Cursed

࿏Chapter Twenty-Eight࿏

Hades

She was here, right in my grasp, and now she's gone! I close my eyes and open my mind out to the human world. I see nothing. Trying to find Aphrodite with mind control would normally work if my powers were up to their full capacity. With a cry of rage I summon little balls of electric current and send them out in every direction. The contents of Hayden's bathroom explodes as my green energy surges through the walls of the apartment. My anger is making me stronger, but not strong enough to locate her. She can't run forever.

Once I find her I will peel away, layer by layer, of this human shell that she's hiding behind. Then she will have no choice but to join me in the Underworld. She will be mine! With one hand I remove the chaos of fallen drywall out of my way. On the way out I spot an item of clothing. Upon closer examination I realize it must be Aurora's scarf. It's bright and lively colors mesmerize me. I'm used to the darker palette of death and destruction in the Underworld. In a moment of weakness I hear the sting of her words in my head and all I feel is betrayal. I want to be the one that she devotes herself to. I want to feel her touch, just as soft and supple as the scarf that I hold in my grasp. If she won't accept my love then she doesn't deserve to feel love from anyone else.

Determined to gain more strength I reach my mind as far as it will go. The sound of human laughter echoes in my senses. I set my inner sight on a bar nearby and begin to dissolve every inch of my body. The air sizzles around me as I reappear in front of a row of steel bar stools. The crowd gasps at the sight of me. Women grab their purses and run to the door, screaming.

"What is that thing?"

"It's a demon!"

"A monster!"

"Call the police!"

I grab one of the bar stools and the metal breaks apart easily under my supernatural touch. I throw a long spear at the door and send my neon green balls of electricity to melt the metal over the door frame. Everyone stands frozen, waiting to see what horrors will take place. No ones going anywhere.

"Ladies and gentlemen. Now that I have your attention, allow me to introduce myself. I'm the thing that you fear the most. I'm your worst nightmares come true."

A young man approaches me. I know he's carrying a handgun and I'm delighted with his bravery on behalf of all the people I'm about to kill.

"What do you want from us? Is it money? Please just take what you want and let us go."

"Haha! You think I care about your meaningless currency? I could summon all the money in the world and burn it here right before you."

"Then what do you want?"

"Something that is much more valuable to me than money...your souls."

The boy fires a bullet aimed right at my head. Let the slaughter begin. My snakelike tongue whips out at lightning speed and wraps around the bullet in midair. With a quick flick I send the bullet back at him, killing him on impact. The screams of humans who know that they're about to die fills the air and I revel in it.

Normally I like to add a touch of flare to my killings, such as the removal of an eyeball, or perhaps a mismatching of limbs. That way, when they arrive in the Underworld, they look as grotesque as possible for their resurrection. But tonight I'm too occupied with vengeful thoughts of ways to torture Aphrodite. So I decide to kill everyone in one fail swoop. Then I can preserve my energy for the rise of my minion army.

I raise my hands and all of the stools in the room break into pieces. Once I whisper the magical incantation the metal bars raise up and hover in front of each of the bar attendees meanicingly. With a simple nod of my head the bars thrust themselves deep into the bodies. In some cases impaling more than one victim at a time. I humm a little song as blood pools in buckets on the floor, stopping at each human to drink until I'm satiated.

Now that all of the souls are gone I can send the bodies to the Underworld and then return them to me as my slaves. My long nails scrape the ground as I walk from one end of the bar to the other, zigzagging through the piles of dead bodies. Once the line is formed I begin my chant to the Underworld. In moments the earth cracks and a deep fissure forms where I've drawn my line. One by one the bodies fall down through the earth's crust and into the abyss. Once they've reached the Underworld they will be mine to control. My bidding will be their ultimate sacrifice. Their souls will not rest until my orders are fulfilled.

I walk over to the last body and kick it into the pitch black chasm. Just as quickly as it opened, the earth snaps its jaws shut, sealing the bodies in the fissure. I look around the bar and it looks as if nothing has happened. Not even a drop of blood remains on the floor. Only an empty bar with no bar stools. I can't help but be pleased at my work. But there's no time for dwelling on my success when the matter of raising the bodies back from the dead is at hand.

All of their blood has given me access to more power, I'm ready to summon them up from the Underworld. But I have to get out of town where there are no witnesses. I hold an image of a forest in my mind and use my powers to teleport to that location. The sizzling sound of energy particles splitting in the air let me know that it's working.

I'm surrounded by the dark green of hickory trees. I listen for sounds of humans but the only thing I can hear is a tractor plowing the fields far off in the distance. What a perfect place to raise the dead. I reach down and push my tendril like fingers in the earth below me, forcing ants and other bugs to crawl out of the earth. I laugh as they scurry away from the feeling of death in their presence.

Realm of dead souls

Prisoners of the Underworld

Relinquish your controls

For you are bound to this world

Heed my commands

If you wish to be free

Fulfill my demands

It is your destiny

I know they cannot resist a call from me. Within minutes of finishing my spell, the bodies of all of my victims start to crawl their way out of the dirt. Even the pathetic drug dealer I killed several days before has joined them. Up from the Underworld they rise, standing before me waiting for instructions. There's one thing I have to do first.

Aurora's scarf wasn't the only thing I stole from the apartment before I left. I magic Hayden's cell phone into my hand. As I go scrolling through the text messages that are mostly from Aurora, I find one contact that might not be as suspecting of my intentions. Perhaps this Zachery Bennett can be tricked into divulging her whereabouts.

(no subject)

Zach, have you seen Aurora? We got into a nasty fight and I really need to apologize.

The phone vibrates letting me know that my bait has been successful.

(no subject)

Listen man, you've got a lot of balls reaching out to me after what you did to her.

He's seen her. Bingo! Whoever this boy is has no idea what's coming to him. I look up from the phone, ready to address my army of the undead.

"Who here knows of a Zachery Bennet? This human dares to harbor my goddess and he must be brutally punished for this."

There's some confusion among the decaying bodies as they talk back and forth. Finally a young woman steps forward.

"Master. I live to serve you. In my life I knew of a husband and wife who have a son that just returned from serving in the armed forces. His name is Zachery Bennet."

Smiling from ear to ear I throw the phone up in the air and shoot beams of green fire at it. The tiny explosion inspires applause and wonder in my minions.

"Go now! Find the parents and when you do make sure they suffer. One more thing, I want their heads."

Sounds like a delicious snack.