The Heart of the Sphinx

Chapter 8

“So what did you come to know about the man that I spoke to you about?” asked Medusa as they were both sitting in the abandoned building where they had comfortably settled down.

Medusa had made one part as her den where she could study and slumber by the light of the candle while there was a bed some distance away where Bella slept in.

“He is married with four kids, and two of them are out of home settled outside and two of the last are twins who are going to go to college in a few months,” said Bella as she looked at the pile of the books that Medusa had kept there in a longing manner.

“I see, what is this college thing?” asked Medusa as she perused the titles of the covers on the piles of the books. Bella smiled at the way that she was asking, this creature here was supposed to be the all-knowing and the all-powerful who had the most wisdom in every single thing and she did not know about this but then again she was not from the times of the modern man.

“The college is a place where kids grow up and go to have higher education…you know…like to learn more?” prompted Bella as Medusa nodded at her.

“I find that you would be probably more interested in reading all these books that I had brought for my perusal. You might check these out…a few at a time so that you might be able to enhance your knowledge as well since you are not going to that place…what is that? College…interesting choice of words..but only after you finish speaking about the man that I asked you to check upon…I mean that I know it would be a lot of work for you alone but then again you have the advantage of having two feet which I don’t have,” said Medusa as she licked her paw gingerly with her long tongue. Bella looked at her with fascination. It was not every day that you got to see the sphinx, one of the fabled creatures of Egyptian myths.

She was so beautiful where her face was concerned that no portrait of Cleopatra was going to be able to hold a candle before her. Her dark mane of hair was so straight that no machine or straightener would be able to achieve that…it fell down to the middle of her back and she wore a gold necklace studded with stones on her throat which still did nothing to cover up her incredible collar bones…Her upper body and breasts were covered by a white silk swath which had been artfully made up and the rest of her body was absolute fur…just like that of a lioness. Her paws had sharp talons and she did not want to be hurt by any of them. Then came her wings which were now safely tucked at the back of her body and Bella knew that each and every single fur on her wings were laced with metal which made them deadly as hell. She was a perfect combination of beautiful and fierce, knowledge and beauty….so it was true that beauty and intellect is a dangerous combination.

“He is a strange man and very secretive. I don’t know what he does and where he goes but every single day he goes somewhere for two hours and then he comes back. I tried chatting up with his kids, just like that and they are not very keen about him at all. They just want to get out the house. He has been a very bad parent for them all,” said Bella as Medusa looked at her with her brows furrowed up.

“I would want to hear more about that thing…the one you said about being a bad parent…would you be able to clarify more on that?” asked Medusa and her eyes glinted at the question she posed and Bella’s heart froze at the manner of her speaking.

“Are you going to kill him?” asked Bella as she looked at Medusa scared.

“Oh don’t worry about that cub, he had it a long time coming. He is going to die for sure and after you finish your story I am just going to decide the manner in which I am going to cause his death,” said Medusa as she lifted her paw and then licked off her talons.

“I really don’t want to hurt anyone,” said Bella, still scared.

“No cub, I know that you don’t want to hurt anyone at all. I know that there is some deep philosophical drive in your mind which makes you think that killing is a bad thing and you are not going to be able to do it, but then again you have to understand the ways of the world dear. It is either you hunt or you are hunted. The choice to live or to die is always in your hands,” said Medusa as she looked up at Bella after stopping licking her paw.

“I get that. I really get that. I mean, when it comes to self-defense I am all for it but I just don’t know if I have it in me to deliberately hurt someone,” said Bella as she fiddled with the chain of her jacket.

“We will get to that. We will come there slowly, but before that you know you need to tell what I need you to say and I am gonna let you have a box of dinner which I was able to swipe from a kitchen, thanks to the callousness of a cook,” said Medusa as she grabbed a box of meal from Mac-Donald’s and then placed it before Bella. The look on her face to see the food was one of pure unadulterated joy.

“The youngest son said that this man was a history buff of some kind along with being an employee for some Museum long back. They used to go on digs and missions and stuff which kept them all happy, fed and clothed but whenever he would be back home all the kids knew that their mother was hurting. He has this fascination of hurting women and making them cry out. I saw this woman today Medusa, I mean, the sadness in her eyes along with her grief, it made me feel that it was all so real. She had been hurt and she is still being hurt. And I don’t think that I am ever going to be up for that. If that is the s**t of hunting and hunted you are talking about then I am going to disembowel that man myself,” said Bella and Medusa smiled at her. Her slightly sharper canines made her smile look not only fierce but also hauntingly beautiful.

“Spoken like a true warrior. I knew that you had a fire in you, the one which could not be and would not be quenched out, just like that. And now you can have your food while I make plans of how I am going to be able to capture this piece of turd and then get everything out of him. And very well, do they have books? I mean, a library in their home?” asked Medusa as Bella nodded at her saying yes. And Medusa smiled happily and dreamily at the thought of being able to pile herself in more books.

“I also wanted to tell you another thing. I mean I think you would love to visit that place I think. I mean, I would have gone there but it is quite a distance from this place so, I figured that I would just get the co-ordinates and then you can take a look,” said Bella as she opened the box and found a burger, some fries and there was a milk shake as well. It was still slightly warm. Medusa might be a killer but she was not a murderer, of that Bella was sure.

“So what is this place that I would love to take a look at? And what are the co-ordinates that you were saying about?” asked Medusa as she smiled at Bella who was happily biting on her burger and chewing on it.

“There is this manor in Dartmouth. It is said to be have been the property of the Queen but no one lives there and everyone knows that it is a haunted house. The locals stay away from it by miles and we could easily live there instead of the middle of the city. I mean, I am sick and tired of this noise and smoke and there is no respite at all,” said Bella and Medusa smiled at her again.

“I knew that I did a good thing by taking you under my wing dear child. You have immense promise inside you and someday, if you are ready, you might be even the High Priestess of the Temple of Doom,” said Medusa as she rose up and kissed the top of Bella’s head softly.