Sunshine and Serpents (Abandoned)

Heaven in Hiding

Sang

I jump up as the woman enters the room, her words echoing in my ears. The boys in the room jump to attention, literally, jumping to their feet, their backs straight and their heads facing forward. I get to my feet hesitantly, trying to peer over their shoulders to catch a glimpse of the mystery woman. "Ms. Frost," North rumbles, and I could catch a hint of anger in his voice. 

"What is the meaning of this?" the woman asked, her voice as cold as her name. "And why are you all crowding around the girl, I wish to see her," she added, her voice softening a touch. 

"We had a bit of a, uh-" North stumbled over his words. 

"Situation," Luke supplied, sending me a smile over his shoulder. I blushed, and he winked. 

"Well, if that situation is cleared up, let me see her," the woman snapped, and Gabriel stiffened in front of me, while Silas clenched his fists. Behind them, I started to get nervous. If these boys who I began to trust hated this woman so much, how could I be sure she wouldn't hurt me? 

Gabriel, as if he could sense my anxiety and trepidation, turned around to give me a reassuring smile. "It's okay, Trouble," he murmured, placing a gentle hand on my shoulder. "Emma isn't that bad as she seems, she's just a little," he paused for a second, searching for the right word. "short with the people who aren't her own kind. Like us."

Her own kind? I thought, frowning up at Gabriel, my mouth poised to ask a question. Before I could say anything, I'm pushed in front of Gabriel and the others, stumbling forward. They mumble apologies, but I don't hear them. My attention is on the woman in front of me. 

She's breathtakingly beautiful, with ice blonde hair and eyes that seem to be made out of cold sapphires. Her skin is even paler than mine, almost ice white, and is smooth and without a blemish. She stands regally, dressed in a light blue gown that falls to her feet, slitted up the sides. She wears a crown made out of gold, with three smooth stones set in the middle; one a deep blue, one a bright red, the other a light yellow. A necklace hangs around her neck, and a locket of some kind dangles from it, containing a bright red fire.

I feel something awaken inside of me, rumbling in delight. Sister, that voice whispers, sister of war and fierceness and victory and invincibility. "Durga," I hear myself say, my lips moving on their own accord. "Sister, you are the protector this cycle, then?"

The woman's eyes widen, before the blue turn to a deep red gold. "Maiden," she breaths, her voice deep and crackling with unbridled power. "We have waited for you."

And then I feel like I'm coming up from under water, gasping for air as my whole body shakes. "Wh-wh-" I try to get out, but lips feel like they are numb, and my cells feel like they bouncing around in my body at high speeds, and I collapse onto the ground. 

I hear the boys around me calling my name, but I don't respond. I can't respond. "Get out of here, scions," I hear the woman say. 

"But she's our center, Emma, you hag-" I hear North protest, but he's quickly cut off by Ms. Frost.

"Watch your tongue, boy," she hisses, and now it sounds like she's right beside me. I turn my head up to see her standing protectively over me. I want to tell her that there's no need, that these boys mean no harm, but I can't seem to make my tongue move. "She needs to be with her own kind, and understand what she is, before she learns who she is to you nine."

I hear a few more mumbled protests before the whole room grows quiet, and all I can hear are my own labored breaths, and Emma's shallow ones. Emma kneels besides me, an apologetic smile on her face. "I'm sorry she came through like that, Sang," she says kindly in a British accent. "It's always hard when they're not fully there."