Valentine.

Taken Again.

For full experience, readers are please, encouraged to read with the music.

All-too-rapidly, a stark sneer replaces the evil grin on his face. On primitive instinct, his eyes travel to the far-right corner of his head and towards the door in contempt, his ears perking up in anticipation.

A dulling fear keeps me glued in place, silently watching at first, until I too take notice of the sounds of heavy, approaching steps echoing along the exterior corridor. My heart races in anticipation. At the possibility of aid and relief. "My Lady? Is everything alright in there?" reverbs the familiarly deep voice from earlier.

Sergio!

The minor sense of hope that had seeped through my gut earlier is rapidly extinguished when I open my mouth to scream for Sergio- but nothing comes out. No. Instead, a stream of manipulated words stream from my lips in place of my intended cry for help. Though my brain is incessantly chanting, screaming, and gasping, my mouth relays a completely different message:

"How dare you interrupt your Queen while she rests in her chambers! My husband will have your head if you come to this very door, unbidden again!" squeaks my voice boldly against the large dark walls.

This cant be happening. This has to be yet another dream. At this, Hades cocks his head at me. Though a mischievous grin spreads its way across his face, his eyes remain shiny and serious. "Atta girl" he whispers leaning in before seizing me by the throat.

"My apologies...majesty. I just wanted to make sure you were okay. I will take my leave." comes Sergio's somewhat unsure voice as his heavy boots hesitatingly clank away. Hot tears trace their way down my cheeks and onto his hand- currently still in a tight grip around my neck.

It's such an excruciatingly suffocating feeling. Not the choking, no. I'm talking about the hold Hades currently had over my mind. How easily and effortlessly he had been able to manipulate my sentences. Like I was nothing. Nothing more than a puppet. And here I thought Valentine was deadly...

His wicked grin widens at the thought, and he brings his face closer to mine- his cool breath fanning against my cheek as I turn my head to the side. Too scared to face him. Too shaken up to look into that cold, haunting glare.

"You're so well spoken...Your majesty." he taunts smugly bringing his face even closer and sniffing at the pools of fear and frustration still staining my cheeks. In this moment I am truly scared. Too scared to move. Too scared to think, for fear he may perverse his way into my thoughts again and wreak further havoc. I'm surprised he hasn't done away with me yet, though something tells me that would be mercy compared to whatever he truly has in store for me.

After a long and uncomfortable moment, he makes rough work of flipping me around and pinning my front flush to the wall- his grip still tight around me. I try to cry out, to scream, to fight at least; but my body is no longer responding to my own demands- they instead, have fallen under complete control of that same intrusive source that I had feared. Against my will, my hands fly to the wall and my palms press flat against the cool stone surface at the sides of my head.

Disgust envelops me as I feel Hade's fingers slowly travel the length of my now-extended arms, gently caressing my skin in the process. His armor now pressed up to my back, he brings his lips to my ear and rasps. "Do I scare you?" He is so uncomfortably close I can feel the grin tugging away at his lips as he toys with not only my body, but my mind as well. I will myself to cry some more but my muscles are still unresponsive. I am nothing more than a vessel in this very moment, watching from the passenger as he pulls my strings and makes me sing to his liking.

"You know originally, I was planning on just doing away with you immediately. But then; I came up with an even better use for you...little marionéta." He pauses for a moment before allowing his hands to trail back up my arms and slowly descend against my sides. He halts them at my waist and gives a light squeeze.

"Hmm. Imagine, what my brother would do if I were to ravish you and destroy your innocence. Right here. Right now. And you wouldn't be able to do a single thing to stop me" he continues, breathing hard against my neck. "He would tear Olympus to shreds...over a mortal, like you" he spits, his voice laced with pure venom, disgust...and a bit of something else. His grip on my waist tightens.

I want to shrink away, to run, to defend myself, or even yell for help- but no matter what I do my body refuses to accept any signals from my own brain. Pulling me further into him, he continues: "I want my kingdom back, Lillith... And it seems, the only way to get through to Valentine, is through...you" he muses vilely.

Please, I'm begging you. Let me go. Please. I have no part in your quarrel with your brother.

I can feel his deep breaths growing heavier against my collarbone as he reads my pleading thoughts. "Oh, but you do my dear queen. You have made of my brother, a weakened madman. One who oversteps tradition and law, in pursuit of a foolish, childish 'love'- with a mortal."

He stops and turns me back around to face him, his hands deftly burying themselves in my hair as he grips tightly onto my braids. His storm-grey pupils bore into my pleading ones, and he scoffs before angling his neck. "You know, I must admit: a face so fair as yours, I can see why that would drive someone to insanity. Those little pleading eyes. That pathetic little pout." he breathes, letting his eyes sweep all over my fear-stricken features before leaning into my ear once more-as if telling me some high-school secret. "Weapons of mass destruction" he whispers before pulling back and grinning.

"Now, we shall truly see what kind of a king Valentine is. What he's made of. His kingdom or his bride" he muses quietly again as black sparks begin to fizz all around us, forming an intense gridlock that morphs into a full forcefield. I want to thrash. To scream one more time, but no matter how hard I try my body refuses to obey. So instead, I watch as the now hazardously bright bolts form a tornado, consuming us in its swirling center. The now solid, bright wall fully compresses, drowning my vision.

My stomach is thrown into that over-familiar loop of nausea. "Don't worry. I'm sure we'll see your husband soon enough." he mutters teasingly, his fingers never once loosening their iron grip on my hair.

Just like that, Hades whisks us away.