Hades' Lost Daughter

Chapter Five

After a couple of minutes, the thunder and lightning outside calmed down. Strangely, I noticed it happened at the same time I did.

I had been looking out the window, unaware of how much time had passed. Now, I was sitting alone in my room, I was staring at the dark walls in front of me without any particular thought in mind. My roommates had gone to sleep in another room since they claimed I couldn't sleep still and that I kept talking and screaming in my sleep. To be honest, I was glad I was alone.

The chilly night made me shiver and I placed my chest close to my knees as I wrapped my arms around my legs and placed my head over them as I watched the rain outside drop slowly. My mind recalled what had happened in the cafeteria in the morning as I tried to make sense of what I had seen. It must have been a coincidence. Andrew must have known that it was going to rain and he wanted to make me things impossible things existed when they didn't.

Still, I had many unanswered questions that didn't let me feel peaceful. Had I turned into some kind of freak now? How could I control- What exactly did I control? My blood froze as I thought this over. Andrew had called me Hades's daughter. But who was he? What did he mean?

As the first rays of sunlight emerged on the horizon, I quickly stood up and walked over to the closet where I kept a box hidden. I moved a couple of boxes on the ground, revealing the small brown chest hidden in the back. I reached for it and opened it to look inside for some kind of answer, something that could tell me about my parents or where I came from.

My old baby blanket was in there on top of everything. The red cloth was starting to blacken and wear out. I remembered how I used to walk around with it in the manor as a kid. Always. Until Barbara put it away when the other kids started to look at me enviously for having something that belonged to my parents. Barbara feared something would happen to the blanket and she convinced me to keep it somewhere safe.

As I took it out now, I couldn't help but smile with nostalgia. My eyes began to tear up and I slowly put the blanket aside to reveal the other objects that meant the world to me. Under the blanket was the note I had arrived with to the mansion.

Her name is Aileen

Take care of her.

Please keep her hidden and safe, she's a special girl and will need protection.

The letter looked like it had been done in a hurry and the ink was slowly fading with time. Other than those two items there was a locket at the bottom of the box. The golden object shone brightly under the light of the lamp and I took it out to examine it.

As a child, I had always feared I would break it or lose it so I always kept it in the box. Until now. On the side of the locket, there was a slit, indicating there was something inside. My eyes widened and I quickly moved closer to the light and tried to open the object with my nails. I bit my lip as I used all my strength to open it but it was sealed shut.

The sound of thunder made me jump and I realized I had begun to lose my patience. I sighed in frustration, placing the locket on the nightstand before heading over to the box and placing it back in the closet. I pulled the blanket closer to me and let out a deep sigh as a silent tear fell down my cheek. What was happening? Who am I? I asked over and over again but there was no answer.

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door, and a second later, Barbara's head appeared. "Can I come in sweetie?"

I didn't respond and Barbara walked in with her lips pursed together. The click of the door as it closed was the last thing that was heard in the small room for a couple of minutes. We just stared at each other, unsure of what to say. She knew I wanted answers, she knew what was happening but refused to tell me anything. What was the point of coming here if she wasn't going to tell me what I wanted to know?

Barbara opened her mouth to speak after a moment but I beat her to it. "I want answers, Barbara. You can't keep me in the dark. You have no right! It's my heritage, my life and I want to know what the hell is going on." Barbara looked at me with a bewildered expression on her face. She had never heard me speak like that nor seem so mad.

The room temperature was quickly rising which pulled Barbara out of her shocked state. She held up her hands in surrender and nodded quickly.

"I know that sweetie, but you need to trust me. There are rules we must follow. All must happen in its own time. Be patient, please, and believe me when I say I want to tell you, my child." Her voice was soothing and soft, just like the voice she used when I was having a bad day as a toddler. But as she spoke, I was shaking my head in frustration and tears began to form in my eyes. Quickly, I covered my face with my hands and sobbed. The temperature in the room slowly turned back to normal and Barbara was instantly by my side, hugging me and rocking me back and forth as she murmured comforting words in my ear.

"I know that you're scared and very emotional right now, Aileen. I understand, but please, be patient. All will make sense soon." When I didn't say anything, she continued, "I know what you need."

I looked at my friend in wonder as she smiled warmly at me. "Remember when you were little and I took you out for ice cream?" Slowly, I nodded my head. "Well, the day is still young and it has been so long since we last did that. Do you want to go out for ice cream?"

My eyes widened as I studied Barbara, I was sure that when I was little, it was easier to sneak me out of the manor but now it wasn't. I feared Barbara would get into trouble just because she thought some ice cream would cheer me up. Which in fact, it would.

"Isn't that against the rules?" I asked hesitantly and her friend shook her head.

"Not if we tell them we're going to get things for dinner and that's exactly where we're going, but we'll make a short stop at the ice cream shop," she said with a wink and I let out a burst of laugher, as I rolled my eyes and nodded.

Barbara helped me up from the bed, her eyes lingering on the blanket that I had in between my arms. Sheepishly, I folded the blanket and placed it back in the box before turning to Barbara. She was waiting for me at the door when I stepped out.

We didn't say anything as we headed down the stairs to where the headmistress had her office. Barbara motioned for me to wait for her outside while she talked to the headmistress and a couple of minutes later, she came out with a wide smile and a key dangling from her hand.

"Let's go," she said excitedly.

I chuckled and followed after her. When we got to the manor's garage, Barbara got into one of the SUVs they usually used when they needed to get a lot of things from the grocery store which was occasionally. It wasn't easy to feed more than one hundred kids of all ages.

I got into the car and Barbara started the engine. I changed the station on the radio as Barbara drove and it wasn't until I found a song that I liked that I started to sing softly. From the corner of her eye, Barbara watched me and smiled fondly as she listened to me sing.

After a couple of minutes, we got to the supermarket and found a spot to park quickly. I got out of the car in a hurry and waited for Barbara as she reached for something in her purse. My eyes widened when I saw the crumpled pages of all the items we had to get.

"Here, you go ahead and get these while I work on picking the fruit and vegetables. We'll meet at the line in an hour, okay?" Barbara said as she handed me a crumpled sheet of paper. I nodded my head slowly and when we got to the entrance, both of us took a shopping cart and went our separate ways.

I enjoyed coming to the supermarket. For some reason, everything amazed me and I wanted to make sure I looked at everything. This is why I was quick to get everything that was on the list and then spent time going through different aisles.

When I found nothing that interested me, I headed towards the cashiers where Barbara was also headed. We made eye contact and quickly met halfway in front of a line. "Did you find everything?" She asked me as we started to check all of the items through the automatic scanner. I nodded my head and helped her pack everything up in bags.

People seemed surprised to see how much stuff we were getting and in the end, I turned away from the checkout price, suddenly feeling very conscious. Our manor was lucky to have so many great benefactors to provide for us. I had heard of other orphanages that struggled with this type of stuff and worse, they were much smaller and lacked many of the things our orphanage offered. It was no wonder people found it odd we were orphans.

Once we were out of the supermarket, we unloaded the carts and I wiped a drop of sweat from my forehead as the sun started to reach its peak. The air was cool and I shivered as a slight breeze pulled my hair back. "Hum, that's odd. The forecast said it was going to be warm today," Barbara commented as she made her way to the driver's seat.

I shrugged and got into the passenger seat. We buckled our seatbelts and Barbara drove us to the nearest ice cream shop. It was in a plaza and we had to park a couple of meters away and head over walking. When we got there, I ordered cookies and cream ice cream, my favorite.

"I am going to go look for something I couldn't find in the supermarket, do you want to come with me?" she asked as she ate more ice cream from her cone.

I shook my head and smiled. "No, I'll wait."

Barbara raised an eyebrow, unsure if it was a good idea to leave me alone.

I rolled my eyes at her and shrugged. "I'll be alright. In fact, I'll wait for you here on this bench," I said as I sat down on a bench in front of us.

Barbara hesitated a moment longer before letting out a sigh of relief and nodding. "Alright, I'll be back soon."

I didn't say anything as my friend walked away and I let my gaze roam to the other shops in the plaza.

Clothing wasn't something that caught my attention easily but for some reason, a black dress on a mannequin caught my attention. I looked around to see if anyone was watching before I walked towards the window to look at it more closely.

It was a long black dress with gold beads on it. The torso had lace over it in a beautiful design and I couldn't help but feel in awe. I usually never wore dresses but this one somehow had caught my attention. The salesperson inside noticed me looking and smiled at me through the window which made me blush in embarrassment.

I was about to walk back to the bench when I saw Barbara's reflection on the window. She was looking at me with surprise in her eyes and a gleam of something else I couldn't decipher.

"We should go," I said quickly as I began to fast-walk towards the car.

Barbara quickly grabbed my arm and shook her head. "Hold on. Did you like that dress?"

My face paled and my body froze as I pondered on what to say. Slowly, I let out a sigh and waved Barbara off. "Yes, but it doesn't matter. I probably can't buy it and I don't see any type of situation or event where I could use it," I said quickly and crossed my arms in front of my chest.

"Oh you don't know how wrong you are," Barbara whispered, almost inaudible and I stiffened.

"What?" I asked quickly.

She shook her head and smiled warmly at me. "Just try it on. You won't lose anything by trying it on," she said encouragingly.

I hesitated for a moment but when I looked back at the dress I let out a sigh of defeat. Barbara smiled brightly and quickly led me towards the dress shop. The woman at the front desk smiled at us when she saw me walk in. "Would you like to try it on?" she asked brightly.

Slowly, I nodded my head and the woman eyed me closely, wanting to guess my size. "I think the one the mannequin has is good," she said softly and headed over to it to take it off.

I fidgeted uncomfortably as the woman handed me the dress. The textile was smooth and cool to the touch.

Quickly, they led me to the back of the shop where the fitting rooms were. I took off my clothes hesitantly and placed them on the stool in front of me before getting into the dress. The woman had been right, this was just my size.

As I struggled to zip up the back of the dress, I watched my reflection and wondered who the strange girl in front of me was.

Finally, the dress was zipped up and I looked at my reflection in awe. The dress hugged my torso in the right places and then fell over my legs. For some reason, I looked taller, and a wave of power coursed through me. I smiled just as someone knocked on the door.

"Do you need any help?" Barbara asked from outside.

"No, I'm good. I'm going to come out," I called from inside as I grabbed the end of the dress and tugged it up so I wouldn't step on it.

When I walked out of the fitting room, Barbara gasped and covered her mouth with her hand. Her eyes teared up and she quickly fanned some air onto her face. "Aileen, you look stunning," she said after a moment.

I smiled and spun in the dress with a peal of laughter. My eyes met my reflection once again and I saw the gold sparks in my eyes ignite. My eyes widened in surprise and I quickly looked away.

"I am going to change back to my clothes," I said awkwardly as I hurried back into the dressing room.

Barbara didn't try to stop me and I was glad.

Once I was back into my solid-colored shirt, hoodie, and dark jeans, I stepped out of the fitting room to see Barbara murmuring something to the saleswoman. When they heard me come out, they instantly stopped talking and smiled at me.

"We should head back to the manor. There are lots to do," Barbara said, taking me by surprise.

I nodded my head and thanked the woman before following Barbara out the door, suddenly wondering what they had been talking about.