"Hades was the lord of the underworld, god of the dead. He hated the mortals and he hated the immortals even more. He hated the sunlight and he hated the dead. He hated the coldness in his heart and he hated himself. But there was one thing he didn't hate." The little girl with no hair raises her hand in the air, higher than I thought she could. I think her name was Molly or Milly. Something like that. I smile at her goofy dance and point at her.
"Persephone!" She yells and the other four kids all groan at her. She puts her excited hand down and balls her fists in front of her, looking down sadly. I feel bad for her, I mean at least she liked mythology.
"That's right!" I cheerfully say and she looks back up at me with a bright smile. The other kids roll their eyes but stop their complaining and grumbles as she beams like a teacher's pet. Before I could finish the story, I hear the sliding door open for the children's library and look over to see Kane leaning on the door frame. He comically knocks on the glass and the little girl with no hair smiles over at him.
"Knock, knock, kiddies. Visiting hours are almost over," Kane says and the kids all groan. The nurse who was sitting in the corner of the room, watching us, glances up at the clock to see it was almost 8:57, three minutes before visitors have to leave. She huffs and gets up, shooing the kids out the library.
"But I like it here!" The girl with no hair whines. The nurse rolls her eyes and tell her that she will get cake if everyone is good on the way back. The little girl claps and the other kids join in as they sing "cake, cake!" I smile at them as they leave and Kane walks in out of their way. He stands next to me and offers me his hand, palm out. I notice he was still wearing the shirt from Monday morning. It was Thursday.
"Did you bring clothes?" I ask him and his slight smile drops. He looks down at his messed up clothes and shrugs.
"Not really. I'm okay, though," He says and I raise my eyebrows at him. Ever since we got here, he's only ever been by my side or Mare's.
When Jase fell out the window, I apparently passed out from exhaustion or something along those lines of fainting. I woke up in the hospital, with my leg properly in a cast and Kane sitting next to me. I'd never seen him cry before. Not long after I woke up, police were in my room to question me. I told them everything, leaving out nothing. They told me that Jase and his mother had killed over 50 people, at least from the graves and bodies they found at his house. After his father had been arrested, he was sent to a rehab center that could help him cope. His mother prematurely pulled him out and made him continue his father's hit list. After that, they would pick up stragglers and homeless people, just to murder. It made me sick. I asked them about Jase's body but they wouldn't tell me anything about him.
Mare had gone to the library where I told him I had been. He questioned Mrs. Lean about me and apparently, they got physical quick. Mrs. Lean bashed his head with a lamp and beat him until he was unconscious. When she started to drag his body to the back room, someone called the police. She fled to the house, where the rest was history. Mare still hasn't woken up. Kane told me he thinks that it's a blood clot from the impact, but the doctors denied that.
"You should go home, Kane. Mare can live without you for a few hours. It's not like he's going anywhere," I joke and Kane cracks a larger smile. He pushes my shoulder and I pretend to be hurt. I grasp onto my crutches and pull myself up. Kane is immediately by my side and I give him a look. He raises his hands from my hip and steps back.
"But who will be there for you?" He asks. I sigh and look down at the clean floor. To be honest, I was still in shock after everything that happened. It was so long I was there with Jase. It was so long that I felt like I was nothing.
"Go home. If you won't do it for yourself, do it for us. And god, please take a shower," I say and start to wobble out of the room. Kane follows next to me and I can hear him groaning and then a sniff and then a gag.
"I hate when you're right. Fine, a few hours, but I'll be back tomorrow morning!" Kane says as we walk down the hall to where our rooms are. We pass by Mare's room and Kane grabs my elbow. I look back at him and smile.
"Go say goodnight, I'll be fine. I'm only three doors down," I say and Kane looks at me for a bit. Like it was going to be his last.
"Go," I press and he opens Mare's closed door and walks in. I turn to start walking back but my elbow is grabbed again. I look back at Kane and he smiles at me, a toothy smile with bright eyes.
"Be safe." I nod at him and turn to walk down the rest of the hall. The nurses in their pink and blue scrubs smile at me and wave goodnight. I wave back and tell them thank you for their work. I get to my door and lean on my better leg as it slides open. I pull myself into the room and close my door halfway so that there was still bright light pouring into part of the room. I look at all the flowers and bears I had received from the townspeople and sigh as I see another wrapped present on my bed. I was very much thankful for the gifts, but it was annoying now. They all hated me and now they loved me because I survived a murderer.
I get to my bed and sit down, dropping my crutches next to my bed. I lift my cast up and set it next to the gift and then pull my other leg up. The present wasn't normal, it was wrapped in a happy birthday paper. It wasn't my birthday. I lift it and shake the box; it was so light and I could only hear a soft rattle as whatever it was hit the box sides. I set it down in my lap and unwrap it. Just a cardboard box. It had a big flap instead of taped down like a normal gift. I guess they knew that I wasn't allowed scissors or sharp objects?
I open the flap and see a small book, like a child's book, a red rose and a small scrap of paper that looked stained. I take the book out and examine it; it was a cleanup book, like one that was meant to teach little kids manners. I open it and all the pages were torn out except for one; 'A is for Acacia' except my name was written in with a red marker over the other word. I could feel my heart race. I look down more and relief floods my body. It was a get well note, written in crayon. It said: "Get better soon! We are rooting for you!" I smile down at it and close the book, setting it on my bedside table.
I take the red rose out and notice that the person took the thorns off. I touch the soft petals and bring it to my nose. It smelt like lilac, not a rose. I shrug at the odd smell and place it on top of the book. I toss the box off the bed and the paper at the bottom flutters off before the box hits the ground. It lands on my broken leg and I tsk at the paper. It was all crumbled and looked like it was old paper. I uncrumble it and feel my body freeze.
Don't forget that Persephone tricked Hades just as much as he tricked her
YOU ARE READING
Stalker 101 (Book 1)
Mystery / Thriller"Oh, look, we're back home! You'll be a lamb for me now, right? Unless you'd like a bullet in that pretty little head of yours, I'd suggest you do as I say." "Starving. I've been starving for so long that I don't even care how I get it. I just want...
