Chapter 53 Masks off

Chapter 53 Masks off

Daphne
“Get out of here, you need to leave right now!” I say, shoving Hades toward the window.
“Daphne, come on,” Hades tries to protest but I push him out and toss his clothes out of the window too before running over to open the door.
Dalia pushes past me into the room. “Where is he? I know he’s in here!”
I am struck by Dalia’s mad eyes and flaming rage.
“Who? What are you talking about?”
She flings the closet door open, looks under the bed, in the bathroom, and open the adjoining door.
“Where’d you keep him?” Dalia continues. It’s still so hard for me to accept this woman as my mother. I can feel the maternal pull, but deep inside something’s missing. There’s a disconnect between us and it’s only been growing wider and wider over the past few days.
“I don’t know what you are talking about!” I say.
Dalia comes closer to me, sniffing the air around me. “I can’t believe you, Daphne. You let that man fuck you again!?” Dalia screams.
I push past her. “Again, I really don’t know what you are talking about.”
Dalia grabs hold of my hand and pulls me back to her with considerable, shocking force. “I didn’t go through everything I did to keep you safe from that man just for you to return to him like dog to its vomit. You have to stay away from him.”
The aggressive look in her eyes stuns me. “How’d you even know he was here? Are you spying on me?”
“Of course I’m spying on you. You are my daughter. I’m keeping you safe.”
“Why do you hate Hades? What has he done to you?”
“You mean besides the fact that he is a ruthless bastard who’s trying to steal my daughter away from me?”
“You don’t even think that I can make my own choices, do you?”
Dalia bursts into a mocking laughter at the sound of that. She laughs until tears come out of her eyes. “Make your own choices? Honey, you don’t know anything about your own self, how are you going to make good choices? The entire reason I kept you away from that man is because I wanted you to stay safe, to keep you close. I don’t want to see you bundled off to Hell.”
Hearing her rant, I realize I might have made a mistake. I didn’t escape from one prison just to end up in another one. “You can’t keep me locked up in here. Over my dead body. In fact, I want to return to school. I want to get out of here!”
Dalia’s brows raised. “You want to leave? Return to the human world? Are you crazy? Are you even listening to me? You are not a human. You are a goddess. You are my daughter which means you are not safe. Not in the human realm. You don’t even know what it means to take care of yourself as a goddess. You are not going anywhere, you are staying here with me! I won’t let you out of my sight. Not again,” she persists.
At first, I didn’t think she was serious but the expression on her face soon confirms it.
“You are really going to keep me a prisoner here.”
Dalia reaches out a hand to caress my cheek. I back away fast. I didn’t want her hand on me anymore. It’s like a mask has fallen off and I can see her clearly.
“Honey, you can’t use such harsh words. Prisoner makes me out to be some sort of monster. I am only looking out for you. I promise.”
I continue to back away from her. “You dumped me with no regards for my safety, or my wellbeing, and now, you expect everything to be perfect between us? I am still struggling to understand who I am and where I came from. I don’t appreciate being told who to love, who to be with, or what to do. I am horrified at Hades because he lied to me but I can’t stop myself from still being attracted to him. I am honestly trying to figure everything out. I see now that I can’t do that here. I want to leave.”
Dalia glares at me. Her mask drops completely. “You are not going anywhere! Phylis!” she yells for my personal maid. Phylis comes running into the room.
“Make sure she does not leave this room, do you understand me?” Dalia barks at her.
Phylis has a soft, remorseful expression on her face as she positions herself at the front door to block my path.
I stare at my mother in shock. “You can’t do this to me.”
“Watch me!” she says and slams the door shut, locking me in the room. For how long? Who knows?
I run over to open the window. My room in the upper floor makes it hard for me to jump down. Still, anything is better than being locked up in this room. I peer out, hoping to see Hades lurking about.
Nothing.
So, I climb onto the windowsill and slowly begin to make my way over the bed of flowers downstairs so that the beds would cushion my fall.
I break into a run when I land downstairs. I am still unused to Olympus. The streets feel circuitous. I run barefooted on the slippery floors. I keep looking back, hoping my mother is not behind me.
Looking back, I didn’t see the road ahead of me until I run straight into a solid brick of flesh and muscles.
“Careful there, girl,” I hear a regal voice. His arm catches me. I glance up and see his face. White-haired, handsome, older-looking guy. He radiates a power. He looks like the guy whose temple sits at the top of Olympus.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to do that,” I say.
He releases me, his strong hand freeing me. “You’re Dalia’s daughter, aren’t you?” he asks in his authoritative voice. I bob my head yes.
“I’ve been meaning to speak with you. I’m Alex, Hades’s brother.”