Warlock

Conspiring with a Cadaver

She had once hated them, but without the pain she recognized their true beauty. The trail they left was a mark of her presence, something to remind her enemies to fear her and her underlings to love her. The woman behind the desk gazed at her in awe, but she did not see the true face behind the shadows, or the scales it shed.

Vivian ran her finger along the human woman's desk, leaving behind a trail of rancid rotting scales. "So, Miss Viola, I heard you recently lost a considerable number of demons. How could this happen?" Her words clearly cut the poor human. Viola took an involuntary step backward and ran her hands through her hair.

"I'm so sorry. We've increased our security, I assure you. We have two night shifts now, and soon we'll have new demons to test Dixie's devices and chemicals on. Though one of our top informers recently let us down, so we had to let him go. The demons know we're looking for them now, I think." Her voice trailed off as she watched Vivian's expression grow dark.

"You need to try harder. Look into everyone. Recruit more. Especially look out for children. The worst demons are little, with glowing eyes that cut holes in every soul within their reach." Vivian's claws carved half-moons into the polished wooden table.

The woman nodded mutely, reminding her of the ignorance that pervaded every human's mind. She could only rely on them for so much, but unfortunately her plan did require some outside help. It would all be worth it. She drew a swirl in the air with the shedding scales, smiling as they danced lightly through the air, swinging from side to side to the rhythm of silence. Eventually, she would be so powerful that even the Ancient One would bow to her whim. He would make her beautiful, as she knew she was meant to be, and he would no longer have to feign humanity to avoid the pestering of the filthy Others.

"You recently recruited a young albino man, yes?"

"Yes. He and his husband are so cute, though both were very quiet when I interviewed them." Vivian had seen the woman interact with others of her species. She dominated every conversation, permitting at most a single word of interjection between her sentences. Vivian enjoyed crushing this part of her personality into a speck.

"Has he caught any demons yet?" While she did plan on crushing his pride just as she did Viola's, Vivian still did not understand where his loyalty stood. As soon as he had become aware of her presence, he had blocked out her ability to watch him from afar. However, she had seen the footage from the Hancocks' security cameras, and his loyalty definitely lay with the naiad. Throughout his visit to the Hancock building, the warlock had glanced at the naiad every few seconds as if he expected him to disappear.

"No, unfortunately they arrived when the demons got clever." Viola seemed comforted by her explanation for the company's downhill slump every time she said it.

The question was, did the Ancient One cause the slump, or did he simply discover the details of the company at the same time as his fellow Others? Vivian cursed his ability to block her. "That's enough for now. Don't expect the 'clever demon' excuse to get you far. Companies don't grow through excuses." She flipped the newspaper on the corner of the desk, smiling at the headline. "Those demons you let escape just killed the mayor. You ought to be careful; the governor could be next." The words hung ominously in the air, twirling with the words on the page: intestines draped over the chandelier, blood painting the floor, his heart placed in his mouth. Each murder painted the city a deeper red.

As she left the room, her scales drifted from her wings like a corpse's bridal train. The Hancock human would not be the only witness to her wedding with death.