THE SERPENT'S HEIR

ARIANA'S POV The voices filled the chamber like a wave of sound that made my skin crawl. They were chanting. All of them, dozens of people in masks and dark robes standing in a circle around a stone altar. The words weren't English, weren't any language I'd ever heard before. But they hurt to listen to, they sounded like a group of sick birds crying and it made my head pound and my stomach twist. I shouldn't have been there. I should have stayed in the car like Mama told me to. But I'd been curious. I was just a kid driven by curiosity. My parents said they had an important business dinner, they told me, I needed to stay in the car and wait. That they'd only be gone for an hour. But after thirty minutes of sitting alone in the dark parking lot behind the old church, I'd gotten scared. The building looked abandoned and creepy. Why would anyone have a business dinner in a place like this? So I'd gotten out of the car and followed the sound of voices. Found a door that led down stone steps into darkness. Now I was hiding behind a pillar in an underground chamber that smelled like smoke and blood. The chanting got louder. The voices rose and fell in a rhythm that felt ancient, it sounded so terrible. I peeked around the pillar, trying to see what was happening without being seen. The chamber was huge. Stone walls covered in symbols I didn't recognize. Torches burning in iron holders casting shadows that danced like living things. And in the center was the stone altar. A girl was tied to it. She looked my age or maybe younger. Her eyes were wide with terror. A gag in her mouth stopped her from screaming. My heart pounded so hard it hurt. I should run. Should get out of here before someone sees me. But I couldn't move. The people in robes moved closer to the altar. Their chanting grew louder. One of them held a knife. The blade gleamed in the torchlight. I pressed my hand over my mouth to keep from making noise. This wasn't real. Couldn't be real. Things like this didn't happen, not in real life. Then my eyes landed on two figures at the front of the circle. They looked familiar, they were wearing robes that were fancier, more decorated. Serpent symbols embroidered in gold thread across their chests and sleeves. They weren't wearing masks like everyone else. Their faces were bare. And I knew those faces. Mama. Daddy. My whole body went cold. No. No, this was wrong. My parents weren't part of this. They couldn't be. But there they were even standing at the front, leading the chanting. Their voices louder than everyone else's. Mama's face looked different. Like she was someone else wearing my mother's skin. Her eyes were cold as she watched the girl on the altar. Daddy held a book. Old and leather-bound. He read from it in that same terrible language. His voice boomed through the chamber, echoing off the stone walls. Tears burned my eyes. I didn't understand. Didn't know what was happening. But I knew it was bad. Knew the girl on the altar was in danger. Knew my parents were the ones putting her there. The chanting reached a peak. Everyone's voices joined together in a sound that made my ears ring. The person with the knife raised it high above the girl's chest. I wanted to scream. Wanted to run out and stop them. But fear kept me frozen behind the pillar. Then everything went wrong. A spark appeared in the air above the altar. Just a small flash of light. Then another. The sparks grew bigger and brighter, it started falling like rain. Where they landed, they caught fire. The robes of the people standing closest to the altar burst into flames. They screamed and scattered, trying to put out the fire consuming their clothes. More sparks fell and more fire erupted. It spread faster than should be possible. Jumped from person to person like it was alive and hunting. The chamber filled with thick, black smoke. People ran in all directions, screaming, pushing and trampling each other to get to the exits. I stood paralyzed behind the pillar. The heat from the flames was intense even from where I was hiding. The smoke burned my lungs with every breath. Through the chaos, I saw Mama turn toward where I was hiding. Her eyes went wide. She'd seen me. She knew I was there. She started moving toward me, pushing through the panicking crowd. Her mouth formed my name but I couldn't hear it over the screaming. Then a section of the ceiling collapsed between us. Stone and burning wood crashed down in a shower of sparks. I lost sight of her. I lost sight of everything through the smoke and flames. The heat was unbearable now. The fire was spreading too fast. Consuming everything. I tried to move. I tried to run but my legs wouldn't work. Fear had turned my body to stone. I was going to die here. Burn alive in this underground chamber while my parents did horrible things. The smoke got thicker. I couldn't see anything anymore.