Hades Cliff

"Oh god." I sniffled. "What did I ever do to deserve this?" I cried out between sobs. The woman pulled me behind her with such brute strength my feet could barely keep up. So, I carried on with my worthless plea. "I may have stolen a few things in my youth and hijacked a car but who hasn't impersonated a valet and taken a Lamborghini on a joyride? That was stupid teenager stuff. I swear, I'll repent," I cried out again.

I rambled on and on like it would somehow bring on a deus ex machina and save me from this nightmare. But real life didn't work that way, so I did what I could.

She dragged me to a black SUV with no license plate and my heart rate plummeted and my eyes dilated.

She was really going to murder me. I felt it in my bones. No one had a car without a license plate unless they planned on doing some shady ass shit.

I thrashed and wiggled against her and somehow managed to escape her grip and took off towards the open field, but there was nowhere to hide. The forest was so far away and I knew, I wouldn't make it in time before she snatched me.

I frantically looked for a paved road but there was nothing but dead grass for miles and miles, and it wasn't even knee-high.

She would definitely catch me in a heartbeat. The best chance I had was running and not looking back. If she managed to stuff me in that trunk, I was as good as dead.

I panicked and continued my pursuit to the open field despite my chances. My hands were still tied behind my back and I couldn't help but stumble as I ran for my life.

My breathing became jagged as the night sky loomed over me with millions of scattered stars that illuminated the field like a stage light.

I didn't even make it ten yards before I was body-slammed into the ground.

The wind was knocked out of me and I rolled onto my side and gasped for air. Covered in dirt, she picked me up and threw me over her shoulder like a sack of potatoes.

I didn't even catch my breath before she slammed me into the trunk.

Then she put her slender pointer finger to her ruby lips and whispered, "Don't make a sound."

She closed the trunk, started the SUV, and peeled out of the empty parking lot.

Every bump and turn sent me flying. I tried to kick my way out but the constant whiplash was making it difficult.

My head smacked against the back of the seat and I let out a loud Ooof. 

My vision blurred, and I couldn't concentrate as a strong queasiness settled in my stomach. I honestly thought my beer from earlier was going to come back up and paint the whole trunk.

It didn't help that my poor heart was running a marathon. It was an endless feverish sprint to the finish line with no clear goal in sight—only a million scenarios crossing my mind—ones that suggested ways I could have avoided this mess, but it was too late for that.

The SUV came to a screeching halt.

I was so quiet like I had stopped breathing altogether, or maybe, I had forgotten how to when the door slammed shut and the crunching of dead leaves rang in my ears.

The closer the sound became, the more a deep-rooted turmoil stirred inside me.

The trunk clicked and popped open.

The smell of rust, pine, and salt hit me all at once.

I squeezed my eyes shut and clenched my hands into tight fists. My nails dug into my palms and a sharp twinge of pain shot through me. I could feel blood ooze and trickle down to my wrists.

I heard the click of her tongue as she dragged me out by my tied-up hands.

My knees slammed onto the gravel and another Ooof escaped me.

I slowly opened my eyes and a rusted sign reading Hades Cliff in an off-white color towered over me.

The crashing of waves hitting sharp rocks sent me into another panic. I rambled on despite her previous threat. "From one girl to another, your boss seems like a di—"

She cut me off before I could finish. "You talk too much."

She pushed me in front of her and all I could think about was why this place was so infamous and why it had the second name of Widows Peak.

Rumors swirled around after so many deaths. They swore that the Styx River resided right below the cliffside and that Hades himself would cry out to all the damned and condemn them to jump, leaving countless grieving widows behind.

"Now, disappear," the woman said as she shoved me onto the bench that faced the oceanside.

It was meant for you to admire the beauty of nature, not make you realize how far the drop would be.

I gulped, hesitating to speak. "You, you want me to jump?" I whispered more to myself than to her, shaking like a newborn calf.

"I don't drink soiled-blood bags and I'm not going to stain a perfectly good outfit for one," she hissed, baring her fangs; her face full of disgust like I reeked of cow manure.

I almost peeled over and died right there when her fangs grew and then retracted.

"Like off the cli-cliff?" I reiterated, not wanting a definite answer or for her to get any closer to me.

I was content with staying on this bench for the rest of my life, and I didn't think I could move my legs even if I wanted to.

She scoffed and rolled her eyes. "You're out of our territory. No one should hear or harm you here, but if they see that you are alive or in our territory, you'll have a fate worse than death. So, you should disappear," she growled, unbound my hands, and then walked away.

She took off in the SUV and I was stuck, dumbfounded.

I didn't dare leave the bench and it felt like hours had passed before I worked up the courage to get up and walk.