The Son of the Night - Chapter 2: Nineteen

***This Chapter contains heavy explicit language and mature references (i.e drugs), so view with discretion. This work is rated 18+*** 

Chapter 2: Nineteen

The next day was no different than the day before. Jase met up with Opal, had his fun, and then escaped to training at the Arium. Persephone, of course, interrupted like always. Sometimes he wondered if Hades was too busy for her, or she was just bored. After Jase won the last Trials, Persephone automatically started acting differently towards him. She wanted power, like most gods and goddesses did, but had a weird way of showing it.

It was the night of the full moon. Jase’s birthday. Throughout the day, people said ‘happy birthday’ here and there. He would simply nod his head in ‘thanks’ and carry on. His mother didn’t believe in birthdays, so he never grew up celebrating it. It wasn’t until he met Hades that he started celebrating holidays and birthdays. Hades celebrated everything from the summer solstice to the start of a new year.

Jase was turning nineteen. He knew that once the clock hit twelve, the gods would expect more from him. Maybe that was a good thing, because being cooped up in the Underworld for the rest of his life wasn’t the plan.

He would do anything to experience something new. Just one time.

Hades planned the most extravagant party for Jase. He may not be too fond of the young god, but Hades tried to become close with everyone in the Underworld. He liked to get to know people, learn their secrets, and then hold it against them when it matters most. Jase knew better than to trust Hades, so instead he would tell the god nonsense in hopes that he didn’t catch on.

The party was bigger than Jase originally thought. He knew Hades would recruit dancers, magicians, and servants—Jase didn’t expect to see a live elephant roaming around the ballroom. The animal was surprisingly well-behaved, probably charmed by one of the gods. Gods and goddesses filled the room, along with the sound of classical music. Jase personally would’ve never chosen that genre of music, as he preferred heavy metal or hard rock. Hermes was one of his favorite musicians. Either way, Hades always wanted to impress; and the theme of this party did not scream ‘party rocking’.

Jase stood in the center of the ballroom in his stark-black suit. Most people in attendance didn’t even know this event was for him. Gods and goddesses just looked for any time to party. Men and women brushed past him left-and-right, couples mingled, and groups stayed positioned at round tables that lined the perimeter of the room. There was a small area for dancing; kids kicked their feet in unison to the sound of Beethoven and moved to the rhythm of the night. He somewhat envied them. Oh, how is wished to be a child again. To be taken care of, nourished, and babied.

To be innocent and pure.

Someone tapped him on his shoulder, and he turned around to find Persephone dressed in all red, “Happy birthday, idiot.”

Jase couldn’t help but smile. This was the first time Persephone had said anything civil to him in years. Five years ago, she complimented him on his blade, but quickly took it back once he thanked her, “Thank you. Where is your plus-one?”

“I would say I’m his plus-one. Anyways, he’s at the bar as usual. Getting shitfaced,” Persephone sighed, crossing her arms, “what about you? Where’s that nymph that follows you around like a lost puppy?”

“Opal is most likely sleeping,” Jase responded. He tried to invite his little fling, but she denied with an excuse that she was busy the next day. Jase knew it was because she didn’t want to see his mother, which was completely understandable.

“Opal. What a unique name,” Persephone hummed, “so, what, are you going to take some other innocent girl from here and mutilate her brain? I’m sure… Opal…appreciates the night off from you.”

Well played, well played; but Jase was the master at comebacks when it came to Persephone. He knew exactly what strings to push, without getting in trouble by her lover, “If I were you, sweet cheeks, I would be more worried about your lover,” he nodded to Hades, who was at the bar hitting on a smoking-hot red head with a large chest, “who seems to be halfway there, already. She has some big tits, though, so I don’t blame him.”

Persephone followed his gaze and smacked her teeth, glaring at Jase before moving towards Hades. He watched as she slid in between the God of the Underworld and the woman flirting with him. Jase chuckled and turned his attention elsewhere. He wanted to do nothing more than leave. He wanted to go to sleep, and wake up, eat, and do the same cycle all over again for the rest of eternity. Wake up, eat, sleep. The basic three functions of life.

He decided he was going to sneak away. Hopefully, nobody would see him, but he could always play it off as if he was ill. Bad shrimp was the best choice of words, as he saw a shrimp cocktail on the snack table, and it looked rather depressing.

Jase waited until the music climaxed before he snuck towards the exit. Nobody paid him any mind, so he pushed through the doors. The guards in the corridor were obviously drunk. They laughed and played cards, cursing at each other. They didn’t pay him any attention, even as Jase walked past them, and his heavy boots clicked with the floor. It was quiet in the palace; everyone must’ve been at the celebration. Jase’s shoes were the only sounds that echoed through the hallways.

He reached his room only to find the door wide open. He paused, contemplating whether he should go back to the party and request back-up, or if he should just handle this himself. Hades was drunk, and so were all the guards, so the second one sounded the most reasonable. Jase could hear someone rummaging through his stuff; the slow creaking of the drawers opening and closing. He allowed darkness to flow from his hands—it slithered onto the floor, around the door, into the room, and encapsulated whoever or whatever was in there.

Jase had dark magic, just like his mother. He also possessed abilities similar to his father; he could control the elements of water whenever he was near it, but he mostly utilized his mother’s gift. It wasn’t exactly the same, Hecate could not conjure darkness or control the properties of light; but she was able to misplace the stars, or any beam of light itself. She was very similar to Apollo in that way. His mother was the true definition of celestial.

The person inside his room squirmed slightly before Jase walked into the doorframe.

“God dammit, Jase,” his best friend groaned, being squeezed more and more by the darkness like the strangulation tactics of an anaconda. Jase sighed and rolled his eyes, snapping his fingers. The darkness disappeared in an instant.

“What are you doing here? And why the hell are you snooping around in my room, Bohdi?” Jase walked inside and closed the door behind him, throwing Bohdi a jug of water in the process. Bohdi had been his best friend since he came to the Underworld. He was a son of Hades. Demi-god, at that. His mother was a prostitute the god had met in Egypt. Bohdi didn’t like to talk about it, though.

“First of all, it’s your birthday,” his friend responded, “and second, I left some… things here.”

“What things?” Jase questioned. Bohdi was a troublemaker just like himself. He knew better than to imagine that Bodhi had left his bible or anything innocent in his room. Jase raised his eyebrows and waited for the bullshit response that his friend had evidently planned to say.

“Why are you looking at me like that? I couldn’t have possibly—”

“Out with it, Bohdi. What is it, drugs?”

“Nooo,” Bohdi’s eyes widened. He gulped, shaking his head, “That’s ridiculous!”

“What kind? Marijuana? Cocaine?”

“Those drugs are for mortals,” Bohdi sounded astonished, “cocaine is crazy. You really think I would hide cocaine in your room?”

Jase sighed, leaning against the wall. Bohdi stared at him for just a second, “Okay, okay. Maybe a little bit of mushrooms. But they’re natural! So, we’re good, right?”

“Get them out. Now.”

Bohdi groaned and sighed, pulled a small plastic baggie from his back pocket, and tossed it out the open window, “So, how does being nineteen feel?”

“I’m not nineteen yet,” Jase responded, moving to sit next to Bohdi on his bed, “give me 30 minutes and I’ll get back to you.”

His good friend chuckled and pat Jase on he back in sympathy. Bohdi was twenty-two, about to turn twenty-three in two months. You could say that he contributed to Jase’s behavior, but he also taught Jase about the mortal world and what lied beyond the Underworld. A land made of green, lush grass, that traveled for miles. People treated each other the same, no person was different from another. That’s how Bohdi described the mortal lands.

Of course, there was no way to truly get to the mortal lands. Only demi-gods and the Big Twelve could disguise themselves as purely human, leaving the minor gods and goddess like Jase stuck in and around the godly lands.

“What have you been up to?” Jase asked, “I haven’t seen you since the last Trials. I was worried, you know.”

Bohdi scoffed, “You were worried about me? I took a quick trip to Dubai and couldn’t stop thinking about whether or not that evil bitch had seduced you while I was gone.”

“Persephone?” Jase asked with a raised eyebrow, “You know, she’s your stepmother. You should be careful throwing around names like that. Hades is always listening.”

“So what?” his friend smiled, “I don’t consider her my family. Especially not my stepmother. She’s younger than me. Anyways, how’s that girl that you were seeing? The one with the light blue skin?”

“Opal,” Jase repeated for the second time today, “Her name is Opal. And she’s fine. Busy, is all.”

“Interesting. You know, they have this movie called Avatar in the mortal lands. I think you would like it.”

“Avatar?” Jase questioned, allowing a smirk to grow on his face, “why do you think I would like it?”

“You know, nymphs and all…”

Jase rolled his eyes and fell back on his pillow, sighing heavily, “I’ll have to check it out.”

They stayed silent for a few moments. Bohdi could obviously tell something was different about Jase, a longing for something more than what he could ever offer him. Jase wanted stability, a happy ending, and a normal life. In Olympus, it was hard to come across either one, so Bohdi decided to extend an arm, “Why don’t you come to America with me? I’m going to Los Angeles for… reasons.”

Jase’s eyes lit up, “Really?”

“Really,” Bohdi smiled, “so, what do you say?”

Jase thought for a second. How could he leave without his Mother knowing? He didn’t really care either way, she would get over it. He just didn’t know how he’d feel when he stepped foot in the mortal lands. And what would they be doing?

Fuck that. I want to live while I’m still here.

“Count me in. Anything to get out of this shithole.”