Nightshade- Chapter 2
Chapter 2
Aurelia
Deep under the ocean floor, there was a stairway to hell and it was in that belly of the devil that Aurelia lived. In the dreams she engineered, victims experienced a soft and alluring woman with breath that spiked their heart rate but in this dead house, she smelled sour and her fingernails curled in long, thick barnacles.
To the eyes of Helena as she stood in the doorway, Aurelia was animal-like lounging in her own crepuscular filth. A long femur leaned up against the wall in a corner of her room with holes notched into it like a flute. She felt relieved not to have heard the succubi’s song.
“Good day,” she said, stepping away from the doorway and further into the room. The chamber was shadowed and lit only by candles with wax pooling at their bases. There was a rippling light that moved across Aurelia’s face from above as the demon lazed on her red velvet duvet.
“It is indeed,” Aurelia said without looking at her guest. She licked her fingers and in the flickering light, a red sheen wetted on her fingertips.
“I was told you could help me.”
The demon ignored her. Help was a two-way street, and by helping a demon you could expect for them to take more than you were willing to give. Helena wasn’t worried about this- at least, not now. There was plenty that Aurelia could take from this request leaving Helena quite satisfied.
“I want to offer you life.”
“Yours?”
“No, the chance to become human.”
Aurelia laughed. Helena was grateful for her easygoing demeanor- she’d made sure to come after a feeding so this was the side of her she’d get. The screams of men had filled her halls just an hour before and when Helena first entered those doors, she walked the red velvet halls and felt the sick fear and euphoria in the air. So at this laugh, she still didn’t let her guard down. She had to choose her words carefully because demons, they twist and they break and they devour.
“It’s not on the table for me anymore. I took too many lives my first time, and I ruined a lot of others. God would never let me roam his green earth again.”
Helena removed the dainty, inch-long scroll from the pocket of her black dress.
“God didn’t give me this spell.”
The demon looked at her then for the first time. She moved from the bed and toward her to hold out a hand.
“Let me see.”
Helena smiled and put it back in her pocket. “Not quite yet.”
“What do you want for it?”
“Your tongue.”
Aurelia looked upwards, thinking. “It does a lot for me. And others.”
“Then it’s an equal trade.”
Aurelia narrowed her eyes. “Fine. Now give it to me.”
Helena’s nose burned with the smell of seared flesh. She moved away from the demon and closer to her bed, where there were bones scattered, some with meat still on them. Above her, a large fish swam past the ceiling window, his body like a slow, large air balloon at the Macy’s Day Parade. And then the feeling of a small hand materialized in her own, her daughter beside her in the crowd as they waved to the dancers with their free hands. Her daughter’s hand broke away from hers then to hug her father who returned from the restrooms, and she watched him scoop Vivienne up in a bear hug and thought, how lucky we are. We’re happy. This is what love feels like.
Now, her hand was in a fist and she wished she could rip him apart. If only she could go back. But this was second best. And it was fated.
“I need you to kill witch hunters, and witch hunters only.”
“Are you playing with me? Stop wasting my time. I’m not your protector dog.”
“No, you’re a wolf. You can’t be controlled. I know this. But if you want your tongue back, I will give it to you after you’ve killed the hunters. The tongue, if there are no innocents dead by your will.”
“No, that’s not worth it.”
“What would make it so?”
Aurelia looked wildly around her room. She swung her hip and rolled her shoulders as she walked, convulsing to her own thoughts. Helena swallowed, giving her this moment of satisfaction.
“Well,” Helena asked.
“Don’t rush me.”
“I have other things to do.”
Aurelia flew up to her face and then backed away. “As fun as this was, I know you’re lying to me.”
“Why?”
“No one would ever let me live again.”
“The goddess would.”
Aurelia looked at her out of the side of her eyes. “The goddess gave you that spell?”
“She did. Specifically for you. She’s tired of her witch daughters living in fear.”
The demon gulped. “I will agree to your terms, if you agree to mine.”
When she stepped closer, she touched Helena and the claws on her fingers felt brittle and sharp and she couldn’t hide her shivers.
“I take your body.”
Helena spat into her hand and held it out, and the demon licked it off her palm and then smiled.
“Let’s burn these motherfuckers to the ground.”
