A Shadow of Light |girlxgirl|

Chapter 6

|CHAPTER 6|

“I think its name starts with ‘L’… Laura? Lilly? Lucy?... I don’t fucking know! Sun, help me out here…”

“Her name is Liana.”

“Will both of you dumbasses shut up for a moment? I didn’t ask you what its name was – I asked what it was.”

Liana fell abruptly into consciousness, as three voices engaged in a whisper of conversation above her head.

The events that had transpired the previous day were burned into her mind as surely as the Ring Master’s mark was on her wrist.

She quickly sat up, and blinked at the faded light surrounding her.

Sun and Shine stood at the edge of her bed, just above where her pillow lay.

Beside them was a woman, who didn’t look particularly pleased to be there.

Not imposingly tall, or remarkably short, the woman had the colouring of an Arabian Princess, with thick strands of dark purple pulled back from her thin, pinched face.

She was dressed all in black, with genie pants hanging loosely from her rounded hips, and a tight, elbow-length shirt that ended above her belly button.

Gilded bangles click-clacked as she crossed her arms over her chest.

Golden eyes, scorching with the hatred of a thousand suns, bore into Liana’s sleepy gaze.

Shifting backward, she did not know if she should edge towards the bickering, cannibalistic twins, who seemed to be the lesser of two evils, or attempt to escape them all through the tent opening.

Before she could make up her mind, the olive-skinned woman scoffed and haughtily turned to stared at Shine.

“You are getting on my last nerve, you imbecile. I asked you a simple question. What is it?” The tone of her voice blazed the very air of the room, making Liana feel stifled, even as the penetrating gaze was focused away from her.

Gleaming fangs flashed as she spoke down to the irritated twin.

Yet, even as Liana's mind registered the intensity of this woman’s aura, she could almost feel that something was off about her.

She realised, after her tired mind ticked over for a few seconds, that the angered woman was talking about her.

 “I am a human – not an ‘it’.” The quietly forceful words caused the woman to pause in her tirade.

Simmering eyes turned to Liana, seeming to pierce her soul, like a red-hot branding iron.

Her voice whipped like frostbite across the room, so at odds with the molten rage of her gaze. “I do not remember asking for your opinion, It.”

Liana lifted her chin, and did not need Ringo’s promise of safety to fall back on, as her face hardened into an impenetrable mask.

“And I do not remember asking you to invade my tent, whoever you are.” Even if the line was thin, it was drawn at being called an ‘it’.

Before she could react, a hand as fevered as the Ring Master’s darted out and backhanded her.

The force sent her crashing into the soft mattress underneath her.

She could feel blood slip softly from the corner of her mouth.

Liana shook the hair from her face, and glared up at the woman who emanated heat from every pore of her body.

Before the twins could finish their hissed warning, or the woman could reach down once again to hit Liana, the temperature of the room skyrocketed.

A breeze as dry as the Desert stormed into the room, causing the tent to shake wildly.

This humidity made a mockery of the previous incalescence of the woman’s presence.

A stunned shriek rang out in the small space, and Liana blinked.

The woman stood hunched, clutching her hands to her face.

“Good morning, Kali. I see you took it upon yourself to meet our newest member. What a shame - I thought it would be Shine who would need punishment for cracking first and attacking what is mine.”

The Ring Master leaned casually against the opening of her tent, the glint of his straight teeth almost visible in the weak sunlight.

His right hand was clenched, as if he was angry, but his posture was that of a loosely tensed tiger.

He turned his burning gaze to Liana, and his grin widened.

He strolled across the small space, seeming to have all the time in the world.

Sun and Shine huddled in the corner, unmoving and silent.

“My dear, it seems Mira will have another injury to assess. Shall I compensate by making you a pair of earrings?” His searing touch, felt even with his impeccable glove as a barrier, fingered her split lip, before he moved to clasp her hand.

She felt her fingers being pried open, and something wet dropped into her palm.

Shuddering at the now familiar sensation, she begged him with her eyes to not make her look down.

His all-knowing smirk was the only response she received.

Feeling her heart trip over itself, Liana darted a glance at the slight weight in her hand, before quickly looking away again.

Globs of blood clung to her open palm, shining a dull brown in the minimal light.

Taking a steading breath, she allowed her eyes to wander once more.

Sweat broke out across her back, as goose bumps trailed her arms.

It was not just blood.

With a strangled scream she threw her hand out, wishing to detach it from her body forever.

The tiny objects slid out of her hand, before burying themselves in the grass covering the floor.

Wiping frantically at her sticky hand with her blanket, Liana gazed in horror back at the Ring Master.

Fangs.

Kali’s fangs.

 “Do you not like my gift for you, my dear?”