Page 26 of Seeking Hades' Ember

Tears dripped down my face as I continued to forget what the kind couple and familiar children looked like. “Help! Dante!” A flash of his body, looking back at me into the darkness, was seen, but he didn’t move. His eyes held tears and looked away, leaving me alone to be dragged into the darkness of the forest.

“No! No! Let me go!!” I could hear my voice become louder as I thrashed around the tight embrace on my body. Pushing and shoving, I tried to get away, but I was too afraid to open my eyes. That gladiator helmet mask did nothing but bring forth the nightmares, and I dared not look him in the eyes. There were several coming from my attacker until I heard a voice.

“Jillian! It’s me! It’s Hermes!” His voice and my body couldn’t register it. I was still in the fight or flight mode, and right now, I wanted nothing more than to not to feel restrained. The grip became tighter as I yelped out, and I felt my body being lifted from the ground.

He was going to take me, and he was going to send me back to Master. I’d rather die than go back there, and I would not subject myself to that kind of emotional and physical torture any longer! Twisting my body, I heard another grunt as another pair of arms gripped hold of me, holding me impossibly tighter. I couldn’t move. My body was completely immobile.

As I tried to wiggle free, I could hear Cerberus barking and Loukas stroking my hair. “That’s it, princess, wake up now.” Blinking my eyes a few times, my lashes were drenched in tears as I began to move my eyes around my surroundings. I was in a brightly lit room with lights shining down. Squinting my eyes, I could see the outline of Loukas, Hermes, and Ares.

“Are you done thrashing around?” Ares was still holding onto me tightly into a cocoon as my face looked right at him. Nodding embarrassingly, he laid me gently on the hospital bed of crisp white sheets.

“You gave us quite a scare, little one,” Hermes whispered. “Hades isn’t going to like this,” he murmured to himself.

“You shouldn’t have left her alone!” Loukas yelled, rubbing his forehead. “She’s fragile, and she needs to be looked after!”

Ares pushed Loukas to the side forcefully, and he hit the instruments table. “She isn’t weak. Hell, I had to use some force to keep her wrapped up like that to keep her from hurting herself. Stop babying her.” Loukas growled back, Ares puffed up his chest in defiance.

“Please stop,” I muttered. “I’m fine now; I’m sorry, was trouble.” Hermes knelt beside the table and laid his head down.

“Jillian, you have nothing to be sorry for. Now can you tell us what you have been dreaming that keeps giving you nightmares?” I shook my head ‘no’ as I crawled up into the fetal position. I lived these dreams every time Hades was away, and I didn’t want to relive them while I was awake. A few stray tears left my eyes again while Hermes blew out some air in frustration.

“We can’t help unless you tell us what’s going on, princess.” Loukas patted my head and played with my hair while I sighed.

“Just not right now, please.” Loukas tisked his lips. Hermes went to the door and let in the doctor; he was wearing his pristine white lab coat with a stethoscope around his neck.

“Mistress, I heard you were having some night terrors.” The doctor saw all the men in the room and made a motion for them to leave. However, they all just stood there with their arms crossed.

“Patient confidentiality, men. I need you to leave so I can examine her.”

Hermes shook his head, “No, by order of Lord Hades, we cannot leave her.”

“And yet you still subjected her to a night terror. If you had woken her sooner, it wouldn’t have escalated this far.” His eyes narrowed at Hermes, who looked hurt as he uncrossed his arms. I pulled my arm out from my knees and put it on Hermes’.

“It’s all right, and you didn’t know. Don’t worry about it, and Hades won’t get mad.” Hermes gave a sly smile and patted my head.

“Doctor, they can stay.” Giving him a reassuring glance. The doctor sat down and pulled out his stethoscope to listen to my heart, check my blood pressure and oxygen levels, and even take a few blood samples after checking me over for bruises. The boys continued to stare the doctor down like he would do something horrible or unpredictable. Everyone was staring, and I was starting to get uncomfortable.

Clearing my throat, I asked “Are we done here, doctor?”

“Almost.” He grabbed another needle and put it into my arm. The tube was then hooked up to an IV pole. I groaned. “Yup, I got you now!” He chuckled while I flung my body back onto the bed.

“I don’t wanna,” I whined. The men chuckled at my childishness. Now I was stuck here for at least an hour, and taking a nap was out of the question, not without Hades. Without another word, the doctor left, and I was left with a dog and three heavy breathing men in the room.

“When is Hades coming back?” I thought I would ask again. Even though these men were protecting me and doing it well, I couldn’t help but crave Hades. I felt this strong connection to him, and I couldn’t figure out what it was. Thinking back to the dream, the girl, Ember, had a strong link to the Hades story. It almost pained her to hear the other children complain about the King of the Underworld.

Could this girl be me? The Dante boy felt so close to me; I could almost feel his touch when he dragged me to the bonfire. What could it all mean? Were the two dreams connected? It all ended up the same though, me being dragged away by the terrible masked villain.

Hermes looked to Ares. “Soon, little one, soon.”

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