BURN IN HADES Read Online Free Page A

friends.”
    “We’re not friends.”
    “The cruel things you say,” said Skullface.
    “Well, now you know better than to get too attached to anyone.” Cross tried to wiggle himself free from the tree’s grip.
    It dropped him. He plopped to his bottom.
    “You always preach loathsome words like this,” said Skullface. “I don’t know what to do with you.”
    Cross cleaned the dirt from one of his fingernails with a twig. “There are two kinds of souls in the underworld: those that burn and those that don’t. I’ll never burn because I’m smart enough to realize that you can’t make friends in this place. The trustworthy ones burn. The others turn on you like Judas.”
    The limbs of the tree swished from side to side. “Such a tragic view,” said Skullface. “Fear is no reason to pass up good things. Everyone could use a friend. And I shall have you know that I have never been a betrayer and do not ever intend to make myself into one.”
    “And that’s why we’re all here. Because the damned never foresee their damnation. If they did, they wouldn’t be damned.”
    “Why don’t you have a refreshing calabash? Hopefully, it will rid you of all your irksome gloom.”
    A single green bottle-shaped fruit ballooned out of a barren limb and dangled. Cross gave the strange fruit the evil eye. It was shiny and juicy looking, but it would quench his thirst the same way a bullet to the gut would.
    “If you want to be my friend so much, why do you keep trying to make me drink poison?”
    “Poison?” The bark over Skullface’s eyes formed a deep V down the center of his eyes sockets as if the skull were offended by the accusation. “The calabash is not poison!”
    “Don’t act like you don’t know your fruit hurts souls.”
    A pointy limb stabbed toward Cross and stopped just short of his neck. It was like a giant thorn.
    “Watch your tongue,” said Skullface. “It does no such thing.”
    “I guess you never get a chance to see the effects because you’re stuck here in this ugly ball court. But back in Vingólf, the place where I used to live, souls would frequently end up there half burnt, warning us about a talking tree that made them sick. Most were even afraid to admit what exactly happened to them, but I’ve seen their stomachs blow up.”
    The thorn swayed away from Cross, and Skullface’s glowing eyes dimmed nearly black.
    “You are mistaken,” said Skullface. “My one true friend, I would never hurt you. I only wish to replenish your soul. That is all. Do you not trust my words?”
    “Words are just words,” said Cross. “Your intentions might be good, but good intentions can do as much harm as cruel ones. I believe you when you say you don’t want to hurt me. But that doesn’t mean you won’t.” He smacked the fruit with the back of his hand. It sailed across the court and splashed on one of the walls. “The answer is always no, Skullface.”
    “What is this name you insist on saying to me?” said Skullface. “How many times must I tell you that this Skullface name is not what I shall be called? I am Bolon-Hunahpu.”
    “Then it’s your funeral, Bolon. You know it’s not wise to use true names.”
    “I am never frightened of any spirit.”
    “Good. ‘Cuz they’ll come soon. And I have to find Gimlet before I lose her too. I’m going to start tying her ass up from now on.”
    Bolon-Hunahpu pivoted its trunk and twisted its branches. Eyes bloomed on the tip of each twig of the bony branches. The pupils darted every which way, and the branches swayed as though a breeze nudged them, but no such breeze ever swept through the underworld. That would be too comforting for the damned. Cold places existed in the underworld, but they were just as tormenting as the hot ones.
    “I can’t see her,” said Bolon-Hunahpu, “but I sense that your pet cornurus is currently behind the palace. It appears she may be hunting. I shall draw her over to me. But before you leave, you must