The dead keep no secrets from me. At night, they whisper in my ear. No one believes me when I say they're all around us, watching, waiting. They tell me that one day all humanity will fall, that one day they'll be extinct. They promise one day I will rule, because, of course, I am not human.
My slow throbbing heartbeat pulses twice and then ceases as I stare at the bars holding me in my cage. They must think I'm a bird--I'm not a bird. They can't be both blind and deaf.
Get up, the voices order me. Quickly, I obey. The words whispered and hissed begin to overlap each other as I stagger to the metal poles standing like stiff soldiers.
The man guarding my cell jumps back a bit at my sudden presence--and I realize he's heard the stories of me. I smile a sickening grin, feeling the power slipping back into my thirsty veins.
"Let me out," I say in my most innocent voice, my smile gone and mockery reflecting in my eyes. "Please, sir, just let me out."
His eyes are wide with fear for a moment, then disappears, replaced by authority.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Very well," I say, my smile returning. "I'll just have to let myself out."
A chuckle bubbles up from the depths of my body as blackness begins to drop from the corners of my cell. The dead have come to help.
The blackness, thick as tar and hot as lava, begins to seep forward, making a circle around my feet as it climbs up the poles, the metal melting and disappearing.
I feel myself laugh once more as the matter moves to the helpless guard--and then I hear something. A faint whisper of the dead calling to me, speaking only truths.
My smile falls. Could it be true?
I lift one hand up, halting the blackness.
"Boy?" I ask, walking towards him as the blackness slurps at the ground, desperate to move out of my way. "Have you ever heard the voices?"
"The voices?" He whispers, too scared to be sure of what's happening. After all, he's heard the stories of me.
I squat down before him. "Do you know who I am?"
He gulps. "Salvirina, Mistress of the Unknown."
I feel that smile on my face again. How lovely my name is.
"And do you know my story?"
"You were--you were kidnapped--"
"Ah. So that's the story you've heard? My, my, boy, you're behind on your history lessons." I stand to my full height. "Come."
"Come? With--with you?"
"Or I could leave you to die by darkness."
The boy stares at me for a moment, aware of the danger I embody.
I hold out my hand, my long, tattered sleeve falling over my old, wrinkled skin. He rejects it, stands on his own. I chuckle.
"Show me how to get outside," I command, and he begins to lead the way, his body trembling as I speak. "They listen to me, the dead." The words slip between my cracked lips. "And they tell me things."
The bit swallows hard, his eyes forward and his jaw set.
"What kind of things?" I ask the question for him in a shrill voice. "Things about the world, about the future... About you."
The boy looks around at this, his eyes falling on me as he shrivels away. "What do you mean?"
I chuckle. "So curious."
The doors open, the darkness pushing the metal slabs away from me as dull moonlight falls upon us. It's my favorite time of night, just before the moon is centered in the sky. Taking a slow, deep breath, the boy backs away. He turns to run.
"Don't leave!" I cry serenely. My darkness wraps around him, stopping him in his tracks. "We're not to the best part yet."
My eyes fall on the star, and to the darkness I whisper "Go get them."
The words of death leave my presence for only a moment, and I feel naked, vulnerable. But I know there are more where those came from.
"When I was a little girl, I called upon a star. I wanted to know why I was different, why I heard the things I did. Well that star heard my question. It came to answer it."
The star brightens, and I know it's closing in. I grin. The boy has no idea what's in store for him.
"They showed me my true meaning, the reason for my being alive. I was to be queen of the world. I would tower over its ruins."
The star turns to metal, the bright light coming from a circle in the bottom. It beams down light onto me, my skin sucking back against my muscles. I'm beautiful again.
"Aliens," I tell the boy, frozen with fear. "They shall take the world."
My slow throbbing heartbeat pulses twice and then ceases as I stare at the bars holding me in my cage. They must think I'm a bird--I'm not a bird. They can't be both blind and deaf.
Get up, the voices order me. Quickly, I obey. The words whispered and hissed begin to overlap each other as I stagger to the metal poles standing like stiff soldiers.
The man guarding my cell jumps back a bit at my sudden presence--and I realize he's heard the stories of me. I smile a sickening grin, feeling the power slipping back into my thirsty veins.
"Let me out," I say in my most innocent voice, my smile gone and mockery reflecting in my eyes. "Please, sir, just let me out."
His eyes are wide with fear for a moment, then disappears, replaced by authority.
"I'm afraid I can't do that."
"Very well," I say, my smile returning. "I'll just have to let myself out."
A chuckle bubbles up from the depths of my body as blackness begins to drop from the corners of my cell. The dead have come to help.
The blackness, thick as tar and hot as lava, begins to seep forward, making a circle around my feet as it climbs up the poles, the metal melting and disappearing.
I feel myself laugh once more as the matter moves to the helpless guard--and then I hear something. A faint whisper of the dead calling to me, speaking only truths.
My smile falls. Could it be true?
I lift one hand up, halting the blackness.
"Boy?" I ask, walking towards him as the blackness slurps at the ground, desperate to move out of my way. "Have you ever heard the voices?"
"The voices?" He whispers, too scared to be sure of what's happening. After all, he's heard the stories of me.
I squat down before him. "Do you know who I am?"
He gulps. "Salvirina, Mistress of the Unknown."
I feel that smile on my face again. How lovely my name is.
"And do you know my story?"
"You were--you were kidnapped--"
"Ah. So that's the story you've heard? My, my, boy, you're behind on your history lessons." I stand to my full height. "Come."
"Come? With--with you?"
"Or I could leave you to die by darkness."
The boy stares at me for a moment, aware of the danger I embody.
I hold out my hand, my long, tattered sleeve falling over my old, wrinkled skin. He rejects it, stands on his own. I chuckle.
"Show me how to get outside," I command, and he begins to lead the way, his body trembling as I speak. "They listen to me, the dead." The words slip between my cracked lips. "And they tell me things."
The bit swallows hard, his eyes forward and his jaw set.
"What kind of things?" I ask the question for him in a shrill voice. "Things about the world, about the future... About you."
The boy looks around at this, his eyes falling on me as he shrivels away. "What do you mean?"
I chuckle. "So curious."
The doors open, the darkness pushing the metal slabs away from me as dull moonlight falls upon us. It's my favorite time of night, just before the moon is centered in the sky. Taking a slow, deep breath, the boy backs away. He turns to run.
"Don't leave!" I cry serenely. My darkness wraps around him, stopping him in his tracks. "We're not to the best part yet."
My eyes fall on the star, and to the darkness I whisper "Go get them."
The words of death leave my presence for only a moment, and I feel naked, vulnerable. But I know there are more where those came from.
"When I was a little girl, I called upon a star. I wanted to know why I was different, why I heard the things I did. Well that star heard my question. It came to answer it."
The star brightens, and I know it's closing in. I grin. The boy has no idea what's in store for him.
"They showed me my true meaning, the reason for my being alive. I was to be queen of the world. I would tower over its ruins."
The star turns to metal, the bright light coming from a circle in the bottom. It beams down light onto me, my skin sucking back against my muscles. I'm beautiful again.
"Aliens," I tell the boy, frozen with fear. "They shall take the world."
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