Malakai Malkov was a lonely soul.

Endless nights of solitude, lying in an empty bed, tears glistening under the pale moonlight, hands holding on loosely to the neck of the whiskey bottle. Kai was used to feeling alone.

Behind the thin, worn-out walls, his neighbors' angry drunken arguments could be heard. As he shut his eyes, hoping to drown them out, the arguing only intensified. He groaned, running his grease-covered hands through his coarse hair, the whiskey bottle clattered to the ground, rolling to a stop.

He stood up and dragged his feet to the dingy bathroom. He flicked the light switch on and the fading light bathed the cold bathroom. In the mirror, an empty shell of a boy with a gaunt face and smudged eyeliner stared back at him. As the days passed by and his debt gradually increased along with it, he slowly lost his mind, himself, hell, maybe his sanity.

Malakai Parker was tired.

He was a ghost in a worn out leather jacket haunting the streets of Malsbourne's Avenue. Shadow like bruises hollowed his cheeks, and dark circles hung underneath his eyes. What is the point of living a life of misery and suffering?

His hand trembled and with suppressed blinded rage, he punched the mirror and though it hurts like hell, it did not hurt as much as the pain he felt inside. He looked back at his cracked image.

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Endless amount of blood dripped from his knuckles onto the porcelain floor.

"Fuck," he hissed at his split knuckles. Kai was unable to afford going to the hospital to get his hand checked out, so bandaging it himself was the next best thing. Using the whiskey, he poured the contents over his wounds. Wincing slightly, he wrapped a white clothed bandage over his fists.

Satisfied with his work, he bent his knee to sweep away the broken pieces. As he did so, he wondered if this was what he looked like when others saw him; shattered fragments. He was a hollow boy with phantom limbs and decaying organs living a miserable life scraping to make means. The more sorrow seeped in, the more hope faded away. Malakai long accepted the fact that this was how life was supposed to be. Yet he wished things could be different but the possibility of things being different was equivalent to the possibility of the moon and sun crossing paths, knowing a world with no darkness, mortals living no fear or Kai ever experiencing love; it was inevitable.

The world chewed on people like Malakai and spit them out until they were nothing more.

The screen from his phone illuminated the room, alerting him of a notification momentarily distracting him from his thoughts. He walked over and picked it up from the table. It read: Deliver the weekly payment at my office at 9pm sharp. Don't be late.

He only had two hours left.

What better way to kill time than make a couple of sales? With that thought in mind, he grabbed his discarded leather jacket and shrugged it on. And twirled his keys around his fingers and walked out the door.

As the door locked behind him, he made a beeline for the stairway leading downstairs since the elevator had been out of service for decades.

Kai came bounding down the stairs but was halted by a familiar little girl leaning dangerously over the railing. "Elli, you shouldn't lean over like that. Are you crazy?" He lifted her by her waist and tickled her mercilessly.

She squealed, twisting her body wildly. "Okay, I won't do it again, I won't!" She erupted in giggles.

"Promise?" he asked, lowering her to the ground.

Her face shone with sweat and heat filled her cheeks. "Cross my heart and hope to die." She grinned, her mouth parted open to reveal a large gap in her front teeth.

He rolled his eyes fondly and ruffled her short, tousled hair. "What are you doing out here anyway?"

Her brightness dimmed almost instantly and she lowered her gaze, kicking imaginary dust with her beat up converse. "Mom and Dad are fighting again."

"Ah." He sat on the step and patted the space next to him. She understood the message and lowered herself beside him.

"You see, Elli. My story has already been written in the universe. I'm bound and broken and merciless to the woes and sins of my father. Unlike me, you're young and it's never too late to rewrite your story." He nudged her. "I know you're destined for greater things ." And he believed what he was saying, for when he looked at, he could see the galaxies trapped in her eyes and he knew that she could never be like him. She could never be as pitiful as him.

"Thank you, Kai." Her face scrunched up as her eyes brimmed with tears. "What about you? Your story isn't over yet. You don't know how it ends. What if it's a good ending?"

He doubted but he didn't voice it, instead he playfully shoved her aside. "Shouldn't you be in bed by now? It's way past your bedtime."

She scoffed and stuck her tongue out. "Bed time? I'm ten. I don't have a bedtime." She raised her chin in the air defiantly.

And for the first time in a long time, Kai laughed. A body shaking laugh. A laugh filled with nothing but joy. He wiped an imaginary tear from the corner of his eye. "You're something else, kid."

Elli looked at him in awe. "I've never seen you laugh before."

He huffed, "Whatever." Then he checked the time on his phone and stood up, brushing his jeans. "I gotta go. I'll see you around kid. Tomorrow I'll take you out for ice cream."

"Promise?"

A soft smile tugged at his lips. "Cross my heart and hope to die."

[....]

The night swept over the city, the moon hovering like an overbearing mother over his head. Malakai walked the streets of Malsbourne visiting his regular customers at every corner. A means of exchange; money for a temporary pull from reality. In the end, it was all business. A business Malakai perfected since he was the shy age of thirteen.

"I'll see you next week, same time." He was saying to one of his customers, whiskey-stained lips wrapped around the end of his joint. He sucked in the contents greedily and immediately the tension in his body released.

The bar ('Sweet Divination') was up ahead, making a detour to the back door, he flicked the joint to the ground and crushed it with his shoes. The bodyguard stationed at the door nodded his head at him in recognition and stepped aside allowing him to enter.

He bypassed the other rooms bustling with life and made a beeline for the door right in the back with a sign that read "Do Not Enter". With an eye roll, his knuckles pounded on the door with a series of intricate knocks.

Within a second later, the door creaked open.

"You may enter, Malakai."

The room was dimly lit and the putrid stench of cigars were overwhelming. Smoke filled the room like fog and it took everything in his willpower not to cough.

Five more bodyguards stood in every corner of the room, mingling with the shadows. And in the middle of the room, sitting in his reclining chair was the very same man that held his life in the palm of his hands. If the devil could roam the earth, he'd take the form of Nikolai Orlov.

Malakai sat in the chair across him, hands quivering with nerves. He was long accustomed to the fear that gripped his heart whenever he was in the same vicinity of him.

He leaned forward with clasped hands, his dark gaze swept over him like the plague sweeping over the colonies in the nineteenth century; brutal. "You look unwell," Nikolai finally said.

A harsh, bitter laugh escaped him, "What can I say? No rest for the wicked."

A wry smile pulled lightly at his lips and Kai stiffened, loathing the reaction that he had on his body. Despite the humorless smile that grew on his face, it completely transformed his face radiating his cold beauty. The angels may be dazzled by him, but the demons must be preening in pride at their creator.

"Your humor has no ends." His smile dropped and his features hardening, reminding Kai of the ruthless crime lord that he was. "My payment?"

He pulled out the envelope filled with cash and slid it across the desk. One of the bodyguards stepped forward and took the envelope. Whilst the two stared at each other in silence, Kai took note of the small mole under his right eye. The bodyguard nodded his head after he was done counting the wads of cash. "It's all here, sir," he confirmed and handed him back the envelope.

"Khorosho," Nikolai purred. " You may leave, Malakai. I expect more of my payment next month."

"Of course."

As Malakai's hand touched the doorknob, he called out, "Oh and Malakai? Ne povtoryay grekhov tvoyego ottsa."

Do not repeat the sins of your father.

Malakai gritted his teeth and did not say a word. Instead he quickly exited the room, leaving Nikolai's cruel laughter behind.

[....]

He arrived at the front, and situated himself on the barstool. "Whiskey on the rocks," he signalled for the bartender.

When the bartender drew closer, he realized he'd never seen this man before. "Are you new?"

The man chuckled, "Maybe." And he turned around, pouring the bottle of whiskey into a glass. "You look like you need this drink desperately." He had a faint accent, Kai couldn't exactly pinpoint where.

He slid the glass towards him, the ice clinking as he did so. "You have no idea," Kai downed the glass.

He poured him another and another until Kai could see the bartender's scarlet eyes dancing with mischief. "Wow, you have cool eyes."

He continued wiping the glasses, not saying a word. Hair hues of black hair was wrapped into a scrunchie at the nape of his neck. Kai tilted his head to the side, the rim of the glass touching his lips as he observed the man. His ivory complexion contrasted greatly under the harsh lights and his honey-glazed mouth was constantly pulled into a small crooked smirk.

"Tell me about yourself Malakai Parker."

Have he told him his name? He must have been pretty out of it, so with a shrug he said, "You can call me Kai. Malakai is kind of a mouthful." He looked into the glass absentmindedly swirling his glass, the amber liquid jostled around. "There's nothing much to say about myself really. I'm just trying to scrape by to earn a living."

"By dealing drugs?"

His heads shot up . "How do you know about that"

His lips teased into a smile. "Heard from a friend."

"Oh. But what should I call you, handsome?" Kai grinned stupidly, the alcohol clouding his judgement.

Amusement danced in his eyes, and he leaned closer. "You're an interesting one, aren't you?" His upper lips quirked up. "Call me Tartarus."

"Tartarus?" What a strange name.

"My shift is ending. Give me a minute. "

Kai nodded wordlessly, watching him disappear to the back.

When he came back, his hair escaped the hair band and fell into loose waves on his shoulders. He sat in the barstool beside him, and up close Kai could almost taste the honeycomb clinging to his breath. "Did I keep you waiting?"

"No. It's fine," He rested his head in the palm of his hand.

"If I promise you a life beyond your wildest dreams, would you believe me?"

Kai raised his brows, "I highly doubt you can. Unless you have millions of dollars you're willing to hand over then humor me."

"Much more than that." He crept closer, his voice lowering. "Power, riches and immortality."

"Are you bullshitting me right now?"

His eyes glimmered like pools of blood. "In the beginning, there was Chaos. Darkness swallowed the earth."

"What-"

He placed his slender finger upon his mouth, shushing him. "Riddle me this. Riddle me that. I am not flesh, and I am not flawed. I do not bleed. I do not fall. I do not breathe life. Instead I take it away. I do not fear death. Death fears me." A grin crawled onto his face, incisors lengthening forming sharp fangs. "Who am I?"

Kai stared wordlessly at his mouth, his heart racing rapidly. "I-I don't know."

"I am one of the most powerful deities in the universe, my dear mortal."

Kai scrambled off his seat. "And why should I believe any of this? Why should I believe anything you're saying?"

Tartarus released a sigh of annoyance. "You, humans are so foolish. I've revealed to you all the signs yet you still feign ignorance."

"You leave me no choice," He continued. "I'll show you the way." Without warning, he grabbed Kai's wrist and almost suddenly, lucid images of himself casted away in a faraway kingdom where time stilled and eternity will forever be present. A kingdom of his ruling. A kingdom where sadness will never reign. There, Kai sat in his throne of plucked black wings from the carcasses of the decomposed crows at his feet. And by his side was a beautiful woman with golden tresses entangled with hyacinths. The sun casted a man-made halo over their heads. Love shone in their eyes when they gazed at one another. A dream mingling within his reality.

Kai blinked rapidly, the images fading away. His vision returned to find Tartarus staring intently at him. "This will be your chance to rewrite your own tragedy, Malakai. In time, all this will be yours. So what do you say?"

Without hesitation, he said, "Yes, I'm in."

𝒂𝒖𝒕𝒉𝒐𝒓'𝒔 𝒏𝒐𝒕𝒆

This is unedited so please forgive me. But I'll really appreciate your thoughts, criticism and opinion on this chapter.

Also, It wasn't my intention for hades and malakai to hit it offffff but it just happened, so oh well.