The Devil's Mate

Running through the empty halls, I race against the clock to reach my classroom on time. Stupid alarm clock...it was the sixth clock this month I"d unknowingly smashed to bits this month alone. Mum keeps on saying I pushed it off of the nightstand but I don"t see how it melted into a liquid this morning.

Turning the dial on my locker, quickly getting frustrated when the door won"t open, I stand back and run my shoulder into the rusty door. The door creaks open, rubbing my shoulder, I put in my jacket, my school bag and take out my things.

Slamming the door shut, I run to the second level for my first lesson, Chemistry with Mr Banks. I round the corner rushing to the last classroom down the hall. Not looking where I"m going, I slam head first into a wall and I fly back a few meters, groaning, I feel my cheeks heat up.

"Hey!" A deep enchanting male voice murmurs from above me."You alright?"

Warm hazelnut brown eyes that are shining in excitement stare down at me, bulging muscles straining against his thin black T-shirt, a long-fingered hand stretched out towards me.

Taking it, I feel a jolt of electricity go down my spine spreading a warmness through me as it travels leaving little tingles in its wake.

"Oh!" I gasp as he pulls me to my feet, my small, 5 foot 4 frame against his probably 6 foot 2 body. My breasts pressed against his muscular chest, my cheeks heat up at this realisation. "Sorry."

"It"s alright," he mutters, the excitement in his eyes fading replaced by a coldness.

A wave of relief washes over me when he says this, he no longer looks excited like he was when he was coming over to me now...he just looks disappointed.

The bell for the start of first-period sounds and I jump out of his arms immediately missing his warmth, muttering thanks and goodbye, I rush into the Chemistry classroom just as Mr Banks walks in from the back door.

"For once," he murmurs as I walk past him to my seat. "You"re exactly on time."

I sigh and take out my books in a pretence that I"m listening when in fact all I can think about is the guy from the hallway, the way he felt pressed against me...the tingles...

By the time the bell rings for lunch, I realise I have no idea what has been going on all day, caught up in my own world, my mind replaying his words over and over again in my head.

Deciding to do some research, I go to the school"s library to look up the language, I assume it"s latin and get translating. By the time lunch ends, I find nothing on the subject.

Heading dejectedly to my locker which I open to retrieve my Greek Mythology textbook when a stack of about ten papers fly out, picking them up, I quickly scan them over and realise they"re not mine. A bright yellow sticky note in my locker catches my attention.

In a cursive, neat handwriting, someone wrote. "If you"re looking for me read the papers."

Huh? These?

In mainstream Christianity, the devil is usually referred to as Satan. Some modern Christians consider the devil to be an angel who, along with one-third of the angelic host (the demons) rebelled against God and has consequently been condemned to the Lake of Fire. He is described as hating all humanity (or more accurately creation), opposing God, spreading lies and wreaking havoc on the souls of mankind. Other modern Christians consider the devil in the Bible to refer figuratively to human sin and temptation and to any immoral human system.

Satan is often identified as the serpent who convinced Eve to eat the forbidden fruit; thus, Satan has often been depicted as a serpent. Though this identification is not present in the Adam and Eve narrative, this interpretation goes back at least as far as the time of the writing of the Book of Revelation, which specifically identifies Satan as being the serpent (Rev. 20:2)...

"Miss Heavenly," Mrs Johnson snaps from the front of the classroom. "What are you reading?"

Stuffing the papers under my desk, I look up to her as innocently as I can,"The textbook."

"Very well, name me Cornus" children."

I think hard, trying to remember what I had memorised by heart. "Um...Zeus, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter."

"Miss Heavenly you missed out one," She smirks like a cat with a plate of cream.

"No," I rebuke, looking straight at her. "Hades an outcasted child of Cornus."

Her smirk is wiped clean off of her face. I"m right.

Mrs Johnson doesn"t ask me any more questions after that and I continue to read the papers that I got from the library.

The bell rings and I gather my things, sighing having found nothing relating to his words, I walk out of the classroom.

Going to my locker, I take out my jacket and my school bag to go home.

Greek Mythology is a dry subject that could give History a run for its money when it comes to how boring they are.

Walking out to the carpark, sleek silver Range Rover Evoque is waiting for me. Punctual as ever...

Getting into the passenger seat, I buckle up, smiling slightly to the reddish brown haired, twenty-year-old man wearing a red plaid shirt over a white T-shirt with a pair of worn out jeans and walking boots, before turning to look aimlessly out the window.

"How was school?" He asks, not taking his eyes off the road."Victoria?"

"Huh?" I mumble, looking over to my older brother, Danny."Oh, school...it was as boring as ever."

"Anything weird happened today?" The standard question...

Yes. "No."

"Good. So, same old same old eh?"

I give him a weak smile. Yeah...not really.

There is no way I"m telling him what happened, my mind drifts off as I watch the trees, cars buildings and whatnot speed by the window...warm hazelnut brown eyes...the tingles I felt when he pulled me from the floor...how warm he was...

"Victoria?" Danny snaps his fingers in front of the car window. "We"re home."

Shaking my head, I open the door going to the elevator across the underground carpark.

Pressing for the thirteenth floor, I avoid the curious stare of my brother by looking down at my worn out black high tops.

"So...where do you wanna live next?" Danny asks as the elevator takes its time crawling up the levels. "It has been five months..."

I don"t reply, I can"t be bothered to. I know it"s never up to me where we move to next, to me it has always been a family tradition to move in June or December. Seeing I"m not talking to him, Danny gives up on trying to get me to talk to him.

Going into the three room apartment, I don"t bother to call out that I"m home knowing mum is probably at work. Dumping my bag on the floor of my simple bedroom, I hop onto my bed grabbing the papers that I was reading before.

Who gave these to me?Who am I supposed to be looking for?

Shaking my head, I discard the papers into an empty file on my study desk. Grabbing the cursed things they call homework, I begin to do my advanced calculus homework. By the time I make it through hell, it"s almost ten O"clock and I haven"t had dinner yet.

Stretching, I moan loudly as I feel my tense muscles relax from sitting in a hunched position for so long. Grabbing my sweater, my wallet and the file, I go out into the living room where Danny is fast asleep.

Scribbling a note on the reminder board on the fridge, I say I went out to get food for dinner, grabbing my high tops, I exit the apartment and wear them as I go to the elevator. I walk down the street to the pizza parlour around the corner and order a take away Hawaiian pizza and a slice of only cheese pizza to eat here.

Sliding into a vacant booth, I open the file and begin to read the rest of the papers as I continue to read, I find the papers begin to talk about Greek mythology.

Cronus learned from Gaia and Uranus that he was destined to be overcome by his own sons, just as he had overthrown his father. As a result, although he sired the gods, Poseidon, Hestia, Hera and Demeter and by Rhea, he devoured them all as soon as they were born to prevent the prophecy. When the sixth child, Zeus, was born Rhea sought Gaia to devise a plan to save them and to eventually get retribution on Cronus for his acts against his father and children. (Cronus also fathered Chiron by Philyra.)

Cornus knew that his children could never possess the full power and responsibility of being Gods, so before the prophecy was to be fulfilled Corus split the powers of his six sons all across the world burying them in wombs of virgin girls who grew up to give birth to daughters who possess the remaining powers of his sons and let himself be defeated once this deed was done.

At the bottom of the page was a single line.

"My name is Dominic Hunter but to my brothers, I"m called Hades. Nice bumping into you today, my other half."

What...

"Hey!" A deep unsettling voice says from outside the booth, startling me to drop all the papers. "Fancy bumping into you here."

Looking up to the stranger, I nearly scream when my eyes meet a pair of mesmerising warm hazel brown eyes. He"s wearing the same clothes from when I bumped into him, his deep voice sends chills down my spine.

"I see you"ve read the papers I gave you," He smirks at my reaction to him. "I"ll explain more once my shift"s over."

Passing me a pizza box and a paper plate with a slice of only cheese pizza, leaning over he comes so close to me his breath brushes the shell of my ear making me shudder.

"Don"t run. It"ll save me the trouble of finding you again."

I gulp. He"s crazy! These stories are called MYTHS for a reason! They aren"t real. This guy as hot as he maybe needs to get his head checked out. Grabbing the pizza box, I leave my pizza and run out the parlour as quick as I can.

I run all the way down the street and I am almost at the apartment complex when I make the big mistake of turning around. What was it they taught us in the movies? When you look back the villain is always right behind you and that"s how the damsel goes into distress.

I thought I was home free until I run into a lamp post, I fly backwards and land with a loud thunk on the concrete pavement, looking in front of me I see a silhouette of a man with crossed arms and a pair of large wings. Wait...wings? I must have hit the floor harder than I thought!

"I told you not to run. Now, look what you made me do," He sighs heavily, the wings closing and melting into his back.

Ignoring the pain spiking through my body, I spring to my feet wincing at the sharp pain that runs up my tailbone which I now suspect to be badly bruised. Ha-no, Dominic slowly walks towards me as I back away, slipping on the pizza box and landing on my butt again.

In a matter of seconds, he is right in front of me, bending down to help me up but I push his hand away from me. In the light of the street lamp, I see the ring around his iris is bright red. Something you can only pull off if you"re wearing coloured contacts which I doubt he is...

"Stay away from me you psycho!" I yell, trying to stand but fail miserably. "Leave me alone!"

In a swift move, I am no longer on the floor but in his arms...okay, arm. He just swept me off the ground! I didn"t even see him move! I struggle in his hold, but I stop once I feel something hard and long pressed up against my stomach.

"Sorry," He chokes out, his eyes a deep brown. "I can"t help it. Your smell and movements...uh...well, you feel it."

I blush a deep red, not moving at all. "My little mate..."

I am about to say "no" when suddenly from behind me I hear a woman yell out.

"Victoria! NO! HADES! STAY AWAY FROM HER!"

Turning around in his loosened hold, I see my mum running to me, screaming at Ha-Dominic or whatever his name is before a tall column of flames rises from the ground and she disappears.

I scream as a falling sensation overcomes me, I turn my face into his warm chest as I see ground approaching but instead of the loud splat of my face hitting the ground.

A loud flapping sound like those of feathered wings is heard and like a parachute, I float down to the ground unharmed and not hurt.

Once safely on the ground, I turn to the guy who just if I"m not wrong. Kidnapped me.

"Who are you?" I whisper shakily, backing away from him. "Tell me. Please."

"Hades. The serpent. The devil. I go by many names sweetheart but I"d like if you"d call me Dominic."

That does it. I scream.