The Curse of Betrayal (39 page)

CHAPTER TWENTY NINE

beaten to a bloody pulp

I wake up in a dark jail cell—in
my
jail cell, the one I’ve dreamt about time and time again. I guess Professor Onassis was wrong—I do end up in jail. I sit up but instantly fall back down to the concrete ground as my body aches out in protest.

I try to remember how I got here, but I can’t. I don’t remember anything from when I was last awake. I don’t know what time it is or how long it’s been since the attack. I lie back, trying to recall anything from my past, hoping to understand how I ended up in this familiar jail but nothing surfaces. The last thing I remember is playing manhunt with my friends.
 

Oh shit. We got in trouble for sneaking out? The more I think, the more severe my brain throbs.

Why can’t I remember anything?

I shut my eyes, willing myself to dream of what I can’t recall. I count in my mind, hoping to control my rapid heart. My heart won’t stop beating a hundred miles a minute, but I don’t know why I’m frightened. I try to grasp my chest, but my shoulder burns in response.

I breathe in and out, barely able to get air in without hurting. My lungs cry out in defeat. Little movements burn like nothing I’ve ever felt.

Whimpering, I try to relax my body so I can force a vision.

What has happened to me?

“What do I have to do?” Ari’s voice rings in the cavernous room. I open my eyes and am perfectly fine. My body doesn’t ache, and my head is clear. I test my body, swinging my arms around and bending my legs. I look around and know I’m still in the Underworld by the atmosphere. I’ve been here before. I know what to expect. I’m not scared.

“Give me Athena,” Hades demands, his beard longer than I’ve ever seen, but other than that, he’s exactly the same as I remember him. His blackish hair is cut short, the inky tendrils clinging close to his scalp almost like they’re wet with sweat. His large, solid body is still as intimidating as ever, even though I know he can’t see me.
 

“Why would you want her?” Ari asks, his brows knitting together.

“Power.” Hades’ voice booms into the room, ricocheting off the walls. The echo startles me. “I need her.” His voice is almost desperate.

“Deal. I’ll bring you Athena.” Ari holds his hand out to the devil himself.
 

“Deal, my old friend.” Hades takes his hand and shakes it as the deal is sealed. Hades pats Ari’s back with his other hand like they’re best friends. Hades whispers something into Ari’s ear, and they both erupt in deep laughter like they’re old pals getting together for a reunion.
 

I run to their side to see what they’re talking about, but as I reach them, my dream begins to fade away. My vision blurs, as if I’m watching through a frosted window. Ari sits at the dining table with Hades. Persephone enters the room next followed by a bunch of people in black suits, dressed like they’re attending a wedding.

She smiles up at the two boys sitting at the table—both polar opposites, good and bad—and then she takes her own seat at the other head of the table, across from Hades. The suited men bring plates to the table and lay out an extravagant meal.
 

It’s like a Thanksgiving dinner with the family. I gape. The world begins to spin. The contents of my stomach end up in my mouth, and I shut my eyes, willing the fall to be swift.
 

I wake up in my jail cell. My body aches. Every single muscle is sore and bruised—some more so than others. I can hardly breathe; I can hardly move. So I lie on the floor of my cell and wait for someone to come for me.
 

Seconds turn to minutes. Hours pass before I hear a faint noise to my left. I don’t know what the scurrying is. It could just be a mouse walking around. Another minute ticks by as I count the seconds, one by one, and a door down the hall opens and shuts, making the silent cell reverberate with noise. It’s almost too loud.

“Hello?” I try, voice hoarse and barely there. I can’t even hear it in my own ears, but I know it made a noise. I try to say it again, but nothing comes out this time, only a breath that burns; the taste of blood coats my mouth.
 

I brace myself on my good arm and push myself into a sitting position. I groan as my ribs sting, but I don’t let it affect me. I try to stand, using the bars on the cell to get up. Pain shoots up my arm, but I push past it, wanting to see where I am. I’m so disoriented it worries me.
 

I look out the bars and see lines of cells on cells on cells. The rest of them look to be empty except for the cell directly across me. A small, frail woman is slumped over in the far corner of the cell under a thin sheet.
 

I’ve seen her before. She’s always in these dreams. She’s always asleep—except for my last dream. I don’t think I know her, but her face is hidden under the sheet anyway.
 

Her body is rail thin. Her bones protrude under her skin as if they’ll break with the faintest move.

The door opens again, but this time making a huge bang as it shuts. My ears ring at the intrusion. I flinch away from the bars, but know I can’t let go or else I will fall to the ground in a broken heap. Hermes comes into my line of sight as he struts down the center aisle of the cells towards me.
 

And then I remember. I remember everything.

Hermes shows up at the cabin.
 

Hermes pulls me to the ground.
 

Hermes attacks Ari.
 

Hermes takes me away.
 

Brief one second flashbacks from the attack move to the front of my mind at the sight of Hermes. I cry out at the hideous images, and Hermes looks over at me with a smug grin on his ugly face like he knows exactly what’s happening to me.

He looks over his shoulder and then goes to the cell across from me and rattles the door, waking up the captured woman inside of it.
 

“Wakey, wakey,” he sings. His creepy voice makes me nervous, and I have to bite my lip to keep myself from crying. The woman doesn’t wake, though.

“You better be awake, bitch,” he scolds. He unlocks the door to her cell, making as much noise as possible as he opens it. She’s still limp on the floor, and in my heart, I pray she’s dead so she doesn’t get tortured.
 

Hermes creeps towards her, and when he’s within touching distance, he crouches. He turns his head and faces me, grinning from ear to ear. I keep my face stern, refusing to give him a reaction. He bends down and raises the woman’s head by her hair. He turns again to face me, and I finally see her.

“Mom?” I question, my voice just barely over a whisper. The limp body springs to action. My mother kicks Hermes in the face and then scurries to get herself off the floor. She looks weak, but she’s doing her best. She gets herself up and runs towards me. She jumps over Hermes body, and I think she’s going to get to me, but he reaches out and, mid-jump, grabs Athena’s ankle.

She grunts as she falls face first down on the concrete cell floor. “Mom!” I yell again, wishing I could get free and help her. But these thick black bars hold me in my cell even as I use all my strength pulling them. My mother turns over and slams her fist right into Hermes’ face.

But he doesn’t bleed or even cry out. Instead, he pulls his arm back and rocks it into my mother. She’s not as strong as Hermes. Her body is frail and broken. She takes the punch, but it’s clear the fight is over. Without the element of surprise, she’s weaker than him in her current state.

She submits, lying on the ground. “Put your hands out,” Hermes says. He kicks her arms so they’re splayed out on the ground to the left and right. She does what he says, but apparently, that’s not good enough for him. He kicks her in the ribs, and even from my spot across the hall, I hear the bones break.
 

I cry out, having to use my hand to cover my mouth to stifle my cries. “Leave her alone. Take me!” I scream. I’m already broken. I’m not as powerful as my mom. She needs to get out of here and stay safe.

Hermes hears my plea and turns away from my mother’s crumpled body. He takes two menacing steps towards me, and I know I’ve just set my fate. I’m going to die. But it will be for a reason. I’m going to die to save my mother. I let go of the bar and stand on my own.

He steps towards me with a key in his hand to unlock my cell when my mother’s cries fill the jail cell.
 

“Please, don’t hurt my girl. Let her go. Hades wants me, not her. Please, just don’t hurt my child,” Athena cries out, jumping up to her now closed cell door. She rattles the door, pulling on the bars, trying to get it open. I notice them start to change form and bend when she pulls on them with her stunning strength. She rattles and pulls and jumps around like a crazy person, screaming at Hermes to free me.
 

Hermes growls, because he must see the bars starting to break. He pulls out a metal wand-looking-thing from his pocket and shoots whatever is in it at my mom. I cry out as a dart hits her in the chest, the end sticking out.
 

“Stop!” I scream. I shake my own bars wanting to break free and save my mom. I reach through the bars and try to help her, but I’m not powerful enough. My mouth fills with a copper substance, and I try to choke it down as I focus on my mother limp on the floor with a dart sticking out of her chest.

Hermes faces me as I hysterically push and pull the bars, wanting to get free and save my mother. “Eurydice, you are free to go.” Hermes looks at me and unlocks my small cell. He grabs my arm roughly, making it bend. The battered bone gives and snaps. I cry in agony as he pulls me harshly towards the door.

When I’m in front of my mom’s cell, I look over at her broken body and the thing sticking out from her chest. When Hermes is a step in front of me, I lunge for the door and try to pull it open, but he guesses my move. He shoves me against her cell so my head hits the metal cruelly, making it clang.

I feel blood trickle down my face in a hot mess. Hermes holds me by the back of the neck against the metal so my head is pushed against two of the bars. “Stop!” I beg him to leave me alone. I didn’t think my body could get worse, but I was wrong. I was so wrong. I hurt everywhere. Everything stings, my stomach boils with acid.

“Let me take her place. I have her blood.” I pray that’s what he wants.

“How do you know that’s what we want?” he asks, narrowing his gaze on me

“I saw it. Take mine. Let my mother go!” I command, shoving against his firm body. But as I push him, he pushes me back. I shut my eyes and groan as I try to contain my pain.
 

“You better run far, because no matter what happens here, you’ll always be a power chip. Run far, far away, dumb girl. Far away.” Hermes tugs my hair back, making my neck jerk back in an awkward tilt. It burns, but I stay conscious, refusing to grant him my pain.

“You’ll never win. Evil never wins,” I whisper out. I turn and spit on Hermes face. Instead of angering like I wanted, he just smiles.
 

“Your naivety is hilarious,” Hermes says before winding up his arm and punching me square in the face until I see only black and hear nothing.
 

CHAPTER THIRTY

betrayal at its finest

I reach for Megan, but she’s too far away. I run after her, but when I get alongside, she sprints backwards, teasing me with each step. She has this little grin on her face that sends chills up and down my body. This isn’t Megan. Megan isn’t malicious like this. Not the Megan I knew. I can’t figure out how to get to her. She’s smiling at me, but blood pours out of her eyes like rivers of hate. I run to shut her eyes so she can live, but she crumbles at my feet in a limp heap.
 

“Someone help her!” I yell, grabbing Megan around the neck and trying to stop the blood flow. It pours out of her mouth, her nose, her ears and her eyes. I rip my sweater off and try to cover the holes so the blood can clot, but my sweater just fades into her body as if she’s absorbing it.

I don’t know how to make it better. I fall to the ground with Megan’s limp body and wait for her to wake up again. I cry into her bloody chest. “Take me, not her!” I yell into the night. I scream for someone to kill me and save Megan. She doesn’t deserve this. She’s the best person I know. She can’t die.