by Rue Volley
Jonah smiled.
“Curious is it not...? I cannot remember when I didn’t know your thoughts and your state; I find it intriguing.”
Lily stared at him and bit her lip.
“This is not a new hat, Jonah… this is forever,” she said.
“I am aware of that.”
Lily pulled her hand from his and hit him across the face.
Jonah laughed and placed his hand on his cheek and rubbed it.
“I didn’t see that coming!” Jonah said, as he continued to laugh.
“Apologize!” Lily yelled at him.
Jonah grinned.
“I apologize to you, love. I should have talked to you before I allowed Theodore to give me memory… I did not take into consideration your feelings on the matter and it was rude of me to do so.”
“Huh,” Lily said, as she crossed her arms and stared at him.
“That is it...? You reply with ‘huh’?” Jonah asked her.
“What do you want?” Lily asked him.
“Accept my apology, Lily… I do love you.”
Lily twisted her heel in the ground and looked around, stalling.
“Lily,” Jonah said, as he smiled and stepped towards her.
“I am thinking,” Lily said.
“Come love… accept this foolish boy’s apology and join me in this new adventure,” Jonah said, as he grabbed her side and tried to tickle her.
“Stop it,” Lily said, as she moved back from him and half laughed.
“Lily Alexandra…” Jonah said, as he tilted his head at her.
Lily peeked at him sideways and tried to hold back a grin, but it was hard to do.
Lily pointed her finger at him and wagged it in the air.
“No more doing things without talking to me.”
Jonah nodded. “Okay.”
“And no more drinking potions without me knowing about it,” she added.
“Agreed,” Jonah said with a smile.
Lily pierced her lips together and crossed her arms on her chest.
“Alright,” she said.
“Lily! I love you!” Jonah said, as he lunged at her and picked her up swinging her around.
Lily ‘oh’d’, and he set her down and touched her face.
“I truly am sorry, love… I was selfish.”
“Agreed,” Lily said, as she looked at his face.
“Oh my god, Jonah,” Lily said, as she looked at his face and then touched his hand.
“What?” Jonah asked her.
She grabbed his hand and dragged him over to the large standing mirror against the wall of his room.
“Look, Jonah,” Lily whispered.
Jonah looked in the mirror and watched red swirl on his skin, strong streaks of red wrapped his hand, and he pulled his white shirt sleeve up and stared at it in wonder.
Lily watched it as it moved over him with ease, not glitching and fading as it had before.
“It is beautiful,” Lily said.
Jonah looked at her and smiled.
“That it is, love… that it is. I can feel it moving on my skin like a breathing thing.”
“Does it hurt?” Lily asked him.
He grinned and pulled her in front of him, and her eyes got wider as she watched green swirl on her own skin. She turned and watched the rich color inch onto her back.
“Why is it green, Jonah?” she asked, as she twirled in her strapless dress and watched the color swirl across her collar bone.
Jonah laughed.
“And you call me the smart one! Green is the color of the mind, Lily… It means that your strength comes from your thoughts.”
Lily grinned big and looked at his reflection in the mirror.
“Well, why is your color red, Jonah?”
Jonah sighed, as he looked at her glowing.
“It is my heart, my love. Evidently, I lead with my heart.”
Lily turned to look at him and smiled.
“I like this, Jonah; I like the way I feel.”
Jonah hugged her and grinned, as he closed his eyes.
“I am glad you decided to stay with me, Lily. I fear that my heart could not bear the absence of you.”
Lily closed her eyes and pressed her head against his chest.
“I hear your heart, Jonah,” she whispered.
Jonah continued to grin.
“It beats for you, love,” he whispered.
Lily pulled back from him and looked at his face.
“Lizzy was here,” Lily said.
Jonah let her go and stepped back from her.
“What?” he asked, as his heartbeat sped up.
“Uh huh… Rue saw her.”
“Oh, that is not good,” Jonah said, as he walked quickly to his chest and popped it open.
“I didn’t say anything to anyone, Jonah. I just… I didn’t know what to do.”
Jonah stopped, pulled his vest on over his white button down shirt, and looked back at her.
“So no one is aware of who she is then?” he asked her.
Lily shook her head ‘no’.
“That is good,” Jonah added.
Lily stepped towards him, as he un-wrapped his blades and looked at them.
“What are we going to do?”
Jonah looked at her and shook his head.
“We are doing nothing… I, on the other hand, am going to handle this,” Jonah said to her.
“No Jonah, we have to do this together,” Lily added.
Jonah gripped both of his blades in his hand and turned to her.
“This is my doing. She only came to see me… you know that Lily,” Jonah said.
“It was an accident, Jonah… She must know that by now.”
Jonah sighed and placed his blades down and turned to her.
“I treated her as I would have any other animal, Lily. I fear that I was not completely honest about the situation.”
Lily stepped towards him and tilted her head.
“You did not kill her on purpose, did you?” Lily asked him.
Jonah stared at her and thought back to that day…
***
Lizzy sat her vanity and powered her face. She placed her make up brush down and leaned in, smiling at herself. She pulled her hair up and then let it fall again around her shoulders, curls bouncing off her bare skin. She stood up and walked to her large mirror and stood there inspecting her dress. She had decided to wear a pale pink, with off white. Her corset top looked beautiful, and the skirt looked old, but matched the corset perfectly. She smiled, as she turned sideways and inspected her body in it. The corset actually lifted her small breasts and made them appear fuller than usual. She loved it and hoped that Jonah would notice the extra attention she had paid to herself this evening.
Lizzy had come to the carnival five years prior. Her parents had died from a terrible disease sweeping Europe, and she had been shipped off to her Grandmother’s house, after both her parents had passed away in the infirmary in London. She had spent many hours sitting in her room, with the occasional interruption from her grandmother, with a tray of food placed outside her room and a light tapping on her door.
Lizzy ate very seldom and slowly slipped into anti-socialism, as she started to read everything she could get her hands on. She became obsessed with reincarnation and paranormal subjects at the early age of ten and snuck from her room at night to invade her grandfather’s library. Her grandfather had shared her interest, unlike her grandmother who was devoutly religious.
One night as Lizzy rummaged through the books she stumbled upon the ‘Book of Law’, a book that was written by someone called ‘The Mad Arab’. She smiled, as she touched the red cover and wondered what secrets it might hold. She turned quickly when she heard footsteps in the house and placed the book inside her nightgown and ran back to her room… trying to avoid detection.
Lizzy sat on her bed with her heart beating hard in her chest and tried to control her breathing, as she watched a small light glow under the door.
The light stopped and then disappeared, and Lizzy let out her breath and slowly pulled the book out of her nightgown. She stared at the cover and grinned, feeling like she had finally stumbled upon something special among her grandfather’s old books. She opened the book up, and a piece of paper fell out onto her lap. She unfolded the old paper, as it cracked from age, and narrowed her eyes to try to read it. She stood up and walked to her window, letting the moonlight help her make out the words.
Property of Alexander Allister Crowley… this book must stay with me for the duration of my life on this planet; otherwise I will surely meet my demise.
Lizzy bit her lip and looked back at the book lying on her bed. She looked at the paper again and then walked back to the bed and sat down next to it.
“What mysteries do you hold?” she whispered out loud.
She picked up it up and slowly opened the cover. A light started to glow, and her eyes widened, as the words started to infiltrate her mind… The light started to pulsate, and she found herself falling into a trance, as the light beat in unison with her own heartbeat. Suddenly, the room went to a bright white, and she lost track of time and space.
The next thing she knew, she was being carried from the house, and she blinked her eyes, as she looked up and saw that the entire thing was engulfed in flame. The anonymous man who carried her, placed her on the cobble stone street, and walked away from her. She watched him go, and then she pushed herself up and stood there in the shadow of the only home she had left, burning bright like the sun in front of her.
Two men came running out with a body wrapped in a blackened blanket, and they placed the smoldering heap on the street a few yards from her. Lizzy slowly walked towards it and noticed a charred hand peeking out the side. She recognized her grandmother’s ring, and she stopped and sucked in her breath. She had not noticed before… but she slowly pulled her hand from her chest and she held the book tight in her grip. She looked back at her grandmother’s hand, and then she ran… as fast as she could away from the scene. She had a terrible feeling that the book had something to do with the fire, something to do with her grandmother’s death… something to do with her sudden freedom.
Lizzy ran as quickly as she could until she reached the deep and foreboding woods that lined the outskirts of London at that time. She stopped and looked up at the tall trees, and with the book gripped tightly in her hand, she ran into the dark forest, not knowing in what direction she was headed… but sure that it was the right one.
Lizzy eventually slowed her pace, as her eyes felt heavy and her body begged her for rest. She finally collapsed, in a clearing on moss covered ground, and fell into a deep sleep, cuddling the book near her heart. At some point in the night, a rogue had stumbled upon her, and to this day she is not quite sure as to why she was not eaten and left for dead, but Lily had found her and carried her back to the traveling carnival… perhaps out of pure curiosity.
Lizzy woke up in a lavish feather bed, surrounded by large pillows, and still the book was tight in her grip. She sat up quickly, and that is when she first saw her angel… Jonah. He stood there with his arms crossed on his chest, top hat on, shaking his head, and then he turned and left her there, wondering what was to come next. “Next” consisted of day after day and night after night of watching Lily and Jonah trick and eat human after human that happened to be naïve enough to accept invitations to dinner with them and the other rogues who inhabited the carnival. Lizzy did not judge any of them, in fact she actually felt at home… and had continued her reading and understanding of the hereafter and all things that encompassed it.
She earned her place among them all and set up her own corner, reading palms and amazing humans with her uncanny ability to tell them of things in their pasts and of what they thought of now. It was the future that she could not see, and it frustrated her to no end… the fact that she was blessed with ability, and yet it seemed that she could not use it predict, only to woo with her apparent knowledge of everything already known to each human who visited her.
Years on, Lizzy stood in front of her mirror, biting her lip and imagining that Jonah might finally notice her, now that she had grown up… filling out and obviously feeling more than a twelve-year old girl crush on him. She looked at her pale skin and pinkish lips and smiled. Tonight she would remind him that she was a woman now, with a need in her heart to tell him that she loved him… loved him despite his animal nature, and lack of morality. Loved him for sparing her life and allowing her to call his home her own, loved him completely. She ran to her nightstand, picked up her “book of law”, slipped it up the side of her corset, and adjusted it. It fit perfectly as usual on her body, and she sighed and turned to see Lily standing in the opening, grinning at her.
“I would be lying if I did not tell you that I have a terrible curiosity about that book,” Lily said, as she stepped in and stared at her.
Lizzy stopped quickly and held her hand to her chest.
“You scared me,” Lizzy said, as she glanced at corset and rubbed her hand on the front of it.
“Do you think that I could see it?” Lily asked her, as she took another step towards her.
Lizzy straightened up and grinned.
“I am afraid that it is only for me, not that I want to appear rude to you in any way.”
“Mmm,” Lily said, as she gracefully walked closer to her and stared at her dress.
“You look different tonight,” Lily said.
Lizzy sighed and looked down at her dress and back up to her.
“I thought that I would try something new.”
Lily stopped moving and grinned at her.
“It would appear that you intend to impress… Anyone I know?” Lily asked her.
Lizzy heartbeat sped up, and Lily looked at her chest and grinned.
“Oh, I see that you have someone special in mind.”
Lizzy smiled.
“I…I don’t know what you mean.”
Lily flashed up to her quickly, and Lizzy would have flinched, but she was quite used to seeing them all move quickly around her. She stood there and stared straight ahead, as Lily inspected her dress.
“You have grown, right under our noses, Elizabeth Crowley… You look good enough to eat.”
Lizzy looked at her and shook her head.
“You mean metaphorically of course,” Lizzy said, as she looked at Lily’s face.
Lily laughed and backed away from her.
“Of course I do… you are a pet to us. Jonah is quite enamored with you it would seem.”
Lizzy looked at her, and her face became flush.
“Really?” she asked, before she realized that she had just given her plan away.
Lily laughed and grabbed her hand.
“How adorable you are! I am so glad that I did not eat you when I stumbled upon you in the forest… We must join my brother at dinner. He will be thrilled to know that you have taken an interest in him.”
“I…no. No, Lily, please do not say anything… please,” Lizzy said, as she pulled on her hand and stopped them from moving.
Lily looked at her and shook her head.
“So modest you are, very well… you seduce him on your own then,” Lily said, as she pulled her forward.
Lily and Lizzy ran into the large tent filled with laughter, and a large table packed with food from beginning to end. As soon as they ran in, a few rogues looked at the two of them, and then quickly went back to drinking and talking. Jonah sat at the head of the table as usual, and Lily smiled at him. He nodded to her, as he took his hat from his head. He looked at Lizzy and leaned back in his chair, grinning as he placed his fingers to his lips.
Lily pulled Lizzy along with her to the end of the table, and she stopped and looked at Jonah, grinning. Jonah stood up, looking Lizzy up and down, and then pulled her chair out for her to sit. Lizzy looked at Lily and crinkled her eyebrows. Lily leaned into her ear and whispered.
“He wishes that you be seated next to him this evening, lov
e. Sit,” she said, as she stepped from her, and Lizzy slowly took what was usually a seat reserved for Lily.
Lily walked to the other side and rubbed her hand along the backs of the chairs, until she stopped and looked at Lizzy and smiled. She sat down and turned to a young human boy, maybe sixteen and smiled at him.
Jonah stood behind Lizzy for a moment and closed his eyes, as he smelled her. He grinned, opening his eyes quickly, and winked at Lily. Lily nodded to him and turned back to the boy she had decided would be her dinner for the evening. Jonah sat down in a flash and leaned up, placing his chin on his hand, and smiled at Lizzy.
“You look beautiful this evening, love,” he said, as his eyes wandered to her cleavage.
Lizzy adjusted herself on the chair and cleared her throat.
“Thank you, Jonah,” she said quietly.
Jonah smiled and grabbed the bottle to his left without even looking at it.
“Thirsty?” he asked.
Lizzy grinned and nodded, and he quickly filled her glass.
“Drink. I will assure you that you will find it delightful,” he said.
Lizzy stared at the glass, filled with a thick red liquid that she could only guess was blood collected from someone here, or maybe no longer here at this point. Lizzy touched the glass, and it felt warm to the touch. She took a breath and lifted it, as she glanced at Jonah, and he watched her lift it to her lips. He licked his lips, as she took a sip and placed it back down on the table. She let it linger on her tongue, and it tasted sweet, but slightly salty. She swallowed it and looked at him, as she placed her fingers to her mouth and cleared her throat.
Jonah leaned back and grinned at her, as he placed his fingers on the table and started to tap them.
“So… what made you finally join us for a meal, my love?”
Lizzy looked at him and at the bloody meat on her plate. Jonah glanced at it and clapped his hands. A small girl ran to his side, and Jonah grabbed Lizzy’s plate and handed it to the girl.
“Get Lizzy something cooked through; she does not share our palate,” he said.
The girl nodded and Lizzy smiled.
“Thank you for being gracious,” she said quietly.