Page 8 of Bitten By the Basilisk

Many homes in Indigo Cove were still haunted by deceased former residents, their ghosts appearing whenever they liked. Other souls only appeared at certain times of the year, when the veil was thin. The spirits of Alice’s family, however, remained at rest. She used to wish she could talk to them again, especially her dad, until realizing what that would mean.

“I’ve been well,” she said to their photos as she withdrew a fresh stick of incense from a pack that was nearly empty. “A bit lonely,” she admitted, “but I’m finally up for a promotion at work.”

All her high school friends had moved to other states. Only one college friend still lived in Chicago, and she was married with a newborn. Alice’s coworkers were nice, but none were her age.

With her mom standing behind her, listening, she held back that her boss had pressured her not to come on this trip to Indigo Cove at a time when the firm was busy designing and deploying campaigns ahead of the holidays.

Instead, she carefully placed a burning stick of incense upright in a ceramic dish with a flower-shaped holder in its center. The ribbon of smoke rising from the glowing tip gave off a floral scent.

“I miss you,” she whispered. “And I love you.”

She closed her eyes for a moment and recalled a memory from when she was eight, of her dad handing her a sparkler so she could draw shapes in the air with her grandparents.

That moment was the first time she’d ever seen her grandparents’ red thread of fate, and the day she’d learned that her mom and dad didn’t have one, although she had never doubted they’d loved each other.

When she was done, she turned to find her mom wiping a tear from her eye.

“They would be so proud of you,” Mom asserted before drawing her into a hug.

Mom’s apartment had a front door that led to an outside staircase and a small parking lot on the other side of the building’s retail entrance. The more direct route downstairs was a service elevator that they used to descend to street level.

There, Mom introduced her to a few familiar faces Alice hadn’t seen in many years. Mom employed several supes, including two oni siblings, whom the town’s magic normally glamoured to appear human. As the wards were currently inoperative, Mom had used her magic instead.

The oni brother, Kenji, spoke little, but he smiled kindly as they bowed to each other. His sister, Cynthia, was as bubbly as Alice remembered.

Perceiving their true appearance was sort of like staring at a stereogram until the hidden image emerged, a skill she was still practicing. As her mom chattered on about picking her up from the transit terminal, she subtly attempted to see through their glamour.

“Oh! Allow me, sweetie.” Apparently, Alice wasn’t subtle enough because her mom lifted the glamour with a casual swish of her fingers.

Horns, red irises surrounded by black, and talon-like nails. The oni siblings didn’t resemble each other very much, but their skin was the same shade of vermilion.

Alice held back an immature huff of frustration. How was she supposed to get better at using her power, as mediocre as it was, if her mom did it for her?

“You’ve grown up to be so beautiful,” Cynthia gushed, reaching for Alice’s hand to squeeze it, her talons painted a dark, metallic green. Alice couldn’t help noticing how soft and flawless the oni’s skin was, or how glossy her hair looked, but she humbly accepted the compliment anyway.

“And tall,” Kenji added, even though he towered over her.

“You would know,” her mom said to him.

“Grace talks about you all the time,” Cynthia said. “When are you going to quit that awful job and come live here?”

“Uh—” Alice’s smile turned awkward.

“Have they really not given you a raise since you started?”

“Not in five years,” her mom answered for her, jutting her lower lip in displeasure.

“Mom!”

“Even though she works overtime every day,” her mom continued.

“Not every day,” she mumbled.

“And her manager is a tyrant who makes her accommodate every change request, even at the last minute.”

“You should quit,” Kenji asserted.

Alice had fantasized about it, but open positions were scarce and paid just as little as her current job. And while she did miss her mom, she felt uneasy about leaving behind a life that was familiar, if sometimes lonely, and entering a community to which she didn’t truly belong.