Silvertroll

Chthonic Nightmare

The tremor in her hand prevents her from joining the clasp on the gold necklace. Libby gives up, packing up the messy jewellery displays, locking them up as is inside the glass bench. Fuck, she thinks when a customer enters, having planned to shut the store early. When she sees who it was, she curses again.

Peter Zansk.

The tall man peruses the displays, slowly working his way towards Libby.

"How can I help you, Peter."

Zansk looks at her, surprised at her tone. "I'm looking for something in the celestial range."

Libby knows this isn't the case, "Sure, over here." She pulls out a tray of silver pendants. Zansk takes his time examining each piece. The more he seems interested in the product the more nervous Libby feels.

"Nice," says Zansk. He studies each and every one of the Celestials. "Cheap, aren't they?"

Libby dares not to guess why he was there, so she goes along with him. "This range is sterling silver. They're popular."

Zansk picks up a large gold pendant from another display box. She explains, "That piece is twelve hundred dollars."

"You don't think the price has anything to do with value?" asks Zansk.

"Not at all," replies Libby. "It's subjective, really. Jewellery is emotional."

Zansk points to her necklace. "That silver piece is cheap. And yet those shoes are worth more than this..." He studies the golden pendant in his hand; archaic imagery, an owl inside an eye.

Libby looks down at her red stilettos, "As I said, it's not about price, it's about the impression you make."

The man doesn't seem interested in her words, "Do you know the story of Coeus?"

Libby bites her lip, unsure how to react, "What do you want, Peter?"

"He was a god," explained Zansk. "The god of intellect and foresight, and yet he helped his brothers dethrone their father. The war that followed devastated the universe. Such destruction." Zansk dangles the pendant. "Later he and his brothers, are dethroned themselves. More devastation. More destruction. What goes around, comes around. The God of intellect and foresight should have known better."

"Are you going to buy anything?" asks Libby, frustrated by his cryptic threats.

"How have you been, Libby?" he asks.

Having waited this long for him to get to the point, all she could muster is, "I've been good."

Zansk grins at first but lets it fade. "It's terrible, what happened to Julian."

Libby felt relieved. It made sense why he would come to see her. Any other reason would have filled her with dread. "I didn't know. I just found out."

Zansk seems unnerved by that. "How could you not know?"

The question catches her off guard, "We were not together."

"Yes, I know, you dump him, for the second time, am I right?"

Libby decides not to answer, she saw no point to it.

Zansk looks at her, examining her like he did the pendant, "You sure possess one callous heart. You forgot what we once were. You wiped Julian clean from your memory. Memory for you must be cheap and disposable."

She finds herself not breathing.

Zansk looks back down at the display box, "Why are all these so cheap?"

Libby gets her breath back and says, "They're last season's stock."

Zansk's smirk returns, "I'll take all of them."