[ graphic: @rebellionofhope ]

a jar of secrets
05 | goodbye misty hallows

"Now when I tell you to run, you will run straight to that car over there," Hade instructs me just outside the house.

We're currently crouched down behind a brick wall out the front of my house, the ground is slippery under our feet from all the rain and I keep sliding as I have no shoes on.

"The black one?" I whisper barely even seeing it in the pitch black outside, the only light we have is from the lightning every fifteen seconds above us.

"Yeah that on-" he trails off turning to look over at me curiously.

"What?" I mumble trying to flick my long wet hair over my shoulders so that I can see a little better.

"It's nothing.. just get ready on my mark," Hades tells me lifting three fingers up on his right hand for me to see. I nod my head as I wait.

I honestly don't know why we're waiting for, I can't see or hear anything out there except the thunder roaring loudly in my ears and the wind wiping my hair back and forth like it is angry with us.

"Three." I put my hands down in the mud, ready to make a run for it. "Two."

I close my eyes for a spilt second, feeling the wind hitting my back. "One.. oh and happy birthday my sweetheart."

I quickly push myself up off the ground and hop over the brick wall, my feet hitting the muddy ground on the other side. The rain has picked up again making it harder to see in the darkness and which direction I am meant to be going.

Wait did Hades just wish me a happy birthday? and did he just call me his sweetheart?

"Get down!" I hear Hades yell somewhere behind me and I duck, watching something bright flash right pass me. I realise with shock that if I had been standing up, I would've been hit by whatever it was.

"Hades!" I cry out panicking, I couldn't see anything in front of me anymore. The rain is coming down so much harder, I can't even see my feet when I try looking down at them.

I stay ducked as I see another flash of bright light wizz close to my head. I scream and begin crawling on my hands and knees trying to find cover, I can feel the rocks digging into my legs as I keep crawling onwards.

My face is only inches from the ground and I barely make out a faded yellow line, I'm half way across the road. If a car was to come along in this darkness not only would they not be able to see anything thanks to mother nature but I would be road kill.

Taking a deep breath I keep on crawling forwards hoping to see a white line letting me know that I had crossed the road, but I don't see it.

Without warning I feel the road start to move under me, like it is having the hiccups and I groan. Of course I have the worse luck out of everyone.

Turning my head to the left I spot two blurry white circles coming closer towards me. A car. A car that would not be able to see me face down on the road.

My heart is racing in my chest as I try to get up off the ground and just make a run for anywhere but my body doesn't seem to be listening and instead is frozen on the spot.

"Hades!" I yell out as loud as I can possibly muster. The lights are coming closer and closer towards me now, so close that I can make out the front tires perfectly.

I close my eyes tightly, tears running freely down my cheeks as I wait for the car to hit me.

I'm startled when all of a sudden an arm comes out of the darkness taking hold of my left wrist and pulling me up, my eyes opening immediately at the contact.

"Oof!" I cry as I feel myself lose my balance on the wet ground, slipping and sliding into the person who had their fingers around my wrist.

"It's okay I've got you Persephone," a soft voice whispers in my ear as someone wraps their long arms around me. I know who the voice belongs to because only one person calls me that.

"Hades!" I exclaim feeling relieved that it isn't someone else holding me.

"No time for thanks, we have to keep moving," and there's the cold hard voice I so did not miss. I roll my eyes thankful he couldn't actually see me do it since we're surrounded by fog and the darkness.

"I saw that!" Hades tells me before letting me go and instead taking my hand so he could lead us towards the car.

"Good you were meant to."

How the hell did he seem me roll my eyes, it's still pitch black around us.

Hades doesn't respond to my smart ass comment and instead steers us onwards through the pouring rain.

"Watch for the paddl-"

Slosh.

Groaning I look down to see my feet sink into a patch of wet grass that had sunken due to the amount of rain we've had.

"How did you see that?" I ask noticing how he would also turn right or left and not go straight ahead like I would've done.

"Don't worry about that, just get inside will you," he tells me sternly letting go of my hand.

Inside where? I couldn't see anything in front me for crying out loud.

Frowning I reach out to feel a cold glass window which must be the car, moving my hand further down until I feel the door handle and pull on it. As soon as I do, the car light turns on above me and I smile.

But the smile disappears as soon as I hop in and close the door behind me, the light going out.

"I guess you got what you were after." I mumble a little annoyed, watching Hades start the vehicle up.

"Huh?" he mumbles concentrating on reversing the car out and putting it into drive.

I make sure I have my seatbelt on before answering.

"You wanted me to come with you and look here I am." I sigh turning my head to look out my side window.

I watch as we drive pass the house I had spent the last eleven years of my life in, you wouldn't recognise it now though.

The windows are all smashed, the front door is kicked in and some of the paneling has fallen off due to the storm and rough winds outside.

"If you're looking for an apology you're not going to get one from me." Hades announces quietly from his spot beside me, his eyes firmly on the road in front of us.

"Yeah I figured.."

❦

"Mummy, where is daddy?" the familiar blonde girl asks, watching her mother water the seeds in their garden.

"He's working sweetie, he'll be home later," she tells her daughter as she continues to water her beautiful garden.

"But he promised he'd play with me today," the girl sulks looking down at her feet.

"I know darling but your daddy's a really busy man, how about you go and play in the fields before dinner?"

"Okay mummy and can I go and play with the sea nymphs too?"

"Of course sweetie but be careful."

The older woman watches as her daughter rushes off into the fields, skipping along the path and making flowers sprout whenever her feet touched the earth.

Thinking about her lover, she sighs as she goes back to her work knowing that her daughters father wouldn't come around and see her until another few days if he kept to his promise.

"Hey-hey, are you alright?"

I blink as I come to, feeling confused for a few seconds as I look around the small space.

That's when I remember where I am and who I'm with.

"What?" I try to rub the sleep from my eyes as I wait for Hades to repeat his question.

"I asked if you were okay, you were moving around a lot in your sleep," he explains glancing over at me quickly. His eyes searching my face for any signs of what I'd dreamt about before he turns his head back to the road.

"Oh.. was I?" I mumble a little embarrassed as I take notice of the blanket draped over me.

"You were also getting quite cold even with the heaters on," Hades explains keeping his eyes locked on the road.

And how would he know if I was cold or not? Had he touched my hand or something?

"Uh huh.. well uh where are we exactly?" I ask glancing out the window seeing nothing that looked vaguely familiar to me.

"About seven hours outside of Misty Hallows I believe."

"And where are we heading to?"

I had never been outside of Misty Hallows ever, Pat and Ash never allowed it so I felt kind of excited in one way.

"I can't tell you that, it's for your safety."

I groan, of course it was.

"Well can you tell me how far away this safe house is?" I wait for him to tell me what he said before but instead he shrugs. I repeat, the giant just shrugged.

"I don't know."

"You.. don't know?" I repeat glancing over at him. "You're taking me to a safe house but you don't know how long until we get to this particular safe house and you won't tell me the name of the town it is in?"

"Yes."

Ugh I groan giving up on asking questions about this mysterious safe house we're apparently heading to, for now at least.

"Okay well what about those guys earlier?" I ask as I take the blanket off me now as its getting too warm inside the vehicle. It takes him a few seconds to reply.

"What about them?"

"Um hello! They wanted to kidnap me or even kill m-"

"They wouldn't have killed you," Hades sighs cutting me off mid sentence.

"Oh yeah and how would you know what they would or wouldn't have done to me?" I notice we had just passed a sign saying that there's food up ahead on our next left.

"I know who they work for, I'm a detective remember?"

"Hades the private detective!" I exclaim in fake cheeriness making him look over at me raising his eyebrow in question. "Yeah yeah I remember but so far all you've done is kidnapped me." I point out.

"Rescued you. Are you always this quick to judge people?"

"Only the ones who kidnap people from their childhood homes in the middle of the night," I retort back sarcastically.

It's then that I remember what I had actually seen that night, how the man stopped the pot plant and the white light that buzzed past my head.

"Can I ask you something?"

Hades seems surprised at first to see that I've dropped the sarcastic tone but nods his head, signalling left.

"There was this white flash that zapped by my head when we were outside the house.." I notice his grip on the steering wheel tighten slightly as he turns. "And one of the guys, he somehow.." I trail off thinking of how to explain it without sounding like I was the one who needed to be in the crazy ward.

"S-somehow he stopped the pot plant I had thrown at him, I mean it was inches from his face and then," I clap my hands as an effect. "He froze it. Did you see the white flash too?"

Hades drives the car into a free park before turning his head to face me, his brown eyes glued onto mine.

For a minute I actually think he might tell me that he saw it all too, that I'm not crazy but then he shakes his head looking away from me as he opens his side door.

"It must have been a trick of the mind, magic doesn't exist."

Sighing I take my seatbelt off and climb out of the vehicle too, waiting as Hades locks it before making his way to the little fast food joint. I follow a few steps behind him, thinking about what he'd just told me.

Behind me, the sunrise is slowly beginning to make its journey up into the sky, the pretty pinks and oranges casting a soft glow on the trees around the parking lot.

Magic couldn't really exist, could it?