Hades

Chapter two: He's dead

Hal sat at the dining table playing with his peas as my two brothers sat motionless staring at him.

"John, Ron," my mum whispered. "Stop staring."

"N-no it's fine," Hal stuttered putting his fork down.

"Are you Clarice's boyfriend?" John asked.

"John!" My father scolded, then he looked back to Hal. "Um... Are you?"

"Dad!" I protested.

"Sorry, I was just wondering."

"He's just a...friend."

"So Hal," my mum asked trying to change the topic. "Whereabouts do you live?"

"I...I...don't really live anywhere..."

"What do you mean?" Ron asked. "Everyone lives somewhere."

Hal shook his head. "It's not a very pleasant place."

"Oh my, poor boy!" My mother said sympathetically. "It must be tough on the streets!"

Hal shrugged. "I don't really think it's that hard. And I don't live--"

"Please," my father tried. "Eat some more of your food! You haven't eaten anything!"

"No, no," my mother started, "You need to rest! John, Ron, help your sister clean up the dishes, your father and I need to set out new sheets and a spare bed for Mr. Calvin."

Hal had remained silent during the entire time doing exactly what my mother and father told him.

"Come boy into the spare room," I heard my father say as he walked down the corridor. "Yes, honey grab the sheets, no, no, not you Hal, you just stay..."

"Let's clean up the dishes boys," I told my brothers grinning.

They groaned but still did their chores. After we had finished, my father pulled me aside and said that he was going to let Hal stay with us for a while. My father told me that Hal didn't even know how old he was.

"Maybe we can check with the officials," I suggested.

My father shook his head. "I don't know if that is going to help, the boy said he was Two and a half thousand years old. He also said he didn't need to sleep."

"So then what is he doing in the room now?"

"I don't know, we just left him there."

I told my father I had finished my chores and went over to the room Hal was occupying. The door was slightly open and I knocked on the door softly. There was no reply, so I opened the door. Hal, was nowhere to be found.

***

"So, he just dissapeared?" My mother asked astonished.

I nodded. "I opened the door and he was gone."

"Out the window?" My father asked.

"I don't know, by the time I was there it was shut tightly."

Dad took a quick glance at the clock. It was 9:30 pm. "We'll talk about it tommorow. Would you mind Putting Ron and John to bed?"

***

I was walking to school the next day when I saw him again. He was staring at me behind a pillar at the train station. I walked up to him.

"Hi," he said sheepishly stepping away from the pillar.

Anger bubbled inside of me. "You left."

"I-I--"

"Stop your stuttering!" I shouted. "My mother and father used their energy and time to set out a bed for you and you...you just left!"

A few people began to stare, but I didn't really care about them. Every step he took back I took one forward. I backed him into the pillar he was hiding behind before and jabbed my finger into his chest. "You make me so frustrated!"

I turned on my heels and walked away. I can't believe I just did that. My parents would kill me. That was completely and utterly rude on my behalf. I caught the 8:30 train to school and reached school grounds at exactly nine o'clock. First and second period ended and soon I was bumping down the noisy corridors again. I reached my locker, but a certain boy with a brown jacket was leaning against it so it couldn't be opened.

"Please move," I sighed. "You're in my way."

"Clarice..."

"Hal, I'm sorry about what happened at the train station this morning, I didn't mean to shout at you. But please, stop following me around."

"I need to tell you something."

"Hal," I said raising my voice a little. "Please go away."

"Clarice please, just listen to me for one--"

That was when I completely lost it. "No! You listen to me! Stop following me around or I will call the police! Do you understand?!"

He looked around. I did the same as him and saw that everyone was staring at us.

"I'm so sorry," I apologised to everyone.

"Clarice, do you want to know why they are staring?" Hal asked.

"It's because we're making a scene," I sighed at him.

"No," he said, "Not us, just you. They can't see me."

"For crying out loud Hal," I said rubbing my temples. "If you have such low self esteem don't come to me. I'm not a counsellor."

"No, they really can't see me," he tried again. "Here I'll show you."

He went up to a guy who was carrying a football and knocked it out of his hands. The guy just picked the ball up and pretended not to notice Hal. I shook my head. "Haha, very funny."

He shrugged and went up to another boy and pushed him. The boy angrily turned around. He had wondered who pushed him, and Hal was standing perfectly still behind him, but he didn't seem to even see him.

Hal returned back to me and stood in front of me. "Now do you believe they can't see me?"

"You just pushed the biggest brute in our school," I stated.

"I know."

"And he looked straight pass you even though you were standing right in front of him," I said. "Did you pay him anything?"

Hal shook his head. "I don't have any money."

"Okay," I said my voice rising an octave. "Why can't they see you?"

"Because," Hal said and I heard the victory in his voice. "I'm dead."