There was a bathroom here somewhere, Pandora was sure of it. She
wandered further down the corridor, wiping at her eyes furiously. She
couldn't go back to class looking like this, she would never hear the
end of it. She reached a corner. Down one end of the hall, she could
hear voices, so she turned and walked down the other. As she turned
the corner, she noticed the small girl who had brushed past her earlier
disappear through a door. Out of curiosity, and because she didn't
want to go back where the voices were, Pandora walked over to the
door. She pushed it open to reveal a set of stairs that led down to
the basement.
The basement. The images from Pandora's vision rushed back at her, but
without the blinding pain this time. The girl was in trouble. Pandora
took the steps two at a time, hoping she wasn't too late. The basement
was dark and cluttered with old desks, crates full of books, and other
things that the school and church didn't use anymore. A thick layer of
dust had settled on top of the objects, but the floor was pristine.
Pandora heard a muffled sound and followed it.
"Hello," she called out. She walked around a tower of crates. The
girl was huddled in the corner with her back to Pandora. It was just
like in her vision. "Are you okay?"
The girl hurriedly stuffed something into a desk beside the wall and
whirled around. "A little privacy would have been nice," she snapped
and glared at Pandora. "What are you doing lurking around the
basement? Or were you following me? Amanda is right, you are a
freak." The girl stalked past Pandora and up the stairs.
"Great. Just perfect," Pandora muttered to herself. "Now I'll be
known as the basement lurking freak. Damn vision." Pandora frowned.
She had seen the girl being attacked by a demon - or something with
talons. Maybe it was just Amanda. Or maybe it wasn't going to happen
until later when the girl came back for whatever it was she had hidden.
Pandora stepped forward and bent down to look in the desk. A few cd's
and a discman were stored in there. Rod Zombie and Marilyn Manson
along with a few others that were probably prohibited in a good
Catholic school girl's home. She would most likely come back for them
later and that's when....
A swishing, squelching sound behind her made the hairs on the back of
Pandora's neck rise and her skin prickle. A lock of her hair fell over
her eyes. As she pushed it back behind her ear, it hit her. She had
seen the talons reaching toward the bent head of a dark haired girl.
Her head was bent. She had dark hair. It was with more than a little
trepidation that Pandora turned and looked up.
"Witchhh," the Silear Nathair, or Cellar Serpent, lisped with its
forked tongue. It was big, it would have been over seven feet tall if
it had stood up on legs instead of slithering around. Its long
snake-like body had a thick hide covered in a thin layer of clear
ooze instead of scales and its upper body was reared up like a cobra's.
Two skinny arms with five spindly fingers that ended in sharp talons
fidgeted excitedly in front of it. It's head was disturbingly humanoid
in shape with big blue eyes and flapping dog-like ears. It's small
mouth was lined with flat grinding teeth that it used to pulverize the
bones of its victims. Cellar Serpents also fed psychically on strong
emotion - its favorite being Faith and Love - so it usually dwelled in
the basements of churches, temples, and other places of worship.
"Witchhh." It reached out to Pandora.
Pandora did the only thing she always did in a moment of panic. She
dissolved into dancing points of blue light as she orbed out of the
creature's reach.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Ron's eyes were wide as Pandora dissipated
into glowing light.
"Yeah," Connor answered. "And that too." He nodded at the serpent
as it turned toward their voices.
"Witchhh gone." The Cellar Serpent whipped around, surprisingly fast
despite its size. It's eerily human eyes flicked over Connor before
resting on Ron. "Annothhher one." It slithered closer.
From behind it, the blue lights reformed and Pandora appeared in the
same spot she had left. Ron stumbled back in astonishment at Pandora's
sudden reappearance at the same time the serpent reached out at him.
The talons grazed his cheek, drawing blood. Pandora screamed,
distracting the serpent and it wheeled around to confront her. Connor
took the opportunity to pick up a large crate full of textbooks and he
heaved it at the creature. The crate hit the back of the creature's
head and broke open, burying it top portion in wood and books. The
tail flailed in every direction, knocking Connor and Ron to the floor.
It then swung up and crashed back down onto the floor. Both the boys
rolled away in different directions, but as Ron rolled, he changed.
When he stopped, in Ron's school uniform was a red roan puppy around
six months old. The puppy gave a spirited bark and a brave little
growl before wiggling out of the oversized shoes and pants. It
attacked the thrashing tail of the serpent, biting down on it and
hanging on.
The tail flipped furiously above them even with the Ron/puppy attached
to it, so Connor hurled himself on it as well. As they wrestled with
the bottom half, the top part of the serpent broke through the books
and wooden debris of the crate and made a grab for Pandora. "No!" She
squeezed her eyes shut and gestured in its direction with her hands the
way she had seen her mother do about a million times when fighting a
demon. The ensuing silence punctuated only by quiet panting convinced
Pandora that she hadn't blown any one up so she opened her eyes.
Connor sat on the floor breathing hard. The Cellar Serpent was frozen
in a 'U' shape, its head and tail in the air.
"Where's Ron?" Pandora looked around. Connor pointed to a stack of
crates.
"I'm fine." Ron walked from behind the crates, tucking his shirt into
his pants. "What's that?"
"Silear Nathair or Cellar Serpent. It's a carnivorous snake-like
demon that dwells in church basements and other places of worship
because it feeds psychically off the faith of the congregation as well
as...the congregation." The three eyed each other uncertainly. "It's
not going to stay frozen forever."
Set up against the wall a few feet from Connor was an old heavy pewter
cross. He picked it up and walked over to the serpent. With one
swing, he smashed its head open and it flopped to the floor. Again,
the three regarded each other with suspicion.
"You shouldn't have been able to do that, that cross is too heavy for
an eleven year old boy to pick up and swing around. You also picked up
and threw that huge crate filled with books." Pandora pointed her
finger at Connor.
Connor immediately pointed at Ron. "He turned into a dog."
"She dissolved into little blue lights and froze the snake-thing." Ron
pointed at Pandora. The three of them stood like that for a few
moments. "So, who's going to go first?"
The accusing fingers dropped. Connor's gaze went from Pandora to Ron.
One of them did have to go first. "I'm the miracle offspring of two
vampires. My vampire mother dusted herself so I could be born and ever
since then assorted demon cults and all around evil guys have been
trying to either convert me or kill me. My father is a vampire cursed
with his soul by gypsies and he's a warrior for the Powers That Be.
My Mom is his Seer. Along with my aunt and uncles, they fight evil
and protect me."
"My mother is a witch. She and my Aunts are the Charmed Ones, they
fight evil with the Power of Three. My father is their white-lighter,
a guardian angel for good witches. Mom named me after her older sister
who died fighting demons and her mother - Pandora Patricia Prudence
Halliwell - and by doing that she inadvertently gave me the Power of
Three too, all of it, I don't share it with anyone else, and because of
that the Source has been trying to kill me since the day I was born."
"My mother's a witch too. She, my Dad, and I have been on run ever
since I was born. We're hiding from my biological father. He wants to
sacrifice me to his Dark Lords in exchange for stronger magical power."
A short silence followed as they each digested the others' confessions.
"Let me get this straight. Our parents are weird. Our lives are in
mortal danger. And we've got to get rid of this Cellar Serpent before
it starts stinking up the place." Ron grinned. "Well, someone's gotta
say it and it might as well be me. I think this is the beginning of
a beautiful friendship. Extremely odd, but beautiful."
Pandora and Connor both returned Ron's grin and they all laughed. Ron
was right. How could they not be friends? Once you've hacked up and
buried the body of a Silear Nathair, more commonly known as the Cellar
Serpent, you really had no choice because that's what friendships are
built on.
To be continued...
wandered further down the corridor, wiping at her eyes furiously. She
couldn't go back to class looking like this, she would never hear the
end of it. She reached a corner. Down one end of the hall, she could
hear voices, so she turned and walked down the other. As she turned
the corner, she noticed the small girl who had brushed past her earlier
disappear through a door. Out of curiosity, and because she didn't
want to go back where the voices were, Pandora walked over to the
door. She pushed it open to reveal a set of stairs that led down to
the basement.
The basement. The images from Pandora's vision rushed back at her, but
without the blinding pain this time. The girl was in trouble. Pandora
took the steps two at a time, hoping she wasn't too late. The basement
was dark and cluttered with old desks, crates full of books, and other
things that the school and church didn't use anymore. A thick layer of
dust had settled on top of the objects, but the floor was pristine.
Pandora heard a muffled sound and followed it.
"Hello," she called out. She walked around a tower of crates. The
girl was huddled in the corner with her back to Pandora. It was just
like in her vision. "Are you okay?"
The girl hurriedly stuffed something into a desk beside the wall and
whirled around. "A little privacy would have been nice," she snapped
and glared at Pandora. "What are you doing lurking around the
basement? Or were you following me? Amanda is right, you are a
freak." The girl stalked past Pandora and up the stairs.
"Great. Just perfect," Pandora muttered to herself. "Now I'll be
known as the basement lurking freak. Damn vision." Pandora frowned.
She had seen the girl being attacked by a demon - or something with
talons. Maybe it was just Amanda. Or maybe it wasn't going to happen
until later when the girl came back for whatever it was she had hidden.
Pandora stepped forward and bent down to look in the desk. A few cd's
and a discman were stored in there. Rod Zombie and Marilyn Manson
along with a few others that were probably prohibited in a good
Catholic school girl's home. She would most likely come back for them
later and that's when....
A swishing, squelching sound behind her made the hairs on the back of
Pandora's neck rise and her skin prickle. A lock of her hair fell over
her eyes. As she pushed it back behind her ear, it hit her. She had
seen the talons reaching toward the bent head of a dark haired girl.
Her head was bent. She had dark hair. It was with more than a little
trepidation that Pandora turned and looked up.
"Witchhh," the Silear Nathair, or Cellar Serpent, lisped with its
forked tongue. It was big, it would have been over seven feet tall if
it had stood up on legs instead of slithering around. Its long
snake-like body had a thick hide covered in a thin layer of clear
ooze instead of scales and its upper body was reared up like a cobra's.
Two skinny arms with five spindly fingers that ended in sharp talons
fidgeted excitedly in front of it. It's head was disturbingly humanoid
in shape with big blue eyes and flapping dog-like ears. It's small
mouth was lined with flat grinding teeth that it used to pulverize the
bones of its victims. Cellar Serpents also fed psychically on strong
emotion - its favorite being Faith and Love - so it usually dwelled in
the basements of churches, temples, and other places of worship.
"Witchhh." It reached out to Pandora.
Pandora did the only thing she always did in a moment of panic. She
dissolved into dancing points of blue light as she orbed out of the
creature's reach.
"Whoa, did you see that?" Ron's eyes were wide as Pandora dissipated
into glowing light.
"Yeah," Connor answered. "And that too." He nodded at the serpent
as it turned toward their voices.
"Witchhh gone." The Cellar Serpent whipped around, surprisingly fast
despite its size. It's eerily human eyes flicked over Connor before
resting on Ron. "Annothhher one." It slithered closer.
From behind it, the blue lights reformed and Pandora appeared in the
same spot she had left. Ron stumbled back in astonishment at Pandora's
sudden reappearance at the same time the serpent reached out at him.
The talons grazed his cheek, drawing blood. Pandora screamed,
distracting the serpent and it wheeled around to confront her. Connor
took the opportunity to pick up a large crate full of textbooks and he
heaved it at the creature. The crate hit the back of the creature's
head and broke open, burying it top portion in wood and books. The
tail flailed in every direction, knocking Connor and Ron to the floor.
It then swung up and crashed back down onto the floor. Both the boys
rolled away in different directions, but as Ron rolled, he changed.
When he stopped, in Ron's school uniform was a red roan puppy around
six months old. The puppy gave a spirited bark and a brave little
growl before wiggling out of the oversized shoes and pants. It
attacked the thrashing tail of the serpent, biting down on it and
hanging on.
The tail flipped furiously above them even with the Ron/puppy attached
to it, so Connor hurled himself on it as well. As they wrestled with
the bottom half, the top part of the serpent broke through the books
and wooden debris of the crate and made a grab for Pandora. "No!" She
squeezed her eyes shut and gestured in its direction with her hands the
way she had seen her mother do about a million times when fighting a
demon. The ensuing silence punctuated only by quiet panting convinced
Pandora that she hadn't blown any one up so she opened her eyes.
Connor sat on the floor breathing hard. The Cellar Serpent was frozen
in a 'U' shape, its head and tail in the air.
"Where's Ron?" Pandora looked around. Connor pointed to a stack of
crates.
"I'm fine." Ron walked from behind the crates, tucking his shirt into
his pants. "What's that?"
"Silear Nathair or Cellar Serpent. It's a carnivorous snake-like
demon that dwells in church basements and other places of worship
because it feeds psychically off the faith of the congregation as well
as...the congregation." The three eyed each other uncertainly. "It's
not going to stay frozen forever."
Set up against the wall a few feet from Connor was an old heavy pewter
cross. He picked it up and walked over to the serpent. With one
swing, he smashed its head open and it flopped to the floor. Again,
the three regarded each other with suspicion.
"You shouldn't have been able to do that, that cross is too heavy for
an eleven year old boy to pick up and swing around. You also picked up
and threw that huge crate filled with books." Pandora pointed her
finger at Connor.
Connor immediately pointed at Ron. "He turned into a dog."
"She dissolved into little blue lights and froze the snake-thing." Ron
pointed at Pandora. The three of them stood like that for a few
moments. "So, who's going to go first?"
The accusing fingers dropped. Connor's gaze went from Pandora to Ron.
One of them did have to go first. "I'm the miracle offspring of two
vampires. My vampire mother dusted herself so I could be born and ever
since then assorted demon cults and all around evil guys have been
trying to either convert me or kill me. My father is a vampire cursed
with his soul by gypsies and he's a warrior for the Powers That Be.
My Mom is his Seer. Along with my aunt and uncles, they fight evil
and protect me."
"My mother is a witch. She and my Aunts are the Charmed Ones, they
fight evil with the Power of Three. My father is their white-lighter,
a guardian angel for good witches. Mom named me after her older sister
who died fighting demons and her mother - Pandora Patricia Prudence
Halliwell - and by doing that she inadvertently gave me the Power of
Three too, all of it, I don't share it with anyone else, and because of
that the Source has been trying to kill me since the day I was born."
"My mother's a witch too. She, my Dad, and I have been on run ever
since I was born. We're hiding from my biological father. He wants to
sacrifice me to his Dark Lords in exchange for stronger magical power."
A short silence followed as they each digested the others' confessions.
"Let me get this straight. Our parents are weird. Our lives are in
mortal danger. And we've got to get rid of this Cellar Serpent before
it starts stinking up the place." Ron grinned. "Well, someone's gotta
say it and it might as well be me. I think this is the beginning of
a beautiful friendship. Extremely odd, but beautiful."
Pandora and Connor both returned Ron's grin and they all laughed. Ron
was right. How could they not be friends? Once you've hacked up and
buried the body of a Silear Nathair, more commonly known as the Cellar
Serpent, you really had no choice because that's what friendships are
built on.
To be continued...