Dark Petals (A Hades and Persephone story)

Chapter Eighteen - Hades

I locked her away.

Although I did have matters to take care of, I also needed space... from her and the thoughts that were consuming me. But despite the physical distance from her she never left my mind.

Once everything was completed, I should have joined her for dinner. It could have made the transition smoother for her, but I couldn't watch as she sealed her fate. Whether she had been willing or not.

With my hands clasped tightly behind my back, I stare at the stone that makes up her door. I can hear her pacing about the room, but there is no noise other than that.

What must she be thinking?

How wrong she had been to come here?

Since meeting this beautiful creature, my mind has not stopped. If not thinking of her, it conjures thoughts of both pleasure and torture.

Releasing the grip my hands have on one another, I knock on the stone.

The footsteps on the other side halt. There are a few moments before they softly come closer. When the door creaks open, her stunning eyes peek through the sliver of space. Upon seeing me, she opens it wider.

Persephone toes the floor between us with her delicate slipper. "I didn't know if you were coming back."

Her voice is so small compared to yesterday when I left her. What had the last hours felt like to her?

"I told you I would," I say, keeping my voice even as emotions I am unaware of build inside of me. She thought I had abandoned her. That I would not be returning. I didn't understand, it had not been that long since I saw her.

"You did," she says, releasing the edge of the door and brushing her ruby red hair from her face. "It..." she stops for a moment as if to gather her thoughts, "It... seemed much longer than a day."

The weight her words hit me. Why had I not taken that into consideration? Of course, this world would be different than her own.

"I'm sorry. I should have better prepared you. The time here moves slower than what you are used to." I try to ease some of the discomforts she must be feeling, but I'm not sure my explanation is enough.

Persephone takes me in, glancing from my head to my toes before a small grin appears, "Yes, that would have been nice to know."

My mouth opens as I try to form a response. I am not used to such blunt honesty when speaking to someone else. Most of who I talk to cower away or attempts to make the conversation as short as possible.

Her small frame steps over the threshold stopping a breath away from me as she closes the door in front of me. Glancing up at me, she says her voice a little above a whisper, "Where do we begin our tour?"

I stare down at her as the feelings I fought to control before come rushing to the surface. Taking a step back I stuff my hands in my pockets and gesture with my eyes down the hall in front of us "This way."