The Witch of Arcadia (pt 4)
I think I’m starting to remember now. The Garden, Eve, Lilith, Eden, Pentious, Mother Death, everything. I wasn’t supposed to remember, I never wanted to in the first place. I sat there in silence, Frank keeping me company- the clouds had already moved on and the sun was back to its bright jolly self- none of us spoke for what seemed like hours. I noticed movement within my peripheral, turning to face the direction of the movement, there in the brush stood an opossum. A mother with all its babies clinging to its back and belly.
“Mother Death,” Franklin started as he made his way towards the momma opossum, “Used to call these woods her home.” The mother opossum did not see my associate as a threat, if it did she would already have been hissing and drooling the moment he even started moving. Instead, she let her babies dismount and roam about freely. There were so many of them, as finite as the stars you would see in the night sky. Franklin knelt down, his hand extended to The Mother, as if he were her humble servant waiting for a miracle. The creature sniffed his hand before giving it a gentle nudge with its nose.
Mother Death had heard the cries of that little indigenous girl, She had failed to save her in time. Instead of doing Her godly duties She was too focused on punishing the sinners, blinded by rage, Mother Death was left to face Her own sins- ever since that day She had tried to right Her wrongs, only to fail time and time again. For what was a god without anyone to believe in Them? She had to start anew. A new cycle, followed by more to come. In her anguish, she did something that no parent should have to do, she made her own children bear the weight of her sins alongside her. What could they have done? They were just children. Mother Death did not take pride in what she did, but it was too late. The damage had already been done.
“You’re dead, Adam.” Franklin spoke softly, “The both of you need to accept that.” When he turned to face me, there was a little albino opossum joey resting comfortably in his shirt pocket. The little creature was sound asleep, as if they had no care in the world. He was right, for once in this cycle of insanity, I knew he was right but something within me still wanted- commanded me to resist.
“You don’t know that.” I kept my voice steady, “Just like we don’t know if Mother Death did banish Oriville to The Umbra.” I watched as the taller man clenched his jaw, steam practically wafting out of his ears. I knew I had said the wrong thing, but something about it felt so familiar. I think I may have had this interaction before, with the same man that was standing right in front of me. Yet it felt all so distant and fictional at the same time. I didn’t have time to collect my thoughts when Franklin closed the distance between us and socked me square in the jaw.
I recoiled upon impact, stars littering the edge of my vision, my eyes fell upon Frank only to see that he didn’t look quite so human anymore. Hot breath seeped from out of his clenched jaw, rows of sharp fangs and teeth were bared at me. The man was like a rabid dog- no, a rabid wolf. I could taste iron on my tongue, I steadied myself only for this creature to send its other fist straight into my stomach taking the wind out of me. I fell to my knees clutching my stomach, coughing and wheezing, why was he doing this? Just as Frank grabbed a clump of my hair the mother opossum jumped into the space between us, hissing and snarling at the blonde man. The both of us were silent in shock for a moment as we watched this little creature, she was protecting me?
Frank looked as if he were a toddler being scolded by his own mother, he drew his hands back in a defensive gesture, looking more and more like a human again. He was an awkward mess of words, spluttering out apologies- even trying to bargain with the nocturnal creature, “But, ma’am-” he was cut off by a loud hiss and aggressive stomp from the small creature before he relented and lowered his head in shame. The albino opossum joey now making their way out of his chest pocket and onto his shoulder, also hissing and stomping their tiny little paws. Frank looked as if he were about to cry, before he nodded and gently placed the small creature in the grass next to its mama.
“I’m sorry I hit you.” Frank mumbled, refusing to even look at me. I was stunned to say the least, “I gotta go, tell Lyn I said bye.” and with that he followed the family of opossums into the woods. By that point, I was too confused to even call after him. I sat back down on the porch, running my hands through my hair as I tried to process everything that had just happened, where the hell was Lyn? Hadn’t they been gone for a good while now? I looked up to the sky, the sun had already clocked out and in his place was the full moon. She was stunning.
A rustling in the bushes caught my attention, when I turned to look in that direction I saw the silhouette of a deer. Its outline of its antlers were like snakes poking out of a woven basket to listen to the snake charmer’s call. My skeleton had nearly leapt out from its flesh mech suit when the bright yellow glowing eyes of the creature stared directly at me. I was quick to act, I did not want to repeat the same mistake twice, and I drew my pistol- before I could even pull the trigger the deer lowered its head into the bushes, the shadowy outline of its serpentine antlers remained visible.
“What are you looking at?” Lyn’s voice came from behind me, causing me to almost jump out of my skin.
“Jesus!” I yelped, turning to look at them. Instead of the silk dress, an expression of their femininity, they sported a more masculine kind of outfit. It amazed me that regardless of what form they took- whether it be male or female- they were beautiful. Lyn smiled and sat beside me, moonlight reflecting off the shades of red in their eyes like a stained glass window you would see above the altar in a catholic church. I knew I had to remember what happened, how I fell and what caused me to be stuck in this seemingly endless cycle. Was Mother Death responsible for this unanswered question that has been tormenting my mind for- who knows how long now. What was my life before this place? Before Arcadia? Before Eve and The Garden?
“I missed this.” Lyn rested their head on my shoulder, we were in Eden again- no, between spaces, yet there sat the Tree of Knowledge. “I missed you.”
“E- Eve?” I whispered in disbelief, hoping to whatever god would listen that Eve didn’t hear.
“Oh god,” they chuckled, “I haven’t heard that name in ages. How long has it been? Decades? Centuries? More?”
*I’m not supposed to be here- we’re not supposed to be here- in this space, this time, this reality.* We had slipped behind the veil and I fear what was, what is, and what is to come.