Tongue Tied

My heart raced as I stood, my back resting against the chipped wall, watching my mother stand over the poor rigid creature who had been paralysed for the last few horrific days. The room was ice cold as my mother began pacing around the room, her eyes still glued to the thing that lay underneath her defeatedly. I began shivering uncontrollably as my lungs began to burn from the cold.

Mother had warned me not to utter a word in front of the creature disguised as a girl. She referred to her as a beast, but I knew better. As a young girl, I’d always found the supernatural fascinating. Their lives were all entwined in some way. Most being originated from the same creator. Did they all know that they were related in some way or another? A question I have wanted to ask for so long, but I knew better.

I always knew better. It was hard living with my mother. Well, at least I think she is my mother. Her dirty blonde hair was long and always plaited in a way that would not interfere in her line of work. She was very tall and lean, but she was built with so much muscle that I thought impossible to acquire on a females figure. But there she was, muscles and all. She was somewhat pretty, when she smiled. I think she was born with a scowl permanently masked on her face. The way she presented herself showed that she was only about business.

But there was something off about my mother. I have never agreed with her line of work. She was a Hunter. A killer of the supernatural.

“Please.” The creature said.

My mothers eyes snapped back to the creature still lying paralysed on the cold wooden floor.

“Please. I have never harmed anyone. I have never taken a life. Please.” It pleaded, hoping to receive some sympathy.

The creature looked so small underneath my mother. Her long red hair was dirty and coaxed with her own dry blood. It lay in a heap behind her. Her body was bruised and broken. Well, mostly broken. My mother had shown no mercy towards the creature. But she was stunningly beautiful. Her features were small and elongated, making her beauty seem otherworldly. She looked so small and tired.

My mother scoffed disgustedly and turned her face away from the creature, her gaze now focused solely on the moon that shone brightly from the small cracked window above.

“You say you have not done or harmed anyone, but that is not the point. The fact is that you are here. Alive in our world. In my world. And I will not stand for it.”

Who was my mother to claim such a thing.

Her world?

It is not your world to claim.

“Please.”

“Nothing you can do or say will change your fate.”

It is not in your power to choose her fate.

“Please. I have a family. I have two babies. Twins. I just want to go home to my family.”

You have a family?

“Another reason why you are here. You think you can come to my world and raise these human babies and claim them as your own?”

“And yet you have done the same thing.” The creature spat out harshly.

A spark of anger flashed across my mothers face. Her broad shoulders tensed sharply as she stared down at the creature.

“You think we do not know who you are, Desdemona?”

Desdemona? Who is Desdemona? My mind was racing with what she was saying. How does she know these things. How do you know these things? I screamed internally.

“You do not think we have forgotten? Do you think we do not remember your birth name? No amount of time will stop us from forgetting you, Thee Who Brings Wretchedness.”

Desdemona kicked the creature hard in the abdomen. She shrieked an inhumanly sound that pierced my ears.

“Tell me then,” the creature continued, “is she really your daughter? Or do you suffer the same fate as all the other supernatural?” The smirk that occupied the creatures beautiful face made her look vicious.

What was she talking about? My mother is not a supernatural being. Right?

My mother walked away from the Seelie creature, nervousness laced in voice as she said, “How dear you. What you claim is untruthful and pathetic. You are an unholy creature. Not god made. A demon that walks this earth. You do not belong.”

The Seelie turned her head slightly, her hair shifting and revealing her elongated ears. She truly was a Fey.

“I may be half Demon, but you forget that I am also half Angel. You... you are just an abomination.” The silence was deafening as my mother released her long sword from its home on her back and decapitated the Seelie’s head off of her thin neck. It rolled down to the other end of the small dark room, leaving a trail of thick red blood in its wake.

“You are the abomination.” My mother whispered to the now limp body.

  —————————————————————————

The fire roared loudly throughout the small cottage home, the logs crackling underneath the hellish heat.

Mother had resigned to her room and I had sat at the kitchen table, the chair croaking underneath me with every move I made. I could not relinquish the scene that played continuously in my mind. I had cleaned the evidence for hours, tears slipping down my cheeks without my permission. I had seen my mother kill, but not like this. This time she did not hold back. She did not sway from her constructive and well thought out plan to leave the minimum evidence that was to be destroyed afterwards. No. No, she did not follow her own protocol and I was left behind to witness and relive the traumatising experience.

I needed to know. I needed to understand what the Seelie girl was saying. I need to understand my mothers motive. I cannot not follow blindly and accept her way of life anymore.

The floor boards began creaking underneath my mothers heavy footsteps as she appeared in front of me, the dim light illuminating her wet hair and fair skin that was scrubbed clean from all the blood.

Mother sat heavily in the seat across from me and I leaned back into my uncomfortable chair, putting more distance between us. I opened my mouth to speak, but she cleared her throat loudly, seizing my full attention.

“We will not speak of tonight.”

Why?

My heart was beating loudly in my ears, my throat closing with fear. “Yes, mother.”

“I never want you to bring up the events of tonight. Ever.” She repeated, her eyes piercing down at me.

Tell me why?

“Yes, mother.”

What are you? The Seelie said you cannot have children. What does she mean? Please, tell me.

 “Demons will do anything to be released. They will speak lies to intrigue you in their trickeries.”

But it sounded like she knew you. As if you were a horrible legend come to life in front of her eyes.

“Yes, mother. Demons are liars.” I repeated. My stomach clenched and I began feeling nauseas.

ASK HER!

“You would never lie to me, right mother?” I asked quietly, concentrating on my breathing.

“Of course, not. Why would I lie to you?” She responded, her voice hard with anger and disappointment.

Liar.

“Did you know her, mother?” My hands began shaking uncontrollably in my lap and I continued to concentrate on my breathing

“Absolutely not. What a stupid question. Why would I know her? She is a demon and we do not associate with demons.”

LIAR!

My heart was beating so loud that I thought that the whole world could hear it pounding quickly out of my chest.

You are a liar.

A liar.

Liar.

“Yes, mother.”

The name was playing in my mind. The name that the fey had spoken as if she was talking about someone old and feared.

“Who is Desdemona?” I breathed out, hoping that my mother would not hear me, but she looked down at me as if I was a child about to be scolded for misbehaving.

Suddenly, she was sneering in my face as she had leaned across the table. She gripped my jaw tightly. It felt as though it was going to break underneath her vicious grasp. A tear rolled down my face as she sneered directly in my face. She sounded like a wild animal. No, a supernatural creature.

“NEVER UTTER THAT NAME AGAIN.” She unleashed my jaw, throwing me to the floor in the process. “If I ever hear that name, you will be another victim of my wrath. Daughter or not. That is a DEMON name and I am no demon. DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME?”

I nodded slightly, whilst also gently nursing my jaw from the sharp pain that began piercing viciously across my face. She stormed away from the kitchen and slammed her bedroom door closed. I continued to lay on the floor, rethinking the mistake I made by asking those dangerous questions.

The silence frightened me and as I closed my eyes I allowed the darkness to whisk me away into nothingness.