The Serpent of Cinders

Lana

     Timothy wandered through the silent apartment in a daze. All of this excitement was a bit too much to process and he couldn't even ask his dad for advice. He eventually ended up in the one bedroom and noticed a peculiar item framed on the wall. It was the icy scale from all those years ago. How had he not noticed it until now? His father had kept it and even framed it.

Timothy walked across the room and removed the item from its frame and stroked it lightly. He gave a slight shiver as the frozen presence of the scale surrounded his hand. He then started to pack his meager belongings into a backpack. He knew that he couldn't stay at his apartment while he waited for his dad to wake up so he might as well go to this "Grandmother Sarah's" place to see if she knew what was going on. Another reason he was going was because he had recognized the voice of the "butler", it was the same man that had claimed to be his "caretaker" at the hospital. Also, Timothy recognized the name "Sarah", he'd heard his dad talking to her on the phone a few times. His dad always seemed upset after those calls so he never asked him who it was. After Timothy finished packing, he fell asleep on the couch and dreamed.

Timothy was fourteen years old. It was winter and he was skating on a lake in Michigan with his dad. There were other groups of kids skating and even a few other adults. Suddenly, the ice in one part of the pool cracked and collapsed. One kid fell in and then another. Both were plunged into the icy water just a few feet from Timothy. Timothy tripped and fell while watching the two kids in the water, cracking the ice underneath himself. He screamed and closed his eyes. When he opened them, the two kids stuck in the water stopped splashing around. A few of the adults walked over and noticed that the two kids who had fallen in were no longer surrounded by water, but by a solid casing of ice. A firetruck appeared with its sirens blazing. They lowered a firefighter into the hole in the ice to chisel the kids out. The two kids had no idea what had happened. For some reason Timothy's dad looked frightened, not by the ice, but of Timothy. He took him out for ice cream afterwards, and then they went back to the apartment.

Ding-dong.

The ring of the doorbell reverberated through the apartment waking up Timothy. He rolled off of the couch and stretched before checking the peephole on the door. Outside was a girl who looked...goth? She looked to be a few years older than him and she looked very irritated. He opened the door and the girl began chatting away immediately.

"Hi, I'm Lana. I'm your new sitter provided for you by the state because your dad is in the hospital. Sorry about that by the way. So I'll be your guardian until he gets better. 'Kay?"

Lana spoke like a well-oiled engine, quickly and without breaks. She barely paused to breath as she introduced herself to Timothy. Timothy just stood still taking it all in. Lana had spiked, black hair with frost tips. Her ears were each pierced at two points and she had a nose ring as well. She looked to be about eighteen or nineteen years old.

     "Done staring Timmy?"

"Okay...sorry" Timothy ventured. "Would you like to come in?" he invited.

"Sure!" Lana enthusiastically said as she walked inside. Timothy realized that this might complicate his plans to go on his escapade come Monday. Lana quickly made herself at home. She stayed with Timothy until around dinner time. She made him some food before asking him what he wanted to do this weekend.

"Uh, well I was going to just relax here both days," Timothy replied.

"Is that so?" Lana questioned. "Okay!" she quickly said afterwards. "Just call me if you need any help whatsoever. My number is on the counter near the phone. Bye!" Lana left, closing the door behind her as Timothy scooped the strip of paper with Lana's number into his pocket. Now, it was time to wait for Monday.

The weekend took a long time to get over, but during that time Lana came over to Timothy's to check up on him. She made him lunch and took him out for dinner both days. Once Monday came around, Timothy had started to enjoy Lana's company and was sad that he had to lie to her about going to school.

Lana showed up Monday morning to remind Timothy to call her about anything and to walk him to the curb. As the bus drove away, Timothy looked back to see Lana walk back into the apartment complex. When the bus dropped all of the kids off at school, Timothy didn't go inside, but instead he inched his way around the school entrance and started walking. He went about a block before he hailed a taxi and told the driver to take him to the Bronx Zoo.

"Ain't you supposed to go to school kid?" the driver questioned.

"Just drive," Timothy commanded. The driver just shrugged and put the car into gear before driving to the zoo. Unlike Timothy's previous taxi trip, this one took the appropriate time to arrive at its destination and the driver asked for his payment. Timothy payed the driver and walked up to the zoo entrance. He checked his phone for the time and saw that it read only 7:52. He had plenty of time to scope out the area before the meeting time.

Timothy wandered through the zoo and looked at each of the animals. He also kept a look out for anything suspicious. He ended up near the entrance to the zoo at 11:55, five minutes to the meeting time. Timothy sat down at a table while still looking around for any suspicious activities. He noticed a father and his daughter sitting at a table together; they were occasionally glancing at him. He saw an elegant lady leaning against a railing watching him. At exactly noon, a man wearing the most conspicuous disguise, a trench coat and fedora, walked to a spot next to Timothy.

"So you showed, huh?" he rumbled. "Follow me." The man started walking towards a door marked "STAFF ONLY". He opened it and gestured for Timothy to go inside. Timothy walked in cautiously and was disappointed to see a normal looking hallway. He didn't know what he expected, but he had been waiting to see something crazy. The man closed the door behind himself and kept walking so Timothy followed. He led Timothy through a maze of back halls until they reached a door labelled "Custodial Supplies". The man opened the door to reveal a broom closet. A broom closet full of cleaning accessories. The man then closed the door and knocked on it twice before opening it once again. He walked through as Timothy followed. Timothy blinked, rubbed his eyes, and did a double-take. What he was seeing was impossible.