Hades Rewound (Hades Series #2)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

You know when something tragically awful happens to someone, they say it felt like time suddenly slowed down? That, by some cruel twist of fate, the seconds turned as thick and slow as honey in the trickle of time, oozing past at a painstakingly slow pace; that they had to watch the horrific events unfold right before their eyes in some sick, twisted slow-motion video that someone decided to make just for them? That in those slow, trickling moments everything that'll make their world come crashing down to it's knees seems to happen all at once?

They were all so sickeningly, disgustingly, undeniably wrong.

It all happened in an instance. One second he was standing right in front of me, invading all my senses; I could feel his warm hands encapsulating mine, see his midnight blue eyes crinkling in the corners as he smiled my smile, smell his familiar woodsy smell, even hear the soft murmur of his low voice that reminded me so much of the richness of melted chocolate.

Then the next moment, he was gone.

I stare dumbly at the spot where he had been standing mere seconds ago, the place where the ground literally snatched him away from me. I can hear someone calling my name, feel them shaking me slightly, but I can't move. My senses have gone completely haywire; I feel completely numb.

It isn't until a blond-haired figure takes up the majority of my vision that I manage to break out of my paralyzed state enough to focus on their face.

"Evie. Snap out of it."

"What?" I blink, slowly looking around me. The tumultuous mess that exploded when Hades disappeared has ebbed down to more organized chaos, and everyone is now staring at me with bated breath; probably expecting me to break down into an emotional blubbering mess.

But I don't. I'm too numb.

Spencer sighs, unable to hide the sympathy from his gaze. He glances over my shoulder. "She's scaring me, I don't-"

I tune them out, staring down at the ground again. Once again, because of Hades, I barely notice everything going on around me, barely hear the other gods trying to talk to and reassure me, barely feel Calla and Kezia wrap their arms around me as Spencer spirits us all back down to the Underworld.

But this time, it's for a completely different reason.

This time, instead of being overwhelmed by the whole atmosphere of the wedding, I'm overwhelmed by one, devastating reality that my mind repeats like a sickening mantra until it's the only thing circulating my brain as I slowly drift into the realm of the unconscious.

He's gone.

— — —

I wake up unusually cold, and completely confused as to why I'm feeling unusually cold. My mind feels sluggish, like it's full of cotton candy, and for several seconds I think that I'm still stuck in some warped dream reality. It's not until I roll over onto my side and open my eyes that I figure out why I'm feeling cold and displaced. Or rather; who is strikingly missing from their usual position next to me in the bed.

The realisation hits me like a bullet, and everything explodes into pain.

I squeeze my eyes shut tightly, as if by doing that small impeachable action the sight of the empty bed would be wiped from my memory. A small tear escapes the corner of my eye and slowly slides down my cheek. This can't be happening. This can't be real. Hades can't be gone.

I hesitantly open my eyes again, hoping, praying that everything that happened yesterday was just some weird, screwed up dream my mind decided to torment me with before the wedding. But my hope is to no avail.