Serpent of Desire

01

There was a creature at the back door.

Snowy fur coat shining in the glittering morning light. Ink black eyes locked on me in devious delight and within a flash, a young girl stood in the creatures place and pushed the door open.

Bells jingled together as she entered, bare feet slapping against the floor of my shop.

She gave me a grin, taloned nails fingering a row of colourful beads falling from the roof.

My long ebony hair swayed as I moved around my shop, tinkering with objects and instruments throughout, my luminescent gaze stuck on her.

Her grin broadened.

Mine flattened.

Bones clattered at my feet and I bent to retrieve them, scrunching my nose at the misplaced pieces while keeping an eye on the girl.

"Back you go." I murmur and flick them over my shoulder, listening as they tinker back into their rightful place.

I hum a tune and stride forward, running bejewelled fingers over the polished and chipped wood. The skirt swishes at my feet and I pivot on my heel, laying my elbows flat on the oak and leaning my chin in my cupped palms. "What do you want?"

A grating high pitched laugh escapes the girls throat and she bows condescendingly.

"You've been requested back home, malady."

I looked at her is disgust. "I prefer to see your real face."

The grin was wide on the girls face as her teeth rotted and blackened to decay, maggots crawling throughout bleeding gums.

Wrinkles appeared under night dark eyes, spider like lashes lined with kohl and stars ripped from the night sky.

"Hello, Mother." I purr.

"Ilaria." The woman speaks, a husky growl coming from deep within her throat that causes a shiver to crawl its way up my spine.

She glares down at the gems and bones littering the shelves, the pile of tarot cards resting by my cooling coffee.

She sneers. "I don't know why you put up with these human consistencies."

I raise a challenging brow and lift the drink to my lips.

She scoffs, one small maggot flying with spittle and landing on the pile of cards.

I grimace and flick my hand, the maggot evaporating and the cards clean once more.

"What do you want, mother?"

"Your father misses you."

A small smile lifts my lips but refuses to meet my eyes. "Does he now?"

Mother grins, clicking her tongue back and forth. "I can hear the sarcasm in your tone, girl."

"Oh no, I tried really hard to hide it." I blink back, taking a long, slow sip of my coffee. A serpentine hiss reaches my ears and I feel the tattoo at my wrist come alive, the serpent corporeal in seconds and hissing threateningly at the woman I have the displeasure of sharing blood with. I blink and the serpent is a tattoo once more, my familiar hiding in plain sight.

A rumbled growl comes from mother's chest and she picks up a small pouch, pulling the ribbons to dig inside for the contents.

A yelp escapes her lips, the pouch falling at her feet to spill small twisted bones.

"Pixie bones." I inform her.

"I gathered that." She hisses.

I smile and walk around the bench to grab the pouch, sitting them back on the shelf.