Hades Rewound (Hades Series #2)

Chapter Twenty-One

Chapter Twenty-One

My mother stares at me, her bright green eyes wide with incredulity. She taps my father on the shoulder and points out the window, straight at me, but when he follows her finger his gaze goes right through me. He can't see me.

That's when we both realise she's the only who can see me.

She watches me for a few more seconds before abruptly walking out of the kitchen and disappearing from my view. As soon as she breaks eye contact, I'm ripped out of whatever trance I was in when I realised she could actually see me, and I'm suddenly able to breathe again. I swallow hard and glance down at my hands, a little taken aback when I see how badly they're shaking.

That can't have been possible. It's never happened before, not once. Hades would have warned me if something like this was even remotely possible.

So what the hell just happened?

I let out a long breath, shaking out my hands as I turn on my heel. Screw giving Hades the day to do whatever job he thinks he has to do; I want to know what just happened, and I want to know now.

"Hello?"

I freeze, an all-too-familiar voice gluing me to the spot. A golf ball lodges in my throat, and despite my better efforts, tears inadvertently prick the corner of my eyes. I didn't realise until this very moment how long it had been since I had heard that voice, how much I missed that voice.

"Evie?"

I swallow again and slowly turn back around. I struggle not to let my jaw hit the floor when I see my mother standing right in front of me, her eyes wide and her mouth open in disbelief.

"How are you standing there?" I whisper hollowly. "This isn't possible. You can't leave your Elysium. So how are you standing in front of me?"

From the look on her face, she seems to share the same line of thinking that I do, but she doesn't respond, seemingly too distracted to answer my question. She reaches her hand out towards me timidly, like she's afraid I'm an apparition that's going to disappear if she breathes too hard. To be honest, I'm feeling the exact same way. "It is you, isn't it?"

"It is." I respond after a few seconds of silence, unable to stop the small grin from breaking out over my lips. "Hey Mum."

A big beam breaks out on her face, and she laughs a little. "How is this possible? I swear, the last time I saw you, you were about to turn ten years old." She glances over her shoulder at the house behind her, and frowns slightly. "Actually, I did just see you; you were in the lounge, reading that book you never put down." She looks back at me. "So why am I so sure that you are my daughter? What's going on? Who are you?"

"The last time you saw me, I was ten years old." I smile sadly at her. "Well, the last time I saw you, anyway. To you, I've been ten years old for quite a few years."

"That doesn't make any sense." Her frown deepens. "What do you mean?"

"You're dead, Mum."

She inhales sharply. "What?"

"You died in a car crash around fifteen years ago. Both you and Dad. I was the only one to survive." I tell her quietly, glancing down at my fingers. I've already started fidgeting, which is one of my nervous habits. "I am your daughter. Just fifteen years later."

"So you're... twenty-four?" She breathes, her expression a mix of pure shock and abject horror. I nod. "But that's so... old."

"Gee, thanks Mum. Way to make a girl feel special."