“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?”
“Going after her, shithead. What does it look like?” I yank myself away from him, seeing Lukas, Graham and Emmet pummeling the shit out of each other.
A howl breaks through the sounds of grunts from fists slamming against flesh.
The ground shakes as a looming form barrels down on us. Emmet is thrown back against me. I shove him off, back towards where Lukas and Graham wait with fists poised.
“Stop!” Lukas’s dad screams, right before the beast snatches him up into the air as another comes straight for me, his large paws dig into the sand propelling him forward.
“Satan! Satan, stop!” I try yelling out, but there’s no moment of recognition in the hell hound. My body is tossed like a rag doll against the jagged rocks as its head slams straight into me.
I feel my spine go ramrod straight as a tug from within causing my head to loll against the wall. A deep rumbling comes from above, but I’m stuck- my chest feeling like I’m being carved up from the inside.
Garrison crumples to his knees as he runs a clenched fist over his chest while Emmet’s face is locked in a silent scream. Lukas and Graham lean on each other as they stagger towards me. Sloan shivers uncontrollably, fists digging into the sand beneath him.
My back arches of its own volition as a searing pain rips down my spine, digging into my chest, ripping a scream out of my throat. Through the haze of my pain, I note that my fraternity brothers are all experiencing a similar phenomenon as me. The sounds of screams and howls fill my ears as my body begins to lift from the ground. What the fuck is this?
I’m being pulled into the veil, and there’s nothing I can do about it.
CHAPTER3
Chapter Three
SALEM
SONG: LOOKING AT THE DEVIL BY SEIBOLD
Istand gaping at the man I call father as a lake of fire spurts long ribbons of lava into the air behind him. Brimstone fills my lungs and I cough, struggling to take a deep enough breath.
“What the hell is this?” I wheeze.
“Not exactly hell, dear daughter. More like a limbo of sorts.”
“Purgatory.” The word falls from my lips as I take in the horror-scape in front of me. “Why are you here?” The last time I saw my father, I was three years old. One minute he was pushing me on the swing, the next I was crying- cold and alone as my little legs kicked uselessly against the air. They found me hours later, miraculously unharmed. My mother refused to speak of him, constantly changing the subject if I ever found the courage to bring him up. A thought of panic flickers as I remember her, and my grandmother have both passed by my hand. Could they be down here too?
“I live here.” He responds, opening his arms wide.
My throat swallows thickly trying to process his words, his crown, his sword strapped across his back, him actually being in front of me for the first time in years. He looks no different than the man I vaguely remember. Youthful, in an ethereal way that I always wrote off to idolizing my father like little girls can do. Surely, he would have some wrinkles by now- unless he’s a slave to Botox or related to Paul Rudd.
“Nice…place?” What the heck am I supposed to say to that? Finding out my dad lives down in purgatory wasn’t on my to do list for the day.
A low groan from behind has me swirling to see where the noise is coming from. I take in a curled-up form, shaking in a swirl of darkness.
“Ah, Chaos. I see you’ve found a way to slither right back where you belong.” My father says looking down at the shriveled demon. The grotesqueness of the figure freezes me to the spot. I feel a scream stuck in my throat, aching to be let out and echo along the threatening stalactites that loom above.
A gravely voice grates against my eardrums. “Fuck you, Hades.”
My entire body feels weighed down. The sound of distant screaming seems to fade, as the whooshing in my ears increases with my galloping heartbeat.
Hades. Hades. Hades?
The name bounces off my mind, slipping into repressed memories and taking up residence in my soul. My knees quake beneath me. I’m not sure what exactly I expected to find down here, but this definitely wasn’t it. All the courage I felt earlier dissipates in an instant.
The charred form on the ground chuckles. “What’s that look for, princess? Didn’t know you were a daughter of Hades?” His deranged laughter causes him to roll into a coughing fit, while his black soulless eyes stare up at me.
“That’s quite enough.” Hades says with a flick of his wrist, managing to craft iron chains around Chaos’s wrists and ankles. My chest feels strangely empty as I gape down at the demonic being as my thoughts race.
It couldn’t be true. My father abandoned us. I’ve only heard from him occasionally. Receiving a gift or two sporadically throughout the years. He couldn’t beHADES. God of the Underworld.
