ONYX

Chapter Thirty Four

“How are you feeling?”

Alessandra had been too quiet since the first body that she collected. Hades had to collect the next souls because Alessandra chose to watch. That was okay; he didn’t want to push anymore than he already did. He knew this wasn’t an easy task to bestow on her, but he didn’t expect her to be this silent. Finding and collecting souls was never easy, only those that were bad were easy to take and give them the proper punishment for committing atrocious acts from when they were alive. Maybe he should’ve taken her to someone that was bad so that way she felt more at ease with collecting that person.

Just then an idea popped into his mind.

“I can’t stop thinking about her.” Alessandra admitted. She couldn’t find any enthusiasm for collecting more souls after the first one. She watched Hades and learned a little more, but with Camille on her mind, she wondered about how many more like her was unfairly killed in their lifetime. “She was so young.”

“I know, but she is in a better place.” It was all he could say to reassure her even though they were words that were commonly repeated. They were also true. Elysium was a true home to live in for those that have lived the purest life. He’d seen it plenty of times and sometimes wished to walk on the warm grass and absorb the sun’s rays.

“How do you know that?” Alessandra countered.

“Sometimes when they pass I am there. I help them cross over. I’ve seen Elysium, it is beautiful.” He responded truthfully. Sometimes he wanted to walk there and never come back, essentially in the years that he roamed the Underworld alone without his companion. That void in his heart was slowly healing now and the person responsible was standing beside him.

“Can I see it as well?”

“All in due time, but I want to take you to one last place before then.” He held out his hand for hers with the Underworld already pictured in his mind. Upon first contact they were transported in the blink of an eye.

Cerberus shuffled to Hades as soon as he appeared, shaking the ground with his thick and meaty body. Alessandra almost lost her balance, but she was delighted to see Cerberus. The last time they saw each other he was pulling her from the Sea of Souls along with Gemma.

He coddled Alessandra next, repeatedly sniffing her face, hair, and body as if he was searching for any signs that she might be injured. Alessandra patted his wet nose, smiling when his tongue licked her palm. “Hello, Cerberus,”

“He likes you.” Hades commented.

“I like him, too.”

Hades smiled at that. “Come, I want to show you something else.”

Alessandra followed him down the corridor and into the place where the Sea of Souls was located. It looked exactly the same on the outside, but Alessandra was haunted by what occurred not too long ago. She tried not to look, but it was impossible with the sounds of souls softly wailing around them. The sea had to have stretched for miles and it possibly grew bigger with all the new additions to it.

“Why are we here?” Why was she in the place that she’d come to fear? She could still taste the vile waters as it rushed down her throat and seemed to pull her deeper into the sea. She saw the faces of each ghost as if they were right in front of her.

And her father . . .

Thinking about him nearly brought her to her knees because she felt that at any moment he would appear again. She hadn’t heard anything from him since. She half expected him to appear in front of her again and throw her in, but that’s when she remembered Hades and calmed. With him right beside her nothing could go wrong. She was safe.