Chapter 3

Rose POV 

I'd been running for what seemed like hours but I knew it had only been for a few minutes. There were no doors and I hadn’t come across a single soul. I kept running and looking over my shoulder. I was expecting Davis to come up behind me and grab me. I turned a sharp corner but suddenly stopped dead on the tracks. There in front of me lay a monster. It was a giant three-headed dog that had its head on its huge paws and looked to be asleep. ‘Oh shit!’ I thought as it slowly raised its head. It saw me and growled. 

‘Nice doggy. Very nice doggy.’ I whispered as I took very slow steps back till I was at the turning point of the hallway and I bolted down another hallway. I heard its roar and the pounding of its paws on the hallway floor as it followed me. I turned back to see it following me and I pushed myself forward, took a sharp right, and hazarded a look behind me to find it running towards me. I screamed and pushed myself to run even faster as he was gaining on me. 

I ran to the end of that hallway and took a sharp right, only to find him at the end of that hallway. Immediately, I turned left, not knowing where I was going but running faster all the same.  

‘How is the hallway even large enough to contain this thing?’ I thought to myself, as I ran. Turning right again at the end of the second hallway, I came to an abrupt stop as he was at the end of this hallway as well.

‘I can't believe it. H…how?’ I stammered, shocked and stumbling. I ran down another hallway trying to get away from the ferocious beast trying to eat me, but when I turned, it was already there just sitting there as though it was waiting for me and I liked it looked happy to see me. It was just a game.

I ran down another or then turned left and this time it didn’t wait for me at the end of the hallway because I crashed right into it and I fell to the ground with a thud. Looking up at it, I realised just how I had tried to run back, but it caught me with its tail and it wrapped around me like a snake.

‘’That's enough, Cerberus. Bring her here’’ a voice boomed and the thing immediately went towards the voice. I struggled against its grip but it was all to no avail, so I just gave up and hoped that whomever it was taking me to wouldn’t end me. 

He took me towards what looked like a study, albeit a large and luxurious one. There were so many books piled on shelf after shelf that were so tall they seemed endless, which made the study seem more like a library than a study. It was well lit with what seemed to be floating chandeliers giving the room a cozy but spooky vibe. I was so busy studying the magnificent and lavishly furnished room I did realize that the monster dog had put me down until the voice from earlier said ‘’Thank you, old friend. You may go’’ I immediately snapped out of my musing and I scurried over to the closest wall to me, which wasn’t a wall at all but a bookshelf that sent a book falling towards me when I crashed into it. I shut my eyes in anticipation of the pain to come but it never came, so I shot my eyes up only to find Cerberus’, as he was called, giant tail above me blocking the books from crushing me. I looked at his face or faces and found he looked worried for me and before I could even ponder on it, my attention was grabbed by the man who suddenly grabbed hold of me, patting me down.

‘’Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?’’ he asked over and over again, sounding panicked. I was surprised at this and it clearly showed on my face because he cleared his throat and stepped away from me, then to Cerberus, without looking away from me, he said ‘’Thank you. You may leave us now’’ and even though he looked reluctant, Cerberus left the room, leaving me alone with the strange man. 

 ‘’Sorry about that.’’ The man said, breaking the silence after Cerberus left ‘’I was concerned that you might have been hurt and I lost my composure. I apologize’’

 I turned to look directly at his face for the first time since I came here and I froze at what I saw. He was magnificent, an actual work of art. Handsome or beautiful or even a combination of both did not come close to describing just how gorgeous he was with his long wavy mane of thick black hair and piercing black eyes coupled with a face that can only be thought to exist in the imagination or within the pages of a book and let’s not forget the undoubtedly mouth-watering bod encased in the grey silk robe he wore.  

‘’He must be an angel. I’m in heaven.’’ I thought and he smiled. 

‘’Hades actually’’ he said with the breathtaking smile still on his face, and I melted into a puddle right there on the study floor as his deep voice washed over me like a symphony. 

‘’huh?’’ I repeated dumbly. 

‘’You're in Hades’’ He repeated, snapping me out of my thoughts, and that was when I realized I had been ogling him dumbly for some time and I wanted to be swallowed by the ground. I blushed bright red as my face heated up.

‘’I beg your pardon,’’ I asked, clearing my throat as I pulled myself together and decided to play it cool. 

‘’oh well… You said ‘You must be in heaven and I'm correcting you that you're not in heaven. You are in fact in Hades, that is the Underworld, also known as Tartarus.’’ He said with his blinding smile still in place on his perfect face. 

‘’You're joking, right?’’ I asked with a nervous chuckle.

‘’As a matter of fact, I am not’’ he replied with a straight face.

‘’ Who are you’’ I asked as dread crawled up my spine. 

‘’You know me. Every human knows me. I go by many names'' he answered ‘’but I prefer to be called Hades, the ruler of the Underworld and the dead and the Giver of all wealth on the earth’’ he introduced himself.  

‘’You're kidding, right?’’ I asked, hoping he would burst into laughter, but he simply shook his head, and horror washed over me ‘’No, oh god’’ I said shocked as I began to hyperventilate. ‘’Oh god, I'm dead I died and now I'm in hell,’’ I said 

 ‘’No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, you're not dead, and thank goodness for that too, because that would have made things very complicated for me’’ he said, grabbing me by the shoulder to stop my trembling ‘’And You're not in hell, you're in Hades, the underworld also known as the afterlife’’ he explained 

‘’So I am dead then, since I'm in the afterlife.’’ I countered, crying now 

‘’No, you're not dead. I brought you here. Alive’’ he replied. 

‘’Wha?!!’’ I was so confused. 

‘’I will show you. Please trust me.’’ He said, his eyes pleading with me. 

Hades POV

‘’What is it with everyone and me being their bride?’’ She looked so beautiful in her anger with her face flushed, frustrated as well as confused.

I managed to calm her down and explained some things about who I was and where she was to her. She took it a lot better than I had originally expected and I was glad it was going well. That is until I told her she was to be my bride and she lost it again, much to my frustration. 

 ‘’I am not ready to get married. I still have a lot of things I want to do with my life. For one, I want to go back to college for my Master's degree and make a lot of money to finally be able to afford to move out of my Mom’s house, and before you even say anything, I am I intend to do all this without any one’s help’’ She raged 

‘’Someone else wanted to marry you? Is that why you were sleeping in the park all bruised up?’’ I asked and she stepped away from me, hugging herself. I saw fear flash through her eyes for a split second, then it was gone.

‘’That's none of your business.’’ She said. 

‘’ I didn't quite like that she wouldn't open up to me, but I didn’t want to rush or force her either, so I let it go for now. She has been through a lot already. I wanted her to feel safe and relaxed with me. 

‘’Okay, then I won't rush you. You can tell me whenever you are ready. Besides, we have an eternity in our hands, so there’s no need to rush anything’’ I replied. 

‘’An eternity?’’’She asked, confused but a lot calmer, and I smiled. 

‘’There's a place we need to be but you can't go dressed like that,’’ I said and she looked back down at her night dress which she still had on 

‘’ Hey, what's wrong with my nighty, and what makes you think I'm going anywhere with you?’’ she said, folding her arms on her ample bosom, inadvertently drawing my attention to it.

‘She's such a vixen and she didn't even know it’ I thought, which caught even me by surprise since I hadn't had such thoughts about anyone in centuries. 

‘’Wel, for one, your ‘nighty’ is too revealing’’ I said ‘’And like you pointed out, it’s a night wear not meant for outings’’ I pointed out and she blushed bright red, making me chuckle at how adorable she was being. 

‘’Whatever’’ she mumbled ‘’So if I can’t wear this what do I wear?’’ she asked. 

So I waved my hand in the air and a dark mist started at her feet, slowly raising 

‘’What's happening?!!!’’ she panicked. 

‘’It's okay. It's just my transformation magic’’ I explained. It whirled around for a few minutes before it dispersed and she stood before me and was dressed in a pretty flower sundress that stopped mid-thigh showing off her world-class legs and creamy skin free of the bruises that marred her skin earlier to finish the look she had on black slippers. She looked perfect. 

‘’How'd you do that?’’ She asked, shocked, and I smirked as pride swelled in my chest. She giggled as she twirled in her dress.

 I placed my index finger on the chin and lifted her face slowly as I rubbed my thumb against her cheek. 

‘’I am a god and I will prove it to you,’’ I said with a smile and let her go and grabbed her hand. I opened a void portal. 

‘’What's that?!!’’ She asked, her grip on my arm tightening. 

‘’It's just for transportation,’’ I replied, stepping through while pulling her along.