It must have been noon or so. The sun was mercilessly pushing its heat down on Melanie's small figure as she took a walk along the highway. She wondered, had her 'brothers' been searching for her in the past twenty-three hours?

  As she continued enjoying the sun's violent heat, Heni appeared in front of her, almost giving Melanie a good scare.

"Sorry... Where are you going?"

   Melanie shrugged and gazed up at the bright ball of pure heat. "Talking a stroll."

As she frowned at how hot the day was, dark clouds started forming out of nowhere. They condensed so much that the entire sky grew dark in a matter of seconds.

This only made Melanie more perplexed as to how the weather had shifted so quickly.

    Her eyes were drawn to Heni's frame as she appeared to be emitting a white glow of energy around her body.
"Do the clouds displease you?"

   Melanie shook her head hastily. Still afraid of Heni's abilities after she witnessed her stab a human-like demon with nothing but her bare hand.

  While the clouds did help ease the heat scorching her skin, it was bound to attract the curious weathermen. And still, Melanie had no way of asking Heni to undo whatever she had done to the weather.

    It was still an unfathomable reality to her that other intelligent species or creatures besides humans, actually existed.

She was trying hard to accept that it wasn't her insanity kicking in, rather, her mind was opening up to another type of reality that had been hidden from the normal eyes.

   As she was lost in thoughts, Hades, in a purple robe, appeared behind her. He immediately noticed the dark sky while identifying the spirit around Melanie.

Heni's focus was grabbed by the tall lean frame standing behind her new friend. She felt the immense power in his aura which was mixed thickly with miasma. It was this same scent she had picked up in Melanie's room.

    When she wanted to react with a force of violence, Hades invisible tendrils reached out and into Heni's thoughts with sheer brutality. "Don't you dare say a thing."
His words caused unbearable pain in her body, weakening her to a point where the clouds vanished and she doubled over in anguish.

    Taken aback by Heni's strange reaction, Melanie backed away scared. Only four small steps and she was blocked by a wall that hadn't been there according to her memory.

She whipped around gasping.

   But the fear dissipated when her eyes landed on Hades whom she still thought wasn't the real Aldric.

"It's you." She sighed relieved.

  Hades bent a little, feeling amused at how anytime he wanted to level their faces, he had to bend over. But he liked experiencing something new.

    "Expecting someone else?" He asked with a tiny smirk.

Melanie pinched his cheek, sending waves of shock through Heni. How could this human deity be so casual with the king of the underworld? The lord of demons and darkness.
As powerful as Heni was, she felt horrified coming face to face with Hades. And this was odd being that Heni naturally had no emotions of her own.

       "Which part of my brain did you get lost in?"

   "Where you curse your history teacher," Hades replied, hoping to tease the truth from her.

Upon straightening, his eyes traveled to the female standing still, prompting Melanie to introduce them. "This is Heni. Heni, this is Hades, a version of my twisted mind who looks like my teacher."

   Heni simply nodded at Hades while the male acted innocent as if he hadn't almost drained all of her energy.

       "But...how can she see you if you're-"

"Stop overthinking. There's power to one's thoughts." Hades interrupted.

"Oh!"

--------------------------------

            *****MELANIE*****

I walked out of the bathroom, singing along to You Should See Me in a Crown by my favorite artist, Billie Eilish as it played on the motel radio. It was an outdated version, but I was glad I had some entertainment.

My mind was so lost in the song to notice the shadow standing behind the curtains until it was too late.
     
    It moved fast at lightning speed and my vision didn't catch its appearance until it knocked me to the floor.

I screamed, kicking and biting any part of it I could. But it only snarled at me like a wounded cat ready to attack.
    It looked like a manifestation of darkness, a complete shadow with a human form. It possessed two red globes that were supposed to be its eyes, while its mouth was lined with razor-sharp teeth that were the same size, just like a saw.

    The same energy surge I had experienced with Axle started to kick in, but before the fight could go on any further, someone hauled it off of me before tossing it to the nearby wall like a rag doll.

I was panting, my eyes wet and my throat aching from all the screams.

     Why had nobody heard me?
Oh right, I had chosen the room to the furthest corner of the building, isolating myself.

The shadowy form hopped to its feet and faced Hades in an attack stance. It sprung at a thirty-degree angle like an animal, barring its teeth out and claws to deliver a fatal blow to my poor Hades.
   But he vanished and appeared closer before seizing its throat in midair like a total badass.

Sad little thing didn't see that counterattack coming.

        Hades' hair seemed to be coming to life as the long white strands started lifting in the air to float.
I watched him devour the shadow by merely opening his mouth and the creature was absorbed in his mouth like a reversed vaping.

The air instantly fell silent, before my ears registered the voices coming from the radio. All the chaos had shut off the music from reaching my earbuds till now.

   Hades' hair settled down on his back, then he turned and faced me.

Poor me. I was still in shock. Just staring at him wide-eyed like an ostrich as he walked over.

    Without saying a word, Hades knelt and scooped me in his arms, lifting me off the cold floor.
We shared a silent stare before his eyes fell on my chest.
   
    A night breeze from the cracked window took this chance to swipe over me. Having me realize that the towel had long fallen and that Hades was staring at my boobs.

I gazed down at myself and saw my long nipples hardening to a visible pink color under the weak bulb light. My eyes traveled further down at the trimmed triangular ginger lawn.
     I immediately curled into a ball while he held me. The shame was too much to bear, especially how insecure I always felt at my nipples. I always thought they were a bit longer and larger than average. And to think that a man had now set eyes on them made me want to turn myself inside out and just die.

        "I'm part of your mind, Melanie." Hades reminded starting to walk.

  "Doesn't make me feel any better," I mumbled clinging tightly on his clothing.

"Do you want me to undress?" He asked.

My head snapped back and my eyes shot up at his. "I'd die before I give myself such trauma. You're like a second version of my teacher."

  There was a crossed expression on his face, but I lost track of it when he tossed me to the side. I yelped when my naked frame fell on the bed. But it didn't make me less annoyed at him.

     "You're so...argh!"

I pushed my upper body to get up when Hades materialized on top of me. His weight sent me lying back down.

   "My kiss."

"Are you crazy?" I cried covering my boobs with my little hands.

"I might just-" his grazed down at my chest, "-help myself... elsewhere."

I panicked.
Could he though?

Gawd, I had no intention of finding out.

     "Fine." I agreed and quickly gave him a peck on his left cheek.

Hades snorted and shifted. Our position was odd and embarrassing for me. Our legs seemed to be interlocked.
There was no mistaking his hip lying between my legs, so close to my womanhood.

    My heart was racing at the contact.
I couldn't help but feel these sorts of emotions especially when he was demanding a kiss.

   "You call that a kiss?"

I shut my eyes, hoping to die of shame.
"I've never kissed anyone," I blurted grabbing my twins tightly. There would be bruises later, but I didn't mind at the moment.

     "You're a...virgin?"
Was I dreaming or was there amusement in his tone?

  "Then consider this...training" Hades whispered.

As soon as his words were over, his lips slowly took on mine. Our breaths mingled and it felt...appeasing.
   I could feel a happy energy swirling inside me and only got dense as the kiss lingered further.
"Give me your tongue," Hades whispered breaking the kiss.

    "Okay!" I panted, not daring to open my eyes.

Following his instruction, our tongues met, and I felt a buzz of electricity jolt through my chest. It was a warm and fuzzy sensation that slowly took over my body.
   I liked it. Liked it very damn much.
If only I was kissing a real person.