III. Mihai

I was afraid to touch either of them in case they were the ones causing my flashbacks. Everybody stared at us as the elevator doors closed and we began descending towards the lowest floor. We all stayed in silence. I could see from the corner of my eye that Hades was staring at me, analyzing me. I refused to confront his look with mine, it was already awkward enough. We finally approached the last level of the floor, but to my surprise, the elevator kept going. Before I knew it, we were on the -12th floor and still descending.

“Hayden here asked me for an extra pair of hands, and I offered him you. Hence we are descending into the Underworld.” My uncle began explaining. I stared at him in awe. I know I asked for this, maybe not out loud and not so much of it, but I regret it now. This is too much. Though we were descending deep into the Underworld, my anxiety was skyrocketing.

I looked over to my uncle meekly, unsure of what I could possibly say - “Who is Hayden?”

“Me.” Hades turned to me with a smile. You have a human name? I wanted to ask him out loud, but it seemed rude. He was a God, and I was a nobody, questioning his name of all things.

“Oh, of course. Sorry.” I smiled timidly. Hayden and Dorian had been friends for years and Dorian had been to the Underworld and Olympus several times. I envied how important he was and though everybody seemed to think that because he was my uncle I had a free pass to join him whenever I chose to, I was never allowed to go to either and it seemed Dorian had put me on the back burner. I was never considered for promotions or any kind of higher ranking. It seemed he only wanted me as his assistant and nothing else. To do his paperwork, which he had several other people for, so it was strange that he had suggested for me to work with Hayden.

“Are you interested?” Hayden’s deep voice broke my nervous thoughts.

“Of course, sir, I would be honoured.” I replied with a smile. Pleasing the client is always a priority.

“Just Hayden to you Miss Lockwood.” He smiled. He was tall, taller than any tree, he was a God and a King and yet his smile was most intimidating. “Are you ready? You’ve never been down here so pace yourself. The air is a lot tougher; you’ll need to get used to it. Mundane are fragile so take your time.” Hayden explained stepping forward to open the door. I nodded my head agreeing and he pushed a button, opening the door to what looked like a dungeon. I stared in awe as we walked out into the darkness with doors on both sides. Mist and darkness swallowed any object that was in further view. We made our way through, walking past a large, scary man with a puppy by his feet. Of course, as soon as they recognised Hades they moved out of his way and allowed us to pass, but suddenly the puppy began running after me. I turned around confused, but he made no noise. He sat down in front of me and just stared. Brown and fluffy. He looked so adorable I felt compelled to stop and pet him. I bent down to my knees and began to pet him, but his expression didn’t change, he just stared at me. I could hear the faint footsteps of my uncle and Hayden, walking on without me, but I felt compelled by this little puppy. Suddenly I could hear somebody running behind me and yelling something that I couldn’t make out.

“Eve! Eve get away from him!” I heard my uncle and I quickly got back up from the floor and turned towards them. I could see my uncle running towards me and Hayden calmly pacing after him. Suddenly, a large shadow casted over me and I slowly turned around to find that the little puppy had gone, and a large three-headed beast was standing beside me, grating its teeth at me.

“It’s okay, just stay still.” I heard Hayden whispering in my ear. I could feel his breath on my neck, but I could still hear him pacing behind me. His shoes echoed across the marble floor and yet I could feel his breath on my neck.

The beast was drooling like it was ready to eat me, so I stayed completely still. Suddenly the beast lunged right at me, there was nothing that I could do, but close my eyes and let myself fall to the floor. After a couple of seconds of nothing, no pain, no sound but the ringing in my ears I opened my eyes to find Hayden in front of me, petting the beast like it was a pet and whispering something in its ear. Vastly the beast turned back into a puppy and sprinted over to me, licking my arm.

“Are you okay Miss?” Hayden held his hand out and helped me up to my feet. “Sorry, I always forget about him.” Hayden smiled like it had all been a test. My heart was racing, and I could hardly catch my breath. His intimidating smile was no longer so intimidating as anger had brushed all of that to one side. “Be nice Mihai.” He chuckled like he was mocking me.

“You forgot that you have a three-headed beast?” I snapped insulted. I looked up at him annoyed, before realising who I was speaking to.

“Evelyn?!” My uncle always taught me to be respectful. His expression was appalled, but Hayden seemed amused by my annoyance.

“I’m sorry.” I bowed my head and carried on walking after them with my heart in my hands, beating out of control.

We walked out of the dungeon into a world that looked normal, just like Earth, but brighter and more beautiful. Their sky looked more purple than blue and although it was daytime, there was no sun up in the sky. It was a lot more colourful than I had imagined. I assumed it would be like the deepest depths of hell. All black and red.

“Here we are.” We approached a tall glass building that looked like a hotel.

“A hotel?” I asked. Having so little information about the Underworld made me look like an idiot. It’s not like I could read about it online. It wasn’t publicized for the entire world to see. Imagine the chaos.

“No, this is one of my homes as well as work,” Hayden replied with a smirk, walking inside.

“Wow, it’s beautiful.” I didn’t know in which direction to turn my head. The inside of the building looked completely sheer, though from the outside you couldn’t see inside.

“If you do choose to take this job, you will have to stay here with me.” He said walking me through the house. Wow. I hadn’t prepared to move all the way to the Underworld and leave my albeit boring and empty, but still life behind.

“For how long?” I asked, instantly reaching my grown-out nails to my mouth.

“As long as I need you.” He replied with his dazzling smile. We stopped in a large foyer with a sky like a ceiling. I felt shivers run down my spine, just at the thought of living in the Underworld. It would be a great story to tell in my future, but I was afraid.

“What does the job entail exactly?” I asked confused. Why me? Why out of all the people in our company would you pick me? I wanted to ask him out loud, but I didn’t have the courage.

“Data entry, meetings, and anything else I need help with.” He replied in his confident and strict manner. I didn’t say a word. I carried on looking around and contemplating whether I was comfortable moving. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity, but could I handle it?

“Evelyn? Have you swallowed your tongue?” My uncle spoke, breaking the stare that Hayden imprisoned me with. I felt anxious just at the thought that I potentially looked ugly or unflattering and found myself posing to appeal to him more.

“No, sorry. It’s just a lot to process.” I could feel my uncle's harsh stare, dig into my skin. He would never let me live this down if I rejected Hayden’s offer. I’m sure he worked hard to get me this job.

“Take a couple of days to think about it if you’d like.” Hayden smiled. He was so polite and perfect. I was a klutz. I was only going to get in his way. I had never felt more self-conscious in my life.

“No, that’s okay, when would you like me to start?” I smiled, giving into my uncle’s stare.

“As soon as you can Miss Lockwood.” My heart was beating heavy in my chest. So much had happened in a frame of ten minutes.

“Well, I need to go back home and pack, but…”

“That isn’t a problem, we can get somebody to deliver your belongings here.” He seemed thrilled that I had said yes, but my heart wasn’t so sure.

“Thank you,” I replied and carried on looking around and hide my worried expression. I had never lived away from my uncle. He and Max were the only family I had left, and I was afraid of leaving them behind.

“Let me show you to your room.” Hayden proceeded and we began walking across the long hall. Each step made my heart echo louder and louder inside my chest.

“I shall leave you to it now Eve. I will come to check on you later in the week.” My uncle didn’t follow us. We both turned around and Hayden began to smile.

“Don’t worry Dorian, I will take good care of her.” They smiled at each other and my stomach filled with butterflies.

“Bye honey.” He waved goodbye and left the building, leaving me behind.

We walked around for hours. Hayden showed me the town and around the house. He introduced me to the house staff; there were so many of them I couldn’t keep count. Once my things were delivered, he walked me back to my room.