A Serpent Smile

The ground was cold, ever cold but in a way it was soothing against my skin as it gave me a sense that lavished me beyond my misery and the void that had overtaken my mind. Thought had ceased to exist. It was better not to think because the flashes of torture was far too prevalent in this hell.

A thousand and one. Look at that, the water seemed to continue to drip far beyond what I’ve ever counted before in my life but it left me something to do and it was the closest thing that allowed me a sense of time. Perhaps a day has passed since he left me here and I have no desire to get up. What was the point in any of it, it wasn’t like I could escape. He had the key and I… I have nothing but a shell of torn flesh and a shattered soul. Funny thinking about souls when so many others have claimed I’ve got none to speak of.

Maybe they are right. Maybe I don’t have a soul and this was what the afterlife was. The thought of it being a nightmare was but a fantasy, everything hurt too much.

I can smell my own blood, that potent iron, still oozing from the wounds, blending with the stagnant air. How I wish I couldn’t breathe right now so I wouldn’t have to be reminded of it over and over again with each draw in. It hurts so much, breathing on its own is a chore. Ribs, my face. I must look like a hideous monster right now, like that rat.

Stop thinking before you remember it all so clearly. I don’t want to relive it. Please.

Stinging stabbing littered my form, making curling into a ball feel like my skin might come off but shivering, crying. I want comfort more than anything. I want to be in your arms Kenzo. Fuck, thinking about him just makes the tears worse and the loneliness nearly unbearable. I can’t think of a single day I truly was alone and here, I haven’t a clue how long I’ve even been here trapped under his grotesque thumb like a caged rat.

Click.

Nails. Someone was coming. HE. That sick fuck had to be coming.

Play dead. Play dead. Don’t breathe. Don’t move.

Maybe he will leave me be.

table ; bunny

In silence and shrouded in shadow, I watched with dark eyes. She was pitiful. Wrought with wounds and beatings, surely taken asunder by Lachlan, my beloved. A small grin did upturn my lips as I remained mostly unnoticed. A deliberate scrape of a claw against the stone floor alerted her to my presence, fear radiating from her in pulses.

Were I a lesser woman, it would pull on my heart. But I had clear instructions from Lachlan. Surely he knew me well enough to know I’d play my own games as well. I painted my expression with concern and worry, furrowing my brows and frowning deeply. My tongue clicked against the roof of my mouth as I neared the bars.
"Oh, honey,"
I heaved a breath of mock surprise.
"What has he done…"
My words were barely above a whisper.

Keys clanked together as I opened the cell door, then locked it swiftly behind me as I entered the cage. Her current housing. It was horrible, it reeked of blood, sweat, tears - anguish. It melted from the walls and slithered its way in every corner, coating her.

I crept closer, inching with small delicate paws. My nose was stretched out toward her, my head lowered, mouth slightly ajar. I continued with my charade, letting my voice raise just one octave.
"My dear, what is your name?"
My voice was honey, dripping with beautiful melody. Dark eyes of sympathetic glint scanned her, wondering just how the woman would react to her captor’s Queen.

code // art

Anger and fear rose as the creak of the door caused a shiver to flare along my spine, instantly ruining my facade of playing dead but maybe the intruder wouldn’t notice. Though, maybe now would be the perfect time to try to run while the door was wide open, if he moved to open it that is. With luck he wouldn’t catch me, and I’d be able to escape into the open world and then be lost without a clue of where I am. That would just cause a new hunt, one he would surely win without any effort whatsoever because he knew where here was, and I couldn’t tell from the light that flickered in or the scent around the building where this place was located. It was frustrating but he likely had done it on purpose so even if I did win, I’d run around in circles till the end of time if he didn’t catch me again first.

Wait? Was that a woman’s voice? Lifting my head abruptly, that headache throbbed like a danger being hammered into the back of my head as I blinked dazed at the figure at the bars. A striking red, such a close cinnamon like my own and those emeralds a more intense version, making my skin crawl. It felt like a whole colony of ants had rushed along my skin at the mere thought that the sick fuck had a type they both matched. She didn’t look horribly damaged, though she did look a bit older once my vision settled and finally cleared enough to see a form of a wolf instead of a colored blob. So, if she wasn’t one of his other things to harm, why was she here? A woman didn’t equal a sanctuary, my own mother is proof enough of that, but I want to believe she was someone that might help me. Someone that could save me, causing me to try to get up and meagerly walk to the bars but it all hurt so much. Lifting my head alone caused new blood to ooze from my neck where fangs had taken control.

“Please, I-” I started to speak but I found myself gain a massive lump in my throat as she pulled out a key and started to unlock the door. That little bit of hope was fading, still I braced myself, ready to fight that pain to break out once the door opened. She just had to keep it open a little longer, but this stranger’s concerning voice didn’t match the way the door closed behind her. Any trust she was here to help ran away with the click of the lock, taking away any chance of her leaving. I’d try to keep the malice that quickly replaced my relief, feeling like maybe I had a better chance taking on this lady if I could take her by surprise. “Melody.” The instinct to lie with that name again came easily, I’ve lied enough in my life as a lawyer that it was second nature when I wasn’t drunk off my ass.

“Who are you? Where did you find a key?” The return remained with that desperation the same begging tone as before, though perhaps it wasn’t as fake as I wanted to believe it to be. I couldn’t trust anything she did but there might still be a chance I could leverage her with some shred of sympathy, whomever she was. It was agonizing to resist the urge to say anything fowl, but behaving might get me further than biting right now.

table ; bunny

Of course, the woman, allegedly Melody, was rather cautious. This much could have been foreseen, and so I let my smile grow gentler as she asked me where I got my key, and where I came from. I looked around nervously, the smile fading into a worried frown.
"Shh, quiet now. Master will surely be along shortly. He has given me a key in great confidence, but I play my own games. I’m captive, as his healer, but behaving grants one many rewards, darling."
My voice was hushed, interrupted by random clicks or water drips. I let my body shift into a sitting position in one fluid motion. My tone was matter of fact, as if attempting to help her and give her advices that I didn’t have when he enslaved me. The thought was laughable, as I wouldn’t ever allow it to happen anyway. The only things he captured was my heart and soul.
"My name is Brielle. How is your pain?"
A name for a name, as manners would demand, yet I kept my real name out of it and offered her my mother’s instead. It would be a fool’s mistake to give her my real name, as I was unsure if she’d have ever heard of the notorious Drug Lord’s queen.I kept the fake concern on my face, brows furrowed and slender, delicate maw drawn in a sorrowful frown. I filtered sympathy and empathy into the dark glint of my eyes, as if I had been in her position before. As if I would be where she was had I continued to claw and fight.

But of course, none of it was true. This little game was far too pleasurable for me at the time to let it slip just yet.
"He doesn’t know that I’ve come, but as his healer, he would allow me to keep you alive,"
And for a price, comfortable. But I kept that silent for now, unwilling to give myself away entirely yet.
"My dear, can you sit up?"
Honey tones asked in a whisper, now trying to encourage her with a grin and a slight nod of my head.

code // art

Everything about the woman appeared to soften as if she was as delicate as a petal close to breaking off from the gentle drop of dew in the morning, though it was hard to take any of what she said seriously when she kept me imprisoned. Had she been an actor on a stage, I might have applauded but this was nothing more than a tongue full of lies and that became all the clearer with each word uttered. For her to say Master, it made my skin crawl even more than when he demanded I say it, for the simple fact she had caved. I tried to stop my lip from twitching at the word, though it wasn’t won as I turned my head to avoid her gaze, finding looking at her all the more disgusting.

“Am I your younger replacement?” I refrained from saying prettier, in case she truly was as deceptive as I had a feeling she was.

I highly doubted my own slaves call me Master outside of my ear shot. Either this girl was that brainwashed, or she was playing a game from the start. Her own game might have had nothing to do with my captor at all. There were so many gaps between her words, ones that could be filled with so much more.

I didn’t really want her near me, though she would ease into place, keeping within my vicinity. Play nice. Behave in case it was just paranoia that made me question everything. Maybe there was some truth there, the name given wasn’t so unusual as it carried similar conventions to my family. If I didn’t know my mother’s sister to be a twin, I might have thought this woman might have been Wisteria. The rumors that followed that woman, this seemed like something she’d do if any of it were true, and it would explain her absence as a doctor at the College.

“The worst I’ve felt, it’s everywhere. Everywhere,” my lip trembled, the pain wasn’t only skin deep, it was inside me in more ways than one though I hardly wanted to think about it. I would try my hardest to keep what he did out of my thoughts as I focused on her, though I quickly felt a dampness I had to flutter out of my eyes. Now wasn’t the time to be vulnerable. There was a chance vulnerability might help. A snap decision I was having troubles making.

The request to move wouldn’t be so easily granted, staring up at her with the shine of tears still in my eyes. “It depends, Brielle.”

table ; bunny

Snakes slithered beneath my skin and sank venomous fangs in my heart as she asked if she were my younger replacement. I wanted to snarl, to rip one of her eyes out. I wanted to give her another scar to think about, after insulting me so. But all I did was smile sweetly, encouragingly. What a laughable thought!
"I don’t know, darling. You could be, or just an addition."
I played like she was one of many. I wondered how she even got here to begin with. Yes I knew Lachlan well, and how cruel he could be. It was one of his most attractive qualities. But she seemed smart, like she followed her gut instincts. I would ask the how and why later, after I get her semi-comfortable.

As the tear shown in her untrusting eyes, she said it would depend on if she could sit up. I had wagered Lachlan took a mighty toll on her, this… Madeline was it? Melody. Something of the sort. I nodded gravely, hoping he hadn’t broken any bones. I stood then, walking with uncanny grace to the edge of the cell, where I had been seated in the shadows. A delicate paw reached through the bars to grab the strap of my pouch, sliding it closer to me. The scraping sound echoed off the rock walls, squeezing it through the bars with a little toying.

When I had the pouch, I turned back around and sat again, opening the bag to search through it.
"Mmmm. This - for pain."
I laid the herb out. Dark eyes locked with hers as I asked further.
"Did he break anything?"
That would require another trip. It would mean bandages, splints, more herbs and salves. As I waited for her answer I continued to shuffle through the supply I had brought. I laid another herb out.
"Darling, I need you to tell me what he’s done so that I can help you in the ways that you need."
Surely something that’s difficult for her to talk about, but I would not only revel in her pain, I would worship him for it. Though I felt this, my expression was still one of worry, concern, glossed over with a new sense of determination.

code // art

If there was a facade, it never seemed to drop from the strange woman and yet no comfort would come to me with her in my vicinity, a shock of mistrust forever constant along my skin. Her response didn’t answer what I hoped would be, if there were others down here or if it was just us. “You can’t deny we look eerily similar. It’s really off putting. A red coat, green eyes, even a pale collar for him to see our blood easier when he...he must have a type. Guess he at least has good taste in women.” I couldn’t help but laugh, the woman must think I’m crazy. I hardly feel sane, so that wouldn’t be far from the truth. Oh, how it hurt my sides, making me want to stop the vibration of my ribs but that pain also made me know how alive I actually was. Something I didn’t even think I’d be the other day, but the humor would die quickly as I watched her move.

I could feel myself staring a little too much as she reached past the bars, grabbing something and I held my breath in wait for those ugly orange eyes to appear in front of her and twist a vice grip onto the woman’s wrist. Of course, he was gone. There hadn't been any other sounds than when she had entered, unless she had just been such a good distraction that I failed to notice anything outside of us.

A satchel. Every action she made I was glued to. The herbs she pulled out gave me a little bit of relief, recognizing them from my early days in the college as a yearling, traversing the few medical classes I had taken. Most of that training had long left me but they didn’t appear to be dangerous. I’d at least remember the poisonous ones. “No. Just my dignity but you can’t mend that.” There was no reason to lie and try to cry wolf. The pain wasn’t that intense to make me think he broke one of the ribs as his talons raked into my flesh.

As she asked for more details, my muscles tensed to the point it hurt, causing my face to likely make a rather unappealing contortion. “You can see most of it well enough without reiteration. The worst was… sexual… in nature. It… doesn’t…” Breath and just speak calmly. Look at her and don’t cry. God my eyes burn. “...matter. We can both gain freedom with that power you carry. He can’t handle both of us. I’ve seen the way he limps, and he likes to talk, leaving openings. My husband is a Colonel. We just have to flee and get to him, he’ll protect us.”

Please be the victim you claim you are stranger and not just a witch.

table ; bunny

It was disgusting to think she thought he would ever choose the likes of her over me. It was hilarious to think he would ever replace me in the first place. But no matter how much it amused me, irked me, I kept my face the same. The portrait of pain, of worry, of concern. It was agony, though. I know he wanted her alive to endure more, but she was quickly working her way under my skin enough for me to end her myself. It was laughable, and her pride would be her death. That much was clear.

And as she continued to speak, I knew that Lachlan may have bitten off a little too much this time. Even if they came for him, I would end each soul with a drop of my toxin, and they would never even see me. Still - the grimness of it all was palpable and itched my soul. Melody let me know the extents of his torture, and while I was hardly the jealous type, it did ring true to his nature. She had a lot to hold against him.

Oh, my beloved, what have you done this time?

When she mentioned the power I held, I wanted to smile darkly. But I didn’t yet. Instead I nodded along, and mushed together a healing salve that would leave scarring but would alleviate some of the pain. I was silent for a few minutes as I worked, well after Melody had finished with her unbearable onslaught. When I finished, I inched a little closer and attempted to begin applying the salve to her most prominent wounds - if she’d so allow. Then I spoke in kind.
"Your sacrifice is appreciated, Melody, but it’s too late for me. As you said, I’m older. My time has all but run out."
Sweet vocals crooned in martyrdom.
"Where is he? I could bring him here, and then hide so as not to feel Master’s wrath."
I would work as I spoke, if she allowed my touch.
"I could give him the key and hide in my home so as to seem unsuspecting,"
Honey tones offered, then sitting back again to rummage through my pouch for something else. I retrieved another mixture I had made earlier, not entirely meant for her. I set it to the side. It was for delirium, to help memory loss. But I think I wanted her to remember all of it. I waited then, wondering what she would say or do next.

code // art