Wrath of Hades (21 page)

“Don’t you dare call me psycho!” A murderous look crossed his face. Hades grabbed Raven’s hair and yanked her head upward.

“Let go of my hair.”

“Or you’ll what?” asked Hades.

“I might let you live,” spat out Raven.

“Do you think you’re strong enough to kill me?” Hades pulled Raven’s face close to his. “I’m definitely not going to let you live. How do you like that?” He laughed. “Take them to my lab. NOW!”

The shades dragged Raven and Persephone out of the bedroom and into a long corridor. Hades followed closely behind them.

His cold laughter echoed up and down the corridor.

19

I don’t remember what town we were staying in, but I do remember it was Halloween and there was a really huge Halloween carnival going on. I really wanted to go but mom said no. She said it wasn’t because of the money, it was because she was afraid I would get so scared, I’d become hysterical. She was afraid I would cause a really huge scene.

I wonder what she would say now.

                            --Raven Weir’s journal

Raven struggled to free herself from the vice-like grips of the two men who were all but dragging her down the corridor. Finally realizing it was a waste of her strength, Raven concentrated on staying on her feet. If she fell, they would just drag her, possibly pulling an arm out of its socket and that would not be a good thing. She need both arms working.

Glancing at the two men, she realized they were less
human looking than she had first realized. It looked like they were de-evolving, becoming something much less human or even primate. They were shades in the making and because of that she doubted she could convince them to let her go. She really doubted they could understand anything or anyone but Hades. Raven didn’t get to study them for long because they made a sharp right turn and stopped in front of a closed door.

“What are you idiots doing? Don’t just stand there. Go in!” roared Hades from behind them. He hit one of the shades on the back of the head.

The shade made no indication if it hurt or not. It didn’t even grunt or move. It just stood there.

Raven saw Persephone flinch, obviously having more problems with Hades than she let on. It was very clear Persephone
was terrified of Hades. It made Raven wonder why Persephone was helping her, especially if it caused Persephone more problems than she already had with Hades.

“Ah, Per
sephone, my pretty little pet, we’re going to have some fun now. Aren’t we?” Hades grabbed her chin and forced her head to one side. He licked her cheek. “My sweet, sweet Persephone, you’re going to enjoy this just as much as I am.”

As soon as he let go of her, Persephone rubbed her cheek against her shoulder. Her long pale blond hair fell into her face.

Hades threw his head back and laughed.

Th
e laugh was so cold and so evil; it sent chills down Raven’s spine. She started to say something but saw Persephone shake her head. Raven bit down on her bottom lip so she would keep her mouth closed.

“And what do we have here?” Hades slowly walked over to Raven. He slowly walked around her as he was sizing up a piece of meat to buy. “The great Guardian of Atlantis. Not so great are you?”

Raven bit down a little harder on her lip and glared at him.

Hades sneered. “What?
Nothing to say? No more names you want to call me? Just as well. It would probably just make me angry.”

“Like I care if you’re angry or not.” Raven couldn’t stop the words from coming out.

“So she can speak. It’s a miracle.” He stared at Raven then frowned. Hades picked up a lock of her hair and examined it. His frown deepened. “You look familiar, but I know we haven’t met.”

“Memory i
s the first thing to go,” said Raven.

“What did you say?”

Raven rolled her eyes. She could see Persephone shaking her head, but Raven decided she wasn’t going to go out like a scared little mouse. That wasn’t her.

“What did you say?” repeated Hades in a very irritated voice.

“Yelp. It’s definitely old age. It’s so sad that on top of memory loss, you’re losing your hearing. Classic symptoms of old age, at least that’s what I’ve read on the Internet.”

“I’m not old!”

“Yeah right, just keep telling yourself that and maybe one day you’ll actually believe it.”

“I don’t have to convince myself of anything. I am not old. I’m in the prime of my life,” he declared.
He pushed out his chest.

Raven smiled. She had just found a really big b
utton to push. It was funny how something as simple as age set Hades off. She just needed to find a couple more things to irritate him with, because the madder he got, the sloppier he would get, at least that’s what she hoped.

“What are you smiling about?” Hades got up in her face.

“Ewww! Get a breath mint, dude!” Raven wrinkled her nose as she moved her face as far away from his as she possibly could get. “Talk about dragon breath. Have you ever brushed your teeth?” Raven sniffed the air. “Come to think of it, have you even bothered taking a bath?”

Hades stared at her for a couple of seconds. A funny look came over his face.
“A bath? I had a bath back in—” He raised his eyebrows as he mumbled to himself. “I had a bath, back on—No, that can’t be right. Or can it?” He turned to Persephone. “When was the last time I took a bath?” he asked her.

She kept
her head down and remained silent.

Raven shook her head in disbelief. “Old age is affecting your memory. You can’t even remember the last time you took a bath. That’s just gross. Personal hygiene is the in thing to do this century. Not taking daily baths is so medieval. What would your mother say?”

Hades turned a little red. “I take baths. I’ve just been a little busy.”

“Excuses.
Excuses. Excuses.”

“It’s hard work running this place. I’ve constantly got souls coming and going. And then there are the problems with processing. You know, workers not doing what they’re supposed to do. It never ends!”

“Sounds like you’ve got it pretty easy.” Raven snorted and rolled her eyes.

“Easy?
Do you realize how much paperwork I have to deal with? And the red tape? No wonder Zeus and Poseidon stuck me with this job! They knew exactly what kind of pain it really was.” Hades suddenly turned and slammed his fist into the wall. “They did it on purpose. They stuck me down here hoping it would keep me out of their way so they could have all the fun, but I’ll show them. I’ll have the last laugh and I’ll be the one having all the fun when I’m process their souls.”

“Yeah, I’m sure you will,” muttered Raven. She tried pulling her arms out of the grips of the shades, but they wouldn’t let go. They didn’t even move. It was like they were stone statues or something. She kicked the leg of the one on her left. He didn’t even flinch or make a sound, but it caused her to hop on one foot while pain shot through her other leg.

“You’re not getting away from him,” said Hades with a sneer. “And there’s no way I’m letting you go. I’ve got too many plans for you.”

“Oh
yeah! The whole take over the world and make everyone pay,” said Raven. “That so isn’t going to happen. Besides, it’s so last century. We’re not trying to take over the world in this century. We’re trying to make it a better place to live.”

“Oh, is right?”

“I don’t know what fantasy world you’re living in, but in my world the bad guys always bite the dust. Besides, you’re just a stinky old man pretending to be a mighty god. You’re stuck here because you’re not capable of doing anything else. Zeus and Poseidon weren’t out to get you. They just realized you weren’t the bright one in the family.”

Hades stared at her. “I know those eyes. I know I’ve seen them before.”

Raven rolled her eyes. “Are we back to that? You really need to focus on one thing and follow through with it. People don’t think highly of you if you keep jumping from one thing to another without finishing stuff first.”

“Poseidon had eyes just like yours.
They’re the exact same color, and that hair—where have I seen it before?”

Raven shook her head. “Is he always like this?” She knew Persephone wouldn’t answer the question, but she had to ask it anyway.

“Do not talk to her.”

“I’ll talk to whoever I want to and you can’t stop me. Oh, and by the way, Poseidon is my father.”

“You’re Poseidon’s daughter?”  Hades laughed.

“And what’s so funny?” asked Raven.

“Poseidon’s been mooning over Medusa all these years, and then he goes and has a daughter. I bet that really made Medusa love him.” He laughed so hard, he grabbed his side.

“Go ahead and laugh it up. But for your information, Medusa is my mother.”

Hades stopped laughing. He stomped over to Raven and took the necklace from her. “I’ll take that. You won’t need it anymore.”

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you.”

“I’ll do what I want, because now the key codes to Atlantis are mine. No one will be able to stop me.”

“I’m really tired of everyone thinking they can walk in and take the necklace anytime they
feel like it.”

“I’m so scared.” Hades rolled his eyes as he made a face at Raven.

Raven smiled. “You had better be.”

“I think you need to worry about what I’m going to do with you after I get through removing Claire’s soul. I’ll force her body to ingest the
snomus and then I’ll put her soul back, only now, the body will be under my control. Claire Westing will only do what I tell her to.”

“That is so not going to work.”

“Just watch, because you will be next.” Hades looked over at the door to the room just as it opened. A shade wheeled in Claire Westing. She was strapped down on the table and her mouth was covered so she couldn’t scream. She wiggled and tugged at the restraints.

“This is such a fun process. I just love to hear the pleas for me not to do it.
And then there are the screams, the delicious screams. I so adore them. And when I have you under my control, I’ll finally be able to have my revenge on everyone.”

“You’re sick and demented,” said Raven. Nothing seemed to work with Hades for very long. His attention span was way too short for everything except the one thing he wanted the most—revenge on his brothers. When it came to that, he had a one track mind which scared her more than the idea of him trying to kill her. His thirst for revenge made him unpredictable and dangerous.

“This is so much fun.” Hades literally danced around Claire. He stopped and patted her cheek.

Claire flinched but couldn’t move away from his touch.

Hades laughed. “There’s nothing to be afraid of. It won’t hurt. At least it won’t hurt too much. But then some people have very low pain thresholds. Those are the most fun to play with.” He pinched her arm.

Claire tried to scream.

Hades laughed harder. “I guess you have a very low tolerance for pain. Oh, well. That just means more fun for me.”

“Why don’t you leave her alone and pick on someone who can fight back.” Raven tried to pull out of the grips of the two shades.

“I don’t think there’s anyone here who fits that description. Do you?” asked Hades.

“Tell your brainless morons to let me go and I’ll show you what it’s like to be picked on.” Raven glared at him.

“I’ve got a better idea. After I get finished with our sweet little Claire, I put you on the table next. It’ll be interesting to see how your body reacts to having its soul ripped out a second time.” He walked over to Raven. He wasn’t looking at her but at the necklace he held up in front of him. “This is such a beautiful piece. A child like you should never have been given something so valuable to guard.”

Raven wanted to kick and scream. She threw her weight as hard as she could to her right. The shade didn’t even flinch. In fact, neither one even acknowledge her attempt to break free.

“It’s such a beautiful piece of jewelry. Finally, it’s mine! Atlantis is mine!”

“You know, I’m really sick and tired of people taking my necklace. It doesn’t belong to them and it doesn’t belong to you!”

“And what are you going to do about it?”

“I’m going to kick your sorry ass.”

Hades stared at Raven. For several seconds the room was deathly quiet. “The only thing you’re going to do is die—again. But this time, your soul is mine and it won’t be going back into your body.” He walked over to a dark red curtain on the far side of the room and pulled it aside. “It’ll make the perfect addition to my collection of thieves, cutthroats, murderers, psychopaths, and now, the Guardian of Atlantis. My perfect collection.”

“But wouldn’t it be better to keep her soul in her body?” asked Persephone.

Hades glared at her. “I didn’t ask you for your opinion. If you’re thinking she’ll be able to get you out of here, you’re wrong.”

“I wasn’t thinking of leaving you. I was just thinking you could use her to torment Poseidon. Wouldn’t he do anything to get his daughter back?” Persephone flashed him a huge smile.

Hades paced back and forth, tapping a finger on his lips. “I never thought of that. It’s perfect. Poseidon would want his daughter back, even if she is pathetic and useless.” He walked over to Persephone and hugged her.

Over his shoulder, Persephone winked at Raven.

Raven slowly nodded. She turned her head to her right and stared at the hand gripping her arm. Her eyes grew gritty and her hands started itching. She twisted her hands, forcing them onto the arms of the two shades. “Sorry about this,” she murmured. 

Raven closed her eyes.