Aidan sighed. He gazed at his reflection in the mirror, which was nailed onto the bathroom wall. He'd popped on some black contacts he'd acquired from his mother's beauty box. He hated the sight of his brown eyes covered up. He liked his eyes. They reminded him of his father.
He'd dyed his hair with some black hair dye he'd found in the medicine cupboard. Then he'd dressed into black clothes that seemed like spy gear. He looked okay, he guessed. It was all according to the plan.
Right now, the man was in the lounge, probably tearing it apart for treasure. Aidan had stalked the adult for several rooms and watched him toss a bomb into each room before leaving. The darkness had cloaked everything, so Aidan had been safe. For a while at least.
He'd seen the bomb dissipate in a flash of blue light, but everything had still been intact. It must be some new kind of technology, thought Aidan.
Aidan ran to the living room, his footfalls soft on the ground. He wrapped a curtain around his body and waited. The living room was the last and only room left to pilfer. The last one the thief would probably ever take from. If he managed to, at least.
At last, the moment came. The bandit dragged in, naturally tired from snatching the goods from all fifteen rooms. It was his chance. It was Aidan's time.
"You've committed many sins in the past." Aidan was proud of his voice. His Adam's Apple had just come in, and now it barely cracked.
To the man, it seemed like the voice had come out of nowhere. "Who is it?"
"Believe me. There is a hell. I've seen it," said Aidan. He hoped this would work.
"What are you talking about?" the man growled. "Who is it? Stop playing your jokes on me, and show yourself!"
So Aidan stepped out of the shadows. Of course, the man didn't see him. Until he ambled on to a spot where the moonlight shined. The light was dim, but he was exposed.
For a instant, the burglar's eyes showed a tinge of surprise, but it hardened. "Who are you?"
Aidan was silent.
The man reached for an explosive attached his belt and pitched it at Aidan as though it was a baseball. While scrutinizing the thief, Aidan had realized that before the he threw it, his thumb wavered on a small, almost unnoticeable button. That must be the activation, Aidan had thought.
The bomb landed at his feet. He remembered there had been a ten second countdown before it burst, so there was enough time to kick it away. The man snarled. He tossed explosive after explosive, all managed to be kicked away by Aidan. All in one circle, far enough to be blown up safely. Aidan had calculated this. Of course, the convict's only weapons were the bio-bombs. The explosions lasted at least two minutes, and for the living room, the robber would've needed at least twelve of them to cover the whole area. So, using eleven of them to make a big enough circle, the burglar would have one left, which Aidan would keep. Well, not to use of course. Just for studying. This was one amazing piece of technology. How could he resist?
The throwing of the bombs had lasted at least thirty seconds. And so, they simultaneously burst into flashes of blue until Aidan's hair was crackling with energy and he was experiencing the sensation of being ripped apart atom by atom. To the man, Aidan looked like he was the most powerful being on earth. All that power . . . emanating from the boy. It made him seem menacing, and the bandit feel weak, cowardly. But really, it was all a facade created from the bomb's own energy and light.
Aidan put on his most determined face and grinned the most vampiric grin he could muster. "I am Hades. Lord of the Dead."
"How? You're only a teenage boy! I thought Hades was a man!" the burglar blurted out. Aidan had been hoping that the man wouldn't acknowledge that. He was taller than average for his age, and had hoped that he could pass off as an adult.
"My realm is young and thriving. And therefore, I am too." Aidan had made that up, but it sounded pretty good.
Aidan continued. "As I have said, you have had many past . . . encounters in your life. They are to be punished for."
"No," the thief whispered. "I knew this day would come, I knew it! Please! Have mercy! Please! I didn't have enough to survive!"
Aidan frowned. The explosives were starting to fade to a lighter hue of blue and his hair was losing the electric illusion. But he pretended that the scowl had shown his displeasure. "Then show me."
"I will sacrifice myself! And I hope . . . that someday I will be reborn, and achieve Elysium!"
Aidan blinked. He'd only used the moniker "Hades" because of his relationship to the dead. But somehow, this had triggered the bandit's knowledge of Greek mythology. This man was more educated than he thought.
And before Aidan could protest, the man stuffed the last bomb into his shirt. It exploded and the thief was washed in blue light, the flare eating its way from head to toe. And before he died, Aidan could've sworn he was smiling. At the end, there was no pile of ash, not even a speck. The burglar had died a bloodless death.
The energy had faded, and Aidan collapsed. He groaned. His body ached all over as the atoms reassembled themselves in their right order.
When he regained his footing, he glared at the spot where the burglar had been. Inside his heart he felt bad and guilty that he'd caused this man to commit suicide. Aidan secretly hoped that the robber had truly achieved Elysium. And as he sat on the floor, thinking, he thought: It's a dark, dark night indeed.
***
Edgar smiled. He had reclaimed himself as a hero, no longer a untrustworthy burglar. As he sat in the lounge chair, he wondered about the teenage Hades, and how he had granted his wish to go to Elysium. And inside, he thanked Hades with all his heart.
