Enemy’s enemy is a friend!!…

*Relationship status: I don't know, cursed or something!!...*

**Proserpina**
I woke up after sleeping in Hades' arms for a few hours.
"Are you good!? Hades snapped, but his voice got lost as my mind focussed on the *dark woods* ahead of me.
It was nothing like it was when I was a small girl. It felt like I had entered some Hellish womb that gave birth to all the dark elements. Still, I took a few steps, taking deep breaths, dragging them into my lungs and struggling as the air felt mysterious and smoky. I found a lone tree...a demonic-looking with a trunk humping out in a few places, giving it a crooked appearance. The leaves were black and spiky. The black, charred hairy roots slurped on the ground like thousands of creepy crawlies desperate for a meal.
"Holy shit!" I muttered when I realized I knew this tree well, but it was not what it looked like now. It used to be the most beautiful one, ornamented with a vast canopy of green leaves and yellow flowers. The whole forest is changed as if some dark entity has taken complete hold of it and spread a deadly infection through its ground...thus morphing a beautiful sight into a horrendous one.
"Didn't like what you see!?" Hades questioned me. His words finally made my body twitch like life flew back into me.
"What had got wrong!?" I whispered, thanking God that at least I wasn't alone. This place looked so dead that there was no hope for the furry animal friends that used to roam this place about ten years ago.
We just walked. Hades was unusually quiet the whole time. I knew he was having this flirtatious conversation to distract me until I was cured.
"Are you alright!?" I questioned in a soft voice.
"Feeling great! Almost done with my job!" As soon as he said this, my mouth dropped open in shock. The realization pained my heart. I knew I had asked him to drop me safely in the Dark woods, and then he could go his merry way. But things have changed since we made the deal because we didn't kiss or hold onto each other then.
I looked over at Hades, trying to guess his thoughts...but really...what was to say?... His words said it all. I knew this time would come, as a goodbye between us was inevitable. It pained me to realize that I might never see him again.
I was jerked out of my inner musings when Hades grabbed my hand.
"Walk fast!" He spoke. I just nodded and continued ahead.
There was not a single soul we came across, something I was thankful for. Now, the forest began to change. I knew we were getting closer to 'The tombs of the condemned." The land became harder to walk as the floor was littered with black hairy roots, all snarled in a mass of angry twists and knots. It resembled millions of centipedes stitched together, coiling about the ground and trees.
"Are we already there?" I broke the silence.
"Yes, I guess.'" I sucked in a startled breath at this because this was the voice I wanted to hear so desperately.
"Mira!" I shouted at the top of my voice and ran towards her. Her wide, teary eyes took in the sight of me.
"Are you okay?" Jericho, who was with Mira, asked.
I nodded, and a wave of relief washed their faces.
I told her everything that happened after I fell into the belly of the mountains, which included shadows and harpies.
"Holy shit, you've got to be kidding me...seriously, harpies! I thought they were extinct!"
"Oh, they're not just any harpies. I think they were working for Vlad," I told her. Her face looked as serious as fuck, as if the information gave her a bad feeling.
"But of course, that psycho nightmare prince wouldn't keep some normal pets in his lair," she muttered sarcastically, but then another question ran into her mind, "Why does his harpy attack you? Does that mean Vlad knows that you have escaped!?"
"Why haven't I thought about it? The harpy didn't come for me, but Hades. He told me that he is a bad guy with some bounty," I muttered in shock.
Mira shot me an incredulous look before she said, "I have a strong feeling that your boyfriend and vampy Jericho have some connection with Vlad."
"So, what do we do now?"
"Relax, babe...you said that bitchy harpy attacked Hades. That means Hades is Vlad's enemy. And we are also the sworn enemies of that asshole, as he doesn't let you sleep peacefully at night. So, the enemy of an enemy is a friend...So, Hades and Jericho are our friends if we go by logic...so, tag along." She spoke.
"Yep, you're right...and not to forget that since yesterday, Hades' full-time job has become to save me."
So, we tag along until we reach the belly of the dark woods. The place was infested with the giant Venus flytraps that could swallow a whole human.
"This forest has changed. It was not like this." I commented, making Mira reply, "This place now belongs to your asshole husband-to-be, Vlad. What do you expect, A fairy tale with a prince charming?"
"Ssshh, stop talking loudly. Hades and Jericho shouldn't know my true identity," I warned her with a frown.
"Are you serious? How weird will this sound...Hades moaning Kora instead of Proserpina when you both having sex." She asked, and I nearly got choked.
"What!? Didn't you have sex? It's been eighteen fucking hours since you met that dickhead...and you are still a virgin? You disappoint me, baby."
"As if those eighteen hours were smooth!"
"So, that means you have considered having sex with him?" Mira smirked, wagging her brows.
"I don't know...maybe...but we kissed...I mean not that rough one...but a soft kiss."
"Ah, potato, patato." She teased me with a nudge.
We both laughed and honestly, this weird conversation kept me sane as we walked through the creepy woods.
"We need to rest." Hades spoke, eying an old, dilapidated house. The house was small, and it looked timeworn and abandoned. Its wooden panel was charcoal black, as if it had been set ablaze a few centuries ago. There was hardly something that had remained intact apart from the blackened, broken and half-rotten remains of the doors and windows. Most of the planks of the roof were missing. It looked more like a skeleton as most of it was destroyed, with only the basic structure intact.
The rotten wooden gate creaked as Hades opened it to walk inside the compound. The dead, creepy roots have crawled up from the ground and reached the broken window sills, hiding the inside view. The front of the house had a large deck with dusty stairs. Hades pushed the door, barely hanging on its hinges. It opened with a creaking sound into a small living room with broken chairs, gaps in floorboards and holes in the walls. A chandelier with broken strings, a gloomy staircase and old paintings dominated this room. Hades somehow found a couple of torches that lighted the room enough.
"Tell me you've seen a haunted house before?" Mira asked, looking around at the cobwebs dominating eighty per cent of the walls.
"All I've to is sleep; the nightmare crawls up in my mind, and I'm in a damn haunted lair," I spoke, getting a wry look from Hades.
We spotted a staircase on the left-hand side. From the looks of it, it seemed that it must have seen the better days.
"I wonder what's upstairs," I said.
"More creepy shit, probably," Mira said, making us both laugh.
Mira and I settled in a small room beneath the stairs.
After sometime,
"Kora, I need to talk." Hades spoke, entering the room. Somehow, I felt that he looked worried.
"She is all yours. Why only talk? You can have sex as well." Mira replied with a smirk, and my jade eyes nearly popped out of my head. Hades gave her a wry look.
"Why not? What's wrong? Are you out of fucking juice or something!?" Mira winked, pointing out to his crotch. I was just a second away from plucking off her tongue.
"Out of fucking juice, no fucking chance!" Hades replied before turning his focus on me. But before he could speak, Jericho entered the room.
"Hades, we need to talk," Jericho pulled Hades by the hand, trying to exit the room.
"But-" Hades spoke, narrowing his eyes.
"Something important has come; Kora can wait," Jericho replied, looking at me.
"Ah fuck it!" Hades barked, exiting the room by hitting the door closed.
"Trouble in the paradise?" Mira asked, wagging her brows at me.
"What!? Why?" I asked, still not understanding the question.
"Your eye candy is behaving weird, like a kid who has broken a toy but is scared of punishment."
"I know...something is seriously wrong...Is he planning to leave me?" I asked, with the last part of the question bringing a chill down my spine.
"No, of course not...he loves you..."
"I don't believe so..."
"Okay then, let's hit the bed," Mira spoke, looking at a small cloth spread on the floor.

Around midnight, I woke up to the sound of voices. They were unclear, and it seemed like they echoed through the woods. I stood up and looked over at the sleeping form of Mira. Without making any noise, I exited the house towards a trail leading to the deep part of the woods. The moonlight reflected the muddy path littered with dead roots and branches. They made a loud crunch underneath my feet. The darkness intensified, and the creepy silence took over as I proceeded ahead the trail—the echo of voices amplified as I made my way through the deadly maze of branches. The voices led me to the edge of a lake. I gasped, viewing its sparkling waters that seemed untouched through centuries. The place was ethereal, but I feel there is always a deep connection between beauty and curse.
And speaking of the curse, my eyes fell upon the people responsible for the voices!!


*I hate being suspicious of things, but damn, gut feeling is always right!!...*