A House of Snakes and Emeralds

Chapter 4:

Chapter 4:

The next morning, I awoke in borrowed pajamas next to Holly in her bed - just like the old days. I kissed her forehead and collected the other borrowed clothes before heading out while she continued to sleep. It was several blocks back to my little house that had yet to really feel like a home, where the one who made it a home waited. Frankie nearly bowled me over and I told her all about yesterday. She pouted that I hadn't brought her with me to Holly's, but accepted my apology in the end.

Slightly too wine-adled to be up for a jog, I took Frankie for a long walk in the park. The thick tree covering was beginning to turn, brilliant oranges and reds devoured the sky above as we worked our way through the trails. She was off leash, but remained within six feet of me at all times. With her genetics still a mystery, I had always made sure that she knew how to behave, not that she needed any training. As scary as she may have looked to others, I was the one who found her half-drowned in a creek in this very park over two years ago. She was so small and helpless then, with a gaping wound where her eye had been and paws the size of my palm.

It was as if the little Witch blood I possessed hummed when I heard her pleas for help. Frankie was my familia, even if the title was only honorary. How someone like me, not particularly tall or athletic, with unremarkable light brown hair and unusual hazel eyes ended up bonded to a dog larger than most Great Danes, built like pit bull, with one eye and teeth that bore a strong resemblance to fangs – that, only Lilith herself knew. But Frankie was mine and I was hers, through and through.

When we returned, I called my mom but she didn't answer. I figured she was probably busy so I curled up with Frankie on the couch and resumed my novel. I awoke to a terrifying maw assaulting my face. "Good girl, Frankie!" She had woken me up perfectly at 4, just in time for me to eat, shower, and get ready.

Holly's clothes were a good fit, but I struggled to curl my hair without her help so settled for pinning it in a bun with a pair of pins my paternal grandmother had gifted me. Small sterling silver branches, adorned with tiny emeralds held my hair in place while Holly's emerald studs graced my slightly pointed ears. I had never taken issue with being a Halfling, but staring at my reflection in the mirror, I wondered if it would call attention to me at the gala.

Granted, Simult was the largest city to be composed of nearly fifty percent Halflings, but as the fourth largest city in Kindred, it was not home to many of the pure-blooded Elites. While the Capital was home to mostly pure-bloods of all types, such a setting likely meant that they seldom had cause to think highly of Halflings. Maybe The Elites would think me less than for not having more obvious power - maybe, I decided, I would worry about things I could control.

Adding some final touches of make-up, the delicate silver chain and locket my mother had given me for my 13th birthday, and Holly's heels, before I assessed myself in the full-length mirror. I decided that keeping my hair back was not only better kitchen etiquette, but also helped me to not stand out too much. Witches were mostly dark complected with dark hair and spectacular eyes, often shorter in stature than other bloodlines, but curvy or built with muscle more like Shifters. Demos were painfully pale with some red in their irises, while Shifters usually bore coloring related to their second form, foxes were auburn haired and tan, grey wolves dark and shadowy, serpentine Shifters had narrow builds and less body hair, but Fae were tall and lean, their coloring often more fair than Witches, and their hair was usually lighter than mine or dark, and almost always pin straight. My features didn't fit in with any of the bloodlines in Kindred, a fact that had only ever landed me in trouble. Hopefully, I would be able to avoid any unnecessary attention and subsequent drama. Except for these Elixir-cursed shoes.