by Vera Strange
“Oh, is that so?” Hector said, giving her a sly wink.
“What do you mean?” she said, glancing back. “We have to go back! We can’t let him have it.”
Hector smirked. Then he showed her the Zeus Cup, tucked under his shirt.
“It’s just a little trick I learned from my best friend,” he said.
He’d hidden it under his shirt during the boat ride, planning to trick Hades and play dirty to defeat him.
“Wow, you’re a true hero,” Mae said in amazement. She reached out to touch the outline of the Cup, when suddenly Pain and Panic pounced on Hector, pinning him down.
“Where ya going, Wonderboy?” Pain said.
“Yeah, don’t leave the party yet,” Panic added with a cackle. “It’s just getting started.”
They dragged him toward the River Styx, where the ghoulish souls swirled in the dark waters.
“Give us the Zeus Cup!” Panic said, pushing Hector’s head toward the murky water, where the souls congregated in anticipation of a new member joining them in eternal purgatory. “Or take a swim in the river!”
Pain reached for the Cup, but Hector struggled, fighting them off.
He got free from the demons for a moment and reached for Mae’s hand. She grabbed his hand, holding it tight. “Hurry, let’s get out of here!” Hector said, yanking her away.
“Just like it’s a race, right?” Mae added with a wink.
They turned to run toward the ferry, when suddenly, a dark shadow stretched over them.
Blue flames erupted into orange, then burned red hot—fiery and angry. Hades was furious. Beyond furious. Livid. Flaming-hot livid. Hades leered over Hector with a creepy, sleazy grin.
His distinctive voice echoed out.
“Looks like Wonderboy’s not so wondrous now, is he?”
Seizing on the distraction, Pain and Panic pounced on Hector again, pinning him down helplessly. He struggled against them but couldn’t get free. The demons were stronger than they looked, and they had sharp claws. Mae tried to knock them off, but Pain pushed her back.
She fell, hitting her head with a thud, and went lifeless.
“Mae! No!” Hector screamed in a panic. “No, let me go!”
He tried to break away, to get to Mae, but he was trapped in the demons’ iron grip.
While Pain and Panic held Hector down, Hades towered over him, stretching out his long, thin fingers and reaching for the Zeus Cup, to claim it once and for all.
“No, let me go!” Hector cried, the hope slowly seeping out of him. He stared at Mae, willing her to wake up, but she lay lifeless on the ground, unmoving. That was a bad sign—a very, very bad sign.
“The Zeus Cup belongs to me, Wonderboy!” Hades sneered. His fingers had almost reached the Cup, when suddenly another voice echoed out, strong and fierce.
“Get off my friend!” Mae yelled, swinging a blue torch and hitting Hades over the head.
She’d been faking the whole time!
Seizing on the moment, Hector summoned his last bit of strength and fought off Pain and Panic, knocking the little demons into the River Styx.
They sloshed around helplessly, clearly unable to swim, while the souls swirled around them hungrily, tugging them down into the watery depths.
But Hades couldn’t be defeated so easily.
He rose up in his full, flaming glory. His whole body ignited into bright reddish flames. Hector felt them singeing his body. It was like a wall of heat had hit him, making his flesh burn.
But they still had one more chance to defeat the god.
“Here! Take the Cup!” Hector yelled to Mae. “Save yourself and the world! You’re fast—you still have a chance to get away!”
“Wait, wh-what do you mean?” Mae stammered, hesitating. “I can’t leave you here.”
“I can’t save the Zeus Cup—but you can!” Hector said. “It will open the door out of here. You’re superfast. You can still get away!”
“Are you sure?” Mae said, wiping away tears.
“No choice,” Hector said. “It’s the only way to save you—and also save the world.”
Hades flamed brighter, lunging for Hector. But before Hades could reach him, Hector tossed the Zeus Cup to Mae, relieved that his final act could protect it from Hades.
Only now, at the end—finally—did he understand what it meant to be a true hero.
The golden trophy arced through the air.
He watched as Mae leapt into the air and snagged the Zeus Cup, catching it perfectly, just like he knew she would. She landed gracefully in a crouch, whipping her head back.
But instead of running away, Mae stared at Hector with an evil grin.
She grasped the Zeus Cup in her pale hands. He glanced from her to the trophy. Her face, reflected in the golden metal, looked distorted, almost demonic. She made no move to run away. Why wasn’t she running away?
Confusion rushed through Hector.
Instead, Mae sauntered back the other way, toward Hades.
“Wh-what are you doing?” Hector gasped in shock.
“Mae, why aren’t you running away?” Hector gasped, unable to believe his eyes. “You can still get out—what’re you doing?”
Hades’ laugh echoed.
“Oh, Wonderboy, you’re so predictable!” he said in his sleazy voice. “Your little friend here was working for me the whole time.”
His shadowy figure loomed over Hector menacingly. His dark silhouette was framed by the flickering, bluish torches.
“Wh-what do you mean?” Hector choked out. “She’s my best friend. She’d never betray me.”
“Oh, you so sure about that?” Hades sneered down at him. His eyes flicked over to Mae. “My girl, do we have a deal?”
“No, don’t do it!” Hector yelled to Mae. “Don’t listen to him—he’s a liar. He’ll unleash the Titans!”
Mae rolled her eyes at Hector, then sauntered over to Hades and handed him the Zeus Cup. Hades grasped the Cup and wrapped his arm around Mae. They both leered down at Hector.
“You know I play dirty to win,” Mae said smugly. “Just like you. You’d do the exact same thing in my shoes—”
“No, you’re wrong about that,” Hector stammered, feeling completely betrayed. His heart felt like it was fracturing into pieces. “I trusted you! I thought you were different!”
“News flash, I’m a winner—at any cost,” Mae said with a cocky smirk. “You beat me once by cheating, but now you’ll never beat me again. After you won the Spartan Run and kept the Zeus Cup, I got an offer that I couldn’t refuse…from Hades.”
“But, Mae, he’s going to destroy the world—” Hector started.
“Just some lame god stuff,” Mae said dismissively. “I don’t care about that. After you backed out of your deal with Hades, he came to me and promised to make me a rock star. In exchange for helping him get the Zeus Cup back from you and your greedy family.”
“Yeah, it really puts the sympathy for the devil into rock music, doesn’t it?” Hades said with a fierce grin, making devil horns with his hands. “Kind of has a nice ring to it.”
“Mae, how could you?” Hector pleaded. “We’re friends.”
“We were always competitors,” Mae said with a cruel smile. “And now I won, once and for all—and you lost. How does it feel, Wonderboy?”
Hector could hardly breathe. How could he have been so stupid as to trust this person he barely knew?
Phil was right. She wasn’t a real friend. He thought that she’d changed her ways, but he was wrong. She’d been lying to him and working for Hades almost the whole time.
Now she was going to be a rock star. Hades was giving her everything that she ever wanted. And Hector would be trapped in the Underworld. Forever.
Hades offered Mae a potion, which she seized eagerly.
“Thank you, my dear,” Hades said with a gracious bow. “You may leave us now. The Fates are on their way to deal with him.” He flicked his hand demurely toward Hector.
&
nbsp; Mae turned to leave with her potion, her part of the deal fulfilled. She gave Hector one last conniving look, then turned away and sauntered from the castle, leaving him alone to his fate. Hades loomed over him with a cruel smile. His hair flamed bright orange with red tips.
“Not so strong now, are you, Wonderboy?” Hades said, clutching the Zeus Cup.
He snapped his fingers. Without the Zeus Cup protecting him, Hector’s strength started to drain away. He felt his body weakening to how it was before he made the deal with Hades.
But it didn’t stop there.
He kept growing weaker and weaker. His strong body shriveled up before his eyes. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Mae boarding the boat, leaving the Underworld for good.
With another snap of his flaming fingers, Hades summoned the Fates. They looked like three witches—monstrous, twisted, hunched bodies with beaked noses and roving eyeballs. They cackled horribly, leering at Hector, who lay there weak and helpless with all his power drained.
“Oh, what do we have here?” the first one said.
“A mere mortal, I see!” the second said.
“Ah, his life force is already draining,” said the third.
“Right, right, hurry it up!” Hades said impatiently. “I don’t have all day. I have a very important appointment to keep with the Titans, you know.”
One of the Fates stretched out a string between her fingers while they all chanted together. “Hold that mortal’s thread of life good and tight!”
Then one reached out with a pair of scissors. “Incoming!” the Fates cackled as they severed the thread that was Hector’s life.
“Nooooooo—” Hector tried to scream, but only a ghoulish whisper left his lips.
Hector felt his soul leaving his body and being sucked down into the River Styx, joining the other trapped souls in their watery purgatory. He tried to fight it, but he had no strength left. The other lost souls swirled around him hungrily, claiming his soul.
The last thing Hector saw before his soul submerged into the watery depths completely was Hades peering down at him, greedily clutching the Zeus Cup.
“Enjoy your new friends, Wonderboy!” Hades cackled. “I’d love to stay and help you get acquainted, but I’ve got Titans to see, a brother to punish, and a whole world to destroy.”
If Hector could have screamed, he would have, but only a soft gasp escaped from his ghostly lips.
THE END
Wow, five books down! Thank you, Disney and dear readers, for giving me the chance of a lifetime to write these terrifying, amazing, iconic characters. I will forever remember this opportunity. It is one of the highlights of my writing life. It will always be so.
I often get asked, Who chooses the villain? The answer is that it’s always a collaboration with my team. Sometimes, I suggest the villain for the next book; sometimes my team requests that I write a specific character. The thing is…all the Disney villains are amazing and terrifying in their own unique ways. Regardless, everyone wins. Hades was the latter. Disney asked me to write him, but I couldn’t have been more thrilled to craft this chilling new adventure for one of my favorite Disney villains. I’ve also always been a huge fan of Greek mythology and legends.
Writing Hades (originally voiced magnificently by James Woods) was a true dream job. I loved capturing his snarky voice, and also his minions, Pain and Panic. My original characters—Hector and Mae—also hold a special place in my heart, as does the fictional town of Mt. Olympus, which I created for this story. By now, you know about the unhappily-ever-afters. I teared up writing this ending, so I hope it lived up to expectations and you felt it, too.
Of course, I have to thank my amazing team at Disney Books, including my fabulous editor, Kieran Viola, Cassidy Leyendecker, my design team, and Lyssa Hurvitz and my publicity team for working to get the word out to readers (no easy feat these days). Also, thanks to my book agent, Deborah Schneider at Gelfman-Schneider/ICM, and the rest of my rep team at ICM, Gersh, Archetype, and Curtis Brown. It takes a whole dream team to make the Disney Chills and my other books and writing happen, and I am grateful for your efforts on my behalf.
Here’s a little secret if you’re still reading. So far, this fifth book has been my very favorite to write. Is that because Hades is such a blast? Or simply because this was the fifth, and therefore, I’m settling into the series and enjoying crafting it more? Regardless of the reason, I hope to write more Disney Chills books in the future. So many wonderful villains still left to bring to life in this new universe, so many stories I still wish to tell. Fingers crossed!
Finally, these books belong to you, my dear, sweet readers. Did I give you terrible nightmares? Did you keep reading anyway? Did you need a nightlight even after you closed the pages? I love hearing from you and reading your responses to the books. Your support for my little spooky series means everything, especially in a year that has posed so many challenges.
Hopefully, we will meet on these pages again soon. But in the meantime, as always…
Happy nightmares!
—Jennifer Brody (aka Vera Strange)