Fallen

Chapter 2 – The City of Hades

Bella

I sat there, crying into my hands. I knew he was staring at me, he always does. I had stayed cooped up in this little corner of the dungeon, for the past few hours, just crying.

I stopped after a few more minutes, I guess I'd just run out of tears. I was just staring at a stone on the floor when I saw light creep in.

I looked up to see where it was coming from. I hadn't noticed before, but there was a window, it was small about 2 feet squared. I was confused for a number of reasons. 1. If there was a window there, why hadn't Edward escaped yet? 2. Where was the light coming from? It was so strange. It wasn't even a normal light it was, a hazy orangey yellow sort of light, it filtered through the window, illuminating the whole cell.

I never noticed before how truly beautiful Edward was.

When it was dark the only thing I could see was his silhouette, and his eyes. Those blood red, crimson eyes were looking straight at me. His pale skin was illuminated slightly by the strange orange light, making him glow, his dark bronze hair was tousled slightly, and he was wearing what looked like a pair of rugged old jeans, which were once a pale blue. He was shirtless. I had to stop myself from letting my mouth fall open.

His muscled chest looked like it had been sculptured perfectly from marble. His muscled arms were crossed over his chest, his stance casual, leaning against the wall, ankles crossed. For some reason he was keeping as far away from the window as possible.

He was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen. He was more beautiful than an Angel.

I looked away quickly before he noticed my intent staring.

My attention went back to the strange light. I stood quietly. I walked over to the window and looked out. I gasped eyes wide.

It was the city of Hades. The strange light was coming from a very small, blazing red sun, just beginning to rise, though there was no heat coming from it. It sent a hazy orange light over the whole city. The city was nothing of what I expected. Demons, lost souls, ghosts all roamed the city. I shuddered away from the sight; it reminded me too much of what the city of Heaven looked like after she had destroyed it. I didn't even want to think her name.

I distracted myself by looking at the window itself. It was just an open section in the stones.

I used my power then. I placed my hand on one of the stones that was framing the window and closed my eyes.

I let the images flood my head. The window had always been there, but no one could ever escape out of it because of the army of vampires that kept this dungeon unbreakable, also kept an invisible barrier over the window, blocking it from anyone, just like the rest of the dungeon.

The images slowed until they disappeared in a dark haze. My eyelids fluttered open.

I stared out at Hades again. I noticed there was the statue of Black Aggie roaming the city, though it wasn't a statue, it was the real thing. I shuddered again. I could also see the La Malhora.

"What were you doing just now, with your hand on the wall?" Edward asked quietly, curiosity burned in his crimson eyes when I turned to look at him.

"I was seeing how the window got there and why you hadn't escaped from it yet," I said. He looked even more confused.

"I have this power, well actually I have a few but this one…I have to touch something with my hand and well it's a little difficult to explain but when I close my eyes, I see the history of something or someone, or I can know what someone is thinking. It's difficult to explain but it took me a few years to master it properly, I still don't know the extent of it," I told him. His brow furrowed slightly and he nodded.

"You said you had other powers…?" He pressed on.

"Yes," I said slightly hesitantly. He raised his eyebrows in a gesture for me to continue.

"Well…I used to be able to control the elementals of the earth, from the heavens, and in heaven but I'm not sure if I can do that here…and my other power is a shield" I said, feeling embarrassed slightly.

"A shield? Care to elaborate?" He asked.

"Well I can block things, not physically but mentally…like mental attacks and things. And I can project it out from me, to others to protect them as well…" I said remembering my first training session with my friends Kate and Garrett. I quickly got rid of that thought; I didn't want to think about them, they didn't deserve to go.

"When you say block things mentally…can you block…mind reading?" He asked.

"I can block anything that has to do with protecting the mind and soul," I said.

"That explains it…"He trailed off. I looked at him inquisitively.

"I'm a mind reader. I've been trying to read your thoughts for the last few hours. I was wondering why I couldn't get through." He half smiled, momentarily dazzling me.

"Oh," was all I could answer with. I turned back around to Hades. Though it was horrifying to watch, I just couldn't look away.

Curious, I put my hand up against the force field of the window.

"No!" Edward yelled and was by my side in half a second.

"What?" I asked turning toward him, my hand still against the force field.

His expression was torn between horror and confusion. I was struck by his beauty I'd never seen him up close before. He sparkled a little in the sunlight, maybe that's why he was trying to stay away from the window earlier.

"Are you ok?" He said pulling my hand away from the window, and electric spark shocked through me as he did.

"Yes…why?" I was very confused now.

"Aren't you hurting?"

"No…should I be?" I was even more confused now.

"But…you touched…the force…field…"He trailed off slightly "Your shield…it must be able to block the electricity of the force field…"He trailed off again, his velvety voice confused but his expression calculating.

"I can block anything mental; someone of the army must be able to project an electrical force…" I said. He nodded.

"Jane…" He looked up at me then curious.

"You said you can project your shield, if you can block yourself from Jane's power could you expand it to someone else so they could not be harmed by her either…?" He asked.

"I guess…"

"Could you project it towards me?" He asked, intrigued.

"Yes…"

"I want to see if Jane's power works on me if I'm shielded." He smiled.

"Oh…ok" I said.

I let the shield out, flexing it like a muscle around Edward.

"Ok, touch the force field," I told him. He hesitantly lifted his hand, slowly bringing it up towards the force field. He slowly put his hand up towards the window, touching the electrical field with his index finger.

He smiled as he put his whole hand against it.

"Amazing, I don't feel a thing" he smiled again, looking as beautiful as ever.

He took his hand away, still smiling only when he looked at me he had a twinkle in his eye.

It was hard to imagine someone as beautiful as him could ever be so evil.

I brought the shield back in, flexing it along the way.

"Very interesting… Can you ever unblock your mind from my mind reading? Or anything else? Can you take off the shield?" He asked.

"Well, I can sort of project my thoughts to you…if that's what you're wondering." It sounded like a question.

His expression brightened with willing and curiosity.

"But it's very difficult…" I told him.

"I just want to see, I won't break your concentration. I'm just curious," He said simply.

"Well…what do you want to see…?" I asked a little reluctantly.

He thought about it for a moment.

"I want to see your life, your memories." He smiled crookedly. I frowned.

"I don't really want to revisit those…" I looked down.

"I'll show you my memories or 'history' as you called it before," He offered.

My curiosity got the best of me.

"Ok deal…" I said defeated. I really wanted to know what he was like when he was human.

"Be very still, it won't work unless I'm fully concentrating," I warned. He nodded.

I reached my hands up hesitantly, placing my finger tips lightly on his temples. I mentally noted how smooth his skin was.

I closed my eyes, frowning from concentration. I felt the elasticity of my shield recoil as it fought to protect me. I had to strain to push it entirely away from me, I focused hard on it.

He gasped quietly; I knew it was working then so I concentrated even harder, dredging up the wretched memories I'd worked so hard to keep repressed inside my mind.

I started off with my child hood, the memories were not clear, dim human memories, seen through weak eyes and heard through weak ears.

I started off with school, remembering my first friend I made Angela…coming home to tell my mother about it…the way she said 'I really don't care now go away you annoying little child'. The way it hurt so much in a way I didn't understand because I was so young…I moved to memories from when I started my teenage years, I was about 14…the day I was sitting on top of the stairs watching my parents fighting down stairs, the ache I felt in my heart as I cried when I my mother stormed out of the house that night…the next day when the police officer came to our door, telling us that my mother had been killed in a car accident…the pain of when my father started beating me because it was 'my fault' my mother had left and been killed…The day people started noticing my bruises their expressions when I said 'I fell…I'm very clumsy'…The first day I met her…The way she'd tease me in the school corridors and get the whole school to laugh at me while I walked by…The pain from when senior boys used to bash me up after school and scatter my books everywhere…The hatred I felt when no one believed me…More pain from when my father would beat me every day after school when he was drunk…I moved further on in my memories up until I was 17…How her teasing got worse and worse, how the bashing and beating got worse…How no one ever believed me about anything I said…The day they took it to far, telling me my mother's death was my fault, them screaming at me that I was to blame…My mother was loved throughout the whole town and how they will never forgive me for what I did…The way they threw me to the ground, pulling my hair, throwing buckets of ice cold water on me…How hard they hit me…The way they ran when they heard people coming…The way I ran too, in the opposite direction toward the cliff…How I screamed 'Why is this happening to me?' at the top of my lungs in a desperate cry for someone to wake up and believe me…The way I didn't have to think twice before I knew I could just end it all, the way I should just end it all…The feeling of the air rushing around me as I jumped…The burn of the salty water in my lungs as I drowned…The happy smile that covered my face as I fell into the black of unconsciousness.

I stopped then, my shield flung back like an elastic band. I felt very over worked. I opened my eyes, and pulled my hands away.

Edward's expression was pained, disgusted and…sympathetic?

"Sorry, it's very exhausting to hold my shield out for that long…I can't continue at the moment, though I don't sleep I do need to rest for a moment," I said breathing deeply. I'd never held it like that for so long.

"No, no. It's fine." He looked down and started to walk away. "I need to think anyway," he added quietly as he went to sit down in the farthest corner of the room, he wrapped his arms around his knees closing his eyes, a pained yet thoughtful expression covered his beautiful face.

I sat down where I was, cross legged leaning against the stone walls.

I decided it was a good time to see if I could use my elemental powers in here.

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