Hades Doctor

In Knee Deep Trouble

Goosebumps quickly broke out on my neck when I scrutinised the liquid between my fingers.

It had rained blood.

After a moment of bewilderment, my feet took off after the red trail before me, unwittingly curious of the strange phenomenon. Not long later, it brought me before a large boulder, where it continued to rain.

Then suddenly the wind that swayed the tree tops blew closer to the ground making me close my eyes with the dust unsettled by the tiny storm.

When the winds died, my eyes opened to a chilling sight. The boulder was now covered in white, like a coat of distant snow, and bitter frost over blood red.

Wings of white feathers withdrew to the beast's torso, revealing the the carcass held underneath its paws.

An enormous white lion with the wings of angels depicted in paintings, proudly settled to feast on its catch.

Its sleek fur lying over an elegant frame, and lean muscles was marred by blood and mud, and its shaggy mane shook when it let out a roar. It was nothing like human speech or a bird song, but what it conveyed was a universal, he was not to be disturbed.

And just like a prey when faced with a predator, my instincts were beseeching me to snap out of my daze and hide.

And when sharp eyes of soft yellow-brown scanned past the surroundings, I had already sought cover.

Though my eyes couldn't see, I could visualise the gruesome scene as its fangs ripped through the leather like skin of the animal, that was hardly recognisable with a missing head and mangled body - the source of the blood rain.

And then finally, I had rest, though danger sat on four limbs not far away.

A long while later bones with little flesh was left behind, as the regal beast took flight, hopefully in search for a place to sleep for weeks!

I figured the scent of blood, would draw in others as the beast was no longer present to scare them away. And having given enough time to think while the beast happily ate, I was forced to accept my assumptions.

I was not on earth.

When struck by the undeniable evidence, I did not feel as anxious I had ought to be, and strangely felt more calm than I had been before, an obvious sign on an overloaded mind.

Breaking into a smile, I was certain that William Isherwood would have me murdered by his own blade, and Victoria Airlea, would wring her daughter's neck with her skinny fingers.

But what hung with great uncertainty was whether Demeter had indeed brought me to the land she had spoken of, the one where Hades' soul rested, and if so why had she acted so strange.

She was rushing to have me leave, and I had concluded that there were more than just a few things that she hid from me. But what if I was wrong, and she was truly just desperate.

But, Apollo standing in Hades' path in obtaining his fragmented soul was one thing I highly disagreed with, even though I had no proof to follow it up. And it was suspicious how Demeter never brought up the Oracle, and the glitches in her personality was equally so.

The image of the hand reaching out to save me in the last moment was still vivid in my mind, and though I had kept wondering of her split personality syndrome, I couldn't push away the idea, that maybe, she was being forced, and had a change of heart in the critical moment.

But by whom and why?

If it was Persephone who was also Demeter's daughter why go through such an elaborate plan to get me stranded here?