Hades' Halls

Secrets and Confessions

"What can I do for you?"

Confused, Seb met her eyes which showed only concern. For him, he realised with a jolt.

"What do you mean?", he asked innocently.

"You're a horrible actor Seb", said Georgie with a sad smile. "Don't try to lie to me".

A lump rose in Seb's throat making breathing hard. "I'm not lying", he said wincing with Georgie as they both heard the falsehood in his cracked voice.

Georgie's head was pounding like a bass drum's Marshall Amplifier  (Footnote 2) with a broken volume level. Why did he have to make everything so hard? Could he not see that she wanted to help him, to understand his complex of feelings which caused him to raise his hackles like a frightened dog whenever Hades entered the room. If only her brain was not so fogged, she could work out a way to get through to him so he could divulge his secrets and allow himself to be helped.

"Look Seb", Georgie said with a wide yawn. "You hate Hades. Or are frightened of him, maybe both, I'm not sure. But I can see that all of this is messing with your head, and I just want to understand why. If I did, I could try to put your mind at rest but as it is I'm stuck and I don't know what to do." Seb looked down at the ground, face burning, unable to meet her eyes. "Hades is not a bad guy. He doesn't want to hurt you or any of us. Things didn't start out great between all of us, true, but he was confused and lonely and desperate and scared." Georgie yawned again. "But things have changed now. We're ..... We've made an alliance and it's a pretty fair deal. We hardly pay rent and don't have to buy food and we are going to do this morally; I won't have it any other way. So, you have to stop all this with Hades. Talk to him, or me, or one of the others if you want to, but Hades is nice. He's lovely really.... Just trapped in his life, and who isn't? I don't even think he got a choice in the matter, unlike us who can chose the path we walk."

Closing his eyes, Seb clenched his fists by his sides, seeming to Georgie to be battling some kind of inner demon. Opening his mouth, Seb closed it again like a guppy and then opened it once more. He was close to telling her, Georgie realised. She just had to stay quiet and let him decide to talk on his own terms, any pushing or disturbance from her would drive him back into his shell.

He shook his head defiantly, he would not tell her.

"Seb ....", Georgie began.

"No" he said, taking a step back. "Don't. Just don't."

Sighing, Georgie leant more heavily on the banisters, legs wobbling and headache building to a crescendo.

Features softening in concern, Seb put a steadying hand on Georgie's arm. "When did you last sleep", he asked, moving a bothering strand of hair away from her face."

"That, my friend", said Georgie swaying. "Is an excellent question and one which I would truly love to give an answer to, however the facts seem to be mistaking me."

Chuckling, Seb said "Has anyone ever told you that you sound like a drunk intellect when you're tired."

Georgie considered for a long moment. "I can't recall."

Nodding in mock seriousness, Seb could not hold back a chuckle which sounded like Seb from before his troubles. Smiling at him sleepily, Georgie willed him to confide in her, to let her help him. No such luck.

"Evening you two. Loitering, are we?"

'Blast'. Georgie gritted her teeth. Boy did that devil have timing. She saw Seb's eyes cloud over and his expression close, the brief ray of her friend being drawn back into his worries where she could not follow.