When I woke up, the back of my head didn't hurt as much as I thought it would. I knew that I had fainted—must have been all that exposure—but I couldn't for the life of me remember what it was that had made me faint to begin with. I had thought, only for a hot minute, that it was all a dream, but I knew it weren't.

I was quite sure the room I was in wasn't my own either. Mama would have never stood for me having those kind of lazy looking drapes over the window. The tassels were all frayed, like something had been chewing at it, and the color itself was fading away. I wondered how long they'd been up there. Which made me realize that had been lying on my side, and that my face was sopping wet against the black satin pillow.

And that there was something warm up against my back.

Craning my neck to see what it was, it took a minute to register that oh, this was the man from earlier. The man who'd flashed me with his business. And there he was, propped up by an elbow resting on the pillow, staring at me with the least amount of enthusiasm I'd ever seen. He blinked once, twice, and I did the same right back before throwing myself out of the bed.

"You good," he asked, unfazed.

"I am not good!" If Mama were here, she'd have been telling me to hush up with how shrill my voice got. I could hear that little crackle in it that only showed up when I was upset.

I will happily note that he had the good sense to wear clothes this time. His nearly symmetrical features reflected his boredom in the half-lidding of those brilliant eyes. Sniffing, I smoothed my hands over the yellow fabric of the skirt suit Mama had sent me off in, picking off the stray red hairs that clung to it. I didn't look up at him again, just huffed some more and looked around. The whole room was old and worn, things coming undone. The furniture in the room didn't seem as willing to move about, and for this I was mighty grateful.

The springs of the mattress groaned as the man turned over, sprawling himself out over the space I had left behind. He let out a great sigh, eyes closed. Then he opened his mouth to speak.

"Y' can call me Xerxes," he stated, looking all types of comfortable on the bed.

"I'm Alma."

He did nothing to let me know if he heard or not, but I didn't think too hard about it. I wasn't quite sure I wanted to get mixed up in whatever it was he was up to, and decided maybe I ought to just leave the room. When I crossed over to the door, it opened up before I could put my hand on the knob and I was jumping back again.

"It's Rivka," Xerxes stated, burrowing his face further in the pillows.

Maybe he was a cat. It didn't look like he was moving from his spot, and I coulda sworn I heard him snoring already. Didn't they say cats slept often? That, or he was just real tired from having watched me sleep.

I stepped out of the room, peering into the hallway. I thought about going back and asking the Xerxes for help, but the door was shut right behind me. Maybe he wasn't asleep after all. I muttered few words at the door, unsure of which way to go next.

A table rushed past me, nearly toppling me over. Pressed flush against the wall, I placed a hand over my chest to feel if my heart would consider slowin' down anytime soon. When it had returned to a regular pace, I stepped away from the wall. I glanced to either side and saw a maze of hallways. I reckon Rivka might have conjured up something to keep people out of the house. Or maybe it was just built that way.

I flipped a coin in my head and decided to go left, down a winding hallway that didn't get me nowhere. When I reached the end, all I saw was window after window after window. Just outside them were big crows, spreading their wings. Their feathers glistened in the light that managed to get through the collective blanket as the murder took to flight.

I backed away and decided to try my luck with the next hallway, lips pursed. Why'd she just up and leave me in the house? I 'spect she thought I could get by on my own, but that weren't no way to treat a guest, right? At least, that was stuff that Mama used to talk about when she went on and on about her debutant balls.

I tried not to think about the doors I passed by, figuring it wouldn't be right to just open them up. This was not my home and I was a guest, no matter how poor a hostess I had. But just as I passed by one, it creaked open, stopping me in my tracks. I reckon this is the part in the pictures—movies, people call 'em; I took to callin' 'em pictures like Mama—where people stop and stare, then walk right on in while the audience went on hollering not to do it.

Looking back, I tentatively peered in but didn't dare step any closer to it. They always say curiosity killed the cat. Well, the cat knocked me out cold and I would hate to see what this woman had in store for me if I went around her house like I owned the place. Brows furrowed and mind made up, I turned around and took not one step away from the door before I heard Rivka's sultry voice.

"I'm in here, Alma," she said from somewhere deep inside.

Satisfied with this, I took a step into the room. The lights flickered on, showcasing yet another room with fading and tattered décor. This time, however, the room was brilliant shades of red and gold. Part of me wondered if the old and tired look of the place was just for show. Like she was hiding something still.

Perched on the edge of a chair similar to the one I'd seen swallow her up, her coal black hair was pulled up into a high bun. Square-rimmed glasses sat dangerously at the edge of her nose, a smile on her full red lips. In the glowing light of a fire, burning bright in a lion-mouthed fireplace, her skin looked like a shiny new penny. I reckon she fit this setting more than the house itself did.

"Are you alright? You almost put a new fear of God into me when you went down earlier," she stated, getting up from the chair.

"'m right as rain. Jus' a li'l curious as to what Xerxes is," I replied, pulling idly at my hair.

"He's my familiar."

"What's that?"

"He's the spirit I use for extraneous magical practices."

"What do you mean 'magic'?"

At this, she took her glasses off and let out a chuckle that filled the room without trying. It was like she took up the whole space with her presence. It wouldn't be a far off assumption with just how tall she was when she stood up. Using a toe to push her sandals forward, she slipped them on and got to her feet.

"When I say magic, I mean magic," she began, "Not that nonsense you be seein' on the television. That's just trickery and people buyin' into what they wanna believe."

It was here that she took a step toward the fire, rolling her wrist. It was the kind of way you rolled your wrist when you were showing off a new trick your dog could do. And a trick the dog—in this case the fire—did. The flames split and jumped along with the movement of her hand and with me knowing it, I had drifted to stand beside her.

Mama always told me I looked like I fish at times. Usually, when I was awestruck by something, she'd make sure to pop me a good one and tell me I wasn't a fish at a market.

"See now, I been able to do this since I was a li'l girl," Rivka continued, "I never had a second thought about how I could do it or why, but my family thought otherwise."

"And where they at?"

"Dead."

"'m sorry to hear that."

"Don't be." She smiled softly, the corners of her lips lifting up. She tilted her head to the side, turning to face me.

"You wanna know the whole story?"

"I do." Ain't no use in lyin'; she'd probably see right through it.

Her smile widened just as Xerxes, back in his black cat wear, trotted into the room. He circled a spot in front of the fireplace, scratched at it for a moment, then stretched out before curling up in place. As if he was ready to hear the story.

"You might wanna join him; it's a long story."

// oh, story time! and yes, we learn what the hell Xerxes is! but it's actually a lot more complicated than that ;) I swear, things are just getting interesting ^-^ anybody got guesses as to where Rivka is from? it'll probably only take a few minutes to get it right, haha. anywho, thanks for reading! cheers, rem.