Behind the Clouds

Cursed

When Elizabeth returns to the hat shop, the evening darkness had already settled in. Usually bustling high streets were now vacant of their earlier hustle and noise, ghosts of their former selves, instead filled with the odd straggler or wanderer like herself. 

Vehicles lay dormant in the road, their spluttering engines devoid of life and steam. Even the shop fronts, with their usually bold and colourful displays, were shrouded in shadows and gloom. Darkness and emptiness. Everything had become sleepy, still, the dusk and gloom of the night settling in a filmy shade.

Warm light spilled from the streetlamps, amber and orange like a glowing fire. They splashed the buildings in circles of bright yellow, making the paint sparkle and gleam like fine gloss. Each window they landed upon gave a blurred image of the scenery within, displaying items of interest or the shadows of inhabitants performing their nightly rituals. 

But even the lights, with their bright glow, had a sort of eerie feeling. A foreboding feeling.

Elizabeth herself came under a glowing spotlight, her shadows dancing on the street's paving stones, as she hopped up the front steps of the hatter's. Like usual, the green paint of the building was a moss green in the gloom, and the plaques with advertisements and opening times within them were a dull grey. 

In the reflection of the door's small embellished windows, she spotted her face and hat melded into one, the light playing with the reflection. Usually, she would pay it no mind, but tonight she was a little more on edge. A little more wary. As a result, she paused as she slid her key into the lock and unlocked the door.

"What a strange reflection..." She mumbled as she pushed open the door and slipped into the shop.

Closing the door behind her, Elizabeth flipped the latch and removed her hat from her head with a sigh. As much as she loved the accessory for making her semi-invisible in public, she also hated how stuffy it could feel sometimes. With it being so lowly drawn over her eyes, her forehead would always feel tight and constricted. Her vision was always slightly cut off too. But to Elizabeth, those were small prices to pay for exchange for semi-invisibility.

Walking towards the counter, Elizabeth placed down her hat and checked the shop for anything amiss - as was the routine. Everything was just as it was left: hats were positioned on their hooks and stands, the fabrics also coated in the darkness of shadows; a few feathers stuck out, their shadows almost like monstrous limbs; and bright beads caught the gleam of the streetlights outside, glimmering with small specks of red, yellow or blue.

By force of routine, Elizabeth took a box of matches from the counter and struck one. The tiny amber flame danced on its wooden stick before being guided towards a small oil lamp. Just as it lit the room, flooding it with bright, warm light, it licked the tips of Elizabeth's finger.

"Ouch!" The goddess waved her hand, putting out the flame. Instinctively, she dropped the match onto the counter and began to heal her now red finger. 

Bright light escaped from her uninjured hand, soft and gentle as it touched her burned skin. "Am I ever going to learn how to light these things properly?"

Due to her clumsy nature, this happened way too often to be extremely abnormal. In fact, whenever anyone else was around, Elizabeth always requested that they lit the lamp instead of her. Otherwise, the hat shop may just burn down one day because she accidentally burned herself once more.

The tinkling of the shop's bell draws the goddess' attention, the sound being something she hadn't expected. Immediately, it draws Elizabeth's eyes to the front door, where a woman dressed entirely in dark clothing stands.

Her dress is one made to fit the body tightly, emphasizing the dips of her curves and the slimness of her build. Dark gloves match her dress, along with a pair of dark, shiny heels. Along her neck was a line of a glass onyx beads, a single red jewel dipping to land in the middle of her exposed chest.