A Serpent's Kiss

Chapter Eleven

Her skin scraped against the rough floor as she was roughly thrown back into her prison. Apophis advanced towards her and she tried to move but couldn’t, too paralysed by fear. He knelt beside her and stroked her hair in a sinister way. She kept her head fixed on the floor but his fingers came to tilt her chin up so she was looking at his face.

“You know, you are not bad at all but after these next few days you will be a truly beautiful demon. I expect I will be envied,” he sounded proud, excited.

“The anticipation is killing me,” Alaura snarled, desperate for whatever was about to happen to be over. The world was starting to liquefy before her as terror took over every part of her body. Before she had time to scream, she felt two familiar pinpricks of pain and then she felt as if she had been plunged into her worst nightmare.

A shattering pain ricocheted around her, and she felt her bones break into pieces. The shards snagged and tore at the soft organs inside her. The world went dark and she saw stars, feeling like she was plummeting a thousand feet. Fire licked her body and she could feel blisters forming. From a distance, she heard a furious scream and sobbing, pleads for the pain to stop. Her body was squeezed and expanded, squeezed and expanded. Bile came to her mouth. Two pinpricks on her tongue drew blood. Her tongue seemed to be stretching out and then cleaved in two.

“Nearly done, nearly done.” The whispers were constantly there as was the pressure of a hand holding her. When she drifted into the world of dreams, they were crazy, manic, fast. She dreamt of a snake with the face of Gabriel, she saw her mother’s face etched into clouds. Her head pounded.

“Ahhhhhhhhh!” she yelled, propelling herself upwards. She stayed in the same position for a few moments and then looked around her, realising something was different. Where was she? Who was she? Looking down, she saw she was high off the ground, her body a golden blue ribbon tapering to a tail which lay coiled beneath her. A strange feeling was beginning to grow inside her. As it filled her up, she began to detect various elements within it. Hunger, raging and rampant, power, exciting and compelling, greed, overwhelming and itching. It felt incredible.

A laugh reached her and she whipped around to the source of the sound with lightning speed. There was a man standing before her, a recognisable stranger. He was handsome, dark hair that hung to his waist, eyes that were huge, black pools. White skin that seemed to shine.

I know you from somewhere. Her voice was inside her head.

“Apophis my lady,” he bowed. Alaura c****d her head to one side as a few memories came streaming into her mind.

Ah yes. Tell me how I am here, what I am.

“Many months ago, I bit you as a human but I could sense angel blood about you so I could not devour you. Instead, I infected you. When an angel assassin came to kill you, you fell in love and kissed him, creating a human body that was half angel, half demon. The court handed possession over to me. But now, you are complete demon, like me.” He grinned, showing immaculate teeth.

I remember now. She did, in brief, flitting images like she was watching a film. Revulsion gnawed at her. How could she ever have loved an angel? Filthy, pure things. So, she had been human once, weak prey. Now she wasn’t. Now she was a demon.

My name Apophis?

“They used to call you Alaura but I think we need to rename you. I have been thinking. How does Arloh appeal?”

Alaura thought hard. It sounded far better than that awful human name. Arloh. It reeked of power, of darkness, of fear. It was perfect. She nodded.

“Turn back into a mortal mask,” Apophis ordered. Willingly, the demoness Arloh used all of her power to mould back into a human form. It was surprisingly easy, swift and pain free. She raised two hands to her face in wonder.

“Mirror,” she barked, eager to see what her other image was. Swifty, Apophis brought a mirror to her face and Arloh gasped. Staring back at her was a face she dimly recalled from another life. But it was beautiful. She looked like the handsome man in front of her but slightly more fragile with a more ethereal beauty. Her eyes were dark like his, framed by huge thick lashes, her lips were full and a vivid red, her cheeks were sculptured to perfection. Behind her she saw Apophis come up and stand inches away.

“The verdict?” he enquired, amusement coming out of his eyes.

“I am satisfied. Infinitely satisfied.”

He offered a hand and she took it. There was something about this man that was drawing her to him. It wasn’t the stupid, pathetic emotions that human called love but it was magnetism, a sense of belonging. However, a slight twinge told Arloh that something was not quite right. A tiny imperfection in an otherwise perfect mirror. She shrugged it off.

“Show me my home.”

Apophis led her through a rotting mess into a much more sumptuous part of the castle. Here, the walls towered upwards in glossy black sheets. Arloh looked up and her eyes widened in awe and wonder. Above her where a ceiling should be, there was a great swirling mass of cloud. As she stared, she saw that when the mists drifted momentarily apart there were shocks of a light so blinding they burned her eyes. Hissing in pain, she drew a hand over her tingling eyeballs and looked away.

“Ahh yes. We are constantly reminded of the angels. There’s nothing we can do to permanently block them out. Invasive purebloods,” Apophis snarled, glancing upwards.

Taking Arloh’s elbow, he led her through into another room with similar walls. Golden chairs, a sofa and tables tastefully decorated the room. A huge window took up most of the opposite wall. Instead of letting in daylight, it seemed to open onto a sky that swirled blue, green and red.

Arloh walked over to it and gazed at the scene that lay beyond the glass. For a moment, it looked as it would back in the mortal realm but as her eyes scanned dark hills and lakes that glistened, she could see great spiked towers rising like needles into the blowing air. There was a fuzzy luminosity about each tower, each with their own colours.

“Meet your neighbours,” Apophis came to stand beside her side. “Some of them are excellent, some of them I personally want to devour if the law allowed.” He made a small snort. “Ah yes, that reminds me, I need to go to the court to get a permit for the next step.” He clapped his hands in excitement.

“The next step?” Arloh enquired, turning around from the magnificent sight before her and raising an eyebrow.

“Yes… just come with me and it will be made clear to you. Follow,” he turned on his heel and stalked through a door. Arloh rolled her eyes, a forked tongue flicking from her mouth. She walked after him, her mind intrigued as to what lay in wait.

As soon as she passed through the door, there was a change in the air. There was an acrid dryness overlaid by the smell of rot and decay. A metallic tang that could have easily been blood filled her sensitive nostrils. But there was an odd comfort to that smell, familiar and safe. It filled her with a sense of belonging.

Apophis was already waiting by a huge pair of iron gates. Arloh hurried to join him. “We move by our true form; it covers the ground faster.” As he said these words, his skin began to bubble and ripple. Watching, Alaura began the same process, knowing that with each second the human skin she wore was being shed.

That’s better Apophis breathed into her head.

Much she responded, feeling free and full of air. Lead on.

Apophis launched forward, the gates seeming to open on their own. Then they were speeding over a ground that was made of glass hexagons. As they passed over each one, they inflamed with a vermillion. Arloh glanced downwards and could distantly make out inky shadows moving beneath them.

Shadows suddenly fell across her line of vision and looking around, she saw a magnificent building grow around her. There was a sharp prick that pierced her body. Hissing, she raised herself up in anger.

Relax. It was a security check to gain access to the court. We have it to make sure there are no imposters. You passed.

They came to a halt outside a marble wall; a mossy green laced with veins of red. Apophis shrank back to a human form and Arloh did the same. He went right up to the wall and began to speak in a basilisk tongue. The silky words seemed to drip off his tongue like water. Waiting for something to happen, Arloh took in the scene around her. There were two buildings with similar walls of green marble with red light pulsating underneath. No doors or windows were visible.

A loud crack ricocheted around the courtyard and whirling on her heel, Arloh saw that a door had begun to grow in the wall before her. Apophis stepped back and together they watched as a steel door pushed itself out of the marble. It squealed and grated and finally stopped with a shudder. Then it swung open revealing a corridor that led to a tiny door at the end.

“Let me do the talking,” Apophis ordered with a slight tone of warning, before stepping inside.

The corridor stretched on for what looked like miles, the tiny door at the end remaining a pinprick. Their footsteps echoed eerily in the enclosed space. Humming, faint and throbbing, layered the air.

Eventually the corridor ended. Apophis raised his hand and tapped on the door. Nothing happened. Then a face peered out and Arloh grimaced. From where she stood, she could see a mass of living, writhing snakes that acted as hair. A pair of fierce eyes glowed in a gaunt face with grey skin.

“What is it,” the demon hissed.

“I need to speak to Shamesh.”

The demon vanished momentarily then re-emerged seconds later. “He will see you but only for a few moments. Make it quick.”

Apophis moved through the doorway and gestured for Arloh to follow. Drawing herself up proudly, she followed behind him. Instantly, she was in a room that seemed far lighter than anything she had seen in the world around her so far. She was in a white marbled room, with pillars that lined the room. As she glided past, she could see figures carved into the marble that appeared to be holding the structure up. A tiny movement drew her attention but when her eye came to focus on the spot, everything was still.

“What is it serpent? I don’t have time to waste,” the voice boomed across the room and Arloh swayed as the room shook around her. Scared, she looked towards the source of the huge sound. A shadow seemed to be sat on a golden throne at the end of the room. Two fierce ice-blue eyes bore into her with such intensity, she wilted under their gaze. Swallowing, she came to Apophis’ side. He dipped into a bow, dragging her into one as well.

“Lord, this lady was once a human, corrupted by angel blood but my trace-”

“Of course I know who this is scum,” the voice spat with contempt, interrupting Apophis mid-flow.

“Step forward Arloh.” Obeying, she took a tiny step forward, her eyes widening as the shadow stepped off the platform and seemed to seep towards her. For a moment, she saw nothing but black as he circled around her. Then he stepped back and she could breathe once more.