Persephone's eyes flickered open. The room around her was fuzzy and her head pounded with a ripping pain. Dread and fear hung heavy in her stomach like a pile of rocks.
She sat up and dragged a shaky hand across the crisp white bed she laid in. Examining herself, she saw that the dress she had worn last night was still on her and she had no visible bruising.
Nevertheless, she still felt broken and violated. Maybe the massive man that had taken her would be back any minute. What did he want with her? Would he rape her? Kill her? Keep her locked forever in this room? Her heart pumped hard in her throat, and she could feel tears gathering.
Wiping her eyes, her vision started to clear, and she focused on her surroundings. She was in a large room with dark wooden floors and mahogany furnishings. A fire crackled a couple yards ahead; A light blue chair sat in front of the hearth with a side table close by. A few books were stacked and waiting to be read. It was a welcoming sight. Next to her was a dresser with clean clothes folded on top. There was even a small silver cart placed just next to her bed with water, juice and various breakfast foods.
This was the most confusing kidnapping. But even with the pleasantries, she was still brought here against her will and had no idea what her captor had in mind to do with her. Maybe all of these attempts to welcome her were some kind of sick game. Meant to mess with her mind. It did give off an heir of the beauty and the beast tale. A classic glorification of Stockholm syndrome.
-Was that the intent?
Pushing aside her reasoning for why she was here or what was going to happen to her, she stood from the bed and went to open the window. To her dismay, it was sealed shut. But even if it wasn't, she would have climbed out, just to plummet thirty stories to her death. She wasn't quite at that level of desperation.
She rushed to the door and tested the knob. It was unlocked. She immediately locked it and moved the blue armchair across the room and against the door. The chair was a heavy piece of furniture that groaned as it scratched across the floor.
Staring at the heavy chair against the door, she bit her thumbnail and understood immediately that this wouldn't hold any attacker back, but it would have to do for now.
Walking over to the dresser, she looked at the clothes folded. A pair of jeans and a tee shirt. But the odd thing was that it was her jeans . . . and her shirt . . . these were her clothes taken from her room. Panic rose again and she dropped to her knees and cried.
Hades sat in his living room with a mug of hot coffee in his hand. Onyx pawed his shoulder and purred against his head before leaping into his lap. Hades stroked the black cat and scrolled through the news on his phone. The two of them froze when they heard the sound of furniture moving upstairs. The two raised their faces toward the ceiling.
"Seems our guest is awake and preparing for the worst," Hades said.
He still hadn't thought through the best way to communicate to Persephone that she was safe here, even though she wasn't able to leave . A Gentleman's guide to Kidnapping was hard to come by. He had hoped the clothes, food and unlocked door would have brought her some semblance of comfort. But if it were him, he would be carving knives from the bed posts and shifting a heavy barrier of furniture too.
He considered walking upstairs and attempting conversation. But when he played through the scenario in his head, he decided it was too early to deal with any of the outcomes. Deciding to figure his captive situation out later, he walking to the front door and slid on a black denim jacket and a pair of Converse. Walking across the hall, he beat on apartment door across from his. Cerberus was quick to answer, pulling a tee-shirt over his head and looking like he was still half asleep, Hades nodded his head back toward his door.
"I need to leave for a few hours."
Cerberus's face fell. "Don't tell me you need a babysitter."
"Nope. Just a guard dog," Hades smirked. "The job is simple. Make sure that whatever is in, doesn't come out."
He didn't wait for an answer. Instead, he made his way down the hall and into the elevator. The weight and pressure of the kidnapping pressed against his entire body like a heavy weight. These next few days would be brutal, and he hated not having full control of the outcome.
According to the news, Demeter was absolutely beside herself, exploding on the Olympus police force and demanding her daughter be found. The detectives were talking to each guest of the party trying to scrounge up what evidence they could.
Hades bet it would take the police at least one more day before finding the note attached to Persephone's shoes, that he laid next to a tree by the rivers edge. A simple piece of parchment that read: "I warned you I'd come to collect."
Exiting onto the shadowed streets of the Underworld, Hades jogged to the parking garage and jumped onto his black Ducati MotoGP superbike. His engine roared as he twisted his way through traffic.
Five minutes later, he entered an abandoned fish market. Making his way through the wide forgotten building, he continued into a creepy stair well that had a flickering florescent light overhead. He hurried down five flights of stairs and pushed past a metal door at the end of his decent, the eerie silence that had accompanied him now blasted away by rapid action.
The dark market had hundreds of people clustered around one another, selling different matter of illegal and rare goods. The sellers called out and tried to get the attention of potential customers passing by. The customers were a mix of people, usually liaisons for a wealthy buyer from Olympus who didn't want to risk being seen doing dirty dealings or business owners of the Underworld who didn't have much they cared to hide.
Hades passed them all and took quick long strides through the long pathway of canvas tents and wooden tables. He walked through a cracked open door at the end of the ally and was welcomed into another room heavily guarded by three men.
"Pan," Hades said to the mouse face man sitting at the table in front of him. The table was bare except for a bottle of wine that waited to be opened. The man Hades welcomed looked thoroughly annoyed and didn't respond. Hades kept his demeanor calm, removing his jacket and sitting on the other side of the table. He waved his hand to a young guard who left and returned with two wine glasses and a cheese board.
"Please," Hades said while he poured the man a large glass. "Tell me what's going on."
Pan chugged his wine and pointed a vicious finger toward the market. "One of your idiotic merchants sold me a rabid animal!"
Hades swirled his glass and gave his wine a refined sniff before taking his first sip. "What animal was this?"
Pan shoved two triangles of fragrant Argentinian mountain cheese into his mouth. When he spoke, chunks of purple flew from his mouth.
"A rare breed of bobcat," he spewed. "It attacked my assistant who later died of rabies. I have half a mind to kick your ass. Do you have any control of this market anymore? Or do you just come and go as you see fit?"
Hades let the man's words settle before answering. His tone was serious but hid his agitation. "Well, you did purchase a wild animal. As you know, everything at the market comes with a measured risk. You wanted something different and dangerous. That's why you came to me."
Pan's eyes narrowed. He stood up and crossed his arms. "Well, then, it seems I need to take my business elsewhere."
Hades let out a mirthless laugh. "Please do."
The man scoffed and grabbed his jacket that hung on the back of his chair. Before he left through the guarded door Hades called his name.
"Pan, one more thing before you leave." Hades stood and stepped closer. He leaned coolly against the cement wall holding eye contact. His face held a cold and unforgiving expression. "You'd be wise to never threaten me again. Don't forget who you're dealing with. Because I have no issue reminding you."
Pan's eyes widened and he muttered a quick apology before rushing out the door. Once the door clicked shut, Hades rested his head against the door frame. He really didn't have time to deal with the elite idiots of Olympus. Especially when he needed to focus on the daughter of one of those idiots, he was currently holding captive. He gave a frustrated groan and finished off his glass of wine.
Walking back through the dark market, he checked in on merchants and spoke with a few members of management and international trade about new inventory.
Nearing the end of the line, Hades stopped in front of a large stall loaded with a multitude of colorful speaker systems. Desi, the merchant was also the owner of the cities hottest club, Rage. Desi was a good friend and exactly who Hades wanted to waste a few minutes with.
Hades rested his arms on the stall and looked over the stacked speakers. "How's business?"
Desi was riffling through a clipboard of papers and turned to look at his friend over his glasses. "Business is interesting as always. Never a dull moment. I'm actually glad you stopped by. Pei, Agla and Thel wanted to invite you to their gig this weekend."
Desi squatted down and shuffled around the back of the cluttered stall. The sound of objects being knocked over and clutter shifting banged through the stall. He emerged with a small stack of neon pink flyers.
Hades took one and smiled, reading it outload. "Welcome the coming Equinox with The Sirens. This Saturday at RAGE, 10 pm. Theme: Fairies and Folklore."
"Am I expected to arrive as a water sprite?"
Desi laughed. "Absolutely."
He lifted the paper. "I'll be there. Cer will want to come too, he'll . . ." Hades trailed off and gritted his teeth.
"What?" Desi said, now fiddling with a small speaker the size of his hand.
"I forgot about a particular burden I'm currently dealing with . . . my nights out are unfortunately limited for now. I'll try."
"Sounds good," Desi said, his full focus on the speaker. He looked at it with delicate intention before slamming it to the cement ground. It exploded into a multitude of pieces and the man kneeled down and rummaged through the remnants, raising a small screw. "Got it," he said with a victorious pump of his arm.
Hades' phone buzzed in his pocket. He rolled his eyes and waved a quick goodbye. He brought the phone to his ear.
"Has our guest emerged?" He asked.
"Yes," Cerberus rasped on the other line. "And she's not happy."
Hades snickered "Awe, did she bite you?"
"No, but she did stab me in the shoulder. Where did she get a knife?"
Hades did include a fork, spoon and knife with her breakfast. "Sorry, that's on me. Where are you now?"
"I'm outside the front door. I heard a massive crash and went inside to see what happened. She was waiting for me by the piano room and instantly stabbed me. I threw her off and left because you made it very clear that she wasn't to be harmed. . . which seemed valid at the time but now I'm having a difficult time remembering why."
Hades could hear the frustration and pain in Cer's voice. "Stay there, I'm on my way home."