Snapdragons

Snapdragons Part I

Bong…bong…bong. Twelve times the clocktower repeated itself. The night was warm and stuffy, lingering moisture coating the streets. It was eerily quiet excluding the ringing from the distant tower. August thirteenth was coming to an end. Midnight had finally arrived.

Despite the heat, Theophania tugged a cloak over her shoulders, fastening the drawstring until she blended with the twilight murk of the streets. She flipped the hood over her hair until it fell just above her eyes. Alice wore a black hat and small cape that created shadows over her. They looked indistinct in the dark, perfect for meeting a stranger at midnight.

After they had walked a couple of blocks, the clocktower was looming, arches and crevices forming haunting face-like impressions. Before them was a circle, surrounded by tenements, surrounding a statue of a man riding a horse. In the meager moonlight, the horse wore a horrific expression and the man menacingly pulled at the reins. But below the frightening statue stood an awaiting figure.

Alistair also sported all black clothing, which wasn't unlike him to begin with. But now he lowered a black hat over his eyes and straightened a stark charcoal coat. It was almost as if they were all mourning for someone or something that hadn't yet died.

As Theophania and Alice stepped across the intersection to meet Alistair, fog began to clear with the entry of a cool drizzle. Though warm outside, rain began to fall.

"Are you ready?" Alistair questioned quietly. Theophania and Alice glanced at each other briefly. "Yes."

…

The house was tall like apartments but looked to be half abandoned. Water cascaded from the shattered third floor window. Rain seeped into cracks and holes where the house had given in to rot. From somewhere in the depths of framework and neglect, a light flooded from a window and onto the street.

"Should…I knock first?"

Alistair hesitantly stepped up to the worn door, reaching to press knuckles to wood. A spatter of water fell from overhead and onto his shoes, making him cringe at the cold and reel back, startled. But Theophania and Alice appeared behind him and that was enough reassurance to go through with the motion. When Alistair knocked on the door it seemed the whole structure groaned with envy of flesh and bone. The house shifted toward his dying warmth.

At least a minute went by before sharp footsteps echoed and stopped in front of the door. A moment where you're sure that the person on the other side is examining you, but aren't sure how they could possibly be staring through the barrier. The door opened.

The women on the other side looked frighteningly ordinary. She had pale yellow hair with flyaways that blended with her even paler skin. She wasn't too tall but was thin. Her bony hands and sharp nails clasped the door frame.

Nobody said a word but eventually the mystery woman stepped back and opened the door for her guests.

The inside of the house somehow wasn't as run-down and dreary as the outside. In fact, it was brimming with flowers of all types. Everywhere you looked was another bright colored bunch of blossoms. The smell was overwhelming. Sickening even. Alice stifled a gag.

"Thank you for coming." The stranger's voice was as sweet as the abundance of flowers. Alistair noticed then just how misty her eyes and other features looked, like you had to peer through a veil to really glimpse at her.

As the weak warmth of the house began to settle in, she started leading them through the depths of flowers. They probably didn't travel far through the house, but with roses blocking their every view it sure felt like a trip. Finally, a curtain was drawn from a less flower-invaded doorway and they stepped into a parlor. The parlor was crowded with carpets and curtains and vases upon vases of snapdragons. It was dim, but a gas lamp illuminated a corner of the room near a window surrounded by more fabric. Which was an obvious fire hazard.

But it wasn't a fire hazard that caught the attention of Ms. Snapdragon's guests.

"Edwin?"

At the center table, which was rectangular and also covered in lacy cloth, sat someone a little too familiar. Edwin Deighton seemed neither bored nor entertained, one leg crossed over the other, gaze shifting to meet each new guest. But Alistair hadn't said a word, and now he wondered how Ms. Endicott, the one who had spoken, could possibly have known the man who's haunted his life for the past two years.

A lover? Maybe. A relative? More likely.

"Please," the mysterious woman interrupted the silence. "Take a seat."

It seemed so unpredictable yet Alistair was not at all surprised to see Edwin that rainy August night. And he wasn't afraid to sit down beside him when that was the only empty seat at the small table. As the presumed Ivory Snapdragon crossed the room to grab something, Edwin spoke in a hushed voice, "So you received an invitation, too." It was a statement, not a question. Alistair nodded, Alice shifted uncomfortably in her seat.

Ms. Snapdragon arrived back at the table with a large, shallow pan, round and daubed with burn scars. She placed it in the center of the table, leaving little room left on the surface. She didn't take a seat but rather stood before them and the pan.

"I'm…not familiar with this game," Alistair spoke in a low tone that came forth as a mumble. Theophania nodded to agree with his statement. Ms. Snapdragon smiled wryly as if a game involving a burnt pan were common knowledge. In the end, and much to the vexation of Alistair, it was Mr. Deighton who offered to explain the game,  as if Alistair's confoundment were an excuse to point his attention at someone and look helpful. Brontide murmurs rattled the windows.

"Snap-dragon is a parlor game. It requires some type of pan or tray, brandy…" As he explained, Ms. Snapdragon set a bottle of alcohol on the table. "And raisins or almonds but in this case I suspect some scam to replace the edible aspect." He briefly turned his fiery gaze away from Alistair and gave the woman a rather unsatisfied look. "The objects, in this case, will be put in the pan with brandy and lit aflame. Then I presume that we will have to gain them back."

Ms. Snapdragon smiled and nodded, pleased. "You're as clever as many make you out to be, Mr. Deighton."

Theophania frowned. "Is he correct about the scam? You plan to steal from us, do you?"

"This is starting to make sense," Alice remarked quietly. "Threatening people with authority over what you do is a risk…but if you execute it properly…you could get us out of the way-"

"Shall we begin?" Ms. Snapdragon interrupted. The room fell to silence. Ivory's saccharine smile made her guests nauseous.