Fated to Fall

The wet grass dewed against Angel's back as she stretched across the lawn in front of her. Shivers rippled through her unnaturally thin form. Her clothes barely fit, jeans slipping low around her hips. How had she gotten so small? Already a petite-framed girl, the thinness didn't seem unnatural, but it was noticeable. Her clothes were covered in a dark splatter she didn't recognize. There were large splotches and little specs as well.

She shifted and lay her head fully in the grass, her thick, curly hair splayed around her. It was paler, and her blond highlights had grown out to the ends. When had her hair grown? From the look of it, it was now down to her butt. She reached up and brushed her tear-stained cheeks. She didn't remember crying.

She pushed her fingers through the blades of grass, letting herself study the details of the night clouds, the stars above them, and the nothingness above that. The quietness of it all was eerie. Aside from the sounds of crickets, there was nothing. Even the breeze didn't blow. She looked back at the house she had come from, which was equally quiet. She didn't recognize it at all. Whose house was it?

She looked to her right, following the rows of cookie-cutter houses down an endless street into the night. They were barely visible in the dark, looming like monuments. The streetlamps left a strange glow, casting pretty sparkles across her naturally tanned skin. Nothing about her surroundings felt particularly real.

Looking left down the street was much the same. She felt alone in the vastness of it. And the quietness. She couldn't see a single soul. No one walking. No one in their windows. No lights flickering as they watched tv. It was as if she were looking at a street of empty houses, which made no sense. Perhaps if she closed her eyes, it would become clear. Her long lashes fluttered. She really did feel exhausted. Why was she so tired?

She had just begun to lower her lids when a sudden sound startled her—it was a car door slamming shut. She snapped her eyes open to see a black Jeep in front of the house two doors down. Four pale figures in vests craned their necks, scanning for something. One bounded up the walkway of that house and burst through the door. She should have felt worried at least, but her head was quiet and tired. The other figures spread out between the houses, each heading for a door.

Another one suddenly kicked in the door of the house next to hers. She noticed that the sound of crickets suddenly died in the air and everything became several degrees colder. Angel tensed but still didn't have the energy to move, watching as a figure approached her door. Boom, then silence. Anxiety started creeping into her. Why couldn't she move? Why couldn't she react at all? Who were these men? A few moments later the figure emerged, shouting "All clear inside" before looking toward the grass. "Wait! I've got something!"

The exhaustion strangled her senses, overwhelming her undernourished body to the point of unconsciousness. She couldn't hold her eyes open anymore as the figures surrounded her. A light blasted across her face, then she felt a stab in her neck and the cold wave of sleep crashing over her. Her eyes closed just as a voice came near her face, "A human girl?" Then sleep overcame her.

The men looked down at the small figure of a girl. She looked as if she hadn't eaten in a long while—or slept, for that matter. The most disturbing part of her was the blood. She was covered in it. But she appeared to have no wounds, so it wasn't her blood. Even though there were obvious signs of stress on her body, she was remarkably lovely. She had round soft-looking lips, a delicate demeanor, and symmetrical features. How had she ended up in the underworld? How had she ended up in the underworld alive? It was practically impossible.

"What should we do?" Zero asked, clicking off his flashlight and shoving it into his vest pocket. He looked to the group's leader, Brazz.

"Uhh, shit. A human? A living human?" Daw asked no one in particular. It shocked them all.

"Someone radio it in," Brazz insisted, tossing the empty sedative syringe into his black satchel. When no one moved, he singled one of the men out, "Rig, radio it in, dammit."

The burlier one of the four, Rig, headed back to the jeep to call in the discovery to dispatch. Hell had become remarkably efficient in recent centuries. They had lots of modern advancements, which made managing things easier. He struggled to remember the protocol on unauthorized visitors. Was that really what this was? No one would put themselves in hell. It just didn't happen. When he reached the radio, he punched in the right frequency and called in.

"Dispatch. Over."

"Copy. Dispatch here. Over."

"Dispatch, I need to call in..." he hesitated for a moment, trying to decide on the best protocol definition for this scenario, "I need to call in a breach. Over."

"Copy. A breach of what nature? Over."

"A 'human' kind, dispatch. Over."

"Sorry, repeat. Over."

"A human has breached a hell house. Over."

"Copy. Sector and house? Over."

"Sector 5927. House number as follows: 982-54364-512-23. Over."

"Copy. Noted. Return with the offender. Over."

"Copy. Over."

Rig jumped back out of the jeep and headed towards the group, where Zero and Daw were in the middle of a heated argument. He couldn't focus on that. Instead, he wondered what Hades would do with the girl—or to the girl. He wasn't one to take a breach lightly. In fact, he was likely to be violent with even the lightest offenders. He shuddered to think about it.

"We should have just put her back," Daw insisted, taking several steps toward Zero, "Why call it in at all? What Hades doesn't know won't kill us!"

"That's cruel," Zero gasped, "She's so small. And if you saw inside that house, you wouldn't wish that on anyone."

"It's not protocol to ignore a discovery," Brazz cut in, "So it was called in, and that's final. Imagine if our king found this out for himself and wondered why he was never informed? Do you think death is the worst he can do, Daw?"

That stopped the argument from going any further. And they both settled away from one another.

"Rig, put the girl in the back of the jeep. Let's get going," Brazz ordered, "We've disturbed enough houses tonight."

Rig lifted her body and was again shocked at how small she was. Up close, her beauty was even harder to deny, and he couldn't help but feel swayed to be gentle with her.

It only took him a few long strides to reach the vehicle, and with one hand holding her in place, he lowered the tailgate. With a small but gentle motion, he deposited her onto the padded floor area between their seats and closed the gate. One at a time, they each skirted around her tiny frame and into their seats in the back. Brazz jumped into the front seat. No one had any inkling of what they should do from that point forward, but they knew, without a doubt, it would be a long night.

"There is no fucking way I'm telling the king we found a living girl in hell. I don't have a death wish. Not it!" Brazz said, glancing in the rearview mirror at the pale, caramel-faced girl now asleep in the back of the jeep. The other hellraisers—Daw, Rig, and Zero—exchanged looks between themselves before simultaneously yelling "Not it!" like a chorus.

They'd been together for what felt like forever, just four of the many guardians of hell. But they were the best. Their sector of hell had always been orderly no matter where they were assigned. Every 10 years they rotated to a new sector to keep fresh.

Zero was the last to chime in on the chorus, even if only by a fraction of a millisecond. "Shit!" He yelled before sulking into his seat. He joined the team a few centuries prior and always got the short stick. Normally it didn't bother him but the thought of informing king Hades of a serious breach in hell, made him feel dizzy. His wrath against messengers with bad news was infamous. His wrath in general was infamous.

The ride back to the palace seemed long, each man afraid to wonder how long the girl had been in the realm. Brazz continued to steal looks at the girl. Her eyes caved into dark purple bruises as if she hadn't had rest in a very long time. Her cheekbones protruded slightly and her hair lay in a matted, curly halo around her. They had taken over the hell sector for the last week, running their checks and analyzing the data to ensure each torture loop and Elysium house was stable. That's when they noticed the anomaly. A single area of the sector used double the standard energy to function. So, they went to investigate. That's where they found the girl, right in the middle of the power drain.

Zero couldn't stop talking about the house for the first few minutes. How he'd never seen so much gore. And with the girl herself covered in blood, they all wondered if she hadn't deserved to be tortured. To do that to other people, it seemed like the kind of thing that should land her exactly where she was, in hell.

Brazz pressed the call button at the security desk and drove towards the opening gate. At the top of the hill, they quietly hopped out and shuffled around to the sleeping girl in the rear. Then all eyes went to Zero, who sighed and lifted her into his arms. He led the way up the great stone steps, the others trailing closely behind. The palace looked ornate as always, precious stones inlaid in marble columns, large paintings of the different hellscapes, perfectly preserved black and red roses in crystal vases, heavy drapes, and candelabras. It was especially breathtaking when the candelabras were lit to signify evening.

They skirted through the maze of marvelous marble halls until they arrived at a giant door, formed from two solid sheets of lava. Hades' throne room. Zero steadied his heart before proceeding. He entered but before he could speak, Hades' voice boomed across the throne room, "WHO THE FUCK LET A LIVING, BREATHING HUMAN INTO HELL?!"

The room vibrated with the force of his words and Zero nearly dropped her. His eyes widened. Hades stood aflame in the middle of the room. The blue-black flames charred the floor beneath his feet but didn't light a single fiber of clothing. His enormous power radiated from a hundred feet away. Zero felt sweat on his brow and he readjusted the girl. He knew better than to answer his king's rhetorical question. Of course, he already knows, he thought. As soon as the hellraisers radioed in their find, dispatch alerted the king—Standard human procedure.

Hades wore nothing but pajama pants as if he'd been about to retire for the night when he received the call. The tattoos on his torso and arms began glowing as the flames danced around them. His normally perfect hair recklessly splayed about his head, as if someone had been running their fingers through it. He had not been heading to sleep but, to bed, for an entirely different reason.

Hades calmed slightly realizing who stood before him, not wanting to kill a member of his best hellraiser team. They'd only had the sector for a week, it seemed unlikely the breach happened because of them. When the flames finally licked away, he walked toward Zero with his cold eyes scouring the girl. She wore a green crop top with capped sleeves hanging from her silky brown arms. Her distressed jeans slid down slightly just below her belly button.

Her beautiful oval face seemed overly sharp but he could tell that normally, she would be a beauty to behold. Hell had most likely been sucking away her lifeforce, leaving her slightly gaunt. Her large, soft eyes rolled back and forth slightly as she slept. Her calmness only added to her beauty but it wasn't her good looks that caught his attention, it was the blood that splattered across every inch of her. Her knees and legs were soaked in it.

"What the fuck happened to her? Is she injured?" he asked Zero without breaking eye contact with her frame.

"She was found...in a torture loop sire," Zero gulped, "It was particularly gruesome."

"Mmm, shame," he shrugged, "she's no more than a pretty shell then. No human mind could survive it. I suppose killing her would be a mercy." Hades wrapped one hand around her neck, which fit loosely in his palm, and then put the other against her temple. He never thought much about taking a life, especially a human one. Hell teamed with human lives that were all taken in one way or another.

As he prepared to snap it, he felt warmth ebb up his fingers, then wrists, all the way up to his chest. The sensation stirred him, tempted him to lean in and taste her mouth. He hovered closer to her lips, sniffing the smell of a summer storm on her. His body began to react. Hades felt the blood in his extremities and he could hear it in his ears, almost deafening. He never experienced desire this strong, strong enough to be painful. How intoxicating, he thought. He released her neck and stepped away.

"You drugged her for transport?" he asked quietly.

"Yes sir."

"Then take her to the hellraiser dormitory. She'll sleep for a while. I'll send for all of you later."

"Yes, sir," Zero said, bowing deeply. The movement caused the girl's hand to drop to the floor and instantly Hades retrieved it, placing it back against her stomach. The skin on skin sent fire up his arm again. His lungs burned with her scent. It felt overwhelming. His hand automatically smoothed the hair down around her face. He had no idea why he did that. It felt like he had no control over himself. Something in him stirred when he looked at her. Something he couldn't shake.

"And bring me a copy of the surveillance files within the hour," he demanded, turning back toward the throne. He needed to think. The hellraisers silently looked at one another in awe before bowing once more and leaving. Hades had never taken a personal interest in any case. He removed himself from direct oversight long ago. He had more than enough hellraisers to operate and control hell for him. But for this girl, he was somehow personally invested.

Hades held one hand up, palm facing out, and quickly a black mist circled until it formed a screen. Once the face of his brother appeared on the other end, he calmly said, "I'm summoning an emergency meeting, inform the others."

"What's going on? Another war?" Zeus asked, knowing Hades was the most practical of the originals. He wouldn't summon an emergency meeting without just cause.

"I'll explain when you all arrive. It's a most urgent matter."

"No, brother....I'm in the middle of something at the moment," Hades could hear the giggles and moans of a woman. Definitely not, Zeus' wife, "Give me some context so I know the level of urgency..."

"A human...has just been rescued from a torture loop. A living human...a girl," Hades breathed calmly, "well, a woman really. She couldn't be older than twenty."

"What?!" Zeus gave Hades his full attention finally, "Who do you suspect?"

"I have no idea. A god...or...no...never mind, it wouldn't be her. Asteria hates mortals enough to never visit earth. Just get here quickly. I need to brainstorm this."

"Absolutely, I'm calling everyone right now," Zeus promised but Hades heard a woman in the background yell that he wouldn't be doing anything other than fucking her for the next few hours. Zeus gave a mildly embarrassed chuckle, "Well, she's already been saved so I guess there's no real danger. Perhaps you could give me a few hours?"

"Fine, carry on brother. Come as soon as you can." Then the mist dissipated.

Hades sat quietly on his throne. He couldn't shake the feeling the girl gave him. It snaked through his veins in a current he'd never felt before. He didn't even notice when a half-dressed Persephone made her way to him.

"You never came back to bed," she pouted. Her slim figure peeked out of the tiny robe she draped herself in. When he didn't respond she tried again, "You know it's rude to leave a woman right in the middle of it?"

"Sorry," he brushed her off, "Something's come up. The hellraisers found a living woman in a torture loop." Persephone's face scrunched into a jealous scowl.

"A woman huh?" she fumed, "I guess I'll just go back to my room then..." Hades rolled his eyes but didn't fight her on it. She stomped away like a child. He grew tired of her ages ago. She grated at his nerves constantly and he found, he didn't actually like her company at all. But she was obsessed with him enough to ignore the fact that he didn't like her. And who was he to turn down sex? He knew at some point he'd have to claim a queen to help him rule. Would it really have to be her? The thought alone made him pinch the bridge of his nose.