Child of Hades

10. Escape

After one especially physical fight with Ethyl, Cat came to me in the evening: "Let's go.", she said, tears streaming down her reddened face. I had seen her cry over Ethyl quite often, but never quite like this. I was wondering what he had done this time. We hugged for a while before we made our way out of the school, leaving open a window at the back of the building. Cat shook her head when I went to open the window but she did not say anything. She wore a black hoodie that she pulled deep into her face to hide her tears.

We left the school before 10 pm. She held my hand while we strutted through dark streets together. It was not a new thing for us to go out at night. There were only very few street lights and many shadows.

"Where are we going?", I asked her.

"Away.", she said. Her voice cracked while she spoke.

Her eyes were different, empty. I felt helpless. 

When we finally stopped walking, we were standing in front of the door to one of the Keres-sisters' hideouts. I took a few steps back when I recognized their symbol.

"Are you sure about this?"

Cat nodded. It was hard to see in the darkness, but I was certain that I saw her wipe away one last tear from her cheek. She opened the door and we stepped into a hall that was even darker than the street we came from. Immediately I could hear hissing, and the sound of people moving quickly around us. I did not see anyone until a fire lit up before us. It lit up quickly and burned brightly. I did not see who put it on, but I counted more than 5 creatures sitting around us, gazing at us with glassy eyes. They were wearing heavy gowns that covered most of their bodies, including their faces. It was difficult to determine their species, but I suspected that most of them were humans.

"Sweet children of Hades", I heard a highly pitched and surreal sounding voice echoing through the room. "All alone in the night. Tell us why we shouldn't eat you."

The creatures started laughing. Their laughter was dry and crackling more than the fire.

Cat took a step forward and spoke with loud certainty. "We came to join you."

Upon hearing her, the laughter intensified until it stopped rather abruptly.

One of the creatures in front of us stepped forward. It was wearing a face-mask with a beard drawn onto it, it's gown mimicking features of an elderly man.

"You think you could be useful to us, hmm?", the voice asked with a sarcastic undertone.

I stepped closer to Cat, watching every movement around us closely. "This was not a good idea", I thought.

Some of the creatures pretended to move towards us, toying with our fears.

One of them made a run for us, but I pulled out my gun. The creature stopped and went back to the others, laughing.

"How about we cut a deal.", the voice said. "I will let one of you join the Keres-sisters."

Some of the creatures gasped, they whispered to each other in excitement.

"Go ahead and fight. We will embrace whosoever survives tonight."

I turned to Cat. Suddenly I felt a sharp, stabbing pain in my torso.

"I'm sorry but I can't go back there.", tears streaming down her face that was suddenly filled with hope again.

She pushed her fingernails deeper into my intestines. The pain was overwhelming, I felt like throwing up more than I felt like fighting back. Cat's other hand started cradling my cheeks. "Goodbye, little sister.", she said.

My gun was aimed at her. One shot, and she sank into herself. I removed her hand from my torso. I shot her a second time and she stopped breathing. 

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As the author of this book I want to offer emotional support to anyone who has made it this far. You are awesome. :)