𝐁𝐫𝐨𝐤𝐞𝐧 𝐀𝐧𝐠𝐞𝐥𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐓𝐚𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐝 𝐖𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬

Human

"Did you find them?" A new voice, feminine, with a slight almost Romanian accent questioned.

"No, m'lady." The lower voice answered and Sera realized that while they might not be speaking English or Italian, she could understand them.

She only realized this by the look of confusion that was once again splashed across Elias' face.

"We searched the entire Manor, not a soul to be found." The higher pitched voice said.

"Stupid fools! They are human, how hard is it to find humans? They smell human! Find them!" The new voice was shrill and bounced off the walls. It was so loud Sera pressed her hands to her ears, lest they burst.

What did she mean by "they are human"?

Sera removed her hands from off her ears and heard the scuttle of uneven feet. She crept up to the corner of the pillar to try and see what could be making those sounds and the sight before her made her stomach twist.

They weren't human, well not exactly. They had humanoid bodies, taut and firm like a muscular man. Instead of human legs they had a horse's hind leg and a lion's hind leg.

And they were conjoined at the shoulders. The right side of the creature had a human arm while the left side had almost octopus-like tentacles.

They already had their back facing Sera so she could not see their faces but she had no doubt they were grotesque and inhuman-like as the rest of the body.

Sera spun back around the pillar, pressing her back to the stones and a hand to cover her scream. She shook her head several times, once to make sure that she was in fact not dreaming and then again to make sure she wasn't hallucinating.

"What did you see?" Elias asked, his voice still in a whisper. Sera turned to him, her mouth slightly agape.

"I-I don't know," she replied, bewilderment in her voice. "It was like something from a horror book. Not entirely human, almost as if someone had found random scraps and sewn them together."

"Don't be ridiculous now, Serafina."
Sera did not like the tone in Elias' voice or his condescending gaze. Even in the dark she could feel his strange yellow eyes narrow at her.

"I swear on the Bible, I'm not being ridiculous." She pressed a hand over her heart.
Elias rolled his eyes and peeled himself from the wall. "You don't even believe in the Bible so you swearing on it is meaningless."

Sera rolled her eyes. Now that the door was open the burning sensation in her body had returned and she felt, once again, the overwhelming sense to enter the room.

She moved like a person possessed, her movements not entirely her own. The creature hadn't closed the door entirely so Sera slipped through the small crack.

"Sera! Serafina!" She heard Elias whispering her name frantically several feet behind her. She turned to face him and saw that he had only moved a few inches from their hiding place.

"We don't know who's in there, it could be another one of those...things you saw."

Sera knew that the thing in the room was different from the creature she had seen. The energy and air exuding from the room was different.

Of course she didn't mention this to Elias. He wouldn't believe her.

"You don't have to follow me," she whispered back before completely entering the room.

The room was a large empty space with marble floors and columns reaching to the ceiling. There was a set of stairs leading to a second balcony-like floor and rows of chairs. There were several mirrors hanging on the walls along with portraits of the Marquis and his family.

"This must be the second ballroom," Sera mused to herself as she walked closer to one of the mirrors.

She felt a chill creep down her spine and spun around. Upon seeing no windows or any place for a breeze to escape, she wrapped her arms around herself and steeled herself.

How she wished for her knife. She usually kept it strapped to her upper thigh but Aunt Gladys had found it one day and demanded she hand it over. It was now sitting comfortably in a velvet cushioned box...at home.

Sera looked at her reflection in the mirror and almost let out a laugh. If Aunt Gladys could see her now she would have a fit.

Her hair had fallen out of its updo and was now truly a wild mane atop her shoulders. Her cheeks were a flushed red and she could see the sparkle of sweat glisten across her collarbones.

Her eyes, however, were their normal shade of light purple. Nothing about them resembled the color Elias had described earlier.

Sera also noticed the burning sensation was growing stronger again. Confusion and anger clouded her mind; she still had not found the reasoning or cause for it and it was driving her mad.

Sera's back stiffened, suddenly becoming very aware that she was not alone. Without looking away from the mirror she called out to Elias.