Chapter One
I woke with a start.
My eyes flew open and at first, nothing was visible through a blanket of blurriness on my vision. I shut my eyes again and moaned, because my body felt stiff and heavy. I couldn't lift my arm to wipe my eyes, so the only thing I was left doing was blinking until my vision cleared and I found myself staring up at some kind of ceiling with gold accents and a huge diamond chandelier.
The fuck?
Confused, I kept staring at it as I tried to figure out what the fuck had happened.
The last thing I remembered was... what? A tree? Yeah, something about being in a tree.
Why the fuck was I in a fucking tree?
But this didn't look like a tree, so where the fuck was I?
I blinked a few more times, cleared my vision and turned my head to see I was hooked up to some kind of machine... machines. Plural. There was more than one. They looked almost like the ones in the medical wing, except... I wasn't in a compound. That couldn't be right. The room looked lavish and wealthy while the compound was more sedate and clinical.
This place was fancy pants central.
I tried to sit up, but my body refused to cooperate, so I was left slumping back down among the blankets and pillows. And don't get me wrong; I was fucking comfortable. The blanket on me was heated and I could feel its warmth through the other layers of blankets piled on me. Every ounce of me just wanted to sink back down and sleep, except there was no way I was going to fucking sleep in a strange place.
I closed my eyes for a moment to gather up some strength, and forced myself to sit up. My stomach surged forward and I groaned, leaning over the side of the bed to gag. Nothing was in my stomach, so nothing, but foam spilled out onto the floor. I grimaced before dragging myself to the other side of the bed. I pulled and unplugged the machines from myself, a couple of them making some noise. I swung my legs over the side of the bed and gripped the bedpost for support as I pulled myself up onto my feet. My legs wobbled and I felt my knees give out from under me. I slid down the bedpost onto my knees on the floor, cursing the entire time.
Gods, my legs felt like jello. They wouldn't cooperate with me, wouldn't take me to the machines to shut off that incessant beeping. I crawled across the floor and hit the side of one of the machines until I noticed a cord plugged into the wall. I snatched the cord out and the beeping stopped. Relieved, I used the machine as support as I pulled myself up onto my feet once more. This time, my knees locked and I stayed standing. Thank fuck.
I looked around the room now to see if I could figure out where I was, but no such luck. The place was heavily decorated, obnoxiously so, with flower vases and old paintings and gold all over the ceiling and walls, satin drapes hanging from the ceiling to the floor. A set of paned doors opened up to what looked like a balcony.
I looked around and found another door and decided to give it a shot. I used the bed to move along in case my legs gave out again. I hobbled over to the door and popped it open, but inside was just a ridiculously huge, overly decorated bathroom with some kind of huge pool instead of a bathtub. I turned away from the bathroom and spotted another set of doors, so I wandered over and popped those open, only to find myself looking into... another room? No, there were empty racks, empty shelves... a fucking closet?
Who's closet was this big? Why the fuck was this even necessary?
I turned to head back into the room, only to hear a door open and close in the room. I immediately ducked back into the closet and sort of closed the door so I could peer out and see who it was.
A tall blonde male entered the room with a tray in his hands that looked like it had cookies and cakes and something to drink. He was dressed all in white, but not in a clinical way. It was a white leather jacket over a black t-shirt and matching white pants that stretched down long legs to a pair of black boots. He pulled up short when he saw the bed was empty.
"Shit," he stated, then set the tray at the end of the bed, reaching into his jacket pocket. I stiffened for a moment, expecting a weapon, but instead he pulled out a phone and held it to his ear. I narrowed my eyes as I watched him suspiciously.
"Yeah, it's me... Yeah, he's not in the bed... No, I didn't do anything," the male sounded offended, "I came to give him something to eat. Yes, I brought what Three told me to bring." Three? Three was around? Three knew this male? Where was Three? Were they holding him prisoner too? Was that what this was? I was a prisoner? Again?
"No," came the male's slow response to whoever was on the phone, "I'll give it a shot, stay on." I frowned, then stiffened as I watched the male wander around the room, peering out onto the balcony, then heading to the bathroom and coming out to look around the room. His eyes landed on the closet and I immediately stepped back, then plastered myself against the same wall the door was on, hiding behind one of the doors should it open.
Which it did.
The male entered the closet slowly and came inside to look back and forth, not appearing to notice me hiding in the dark. However, I knew that once he turned around to leave, he'd fucking see me hiding there. I had to get to him before he got to me.
"Listen, I don't see him in here..." the male's voice trailed as he turned around at the same time I barged forward and slammed into him. He surprisingly didn't budge much, but he did stumble mostly out of surprise. I took that opportunity to bolt out of the closet. My legs trembled, but managed to keep me up as I scrambled for the exit. I threw the door open and went to sprint the fuck outta there, only to slam into some kind of black brick wall.
No, wait. That wasn't brick.
That was fucking Hades.
I stumbled back, catching myself on the wall before I could fall. Hades filled the goddamn doorway like a fucking golem, all jacked and decked in black, from his long black hair to his massive goth boots. His expression was that ever permanent scowl on his face. Seeing him, I backed up a good ways to put space between us. I started to turn to run the other way, only to see the blonde male coming out of the closet to block off my exit at the balcony.
"Don't even think about it," Hades said, referring to my glance at the balcony doors, "That's a four story drop and I don't want you fucking up your legs again." I looked at him, fucking confused as shit. Is that why my legs felt weird? What happened to them?
"Have a seat," Hades said at last. I glared at him.
"Like fuck," I responded, "Where the fuck am I? Why am I here?"
"Let's start with sitting the fuck down," Hades said, "Your legs can't take much more standing right now. So pop a squat and we can talk about it."
"I'm not sitting anywhere."
"Okay, fine, fall on the floor then. See if I care."
"Hades," the blonde male scolded. Hades shrugged, then folded his arms over his chest and looked at me. I glared at him for the longest time. I didn't want to do what he said. Who did he think he was telling me what to do? Aside from that, what was he talking about? What happened to my legs? What happened to me? What the hell was I doing here?
What happened to the fucking tree?
"You're in Hacian," Hades said at last, making me frown curiously at that, "It's the land between Hades and Hell, where I live with my family." I looked around at the other guy, who inclined his head as if to agree. I looked back at Hades warily. Why the fuck was I here? What did he want with me?
I tried hard to remember, but goddamn, it was like there was a wall in my brain and I couldn't destroy it to see what was hidden behind it. I was left confused and wondering what the fuck had happened.
"Are you hungry," the blonde male asked, making me glance at him, "I brought you some food. Three mentioned you had a sweet tooth." I looked at the cookies and cakes. Fuck yeah I had a sweet tooth. Give me all those fuckin cupcakes, brownies, and cookies. I'd eat that shit up like water.
Except it was being given to me by total strangers and my instinct was not to touch any food that came at me. Something was wrong with it. Something was always wrong with the food.
I froze as a strange memory bubbled up in my head.
I was laying on a cold stone floor, sprawled out like someone had just dumped me there. I vaguely remembered the way it smelled. Wet and stoney, the scent of urine pitching through it all. A door opened somewhere, but I couldn't lift my head. It was too heavy. Everything was too heavy. I watched a plate get pushed across the floor to me. I rolled over onto my side and grabbed a handful of the food, stuffing it in my mouth and eating as much as I could. I was starving. Why was I starving? Why hadn't I eaten?
I was so hungry I didn't care what I was eating. I couldn't identify what it was. Just that it smelled like food and it was on a plate, so that made it edible.
Except something weird happened as I licked the plate clean. My body felt heated, like I'd eaten an entire furnace. The heat started in my extremities and spread out into the major parts of my body, but where I noticed it the most was in my groin. It was so hot and heavy, which was rare.
It wasn't that I didn't get horny. That shit happened sometimes, but I didn't do shit about it. What could I do with... Well, anyway, that's what it felt like, except ten times worse. My body was on fire and I couldn't move my legs, even though I desperately wanted to. I squirmed in discomfort, clawing at the stones on the floor.
The door opened again.
I looked up to see who it was, but my vision tilted and I fell back to the floor and abruptly, the scene was gone and I found myself staring up at Hades, who stared back at me.
"Why am I here?" I demanded. Hades studied me for a moment, then looked at the male behind me.
"He's not gonna eat that," he said, "Just take it out." The male looked surprised, but didn't argue. He went for the door and started past me. I took my opportunity and shoved the blonde male as hard as I could into Hades, making both of them stumble, just a bit. I bolted past them and out the door and into a long hallway, once again decorated with photos and drapes and paintings, vases, glass figures. I didn't hesitate and kept running down the hallway. Or rather, running with a bad limp.
Shit, now I knew how Bait felt.
Bait... I remembered Bait. No, I remembered Bait being in a tree with me. I remembered him being all quiet and eating everything. Because that was Bait. He only cared about food and being left alone, which I could agree with. Food and quiet was all someone needed.
I rounded the corner at the end of the hallway, only to smash right into Hades again. I cursed and stumbled back, trying to catch myself on the wall. Hades reached out fast and caught me by the arm, jerking me up and right into his arms without hesitation. I immediately felt uncomfortable and punched him in the arm.
"Put me down, asshole! I'm not your fucking princess! Don't touch me!" I snarled, squirming in his arms to get out. Hades rolled his eyes and shook his head, ignoring me and just holding onto me tighter as he carried me back down the hallway toward the room. I punched him again, only to pause as I looked down the hallway toward the room.
My vision seemed to warp and twist until I saw an image of myself laying on the floor, like, in third person. As if I was watching myself. I looked so fucked up too. My legs looked wrong. They weren't straight, or stiff, but limp like noodles just laying there... Bruises, so many bruises, and cuts and... bite marks.
Bites.
An image of fangs flashed in front of my eyes and I screamed. I don't know where the terror came from. I'd never been one to scare easy. Scary movies, the thought of dying, none of that shit scared me, but whatever the fuck those fangs belonged to scared the living shit out of me. I knew they meant danger. I knew the food meant danger. My legs... danger.
Danger. Danger. Danger!
I bit down on the first thing I could reach, which happened to be Hades's throat. He cursed and dropped me to the floor, causing my fangs to tear away from his throat, blood gushing to the floor. I scrambled on the floor and tried to get to my feet, but I slipped in the blood and hit the floor again.
"Lucy, get the syringe from my bag," Hades's voice ordered above me. Panic wracked me as I slid on the floor, struggling to get up. I used the wall to pull myself to my feet and went to run, only something sharp pinched me in the back and I pitched forward, landing facedown on the floor. I propped myself up on my hands and knees and tried to crawl forward, but my muscles were abruptly weak and rubbery. I slid to the floor, panting for breath as I tried to drag myself to the corner of the hallway.
"Goddamn it, Lucy, another," Hades ordered. I rolled over onto my back at the same time the blonde male, Lucy, came at me with another syringe. I shrieked and punched him right in the throat, watching him drop the syringe and break into a coughing fit. Hades cursed and reached for me, but I rolled out of his reach and scrambled to my feet, managing to stay standing this time. I limped for the corner of the hallway, only to pull up short as a huge male filled the hallway. I'd never seen someone so huge before. He even beat Hades. And where Hades was leaner, this male was ripped to the extreme with an eight pack on him that defied logic. For a brief moment, I had to admire that. I'd always wanted to look like that. Huge and muscular and powerful, strong enough to smash anyone's skull in my fist.
Except then I remembered the situation and I went to punch the guy in the stomach, but he caught my fist and twisted it around, whipping me into a wall. I gasped when I made contact, then grunted as the male kept my arm twisted behind my back and held me pinned to the wall.
"Holy hell," the male exclaimed, his voice a rumbling baritone, "If you needed help, you should've said something sooner."
"Thought we had it handled," Lucy wheezed in between coughs. Hades took his hand away from his throat, revealing absolutely no injury whatsoever and he walked over to Lucy to touch his back gently. He said something in a low voice and Lucy simply nodded as he straightened and reached up to put a hand on Hades's face. Hades's expression softened for a moment, then quickly reverted to a glare as he turned to look at me.
"Get off me," I snarled at the other male, struggling against him, "I'll put a fucking hole through you, asshole! Get your fucking hands off me!"
"Wow," the male said dryly, "He's awfully friendly. He'll fit right in." I bared my fangs and he simply flashed his back before looking over at Hades and Lucy, who were both recovering. Hades looked peeved, though, like he wanted to take a swing at me and I fucking dared him to. I jerked at the new male's grip, but he was barely even trying and I was contained so easily.
Fury exploded in me and I snarled, bashing my head into the wall, making the male on me let go in surprise. I whipped around and took off down the hallway, breathing hard as I ran, my heart pumping hard in my chest. My legs still threatened to give out on me and I felt like I was practically skipping at some point, but I was making it down the hallway faster than the males behind me.
I turned a corner and found a set of stairs. I started to go down them, but as soon as I put all my weight down on one of my legs, my knee buckled and I went crashing down a flight of fucking stairs, rolling at the bottom and slamming into a wall. I groaned, rolling over onto my stomach as I struggled to breath. The landing against the wall had really knocked the air out of my lungs. I went to lift myself up, only for a boot to come crashing down on my back.
My vision flickered from the floor to an image of cobblestone flooring. The scent of urine. And sweat. Feces. Something else... blood? I felt a heavy weight on my back, grinding me into the floor, my cheek kissing the cold stones there. I felt something wet hit my cheek and slide down onto the floor. My eyes followed it to the floor.
Spit. Someone had just spit on me.
I lifted my eyes, trying to get a good look at the motherfucker who was holding me down, but suddenly, everything went black... and I felt nothing.