Hades’ Daughter (The War of Fate)

by Charlotte Carol

  I don’t compel her yet, wanting the fear to sit with her for a while longer. She nods vigorously, telling me silently she’ll go along with it. I lift the knife up, dragging it down her face on the side of her face which is scar-free. Now she will have an identical scar on the other side of her face. Her screams fill the room as blood erupts from the fresh wound.

  “A constant reminder of what I told you today,” I tell her before dropping her back to the floor into a crumpled, sobbing mess.

  Chapter 24

  No One Likes a Snitch

  I rub my temple as Meredith’s cries still fill the room. She has been like this for the past five minutes, and I am getting bored of it.

  “Gods, pull yourself together,” I tell her. “You’re meant to be a gang leader.”

  She glares up at me through the blood, the best she can, but her sobs slowly ebb away. She hiccups as I hear heavy footsteps making their way up the drive. I walk to Meredith, holding my hand over her mouth, silently telling her to stay quiet. I had already cleaned and returned the knife, so I have nothing to threaten with her. All the same, Meredith seems to comply. I listen closely, hearing them stop outside the door. I cock my head to the side, wondering who could be out there.

  “Adrian,” I call. Almost immediately, he is standing at the top of the stairs. The doorbell rings followed by knocking. “Look after her while I deal with whoever is at the door,” I request.

  He runs down the stairs and takes my place. I go to the entrance hall but realize that it could look a bit weird if I were covered in blood. I quickly sprint up the stairs, taking them two at a time. I enter my room, grabbing up a dressing gown on my way to the bathroom. I take my clothes off, scrubbing at the blood stains all over my body, getting rid of any traces of blood.

  Another ring of the bell sounds impatiently, followed by knocking, again. I run my hair under the water before running back down the stairs, shouting as I go, “I’m coming!”

  I enter the entrance hall, closing the door I usually keep open behind me. I pull the front door open, balking slightly when I see two male cops standing there. “Can I help you?” I ask, slight surprise in my tone.

  “Sorry, Miss, but are your parents home?” the older of the two asks.

  “I live alone,” I tell them. Both of their eyes travel over my body in the flimsy gown before looking to each other, obviously uncomfortable.

  “We received some complaints about screaming coming from this house, and one person reports seeing you carrying a body into the house,” the younger of the two tells me, his eyes trailing to my bare legs before returning to my face.

  The only person who saw me with Meredith was Rosie. I force a confused expression to my face, pursing my lips. My act falters, however, when Meredith shouts out.

  “Help me!” I try not to flinch and keep my expression calm; however, on the inside, I am silently cursing at Adrian, shouting at him to keep her quiet.

  “What was that?” the older of the two asks, his hand going to the gun on his hip. I quickly think of an excuse, forcing yet another fake expression onto my face.

  “Ugh, sorry, my brother is visiting and he’s watching a horror film currently. That probably explains the screams being heard. I’ll tell him to turn it down,” I say, the fake annoyance seeping into my tone. Their body language is still guarded and tense.

  “Why didn’t he come and answer the door?” the young cop questions.

  I sigh, getting irritated at all the questions, but I still keep my tone pleasant.

  “Because he’s lazy,” I tell them. They both let out a chuckle, letting their body relax.

  “Miss, would we be able to come in and have a look around? I’m sure there is nothing, but it’s standard procedure.” I look over the cops’ shoulders and to Rosie’s house, wondering if my suspicion on her calling the cops is true. I catch the curtains on the top floor twitching and a glimpse of Rosie peeking through them. I smirk, looking back to the men on my doorstep.

  “Yeah, sure,” I say, pulling the door open wider, hoping that Adrian has been listening and is ready for us. I turn, opening the door to the rest of the house and walk in confidently. They follow after me, looking around the open-plan living room and kitchen. I mimic their actions. There is no sign of Meredith or any evidence of what has been happening. Adrian, who is now slouching on the couch, watching a horror movie on full blare, looks up when he sees us. My shoulders sag. What would I do without him?

  “Adrian, turn it down. The neighbors think we are torturing someone,” I chastise.

  “Ugh. Fine,” he says reluctantly, playing the role of a lazy brother, picking the remote up and turning it back to a more manageable volume.

  “We’ll only be a minute,” the cops tell me before starting their search of the house.

  “Take your time,” I tell them, happy that they won’t find anything. Although, I keep an eye on them when they’re in the kitchen, but luckily, they skip over the cupboard under the sink before moving on.

  I flop down on the couch next to Adrian, resting my head on the back.

  “That was a close call.” Looking over the back of the couch, I see that Adrian even thought to pick up the blood bag that I flung there.

  “I don’t think I’ve moved so fast in my life,” he tells me.

  I laugh and poke him in the side.

  “You did it, though…Where is she?” I ask, looking around for any signs. A blood trail, an arm, anything.

  “I knocked her out and put her under the cushions,” he tells me, nodding to the couch we are sitting on. That explains Adrian sprawling out on top of it; he is trying to hide the bulge. I laugh, watching the movie that Adrian has put on.

  Like the cops said, it only takes them a couple of minutes to conclude that there is nothing suspicious. I turn on my seat, leaning over the back.

  “Everything okay?” I ask.

  They nod, and I smile at them.

  “Do you mind me asking which house reported the body sighting?” I ask.

  “I’m sorry, but we can’t supply you that information.”

  “That’s okay. I’m just wondering because I think the house over the road and a couple down has something fishy going on there,” I tell them, referring to Rosie’s house. They exchange a significant look before they turn back to me.

  “Like what?”

  “Narcotics. When I first moved here, they gave me these brownies, and I’m sure they were ‘special’ brownies if you know what I meant…I threw them away, scared to eat them,” I lie (I ate them, and they were delicious), putting emphasis on the word special. “If it was that house, they were probably hallucinating when I came home,” I add.

  “We’ll go and check it out,” they promise.

  I stand up and round the couch. I walk to the door with them, opening it. “That’s the house,” I tell them, pointing at Rosie’s house. They exchange another significant look before turning back to me when they have exited my house.

  “Thank you, Miss. Have a good night.”

  I breathe another sigh of relief when I close the door behind them.

  “Right, I’m going to dry my hair and change, and then I’m going to deal with Meredith,” I tell Adrian as I enter the open plan area.

  “Why did you say that?” Adrian asks, looking over the back of the couch, the horror movie still playing on the TV.

  “Why did I say what?” I ask.

  “The stuff about the brownies.”

  “Why do you care? She was being nosy, and it will teach her a lesson to mind her own business and not to snitch. Anyway, she won’t get arrested if she didn’t do anything wrong, will she?” I say, stopping on the stairs.

  “I thought it was unnecessary, and you’re right,” he says with a shrug.

  After I dry my hair and change into something more comfortable, I walk back downstairs to find that Adrian has retrieved Meredith from her hiding place and has sat her up in an armchair, her head flopped forward. I step in front of her, leaning he
r head back so I can slap her a couple of times to wake her.

  She jolts awake, her eyes going around the room. Like last time, when she sees she’s in the same place with Adrian and me still here, she slumps.

  “Come on then, I’m going to take you to the hospital,” I tell her, walking into the entrance hall, retrieving my car keys.

  “Why are you being nice to me all of a sudden?” she asks warily as if at any moment I could attack her again. I ignore her question as I come back into the living area.

  “Are you coming? If you try anything at all, I will kill you without any hesitation,” I tell her, gripping her arm tightly, causing a cry of pain. I look down and see that I am holding the injured one. I yank her up and to the front door. I open it, peeking out to see if there are any witnesses, especially the cops. I see that they are still on the street somewhere but not in sight.

  I quickly lead her to my car, bundling her in it. As I walk around the back to get the driver’s side, I glance at Rosie’s house to find a man being escorted out of the house in handcuffs by the two police officers who visited me earlier. I wasn’t expecting that.

  Reversing out of the drive, I see that Rosie is standing in her open door, her arms crossed with a worried expression on her face. I send her a small wave as I go past her.

  “Look into my eyes,” I say, looking away from the road and at Meredith. I don’t know if this will work with both of her eyes being wounded and me not being able to compel Reid earlier, but it’s worth a shot. She turns her stained red face to me, the blood starting to dry.

  “When we get to the hospital, you will not be able to remember what happened to you tonight. If someone asks you what happened to you tonight, you will lie. After leaving the hospital, the memory of tonight will come back and stay with you as long as you live. If you go to tell someone, or they ask what happened, the pain you felt tonight will come back to you, and you will be unable to tell them. After death, this will not apply. Do you understand?” I tell her, covering all my bases and making sure when she eventually comes to Hell she will fear me.

  “Yes,” she replies in a sort of daze. It sounds like it has worked, but I will check at the hospital just to be sure.

  I look back on the road, resting my head against the window; it’s been a long day.

  When I eventually pull into the hospital dropping-off bay ten minutes later, I turn to Meredith.

  “Oh gods! What happened to you?” I ask faking shock and concern. A quizzical expression comes onto her face before she replies in a slightly robotic voice.

  “I fell down some stairs and cut my face on a piece of glass at the bottom.”

  “Go and get yourself sorted out,” I tell her, satisfied that the compulsion worked. She clambers out of the car, and as soon as the door is closed, I drive off, not wanting any witnesses of me arriving with Meredith.

  ***

  On Monday, when my alarm goes off, I groan, not wanting to go back to school after the weekend. Yesterday felt like I was back home again with Adrian and I messing around in the house. It felt even more like home when Adrian tried to bake some cookies and set the kitchen alight.

  “Shut up that fucking thing already!” Adrian shouts from the other side of the house. I turn it off and roll out of bed reluctantly, landing on the floor with a thud. I let out another groan, this time from the pain, and push myself up. I stumble into the closet, picking out the first outfit that I see.

  After I am dressed and have consumed two bags of blood, I call up to Adrian.

  “I’m going now. Don’t do anything I wouldn’t do!” I pick up my bag as I make my way to the front door.

  “I don’t care!” I hear Adrian call back.

  “Love you too!” I snigger as I make my way out of the house. Adrian hates waking up more than I do.

  Getting to my bike, I stow my bag into the compartment, straddling the bike as I go to push the helmet over my head. I stop however when I hear a text come into my phone. I shift, pulling the phone from my pocket.

  Reid: Are you free later? - The incredibly hot leader.

  I smile at Reid’s text message, replying.

  Scar: That depends…

  Reid: On what?

  Scar: On what we’re going to do – I don’t think I can deal with another gang war. One is enough for me.

  Reid: I only want to spend time with my extremely sexy girlfriend. We don’t even need to go out. We could get hot and sweaty together.

  I raise my eyebrows at his response.

  Scar: I don’t sleep with someone that I’ve known for a short while.

  Reid: I didn’t mean that, but now that you mention it… ;)

  Scar: Right! I believe you, many wouldn’t. So what did you have in mind?

  Reid: We could train together.

  Scar: OK. I’ll come over after school. Get ready to have you ass kicked. :)

  I put my phone away and start the engine of my bike to get to school.

  ***

  I walk through the doors to the bell ringing. I make my way to homeroom slowly, thinking about the weekend and wondering what happened to Meredith as I walk through the empty corridors. I’m about to go into room 212 when I hear Hunter call my name. I turn to find him, Leo, Liam, and Jake standing down the hallway, looking as if they were waiting for me.

  “Want to ditch?” Hunter asks. “I’ll even supply the cigarettes.”

  “How can I turn down that offer?” I joke, turning to walk down the stairs again and out of the building to the tree where Hunter and I sat on my first day.

  When we are all sitting under the shade of the leaves, Hunter passes the pack to me, holding the lighter out ready. I take one, holding it out for him to light as I pass the pack on. I thank him as I bring the cigarette to my lips.

  “So, how did you all become part of the Grim Reapers?” I ask.

  They exchange glances before Leo answers.

  “We were all ‘head hunted,’ if you could call it that, by Reid.”

  “Were you all friends before?” I ask.

  They nod. “Since childhood,” Liam adds.

  I look at the glowing end of the cigarette as it goes quiet again.

  “Where did you learn to shoot like that?” Liam asks.

  I press my lips, needing to be careful on how I answer. I can’t give too much away.

  “My dad taught me,” I say, telling them the truth.

  “What did your mother think when she found out?” Jake asks.

  I clear my throat, taking another drag of the cigarette. I rarely talk about my mother, as I don’t get the chance. My dad doesn’t like talking about her. I meet Hunter’s eyes, which are sending me a sympathetic look.

  “Um, she doesn’t know,” I tell them with a sad smile. “I’ve never met her.” I consider her as dead, as I don’t know better; my dad has never said what happened to her. The only things I know about her are her name (Candice) and that she was once human before my dad turned her before she had me.

  Sensing the discomfort I am feeling about the topic, Liam intervenes, changing the topic.

  “We had a couple of Fallen Angels at the house this morning,” he comments. This grabs my attention.

  “What did they want?” I ask, thinking back to last night and my compulsion. Did it wear off?

  “Meredith had gone missing and then returned with a fresh cut on her face, a broken wrist, and a wound to the back of her head. They were there because she was last heard from by her second-in-command talking about you,” Liam explains.

  “Did they say anything else?” I ask, worried.

  “Nope, they just wanted to know if you were responsible and if the orders came from Reid. Apparently, she kept insisting that she fell down some stairs, but they don’t believe her…Did you see her on Saturday?” Jakes says.

  “Uh—yeah, I did actually,” I tell them, feeling relieved that the compulsion is still firmly in place.

  “Did you do it to her?” Leo asks.

  “No, I didn’t
really talk to her. She wasn’t hurt when I saw her,” I lie.

  “I didn’t think you did. They are probably just looking for a reason to start something and pinned it on you as you happened to be the last person she was talking about,” Hunter speaks up.

  I agree with him, but I can tell that they know that I haven’t told them the whole truth.

  Chapter 25

  Wanted

  When I walk into Psychology, I am surprised that nothing extraordinary has happened yet. I expected Reid, or someone else, to show up, which seems easy to do, or Tiffany to start something, but no. It’s been a normal, boring school day.

  I sit down behind the desk, between Tasha and Lottie, waiting for Kyle to arrive. When he walks in, I can feel his gaze on me. I look up and meet his penetrating, dark eyes. He breaks the connection as he turns to the board, writing out something. I notice that the muscles in his shoulders are tense, letting me know that he’s worried about something. I narrow my eyes at him when he addresses us.

  “Hello, class. Instead of a lesson today, the principal has asked us all to collect in the hall, so I have written a homework assignment on the board for you to do to hand in next lesson.”

  I listen as the scratches of pen on paper fills the room, but I don’t move, still watching Kyle. Something’s up with him. Did my dad tell him about Adrian?

  When there is silence once again in the room, Kyle tells us all to make our way to the hall for the assembly. As the whole class leaves, with Kyle leading the way, I try and catch up with him to ask him what’s wrong. Whenever he hears me closing in on him, he speeds up, and soon, I lose him in the crowd. Why is he avoiding me? I give up going after him and walk back to Tasha and Lottie.

  “I wonder why the principal is going to talk to us,” Tasha ponders aloud. I shrug as we enter the hall, keeping an eye out for Kyle, but I don’t see him.

  “Lottie!” Max calls, standing up from where he is sitting with Lily. Behind them both are Hunter, Leo, Jake, and Liam. Lottie runs up to Max, hugging him with a kiss. Tasha and I follow behind, meeting an exasperated-looking Lily.

  “Finally! I couldn’t take sitting with them alone any longer,” she says, looking back at where Hunter and his friends are. I look behind her as well, where they are all grinning.