods without any hesitation and leaves the room.

  The guard returns a minute later, pulling behind him what I requested. I thank him and position the barrel where I want it before I move to the corner holding the Demons Torment. I pick a couple of the flowers and return to the barrel, dropping them into the water. The solution dissolves the flowers, and the clear liquid is replaced by a bright blue, glowing one.

  I dip the blade of the knife into the concoction to halt the healing process in Adrian and move to stand in front of Adrian again. I lift the knife to Adrian’s face, pressing it against his cheek. Adrian hisses with pain as the scent of burning flesh fills
the air. I flick the knife so only small scratches mark his skin. I ignore the confusion that Adrian watches me with as I move over his face.

  Once I am happy with the result, I take the chains out from the loop and grab him by the arm tightly to stop him falling. The guard moves to his other side, now wearing gloves also. Together we drag Adrian toward the acid-like potion. Adrian, now putting two and two together, starts to struggle as we get closer. He already knew what I was doing with the barrel, but he didn’t understand the cuts on his face. I kick him in the back of the knees so he falls to the floor.

  “One last chance. Are you sure that those names are this important to keep a secret? Because like you said, once I start something, I can’t be stopped until I’m satisfied.”

  He closes his eyes as if thinking about it but still doesn’t say anything. I move my hand to the back of his head and push his face down toward the liquid. I pause just above to see if he’ll give in, but when he doesn’t, I continue down. The stinging from the Demons’ Torment will be even worse with the tiny cuts all over his face. The liquid starts to bubble, and Adrian struggles against our hold but doesn’t budge an inch. I go to let him up, but then I remember what happened to Reid and keep him there for a minute longer. He’s protecting whoever are the last names and the ones responsible.

  When I eventually pull him out of the liquid, his face is marred by burnt flesh. I let him fall, and Adrian turns onto his side wheezing. He coughs, and blood dribbles down his chin and onto his chest.

  “Know the last names yet?”

  “It’s only one,” he replies, his voice almost gone completely. “The last name is…” he starts but stops. Through the burns, I can see that he doesn’t want to say it and is upset. I swallow, suddenly nervous.

  “Who?”

  “Kyle,” he mutters, his eyes closed as if it physically pained him to say it. It might have, as the Demons’ Torment most likely got into his mouth. “He was the one leading it all.”

  I am stunned into silence. The person I trusted the most to have nothing to do with it, the person who has been by my side my whole life. All of a sudden, all the questions I had going around my head about Adrian transfer to Kyle. Why would he want to hurt my dad and me? He sees us as family. A pain begins to form in my chest, and all the emotions I feel break through the barrier that was holding back all the emotions from leaking out.

  “You’re lying!” I scream at Adrian as I fall down on top of him, using all of my strength with each punch I land on him. “I know it isn’t him. He’s been on Earth with me. I even showed that demon a photo of him. He showed no recognition.” I try to convince myself, not wanting to believe what he said. But I have to, his heart stayed at the exact same rate, his breathing didn’t change—he was telling the truth. No one is that good of a liar.

  “It started way before you left, and as for the demon, he may not have met him.” What he says makes perfect sense, but the thought of what it means causes tears to start streaming down my face. “I didn’t want to tell you because I knew you would become upset and angry,” Adrian continues.

  “You’re fucking lying!” I scream in my devil voice unintentionally.

  Kyle helped me; he wouldn’t want to kill me. I fall back off Adrian, anger coursing through my veins. My horns make an appearance, and I know that the anger has caused my inner demon to come out. I stand up and begin to pace around the room, needing to get rid of some of the anger. I let out a loud grunt and turn, punching a dent in the wall. The stone crumbles around my hand, and I ignore the pain on my knuckles. I trusted Kyle. I trusted him with my life. My mind zooms back over every good time we had together. Both of us laughing as we hide from my dad, watching as he is at the receiving end of one of our pranks; him teaching me how to fight; our rebellious trips up to Earth without my dad knowing; Kyle helping me when I nearly killed the guy at the party; when he joked with me about Mr. Ward. I even kissed him! Were all those good memories all lies? Was he using me and plotting the right time to turn around and stab me in the back?

  Reid. I left Reid with him.

  He hadn’t hurt me yet, but I have given him the ammunition to. Maybe he was just waiting for the right time, like now. Kyle knows how much I care about Reid. I told him how he means the world to me. I have to get back. I try to teleport out of the room, forgetting about the spell which doesn’t allow anyone in or out if they don’t go through the door.

  “He’s free to go,” I tell the guard as I move to go out of the room.

  “Are you sure?” he challenges.

  “Yes, I’m fucking sure!” I shout, turning back to look at him.

  “Shouldn’t you ask your father?”

  “Yes, she should,” my dad’s deep voice says from behind me as he stands in the door.

  I turn to see his arms are crossed, and his serious stare is moving over the room. He lingers on the dent on the wall, Adrian on the floor, and then my face.

  “What happened in here?” he asks.

  I don’t answer.

  “Scar, have you been crying?” I look away from him; I hardly ever cry.

  “Someone better tell me what happened, right now!” he demands.

  “I know the leader’s name,” I scoff.

  “Who?”

  “Kyle,” I spit out, finding it harder than I thought to say his name. I see anger flash in my dad’s eyes before it’s replaced by sadness. I look to Tybalt in the corner and see that he even looks sad. He watches me push past my dad and move furiously past all the cells.

  “Where do you think you’re going?” my dad calls after me.

  “Back to Earth. I left Reid with that fucking traitor,” I say. I rush up the stairs and as soon as I am out of the field of the spell, I teleport.

  ***

  I appear in my house, still running. I stop abruptly and listen to see if there are any movements. I hear a faint heartbeat and shallow breathing of someone, but nothing else. I smell the air to find that both Kyle and Reid have been here recently. I yank the gloves off my hands, throwing them to the floor.

  “Kyle?” I taunt. I get no reply. I frantically start to search the house for either Kyle or Reid, hoping that the heartbeat I can hear is from Reid and not Kyle. I don’t know what I would do if he were here.

  I barge through the door to my room and stop when I see an unconscious Reid in the middle of the bed. Rushing over to Reid, I check him over for any new injuries. Luckily, it looks like nothing has changed. I sniff him, checking that he has no other blood in his system, but all I can smell is the scent of Reid. I give a sigh of relief as I fall onto the edge of the bed. A crinkling sound lets me know I am sitting on something. I shift and pull the piece of paper out from under me and recognize Kyle’s handwriting.

  I had to go, but I’m certain that he will be OK and there is nothing seriously wrong with him.

  However, it wouldn’t hurt to give him some of your blood, as he has lost a lot of his own. I would have done it, but I thought that you would prefer to do it.

  K x

  I scoff, crumpling the piece of paper in my hand. That doesn’t sound like a note from someone who wants to kill me. He even took into consideration my feelings about him giving Reid blood. He helped where he could have caused me more harm. I shake the thoughts from my mind. I don’t have to deal with him yet. How am I going to react to him at school tomorrow?

  I throw the ball of paper into the trash and lay back on the bed, listening to Reid’s heartbeat. It’s exactly as I left him, not as strong as it should be. He’s not gotten any better. I hate to admit it, but Kyle’s right, the healing qualities in my blood will help Reid. I sit up, allowing my fangs to extend, and bite into the flesh on my wrist. I quickly move the wound, before it can heal, to Reid’s mouth. I push it between his lips, and instinctively, he swallows the liquid in his mouth.

  Once he has the taste for my blood, which appeals to the drinker as a result of the Ichor in it, he gulps it down, all the while unconscious. Not being subdued by pleasur
e, I am able to feel the sensation of the blood being pulled out of my body, which is a weird one but not entirely unpleasant. When I hear his heartbeat become stronger, and I think that he has had enough, I pull my arm back and away from him, watching as the wound seals itself back up before my eyes. I lie back down and wait for Reid to open his eyes.

  ***

  A couple of minutes have gone by, and I am starting to worry because he still hasn’t opened his eyes. I am just leaning over him, getting ready to shake him, when he sits up with a start, causing me to scoot back in shock. He stops when he doesn’t recognize the room, his eyes flying around it.

  “Who are you?” he asks when his eyes come to rest on me.

  “What? You don’t remember me?” I ask, concerned that maybe I didn’t give him enough of my blood. His eyes look curious for a moment longer before the amusement wipes everything away. He lets out a loud laugh before he stops and lifts a hand to his head.

  “Fuck! What happened? Why do I feel like I’ve been hit by a truck?” he asks, his eyes scrunching in pain.

  I roll my eyes. “Not funny,” I tell him before going on to explain what happened. “Your car exploded, causing you to hit your head when you went flying back.”

  “What did you give me?” he asks when his hand explores his head and finds no wound.

  I bite my lip, hesitant on replying. “Some of my blood,” I tell him, gauging his reaction before I continue. When he looks freaked out, I quickly give him a reason. “It has healing properties and won’t do you any harm. It will be present in your veins for six days before it goes.” I press my lips together as I wait for his reaction. He calms down considerably and even looks thankful.