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“The last time our module would ring you… Like a lunar bell…”
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The day was quiet. The air was thick with tension. I was alone for that part of the day. The kids were out with their friends, and my husband was at his job. I didn't really have anything else to do but sit alone. You can feel it at this age. This age- i've lived too long. Curse immortality. It really makes you understand how lonely it is. That wasn't important. Today I had torn up the house looking for something specific. Something I haven't touched in 104 years or so. Maybe it was earlier than that. It hurts to see the box. My eyes hurt… my hands are shaky… all from this god forsaken box.
I take a deep breath, and relax my arms. The tension is so thick- I could cut through it with a butter knife. God, why am I doing this? It doesn't matter now. I can face my fears- and I can face the past. I've done it before… and I do it nearly every day protecting those kids. My kids. They don't deserve what I went through, not at all.
I sigh, cutting the box tape open with my sharp fingernail, opening it gently. I immediately catch sight of the letters. Photos. My old polaroid camera that I got from that nice angel. She probably died being nice to me. There's a lot in this box. It’s kind of terrifying. One by one, I take out items from my past. More letters and photos that I passed back and forth with my friends who are most likely long gone by now. My old uniform- a cut up shirt, a corset and a skirt. My guitar picks. The songs I wrote. Remnants of the few toys that I was given when I was earlier.
Then I noticed something.
Oh, I know exactly what I'm looking at.
The day.
The day of retribution.
I shove some things aside to take out the jumble of items I got from escaping. A dried flower.. Barbed wire… lots of barbed wire and parts from a chain-link fence. It’s almost nostalgic to be looking at these items. But it’s a horrible nostalgia- a terrifying nostalgia.
Something I don't want to remember.
But after 104 years, I do.
I do, and I don't like the fact I do.
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“I'll see you on the moon… until we meet at Tycho. And follow the
trail…”
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She sat silently in the small cell room, tuning her electric guitar like she always did. She was turning eighteen that day- the day she was going to die. And it had really set in. The fear- she was quivering just by the thought. She took a deep breath, although scared, she knew she could somehow make it o-
Click. Clack. Click. Clack.
The sounds of the main angel’s dress shoes.
She slowly turned towards the cell door, where the angel appeared and unlocked it. “Hades.” They growled. “It’s your time.” They continued.
She took a deep breath, standing up as she was put in some sort of angelic handcuffs, and taken to a certain concrete room. One she always had to walk past, where she heard screams and cries. It was never silent. The handcuffs hurt her hands- and she winced. It was terrifying. The moment she got into the room, she was laid down. She stayed in those handcuffs, completely silent, and watched the needle approach her veins.
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“Synodic season to come out of hiding… why’d it take so long?”
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No. This wasn't it. God no.
Not death.
Survival.
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“Inching out of orbit, dividing… Where did I go wrong?”
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Survive. Hades Plouton. You need to survive. There will be a better life on the other side.
Survive.
Survive.
SURVIVE.
A roar erupted from the room. In a matter of seconds, blood coated the walls like paint. In the middle of it, she stood, breathing heavily, wings she didn't know she had flexing in and out. She didn't know what happened. All she knew was that the people who had come to euthanize her- to kill her- were dead on the floor next to her. Alarms started blaring. How did they know? How could they have possibly known?!- She took a deep breath. That didn't matter right now. They were coming for her- and she had to do whatever it took to survive.
She stomped down onto the needle that was once going to inject her, as it shattered into millions of tiny pieces. She then shoved over the medical table, as it made a giant mess on the floor. She didn't care. She ran over to the metal door, punching it open and looking around. She looked up at the signs on the ceiling, running for the ones that said EXIT. Every turn she made, she saw more and more angels, attacking them in a matter of seconds, and killing them with ease a moment later. Bright gold blood shimmered all over her hands. Her body. The walls.. The dead bodies. Everywhere, there was blood, and she continued on.’
She kicked open a couple more doors, headed down the right doors to the EXIT. Right before she made it to the door- she was grasped by an angel, and hoisted back. “HADES!” They screamed. She roared.
She glanced back at what the angel was doing. More were coming. She was right there- she was right there- she was-...
She felt a pinch in her neck. Looking down at it, they had stuck a needle in her neck. Not the euthanization needle… a different one. She recognized it immediately. They had drugged her to go to sleep.
No. Not here. Not here-
She screamed. “NOT… YET! NOT HERE! YOU GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME- YOU- You- you…” She gasped. She felt her eyes slowly close, as she slumped to the floor.
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“I'll see you on the moon, where we’re throwing a party… and as you’re gasping for the last of air, you'll tra-la-la-laa…”
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It had been months since that incident. She had killed over 30 people. But… she wasn't killed. She wasn't killed at all. She was put in solitary confinement for a month or so… and was released back to her cell. She took a deep breath. Tuning her guitar again. She didn't have long til she would turn 19. It would only be a couple months away- and she needed to get out- fast.
They were going to kill her eventually. As nightfall set in, she was told she couldn't strum on her guitar anymore, and when it hit 9 o’clock… lights out. It was quiet at night. No screaming. No crying. Just silence through that wing. She could tell everyone else was scared. She was too. But she had to get out. She had already put her electric guitar in her case, and she had an assortment of items she wanted to take with her- that she hid in the case. Like letters.. Photos.. She was going to add other things as she left. Once the angels left for the night, she slowly crept out of bed, and stuffed a pillow-like item under the blanket to make it seem like she was still asleep.
She grabbed some extra items from her box underneath the bed, and hoisted her guitar case over her shoulder. She didn't have a clear plan, but she knew it would work out somehow.
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“You give me fifty-nine… percent from liberation. We dance in synchronous rota-tion…”
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She had been constantly fixing up a wire for the past 2 minutes, before sticking it in the cell door and unlocking it. Once she did- she slowly opened it, looking around for the infamous exit sign, creeping out and going towards it. She was halfway through the building- til she heard that familiar sound. The sound of angels walking. The click-clack of their heels were all too familiar. She took a deep breath, and slowly made a detour, hiding behind a wall til they left.
She eavesdropped in on their passing conversation. “Our mission is to collect 134340. You should stop feeling so scared.” “I can't help it. Do you not remember the incident? She killed my brother.” “I understand that, but it is her time.” “...Yes, ma’am.” The conversation grew faint as they walked away. 134340- that was her number. She approached the main exit route again, hearing the click-clacks grow silent, as she continued down the hall, keeping her footsteps light and unnoticeable- at least to the best of her ability, and she did it well.
She saw the end in sight.
Oh. Oh no.
There was a problem.
Guards. There were guards there.
She took another deep breath. She could do this.
She approached one of the offices near the exit door, looking around, before noticing a window near the door. She attempted to open it, but was unable to, before realizing it was locked, to her stupidity. She carefully unlocked the window, opening it slowly so as to not draw attention to herself. She slowly crawled out the window, closing it behind her before making a run for it to the chain-link fence, away from the main entrance and exit. She knew that someone would be there, and she wasn't about to screw up her only chance at escaping. So, she ran.
But she didn't make it out unscathed. She wasn't always the luckiest person ever. Someone managed to peek out the windows and saw her. As she climbed up the fence, she heard the alarms blaring, and as she looked behind her, she felt the fence shaking.
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“The image we see of you has been… just a little late. There is no atmosphere to wear down any sharpness… it’s not how long you wait.”
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She was shaking. That definitely brought some attention to herself, as she saw the guards book it out the door and run up to the fence. What they said that day was all a blur. But she knew she had to get out of there. She had to.
One hand went up.. She hoisted herself over.
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“Synodic season to come out of hiding… why'd it take so long?”
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Another hand went up. She continued the climb.
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“Inching out of orbit, dividing… where did I go wrong?”
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She took a deep breath and grabbed the barbed wire at the top. It cut her hands, but she persevered. She hopped over, making it by with deep cuts and scratches on her hands and knees. She turned to the guards, who stood there, calling for backup behind the fenced barrier.
She giggled, before screaming at them; “SUCK IT!” and afterwards… she ran off into the wilderness.
It was very quiet. The wilderness only made certain, repeated sounds.. Sounds she had never heard before in her life. She looked up. There were dots in the sky. She had never seen those before either. But she had to keep going. By now, the building was long gone from her vision. She had been running for a while. She was starving. She was awfully thirsty, aswell, and she usually isn't, thanks to her species. So, she thought she could find a safe place. Somewhere nearby. She kept on going- but this time, she switched to walking to save herself from death. It wasn't the quickest way of doing things, but she would live. She took a deep breath of the fresh air. It was- beautiful. She felt like stopping there, and crying. But she had to keep going. They were going to find her if she stopped.
It became day sooner or later. She looked up every so often… she saw things in the sky that she had never seen before. Cotton? Sky cotton? And loud animals that screamed at her. She continued. In the distance, she could hear loud, unforgettable noises.. Which she decided to go towards.
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“A wise woman said I'm alive, nobodys ever told her she's wrong. A paella of space-talking jive… I'm as alive as her beard is long!”
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She approached a small building nearby the loud noises, and took a peek inside. She saw- food. “Oh- crud, crud!-” She yelped. “If I don't take this chance- I'll die.” She threatened herself, walking over to the doors and stepping in. It was nice- and cozy. Something that reminded her of before she got kidnapped. She looked up to see a man standing at a small podium. She hesitated a moment before walking over. “Hi! How many people are in your party today?” The man asked. She paused for a moment. She didn't know what that meant. “Um… just.. Just me?” She said in an unconvincing way. The man tapped something on his screen, and took out some paper that had a lot of writing on it. “Booth or table?” He asked. She didn't know what to say. “Y-you can choose!” She grinned, albeit nervously. “Table it is.” He tapped another thing on his screen.
“You can follow me to your table.” He smiled, and started walking off. She paused for a moment, but quickly caught up. As she sat down, he gave her the piece of paper. “Your waitress will be with you in a moment.” He walked away after he said that. She sat there in silence. What was she supposed to do in this situation? She slowly looked down at her paper. Reading it, it was a ‘menu’, like they had at the cult building. You could either choose to eat something or nothing there. But here- they had options. She was confused- really confused.
Suddenly, she looked up, and there was a woman standing next to her, with a piece of paper and a pen. “Good morning! M’name is…” She couldn't remember that part. “What can I getcha t’drink, sugar?” The woman asked. Hades paused for a moment. She nervously looked up. “Can I have some water?” She asked. “‘Course,” The woman said, pausing to write down the order. “I'll be right back with yer’ things, sugar.” She smiled again. Hades paused, staring up at the woman as she walked away. “Sugar…” She muttered under her breath, feeling tears swell up in her eyes. The nickname was familiar. She was called it all the time by one of her mothers. She wiped her tears, and waited politely for her water- just waiting.
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“I'll see you on the moon, where we’re throwing a party… and as you’re gasping for the last of air, you'll tra-la-la-laaa.”
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She had gotten her food, and she sat there- confused, just looking at it. The lady who had brought it to her stood there, watching her. Hades gently took her hands, and reached out, grabbing one of the eggs on her breakfast plate. “Oh- honey, honey!” The lady called. Hades whipped her head up, as the woman sat in front of her. “Do you not know how to use utensils?” She asked gently. “...What are those?” She asked.
“Oh dear.” The lady muttered.
“Here-” She continued, grabbing the wrap of utensils, and handing over the fork and knife. “The one on the right is your fork. The one on the left is your knife.” She explained. “I know what a knife is, don't worry!” She smiled. “...oh dear.” The lady whispered to herself. “You use the fork to hold your food n place, and ya use the knife t’cut it up! Then the fork s’ how ya eat.” She continued to explain. Hades did as she was told.
“That DOESN'T make a huge mess!!!” She smiled. “There ya go. If ya need anythin else, holler for me, will ya?” The lady gave a warm smile. “Oh- uh, alright!” Hades continued cutting up her food in silence, eating.
That was definitely a foreign concept to her. She didn't know how to react. She realized then- she had a knife available, slicing open her corset, before continuing to use it to eat.
A few moments after Hades finished her food, she looked up to see the lady talking with a few men dressed in all blue, with golden thingies on their uniform. One of them looked over, and tapped his partner, before pointing to her. “...Huh?-” Hades muttered. The two men approached, sitting down at her table. “Hey there, may we ask you a few questions?” One of them asked. She paused, squinting. “Sure.” She shrugged afterwards. “What's your name?” The other one asked. “M’names Hades Plouton- but- uhhh..” She paused. “You can call me Pluto!” She smiled.
“Right… What's the scars on your arms? And your hand wound?” One of them asked. “...Umm… if- if I tell you- then- then they might find me again…” Pluto muttered. “...Alright.”
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“Twirling moondust abound… lung destruction is starting… Take your suit off and swim in maria!”
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I remember that day so much. Those police officers took me in for questioning for hours. They asked me where I was from. What I was doing in a diner… about my arms…
I think they told me they were going to find the place I described. But I never heard anything about that ever again. Though, the place was abandoned the last time I went.
Then they reunited me with my mothers.
I didn't know it at the time but- that lady at the diner saved me. I got the chance to go back when I was 23 and greet her- and she was thrilled to see me. I haven't seen her since then. She was a human, and she's likely dead now. It was nice to know someone cared for me back when I didn't have anyone.
Now I have someone.
…
I feel like there was one thing that I forgot. But, who knows. I've probably blocked it out by now. My memory’s limited nowadays.
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“I'll see you on the moon… there's already a party… and as you’re gasping for the last of air, you’ll tra-la-la-la.”
“No es la locura… En realidad es el amor! Now that you've heard it all, there is the door.”
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