Chapter Six

Serpent's Hand

"Mistress," the guard bowed as he entered the child's bedroom with his stoic voice contrasting his calm demeanor. "are you alright? You called me sounding rather distraught on the phone."

Across from the bedroom's entrance, Kaeo sat on her bed with a blank look on her face. Her hair sat undone on her face, the bangs were uncombed and messy as she looked over at the older man. Exhaustion was evident when the girl finally noticed the man had started to walk over to her. She was dressed in a nightgown with her family's emblem embroidered proudly over her chest.

The guard kneeled in front of the nonhuman child and proceeded to bow his head, reaching for her hand in a show of respect. It made her uncomfortable but she pushed those feelings down and let him hold her hand up to his forehead.

He acted as if he was beneath her despite her many protests over the past few months since she had arrived. The man was more of her dog in more ways than one and unlike the rest of her family members, she didn't like it one bit.

Back in Thailand, she was treated the same as everyone else. Even though her kind could kill humans without remorse, her parents taught her differently. Humans weren't food, they were her friends. She was raised to behave the same as humans and anyone who knew her real identity looked at her like one.

But now, everyone acted like she was a form of royalty. They looked down on themselves while praising her whenever auntie told them to. And when she wavered against her instincts, they pushed her to embrace them. Even if doing so meant hurting them or worse, desiring to eat them.

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she managed to give a rather meek smile to him. "I need some advice, Zachary." Even though he tried to hide it, she knew it thrilled him to hear her utter his name.

And that only added to her mixed feelings about the man being in the house in the first place. As one of her auntie's lovers and a former newborn of the older woman, he lived to serve. The idea made the child's stomach twist around on a knot. When she first heard of such of thing it reminded her of some form of modern slavery.

They functioned as cooks, maids, gardeners and guards to her auntie. Men, women and everything in between walked within the walls of the house serving the older woman. And each of them had an obsession with her that was uncanny.

Now that she lived with it always blatantly shown in her face, she saw it for what was – a harem. All the staff was involved with her aunt and they served under her to show their gratitude towards being given the chance to love the woman. It was an odd relationship to watch from the sidelines, but she had learned to accept it.

Kaeo wanted no part of it. Lifting his head Zachary hummed and sat next to her on the bed. He looked surprised by her reasoning, she was only asking due to the fact he was the most knowledgeable on the subject. Still, she felt the awkwardness of the situation with them both sitting with the room dimly lit and completely silent save her phone playing a music video.

"Whatever you need help with, I try my best to help you with." Zachary said with the child feeling his gaze on her back.

“Can you tell me what your experience was like being a newborn?” Kaeo knew the man’s past was a heavy subject so she made sure to ask as calmly as possible. She didn’t doubt that he would answer truthfully, but still, she knew he wouldn’t take the question lightly.

“My experience as a newborn? Well, it was everything the old wise tales said it would be. I felt as if God himself was punishing me for some unnamed sin I had committed. My health plummeted with every new change that happened to my body. It came to the point my mother believed had become possessed.”

Kaeo turned to face him, her confusion evident from the expression on her face. “Your mother thought you had become possessed by a demon?”

“Yes,” The guard’s voice was solemn as he nodded his head, confirming her assumptions. “I grew up in a religious household and my mother bought into the idea I needed an exorcism. I woke up one night to strange men, priests, standing over me as they tried to hold me down.”

Zachary continued his eyes darkening as his voice became rather heavy from the emotions recalling his past brought to the surface. “I tried to break free, but my body wouldn’t listen to me. Whatever had control over my body was terrified of what was happening. I had scratched at them, cursed at their faces, and spat to be let go.”

Chills went down the fifteen-year-old’s spine as she found herself entranced by the older man’s words. If becoming a newborn was full of so much pain and suffering, why would someone willingly do so? And if they had been forced into it, why couldn’t someone stop the transformation from happening?

“Eventually I was knocked unconscious and when I woke up,” He stopped and she was able to see remnants of tears beginning to his eyes. “when I woke up, I had my mother’s blood on my hands.”

“You fed on your mom’s body.” She realized with her mouth filling with a sour taste, her discomfort only growing from the revelation. “And that’s when auntie found you after you killed your mother and the priests.”

“I’m sorry,” Kaeo said, unsure of what else to say in the conversation, the man silent as he stared off into nowhere. “I shouldn’t have asked something so personal.”

He cleared his throat before calming her down, putting a hand on her shoulder as he smiled down at her. “No it’s alright mistress. I know you’re curious about the newborn your cousin encountered and how her presence may affect your stay with us.”

Kaeo’s eyes widened as he patted her head in a show of affection. He had changed moods so quickly that it gave her whiplash. And she felt a flush spread across as she realized that her attempt at being subtle had failed so spectacularly. Zachary watched her struggle to speak, sighing at her panic.

“It’s okay to worry about Momo, Kaeo. I understand that you’re fearful that this newborn will hurt you and your cousin, but please trust us for now and let what happens happen.” He said watching the child glare up at him in disbelief.

Feeling hurt by the man’s cruel outlook on what was going to happen, she resisted the urge to hit him. “You told me you killed your mother when you were a newborn, right? So, how can we let that happen again to a girl with little brothers and sisters?”

“And how do you know she has those things mistress?” Zachary asked with curisouty.

Kaeo froze realizing that she had slipped up. Silently, she cursed feeling angry that she had spoken so quickly in her burst of emotion. Now, she had no other choice but to tell him.

"I think I met the newborn Momo had encountered," The fifteen-year-old whimpered, feeling her body become hotter. Her anxiety grew as she continued explaining her thought process to him. "She was just a kid Zachary. We hung out together and talked about comic books."

Talking brought back memories of the time the two spent together. While she didn't know the other teen very well, she saw the humanity in her. It hurt too much to think about letting that die out. To sit back and watch it shrivel into nothingness.

"I know you're going to tell me that it's my nature to let humans suffer. And that, if I want to survive in this world I have to be heartless." Kaeo held her chest in pain. "But it's wrong. I can't befriend someone knowing she'll be tortured."

"Mistress, you can't interfere with what's already been fated to happen." Zachary sounded emotionless to her. "I don't know what you think we can do to stop the transformation from happening."

"We can get her before it happens," The fifteen-year-old had a glimmer in her eyes that was unrecognizable. "You could talk to auntie about taking her. Her family could be influenced to make the transition safer."

She knew it was risky but they could try it. It wasn't uncommon for members of their kind to take newborns in and train them. Kaeo imagined that they could convince the parents to let them take the girl. And then she would be safe and Kaeo would be able to sleep for once.

“We can use her,” This piqued Zachary’s imterest with the man staying in the room instead of continuing to leave. “We can use her against the creature possessing the town.”

“Using her may be worse than leaving her alone, Mistress. She won’t assimilate to our kind easily.” The guard argued seeing the child’s hopeful expression dim. “However, I will talk to her about it.”

***

“She has a high fever, but besides that she’s perfectly healthy. I would recommend letting her rest for the next few days along with only eating liquids. Anything heavier will upset her stomach and cause discomfort leading to vomiting.” The doctor handed the worried parents a folder containing their daughter’s medical papers. It had any findings listed along with her symptoms.

"But she can barely stand!" Her mother cried, looking as if she were about to breakdown.

"I'm sorry ma'am but the tests are telling us she just has a high fever," The doctor looked unsure of himself even stating the result. "We can't do much more, we're only a walk-in clinic."

"Alright…" Her parents hesitantly accepted the folder.

They had rushed to the nearest walk-in clinic when Lea had woken up. She was checked out by a warm looking doctor and was given time to rest during the examination. The seventeen-year-old felt exhausted throughout the entirety of what was happening and hoped that she could go home soon. But everything went on for longer than expected and by time they finished, her body felt awful.

It was hard to keep her eyes open without getting a headache. The room was incredibly bright with fluorescent lights over her head and the walls being painted neon colors. She rubbed her forehead with irritation as a paper cup full of cool water was handed to her. Immediately she gulped it down and followed her parents out of the room.

Her mother held out her hand and she grabbed it without much enthusiasm. It felt like ice, her mother squeezing her tightly as they walked. She hadn't talked to her mother much since the night before, the woman was too stressed. And as they left the clinic she was arguing with her father.

"Just a fever? I don't believe it." Her father sighed, opening the door for them.

"What else can it be then. She needs to rest for now, honey. Then we can seek outside help." Her mother argued, pulling her close as they crossed the street to go to their car.

The car felt cramped to Lea as she got in. She laid down instead of buckling her seatbelt and sitting, her desire to sleep more than her safety. Everything felt sensitive and made her grimace as they drove away to a nearby fast food place. She closed her eyes groaning when a ray of sunlight hit her, feeling liked she had been run over.

Her mother reached back and patted her leg to comfort for the ill teenager. Lea could hear the noise from the car pulling into a drive through with the radio playing loudly from the restuarant. She was unable to enjoy the fact that they were getting food due to her nausea. Her stomach still rumbled, begging to be fed anything right away.

“A smoothie should be light enough for her to eat. Get something for the twins too and I’ll just take a sandwich honey.” Looking back at Lea, her mother worriedly rubbed her arm. “Sweetheart, do you think you can eat anything?”

"I don't think eating is a good idea right now, mom." Lea mumbled wincing from her newest body aches.

Her mother pulled back, disappointed by her response. "Oh alright. Well, if you're hungry later just tell me okay?"

"Okay."

Her answer satisfied her mother who gave one more tense smile. Then she pulled away to get her food as the car drove off to their house. Lea managed to open her eyes and rolled down her window to get some fresh air. The cool air felt like heaven against her hot body and she leaned into it.

Outside everything was still way too bright for her to process. A group of students left their bus, walking with one another to a nearby college campus. Seeing this made Lea miss her friends from school and wish everything could return to normal. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed someone that brought back a distant memory.

A woman who looked young, with her appearance being petite and plain compared to anyone else on the street's. The woman looked back at her with eyes that resembled a feline's. She waved at the teenager, a smile on her face. It wasn't a kind smile, it was predatory.

Lea moved back from the window, nearly hitting her head on the roof of the car as she felt her heart drop. Her mouth became dry as they drove past the woman who disappeared into thin air. When she leaned forward to look back, she couldn't see anything besides a sea of cars behind them.

The woman was gone. Chills went down her spine as she remembered the way she had looked at her. Like the woman had also recognized her and waved also if they were old friends. Curling into a ball in the car's backseat, she tried to calm down before her parents noticed.

'How, how is she even real?' Lea was conflicted as she held herself, shutting her eyes as she silently willed herself to remain rational.

A slow realization hit her, sweat pouring down her back as shivered and groaned to herself. Was the woman real the entire time? Or was she just a hallucination as she had previously suspected? Lea bit her lip as she thought everything over and batted it all away.

She felt too sick to be dealing with all of this. The possibility that the woman in her dreams was actually a real person, who recognized her was terrifying. She had dreamt about a living, breathing person she had never met. Her stomach ached with discomfort, mainly from what she had witnessed.

'I'll just have to find out more about her later.' The seventeen-year-old couldn't remember ever speaking to a woman with her appearance or seeing her anywhere else.

The woman also just didn't seem human to her. A few weeks ago she would have dismissed the thought but now she knew something was happening. Every dream with the woman turned into a nightmare or she was brought back to the confrontation in the bathroom. Not only that, but she reminded her of Momo to a scary degree.

'She could be working with her,' It was a theory better than anything else she had come up with. 'Or maybe that's who she was talking about before?'

'Either way I can't let myself have another nightmare or else mom will lose it.' It wasn't hard for her to see that her dreams had an impact on her family. Nobody had been sleeping, not even the twins.

Her parents had been moving hell and earth to try and help her but nothing worked. The doctor said it was just a fever, but no fever had ever felt this bad before. At times it was if she was being boiled alive by her blood. It hurt to do much, to the point they nearly had to get a wheelchair for her.

Lea's expression darkened the more she pondered on her current situation. Everything had not only started with that letter, but meeting Momo. She had her first dream about that woman who she now knew was real enough to wave at her. Could everything be connected to the nineteen-year-old? Was she the answer to the illness that suddenly infected her?

She felt pitiful at that moment. 'And destroying the card might be a reason for this too.'

Her recollection of that night was blurry at best. It was hard for her to remember what happened besides ripping the card up and being woken up by her mother. The nightmare was something she could barely recall but the emotion from it still remained. And now, she felt even more helpless than that night knowing nothing.

Deep down, she was scared. She knew that her health was only going to get worse. The idea of being hooked up to a ventilator made her squirm. She couldn't let this beat her, she had to get better or else...she wasn't too sure what would be waiting for her on the other side.

Not being able to remember anything was just the start. The gaps in her memory hinted at something more. Walking was a chore, eating only made her throw up and sleeping was horrific. She was lost in a nightmare she didn't know how to escape. Her life had become an endless maze of pain and torment in such a short amount of time.

'I have to find out what's happening to me,' Lea turned her gaze to her frail arm, distraught by how sick she had become in such a short amount of time. "Before whatever it is kills me. I can't die, I just can't.'