Page 52 of Going to Hell
With a weary sigh, I flipped the covers off my face and sat up. Seeing Hades leaning against the post at the end of the bed scared me enough that I jolted. A hint of resignation crossed his expression. And though he was neither angry nor muttering nor wearing his horns and wings, I still saw all of it in my mind when our gazes locked. His searched mine for a moment before I realized what I was doing and quickly averted my gaze.
How stupid was I for looking a god in the eyes? Wait. If he was powerful enough to magic things without a spell or ingredients, did he even need eye contact to grab my will?
A shudder ran through me at that thought.
“Goddess, forgive me. I won’t again attempt to take what is not freely given.”
Right. Sure. I’ll absolutely believe the insane god.
Yet, the quiet, gentle words did assure me that he was going through one of his calm moments.
My stomach growled, and he straightened away from the post to gesture at the table.
“Eat. Please.”
Without much choice, I slid from bed and picked at my piece of bread.
“She is displeased.” The bread disappeared from my fingers, and an egg appeared on the plate.
Numbly, I lifted the mini trident and speared a bite of egg.
“She is unhappy. Blood will rain. Torment. Pain. I hate the pain. No, I love it. She will give me pleasure.”
His calm had lasted what? Two seconds? How was I supposed to live like this? I didn’t look too closely at the answer. Instead, I dropped the fork and barely managed to swallow the bite in my mouth as I left the table.
Hades followed me into the hall, his mumbling echoing a bit as I went to the next door. I didn’t stop to listen or feel any shock at seeing another tortured soul inside. I simply closed that door and went to the next, and the next, and the next.
Hades mumbled. I woodenly searched for a hopeless answer. And hours passed.
When my feet hurt and my stomach started to growl, I went to an empty room and stood there, waiting for him to transform it. I ate what he provided, and then I crawled into the bed. He muttered about displeasure and pain as I sought the only escape available to me—sleep.
It didn’t last nearly long enough, though, because I woke to an agitated Hades ranting about how he gives everything and gets nothing in return.
I thought of home and what I would be doing. Either getting ready to go to class if it was a weekday or lying in bed if it wasn’t. There really wasn’t much of a difference between Hell and Uttira. I feared for my life and felt trapped in both places. And both were just as lonely.
Rolling onto my side, I opened my eyes and idly looked at the golden disc on the wall. Hades immediately stopped his pacing and came to the bed, squatting down so he could look me in the eyes.
“Tell me what you need. A knife? A spear? I’ll give you both. Speak your desire, and it will be yours.”
I rolled onto my back and closed my eyes.
He growled angrily, and I internally winced as he pushed away from the bed to resume his pacing and mutterings about hateful goddesses. I realized then that every time he said goddess, he probably meant me.
Wasn’t he going to be disappointed,I thought as I struggled to find the will to get up and continue my search. It wasn’t that I wanted to die. Obviously, I didn’t. If I didn’t care, I’d lift my skirt and let Hades do whatever he wanted.
My face flushed at the thought, and I pushed that reaction aside like so many others I wanted to give. No, I didn’t want to die, but I’d long ago accepted the inevitability of it. Long before I came here, I’d known a monster would be my end. I’d only hoped it would be a quick one. It wasn’t easy to accept that my end would be long and painfully drawn out.
Anger swelled inside of me.
My stomach growled.
“She hungers. Choose wisely.”
Was that how it started for the guy chained to the wall? Had he hungered?
I sat up and looked at the table as a plate appeared. Without seeing what it was, I stood. I moved. I sat. Then I did the unthinkable. I pushed the table over.
I wasn’t sure who was more shocked. Me or Hades?
