Darling you look, perfect tonight!!...

*In the darkest hour, when the witches come, call on me, brother, and we will fight them together!!!...*

**Hades**

*A past memory (Thousand years back)*
*The water turned black and foggy as I moved past slippery moss. I tried to grasp a red rock nearby, but a metallic smell wafted to my nostrils. “Blood,” I gasped, uncurling my fist. It was a bloody body part that once belonged to someone breathing and living. I looked around, and there were countless body parts, all littered in the depths of the dark, freezing lake. And then I saw the danger. I quickly scrambled back as I saw a dark figure lurking in the centre of the bloody massacre. I took a huge leap and swum upwards. My body broke the water’s surface. A beautiful goddess with sparkling blue eyes was sitting on a nearby rock. The multiple tiny plaits of hair covered her head. The black line of kohl enhanced her eye shape and extended beyond the lashes, giving a smoky appearance. She was naked with her thighs spread out. She peered at me with a defiant and intense gaze, which turned predatory. She was about to attack!
“Now!” I mind-linked to Vlad.
“What is it…?” Vlad asked as the woman took the form of a weird creature, a giant hybrid with the body of a snake and the head of a lizard. It hissed and spread out its spikes in between its scales. It had four massive claws of thick bones that curled like spikes. The skin was black and shiny, showing a glow of hot power beneath. It twisted its body violently and took a plunge on me, making me thrash towards a sharp rock for deadly impact. I instantly transformed into Cerberus, covering my body with thick scales to protect myself.
“You said, ‘Enchanting beauties live near this lake!’ Then why am I fighting the fucking downgrade version of Jormungandr!” I growled at Vlad, who looked bored, as if he had better things to do in life.
“Okay, my bad! I missed a few words. Lake’s name is ‘Siren’s lair’. Many young women accused of witchcraft were drowned here. Since then, it has been haunted by their spirits. They took a form of enchanting beauty to lure in the passersby and then eat them.” Vlad winked, erupting into his other form, stretching those large wings with folded bone structure. He snapped out his fangs and leapt on the creature, nicking it below the ear and leaving a long trail of black blood behind. The creature twisted its body in pain, making Vlad lose his hold and skidded across the ground.
“Fuck you!” I snarled as I leapt into action, tearing through its scales.
“I did this for you! Foolish Romeo!” Vlad growled, stepping into the centre, garnering the creature’s attention towards him. Just as that creature was about to attack him, he dodged sidewards.
“For me?” I asked as I drew my fangs and claws into the side of that creature, tearing through its flesh.
“Just helping you to get over that slave woman with jade eyes!” Vlad snarled, gripping one of the claws of that creature and snapping around, ripping it off from its body. My breath almost hitched in my chest at her mention.
“You know a lot about her?” I asked before lashing out at the creature with a blinding speed like a mad beast, aiming for its eyes. That creature spun around in pain as my claws pierced through its left eye. I took my human form and swung a chain towards the creature, rolling it around its neck.
“She is strange!” Vlad said, catching the other end. We both played tug of war with the chain to break the creature’s neck, tearing through the flesh, splitting its body in half from its chest to its abdomen with half its ribcage sticking out. The creature spat out greenish-grey, slimy and sticky mucous.
“How?” I asked Vlad, then growled at the creature, “Show me your true form!” It hissed in response, splattering that murky, stinky mucous on me.
“Her face is always covered by her messy and tangled hair. She gripped the cage bars two nights ago and chanted spells like a possessed woman. Her joints get curved at a strange angle like an arthropod, and then she scratches herself, inflicting wounds on her body like a mad person in some trance.” Vlad spoke and then commanded that creature, “Shift now or die!”
The creature turned into an old witch with scarred, rubbery skin, bloody eyes and rotten fangs. She was weak and bleeding due to the wounds. She gave me an evil smile.
“And how do you know that?” I asked, sticking a sword right through her right eye. I glance sideways at him, and for a half second, I thought I saw feelings on his face for that slave woman.
“Just taking care of her in your absence!” Vlad spoke before throwing a sharp dagger towards her, impaling the witch’s heart. Her body busted, and a flood of black liquid oozed through every pore, bubbling over and evaporating like a black mist and the witch’s body reduced into a powder of black ash.
“You are sick!” I muttered.
“There is the rumour about her!” Vlad muttered as if talking about her was a curse.
“Rumour!?” I asked.*


“Hades? Are you alright!?” Kora asked, jolting me out of my flashback. Fuck! Why don’t I remember much about this? Who was the slave woman? It’s not just a feeling of deja vu but runs much deeper than that. I miss Bururesti and my brother.
“Hades. I can’t go to Bucuresti,” she said, waking me from my thoughts. I cupped her face, holding her tightly. She clung to the protection of my arms. “Come now, I have you. You are safe,” I said, giving her a moment to cry and no doubt finding it difficult to hear.
“But why?” She asked in a pained way.
“We can’t run away from our fates,” I said. I hated seeing her cry, but I knew we must face Vlad, for she needed to conquer her nightmares by breaking the connection, and I had to clear some unsettled debts. I snuggled closer, burying her face in my neck and trying to slow her heart rate.
“What are we going to do?” She asked. I kiss her head before whispering against it, “Be brave, Kora, and trust me.”
I looked around to take in my surroundings. The air was so thick that I could feel it curl up my body. The sky was as slate black as it could get, no doubt screaming the darkest hour of the night.
“Hold my hand, close your eyes, take a deep breath and jump,” I whispered in her ears, looking at the black waters of 'Siren's Lair'.
“I can't,” she cried.
“There’s no other way,” I whispered, leaping into the lake. Weightlessness and darkness consumed us. We moved through the rocks with sharp edges, stepping on the slippery moss. Slowly, the darkness diffused away, giving us a clear view.
The ruins of an ancient temple rose ahead of us, with hundreds of broken pillars, passages, stairways and demonic statues lying undisturbed for centuries. The structures were coated with the dead clumps of mosses. Scorched marks on the edge of walls and pillars suggested that the temple must have been engulfed by fires many centuries ago. There was a large rock sealing the temple's entrance. I slashed my arm and poured a few drops of blood on some ancient symbol carved on the rock. It crumbled away like wet sand, creating an opening.
We entered a stone maze, and the word ‘Labyrinth’ came to mind. The prison cells flanked both sides. Their walls were laden with hanging manacles dangled from chains, some with strained links due to the years of abusive use. There were also metal contraptions that hung on hooks to torture the prisoners. It looked sick!
“Come here,” I held my hand out for Kora to take, and she practically ran to me, needing my comfort.
We entered a dark, damp and cold stone cave.
"Oh Gods!" She muttered in a cry of horror at the sight of mummified bodies suspended about ten feet from the ground. Their arms held out to the sides and their head slumping down, with mouths open as if they had died screaming.
"Gateway to the Vampire kingdom," I said with my eyes travelling the length of the thousands of bodies. Once we passed through the masses of impaled bodies, another horror began.
"Hades, please! We should return back!" Kora cried. Her body was frozen in fear. I took her hand and sat her down. I took a deep breath, about to tell her the most honest thing I had ever said in my entire life. Every word was the truth of my feelings, “Ever since I met you, I had never wanted anything so much in all my life than to be yours. I don't want to run from life but to live it," I whispered, putting my forehead to hers as we shared this moment, “I swear, you would never regret coming to his hell because you have my back and are worth a thousand moments of pain, fear and fighting!"

With this, I crushed her walls and invaded her dreams. We entered our little world, free of all the pain and fears.
A masked ball. Where there was no one but...us!!
The hall was massive, with a dual staircase. The ceilings were high, and stone arches were everywhere. The interiors were lush and rich looking with crimson reds and deep purples. Grand wrought iron chandeliers hung down from the ceiling were lit with candles that flickered with fantastic effect. It looked like some dark and gothic fairytale.
She was wearing a tight-fitted corset with the black and purple velvet material snaked around her curves, creating an eyeful of bust. The skirt had a big slit that ran up, exposing her thigh. The rest of the skirt rippled in layers, with one leg a complete show while the other was hidden under the multiple layers of black. Her purple gloves went up all the way past the elbow. Her eyes were dark and smoky, with a long black line flickering at the end, giving them a mysterious look. They were framed with long, curly lashes. Her dark red colour lips look full and like a cupid’s bow. Her hair was swept back into a high twist, overflowing with curls hanging down her neck. The shorter bits hung down, curling her face, which was beyond terrified. I watched every move she made, every shuddered breath she took. I lifted my hand to her cheek and traced her jawline with my knuckles...slowly and lovingly.
I bowed my head after bending at my waist slightly and then held out one hand to her and asked,
"May I have dance, my Princess?"
"I would be honoured to," she said, rolling her lips inwards and fisting my hand. The music tuned in,
*Your heart is all I own...Be my girl, I'll be your man...I see my future in your eyes...Baby...dancing in the dark...you between my arms...Darling, you look perfect tonight!!...*
With this, I tugged her closer, lifting her and spinning us both around, making her full skirt flare out majestically around us. Our bodies become captured and entranced by each other.
"I knew you were meant to be mine, Kora; I just knew it! I just want you to know that I don’t regret a single second of my time spent with you, for you are the keeper of my heart… I love you more today than I did yesterday, and I will love you more tomorrow than I do right now, for it will never stop growing. I wish I had words to make you feel 'I love you',” I said with tears streaming down my face, and I wasn’t the only one crying, as when Kora crushed her lips to mine… Our kiss tasted of both of our tears.

*The weight of our future is the heaviest of all!!...*