Erin opened her eyes. She'd been having those dreams earlier because of... who was it?
Those dreams weren't her memories, at least not her memories as a human, but... She closed
her eyes before letting out a deep breath. She was no longer Erin Schlange, college student
and vessel; she was now Erin Schlange, college student and Goddess of Serpents.
"Ahh! Why me?" She whined, covering her face with her hands. This was horrible! No
wonder she forgot, it was because this was just crazy! She remembered the goddess putting
her in the trance and setting her on the altar. She now remembered the bite and the kiss...
Luckily, she only partially remembered the pain...
She remembered the snake golem taking her somewhere because she started crying and
writhing in pain after it was done. Erin took a deep breath. She was the goddess. The
goddess. Yet... she didn't feel that different, her personality was the same. She felt
nothing like the cold distant woman who kidnapped her, but...
She felt calm and complete. Erin hugged her knees to her chest. She would have asked
the goddess herself to explain everything, but their souls were one. It was weird to think
of. She let out a long sigh. She couldn't remember Abby's number or address. Erin thought
that was partially because she'd forgotten a year after she moved away.
Erin had to wonder how everyone was going on without her... her parents were probably
worried to death! Maybe she'd stay with Faye for another day or two. She smiled to herself.
She was complete. She thought she would lose her consciousness since she was the vessel, but
she was still here. Erin decided it was time to try and find the part of her that was the
goddess.
That was the important part, right? All those dreams... they belonged to the goddess's
memory. Erin got up and headed towards the kitchen. The goddess was her and she was the
goddess, so... The dark haired girl decided she would dwell on the paradox that was herself
after eating.
While eating the food Faye had so carefully made for her, Erin started to wonder about
the goddess. Shouldn't she be remembering what the goddess had? As she ate, she wondered
what she would tell Faye or if she would tell her at all. Something told her that Faye
already knew everything... that Faye in fact knew more than Erin herself.
Erin finished the food and ran her tongue over her teeth. Her mouth felt funny... but
she shrugged it off. It was strange to suddenly be so aware of what had happened thanks to a
dream... a dream of the goddess's past. She opened and closed her mouth. It felt kind of
irritated, but her thoughts were cut off as she heard the front door open.
"I'm home, Erin, my sweet, yummy little-" Faye was speaking as she walked over to the
kitchen, but immediately shut up when she realized Erin was actually awake and heard her. It
was one of the few times Erin actually saw the red head flustered.
"H-hey, Erin... thought you were sleeping, but I guess not..." She set a bag down on
the kitchen counter and removed a container of ice cream from it. Erin didn't realize that
soon, that ice cream was going to be very important.
"I, um... remember lots of stuff," Erin said awkwardly and watched as Faye smiled
happily and immediately sat across from her. "Really? Finally... so tell me, what do you
remember?" Erin rubbed her head sheepishly. "Like who I am, and what happened to me.
Basically, that's all I forgot, so now I know what to do... it's just I'm not sure how to
get back in contact with my friends."
Faye looked quite disappointed. "...you don't remember anything else? Like...
something from... I don't know, something from a long, long time ago?" Erin gave her a
confused look. "No, I'm not sure-" At that moment, Erin visibly winced in her chair. There
was something wrong with her mouth.
She opened it and the pain struck back a hundred times harder. She put a hand over her
mouth and tried to deal with the pain. Faye got up and walked over to Erin, as though she
expected this to happen. Erin took a look at her hand and realized that there were speckles
of blood on it. What was happening?
She didn't have time to dwell on it when the pain continued. It felt like... like...
someone was hammering nails into her skull and out her mouth. She started to cry out, but
she could make no sounds. Instead, more blood flew out into her hand. "Come here, don't
worry... It'll be fine in a bit..." Faye murmured soothingly, guiding Erin to her bathroom.
The dark haired woman kneeled in front of the basin and started to spit out the blood
accumulating in her mouth. Faye just stood by, rubbing her back. "Gah... it hurths..." Erin
said, her speech impaired. She was vaguely aware of something cutting her lip. Faye started
to wipe her mouth and took a look. "Open your mouth for me, Erin."
The dark haired girl did so and Faye took a peek before using some tissue to wipe the
blood off her teeth. "I think the worst is over... but be careful. I think you may have cut
the inside of your lip." Faye calmly filled a cup with water and gave it to Erin. "Swish and
spit, okay?"
Erin did so, secretly wondering how Faye could be so calm. Eventually her spit went
from red to pink to clear. "Wh... what... happened?" Faye just gave her a small smile. "I'll
just go get you a bowl of ice cream, okay?"
Faye left the bathroom and Erin was a bit scared. The pain had gone from sharp to
dull, but she was scared to look at herself. She looked at her frightened, feral eyes and
slowly opened her mouth. The blood was gone and all that was left was... her teeth were
normal, but... her canines had grown into something akin to fangs.
She shut her mouth with a snap and soon regretted it as the fangs dug into her lower
lip. Go figure; she should have known that she was going to have fangs. Erin sulked back
into the kitchen and saw that Faye had scooped some chocolate ice cream into a bowl for her.
"It should feel nice for your teeth," Faye said, smiling. Erin just sat down dully and
looked at the ice cream. Why... didn't Faye seem disturbed? The red head just got herself a
bowl and started eating. "Aren't you... disturbed?" Faye looked up and swallowed her ice
cream. "What do you mean?" Erin just opened her mouth reluctantly.
"Oh no, of course not..." Faye said softly. "It's fine." It was then that Faye's
expression changed - as though she realized she wasn't saying the right thing. Erin was
really starting to worry about Faye... "I mean, considering your hair and your eyes, you
growing fangs... well, it seemed kind of eventual."
Erin ate the ice cream tenderly, very nervous now. She wanted to confront Faye
(because she knew something was wrong, very wrong) but her mouth indicated that she was in
no condition to have a verbal confrontation.
There was an uncomfortable silence as Erin tried to piece the puzzle together in her
head. First off, she was the snake goddess. Second, Faye gave her a strange vibe, like déjÃ
vu. Third, Faye kept slipping up and seemed to know a lot about Erin and her situation.
Fourth, Faye had a strange mark on her chest, similar to the one Erin had on her neck.
Fifth, Faye did not seem startled when fangs started growing out of her mouth.
Erin wasn't exactly sure WHO Faye was, but... She looked up from her bowl of ice cream
to see Faye smiling at her. Erin was scared. Just a little bit.
*****
They had slept in the same position as the night before, but Faye seemed a bit
agitated. Then again, Erin was avoiding her and being extremely quiet. She never realized
the red head could get so irate. She reminded her of an attention starved child. Erin awoke
only to find Faye still holding her. She tried to struggle out of her grip, but Faye was
quite strong.
And she was awake too. "Good morning, Erin. Did you sleep well?" Faye was starting to
seem a little crazier every day... "Um, yeah... yes, I slept well." The red head smiled, but
seemed to have no intentions of moving. Erin stared at her awkwardly as Faye started to
stroke her cheek tenderly. "We can... just lie here for awhile."
Erin took this opportunity to get up and out of Faye's arms. "That's alright! We
should get up anyways - you have to go work at your flower shop." She sat up on the bed, but
Faye only propped up her elbow and placed her head in her hand. "I have today and tomorrow
off. We can just stay..." She murmured, placing a hand on top of Erin's.
The dark haired girl was sure that her face was as bright as a tomato. She pulled her
hand away from Faye, seeing her disappointed expression. "I... my mouth hurts...!" Erin got
off the bed and walked over to the bathroom, awkwardly. As she went over to the bathroom,
she hurriedly grabbed a cup and filled it with water. She could see her red face in the
mirror as she started to swish and spit.
Erin cautiously exited the bathroom to see Faye sprawled on the bed. "Are you going to
join me? It's too early to be up and about." The dark haired girl shook her head. "Uh, no
thanks. Actually... Faye, you've been nice and so caring to me. Since I've remembered who I
am," Erin said awkwardly, "I think I need to go back to my friends soon. I know they're all
worried."
Faye sat up on the bed, looking very disappointed. "Oh. So you're going to leave?"
Erin just fidgeted with the hem of her shirt. "Um, yeah... maybe in a day or so? If you
don't want me to be a burden, I can-"
"No!" Faye shouted, practically jumping off the bed. "I... I mean, no you're not a
burden. I would love for you to stay for a while." Her erratic behavior was starting to
worry Erin. "Are you alright Faye? You seem anxious today."
The red head just smiled wryly. "You could say that..."
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