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**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 01-24-2012, 11:24 AM by ImagenAshyun.)

Spoiler:

I

Benedetto was only four years old, and Teobaldo three. They were playing at the bottom of the staircase, with a toy they barely even remember playing. Their memories were foggy, except for this one moment—loud thuds and slams, a figure rolling down the steps and hitting each one with an eerie precision. Her head laid back, her eyes open and shining bright, like glass beads from their mother’s expensive necklace. The boys looked over her blankly with wonder, completely innocent of what just happened with the family maid.

And then, they saw him—the man they identified as their father. He was in a frantic, crying out in a voice that bounced off the walls. His feet were like thunder as he raced down the steps, his hands reaching for the woman that just fell. The two boys, reacting to the fear this man was giving off, started to weep with him… but both were reprimanded harshly for this.

“No!” he barks at the boys. “You will not cry! Aunty Marta is okay. She is all right,” the father pleads, leaving the woman alone so he would comfort the boys. They felt him wrap his arms around him, and their crying stopped.

“What happened, Papa?” they begged. “What has happened to Aunty Marta?”

The father shook his head. He stood up, bringing the boys up with him. “Now, now… she’s hurt. But she’ll be fine. Go to bed now, it’s late,” he says as he led the boys down the hall. “It’s time for bed.”

The last either child would remember, the father didn’t even lead them all the way to bed. They quietly obeyed, passing through the door as Papa walked away. The lights dimmed and shadows danced as the hallways were quiet again, with only slight taps of footsteps racing to the door.

They never saw the woman again.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 01-24-2012, 11:21 AM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

Alberta was lovely as she was wise and fair. Though she was only nine years old, she was as smart and as perceptive as most adults Benedetto and Teobaldo would know. They remember her well... violet eyes set upon rosy cheeks, with long, mocha curly tresses that shimmer in the sun. She would tell the brothers stories of angels flying through the skies, of heroes coming to window sills bearing gifts. She told of dragons soaring with fire in their breaths, of ghosts and ghouls haunting the lands and aiming to gobble up the misbehaved and wicked. She was imaginative. She was creative.

The boys snuck often into her bedroom every night, begging for a story before bedtime. Everytime they did, they saw her there, combing her hair before a dimly lit vanity. Everytime they arrived, she'd turn and smile. Everytime she smiles, she has a big story to tell. One night, she brings her brother to bed, placing a blanket over their cold little bodies and setting their heads upon soft pillows. She sat in between them, on a stool with hands folded on her lap. Her voice was soft. Her words were haunting.

"Once upon a time, the Snake had legs--they looked like the lizards you found in the garden. They lived in the ground, away from the eyes of people, guarding their home from bad people who want to break in.

One day, people wanted to build a home atop of its home, but that would destroy the snake's house. He didn't like this. He guarded his home from the people who wanted to build a house there. He scared people away with his fangs and hissed at everyone who tried to come near. But the people wouldn't bide by his actions. They captured him and broke his legs. The snake now can no longer walk, but slither instead. He could not save his home, and now people live atop of his home."

"So the Snake lost his legs and his home?" Teobaldo says sadly.

"He did... but all is not lost. Snakes, with their legs lost, learned to move another way. He slithers, like living rope. His home is now our home, but he found a new home. However.... however, the Snake is a vengeful one. If you ever see one... do not play with it. It will bite back in vengeance of losing his legs." She smiles as she strokes her brothers' hair as she finishes up story. "Be kind to others, but be wary of those who will try to harm you. Listen not to the Snake's rattle, or you will be lured to his bite." And with the story done, and the night young, Albera rises from her seat to kiss her brothers good night. The window is closed, the curtains shut. The light in the candle is blown out. It's time to sleep.

Alberta was lovely as she was wise and fair. Though she was only nine years old, she was as smart and as perceptive as most adults Benedetto and Teobaldo would know. They remember her well... violet eyes set upon rosy cheeks, with long, mocha curly tresses that shimmer in the sun. She would tell the brothers stories of angels flying through the skies, of heroes coming to window sills bearing gifts. She told of dragons soaring with fire in their breaths, of ghosts and ghouls haunting the lands and aiming to gobble up the misbehaved and wicked. She was imaginative. She was creative.

The boys snuck often into her bedroom every night, begging for a story before bedtime. Everytime they did, they saw her there, combing her hair before a dimly lit vanity. Everytime they arrived, she'd turn and smile. Everytime she smiles, she has a big story to tell.

There was something that reached to her. Jaws agape, teeth like fingers. It reached from the darkness, away from eyes that watched. The moon couldn't see him, nor could Alberta. She was just there, combing her hair. She was just there, smiling before the mirror.

Her mocha tresses were gripped. There was a pull on her hair. Pain on her scalp. It was sudden.

She jolted up, a gasp escaping her lips. The entity that gripped her hair was gone. The light of her candle failed to pierce through the darkness that now hides whatever was there. Except now, there is nothing.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 01-25-2012, 02:31 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

Spoiler:

I

Papa was a curious man. During the day, he was mostly absent. The children were told he left for the local church to provide his care as a doctor. This urged Benedetto and Teobaldo one day to run over there and explore. They saw him there, within a section of the church where many beds were aligned across the floor. They were all neatly kept, with white sheets folded over the sick and the injured. Priests resided around corners, and guards at times marched past the doors to ensure the patients' safety. The boys snuck around as they peered at the curiosity of the many beds in the room. One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten. They stopped at ten, but they knew for a fact that the number is far bigger than that. The boys never saw this many beds all at once before.

And then, the archbishop came. His loud, booming voice echoed across the halls, angry at the intrusion of the rowdy boys. They didn't know better. Benedetto was five and Teobaldo four. They were just curious children, following the footsteps of their father. They wanted to see his work. They wanted to become like him.

He smiled at them, their Papa. He was a large man with a deep, gravelly voice, humbly dressed despite his status. He wore a simple suit with a fine cravat, and in his hand a walking stick with a rounded orb for a head. It was a fine cane, polished and sleek. The boys can even see their faces off it.

"Can we stay and watch, Papa?"

"Another day," Papa would say. "Another day, and you can help me."

Noises. Noises far below.

Teobaldo and Benedetto snuck out again, but this time, not for a story. It sounded like footprints. Heavy things dropping. There was wailing going on, like a wounded beast. The boys crept off their beds, curious eyes once again searching around. They leaned out the rails of the upper floors, squeezing their heads between the stony stands. Shadows move sleekly behind candlelight, large and ominous. There was.... one. Two. Three. Four. A fifth, the shape of their father. His deep, gravelly voice spoke. He was waving that walking stick around, gripped near the bottom by both hands and ready to swing. But the other men spoke. They were not afraid. In fact, they were pleading.

"Help us, Doctor!" they begged. "Giuseppe got himself fucked up and we need an operation now!"

"Not this again," he says with audible exasperation. "What happened this time?!"

"A bullet to the side... he won't stop bleeding."

"A major artery might have been pierced... Giulia! Clear the table, we'll have to operate here."

And then sudden movement. Tool and blankets, lots of red. The boys climbed closer down the stairs to watch the curiousness of it all. There was a strange knife with a long handle but a small blade cutting. A needle with black thread. What looks like two metal sticks connected by the ends and form a 'V' shape. More knifes. A large object in the man's mouth. There was crying and more and more red. The children were horrified, but they couldn't look away.

The red stopped. There was sighing. The man on the table let go of the object in his mouth as Papa began sewing up the man like how Mama sewed up their torn coats. It was a strange sight to behold.

"Is the City Guard searching for him?" Papa asked.

"Yes," they answered.

"What is it this time?"

"We attempted a break-in within the Gregorio home... except we were overwhelmed very quickly. The Guard caught on and he got shot. They're probably looking for us right now."

"Then you can hide here. This way." Papa waves at the men, who proceeded to pick up Giuseppe in their arms. He takes them down the hall, away from the boys sight. Seeing them disappear, Teobaldo and Benedetto follow quickly, sneaking as quietly as they could. Except the hall ended there. No doors, no windows. Nothing but a white wall with a mousehole in the corner.

And then, there were taps on their heads. Alberta stood over the brothers, anger and fear in her violet eyes. "What were you doing?!"

"Papa disappeared!," Teobaldo cried out.

"You shouldn't even be here! It's late!" The girls take them by the hands and lead them upstairs. "You should be in bed!"

"But Papa disappeared!" Benedetto piped.

Alberta shook her head. "He'll be back. He always will." She takes them to their room and tucks them in. "If Papa catches you, you'll be punished. Please don't sneak around like that."

"We won't."

"Good night, Teo, Bene."

Shadows. Movement. Red. Lots of red.

There was wailing, there was crying. The strikes of a walking stick. The gold-plated orb was red.

Papa returned home. In his hand, his walking stick was bleeding.

No one questioned him. He just went straight to bed.

**ImagenAshyun** · 01-26-2012, 10:54 AM

I

Noises. Noises deep below.

Teobaldo, the younger brother, had trouble sleeping one night. He was having many bad dreams. Dreams of shadows. Dreams of red. He heard wailing at night, of taps, thuds, and thuds along the wooden floor. There was scratching. There was breathing. He doesn't know where it's coming from, now how it was there. The air felt hot, but it was a cold, winter's day. The air felt thick. There was a smell.

He would get up. He would approach his older brother, Benedetto, only a year older. He heard them too. The hairs on the back of his head would stand up on end as he looked around in fright. Bumps formed on his skin as it grew cold despite the ominous hot air. One hand gripped the blanket that was tucked over him and the other his brother's hand. They clung onto each other. They heard it. They feel it. They can even smell it. Something is here. But they don't know what it is. The moon failed to shine her light through the window, the room cloaked in darkness.

They couldn't take it anymore. They raced out, little feet pattering along the hallway as they dashed for Alberta's bedroom. Bedtime stories were told, but they were not enough. They tapped on her door, locked from the outside. They tried to be quiet, in fear of waking their mother and father. Still. She was not responding. They tapped again, this time louder. Still nothing. The taps turn to pounds, their breaths quickening as sobs rose. The hot air was still present in their bedroom. The smell still reached their nostrils. What is that smell? It was difficult to make out, but it was nauseating. The boys were feeling sick, either from the smell, or fear in itself. Nonetheless. They kept pounding. They even started shouting. Crying.

Alberta finally swung her door open, her mocha tresses a mussy mess. Her eyes were half open, a sleepy hand trembling as she held her candle. She was glaring at her brothers for making such a commotion so late into the night, teeth bared and hands clenching. She was angry. She was sleeping.

"What are you doing at this time of the night?!" Alberta yelled. She struggled to open her eyes wider, but her eyelids were too heavy. She was groggy, body trembling from drowsy ache. The boys, however, were shaking for another reason. Fear were still very evident in their eyes, which were welling up with tears. They clung onto their sister, tiny fingers clutching her nightgown as arms wrapped around her waist. They were frightened. They began crying.

"There's a monster in our room!" they sobbed. "We don't know where he is, but he's there!"

"There is no monster in your room," Alberta yawned. She rubbed her eyes, skeptical of her much younger brothers.

"Yes, he is! Go in there! You'll hear him! You'll feel him! There's even a smell!"

The fair girl thought for a while. A smell? Perhaps an animal crawled into the bedroom and scared her brothers. She unwrapped her brothers' fingers and took her candle as she paced herself down the hallway. She goes to her brothers' bedroom next door, quietly opening the door. The hinges creaked as she peered through the doorway with her candle. She sniffed the air, her hand reaching around. Indeed. The air was hot and stuffy. The bedroom smelled musty and dusty, with a noxious mix of sweat, urine, and fecal matter. The smell of an animal. It was strong, but the source could not be traced. She turned to open the window wider in hopes to let some air out... except it was shut. Completely. And locked.

"Did you not open this window, fradeƚéti?" She asked. They shook their heads as an answer.

It was Alberta's turn to shake. She kept her candle up as she searched the nooks and crannies of the bedroom. She searched under the bed. Inside the closet. Behind the dresser drawers, beneath the nightstands and tables. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. Even the toys in the boys' bedroom stared blankly at the curiosity of Alberta's search. It was fruitless. There was nothing here, no evidence of an animal besides the smell and hot air. Her skin grew cold. She is terrified.

"How about..." she starts. "How about you sleep with me? I'll keep you safe. Whatever this is, I will be with you."

The brothers did not argue. They snuck into their sister's bedroom, all three slipping into bed. She wrapped her arms around her brothers by the necks, turning herself into a large pillow for them to rest their heads on. They pulled the blanket up, with the window shut and the door locked from the outside. They're safe. The air is cool again, and there is no smell. They can sleep safely now. Comfortably. They have Alberta now. Brothers and sister. They have each other for warmth and comfort. Safety. It's safe now. Time to sleep.

The hands of the clock turned. The smell returned.

There was breathing. Hot breathing. Scratches and scritches along the walls and floor. He was there. The monster is real.

Alberta snatched her candle and relit it. She held it up to see what it was. The window was shut. The door was locked. No one came in. But the sounds, the air, and the smell returned.

There was nothing.

"Ignore it... ignore it," she whispers as she slips into bed with her brothers. She clutched them close now, her brother returning her embrace. They know he's there... but now they are too frightened to move. Too frightened to scream. A monster is here. He's breathing, he's scratching. He smells of mustiness, dust, and sweat, of a chamberpot uncleaned. It was nauseous, it was frightening. He's here. And the children don't know why.

Ignore it. Ignore it.

Faces grimaced, eyelids clutched shut, hands wrapped around each other as breaths are held. The clock ticked. The hour passed. The air grew still. It calmed and cooled. A thump and a thud, the bump of the night has passed. The monster was gone.

The candle melted away, and darkness returned. The monster is gone. And now, there is nothing.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-06-2012, 09:06 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

The monster was real. But neither Papa nor Mama would believe them. "You're too old to think you have monsters in your closet," Mama would say. Teobaldo was four, Benedetto five. Surely, they would not be too old to believe in ghosts and ghouls, of eerie creatures haunting their beds and closets. But Alberta was ten years old, progressively nearing her womanhood as the years would go by. She has no excuse.

"There was a smell!" she pleaded. "It was like an animal. It was a disgusting smell, like an unemptied chamberpot left alone to collect dirt and cobwebs. There was hot air and scratching noises. Bene was there, Teo too. We didn't imagine it! It was true!"

"Perhaps it was a rat," Mama says. "There is no monster hiding in the house. We will get our maids to set traps everywhere to catch it. Don't you worry."

For the next few days, the children watched as servants of the home laid traps around the corners of the home. Under the bed. Inside the closet. Inside the pastry. Besides the stove. They were spring-loaded, nasty biting little things. Bits of cheese were set on them, appetizing for any rodent foolish enough to get near. And then it happened.

One. Two. Three. Four. Five. Six. Seven. Seven rats, caught in four weeks. The children watched as the servants would dangle the dead rats by the tails. They were, indeed, very smelly... but this wasn't the smell they smelled. But Mama insisted.

Perhaps it was the rats after all. But do rats breathe hot air? They were not sure. They checked the darkness, but there was nothing.

The monster is gone.

Lemon tarts. They were a household favorite.

At times, Teo and Bene would try to sneak a bite of one each before dinner. They would creep into the kitchen on tippy toes, hands reaching onto the table to steal some slices. More often than not, they were caught. Punishment was often a sharp beating on their bottoms by Papa's walking stick. They did not learn their lesson, however. They grew smarter instead.

Evening. The family was preparing dinner and lemon tarts were made. They were unguarded, the maids leaving to get the table ready. They waited until when the last one left. As soon as the maid left with a large plate of roast beast, the boys slipped into the kitchen, immediately going straight for the deserts. They reached for several of those bite-sized treats and hid them within napkins, chuckling as they immediately bolted. They raced for the hallway, at a particular wall where no one in the home hardly ever visits. No doors, no windows, but a small mousehole at the corner. They placed the napkin down, little naughty fingers grabbing for the tarts and immediately stuffing their faces with them. Sweet, tangy, savory cream spread upon their tongues smoothly with delight, with sugary crust crunching in their teeth and filling their tummies with joy. Their hands became grubby and sticky, but it mattered not--they licked with no complaints, savoring the sour goodness of the creamy treat.

They turned around for more. They saw it. Long and thin, and very white, with holes on the skin, red and deep and speckled like spots. It moved fast, darting lightning fast like a striking snake. It grabbed for the leftover tart, crumbs left over and cream squeezed from uncontrolled strength. Then it disappeared. There was nothing.

The children screamed. At last, they saw the monster.

Father heard. He rushed to the hallway, the walking stick in hand. He searched the hallway, looking around then turning his eyes to his son. He kneels before them, hands on their shoulders as he shakes them with concern. "What's going on? What's happening? Why are you screaming?"

"The monster! We saw him! He's real!"

"Boys... we told you. There is no monster in the house."

"We have seen him!" The boys pointed at the mousehole. "A snake! A snake! He was white with red spots, and very very long teeth! He took our tart and now he's eating it! He's real, Papa, he's real!"

Mama rushed over. She sees the boys with their faces smeared with cream and crumbs all over the floor. Her face twisted with anger that the children disobeyed their parents again, stealing sweets and eating them before supper. She yelled at them, reaching for their wrists to slap them. But Papa didn't react that way. No. His eyes were cool and calm with understanding. His hands clutched the cane, a smile spreading across his lips. Papa understands now. He believes his children.

"You saw the Serpent of the House. He lives within the house, hiding in the corners, in the basement, in the attic, waiting for bad children to misbehave. And then he will gobble you up. He took your lemon tart because you misbehaved. He's eating now because he's hungry. He will become hungrier if you misbehave."

The children's eyes widen with horror. They shake and tremble, now in full realization of the creature's existence. They remember the story well. How the serpent lost his legs. People broke his legs. The snake will bite back. Perhaps this is revenge. Perhaps this is justice. No matter. People break things when they misbehave. They don't want to misbehave if they don't want to see the Serpent.

"We'll behave, Papa! From now on!" They cried. They clung onto Mama, wailing and bawling in fear. The monster was real. There was truly something in the darkness.

Lemon tarts. They were a household favorite. Sweet, tangy, savory cream spread upon his tongue smoothly with delight, with sugary crust crunching in their teeth and filling his tummy with joy. His hands became grubby and sticky, but it mattered not--he licked with no complaints, savoring the sour goodness of the creamy treat.

He smiled. He has tasted something sweet and would like to have some more.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-02-2012, 01:57 AM by ImagenAshyun.)

WARNING:

Spoiler:

I

Spoiler:

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-28-2012, 04:54 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

Bene was eight and Teo was seven. Their sister, Alberta, had turned thirteen. She grew lovelier every day, her cheeks rosier. Her mocha tresses grew longer, thicker; beneath those curls, her creative brain grew wiser and more creative. The brothers love their sister. She was smart. She was brilliant.

The Serpent stopped visiting, but the children grew curious of their experiences with him. Was he real? Was he but a figment of the imagination? The children are older now, surely, but they recalled the hot air. The bad smell. They remembered feeling nauseous and sweaty, shaking as he drew close. They remember the spade and fork connecting, the scampering, and the devoured tarts. Such are not the results of dreams. He had to be real.

The boys were studying one day when they decided to be bold, once again, and abandoned their books. They took to the kitchen and sought out a tart. There was one... a small one, fit for one bite. The sun was high, and yet they avoided the gazes of the servants, slipping into the hallway with no windows and a small mousehole in the corner. They place the tart there and sat down, then waited. Waited. They sat there and waited. Waited some more. Their legs curled, eyes glued onto the hole. They kept waiting. Waiting. Nothing. There was nothing.

Perhaps they were to try again.

Nighttime. They got off bed, past curfew, with the stolen tart. They approach the hallway again and snuck the tart back onto the corner. And waited. Waited. Waited some more. Still, there was nothing. The Serpent feared the tart and was unwilling to steal. He would get beaten again. There would be much wailing.

The brothers kept trying again and again. Perhaps there is no Serpent. No need to fear being devoured. No fear of being bitten.

Bene and Teo often abandoned theirs studies for playtime. But Alberta stayed.

She learned of the boys' efforts in drawing out the Serpent. Such a curious act. She is sure the Serpent was taken care of a long time ago. But she remembered the smell, the hot air. At times at night, she'd hear wailing. Scratching. She did not abandon her books, but she would not abandon her brothers. Perhaps they should try something new.

Another kind of sweet treat.

At night, the children would put assorted sugary goods by the mousehole. A cupcake. A cookie. Mixed confectionery. Even a whole slice of pie. Again and again, they would offer the Serpent delicious treats for him to sink his teeth into. Nothing.

But she heard wailing. There was no denying the Serpent is real.

Perhaps we were going about it wrong, she'd think. We need a different approach.

The nights that followed, they would leave behind other food besides sweets. Bread. Cheese. Strips of meat. A glass of milk. Again, and again, the Serpent denies their offers. But he kept wailing.

Alberta thought of doing something brave. She stuck her hand into the hole.

She searched with her fingertips. She felt cobwebs and dust. She stuck her arm in further, her elbow slipping through the wall. She patted and touched, reaching as far as she could. She then felt something. Something bumpy. Something sticky. It moved, and it breathed. The Serpent withdrew upon being touched. He was frightened.

"There you are!" Alberta declared. But the Serpent said nothing.

"What do you want with us?" she would continue. "Why do you not leave our home? Do you wish to eat more of our food? Do you wish to live within the walls of our house? Answer us, Snake. We will not harm you."

The Serpent did not answer. Not at first. He shook within the wall, long, bony fingers wrapping around his arms. His hazel eyes watched the mousehole as the children placed their heads onto the floor to peer inside. They could not see him. It is too dark.

"I'm hungry," he says in a small, meek voice, trembling with fear. He whispered, almost, a lisp escaping between long, crooked teeth and cracked lips. "I have not eaten and I wish to eat."

"We bring you food, and yet you will not eat our offerings. Do you want something else?" Alberta asks.

The Serpent shakes. "I will be punished for eating your food. Papa does not like it when I steal food."

"You have a papa?"

"Yes, I do."

"What is his name?"

"I do not know."

"What is your name?"

"I do not want to share."

"Why not?"

"I may be punished by Papa." He shook again, his lips curled as he bit onto his fingers. "He does not want me to talk to you, nor you to me. Please do not tell my Papa that we met. Please don't tell your Papa that we met. Or your Mama. Or the other grownups in the house. I'm scared of everyone. I fear they will beat me."

For the first time in her life, Alberta's heart sank like a stone in a sorrowful sea. The Serpent's voice was filled with fear, like a frightened beast, scarred and trapped. She could not see him, but she felt him. All her thoughts of fright and disgust turned to pity and sadness for the trapped little beast. Her arm remains inside the wall, reaching around for the Serpent to touch. She finally felt him. Rags and bumpy skin; a molting snake. She searched for a tender hand to hold, fingers to wrap hers around. The Serpent touched her, his hands connecting with hers. His skin was cold to the touch, but she didn't care. Their fingers wrapped. They were warm.

"My name is Alberta," the sister says with a smile in her heart. "I have here with my brothers, Teobaldo and Benedetto. What is your name? We will not tell a soul."

The Serpent's heart smiled as well. The corners of his grotesque mouth lifted, teeth exposed. She couldn't see him, and he was glad. The fright in his voice left him. He spoke merrily.

"Papa called me 'Geraldo'... but Mama called me just 'Dino'."

"We are happy to meet you, Dino. Please do eat." Alberta draws her arm from the hole as she gesticulates to her brothers. They immediately set down a prepared plate of bread and pork. Dino reached for the meal, his fingers sticking out of the wall and hungrily grabbing for the food. Without hesitation, he stuffed his face, like a chipmunk preparing for a long winter. He kept eating and eating, his empty stomach filled. A smile returned to his lips. He is satisfied.

"I thank you, Alberta, Teobaldo, Benedetto. I will repay your kindness tenfold."

Alberta smiled. Her brothers were bewildered. They have fed the Serpent, and he will be giving them a reward.

The children went to bed, no longer afraid. The Serpent also went to bed, no longer hungry. He's crying now, but with joy instead of sorrow. He felt a kind, loving, warm touch instead of the end of a stick. His heart smiles. He slept peacefully.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-06-2012, 01:49 AM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

Alberta thought of Dino every day. The hot air and bad smell no longer bothered her. Her mind drifted to when she touched his skin. Molting. Bumpy. Famished. Scared. The Serpent was driven into the deep bowels of the home, away from faces, away from voices. Away from touch. Away from the sun.

She was curious. She wanted to know more.

At night, when she was done telling Teo and Bene their bedtime stories, she would take her candle and drift downstairs. She would sneak into the kitchen, gathering bread, cheese, and meat for the Serpent to eat. She'd meet him in the hallway with no windows but a mousehole, the small offering plate placed at the open corner. She tapped on the wall, very quietly, and left the candle by the plate. Light for the Snake. He wouldn't be trapped in complete darkness anymore. He'd slither forth, a slender, boil-ridden hand reaching for the food while shaking with hunger. Not a crumb was dropped, not a flake of crust wasted. The Serpent ate and ate, his lips smacking and teeth grinding. He was satisfied. Alberta smiled.

"How is it?" She would ask? "Are you no longer hungry?"

"I am not," he'd reply. "I am filled and I am happy."

"How long have you lived behind the wall?" she would ask.

The Serpent shook. "As long as I can remember."

"Have you been outside?"

"No."

"Have you ever left the wall?"

"No."

"Do you not have company?"

"No. I've had my Mama, but I have not seen her in a very long time."

Alberta adjusted herself on her seat, her delicate fingers twirling her mocha hair. She bit her lip, eyes lowered, her heart sinking with sorrow. "Where is your Mama?"

"I do not know."

"Do you know her name?"

"No."

"What does she look like? Do you remember?"

The Serpent lowered his head to the mousehole, close enough so he could be heard, though the candlelight betrayed Alberta's sight for his visage. He spoke softly, a smile in his tone, the lisp quietly skirting along his words as he speaks tenderly, affectionately. "She was fair... hair like gold, eyes like the sky. My mama had spots on her face, but her smile was clear and lovely. She often dressed in black, with lace over her hair. She always gave me books and stories. She always held me, even when I was too big to be held. I was never lonely before she went away. I love my Mama and I want her back."

Alberta tilted her head, a saddened smile returning to her lips. She recalls her own mother, who gave her love through story and warmth. Though she was harsh, she was loving. Alberta loved her Mama, and she can tell Dino does too.

"When did your Mama go away?" she asks.

"Four years ago," Dino replied.

Four? Such a long time to be without a mama. The thought of being separated from Mama, or any family, horrified Alberta, the feeling of fright and loneliness swimming through her head. She lowers herself to the mousehole, whispering to the Serpent as she continued to speak. "How old are you, Serpent?"

"I am twelve years old."

"You're younger than me."

"I know I am. I remember you when I watched from the walls. I always wanted to play with you. I wanted to try your toys. I wanted to hear your stories. I am so happy to meet you at last. I'd like to be loved like you love your brothers."

"You lived in these walls all this time?"

"Yes I have. I have never left the walls and I may never will."

"Then I will get Papa to get you out!"

"No! No!" The Serpent slithered back, weeping again. "I will be punished! I will be beaten! Please do not get me out. I can receive your love and kindness through the walls. Please do not tell anyone about me. I must stay hidden."

It was Alberta's turn to weep. Tears streamed down her face as her lips pursed, hearing the Serpent's plea. "Very well. If this wall must keep us apart, then it shall stay. But I would like to see your face someday, Dino. I want to meet the serpent of the house."

"You do not," the Serpent says. "I will repay your love and kindess tenfold... but we must never meet. Good night and farewell, my friend. We shall talk again."

Benedetto and Teobaldo did not like how the Serpent was taking their sister away. Every night, she would leave her brothers to speak with the snake. Every night, they would leave her alone for the creature behind the walls.

The brothers were not happy. They were, in fact, jealous.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-06-2012, 09:04 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

The chandelier in the dining hall seems to shake every time Papa gets a visitor. Certain ones. When Teo and Bene's tutors came to visit, the chandelier didn't shake. When Mama's sisters dropped by for a visit, the chandelier didn't shake.

When Giuseppe and his companions returned, the chandelier did shake.

The children thought it was the wind, at first, from the opened window. The glass twinkled as the frame trembled, as if the chandelier sang. It was sweet, but ominous. The children didn't know Papa's visitors. They were curious.

Alberta noticed it shook one night, as another visitor came. The window was closed. There was no wind.

She came to the hallway that night. She knocked above the mousehole, with a lemon tart in hand. She places it down, where it is gobbled up immediately. The Serpent has come to visit... and he can sense the trouble in Alberta's heart.

"What is it?" he asks.

"Did you shake the chandelier?" Alberta began. "There was no wind, and the glass twinkled. It was frightening."

"I did," he explains. "There is a rope that attaches the chandelier to above the ceiling, which is what supports its weight. I shake the rope whenever Papa gets visitors."

"What kind of visitors?"

"The Red Glove."

"Who are they?"

Dino paused, trying to breathe. He coughs and shakes, clutching the wall on the other side of Alberta. He lowers himself, breathing slower, raspy wheezes escaping his lips. "I do not know. Papa identifies them for a single red glove they always wear. They come and go, and sometimes hide with me. I hide from them, though. Papa says I should stay out of sight."

"They hide here?" Alberta says as she looks around the wall.

"Yes. This wall is a door. I can open it."

"Let me in! I'd like to see."

Dino sighs, then he coughs again. "I cannot let you in. I'm not allowed. Beyond the wall is dangerous, and I wish to not expose you to the danger."

"I will not be afraid. You will be with me, yes?"

The Serpent smiled. "I will... but not today. Someday, maybe. But I don't want you here. Papa doesn't want you here. Someday, someday. But not today."

The chandelier did not shake during this visit.

A young man, with shoulder-length golden hair, warm eyes, and a handsome smile, arrived in the Galleani home dressed in dapper clothes, a tall hat on his hand, white gloves, and polished shoes. He was accompanied by several others, including an older man in a bushy beard. Alberta did not see the chandelier shake... these men are not from The Red Glove. She did not know who they are... but she would grow to hate them.

Mama and Papa sat Alberta down in front of the man. He looked much older than her, perhaps at least ten years. He was tall, with a tapered jaw and strong nose. He was very handsome... but Alberta didn't bat an eye. She was young. Too young. Thirteen years old, her fourteenth year a few months away. She was, however, dressed in her best gown, with silvery laces atop of satin blues, her mocha tresses dressed in sapphire ribbons adorned with gems. She felt anxious. She never dressed this way except for parties... but this is no party. It was just her, Mama, Papa, the gentleman, and his men.

"Alberta," says Mama, "this is Roberto. Your future husband."

"...My what?" Alberta says in bewilderment.

"Roberto is a kindly gentleman," Papa says. "When you turn fourteen, you will go with him to Stromgarde. You'll be trained to be his wife, and you'll marry when you turn eighteen." He smiles. "He'll take good care of you."

"I will get married?!" The young girl rises to her feet, already bursting in tears. "I don't want to get married! I want to stay home and be with my brothers!

Papa frowned. This was unbecoming of a lady. It was his turn to rise to his feet, his strong hands gripping for Alberta's arm. He forces her back to her seat, her lacy hem fluttering as she falls onto her seat. The girl was frightened, but he did not care. "Do not act like such a child! You are thirteen going on fourteen... a lady now. You will act like one, and you will join Roberto's family as one. Be more dignified and stop your crying."

Alberta peers at her future husband. He sits there, quiet and calm. A smile lights up on his face. He cannot wait to marry Alberta.

Alberta was frightened. She tried to cry, but cannot in front of Papa.

Echoes bounced off the windowless walls as Alberta knelt by the mousehole, weeping. She was still in her lacy gown, her curls loosened and the ribbon dropped. Her hands covered her eyes, cupping the tears that fell. The Serpent heard her crying. He is near.

"My dear friend," Dino says, his own words soft and tender. "Why do you cry?"

"Papa wants me to go to Stromgarde and marry a stranger. I don't know him and he frightens me."

"Is he that yellow-haired man in the suit?"

Alberta nods.

"Why are you marrying him when you're still little? Stay here with Teo and Bene. Stay here with me."

"Papa says I'm a woman now. I want to stay. I don't want to go away. I will leave when I turn fourteen. But I don't want to go away."

The bumpy, frail hand reaches through the mousehole and sticks out for Alberta. The weeping girl held his hand, squeezing despite the boils. She cried and cried, and The Serpent held her hand in return. He felt her sorrow, her tears falling onto his boils. She was weeping. He felt angry.

"You will not go away," he says. "I have promised to return your love and kindness tenfold. I shall fulfill it soon." And with that, he withdraws his hand.

Alberta heads upstairs. She is smiling now, comforted and glad. She spoke with the Serpent, and he promised her good things from her love. She is ready to sleep peacefully. She can stay home.

Her brothers, Bene and Teo, awaited at her bedroom door before her. They were frowning. They were cross.

"We wanted a bedtime story," they said, irritated and angry. Their brows furrowed, lips pursed and eyes narrowed. They didn't get a bedtime story like they always did. Their routine was broken with a new one--Alberta's visit to the Serpent.

"I will tell you a story tomorrow," the sister promised. "I am tired tonight and I had a long day. Good night, Teo, Bene. I love you both." She slips past her brothers, the door closing. She falls asleep, peaceful and happy. She won't be going away. She's staying home.

The brothers were not happy. They were, in fact, jealous.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-13-2012, 06:08 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

WARNING: Graphic violence below, hidden by spoilers.

I

"Dino? Can you see me?"

"Not from where I am, no. I can hear you, but not see you."

"Why not?"

"I'd have to lift this painting to peer out."

"Then do not. I am dressing."

It's early evening. Alberta was fixing her hair in front of the vanity. She recalled how Dino was able to slip into her bedroom the other night. She knew she could talk to him there. The voice descended from two holes by the closet door of her bedroom, too small to look out, but large enough to be heard from. He spoke softly, and she listened. No one can hear. No one but Alberta.

"What are you planning?"

"Planning? For what?"

"For Roberto."

"I have not decided yet."

Alberta stood up as she placed the ribbons on her hair. Yellow ribbons. They made her violet eyes stand out upon gold trims and hems. Amber earrings hung from her ears. She was well dressed and very pretty. Mama and Papa would be proud. "Dino? I am ready now."

"Ready for what?"

"To see Roberto. Mama and Papa wish for me to get to know him." She sighs, her tone dropping. Her shoulders droop, her eyes cast down. She is not smiling.

"Are you truly ready?"

"No, I am not. Ever."

"Alberta. I will help you. I am planning, but I have nothing yet. I am still thinking."

"Is there any way I can help you?" She tilts her head as she peers upon the painting from which she hears her companion's voice. It's a painting of a horse galloping across a stream, wide brush strokes emulating a cool wind against the bright sun. No holes, however, and the canvas was thick and heavy, the frame large for even a grown man to lift himself. "How peculiar. How did you come out of this painting?"

"I lift the corner. There is a door from behind."

"Is that so? May I see?"

"No! I mean, no. You will not."

Alberta pouts. "I would like to see you, Dino. I really do. How can I help you, or you help me, if I cannot see you?"

Dino scratches along the back of the painting, his fingertips scraping along the texture of the canvas. "I will go by the late hours of the night. You will be sleeping, as will Roberto. I will help you, Alberta. Please have faith in me."

"Tell me how I can help. You cannot come out of the walls without Papa seeing you. If you wish to keep hiding, so be it. But let me help."

Silence. Gears turned for the Serpent, his snake-like brain thinking. Contemplating. A plan was forming. He has an idea. "I will need a lantern. A knife. A metal rod. And lemons....lots of lemons."

"....you're not going to kill him, are you?"

"The knife is for the lemons."

"I will cut the lemons for you, but not give the knife to you. What is the rod for?"

"In case he attacks me."

"Are you going to hurt him?"

"It depends on if he hurts me first."

Alberta nods. "I am sorry we have to do this, Dino. I must repay for your kindness somehow."

"You are already by being my friend. I am more than happy to help you. Please bring me the lemons, the rod, and the lantern. I shall prepare myself for tonight."

The hour falls. Carriages arrived at the Galleani manor, guests dressed in laces and suits. There were fancy hats, fancy shoes. Bright lights and bright music. There were smiles. Alberta was not smiling.

It was her engagement party. Soon, she will turn fourteen and move away. Become a bride at eighteen. She does not want to marry so soon. She does not know the man. She does not like his smile.

Roberto turned on the charm. He doesn't mind Alberta's youth. In four years, the flower is ready for plucking. Petals to remove. All he had to do is wait.

Dino will not wait. He has other plans.

The Serpent waited for the moon to hide behind the trees, the stars to close their eyes, and the candles to blow out. Everyone was going home. Roberto stayed behind to speak with Papa. He was excited for the engagement, though Alberta was not. He was the last one to leave. The Serpent was glad.

He slithered out and hid among the bushes of the night. In one hand was a metal rod, and another a sack of cut lemons. A lantern, left unlit, dangled from his arm. His hair was white and gray from the cobwebs and dust atop of him. His eyes were glued onto the man as he finally stepped out, seeking for his horse. Roberto relied on the dimming moon to search for his carriage, for his horse to be within view. Dino found him first, however. He waited patiently until he was further away from the home. Away from the eyes of Papa. The eyes of Mama. The eyes of Alberta. The eyes of Teo and Bene.

Spoiler:

A sickening crack. Dino made his first move, a swing of the rod onto Roberto's knee. The shaft was swung from the front, the Serpent ambushing the unprepared man. Roberto cried out, flinching forward from the sudden swing of the rod. He falls onto the ground in a large thud, curling from the pain of his knee broken. But the Serpent wasn't done. He stood over the man, swinging the rod again and again. Skin was broken. Blood was flying. The Serpent was small and gaunt, but he did not relent. He was a creature defending his home. He still has his legs.

"Look to the moon," the Serpent demanded, his sack of lemons and lantern swinging from his arm. ""Do it, or I will break your nose and your teeth." As soon as Roberto looked up, the Serpent did his work. He sat upon the man's chest, pressing his legs around the larger man's neck. He takes a lemon with one hand while the other gripped the man's face, the eyelids forced open. Lemon poured straight into the man's eyes and nostrils, the head tilting back to make sure the juice flowed into the nasal passages. Roberto gagged, screaming as he attempted to flail. The rod swings again, this time on the man's face. Blood flew. He cried out again. The Serpent steadies Roberto's head once again, the mouth forced open. The rod sticks into it, threatening to jab past the uvula. Roberto could feel the tip of the rod on the back of this throat. He is finally still.

"I am the Serpent of the Galleani Home. I will defend my house from slimy scum such as yourself. You will not lay a hand on my father's wealth, nor will you lay your hand on my beloved sister. I will ruin you. I will curse you. I will fill your days with nightmares beyond your wildest dreams. I will agonize you from morning to nighttime, beyond your sleep, beyond your grave. I will hurt you. I will murder you." He raises the lantern, the switch turned. The light shows the creature's face. Roberto was forced to stare through burning red eyes, his breath labored from the lemon juice forced into his nasal cavities. He couldn't see well. But he needn't clear eyes to see a monster.

He points to the carriage not far behind. It was moved. The horse was near. Roberto wouldn't have known.

"Leave this place and never return, or I will follow you to the rest of your days and end it with pain and misery beyond all your soul can handle."

Morning came. Papa received a letter from Roberto to cancel the engagement. He was disappointed. Alberta was happy.

Dino hid within the bowels of the home. He was too busy suckling on his leftover lemons to mind much of anything else.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-28-2012, 04:55 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

I

"Dino? What did you do to Roberto?"

"I scared him away."

It is sundown, with most everyone in the household out of the home. Servants tended to the garden. Mama is with guests. Papa was out to the temple. The children were alone at home. Teo and Bene were napping on the sofas not far from the windowless hallway, and Alberta listened for them. This was her time to see the Serpent alone, when the shadows of the night were but hours away.

"Is that all you really did?" she asked.

"...no. I bit him and poured lemon in his wound. He thought I was a snake. He ran away, scared," the Serpent answers.

Alberta sighed in relief. In her arms are four very large books, all of them very heavy and very wide. "I brought you books, as you requested. From Papa's shelf. I didn't know what you wanted, so I got whatever I could."

"What did you bring me?"

Alberta turns to read the titles. She squinted, many of the words being very big and difficult to pronoune. "'Gearsprocket's Heart Disease: A Textbook of Car...dio...vas...cular Medicine'.'Human Skeleton Reference Guide'. 'Comparisons of Human, Elf, and Dwarf Anatomy'. 'Medical Phys...i..ology'." She looks through the mousehole the best she could. "Can you even -read- these?"

"What editions are they?"

"How would I know?!"

"Open the first couple pages of the book, where you see the authors and publishers. An edition number should show somewhere."

The girl immediately goes to work. She opens the first pages of the cardiology book. "This one is, the heart one...it's the third edition. The skeleton book is the fourth. The comparison is the second, and the phys...physiology book is also the fourth."

"I've read all of them except the comparisons book. I'd like that one, please."

"You have all of them? How?"

"By reading from left and right."

"No, really, how?"

"I've been reading books since Mama taught me how to read."

"No, I mean-..." The girl paused. She realized this was going nowhere. She sighed, then giggled. She continued. "You must be really smart to read something like these. Yet you are younger than me. But really....how did you get your hands on these books?"

Dino paused. "....I stole them."

Alberta smiled. "Yet you returned them. How did you take them, anyway?"

"The same way I stole the tarts and scared Roberto away: I snuck out."

"I mean literally, how? Through this wall?"

"Yes."

"May I see?"

"I will show you how the door works, yes. But..."

"But?"

"Only so far. I don't want you to see me."

The sister sighs in disappointment. "If you wish. But I really want to see you."

"Someday, Alberta. But not today."

"How will I give you the book?"

"Put the book by the mousehole. I will take it from here."

Alberta nods obediently. She places the textbook onto the corner of the hall, right next to the mousehole as instructed. "Now what?"

"Do you see anyone around you?"

The mocha-haired girl looks around. "There is no one in the house but me and my brothers. The servants are out with Mama and the guests in the garden."

"Good. Step back, please."

The child blinks. As she was seated, she does not get up, but rather, she simply scoots. As soon as she was far enough, the Serpent made his move. A creaking sound. Gravel grinding. There is a slight buzz, then clicks. Click. Click. Click. Hinges razed. The wall turns. The mousehole disappears in the darkness, the paintings dangling from the slight movement. Alberta watches in wonder as the wall of the windowless hallway turns to a revolving door. Her eyes widen, her mouth gapes. Such a curious sight, a wonder to have existed this whole time in her home.

Then she saw him. A slight hand, thin and gaunt, pale from neglect from the sun's warmth. His hand--no, his entire arm--was skinny and bony, ivory-white skin flaking and covered with many boils. Some healed, leaving holes of all shapes and sizes like a worn sponge. Others, however, did not. Many boils of many sizes blistered on his skin, rings of red over bumps of sickened yellow. One was wide enough to slip a slice of tart into. Others clustered like grapes in a bunch. The young lady was horrified at the sight. She anticipated a boy much healthier than this... but before her was someone ill.

She clutched the arm. The Serpent yelped in pain, then flinched behind the wall. Alberta couldn't see him. But she can see his arm. "You're sick!"

"I have been sick."

"For how long?"

"Since I last saw Mama."

"You have been sick for four years?!"

"Going on five. But yes." The Serpent jerks his arm for Alberta to release him. "I have been taking care of myself... this is why I read Papa's medical books. I have been reading them since I started reading, in fact. My first book was on leg surgery... I read that when I six. After that was the function of the heart and lungs... I read that when I turned seven. Papa would dump books on me to keep me entertained, but he dumped books grownups would read... not children. But I learned. I overcame my difficulties reading. Mama helped me. By the time I was eight, I have read, front and back, twelve different textbooks on surgery, disease, and anatomy. I've stolen several more when Mama disappeared... now it's gone to over thirty." His saddened tone turns cheery, almost braggartly. "I am a little doctor."

"You are so smart!"

The Serpent shrinks back, his whispering lisp shrinking to a modest whimper. "You flatter me."

"It's the truth. Now I really want to see you."

"Another time, Alberta. Another time." He pauses. The Serpent hisses a little as he takes a breath, bony fingers wrapping around the book once more to take it. Heavy. He presses his fingers along the spine and slides the textbook over, then lifts it as soon as the corner hit the slit of the revolving door. With that, it is gone. "Hm... perhaps... I would like to request another book?"

"Another?"

"No...two. Two books. If you can."

"Anything for my friend," Alberta says cheerfully.

"Mama would tell me about them. Gnomes. Dwarves. Such curious creatures. They are much smaller than we are, but much hardier. Dwarves .... from the earth. Yes? Gnomes... where did gnomes come from? Yet they breathe with amazing intelligence... their machines intimidating. Mama brought me pictures. She told me stories." He pauses again, fingers wrapping around the doorframe. "When I'm not reading, Mama made me toys. Automata. They're machines that imitate life with no human intervention. One of a wind-up soldier that marches. Another is a ballerina who dances." He peers out. Alberta, however, saw only a shadow. No face. It was too dark. "I love them. I love machines. Mama made them to me. She is the smart one. I would like to make more. Gnomes and Dwarves can make machines. I would like to make my own."

"You want a book on engineering?"

"Basic tinkering. I know the natural body, but not the artificial one. I would like to learn. I would like to make my own toys."

"Then I shall get you books on tinkering. One book on Gnomish tinkering, the other on Dwarven?"

Dino paused. He didn't think that far ahead. "Both? And a third book, perhaps?"

Alberta chuckled. "Okay. What will this third book be?"

"A story book."

The girl's face lights up. "Really? What kind of story?"

"A good one. Oh, one with a happy ending? An adventure? Maybe romance. I like stories where the boy gets the girl. No, the girl gets the boy. And magic. And dragons! Lots of dragons!"

Alberta chuckles turned to an echoing laugh, loud enough to awaken her younger brothers. The boys rose from the sofas, rubbing their tired eyes. They heard laughter. It was not theirs. It was Alberta's, and joining hers with mirthful harmony was the Serpent's. They did not like this. They were jealous.

The girl leans forward in an attempt to see the Serpent's face. "Oh, Dino. I will not get you three books. I will get you four. Five! Six even... maybe seven! There are many books with adventure, magic, dragons, and romance. You will love them all. I will get books on ancient wars, of trolls and spirits, of knights of the Light. We shall read them together. I want to share stories with you."

"I will be delighted! Where will you get the books?"

"The town library. It's not far from the temple Papa works at. I will visit there before the sun goes down, and we shall spend tonight reading each other stories."

"I look forward to it. Thank you, Alberta, thank you. You are a wonderful friend and I love you."

"I love you too, Doctor Dino."

"'...'Doctor Dino'. I like that. Do come back to me. I shall await for tonight."

She gets up. Little heels click upon the marbled floor, a coat dragged from the rack as the little lady races outside. The brothers watch. Their brows furrow, cheeks flushed with red. Their eyes were narrowing. They were angry.

Storytime was their time. The Serpent was taking Alberta away.

Books! Books! Books! Books! Alberta is surrounded by them. She is awashed by words, texts, facts and fiction. Books about science. Religion. Philosophy. Magic. There were books on gnomes, elves, dwarves, trolls. Books of creatures of the crawling kind. Books of creatures of the flying kind. She saw them, one by one, her delicate hands trailing along the rows of knowledge. This was her favorite place to be. This would be the favorite of Dr. Dino if he could leave the house.

A shame Teo and Bene do not share my love for books, Alberta thought. I would take them everyday if I could. The Doctor too.

She stood before the reference book, looking up the subjects in which she was to find. Then, she took a cart. A large one. She nearly danced as she stepped through the halls of books, ladders sliding along as the shelves grew higher and higher. She found them. Books of basic tinkering. There was plenty. She saw books of how to create toys. How to create automated music. How to create mechanical mounts. How to create weapons.

The weapons book frightened her. She put it away.

There, she found them. Basic tinkering, by gnomes and dwarves. She opened the texts and flipped through the pages. Words. Lots of big words. She knew how to read, but this was beyond her level. Even grownups would see these as gibberish. And yet, Dino said he could read medical books at a very young age. She trusts him. She placed the books onto the cart.

She was far less discriminate with the story books, however. In fact, she merrily dumped them into the cart, almost randomly. Books of fairies, harpies, dragons, and drakes. Books of war. Books of love. The cart was filling up fast. She knew there was no way neither she nor Dino would read all these within the allotted rental time, but she didn't care. They will share books. They will share stories and knowledge.

He is no Serpent, she thinks. Serpents slither. Serpents deceive. No. He was an angel. A guardian angel. A guardian angel who thirsts for knowledge and tale. Who thirsts for friendship. Who thirsts for love. He is lonely. I am his friend.

She passed by it--the row on medicine. A priest was there. She recognized him as one of the priests in Papa's temple. She smiles as she approaches him with the cart of books. "Hello, your Eminence," she greets him.

The priest turned. He returns the smile, then his eyes widen at the piles of books in Alberta's cart. "Oh, my! Are you planning on a reading binge, my dear Alberta?"

"I sure am!"

"Such a smart, creative girl. I miss seeing you at the Temple. How are you doing? Are you still going to marry Roberto?"

The girl shook. She clenched her eyes shut, her teeth biting onto her lower lip. She raises her head, a confident but pained grin lighting up. She tries to hide her fear. "No. He changed his mind. I do not like him, however. I am glad he did."

"So I see," he says. "Your father was looking forward to a wedding. Do you know why he set you two up?"

"No. Should I know?"

"Perhaps another day. What do you have there, Alberta?"

"Lots of things," she simply says with a chuckle. "Tinkering. Stories. A little bit of history too."

"What a curious little lady, you are."

"Indeed I am." Then, a thought. Her violet orbs stared forward as her mind drifts to a not-so-distant memory. Boils. Holes. Skin like a sponge. Flakes, red, and yellow.... lots of yellow. The priest worked with Papa. He is no doctor, but he specializes in healing with the Light. Perhaps he can be of help in lieu of her doctor father. "Your Eminence? I have a question."

"Go ahead, my child."

"Let's say someone is sick. His skin is pale, very white. He has boils all over his skin, of many sizes... one is even big enough to cover your palm. There are holes too, very deep. Red and yellow. And flakes. Many flakes."

The priest raised his brows. "That wounds like a very acutely serious skin disease. It could be a viral infection... or perhaps an autoimmune disorder."

"What is that?"

"Do you know what the immune system is?"

Alberta thinks. She may not be as medically knowledgeable as Papa or Dr. Dino, but she knew her basics. "That's when... your body protects itself from getting sick? Without any aid of medicine or magic?"

"That is correct. An autoimmune disorder is in which... simply put... your body isn't reacting to disease the way it's supposed to. It's 'auto' because it's attacking itself. It may have mistaken something healthy as something foreign. It's not normal... but it is usually rare."

Alberta is mortified. "Can... someone die from this?"

"It is possible."

"Your Eminence! I have a patient for you! He is a young boy, younger than I, who was locked away for many years. He has the symptoms I described. I don't know what he has, but he is ill, and I don't know if he has much time left. Please, sire. You must help him!"

The priest is taken aback from such a sudden response. His expression softens, and a smile lights up. He places his large hands onto Alberta's narrow shoulders, gentle enough to reassure, but firm to show his confidence in the young lady. "Then take him to my temple as soon as possible. I will reserve a bed for him. What is his name?"

"Geraldo. I call him Dino. Dr. Dino."

"Doctor?"

"He's really smart, but really sick. He is my friend. Please help him, sire."

"Then I shall. Take him to me as soon as I can. I will pray to the Light until you return."

**ImagenAshyun** · 02-16-2012, 07:43 PM

I

Alberta was afraid. Not for Papa, not for Mama, not even for Benedetto or for Teobaldo. No.

She was afraid of Dino. And she didn't know why. He saved me, she thinks. He is sad, sick, and lonely. So why am I afraid of him?

The hot air was gone. There is, instead, a cold chill.

She waited for nightfall. That was the time to sneak. The time to save him. But she was afraid.

Shadows. They danced once again in the dimly lit hallways as Alberta snuck into the hallways. She waited till nightfall... long into the very late hours of the morn. The moon was low. The stars were vanishing. The owl stopped hooting, the crickets stopped chirping. It was silent. Even the dust had stopped settling along the untouched shelves that lined along the flowery walls. It was still. There was nothing.

The girl crept. She was in her socks, woolen and soft. Her hair fell over her face, her eyes tired and hands trembled. She had to make arrangements to be up in this hour. The Serpent should be asleep. It's time to take him to the Priest.

She arrived at the hallway... there, it is still. The mousehole awaited for her. Her candle was starting to melt away. She lowered herself to the corner, her fingers trailing along the frame of the hole before she slipped her whole arm in, up to the elbow. She then bent her arm, her hands feeling about. How did the Doctor do it? Was there a lever? A button? He may have been asking for basic tinkering books, but Alberta had thought it out--a home with a hidden door in which a boy knew how to operate wouldn't necessarily indicate a technologically-ignorant child. No. That door was not only well hidden, but well-built. A pivot. Not a single hinge. It revolves. The Serpent can sneak in without using a doorknob. There has to be a way in. But she couldn't find it.

The candle ran out. Wax. She is in darkness now, with only her own eyes to see through the black. She adjusts. Shapes. Corners. Movement. She doesn't need the candle... but now, any hopes of discovering a lever or button anywhere in this hall would be impossible.

She shoves the candle holder aside before she stands up and thinks. Think, think, think. She thought about the home, her fingers wrapped around her forehead. What is it about this house that Dino could sneak around without being caught? Other passageways... other holes.... oh! Her bedroom! Dino said that in order to see her, all he had to do is tilt the painting. She rushes back, tiny feet lightly flying across marble steps as she raced to her bedroom. Quietly, now. She immediately positions herself to the painting. A large canvas, with a horse galloping across a stream, wide brush strokes emulating a cool wind against the bright sun. There was a door behind it, he says. She can just slip through here.

A square. There was space between this door and the wall, and a small hole to stick one's finger through. Perfect. She keeps the painting tilted to the side as she stuck a finger through the hole and pulls on it. No. It didn't work. She tries pushing instead... there! The little door opens only way, away from the painting as opposed to against it... it made sense. The girl then realized that she would have to remove the painting carefully if she hopes to enter without it sliding off.... however Dino did it, she had no idea. She tries lifting the frame... no. Too heavy. Be careful now. She'd just have to be really careful. She slips through the door, wide enough for a child to slip through, but near impossible for a grown man or woman. She was becoming bigger.

She's not a little girl anymore.

Her budding breasts and widening hips scrapped along the frame, her dress tearing, her hair caught onto nails that bent from the other side of the wall. Cobwebs fell onto her tresses almost as soon as she looked up. She was scratched. Bruised from carelessness. She was starting to become a bit noisy as she struggled to slip past the painting as the heavy frame leaned hard against her legs. She yanked her feet, a corner catching onto a sock and pulling it off. Then... she made it. The painting swung. The sock fell off. The girl was gone. Alberta made it into the serpent's burrow.

It was not dark inside. In fact, a small gnomish lantern was lit along the wall. She lowers herself to it, picking it up from the ground when she stood u- thud! Ow! Her head bumps onto a very low ceiling. She raises the lantern to look around. Cobwebs. Dust. The smell of urine and fecal matter. Sweat. The air was thick, nauseous, hard to breathe. There was almost no ventilation here. She can't stay here long. She looked left, right, for a direction to crawl. There. A small space, wide enough to crawl through. She lowers herself, placing the lantern before her to scoot along in front of her as she would crawl. This would take a while. She's becoming sick now, and very tired and exhausted from waking so early into the dead of the night. But she had to find Dino. She had to take him to the Priest.

Forward. Forward. Left. Right. The passage was long and winding. Where was she going? She had no idea... but she was becoming dizzy. Fast. The lantern was dimming. She couldn't stay away.

She feared she would pass out, so she stopped. She remained on her belly and closed her eyes. The air was still thick, still, and nauseous. She couldn't breathe.

**ImagenAshyun** · 02-17-2012, 06:07 PM

I

"Alberta? Alberta?"

She woke up. Sunlight was pouring over her eyes... morning already? She sat up. It's dark. The sun was shining through a slit on the wall, specks of dust falling through. She squinted, her nostrils flaring... achoo! A sudden sneeze. The dust flew again from the sudden burst of air. They were falling so daintily, so delicately... like microscopic leaves fluttering down a somber tree. They almost danced. They almost flew. It was a peculiarly strange sight to behold. Dust in the darkness.

Hot air. It was coming from behind. The little lady turned around... and there he was. The Serpent of the House...with a black velvet bag on his head. Huh.

The boy, young as he is, was taller than Alberta anticipated. In fact, he's slightly taller. He was very thin, almost rail-like, despite wide shoulders on which a slender head set upon. He wore rags made up of torn and patchy tunic and breeches, with no shoes... his toes were wide, riddled with ulcers and blisters. All of his skin area was covered with blisters and ulcers... some of them with blisters inside ulcers. He was a terrible sight to behold. Alberta nearly vomited as soon as she spotted. He was not surprised. "D-Doctor??"

"I'm sorry... please don't..." Dino started as he began scooting back. The folds of his bag shifted from his movement, showing holes for him to see though. "I had to bring you in. Papa would get mad at you. Papa would get mad at me. You're not supposed to be here. But I can't take you out. Not now. Not here."

"Where am I?" Alberta choked.

"You're in my bedroom." The boy stood up, dirt and dust falling from his clothes. He stepped past the girl, his hands reaching for a hanging rope by the small hole on the wall. Pulling on it, camaflouged curtains roll up. Light. More light. There are other holes, some of them seeming to have been made recently. Dust flew as the curtains rolled, fluttering down the beams of light. Alberta's eyes followed and scanned her surroundings. More dust. Mold. Rotten wood. Cobwebs and spider webs. Chamberpots were shoved against a corner, tightly lidded and some even covered. A basket of food, some of it rotten and unsuitable for consumption. A table; there were curious things atop of it. Gears. Nuts. Bolts. A rusty screwdriver. Tweezers. Small metal rods and a big one in which Alberta gave not long ago. Leftover lemons. A bloody surgical tray, and a small, bowl with a handkerchief atop. Alberta reached for it, curiously. The Serpent instinctively grabbed her wrist... cold. Very cold.

"Don't!" he exclaims. "I mean.... please, don't."

"What's in here?"

"Dead rats."

Alberta left the bowl alone without second thought. "Why do you have dead rats in there?!"

"Experimentation," he says, letting the girl's wrist go. He twiddles with his fingers anxiously, his head bowed and knees buckling. "I... wanted to compare the joints and parts of the rat's body so I can emulate it in an artificial form. Would you like to see?" He steps forward to the table and picks up what seems to be a metallic frame with bend rods and wires. There is a wind-up key, and several nails along what would be identified as the rat's spine. He winds up the key then places the artificial rat down. It moves. On its own. Its joints bend like a rat's would, and the tail was even capable of waving. Alberta observed closer. The tail's length is exactly like that of a real rat's, it weight the same way. The hands had claws. Its eyes and ears were shaped at the same distance on the face. Care was placed onto the artificial rat, but its life did not last as long. After only a few seconds of the key being wound up, the rat died down. It collapsed, like a real dead rat. Alberta was impressed.

"You did this based on the books I got you?" She asked.

"That... and my own personal observation."

"I am impressed!"

"Oh..." the boy says sheepishly, his hands resting onto his head. "I-It's nothing..."

Alberta smiled. She turns to the Serpent, her face close to his. She was attempting to see through the bag's eye holes. "Come on... I'm here in your room now. I can see your belongings... I can see your world. It's not complete as long as I cannot see your face. Let me see."

"No. Please don't look at me."

"Is your face covered with bumps and holes too?"

"More than just that..." Dino admits with a stutter in his lisp.

"Let me see your face."

"No."

"Let me see!" She smiles as she reaches for the bag. She starts pulling it off.

"No, don't-"

Alberta succeeded... the boy didn't react fast enough to defend his visage. As soon as the velvet bag was removed, however, he began curling back, his spongy arms covering his face the best he could. He started crying now, his legs giving out and his whole being collapsing. He's sitting on his bottom now, whimpering as he hid his face from the girl. Alberta watched. His hair was course, unevenly cut and chopped, as if he made his own attempts to groom himself. There was almost no color... there were strands of ashy blond, but it is peppered with gray and white. The girl smiled, nonetheless. She's almost close to seeing the Serpent's face. "Now... don't be shy."

"Please don't look at me."

"I'm not afraid. You don't frighten me."

"You will be frightened. Please give my bag back."

"Let me see your face."

"No, please!"

"Let me see," she says as she takes the boy's hands, gently pulling them down. Her smile lit up, her eyes gazed forward as her brows set gently on her cheerful fa-

Her expression changes. Her eyes widened. She pales. Her mouth gapes. The whites of her eyes show as her pupils shrink. She shakes now. She is terrified.

Boils. Ulcers. They were not the end of it all. The Serpent's face is misaligned, the nose crooked like a river on a hill, yet lacking of a real shape. His right eye is normal--narrow and sharp--but the left is stricken with a very large bulbous bulge on each side of the eyelid, a wide space between that and the bridge of the nose. That left eye perpetually stares downward, unable to look up. His cheek bones, high along his face, jut out like corners of a pane. Even his chin seemed out of place; there is a dip, then a poking corner on his left side. His lips are cracked, heavy scarring across his mouth. The boy is beyond unsightly. He could very much be mistakened to be a monster.

Dino saw her fear. His brows furrowed, lips curly to bare his long, crooked, almost broken teeth. He pushes the girl backwards, now angry at his friend. Alberta fell backwards, her back slamming onto the edge of the table. Objects fell. The bowl of rat corpses even fell off, spilling the bodies all over the floor. "I told you!" he shouted. "I told you not to look!"

"Dino, I'm sorry..."

The boy reached for the velvet bag which Alberta dropped. He slips it back on before stomping to the girl. He stood over her, his lanky height now looming over her. Threatening her. His hands ball up to fists, trembling and shaking. He warned her. He told her not to look.

Alberta begged again. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry! Please, Dino, I'm so very sorry!"

He stopped shaking. He just kept looking at her. She couldn't see his facial expression, but he was calming down. He's not angry anymore. His eyes softened from beneath the bag. He started crying again.

"D-Dino?"

"I told you not to look."

"Dino... I'm sorry."

"I know you are. I am too."

She got up. She's bruised now, but she doesn't mind. She reaches her arms around the Serpent, gently now, as to not put him through pain. Her head sets next to his, her eyes closed. Warmth. She's smiling again, nearly crying. She whispering now. "Don't be. I won't do it again. I promise. I'm sorry."

The Serpent looks up. He's crying again, now for another reason. His arms wrap around her in return, gently now, as to not put himself in pain. All is forgiven. He's not afraid anymore.

Noises. Something was coming.

"What was that?!" Alberta cried out.

"He's coming..."

"What? Who?"

"No time to explain. Please hide!" Dino says as he rushes to a corner. He swings his arms to pull away some cobwebs to show a large chest. It was unlocked. He opens the lid immediately. He points to inside. "In here. Quick! Papa mustn't see you!"

"Papa?? Wait... your Papa.. or mine?"

"Ours. Inside!"

Alberta froze... then she snaps forward. She immediately rushes to the chest, curling herself up so she can slip inside. She fits. Dino slams the chest down, then places objects on top. A hiding place. Papa won't know.

Alberta couldn't breathe... not because the space is so tight, although it is. She's frightened. Papa is here. She musn't make a sound.

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-28-2012, 04:55 PM by ImagenAshyun.)

WARNING: Language and violence towards a child.

I

Papa was here. Alba couldn't see him, but she recognizes those heavy footsteps. That deep, gravelly voice. The clicking of the walking stick along the floor. She could hear him bellowing. She was frightened.

"Geraldo?! Where are you??"

The girl froze up. She was hunched forward, elbows and knees curled to her belly. This was uncomfortable. She stretches her legs some; the chest was longer and higher than it was wide. She twists her trunk, legs turning as she lies on her back. The sounds were muffled. She could barely hear anything. Papa sounded mad... she feared for the Serpent.

A keyhole. Alberta would have to twist her body again to peer through it. She curls her body to her feet as they press onto the opposite end of the trunk, allowing her enough space to sit up. It was difficult. She would have to bend her neck to watch through the hole... but now, she can see.

Papa was there. Her papa. Doctor Bertoldo Galleani. He was in a waistcoat, his collar ruffled and cravat loose, his sleeves rolled up and hair loose and uncurled. He held his walking stick in hand, the grip around the middle of the shaft. Not on the top end or bottom. The middle.

Dino was there. The velvet bag was still on his head. His hands were clenched in fists, but not do defend himself. He was scared. His eyes were darting onto the cane. He was afraid of Papa.

"I am here," Dino says with a stutter. His knees were shaking. Alberta feared for him.

Papa glared, his eyes like daggers thrown onto the boy. He spoke firmly, harshly even. He was nearly growling. "You haven't, by chance, seen where Alberta has gone, have you?"

"Alberta?"

"Your sister."

"I have not seen her," he says as he hides his hands behind the small of his back. "The last time I did was around last night, when she was going to bed. But I swear to you, Papa, I never left my bedroom nor did I speak to her. She still doesn't know I exist."

"She's missing."

"Is she?" Dino feigns surprise and sorrow. "But why has she gone? Where would she go? I will miss her, Papa! I hope she has not left to marry that Roberto fellow!"

The grown man glares at his son. His cane dips downward as Papa begins circling the boy. "Roberto cancelled the engagement last week. What do you know about him, boy?"

The bag turns to stare elsewhere, Dino's tone lowering as a smarmy tone rises up in his serpentine lisp. "Roberto... he is a pompous, uncouth, foppish nincompoop who combs his oily hair with the same fingers he uses to scratch his scrotum whenever someone isn't looking. Not unlike the dogs around the back garden. I don't like him at all, and I'm glad he will not be Alberta's future husband. Good riddance."

CRACK!

Alberta flinched! The walking stick struck square against the boy's face, the bag bending as the child fell to the ground. Papa threatens him again with a raised cane, his teeth bared like a beast ready to slaughter his prey. Dino cried out, his palms raising to his father, begging and sobbing as he shakes. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" he pleaded.

"Don't you ever talk to me like that again!" Papa roared. "Now talk! Where has Alberta gone? Where is she? What have you done to her?"

"I did nothing, I promise to the Light! I saw her last night and since the-"

"Remove that bag when you're talking to me!" Papa growls as he clenches the velvet bag. He yanks it off, pulling Dino's hair while he was at it and rubbing his boils. The boy cried. His face is exposed once again, holes, bumps, deformities, and all. Alberta nearly vomited.

"Do not lie to me," Papa continued. "The painting on her wall is tilted, and her sock is hanging from the frame. There is a spent candle at the mousehole--she must have spent some time trying to find the lever from the outside before coming to her bedroom. If she didn't know about you, she knows about the secret passages. Now tell me the truth or I will beat you until your lazy eye sinks into your skull. Where is she, Geraldo? Answer me."

"I don't know! I don't know!" Dino cried. "If she knows about the passages but not me, then perhaps she has gotten herself stuck at the vents there. There are many passages and she could be lost in any one! Please don't beat me, Papa. I have had no idea!"

Papa glared. His eyes narrowed, his lips pursed. Alberta couldn't breathe... she was so scared. She never saw Papa this angry before, so... violent. He spanked her, he spanked Teo and Bene, but he never struck any of his children across the face... not with his hands, not with his cane. Dino was different. He is trapped within the bowels of the home, denied food, denied sun. Something was wrong. Alberta was scared... and curious now. But she mustn't confront Papa. She has questions for the Serpent.

The father then starts looking around. Searching. His eyes dart up, down, left right. He swung his cane around the covered furniture and shelves. Searching. He lifted blankets. Opened cabinets. Pulled drawers. Tilted tables. He shoved books off desktops, threw piles of clothes aside. He searched around carefully. He must find Alberta.

She can hear him approaching the chest. Items were removed. Light was starting to pour through the lid. Her heart stopped dead.

"Papa!!" Dino barked.

"What now?" Papa shouted in returned.

Although Papa was standing before him, Dino was swinging a hammer at a taut wired rope. There was a dingling sound. Like a song. "I see them. The Red Glove. They have arrived with Mr. Eberstark and Ms. Crotti. Giuseppe is here too, with a hooded woman in red."

"...how do you know?"

"The light for the east side lit up... I saw them pass through that end of the garden towards south. I think they want to meet out at the back."

Darkness returns. The lid was set back down. Alberta could breathe again.

"Start getting ready, and put the bag back on. The woman in red could be your mother."

"Really?!" Dino says with absolute delight, a smile beaming on his face brighter than the dusty sunlight showering from the holed wall. He was jumping, his feet nearly dancing. "She's come home! She's come home!"

"About time too. Wash up and dress your best... and make sure your head is covered. Do not say your name. If the woman is truly your mother, she will say it for you."

"Absolutely!"

Papa grunts and departs from the room, leaving behind the mess he created. Dino finally relaxed... Alberta too. Then the boy counted to three. Four. Five. Ten. Twenty. Click, click, click. Silence. The coast is clear. It's time to get Alberta from the chest.

The lid lifts again, wider now. Alberta gasped for air as she held her breath in total terror at the presence of her father. "What was that?!"

The boy blinked in confusion. He had forgotten the bag was removed so he could face their father. "What was what?"

"Papa... the Red Glove... the woman in red... everything!" Alberta's arms nearly flailed as she wobbled to her feet, bending forward due to the lid unable to open all the way as the chest leaned against the wall. "Why was Papa here... why is he your papa and mine? Why are you here? Why is the Red Glove here?" She pants, her words running over each other nonstop. "What is going on? Please, Dino, tell me everything!"

The boy's functioning eye blinked once... twice. He bows his head, glancing to the side. He could barely manage a smirk, let alone a grin. He shook again, his bony hand rubbing against his with apprehensiveness. His voice trembled. He was anxious.

"You owe me an explanation," Alberta says firmly.

"I owe you more than just that. Come this way. I'll explain everything while I get ready for the Red Glove."

**ImagenAshyun** · (This post was last modified: 02-24-2012, 02:16 AM by ImagenAshyun.)

The Red Glove.

The organization names itself this way for a reason.

It hopes to reach over people and across the land as wide as it can.

It fits over blood-stained hands.

And you can never remove it

for nobody ever leaves The Red Glove.

I

Spoiler:

Dino opened a chamber at the far end of the bedroom--there, Alberta watched as he took many of the unsanitary items of his room wherein he began dumping the items there. The bowl of rats. The chamberpots. Used up vials filled with fluids the girl would not question about. He dumps them all. Down, down, down they go, into the bleak, deep darkness. There was a horrendous smell, thick and noxious. Even the boil and crater-riddled boy had to hold his breath.

"What is that?" Alberta asked.

"It's my dumping hole," the Serpent simply answered. "Mama made it before I was born. The waste goes down here, and the channel takes it down the hill and out to a field somewhere away from home. It's sort of our own sewer system." He gets up to another corner where a large bucket of water awaited, floating on its surface suckled lemon rinds. He picks it up, his arms stretching from the weight of the water. As soon as he arrived at the chamber, he begins dumping it all down immediately. The smell soon disappeared--not in its entirely, but the smell was no longer strong. The children sighed in relief.

"What else is around here?" Alberta starts as the Serpent cleans around the chamber.

"Lots of things," he simply says.

"What are these things?"

"Vents... tunnels... chambers... holes.... accesses to different rooms and levels of the home. I can see anything and everything depending on where I go. I can even slip out if I want to." He points to light bulbs and levers around his bedroom. Four is visible under jointed tubes wherein the ends can be looked into. The boy doctor approaches one and swivels it to his sister's direction. "I can even view outside the house--not very well, but as long as there is light and movement, I can detect when we have visitors."

"Even the Red Glove?"

"Even the Red Glove."

"Tell me more about this Red Glove," she says as she examines the lights and the tubes. She peers into one. Mirrors. Reflections. She can see the east garden from where she is at, though the vision is unclear. There is dust. Dirt. A cobweb covers one joint. She cannot see very well, but the fact that this tube exists and a view of the garden can be made amazes her.

"What I know about the Glove is what Mama tells me," the boy starts as he climbs a ladder. Alberta observed as he disappears to a raised floor in which a mattress and a small closet drawer awaits. Another bucket of water. Some soap. Dino waves at Alberta to avert her gaze as he washes up. She picks up the hint and steps out of view, allowing her brother to wash. He spoke as he did. "I have not seen her in four years... I do not remember everything she told me... except the Glove is a menace. A force not to be reckoned with. She fears the Glove... and so does Papa."

"What do you know, then?"

Scrubbing. Articles of clothing thrown. Alberta anticipated a long wait, so she sat down.

"Let's see," Dino says as his footsteps are heard from the raised floor. "They were established some years ago--long before either of us were born. Or even Mama... or our Papa. No, generations ago, yes... Mama was in the Glove, her mother was in the Glove, her mother, and her mother... brothers and sisters, aunts and uncles, fathers and grandfathers... the family was in the organization for a very long time. Mama was the last of her line. A tinkerer. She invented weapons. Modified ships. They were heavy in technology to give them an edge in their operations."

"As soldiers?"

"As criminals."

Alberta's eyes widened. The boy continued as he paced. "Heists. Muggings. Embezzlements. Assassinations. The Red Glove had its roots in Alterac, I believe. There were thieves, rogues, pirates, assassins within the organization. They were discreet, almost legendarily so. The lower the rank, the less you know about its leaders. But the higher you go, the more you'll know. But in the end, you are but a soul sold to the Red Glove."

"What does my- our Papa have to do with the Glove?"

Dino paused. He looms over the ledge, leaning down as his head peers from above and into Alberta's view. His hand reaches out to wave to her, beckoning her. Alberta rose and began climbing the ladder as the Serpent continued his story. "That, I am unsure. I never asked that question to Mama; I never questioned Papa's allegiance or my Mama's. I only knew that the Red Glove is powerful. Widespread. And always reaching."

"Why does my Papa look out for them, then?" Alberta looks over to her brother. He's washed up now, hair wet from a formerly soapy face. He's dressed sharply, in slacks and a clean white shirt. The girl was surprised to see a once ragged child now dressed like a little man.

"Something to do with protection. I am uncertain," Dino says as he buttons his shirt. He reaches for a waistcoat as it hung from his dresser. "I have asked Papa before, but he would raise his cane to threaten me. I stopped asking him questions. I only obey. Perhaps when Mama returns, she can answer my questions instead."

"Where is your Mama?"

"I do not know."

"Do you really know if the woman in red is really her? Does she often dress in red?"

"Green is her favorite color, actually. But Papa says to me a lot that Mama is coming when she is not. I hope she is Mama... but I will not be surprised if she isn't."

"Are you sure? What can you tell me about her?"

"About my Mama? I have told you about her before."

"Do you really not know her name?"

Dino stops. He has his waistcoat on now, his hands reaching for an ivory white linen cravat. His fingers clench, his crooked teeth biting his lower lip. He turns around, his puffed eyes narrowing with sorry. "No. I lied to you. I do know her name. And so do you."

"Really? Then who is she?"

"A former maid and servant of yours--your primary nurse when you were really little. She is my mother... Marta Perin."

"Aunty Marta!" Alberta gasps, now recognizing the name. Memories wash over her as she recalls the fair maid. Hair like gold. Eyes like the sky. Spots on her face, but a smile clear and lovely. "I have not seen Aunty Marty in a long time! I miss her. Where has she gone?"

"I said I don't know..." Dino repeats sorrowfully.

"Oh, Dino. I loved Aunty Marta. She taught me how to curl my hair, how to read stories and be kind to others. I would have never known she was your mother. Perhaps I should. She never told me she had you. She never told me-" Alberta stops with a sudden realization. "...that she was with my Papa." Her hand covers her mouth with shock. She thinks about her own Mama. Papa. Aunty Marta, the maid. She turns to Dino, hands gripped and shaking. "We are truly brother and sister..."

"Half-brother and sister."

"But my Papa is married to my Mama. That would mean he and Aunty Marta..."

Dino sighs somberly. He sat down as he adjusts the raised collar of his tunic, the waistcoat worn over it. He starts placing the cravat around his neck as he would interrupt his sister in her realization. "Mama told you about it, right? The act of adultery?"

"I know what it is. She told me it's a sin against the virtues of the Light."

"She is absolutely right. By all means, I shouldn't even exist."

"Don't say that!"

"Can you give me the brooch on my desk? It's a bronze-framed piece of jade by a big portfolio. It's to your left."

Alberta looked to her left. Immediately to her view is the bronze-framed jade brooch, worn and scratched and its luster lost. There is a carving on the jade itself. Alberta picked it up to examine closer, her eyes squinting as she held the jewelry to the light of the sun. It was an engraving of a serpent. "What is this?"

"That my Mama's gift to me, a trinket she made herself."

"A snake?"

"Yes, a snake."

"You know... snakes are often associated with deceit. Evil. Even death." She looks down as she reaches towards Dino with the brooch. "I am so sorry we kept calling you a Serpent. It was so wrong of me."

"Not necessarily," Dino would say as he takes the brooch. He adjusts it to his cravat, clipping it neatly over his neck. "Mama told me snakes are her favorite animal. Not because they are evil."

"Then why?"

"Because they're smart. Cunning. Clever. Mama and her family was made up of very smart people who get out of trouble easy. Like slithering serpents. They're also very beautiful. Come take a look!" Dino heads to one of his bookshelves, taking out a large book. He opens it up. Inside are pictures of many animals, categorized by species as identified throughout Azeroth. He flips many pages and stops at one before pointing to it. Green snakes. Blue snakes. Red snakes. Red and yellow. Red and black. White. Gold. There were snakes with rattles, snakes with neck flaps. Venomous snakes. Constrictors. Even ones with wings. Dwellers of the land. Dwellers of the sea. There was even a paragraph on how the Trolls of Gurubashi worshipped one. Hethiss.

"Wow..." Alberta says in awe. "I never knew there were these many snakes. You're right. They are very beautiful."

"Do you remember that story? How the serpent lost his legs?"

"I told the story to Teobaldo and Benedetto years ago."

"That's actually a Troll story. It was adapted to human understanding some centuries ago. It was meant to be a warning story to kids to not stomp on snakes so carelessly when they see them, as well as to have respect towards animals around them."

"Of course," Alberta says with a smile. "It's about safety and reverence. Be kind to animals. Don't hurt the snake or it will bite back."

"There's more to it."

"Really?"

"Story for another day," Dino says as he stands in front of a mirror, adjusting the brooch. Standing before Alberta was a little gentleman despite the boils and ulcers. The girls smiled as Dino turned around. "How do I look?"

"You look great. Really great. But I have a question."

"Go ahead."

"You wore rags just earlier. You wore rags when I first held onto you. Dirty, filthy rags. Why don't you wear this more often?"

"It's the only nice set of clothes I have. I am to wear this only when I meet the Red Glove."

"What will you be doing?"

"Very likely..." Dino says, "...care for them."

"Care?"

"I'm a doctor, remember? The last time the Red Glove was here, I had to take out a bullet from a dwarf. The last time before that, a woman had a blade stuck to her chest. And before that, Giuseppe was poisoned."

"Giuseppe? I remember him..."

"Forget about him."

"What?"

"You won't like him."

Alberta steps back as Dino steps forward. He starts climbing down the ladder when the sister peers over him. "Dino?"

"Yes?"

"Where are you going?"

"To the basement. That's where I meet with the Glove with Papa."

"Dino?"

"Yes?"

"Is... there a way I can watch?"

"Papa may see you..."

"You are able to peer into any room in the house, yes?"

"I am."

"The basement too?"

"...Actually, yes."

"May I see?"

"Why?"

"I'm scared of what will happen to you."

Dino blinks. He looks down, then up. A smile returns on his bumpy face. "Okay. Right this way."

Scratches. Bumps. Struggled crawls. But they made it. The tunnel was becoming narrower and narrower for the growing children as they would be nearing adult age. Nevertheless, they made it through. Dino crawled before Alberta before he was able to stand up. He lowers himself to aid his sister as he lead her to a narrow but otherwise tall space. There was barely any light except through a hole on the wall. "Here we are."

"Where is this?"

"We're underground now. This wall is for spying on Papa's 'guests' in case either of us suspect they are plotting against us."

"How do we get out of here? Is there another way besides the way we came?"

"There is, actually." Dino points to the other end of the extremely narrow hall. "On the other side is a hidden door, which is what Papa actually uses. It leads to the west end of the garden. Be careful, though, because the dogs may spot you and Papa will know you were here."

"Don't worry, I will not do anything foolish."

"You were foolish enough to try to find me."

"I do not regret it." She smiles. "I found you. And I will never leave you alone like you never left me."

Dino smiles once again, his hands gripping around the velvet bag. He opens his arms to his sister and embraces her closely, heads resting on each other's shoulders. "I don't regret finding you either, dear sister. I am happy to have you, especially in the absence of my mother."

"We will find Aunty Marta, Dino."

"Really?!"

"I promise you. I will repay your love and kindness tenfold."

Noises. Footsteps. More light pouring in. Someone is coming.

"Dino... it's time."

"Stay quiet and stay hidden," Dino says as he slips the bag over his head. "I'll come back for you when I'm done." And with that, he slips out.

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