Hades

Hades

1: THE KIDS ARE ALRIGHT

When the final bell sounded at Bryce Hamilton, Xavier and I gathered our things and headed out onto the south lawn. The weather forecast had predicted a clear afternoon but the sun was fighting an uphill battle and the sky remained a cheerless, gunmental gray. Occasionally the watery sunlight broke through and fingers of light danced across the grounds, warming the back of my neck.
“Are you coming over for dinner tonight?” I asked Xavier, linking my arm through his. “Gabriel wants to try making burritos.”
Xavier looked across at me and laughed.
“What’s funny?”
“I’m just thinking,” he said. “In most classical paintings, angels are depicted guarding thrones in Heaven or taking out demons…. I wonder why they’re never shown in the kitchen making burritos.”
“Because he has a reputation to uphold,” I said, nudging him. “So are you coming?”
“Can’t.” Xavier sighed. “I promised my kid sister I’d stay home and carve pumpkins.”
“Shoot. I keep forgetting about Halloween.”
“You should try and get into the spirit of it,” Xavier said. “Everyone around here takes it very seriously.”
I knew he wasn’t exaggerating; jack-o’-lanterns and plaster headstones already adorned every front porch in town in honor of the occasion.
“I know,” I said. “But the whole idea creeps me out. Why would anyone want to dress up as ghosts ad zombies? It’s like everyone’s worst nightmares coming to life.”
“Beth.” Xavier stopped walking and took hold of my shoulders. “It’s a holiday, lighten up!”
He was right. I needed to stop being so wary. It was six months now since the ordeal with Jake Thorn and things couldn’t have been better. Peace had returned to Venus Cove and I’d grown more attached to the place than ever. Nestled on the picturesque Georgia coastline, the sleepy little town in Sherbrooke County had become my home. With its pretty balconies and ornate shopfronts, Main Street was so quaint it could have been an image on a postcard. In fact, everything from the cinema to the old courthouse exuded the charm and gentility of a long-forgotten era.
Over the past year the influence of my family had spread and transformed Venus Cove into a model town. The church congregation had tripled in numbers, charity missions had more volunteers than they could handle and reported incidents of crime were so few and far between that the sheriff was forced to find other things to occupy his time. Nowadays the only disputes that happened were minor, like drivers arguing over who saw a parking space first. But that was just human nature. It couldn’t be changed and it wasn’t our job to try and change it.
But the best development of all was that Xavier and I had grown even closer. I looked across at him. He was just as breathtakingly beautiful as ever. I could feel his taut body occasionally brushing against mine as we walked side by side, our footsteps falling in time. Sometimes it was easy to think of us as one entity.

Copyright © 2011 by Alexandra Adornetto. All rights reserved.