by Mari Mancusi
“Well, you can start by forgiving yourself,” I tell him. “No more Mr. Emo.”
He chuckles. “Can you believe that?” he asks softly. “All this time I’ve held onto such guilt for destroying my sister’s life. Little did I know she’s a lot more grown up than I gave her credit for.” He rubs his chin thoughtfully. “Seeing her down here, with my family, so glowing and happy, I realize I’ve wasted too many years wishing I could change things, when things are actually pretty great, just as they are.”
“Absolutely,” I agree. “And now we’ve just got to save my sister and live happily ever after.”
“I like the sound of that,” he agrees, pressing his lips against mine. “And I promise, no matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you. I’ll never push you away again.”
“Ditto,” I murmur, dissolving into his kiss, our mouths finding and loving one another with a passion I never thought possible.
29
For some reason, I thought Hades’s palace would look like something out of a Clash of the Titans movie. You know, all Acropolis looking, with marble floors and lots of white pillars and the like. Maybe even some royalty types lying on couches, being hand-fed grapes by their slaves. And, of course, lots of togas. But, as I should know by now, real life is nothing like the movies. And here is no exception. Instead, the palace is done up in a completely postmodern style, with crimson leather couches, glass tables, and art-deco chandeliers. Pretty sweet, I have to admit.
“You have a lovely home,” I say politely to Percy as we pass through yet another opulent living space on our way to meet her husband the next day.
“Please. You should have seen the disaster it was when I first moved in,” she replies, fanning her face with a well-manicured hand. “The place was totally Gothed out to the max. For some reason, my dear old husband had the idea that the Lord of the Dead should be a Hot Topic frequent shopper. He painted all the walls, floors, and ceilings black and even had a specially commissioned coffin couch. A used coffin couch.” She shudders. “I had my poor decorator murdered the moment I arrived so I could begin a total top-to-bottom makeover. It’s been years and it’s just starting to shape up now…”
Wow. I totally take all my compliments back. Coffin couches? Black walls? How cool is that? Hades sounds like my kind of bad guy.
We come to a small waiting room with two antique couches alongside each wall. On the far wall is a set of extremely ornate double doors with depictions of demons and other nightmarish creatures carved into the wood.
“See?” Percy points to the door. “There are obviously some things that still need to be replaced.” She pushes open the two doors and we follow her into a small, dark study. On the far side of the room, covering nearly the entire wall, sits the biggest TV screen I’ve ever seen. Beneath the TV, sits a nondescript, little old man, sporting two miniature horns on top of his balding head. My eyes widen as they take in his wrinkly, liver-spotted hands and grandpa trousers. Is this the big bad everyone’s so scared of?
And is he… I do a double-take… actually playing Vampires vs. Zombies?
“Um, hi, sweetie,” Percy addresses her husband in a saccharine-sweet voice. Now I can see why she’s hooking up with Hercules. “This is—”
“Damn it to hell!” Hades screams as a zombie proceeds to grab his vampire character and chomp its head off. He throws the controller across the room, where it smashes into about a hundred pieces. He whirls around in his cushy, black leather chair, giving his wife a death look. “How many times have I told you never to interrupt me when I’m playing my video games?”
Percy rolls her eyes. “About as many hours as you spend playing them,” she growls back, obviously not afraid of him. I cringe a little, waiting for his response.
Instead, the god just laughs and pats her on the arm. “Touché, wifey,” he replies before swiveling back around and taking a brand-new controller from the white-togaed slave who presents it to him. I wonder how many of these things he goes through in a week.
“I’m sorry, maybe you didn’t hear me,” Percy says louder. “I’ve brought some friends to talk to you.”
“They’ll have to come back,” Hades replies absently. “I’ve decided not to speak to anyone until I pass level twelve.” He hits “continue” on his game and the monitor springs back to life. His vampire reappears in the mall, hacking at the oncoming zombies with a machete. I remember this level from back home. It’s a real bitch.
Percy steps in front of the monitor, obscuring her husband’s view. “But, darling,” she says through clenched teeth, “you’ve been on this level for three weeks now. And the minions are starting to get restless.”
Hades screeches as a zombie grabs him and takes a huge chomp out of his leg, spewing blood everywhere. There goes another controller. I hope he has stock in PlayStation.
“I don’t care if Zeus himself wants to come for tea,” he screams back at her. “Now get out of here before I have the lot of you beheaded.” He grabs yet another new controller from his slave with such force the poor boy almost gets knocked over.
“Fine. Whatever. See if I care if they overthrow you from power,” Percy shoots back before storming out of the room. I glance over at Hades again but he’s completely back to the game. Reluctantly, Jareth and I retreat after Percy.
“Sorry,” she says with an apologetic look. “As you can see, my husband is a bit… occupied… right now.” She rolls her eyes. “You’re welcome to wait.” She glances at her diamond-studded Rolex. “Now if you’ll excuse me, I have to go meet…” She giggles. “Well, you know who.”
And with that, she skips down the hall, disappearing from sight. Jareth sinks down onto one of the couches with a sigh. “Well, at least the furniture here is more comfortable than at the Lake of Fire prison,” he says, trying to stay optimistic.
“Yeah, sure,” I mutter, peeking through the office doors, still immersed in the game play. I’m just in time to see Hades get killed again, this time by a trap laid by humans in the ice cream parlor. “But this could take a while. I mean, it took me three days to get past this level and I’m totally leet. In fact, it wasn’t until I looked up online and learned about the shotgun hidden in the toy store that I really—” I break off, an idea coming to me. “I’ll be right back,” I inform my boyfriend.
“Where are you going?”
But I don’t bother to answer. Instead, I push through the double doors again and into Hades’s chamber. A bold move, I know, and one liable to get my body separated from my head if his threats are to be believed. But those who dare, win. Especially when it comes to video games.
“I thought I told you to go away,” the god grinds out, not looking up from his TV as he guides his character through the mall, avoiding a hungry zombie to his left. He’s actually pretty good, I observe, and might eventually be able to master the level without my little trick. But we don’t have time, in this case, to wait and see.
“Go left,” I instruct him. “Into the toy store.”
He whirls around at my voice, almost losing it to an oncoming zombie.
“Watch out!”
He turns back to the game, just in time to take out the creature. Saving his life and quite possibly my own head.
“Toy store,” I repeat, adrenaline kicking up a notch. I have a feeling if I can’t get him through this, it’ll be game over for me. Permanently.
Thankfully, he does as I say, swinging a left into the toy store and cutting down a zombie cashier at the entrance.
“Head down the toy gun aisle,” I instruct, heart in my throat. Will he make it? Will I? “Then search the lowest shelf under the Super Soaker display.”
Hades obeys, making a right, then a left through the Barbie aisle, past the Hot Wheels section, narrowly missing being chomped by a child-sized zombie on a three-wheeler. I watch, breathlessly, as his character searches the shelf in question and…
“Shotgun acquired,” the game announces.
Yes! I jump up and dow
n in excitement as Hades locks and loads. A zombie clown comes barreling toward him, but he easily blows it out of the water. He looks back at me with a big, toothy grin and I clap my hands appreciatively. Maybe I’ll save my head just yet. And my sister’s soul, too.
“Now head to the roof,” I tell him. “The helicopter’s waiting.”
He follows orders, storming the mall, shooting everything in sight. His points rack up higher and higher as he ascends the back stairs and steps out onto the roof. Sure enough, the helicopter is waiting for him and a moment later, he’s flying away, with the game auto-saving his place before moving him on to level thirteen. From the side of the room, I can see his slave boy breathe a sigh of relief.
Hades sets down the controller and rises to his feet, turning to me with a big smile on his wrinkled face. “Good trick,” he admits. “I never would have found that.”
I smile back at him, trying to look braver than I feel. “Yeah, well, that level is total hell,” I reply. “Um, pardon the pun.” Oops. Hopefully he’s not sensitive about that kind of thing.
But luckily, the god just laughs, sitting down on a nearby sofa and patting the cushion for me to join him. “So tell me, gamer girl,” he says. “Who are you and what do you want?”
30
And so I dive in, telling him the whole sordid tale. And when I’m finished, he makes me go back further. Then even further. Until I come to that first night at Club Fang. When, because of my actions, my sister fell down the rabbit hole and lost her innocence forever.
“So you believe that if you didn’t drag her to this nightclub,” Hades concludes when I’m finished, “none of this would have happened.”
“Well, Sunny wouldn’t be mixed up with vampires, that’s for sure,” I reply, wondering what he’s getting at. Is he trying to make me feel guilty about the whole thing? ’Cause if so, he’s a little late. “I take full responsibilities for my own actions. I made my choices and I knew the consequences. But Sunny just wanted to be normal. And I stole that from her.” I stare down at my hands, remembering that fateful night. The first time I saw those two tiny puncture wounds on my sister’s neck. At the time, she’d thought it was all a big joke. Little did she know…
“Sometimes I wish I could go back,” I mutter. “Do it all over again.”
Hades sits up on the couch, his small, beady eyes locked on me. “What would you do differently?”
I shrug. “I don’t know. Everything? I mean, it’s hard to say, right? I certainly wouldn’t let Magnus bite my sister without explaining the whole deal to her first. I’d want her to at least be able to make an educated decision on what kind of life she wanted to lead.”
Of course, even as I’m saying the words, I wonder. Sure, if Sunny knew the truth, she might not let Magnus bite her. But then she would have never fallen in love with him either. And as much as their relationship has been tumultuous, to say the least, he’s also been her rock. Her soul mate without a soul.
Is it better to have loved and lost? Or never loved at all?
Hades rubs his graying goatee thoughtfully. “This could be fun,” he mutters, half to himself.
“What?” I cock my head in question. “What could be fun?”
He turns back to me. “Well, my dear, I’m sure you realize that I can’t just release your sister’s soul out of the blue like this,” he explains. “I mean, death is death. There’s no coming back. Unless it’s as a zombie. And zombies are trouble, as you saw. You don’t want your sister to become a mindless brain muncher, do you?”
I shake my head. That’s one supernatural creature I never want to see in real life. “But you’re Lord of the Underworld,” I protest. “You have the power to bring people back to life.”
“Honey, we can’t change the rules midstream or make exceptions—even for sisters of very talented gamer girls. What would people think if the dead suddenly started coming back to life? It’d be anarchy. It’d shake the very foundation humanity is based on.”
My heart sinks. This is so not what I wanted to hear. At all. “Please. I came all this way,” I cry. “Isn’t there something you can do? I can’t live life without my sister. And I’ll do anything to save her. She didn’t deserve to die.” I pause, sucking in a breath. “Can we make an exchange? My soul for hers?”
Hades chuckles. “You’re a vampire, remember?” he reminds me. “You gave up your soul a long time ago.”
Crap. I’d forgotten about that little technicality. I’d already willingly tossed aside the one thing that could have saved my sister. For what? Riches? Power? I am truly too stupid to live.
“There has to be some way to save her,” I beg, not ready to give up. “Please. She’s my sister.”
Hades considers this for a moment, then gives me a sympathetic pat on the knee. “Well, there is one possible way,” he ventures. “But I don’t think you’re going to like it.”
“Anything!” I cry, hope surging inside of me at his words. “Anything in the entire world.”
“Very well,” the Lord of the Underworld says. “Let’s play a little game. I’ll call it Operation Do-Over.”
I stare at him, confused beyond belief. “What the hell is that?”
“I can’t bring Sunny back from the dead. But we could go back to a time when she’s still living,” he says slyly. “After all, you told me you’d do things differently if you had a second chance, right? That night at Club Fang? You’d let Sunny choose her destiny.”
I stare at him, my head spinning, feeling as if I’m going to pass out right then and there. “You want us to go back in time?”
“In a sense,” Hades says thoughtfully. “We’ll reset the clocks, sending you and your sister back to the time before she was bitten by a vampire. Like returning to the save point in your video game. The two of you will still retain the knowledge and experiences you’ve gained over the last year. But everyone else will be exactly how they were. This way, you and your sister will have the chance to play it out, all over again. To make new choices, armed with what you know now about the consequences of those choices.
I force a hard swallow. “And no one will know this has happened—except us?”
Hades grins. “That’s right. Just you and Sunny against the world.”
But that would mean… Horror engulfs me as I glance over to the double doors, where Jareth waits in the next room. That would mean…
“No. I can’t,” I say, shaking my head with vehemence. “I can’t leave Jareth like this.” After all we’ve been through. After all we’ve said to one another. After he gave me his heart and I promised him eternity. How can I walk away now? Leave the love of my life behind? To go back to a time when he won’t even recognize me?
“Typical.” Hades clucks, as if disappointed. “Everyone always says they’d do anything.” He gets up from the couch. “Until that anything is presented to them.”
“Come on! There has to be another way!” I plead, my heart feeling as if it’s breaking in two. I try to imagine a life without Jareth. No, worse—a life where he’s there but doesn’t know me from a hole in the wall.
The god heads back to his recliner, grabbing the joystick off the table. “That’s my proposition. Take it or leave it.” He glances at his watch. “I’m going to work on beating level thirteen now. You need to have made your decision before I complete it.”
“But level thirteen’s just a bonus round!” I cry. “You’ll beat it in no time!”
“Well, then I suggest you start deciding,” he says, tipping his head to me before turning back to the game. He un-pauses it and then starts playing.
And I head out with heavy feet and heart to talk to Jareth.
31
I stumble out of the room, my eyes blurred with bloody tears. Somehow I manage to fall into Jareth’s arms, clinging to him with desperation, wanting to feel his embrace one more time before our lives change forever. His cool arms wrap around me, stroking my back as he tries to soothe my choking sobs.
“He said
no, didn’t he?” my boyfriend concludes, leading me back over to the sofa and sitting me down. “I was afraid of that. I didn’t want to discourage you. But from all I’ve heard about the guy—”
I shake my head furiously. “I almost wish he had,” I reply. “It would have made things a lot easier.” I give him the whole story from beginning to end. “I don’t know what I’m going to do,” I finish. “I mean, how am I supposed to make this decision? If I turn down his offer, I’m basically condemning my sister to death.” I hang my head. “She deserves another chance. A chance at the happy, normal life she’s always wanted for herself. The one I stole from her that night at Club Fang. If I agree, she has another chance to find that. To grow up, become a journalist, get married, have children—everything that she always wanted. Who knows what she can accomplish if given a half a chance?”
I start choking and have to stop. Jareth pats my back, looking at me with tender eyes. “It would be great,” he agrees. “To bring her back to life. To allow her another chance at happiness.”
“But then what happens?” I cry, breaking away from his grasp, feeling ready to explode. “If I accept his offer—if I go back time…” I squeeze my eyes shut in agony, imagining the scene. “That’s it for us. You won’t even know me anymore. You won’t… love me. You won’t be mine. It’ll be like we… like we never met.”
Jareth grabs me in his arms, crushing me in his strong grip. I can barely breathe, but it doesn’t matter. At the moment I don’t care about anything but his hands on me, holding me tight. And I wildly beg for this moment to freeze in place forever.
Can I live without Jareth? My true love? Can I accept an existence without him by my side? Can I go back to a life where I’m totally and utterly alone?
“I finally got you back,” I whisper hoarsely. “How can I just walk away? How can I just leave all we have behind?”