Hades

Chapter 47

The first few nights that I slept in the tiny house were filled with relentless dreams. On days when I thought things were getting better, that the dreams were less intense, I would fall into awful nightmares the following evening. Every night I saw the red-haired woman and every night she spoke to me soothingly, assuring me that everything would be fine as soon as I completed my task. She told me that she would guide me and everything would be alright, that I could trust her. And, in the dream world I did.

Though she never told me what my task was, I knew. And so did my wolf who wasn't as easy to persuade as my human. I would wake up on sweaty sheets and feel the gashes in my lips from my sharp fangs. A few times my nails had turned into claws and torn the sheets. This was all more validation that Sebastian had been right, my wolf was protecting him.

But that only made me more terrified of what could be out there, instead of within me.

As soon as the sun would rise I would call Keiko or Ajax and tell them everything I knew. They would occasionally ask questions. Was Sebastian ever in my dreams? Did she ever tell me why I had to carry out this task? Did the woman ever change, even slightly, maybe elude that she was one of three sisters? I answered everything as honestly as I could, but, like any other dream, they would always fade fast and after being alert for twenty minutes I would forget everything all together. 

Some days, I was left with a disgusted feeling in my gut. I knew that the feeling would blossom into something evil if I had been in Sebastian's manor, surrounded by all of these things that he touched. I didn't understand why or how it happened, but it seemed that the rage within me, placed there by what seemed to be a Fate, needed Sebastian to trigger it directly. Keeping away from him seemed to be the most effective way to keep both of us safe.

On those days I was just grateful that Keiko and Ethel had been so creative with the challenging task they had been handed. Not once had Sebastian come out to my tiny house. He hadn't picked out any colours, hadn't purchased any of the furniture, and he hadn't touched any of my belongings. I would spend my days lonely, but safe as I painted alone in my own house or entered invoices for clients, wishing that this would all end for good.

However, I did have good days. There weren't many of them, but I would call Sebastian on mornings that hadn't been affected by the wretched red head. If his voice didn't make me want to claw my own eyes out of my head I would spend the day with him at the house, usually with Noah floating nearby.

It took over a month of careful interactions, but one night, Noah finally left us alone for a couple hours. Selfishly, I was more excited for us despite how badly Noah needed a break. Sebastian suggested that we spend the night with a couple of drinks and finally finish off the Jurassic Park Series. 

"I don't know if drinking would be the best idea for me," I warned.

Sebastian rolled his eyes and for the thousandth time I was stricken by how relaxed he was about the whole thing. You'd think that I hadn't almost killed one of the people closest to him and lunged for his throat seconds later. He was acting like I had bumped into him by accident not gone for the kill and it was baffling and frustrating all at once.

"I don't think alcohol is what sends you into a flying rage and I also don't think that you're going to get more deadly by being less coordinated. If anything, drinking is a good idea. Besides, I just bought all of the ingredients for Pina Coladas. I know you hate letting food and drinks go to waste."

I let out a groan to establish the fact that I wasn't pleased, but couldn't argue with his logic. Plus, it had been such a hot day that a smooth, pineapple drink sounded heavenly. We would each have one and I reasoned that I would be careful. The second I started to feel anything at all I would high tail it out of there or call Noah.