Rose followed the directions she had received from Joey in the diner to a small café in Clay City. Though she had arrived during the dinner hours, the place was empty of customers and sported only two employees. A young, fair skinned male with slicked back black hair and mushroom grey eyes was the first to greet her as she made her way to the counter. "Evening, ma'am. What can I getcha to drink?" The man was wearing traditional diner white button up top and black slacks. He had a nice smile with perfectly straight teeth accented by his sharp features.
"Water is fine for now." She replied noticing the high-top tennis shoes he wore as we walked to a water dispenser at the other end of the counter. Looking around the quaint little diner she thought it appeared to be a few decades behind the times as there was a jukebox in one corner playing hits from the eighties and the décor on the walls was indicative of the decade as well with posters of wrestlers and musicians popular in those days.
The man returned with her water, and a menu, setting both on the counter in front of her. "Today's special is twice baked ratskins. They topped with bacon, cheese and sour cream." Her eyes widened a bit at his comment though her face didn't reveal the shock she felt. She just nodded and he smiled leaving her to peruse the menu.
'Ratskins? No wonder the place is empty'. She thought herself. The other menu items were no less exotic or strange than the special. She set the menu aside and sipped the water. It was bitter enough to cause her to spit it out. This caused the second employee to emerge from what she assumed was the kitchen. The person who approached her was a tall and slender woman with skin only slightly darker than her own. She carried herself with sophistication and grace, holding her head high and walking with perfect posture. "You must be the woman, Joey said would come." She was soft spoken, but she exuded confidence with her words. Rose took in the woman's appearance, noting the way she was over dressed for a being a small diner employee. She sported a modern business style dress suit and heels. Her hair was hidden beneath a matching headwrap. Her neck was adorned with a simple gold chain with a small key shaped pendant. Large golden hoops hung from her ears and a small diamond stud graced the left side of her nose. Rose looked into the woman's golden eyes and removed her sunglasses revealing her red irises to the woman. "I am pleased to see you have chosen to visit us today." She said with a smile. "Come this way. I will show where you can meet Joey."
Rose was reluctant to join the stranger but the scene she took in by touching the counter, the menu and the glass of water showed her enough to know she would be safe. This was not a diner for humans and the non-humans that patronized this place were peaceful. She followed the woman through a side door that led to a meadow surround by pine trees. Once the door closed behind them, the diner was no longer visible. "The Valley of the Damned is in the Twilight Zone?" She asked the woman sarcastically.
"Something like that," the woman agreed. "It keeps our kind safe."
"And what is your kind?"
"We are the unwanted consequences. The mixed and the half-breeds."
"You know we're in the twenty-first century, right? That kind of prejudice isn't as widespread anymore. Mixed race couples are more common now."
"We aren't mixed races." She explained turning her face to Rose. She stopped at a lone fruit tree a few feet from the edge of the meadow. Retrieving and ripened fruit, she offered it to Rose who didn't take it. "Looks like a normal apple doesn't it?"
"Yes," Rose answered with a hint of confusion in her voice.
"Look closer. Feel it. Smell it. You will notice that it has the texture of human skin and the scent of a wet dog." She gently pressed the near the stem of the fruit as she continued her explanation. "Open it and you will see the creature that resides inside. Resembles a hedgehog, yes?" Rose nodded. "Yet it is not. It is a demonic hybrid. A hedgehog in appearance, but soulless demon in reality." The creature hissed at Rose and lept from the woman's hand.
Rose watched the creature scurry of the tree and return to the branch from which it came, turning back into the apple looking fruit. "Amazing."
"This valley is full of similar creatures. There's a lake at the top of that mountain range that is home to Mermaids and various other water creatures. The surrounding forests is where what the humans call yetis live as well as the monsters of the human fairytales."
"Like werewolves?" Rose scoffed.
"There's a few of those, yes. But also, the likes of centaurs, minotaurs, and so on. We are the demigods of old, the creatures of mythology and the characters of nightmares in the human world."
"So like real vampires and stuff?"
"No vampires here. Those are not born. They are humans that have been turned. Unlike us, they had a choice to be what they are."
Rose tried to wrap her head around what she was hearing. It was too much. "This is impossible."
"Your welcome to see for yourself," The woman offered her hand to Rose.
She was tempted to take it to prove this was all just a fantasy to keep her from finding Aden perpetrated by those who took him, but she ultimately declined. There was something off about this woman that didn't set well with her. The golden eyes reminded her of Adrian, and she wondered if this was just another disguise he had taken to get to her. She thought this was a trap that she had willingly walked into. She kept her emotions in check and out of her expressions as she eyed the brown woman with golden eyes. "No thank you," she gave the woman a small smile.
"Not possible, huh? So says the queen of us all."
"I am no queen. I am not what you think I am."
"You are not what you think you are."
"And what is it that you think I think I am?"
"A freak. A mistake. The arrogant butt of a joke."
"Okay, you got me there." Rose admitted.
"Yet, you are so much more. Created on purpose for a purpose. A destiny you continually reject and run from."
"I do not run from anything."
"You run from Adrian."
"How do you…" Rose tried to interject.
"In your fear, you avoid your enemy as long as possible. But he finds you eventually. He ALWAYS finds you. Tell me, young one. How many times has your enemy left your corpse to rot in pool of destruction?"
"I don't understand how you know…"
"Five? Six maybe? More?"
"What are you trying to say?"
"You were in your mother's womb when she burned at the stake in the Americas. You were sold to slave traders in India where you were beaten to death. Then there was the shipwreck, the American revolution, the Indian Wars, the San Francisco Fire, the car accident in Los Angeles, the terrorist attack in New York, that horrid disaster in London…"
"Seriously! How do you know...?"
"And of course, the church fire here in Washington on your wedding day, what, seven years ago now?"
Tears threatened their escape. A slight tremor appeared in Rose's left hand as her fingers traced the wedding ring in its place. Aden. She had to find him.
"Each event meant to kill you. Each attempt successful. Each time your heart stops and you die. Yet, here you are. Standing before us unscathed, unscarred and very much alive. And you have yet to figure out why that is."
"I suppose you plan to tell me."
"No need. -extending her hand- Allow me to show you. Do not worry, it won't hurt me. Nothing can ever hurt me. Believe me, many have tried. All have failed."
This time Rose accepted the offer and took the woman's hand in her own. She held for a mere second but that was long enough to see the truth of what had been spoken. "Medusa? You are Medusa? How is that possible."
"Such a child you are. Your hands can see nothing but truth, yet you still don't believe. I show you who and more importantly, what you are, and you marvel at me. How amusing. Silly girl! Anyway, medusa is not my name. It's never been anyone's name. Medusa is what I am and unlike you, I am not a one of a kind." She unwrapped the scarf from her head to reveal the hair of snakes. "My name; should you chose to use it aloud, is Almyrah. Friends call me Allie." Rose snapped her eyes shut at he sight of the snakes. "Relax child, I can do you no harm. My power is fueled by the lusts of men. Human men. You are neither fully human nor are you a man, so you are perfectly safe with me. As you are with any of us. No one here would raise a hand against any phoenix anyway, let alone our savior. We may be a collection of anomalies, but stupid we are not. You were born to be our queen and our salvation."
"When your life is taken, Twila, it's purpose is lost. It must be surrendered. Willingly. Only then will your purpose be fulfilled."
"My name is not Twila." Rose argued.
"Neither is it Rose. But since no tongue can pronounce your real name, Twila was ascribed to you in your infancy."
"Yes, well I prefer Rose, if you don't mind."
"The thorn or flower?"
Rose didn't understand the difference in what Allie was asking. "Doesn't matter. Just call me Rose. Twila died in that church."
"Indeed she did. Come. Let us meet with Joey. I believe she has brought a guest."