Damsel Of The Damned

Chapter 4

I slowly spun in a circle in attempts to find the man that had quite possibly saved my life. But it was to no avail as it was just too dark. I could hear my heart pounding in my ears and I knew that I wasn't safe yet and that put me on edge.

Slowly I started walking to the door using my memory of the cafe to guide me and keeping my ears peeled for any unusual noises. Before I got there his voice rang out making me scream in fright at the sudden noise.

"Wait please don't leave I won't hurt you" he said.

Just as he finished his sentence the lights of the cafe turned back on revealing him to me.

It was Hades whom I had met just yesterday and he was standing a mere two feet away from me which caused me to jump in fright at his closeness. At this point I didn't know if I should run screaming from the cafe, or stay and have some of my questions answered. I chose the latter.

I made my way to one of the booths and sat down heavily with a loud sigh. It was a stupid move on my part because I was farther away from the door and therefore more vulnerable but I just couldn't bring myself to stay standing and vigil. For some reason I didn't feel threatened by Hades, if anything he was making me feel safer which was weird. I was exhausted from my recent panic and it wasn't even 6 a.m. yet!
I watched as Hades walked towards me.

"May I take a seat?" He asked me.

"I suppose" I told him in response.

That made him quirk a small grin my way.

"I have some questions I would like answered."

"As do I" he replied.

"If you answer mine, I'll answer yours" I stated hoping that he'd agree.
"Very well" he conceded.

"You first" I told him.

"You can see spirits" he asked but it sounded more like a statement.

"Yes" I answered truthfully. I figured honestly is the best policy in this circumstance because I wanted honesty in return.

"Have you always been able to see them?"

"Yes. I first saw them when I was young and have been able to ever since" I said.

He had started mumbling to himself after that but I could only catch a few words that included, how, they were right she does exist, but none of it made any sense.

"Umm are you okay there?" I asked.

"What? Oh yeah I'm good I was just trying to figure you out" he stated.

"Well there's not much to figure out" I told him.

Hades then responded with "See that's where you're wrong. You are the only human being to ever see me in thousands of years. Unless you're not human."

By the end of his sentence he had sat back against his seat staring at me. Studying me as if he would be able to solve all of his questions by looking into my eyes. I ended up staring right back at him with questions running through my head. He thinks I may not be human but that's possible because there are only humans. Right? There are spirits but those were human beings at one point. But then how'd he get in the cafe? There's only one entrance. Why do I feel so comforted and safe when I'm near him? I don't even really know him for gods sake. And did he say thousands of years? Who is this guy?

After a few minutes of inner turmoil I realized we had both been staring into each others eyes and quite truthfully I was lost in those dark, murky depths. Something about them just drew me in.

I shook myself out of my stupor and asked my first question that turned into multiple.

"How were you able to get in?" "Why did you help me?" "Who are you really, or what are you?" "Why do I feel so comfortable around you?"

After that last question I stopped because I wasn't planning on asking that but it slipped out anyways and I could feel heat crawling up my neck and into my cheeks. Now I was embarrassed because he was looking at me in amusement.

"Well these are all hard questions for me to answer without confusing you but I'll try my best" he told me. He then continued with "I materialised myself in by visualizing my destination then appearing there." "The mind is a powerful tool." "Why I helped you, and why you feel safe with me have the same answer." "You're my anima so I will never allow you to be in danger again." He told me.

But what did he mean by anima? How could you just imagine yourself somewhere and physically go there? I think he noticed how confused I was because he started explaining more. "When I tell you about myself things will start to make sense." "But before I tell you will you promise not to run from me or be frightened? " I would never hurt you" he told me.

"I-i guess" I answered with a slight stutter in my speech. What did he have to tell me that would make me so afraid?

"My name is Hades as you already know."

"Like the god" I offhandedly commented."

"Exactly" he said. "The very same one."

Wait did I just hear him correctly?

"Are you saying you're Hades the god of death? I questioned him with disbelief heard clearly in my voice.

"No. I am Hades the god of the underworld. The prince of darkness, keeper of souls, Pluto. Whatever you want to call me. I go by many names" he told me.
"The god of death is Thantos he picks them up from this world and brings them to mine" he stated.

"I don't think I believe you" I told him. "Prove it" I said.

"Very well" he replied. Suddenly the cafe started filling with dark grey smoke and the lights started flickering. The floor of the cafe cracked right down the middle and out from the hole he had made spirits started rising filling up the small room moving towards us.

"Okay stop I believe you!" I yelled at out.

Just as suddenly as it started it stopped and the cafe put itself back together like it never happened. To say I was shocked was an understatement but I wasn't frightened as I had seen hundreds of souls in the past five years and many other unexplainable things. In fact I actually felt relieved that there was actually someone ruling over the spirits and that they didn't all just wander the world alone.

I stared at Hades thinking through things and then something from our earlier conversation dawned on me he mentioned something about someone named Thantos the god of death. He couldn't have any relation to me could he?