Persephone (Prologue - Chapter 6 )

Prologue

         Some people believe when they die, they’d go to a better place in the afterlife; of course, if only they’d done ‘good’ in their petty lives or they go to hell if they were ‘bad’. Contrary to that belief, some others believe that, there is no afterlife or judgement in the world after death. Well, lets just get things straight, there is a world after death, and it’s called Avernus. This is where one will be judge for their deeds in the world, like those in the common ‘beliefs’; if they’d done ‘good’, these people will have the leisure of choosing Asphodel, paradise for the virtuous and courageous. But, of course, Tartarus, land of fire and torture, is a choice for those that had defied the ‘good’ in their lives. Petty as it sounds, it’s the way that has always been since the dawning of time, but nonetheless, during that time, nobody ever thought of staying behind in the land of death, until someone by the name of Sheda who’d came to be and ruled over death.

         You see, the man named Sheda was noble during his ‘life’ long ago but somehow betrayed by his own father; he was assassinated, out of fear of usurping the throne by his father. Defying death, rage and hatred befouled his soul and made him lingered in the Styx, river of soul, longer then any other souls before. Somehow, as if god was watching over him, a miracle happened. He managed to crawl out of the river of souls, and found a life of his choosing. A better ‘life’ if I must say so myself. Instead of Asphodel or Tartarus, he had chosen to stay behind in Avernus. From there on, Sheda, altered in the river souls, was alive yet dead. An undead. Of course, being an undead has its potential, he didn’t need to eat mortal food and he was somewhat stronger then before and of course, he didn’t age nor die, he was an immortal. But, sadly Sheda was wasting away for he was alone in death, and depravity and insanity had crawled into his humanity and what was left of it. Despite that, new complication arose. His new body craved for blood and was wasting away by its craving. Inhumane as it is, his body that is stripped of life requires blood as its life force to be ‘alive’.

         The fact remains; he was stranded in the barren waste of death called Avernus alone and craving for blood. Nearing his second death, after days of solitude and hunger in Avernus, he stumbled upon something that would change his new life as well as Avernus. Actually, it would change the whole world. You see, he had somehow stumbled upon a blood-red amulet. Odd isn’t it? How does one stumble upon an amulet that was in the land of solitude and death. In my opinion, god was making a mockery out of him. Regardless, the amulet that he found gave him two things he desperately needed.

         Firstly, the amulet had allowed him to travel between the two realms, Earth and Avernus. Being in solitude, he was overjoyed that he could return home to Earth. However, bound to death, he could no longer stay under the sunlight nor live like mortals before. On his first return to Earth, he had burnt himself almost crisp in the sunlight. As days grew, his hunger grew, and longing for blood, he went to earth hunting for blood. Animals of different shape and sizes became his target, and eventually humans were in the food-chain. Knowing that he was an undead that craves blood, he understood dearly that his life on Earth had ended and returning to it would only lead him to him being hunted as a beast and eventually his death. Heart-broken of course, Sheda return to Earth only to feed his hunger.

         Secondly, the amulet that he found had enabled him to pull out souls from the river, making them like him, an undead and bound to him. However, there was a certain rule to that task of pulling souls into death; the beneficiary had to be given a choice of choosing Asphodel, Tartarus or Avernus. Of course, not all had agreed to join him, but some did and solitude in death was no more. Well, you’ve guessed it; the first soul he pulled was his wife. Later on, he pulled souls of his beloved friends who had die for him during his father murderous slaughter. Mind you, the travel through Styx is an arduous journey, especially to those who was defied of life, killed or murdered to be precise. Hence, their souls remain in the river longer then usual. So, together and bound to him, the undead created Thanatos, the capital of Avernus, over the river of souls, Styx. Soon afterward, He fancied himself a title; he had renamed himself Hades, Lord of the Underworld, Avernus and had named his people Vampires. So there you have it, the true beginning of the legend of the Hades and the Vampires; or so they say.

         Oh, forgive me, I forgotten to introduce myself. I am the new Lord of the Underworld and like the lord before, I am a Vampire. My name is Persephone; I am none other then the daughter of Hades. This is my story and how I came to be…

Chapter 1

         It’s the same thing I do every night of everyday of my life, as long as I can remember. I don’t really know why I do it but somehow as I lay down for a brief moment gazing at the stars, I feel a brief moment of release. A release I crave of, a release from responsibility, of self control and hunger. Since then, stars has always guided me this far. Especially a star I called ‘mother’, the star that I was born under, born into this existence. Eluding the reality is brief but it brought relief and a new sense of ‘life’ into me. And nothing more in this world I crave then ‘life’.

         But tonight, under the shining gaze of ‘mother’ I knew my responsibility will come crashing down on me. Harsher then anything I’ve faced before. Even before I lay down on the gravel, gazing at ‘mother’ tonight, I have felt a presence that I’ve come to known for as long as I have ‘lived’. Without flinching or moving, I said to the glooming presence, “You can never hide your stench from me Cerberus, my brother.” “Oh my, aren’t we edgy tonight?” Cerberus answered with a chuckle and stepped out from the shadows.

         Cerberus, my brother, named after the guardian of the underworld and its passage, the three-headed dogs of Hades. I stood up on the roof and turned to faced him. Clasped in a red leathery overcoat with his black hair untied yet kept, his blue eyes gazed at me. His skin like mine gleamed palely under the stars. I moved up closer to him silently, and slowly felt my arms across his face, stopping at a familiar scar in the shape of Roman number four, ‘IV’, at his right cheek. Six feet of lean muscles stood gallantly, overshadowing me. “It has been a long time since I saw you, Cerberus.” I whispered in his ears and kissed him on the cheek.

         At mere mention of his name, from his shadows emerged three dog shaped shadows next to him. Shrouded in shadowy aura, with glowing blood-shot eyes; each hounds reached about my waist. They were far more then mere predators; personally I wouldn’t want to be at the end of their jaw. The shadow-fiends, gift from our dear father, shaped like dogs acts as his protectors and his guardians. Hence, the name Cerberus of the Greek mythology. “Put them away Cerberus. Their stench reeks and it’s bothering me,” I said angrily. “Very well. Go for now, I’ll call you later if I need you,” came the answer. The three shadows growled at me and disappeared into his shadows.

         “Since we are alone for now, have you eaten, baby sister?” he asked me.

         “No, I haven’t,” I replied.

         He shook his head in disproval and took my hands into his. “You are stubborn when it comes to feeding, Persephone,” he said. Persephone. It has been awhile since anyone had called me that. It is my name, of course, and I, like Cerberus, is born from the blood of Hades, our beloved father. Oddly as it is, Persephone was my mother’s name and I had been named after her by my father soon after her death while giving birth to me. My mind tugged at a memory I suddenly remembered when I asked my father why was I given my mother’s name and he simply replied in anguish, “You have your mother’s eyes, my child.” A pair of mix-matched eyes of icy-blue and emerald-green.

         Leading me to the edge of the roof, Cerberus hauled me into his arms and said to me, his blue eyes gazing into the city, “I hate New York and you better hold on tight, baby sis. I wouldn’t want to drop you now, would I?” I chuckled as I hold on to him and nodded. Catching a glimpse of approval from me, my brother leapt down from the roof of my apartment in the city, into the alleyway below. As we landed, catching our breath, Cerberus gave a shrill whistle and his dogs took shape from his shadows and stood next to him. Then, I covered my ears as a howl from them erupted and shattered the hustle and noise of the city, and we took off. Attuned to shadows, Cerberus carried me across Manhattan headed towards Brooklyn so fast for any eye to catch him and was a mere shadow passing by. His beloved hounds kept at his side, keeping pace of us.

Chapter 2

         We arrived at our destination, a club called Strix in Brooklyn, and Cerberus put me down gently while ushering me inside. Inside, the sound of music deafened my sensitive ears as I my eyes caught glimpse of the dancing youth on the dance floor. I felt my brother behind me urging me to go on and I did. This was the typical high-end class club; equipped with a bar, loud techno music, DJ’s and the list goes on. I never did like to go to clubs. However, it wasn’t what was inside the club that’s important. It was what was underneath it that counts, as I was led down into the basement of the club. Underneath the club, there was a small corridor with any visible lights at all. My eyes adjusted to the dark and I smiled. I love being in the dark. At that point my brother took lead and led me towards an iron door where he knocked.

         The metal iron door creaked as it opened displaying a less noisy atmosphere and dimmer lights then the club above us. We stepped into the room and were greeted by a waitress, Sylvia, “Welcome back, Sir. The usual?” “Yes and bring the same for her as well,” Cerberus replied and indicated me. Sylvia took off smiling leaving us alone to pick a corner seating in the bar.

         “And to think I had never known that this place existed,” I sighed.

         “You would have if you came along with me to feed,” my brother said smiling.

         I shrugged off his reply and my eyes explored the bar. There was merely only a few people in here that I took notice off. Oddly, they were keeping their heads down and were minding their own business. Noting their uneasiness, I glanced around the room. It was a normal quiet bar with tables and seats here and there with dark black painted walls and dim lights gave the room an eerie look. I like this place and it feels like home.

         “ By the way, why did –“ my mouth opened to ask but was interrupted as Sylvia brought in our orders. “ There you go, sir and miss. They’re fresh from the bank. Mr. Leshna told me to tell that it’s on the house.” she said to us smiling as she set our drinks on the table in front of us. As she walked away, I took the glass and smelled. Knowing what it was, my body shuddered as hunger took over and I drank the glass clean in one swallow. Cerberus looked at me astonishingly and chuckled as he drank his in moderation.

         “ Oh my, you really haven’t been feeding have you?” he asked.

         “No. I was busy with other things,” I replied quickly while trying to fight the sudden hunger. “Persephone, don’t do that next time. You know that you need blood to survive. It is what we are,” said Cerberus while he gazed into my eyes. Ashamed, I turned away from his gaze and stared at the glass. Yes, that is what we are, echoed through my brain. The hunger that was caged inside me agreed to that. Feeling dejected as I was defeated by my own hunger, I nodded in understanding of my brother’s advice.

         I am, what people would call, a vampire. In fact, everyone in my family is, from my father Hades to me, Persephone. We are bloodsucking creature of the night that dies in the sunlight. That much is true. However, we are not in league with forces of evil or anything alike. Yes, we are not the typical lunatics in the modern 19th century vampire characters in movies or literature. Bram Stoker works came close to us but not close enough. Apart from sunlight, everything from stakes, garlic to other stuff is simply bullshit. Honestly, I don’t even know where they came up with that. It couldn’t kill us even if we tried. Vampires are immortals from Avernus, The Underworld. Strangely enough, humans still haven’t found out of our existence neither believed in it. Regardless, here I was sitting at the table with a fellow vampire and a brother that I haven’t seen for ages.

         “ Well back to business, Cerb. What’s up?” I asked casually. Usually I’d be worried sick when my brother shows up at my doorstep because every time he did it meant trouble for me. Somehow tonight was different from any nights this has happened before and yet I felt calm and soothing.

         “ It’s Avernus. Someone or something is causing unbalance to Avernus and Father is dying because of it,” he replied in anguish tone. Hearing that my father was dying, I looked up and gazed fiercely into my brother’s eyes and felt the truth and it concerned me deeply. Scared me to death to be honest. Immortal as he is, hearing that my father was in pain and suffering caused a deep rage inside of me.

         My father, Hades, is a vampire and like written in the myth is the god of underworld. Caretaker of the balance in the underworld is more like it. He is the first of the immortals and is bound to Avernus. He is bound to his duty to keep it in balance of death and life. Knowing that he suffers, I knew that the balance of Avernus is upset and that made my heart burst into rage. “ Take me back home now!” I said between clenched teeth.

         “In time, Persephone. Father has requested me to take you back at dusk tomorrow. In fact, he also has requested Minthe, Rhadamanthys and Aeacus to come home as well,” he said. I felt my eyes bulge in disbelief as I heard my sister and my brother’s names once more. I now knew and felt the danger my father is in as the calling of the five Blades of Avernus means this is big. Real Big. I shuddered at the thought of my dying father and I turned and stared at my brother’s blue eyes. “ There is something your hiding from me, brother. Father wouldn’t have called all five of us if the balance is upset. It happened before and he did it himself,” I said to Cerberus acidly.

         “I am to refrain from telling you anything at the moment, Persephone. Till we reached home of course,” he said simply and reached out to ruffle my blue hair.

         “Stop that! Argh! Father and his secrets. Even when his about to die he still has secrets! For god’s sake,” I retorted in anger. I have always hated Father’s games of secrets. “ His secrets going to kill him once of these days,” I muttered. Cerberus turned away from my gaze and nodded in approval. I’ve always admired Cerberus for his heart. I’d learnt from my sources that in loyalty to father, Cerberus stayed on in Avernus and attending to it with father while the others and I moved to earth. Let’s just say, we were bored of the scenery and wanted a bit of fun in this world. But regardless, my heart was always thinking of home and I’ve realized that I missed home for the past centuries since I’d left it.

         “ Well, can’t do much about it if father said that. I’ll return home tomorrow at dusk,” I sighed and stood up to leave the bar. But, I felt my hand being pulled away and turned to face Cerberus again as he stood up his hand on mine. “Be careful, Persephone,” he said. I sensed fear in his voice and that made my hair at the back of my neck stood up. Cerberus is fearless, why in the world is he scared? I thought to myself. And to be honest, it terrified me. I gently pulled my arms away and chuckled with uneasy, “Aren’t I always careful dear brother?” I replied and kissed him on the cheek and headed out.

Chapter 3

         Outside, the wind blew strong and cold. Nothing beats a good fresh air, I thought to myself as I embraced the cold. Cold always reminded me of home. Avernus is cold and dark but yet welcoming and heartwarming to me. I cleared my head of thoughts of home for awhile and started walking towards Manhattan. I cursed to myself as I kept walking, because I had to get my hair out of my face as the wind kept blowing my long blue hair into it. I stopped for a second and cursed for wearing only jeans and a shirt, because I’d had totally forgotten to put on my gear before Cerberus came. I cursed again to myself as usually I wouldn’t have left my apartment without it and a sudden sense of insecurity crept into my mind. “Damn it!” I cursed and tried to focus on getting home.

         I turned into the alleyway about a few blocks away from my apartment. I kept myself alert to my surrounding, just incase. But my alertness snapped from my mind as a cat leapt out to my face because I had accidentally stepped on its tail. Adding more to my annoyance, the wind kept blowing my hair again as if to ridicule me.

         Cursing and swearing in my head, I stopped and patted the front of my jeans till I felt something to tie my hair with. As I fumbled into my pocket to grab it, my ears jerk to the sound coming from behind me. Feeling threaten by a sudden presence of danger, I turned around bent, arms raised and ready to attack if threaten.

         As I turned, my eyes caught three man standing about ten feet behind me. Perfect, just want I need, a bunch of Street Rats, I thought to myself annoyingly. New York’s notorious gang, bunch of kids out to get high or break someone’s head for laughs. I cursed myself for being careless as I rose to face them.

         “Hey, sexy. I like that blue hair of yours. Why don’t you come with us and have some fun, sugar,” the biggest and ugliest man said, clearly indicating himself as the leader. Two others around him laughed and they walked closer, drawing their weapons. My eyes quickly took notice of their weapons as they shifted in from where they stood. One gun, a knife and a chain, I thought to myself. “Too easy,” I muttered to myself smiling.

         “What was that you said, sugar?” the leader said, apparently annoyed at my sense of calm.

         “ I said that I wouldn’t want to have some fun with some street rats even if someone paid me to, sugar,” copying the leader’s tone of voice. Cleary more annoyed at my reply, he whispered to his cronies and they circled around me. I calculated my moved and just simply said in their face, “I wouldn’t want to mess with myself if you don’t want to get hurt, sugar.” Laughter erupted from them as I expected.

         “What you going to do, baby? Knock us out with your bare hands?” the guy with the knife said. He was smaller then the rest but I knew he was fast and lethal with that knife in his hands. I merely shrugged at his reply and calmly answered, “You, knife-boy, is clearly the smartest amongst these buffoons but you don’t want to know what I can do? Be best if you take your friends and go.” He shifted in discomfort as he listened to my reply, and tugged at the leader and whispered in his ears. I heard him say that they should go because he feels something not right with me. I chuckled loudly and that made the leader mad.

         “Skin her alive,” he shouted and they all rushed towards me. Being a vampire and immortal, I have my advantages against humans. I was faster, stronger and lethal even with bare hands then any of these mortals. Moreover, humans move so slow in comparison to me and in my eyes it was like watching everyone in slow motion. I darted forward, away from the circle they made. I moved way to fast for their eyes to catch my movement. “Erm, I’m over here boys,” I said chuckling. They stopped dead in their track, frozen and turned around. I sensed fear in their eyes as I walked calmly approaching them.

         “You see, I ain’t no sugar,” I said. I smiled to them, showing off a bit what we vampires are famous for. Our fangs. Frozen in fear, they just stood there and the leader laughed it off and yelled, “Fuck you, bitch. I’m going to strangle you dead!” And he charged at me with his chains. Too slow, I thought to myself. I darted to the left as he came close and gave his ribs a violent kick and he toppled over to the side. He swore as he hit the ground and started to cough up blood. I had broken his ribs. The smell of blood clouded my senses as my hunger grew into my throat. I bent down over him and struggled to control my hunger as I lifted him with one arm and turned him around to face his ‘gang’. His so called ‘gang’ was paralyzed with fear; I could have sworn I smelt piss coming from them. God, that made my day.

         ““Ha, your friends pissed their pants, big boy,” I said nastily. I moved towards them so fast, despite carrying a man in one arm, that I was right in the face of Knife-boy. In their minds, it’s as if I had disappeared ten feet away and appeared right in front of them.

         “Boo!”

         Their faced turned white as snow and the silence was broken by their screamed of horror. I simply laughed at this spectacle, as I watched two of them turned and fled from the alleyway. “Awh, your friends left you. Oh well, looks like it’s you and me, sugar” I said to the man and turned to face him. I could see that in his eyes, there was fear. Fear of death. I laughed to myself as I dropped him and hovered next to him as he desperately tried to crawl out of reach.

         “Now, don’t you be shy.” I said and I picked him up again and faced him and stared in his eyes. “Don’t... please…” was all that came from him as I buried my fangs into the side of his neck. In the instant, I have lost the control of my hunger, as I let it ravished in the delicacy of fresh blood. The man shuddered in pain as I hold on, drinking him away. Almost losing all sense of control, my mind snapped and I dropped the man to his knees. Fuck, I cursed myself. I dropped to my knees to check the man and sighed in relief as he was still alive only unconscious. I cursed my hunger, for it had almost made me kill again. I dragged the man to the side of the alleyway and lay him down against the wall, slumped.

         I turned around and let my eyes scout the area to see if somebody had saw me feed. Nothing. I wiped the blood from my mouth and reached into my pockets. I pulled out something to tie my hair. With that done, I jogged out of the alleyway and made my way back to my apartment.

         What a night, I thought to myself. Well, it wasn’t a waste; at least I’ve fed for awhile. My mind raced through what had happened tonight, Cerberus, Avernus, my father, and my family, as I walked into my small apartment on the fourteenth floor, in the middle of Manhattan. I took a quick hot shower, to wash the blood. Of course, nothing beats a hot shower after a hearty meal. I made my way to my bedroom and crashed on the bed with my mind thinking of home. I took a quick glance at the clock and made a mental note that it was almost sunrise. I laid on the bed covering myself under the covers. As soon as my head touch the pillow, I fell into a deep sleep.

Chapter 4

         I found myself floating on the river Styx. The river of sorrow in middle of Avernus, the river of souls. I couldn’t move at all and fear crept into my mind. Panic. Even though, I couldn’t move, my eyes glimpse across the river and fear crept in. In horror, I could see that Avernus was in destruction, the flowing of the river has stopped and fiery hot wind was blowing through Avernus, killing the cold that home brought to me. I wanted to scream but I couldn’t. I tried and tried and tried but to no sound came out. As if my throat it self was sealed. Out of the corner of my eyes, I saw a shadow watching me. I couldn’t smell it nor could I sense it with my mind. It stood there watching me, and it smiled. Sensing that I was vulnerable, it laughed. Its laughter brought chills across my bones. I tried again to move but it was too late. The shadow had leapt from the corner and was heading towards me. Its claws raised, aiming for my heart!

         I screamed and woke up in bed, covered in sweat. It took me awhile to adjust myself to the surroundings. I was still in my apartment and the clock next to me beeped indicating that dusk had set in. I shook of the nightmare and just sat in my bed. Just a nightmare, I thought to myself. It’s just a nightmare but I never had such nightmares before. It felt so real and I shuddered. “I’ll have to address this to father later when I get home,” I said out loud to myself.

         “You must,” came a reply from the doorway of my room.

         Shocked, I leapt across the bed and lunged towards my blade, a katana, on the side of my room. Grabbing my katana, unsheathing it in seconds as I spun around to face the intruder. Then I snapped to my senses as I heard a growl from behind the shadow. Fuck you, Cerberus! Don’t you ever do that again to me!” I screamed at the shadow on top of my lungs.

         “You are always grouchy when you wake up but you didn’t have to yell,” he replied curtly. “I wouldn’t have had to if u hadn’t scared the shit out of me!” came my answer. “Forget it. I was outside when dusk had set in, and I heard your scream. I rushed in to aid you but stood outside the door after I realized that you were still sleeping. So I kept watch while u slept, baby sis,” he replied, apologizing for intruding my house. Just simply nodding, I withdrew the curtains and stared at the city and my eyes looked up searching for ‘mother’. I found her and whispered a prayer to her in my heart.

         “I’ll get ready, brother. And do you mind not standing at my door gawking. I’ll be out in a short while.” I said to Cerberus. Silently, he turned around and closed the door behind him. I yelled out my thanks as the door creaked to a close. Cursing the nightmare, I sheathed my katana and made way to the shower. Taking off my nightgown, I stood naked in front of the mirror. Standing in the mirror was a pale-skin woman; if nobody knew what I was, people would say I am about in my mid-twenties, tall and lean. Of course, my trademark shoulder-length blue hair, apparently inherited from my mother. At least, that’s what my father said.

         My hands ran up my body and stopped at a familiar scar on top of my right breast. A Roman number five, ‘V’. The mark of the blood of Hades and Persephone, our mother. We are named The Five Blades of Avernus, sons and daughters of the underworld, born and bred in Avernus in order to protect it and the balance of death and life. Rhadamanthys was the oldest amongst us. Hence, he held the scar of ‘I’. Aeacus and Minthe are twins but Aeacus is older the Minthe. Both of them with the scars of ‘II’ and ‘III’. Brushing the thoughts out of my head, I stepped under the hot shower and took time enjoying myself in the hot shower. The simple joys in ‘life’ for me.

Chapter 5

         A soft knock on the bathroom door interrupted my shower and I heard my brother calling out from behind it, “Do you mind finishing up? Father is expecting you, if you must know.” I grumbled to myself I crawled out of the shower and dried myself, muttering all known curses at the same time. I hate it when someone interrupts my shower. While was in the shower, I had made a mental note of everything I might need. Satisfied with my notes, I laid what I needed on top of the bed. On the bed was my katana, my blood red amulet in shape of a ‘V’, and, of course, my armor. Father hated it if I didn’t wear my armor when ever I see him. It was a gift from him at the coming of age. It was a white mail hauberk with leathery black straps attached to the blood-red leg guards and arm guards; At the corner on top of my right breast, was a ‘V’ shaped emblem, same spot where my scar laid. Regardless, I put it on and clipped my katana to my side; tucking the amulet under the mail. Grabbing a cloak from the closet, I made my way out of my apartment and met up with my brother downstairs in front of my apartment building.

         “You were never punctual, Persephone. I’m not helping you out if father gives you a whip,” my brother said as I walked up to him. I merely shrug and just said, “Don’t be a baby, grumpy.” Clearing my head of the nightmare from last night, I tugged at my cloak and headed off towards home, Avernus.

         This world was divided into four realms. Earth, the realm of life, Avernus, in respect to death, Asphodel, paradise or heaven to the believer of god, and Tartarus, hell for the damned. For each of these realms, it has its own set of rules and what not. However, traveling through the realms require certain formalities. Earth, of course, wasn’t restricted with such formalities. Hence, traversing through earth was easy as pie for Avernus, Asphodel, and Tartarus. For Avernies, people of Avernus, to travel to earth, one must acquire a talisman to act as a passport, in this case, my amulet for example. The amulet is a charm created by my father that allows me to travel to earth and return home as I pleased. Every one of my siblings has their own amulet, of course.

         “Are you ready?” asked Cerberus, when we reached The Liberty State Park Beach. We walked onto the beachside, feet submerge in the water. A small requirement of traveling back to Avernus; a body of running water, in which could be a river or sea for that matter. I simply nodded as I took out my amulet and held in open in my left palm. It glowed palely as the soft moonlight bounced off it. Cerberus took hold of my right arm and muttered, a safety measure spell, under his breath in the winds. Slowly, the amulet glowed brighter, noticing this I inhaled deeply and held my breath. Then, I was engulfed in darkness.

         I hated traveling to Avernus; it always made me throw up my meal. Imagine being a doll inside a dryer that was thrown tumbling down a hill. It made my stomach queasy and my head spinning, causing a major migraine. As I felt myself spiraling in and out consciousness, I had flashes of the nightmare before. Avernus in ruins and destruction. Panic swept through me and I felt myself vomit in the darkness. Almost losing myself to panic and despair, I felt a cold touch on my arm. Coming to my aid, as usual, Cerberus held on to me tightly.

         Suddenly, in the darkness void, a strong jerk of force hit me and I was thrown off balance. I heard a moan and realized that my brother was hit by the force as well. Trying to fight my drifting awareness, I made a grab for Cerberus’s arm and held on tight. A second wave of force hit me, and I was knocked unconscious.

Chapter 6

         Darkness. Cold. Death.

         My head was pounding in pain. Where am I? I thought to myself. My mind was clouded by the pounding as I tried to focus. I felt numbness throughout my body and something rose up to my throat. Suddenly, I felt that I couldn’t breathe. I tried but somehow I couldn’t. I was choking on my own vomit! Panic seared through my mind but I couldn’t move or scream! I’m going to die!

         A sudden pain flashed on my face and I heard someone shout, “Persephone, wake up! Fuck!” I felt someone lift me up from the soft wet earth and tilted me down. I vomited on the spot. Blurry, I opened my arms and support myself with my arms on the ground. I looked around, trying to focus on the surroundings.

         “Don’t you ever scare me like that!” the voice next to me yelled. I looked up and stared at Cerberus panicked face. I managed a weak smile and tried standing up, trying to shake the numbness away from my body. Supported by my six foot brother, I stood up. I rubbed my cheek, apparently painful from something smacking into it. “Did you just slap me?” I asked weakly. “I’m sorry. I had to, sis. You weren’t moving,” Cerberus replied. Shrugging the pain away, I looked around again with a clearer mind; eyes focused. I stared at the beauty of Styx, eyes perplexed by soothing flow of the river of souls. I know that I’d arrived back in Avernus. Home sweet home, I thought to myself.

         “What happened? That never happened before,” I asked weakly, my mind on the brief brush with death. Interesting isn’t it? I’m not afraid of death, I was born from it. Yet, never had I encountered a ‘close encounter’.

         “As I said before, Avernus is out of balance. Traveling in and out of it is dangerous,” he replied. I just looked at him with a quizzical look, and he took a deep breath and took his time explaining. Apparently, since the balance was not in order, the border between each realms and Avernus is unstable. So, to act in defense, the force in the border itself acts as the cleaning agents to prevent ‘unauthorized entry’. Sounds like mambo-jumbo to me, I thought to myself. Whatever it was, it had almost killed me. With the explanation done, Cerberus took off towards home with me struggling to keep up at the back. It seems that the travel to Avernus took a toll on my legs.

         The sight of home brought nostalgic memories back. Avernus, land of death, is a no man’s land. Smells of death and decay lingered in the air; brought a smile to my face despite the numbness in my legs. The beauty of it withheld in the eye of the beholder. The sky is dark and gloomy as usual. It is the land of eternal night, of course. No sun. No Moon. No whatsoever. Just the light from the overlooking stars, the only thing common between Earth and Avernus. I found ‘mother’ glowing brighter then ever tonight and I silently whispered my thanks.

         We walked under the stars and headed north, wading alongside the river. Far off in the distance, I could see the lights illuminating the towers of Thanatos, the Dead Citadel; the citadel where my father hold court, and where the souls of the dead be judged for safe passage to Asphodel, for the righteous, or Tartarus, for the damned. Of course, Thanatos is nonetheless a home for all those ‘living’ and the ‘dead’ in Avernus. The river Styx itself flows under Thanatos, where infinite souls flow along the river into the citadel itself. The twin tower of Thanatos, Lethe and Eridanos overshadows the wall around the once barren waste of Avernus. Built by father’s minion, the dead themselves; the citadel acts as a home for those who refused judgement and wished to serve under my father.

         I glanced at Cerberus as we walked towards Thanatos, noting his pace had picked up; clearly anxious to get inside the citadel, I whispered to myself. I, in turn, followed suit and kick up a notch to keep pace with him. Sensing that my speed has increased and hot under his heels, he turned and said, “Up for a little bit of a race, Persephone?” Chuckling, he turned and sped off. Vampire-speed all the way; he already had his hounds at his side, both him and his fiends enjoying the speed and the race. Grumbling, I focused my mind and let my hunger rose to my throat. I could feel my hunger taking over and my vampire blood pumped through my veins. Quickly, I strode off, fast and stealthy, towards Cerberus and Thanatos.

         My eyes focused on the lights of Thanatos, I could feel my legs shuffling and the pounding of blood and adrenaline through my veins. My resounding footsteps, rustling through the dead leaves, made me even faster. I darted through the dead oaks and ferns, in chase of Cerberus, who was a league ahead of me. I smiled. The blood in me always enjoys a chase of the hunt. In this case, the race against a fellow vampire, a brother. A game for old time sake. Being away from home for a long time, has stirred the vampire in me that I’ve kept hidden and controlled while I was on Earth. Letting go of all chain and restriction, I let it consumed me. Hunger, strength, speed, senses and blood was released from its bindings of my mind.

         In spite of my anxiety of the race, I had forgotten to exact enough control over my vampire blood, one of my lesser downfalls when I let my hunger rose. It was like I was watching myself from above, a few feet away from myself. Panic had seep through me and I knew that I couldn’t control myself anymore. My hunger had taken over me. I wasn’t in the race anymore, I was on a hunt. A hunt for blood. A hunt for Cerberus’s Blood! Praying to ‘mother’, I prayed that it wouldn’t end in bloodshed.

         I had increase my speed and had caught up with Cerberus. My body and hunger had darted from right behind him, to his side. I watched myself in horror as I turned sideways and drove a jab at Cerberus’s side. I heard a crack as Cerberus tumbled over to the ground. I stopped a few feet away from Cerberus body and felt myself smiling, baring my teeth. Snap! My head turned quickly around and saw three shadow leapt towards me, claws and fangs, aiming for my face!

         I threw up my arm to protect my face and dropped down to my knees, managing to dodge two of the shadows but the one of them managed to gnash at my arm. I shriek in pain as I thrash the hound away from my arm, snapping my free arm back and punching it in its jaw. It whimpered as it drop and retreat back to its pack. Three of the shadows fall back, regrouping as I gained my footing and stood up, drawing my katana. Rage boiling inside my guts, burning with hunger by the smell of my own blood; I dash forward towards the hounds, katana raised. I felt myself losing out to the rage and darkness. The last thing I remembered was a shrill howl and that was it.
         I’ve gone berserk. Again.

To Be Continued