Chapter 15:

Your POV:

It wasn't awkward to know that I was holding onto Hades' hands, because I think we both went past that strange scene a long time ago. Hades stood there, listening and trying to talk reason to me about the possibilities that I was stuck in this world. But I kept my confidence and said that there was a chance, I just had to keep trying. But it was a little harder than before.

"Ok. Let's try again. I'm thinking about home. I'm thinking of home. My mom and her jackass of a douche husband… About our new house. Home."

"Jack- A dou- What?" Hades asked.

"Nevermind. I am trying…to concentrate," I said, closing my eyes.

A few seconds went by.

"Gah! I don't know how I did it, but I know it went something like this. Home. I want to go home. Home."

I opened my eyes.

But nothing happened.

"We're still here…" I sighed.

"Have you found this as useless as I do?"

"No! I'm trying hard here! Maybe you can do something?"

"As…?"

"I don't know! Do something godlike! Anything! But I can't go all into calculations here! I'm not Einstein!"

"Who?"

"Nevermind… I know I can do it. I know I can. I think I can. Come on! Where's the magic?"

I closed my eyes again.

I got so shook up that I started to jump up and down, but nothing happened. I let go of his hands and thought to myself. This was going nowhere. Was there some ritual I had to do?

Something I had to say? Did I have to do anything special?

"Ok…how about this? No-No, that won't work. We can't use…the speed of light can we?"

"Speed of what?"

"Nevermind. "

This can't be. I can't be doomed to live here forever. All of the Gods of Olympus were after me and that could scare anyone to hell, even when did they want you because they wanted only our praise.

And they'd do anything to get it. Anything.

"Home. There's no place like home. There's no place like home."

I opened my eyes and looked up at Hades. He was still a little hunched over, looking up at the clouds and over the prairie that covered almost everything in sight. We had been going at this for almost an hour and there was absolutely no progress, giving Hades the belief that there was nowhere safe for us to hide. But in the last hour, he didn't give the option of turning ourselves in.

No. Hades hated Zeus too much for that.

He stooped around, then looked back at me, then stooped to look up and see if anyone could see us. My fingers twitched with anticipation, the same anticipation that Hades had, making us on equal grounds. We were both nervous. In many ways, it was my fault that we couldn't be safe.

"I feel so…" I couldn't finish my sentence.

Hades stopped circling, looked back at me with a grim glare, and walked over to me, observing how much I had tried and failed. I looked up at him, with a long, long, long glare at him, thinking of what I could do. Hades was obviously amused of my attempts and began teasing me by walked close to my body, and figuring out what I needed to do. Without a warning, he brushed his hand upwards near my breast and softly touched my cheek, giving a small grin of satisfaction.

Apollo's POV:

Father had still been ranting about the miracle child for hours and without rest or even the slightest bit of hesitation. Apollo had been searching from the skies for hours and hours, and even with a small thought of giving up would have Zeus punish him for something as. The gods won't hear silence from their father until they have the girl.

But… today was the day, luck and chance had been on his side, for Apollo caught sight of something.

His hands held tightly onto the reigns, making sure that his chariot would not lose control, he peered over the edge.

Looking down from his golden chariot, Apollo had a good long look down at the earth.

She was alone.

She had…the strangest clothes.

The rumors were true, she was a sight to behold.

Finally, he had found her and perhaps, Zeus would think better of him after this and with that blessing in mind, he wanted to quickly turn her in.

Nothing would be better but…to see her up close.

"Hermes! Hear my news! I have found the girl! Fetch my father! I have found the girl! The miracle child he searches for!"

Apollo yelled out, and wasn't sure if he did it for Zeus or for himself. Because he could not determine whether it was being a god that he would turn the girl in, but perhaps it was all for…her.

In the end.

Your POV:

Hades' then kept a mall distance after his hand brushed against me. That moment was over, but it still had my attention, it kept distracting me mercilessly, bringing my mind somewhere else.

In some small seconds of my life, my cheeks would warm up, and I would have to turn my face around so he wouldn't see me.

There was no way in hell that I was slowly, surely, really…developing a crush on this guy, was I?

I mean, he could be my father, or even my grandpa just from his looks and at the determination of how old he was.

Which in my guess, was maybe a million years old!

He was a god after all.

That made it all the more worse and I would have to hide my entire face from him, shy and a little woozy.

There was no sign anywhere that told me to continue with my attempts of getting back home, but then… I felt something in my chest pound, almost against every fiber of my being.

Getting excited and getting the nerve to tell Hades what I suddenly felt, I got up and was about to tell him.

Then Hades suddenly pulled me behind him.

"What are you-"

"ZEUS!" Hades bellowed.

My eyes nearly bulged out of my skull, and it was true… there he was. Really high in the sky, hovering.

Somewhere infront of the sun, but I couldn't see directly, the sun was too bright. Or maybe it was just him.

Hades kept me behind him, pushing us both backwards.

Zeus, himself flying towards us in clouds of white and gold, colored by the lightning and the intense sound of thunder he was projecting.

He was coming.

He was here for me.

He was going to take me away!

Every breath tore at my throat!

Hades turned me around, and held me on both sides of my face, and pulled me close.

Holding me with intense focus!

With as much as enthusiasm, I grabbed hold of him, afraid that Zeus would grab Hades instead of me, so I clung to him as tightly as I could.

"Focus! Concentrate! Do what you will!"

Hades crushed my arms, and I began to have a panic attack!

"I can't…! I can't! It's too hard…!"

"You must do this now! Go home!"

"I can't! I can't do it!" I screamed through sobs!

Hades looked behind him, Zeus was getting closer.

"He's coming! He's almost here!" Hades yelled, still holding me with so much strength that I was choking on breathing and tears.

I looked, Zeus was coming closer, the sun was in my eyes.

"I'm…-"

"Evey! FOCUS!"

"I'm trying!" I screamed

Sound dissolved from my ears, all went silent, Hades was screaming at me, but I couldn't hear a word he was saying.

The sun, or whatever that was, got brighter.

Everything got hot, and the tears streamed down my face.

Zeus was flying towards us at an amazing speed!

Hades held tighter.

The sun, the glare, the steam, the light was soaked in rain drops.

A ringing dissolved slowly into my ears.

After that high tuned ringing, came back sound.

Everything was loud again, it was the thunder, it was Hades yelling at me.

The sound and every little tune washed back into my ears.

"I felt… something…" I said, still looking at him.

Hades looked back at me.

Our eyes locked.

I felt another feeling rise in my chest.

I held out my hand for him.

"No, don't let this happen, I can't hear! I can't hear! I can't-"

The world, the scene right infront of me, my vision was sucked into a tiny spiral, as if being taken in by a vacuum cleaner.

…..

Through my eyelids, flashes of gold light fluttered, waking me up from a strange sleep.

I was on my back, looking up towards the sun.

The sun was right over me!

"NO!" I screamed.

But my vision focused much better and it wasn't Zeus… it was the trees swinging back and forth.

The weight of gravity came back to me, but a new kind of weight pressed down on me, and it was an arm.

Hades was- whoa!

We were really close, so close in fact that we were nearly cuddling on the forest grounds, with his face in between my neck and my hair.

Slowly, softly, and surely I got up and pushed off his heavy arm, either it was heavy from his armor or from muscle.

But by god, I hoped it was from muscle.

"Hades…"

His head turned and he murmured something.

The warmth in my cheeks returned and so did the butterfly feeling in my legs and chest, making everything tingle.

"Hades…"

The grey eyes of the Lord of the Underworld opened and I smiled at him. He did not smile back, but he looked angry and furious!

"Zeus…" he whispered.

I put my hand over his. Hades, for a moment looked vicious, ready to do some damage, because his eyes had flashed a crimson red. Getting on my knees, I looked around and was happy, we made it back, I was home.

"He's not here. Get up…"

Hades lifted his head and looked around.

"Are we?"

"I am home. You… are in America."

Hades got up, but gravity held him back, as he wobbled upon his legs. I helped him get up, and we both held up against eachother, unsure of which direction to go. But I dug in my bag and took out my cellphone. My iPod. The time returned to it's correct data and I had signal.

"I have signal. I can call a cab and we can get picked up."

"A what?"

I looked back at Hades.

This was going to be a challenge.

"Ok, what you are about to see in the next 24 to 48 hours will shock you. I'm not sure how long we'll be staying, but I hope it's long enough to stay away from Zeus and the other gods."

I checked my messages, and there was a few voicemails.

"You'll be staying with me at my house. What you'll see in a few minutes may be a little shocking to you, and I won't be able to answer all of your questions. But don't say anything when we're around other people and try to stick next to me."

"What will happen when you call this….?" Hades trailed off.

"I'm calling a cab. It's going to take us back to my house. And-shit! I've been gone for 28 hours! "

This was bad, so with no time to lose I called the for the cab and when it arrived, Hades was very unsure and untrusting. He kept saying it was downright stupid for it to be a bright yellow, but what caught his attention most was how it moved with no horses. But he wouldn't get in.

"It's safe. Trust me. Please? Nothing's going to happen. Look," I got in the cab and sat down," I'm sitting in it. Nothing's happened."

"Alright, but I will kill the other mortal inside if something is not right."

I rolled my eyes.

"Ok. Ok. Can we go?"

Hades got in and closed the door. I asked the driver to not turn the radio on or have any operating cellphones in the vehicle, it would freak him out. The driver gave a strange look at Hades. Strange couple, I bet he was thinking.

"Tourists," I said.

The driver nodded in approval.

"Please drive slow, my friend is a little new to this…"

The driver nodded and I gave him the directions. The car slowly accelerated forward and Hades grabbed a hold of my arm, going over the edge with questions, and I held him in return.

"Don't worry. This is called a car. It is a transportation system that is controlled by the driver that is sitting infront of us at the moment. The driver controls the whole vehicle by the gears up front that are made to control the car to go forward, backwards, and from side to side. The car can go up to over 200 miles per hour…

"Powerful…" Hades breathed," Powerful, but you trust it?"

"Oh don't get me wrong, accidents do happen."

"What kind of accidents?"

"Well if something were to go wrong, this car can explode on impact and take all of us with it. But! There is a security system and that begins with the seat belts. You should put yours on…"

I reached over Hades and pulled the seatbelt over him, then he stopped me with a warning glare, but I told him to trust me, and then he let me proceed with a small grunt of a mistrusting groan.

I clicked in it for him and I did the same with mine, so I won't let him feel like he was the only one 'locked' in the confined space too.

We talked about the car's abilities and Hades became curious about the radio and the control gears, and even the 'engine' that made the car go.

"We're here. But heads up. I think I'm in trouble…"

Hades and I got out from the car, even from the light of the windows, I saw my mom and her new husband yelling at eachother about me and the cemetery.

"Wait here."

Hades nodded and I walked into my house with a brave glow, and was totally attacked with screaming questions and threats to send me to my grandma's house if I ever disappeared again.

"DON'T YOU EVER DO THAT TO ME AGAIN! DO YOU HEAR ME!"

"I'M SORRY MOM! REALLY, I AM!"

"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU ANYWAY! I CALLED AND CALLED!"

"I JUST HAD THINGS TO DO!"

"LIKE WHAT! HUH! RUN OFF AND JOIN THE CIRCUS!"

"NO! I W-WAS HELPING A FRIEND OF MINE!"

"WHAT! SINCE WHEN DID YOU MAKE A FRIEND! SINCE WHEN!"

"EVER SINCE YOU AND ROMEO HERE FORCED ME TO MOVE HERE!"

Mom's shoulders fell, and she began to cry.

"I know… I know and I am so sorry… Things were so tough and- oh god, don't you ever disappear on me like that again!" she hugged me.

I hugged her back.

"I'm sorry I scared you. But I made a friend in town and I helped him with some things."

"Alright. Alright. Just…stay home for awhile longer this time ok?"

"That's the idea," I smiled, looking out the window.

Then her husband came in, giving a disapproving frown. I had nothing to say to him, except to leave us alone to have our talk. But what does he do?

"You're grounded, young lady!" he said," No TV. No radio. No cellphone. No music. Nothing!"

My mom looked back at him.

"What? Honey! No, it was just a miscommunication. You're not grounded, sweety."

"Margaret? Really? She pulls something like this and she's not- I'm not going to say anything. Fine! Let her do whatever you want! Let her walk all over you!"

"She's not walking all over me. I'm just glad she's home…"

My mother hugged me tighter, kissing my head and my step dad walked out. But before he walked out, he gave me one last lingering look, but I couldn't tell if it was from disappointment or because there wasn't one lady in the house anymore.

"Alright, go on up stairs. Take a shower and a bath. And- What are you wearing? Ha! Did you go back to the old ages? Tomorrow I'll make you your favorite, hot crepes. Strawberry or raspberry?"

"Strawberry…" I smiled.

She hugged me again, and I was relieved.

"WHAT THE FUCK! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU! NO! GET THE FUCK OUT! YOU CAN'T JUST COME IN HERE!"

"Adam? What's wrong?" my mom yelled.

"I'M CALLING THE COPS! MARGARET, GET MY GUN! WE HAVE AN INTRUDER IN OUR HOUSE!"

Mom got a sauce pan, and I got behind mom when- Oh shit! I ran infront of mom and saw my step father getting infront of the front door, and he had a gun in his hand!

"NO! WAIT! WAIT!" I yelled.

Hades was infront him, giving a total death glare to Adam, and had absolutely no fear of the weapon infront of him. I didn't know what would happen if a gun were to be used on a god, but I didn't want to see him get hit.

"NO! Wait! Mom! He's my friend! No! Put it away!"

"Are you crazy! Margaret get the phone! NOW!"

"Adam! Put that down! Where did you get that! Evey is he really your friend?"

I got infront of Hades and came up with a quick lie!

"Yes! Yes! His name is August. August moved here a few days ago. I helped him move in and move his furniture and run a small yard sale. He's an editorial writer for the town paper and he just got a job here and since w-we were both new in town, we were fast friends. When I couldn't get home on time, and I didn't trust coming back home by myself, he let me spend the night. Then he called a cab for me here a-and he wanted me to escort me back inside… T-Then he wanted to meet you, since he thought it would be appropriate."

"Evey, sweety, are you telling me the truth?"

"Yes… I am. He's a friend. I'm sorry I didn't tell you ahead of time, but I sorta wanted this to be a surprise."

"And you did surprise me…" she chuckled.

It took a few minutes to soak in, but mom warmed up to the idea. She came forward with a smile, as she did every time she met a stranger. That's what made her such an interesting person.

"Well in that case, hello, I'm Margaret and this is my husband, Adam. Welcome to our home. We're about to have dinner, would y-"

"NO! Margaret! Are you seri-"

"Adam!" she hushed him," We'll be glad to have you as a guest. We're making pot roast and potatoes with crème and peas."

Hades looked at me, gave an unknowing look, but nodded his head which made me happy because it wasn't…a bad start with introducing him to my family. Mom smiled, knowing she had her first guest in our new home, and I gave a bigger smile, knowing that this pissed off Adam more than anything.

"Welcome. Come this way. The potatoes are almost done."

Hades didn't say anything, but followed me instead of her, still unsure of what to do and what to say. Before we all went into the dining room, I gave one last lingering look at Adam, and I just knew that I saw bitter disappointment, because there wasn't only one man in the house now.