5. The Snake

Corrupts he, the weakened brain. Plague he, the dark dreams. – Bloodsongs.

*

Aurora

Aurora smothered the scream bubbling under her throat and stumbled back from the window.

The smoke curled above the canopy of trees and vanished with a shrill sound, and she heard it in her head. The air was so chilly, so cold. The hair in her arms, and the back of her neck stood erect.

She stared up at the sky, and could smell the reek of the smoke, pungent and decaying. She looked around and everyone was enjoying the sun, eating, chattering and she knew no one had seen the snake-like man, with fangs.

It was only her who had seen him. And she was now frozen with terror. Fear ripped through her bone, and she wanted to scream at them to look. To see what she had seen, but she knew they wouldn't see it.

Imagination, she whispered, just my imagination. But even she couldn't believe it. Hadn't she just seen the man staring at them with golden eyes? It was not her imagination. Not this time. She was sure of it.

She had seen his smile and the sharp dagger-like incisors. She had seen his lips pulling up in a smile that was so dirty and ghastly. In his eyes, she had seen his thirst, thirst for whatever he thirsted for.

He hadn't seen her. He hadn't looked at her as she looked at him. His eyes were too focused on the window that overlooked a certain table. When he nodded and smiled so self-sufficiently, Aurora wanted to run back to her home, all the way back to NY.

'No, it is all my imagination. This town is not really haunted.' She chanted inside, but she couldn't believe her lies.

If it was just an imagination, why then was the air so cold, so chilly? The sun was still warm over her, but she felt the ice, the fingers clawing inside her skin, skittering along her bones. She shivered and pulled her jacket a little closer. Why did the Northern sky was shadowed with smoke? Along the breeze, she could smell the dying smell of ashes.

There was something here, something sinister, evil. Something not human. She sensed it the first time she stared at the woods-and chalked it off as her creative drive, didn't she?

Her dreams. She shuddered, the one of constant death, her death.

'Is it going to come true?' All through the classes, she couldn't stop her mind from thinking about that man. She couldn't, though. She was plagued by the memories. The smell. It was too much. She tried to put a full stop to her thoughts.

When the school was over, Aurora decided to take some time to get to know this town. She had to. She had to make sure if it was really haunted or not. She had to understand this place before she could actually feel comfortable here.

She walked around the town, noticing small signs for shops and the bowling alley. It looked undersized, loud, and boisterous. Kids shouted and hollered and laughed as the knocked over the pins. She felt, once again, as though she was an intruder.

She peeked inside and then walked away. She felt strange to walk in.

There were little shops here and there, selling flowers, vegetables, fruits, herbs.

She stopped in front of a cozy looking diner. In a neon light, SALLY'S flashed on and off and she entered in out of curiosity than anything. The diner was filled with the smell of sausage, roasting chicken, and the noise of the regulars. The waiters steered deftly, from table to table, avoiding the passing customers, neatly balancing the tray in a hand. It was like a waltz, the way they danced around the crowd, light on feet.

Aurora walked out again. She had to go to dinner at Hennessy household and she hadn't the stomach to eat anything, anyways.

She saw as much of the town as she could, but it didn't look like a horror movie. In fact, it was all so cozy and friendly. So friendly that it sickened her, even.

Except the woods that ran through the whole of the town. Now that looked scary and sinister.

She stopped on Sweet Tooth and smiled at Miranda. "I told you so, didn't I? My business trick always works. What do you want, Aurora?" Miranda asked with a soft smile.

"Yep, you are right and here I am. A dozen Choco-fudge brownies." Aurora leaned against the counter and stared at the mouth-watering delicacies. She noted to herself that she would come here every morning or evening. In a town like this, she needed her own haven, her own indulgence.

She asked for a gift bow and decided that she would give it to Janessa when she went for dinner. With that done, and almost half of the town studied, Aurora ambled towards her new house, feeling that the town was not so bad, after all. Feeling it might be okay.

And all credit of it went to Sweet Tooth.

***

(Art)

Art threw his leather jacket on the couch and was ready to step out again when his father called out to him. "Art, our neighbours are coming for dinner tonight, and it's about time you meet them. Don't go out." His dad's smile was broad, but his voice was stern.

When his father was like this, there was no escaping him. Art could easily do a spell and sneak out, but then, he had to come back, and his dad would never let him live that one out. His dad also hated it, when Art used magick to get out of things.

Mostly boring things, like arranging the books in their humongous library, or dusting the books, but still... his dad was all about discipline.

"But dad, I promised Zach that I'd meet him at Sally's." Art almost whined.

"But son, I promised your mom that I'd make you stay." His dad said with a same whine, "and you're going to stay. Now I have so much to do and why don't you help?" His father walked away with a look in his direction. Irritated, Art slumped down on the couch with an angry scowl, knowing very well he was stuck here, tonight. And his mom, she wouldn't stop matchmaking if he knew any better and he knew her, alright. He knew her so damn much.

Art scowled as he leafed through a book in the coffee table.

The bell rang. He stood up with a grunt, and with a lazy gait, he reached the damn door. When he opened the door, he was greeted with a happy sight, which soured his mood further.

There was Kristen, his little sister, and the rude girl from the cafeteria, and they were talking with gusto. Kristy's eyes were solely focused on the girl, and there was adoration in her little eyes and a severe case of hero-worship.

The girl returned the focus, telling something to Kristy in that smoky voice of hers full of laughter.

Art liked that voice, a secret rasp, soft and pulling and seductive and it teased his body. 

It made him feel things he didn't want to feel, he couldn't afford to feel. 

His fingers sparked for a second with gold light, fizzing and flickering, and his eyes widened in understanding.

Shit. He was attracted to her, and he... he wanted her. He wanted to kiss those pouty lips... He wanted to touch the sharp curve of her neck.

'What the hell is that? Where the hell did it come from?'

He shook his head, disgusted with himself for the way his mind had wandered.

He was not going to sleep now thinking about this, about her. 'You are an idiot.' He thought with a frown.

He looked up with confusion at this rude girl who made him feel things he didn't want to feel and jerked back with alarm when his eyes found hers, making him forget his wayward thoughts and everything else.

Those strange blue eyes dotted with aqua green... a mixture of the fresh pool of azure blue in winters, and a shallow lake in summer when the heat was low. It was a crazy blend of hot and cold, ice and fire. Unusual and beautiful and so, so familiar.

'It is her. It is her.' His mind chanted crazily.

He knew where he had seen those eyes. Of course. How could he ever forget those eyes?! He knew her, her eyes, even before he had met her and that made his heart pound with fear.

It was her, the one he was constantly trying to save, the one he often died along with. He had no doubt. These were those eyes, the eyes that could talk with just a look. The eyes that sometimes would smile at him, sometimes accuse.

When he dreamed of those eyes, for the first time and then the second and the third, when he was thirteen, right after he had learnt about magick, he had spent his time looking every pair of eyes in his town.

When Art was finally sure that no one in his town had that shade of blue eyes, blue eyes that freezes and blazes, he was reassured that it was just a dream that occurred often. It eased his heart; it eased his fear.

A year ago, his dreams had become more vivid, more flamboyant. It felt so real that he feared he would one day stumble upon those eyes and all his fear and guilt would come back up and squeeze him and suffocate.

He spent his time reading at night to stop those dreams, but when his eyes couldn't take it anymore, he'd fall asleep in his chair, and still would dream of her, her eyes, and her death.

When he heard that someone new had come to town a year ago, he was sure his nightmare had come alive.

He walked by Julienne's house, dread strangling his heart and waited until he could see their eyes and was again relieved that they didn't have those blue eyes. And he suddenly liked Julie's amber eyes, they were beautiful and normal, and they were not his nightmare.

But here stood, in front of him, was his nightmare. In real life. Flesh and bones and blood. She was not just a nightmare, anymore.

She was real. And his nightmare was casually laughing with his sister about some shared joke. The eyes, those dead eyes he often saw, now sparkled, and glittered and they were alive. Vivid.

Fear punched his gut with its icy fist. He took a step back and was ready to turn away when her eyes locked with his and then she smiled. He had seen her smile –a dizzy, drowsy but happy one–when they both died together, but this one was more cautious.

"Rory, this is my brother, Arthur." Kristy said and they both shared a look, like they knew his worst secrets.

"Art." Kristy giggled.

What did she say to her?

"Hi, I am Aurora, and you go to my school, or rather I go to yours." She smiled and then walked past him, leaving him staring at her back.

How was he going to face the nightmare walking along with him, in the familiar corridor of his school, in the streets, in his house? How?

"Yes. Hi."

"Wow!" She said when she noticed his grim face. "Did I do something to offend you?"

Yes. Aurora existed. And it was more than enough to scare him.

___