Welcome To Hades

“No,” He laughs.

“Definitely no. I can not allow that,” Zayn says to me as he runs his hand through his hair.

“What do you mean by that?” I ask him angrily, but he seems amused by my anger.

“Let me make this clear for you; you are a werewolf and this is demon territory. If my people stepping foot in your territory is an act of war, then you staying here would be war itself,” He explains to me.

“Sounds dramatic,” I reply to him, and he stares at me curiously.

“Dramatic would be me publicly announcing to my people that you are a werewolf spy that I caught trying to assassinate me,” He smirks, and my mouth drops open in shock.

“You wouldn’t dare,” I reply to him, and he walks toward the bed and sits on the edge.

“For centuries, everyone has seen demons as evil, and outcasts from heaven that serve the devil; so accusing you falsely would just be the icing on the cake,” He yawns after he speaks.

“But you won’t do that,” I fold my arms on my chest.

He smiles in response and then breathes out a satisfied sigh.

“Convince me why I should let a she-wolf from werewolf territory stay in my lands,” He taps his shoes on the hardwood floor lightly.

“First of all, I have nothing to go back to. I was rejected by the Alpha of my pack for my sister, and I am a she-wolf that can not shift. I feel like a stranger in my own town, and I have been bullied for years. I want a fresh start,” I honestly explain about my life to him.

From the look on his face, he seems really intrigued. Almost as if he cares.

“Is shifting into a wolf a big thing to you werewolves?” Zayn asks me, and I walk toward him and sit next to him on the bed.

“Let me just say that everyone at my school calls me broken because I have not shifted yet. Some people shift when they turn 18 years old and I am just 16 years old but when I use that as my defense, it is just useless, they don’t want to hear it,” I reply to the demon king.

Never once in my life did I imagine that I would be having a conversation with a demon. I was under the impression that demons were to be feared at first sight, but as I sit here with Zayn, all the stories I was told about them seem over-exaggerated or dare I say, false.

Even the concerned look on his face as I explain to him about my life shows me that he has emotions and that he cares.

“Thank you for sharing something so personal about yourself with me, but I am afraid that it’s not enough for you to stay in Demon Territory,” Zayn says firmly.

“But…” I start to argue but he stops me from speaking further.

“I do have a deal though,” He says as he stands to his feet.

The intense smell of sulfur causes me to wrinkle my nose, but I think I am getting used to it.

“Spit it out,” I bravely say to him, causing him to chuckle.

“If you can convince Bunny, then you can stay for as long as you would like, and to top it off, I would personally train you and teach you how to shift,” He informs me of his deal.

“Who’s Bunny, and what do you even know about shifting? You’re not a werewolf,” I tell him.

The door is opened and he is standing at the entrance while staring at me.

“Bunny is my personal advisor, she has been at my side for as long as I can remember. And I may not be a werewolf, but I know almost everything there is to know about them. I have studied them and will continue to do so for as long as I live,” He replies to me, and a look of hurt crosses his face, though he masks it quickly with a charming smile.

“When can I meet her?” I stand to my feet.

“I don’t presume you’re busy, are you?” Zayn smooths the shirt he is wearing, and raises one of his eyebrows as he questions me.

I roll my eyes playfully and I laugh in response. 

“You have a funny laugh,” He tells me as I walk toward him, and the both of us walk out of the room.

It feels so unreal that I am literally with a demon king right now, and the fact that he is so nice and witty pulls at my curiosity.

“I’m guessing yours have won an award,” I sarcastically say to him, and he clears his throat.

Now that I am out of the room and in this long hallway with empty picture frames on the wall, a sense of fear has returned to me. I am reminded of the harsh reality that I am far away from home, from my family, from my best friend, and from all I know.

“Why are all the picture frames hanging on the wall empty?” I inquire, causing Zayn’s attention to go to the frames.

“They’re not empty, you just can’t see the pictures. Only demons can,” He explains to me, and I nod slowly as I keep my mouth shut.

A small group of girls walks past us and they all stare at me weirdly. I try to keep my head down to avoid attention but it’s useless. It is like they know that I am not like them, that I am not a demon.

“Don’t be offended,” Zayn suddenly speaks when he notices.

“They are just curious as to why I am walking with a werewolf,” He elaborates.

“Mmhmm,” I mumble as I allow the demon king to lead the way.

Finally, we reach the end of the hallway, an opened door introduces us outside. The sudden change from the artificial light that was in the hallway to the natural light from the sun outside causes me to squint my eyes.

As soon as my eyes adjust to the light, the view that appears before me takes my breath away.

“Holy sh*t,” I mutter.

The place is incredible. It looks like it was just pulled out of a fantasy book and placed right before my eyes. Huge castle-like buildings rise to the sky in brilliance, and the entire ground is covered with cobblestones.

“Welcome to Hades,” Zayn says to me as he smiles proudly.

If I was him, I too would be proud of this city. It is beautiful.

“But how?” I ask him, and he begins to walk, which results in me following.

“You expected cries of pain and flames?” He chuckles.

“Well, maybe…” I confess, and he continues to walk as I try to keep up.

“As I said, this is not Hell, Lara,” He says my name for the first time, and I smile.

“Then why call it Hades? That means hell too, right?” I stop him from walking so fast, and he finally stands in one place.

“I think you need to brush up on your demon history,” Zayn laughs lowly.

“Hell and Hades are not the same things, Hell is for the damned and Hades is like a waiting room until Judgment comes,” He explains to me as if I am a three-year-old and it amuses me slightly.

“But this is not the actual Hades, we just named our city after the place,” He adds.

A really attractive girl dressed in revealing clothes suddenly begins to walk purposely towards us, and she does not look happy.

“What the hell is a werewolf doing here!?” She lashes out at Zayn when she reaches near us.

Her hair is gray like ashes, and her body is like a goddess.

“Calm down, Bunny,” Zayn replies.

So this is the Bunny he talked about. For a personal advisor, she sure has a temper.

“Don’t f*cking tell me to calm down!” She yells in his face, and I take a cautious step backward.

“The only werewolves allowed in this city are dead ones,” She glances at me as she says this.

My hands are already trembling from seeing her, how the hell am I supposed to convince her so I can stay?!

“Um, hi…” I try to introduce myself to her, and I see Zayn wagging his head as a warning from the corner of my eye.

Bunny turns her full attention to me and I inhale sharply.

“Hi? Your people killed our former king and treats us like sh*t, don’t f*cking ‘hi’ me,” She replies harshly as she waves her finger in my face boldly.

I am so scared that it feels like my heart is going to explode from beating so fast.

 “That’s enough, leave her alone, Bunny,” Zayn speaks up, causing the girl to back away from me.

“Give me one reason why I shouldn’t rip her heart out right now,” She looks him in his eyes as she asks.