Stage 3

Rain waits until she is safely away from the dirty grimy city and then unfolds her beautiful angelic wings and flies into the crisp, clear night. She breathes deeply feeling the cold air on her lungs. The beauty of the stars always fascinates her, as she flies they are so close but still so far away.

She hears a piercing scream. She chides herself for paying attention; she was not a ‘modern day superhero’.

Then she realises.

It’s her human who is screaming.

She has no time to scold herself further for describing her as her human. She swoops down into the apple orchards silently. Why would her human be here?

 She covers herself in glamour and follows the sounds and signs of disturbance.

Stalking between the tree branches she hears grunts and sobbing. She knows what’s happening, rage takes over. She rounds a tree and a horrific scene meets her eyes.

Human men touching her human, her human crying and struggling against her restrainers.

The scene turns to a tableaux as the humans become aware of her presence. They men murmur between themselves and one runs toward her.

Rage clouds her judgement, she does what she knows she shouldn’t.  She closes her eyes and her skin starts to bubble.

One bubble grows faster than the others and a slit appears in it. A snake’s head creeps from beneath the skin and coils down Rain’s limbs to the dusty ground.

Stage 2

She knows she has to stop it but she’s addicted. The magic of the night is too alluring. The heady glamours lie on her skin like a soft dusting of snow. She can feel it there all day and her true self aches to slip through the cracks and reveal itself. The cycle continues....

Today was harder, she realises as she locks the door behind her again one night. But now she rips away her faerie glamour leaving her true self to breathe. She catches her reflection in the mirror and smiles gleefully. Her spiked teeth are like a shark’s, rows upon rows of them, her hair is still beautifully auburn but her skin was now fiery red to match. Her eyes were now yellow and catlike but her scar remained.

She creeps out of her apartment building’s window, seeking the moisture of the rain and the cut of the wind. This is what makes her feel alive again after being dulled for so long. To feel raw and open and to experience all there is to its fullest.

She leaves the lowly city and escapes far from the city lights, where people like her gather, ensnaring conceited little human appetisers. They are like lambs to the slaughter dumb till the end. The magic works upon their minds so well it’s too easy. Rain enjoys the hunt.

Rain wants one human in particular, a girl. The girl is hard and untrusting, nearly immune to the magic. Rain visits her sometimes, as the girl shivers on the street in a grubby blanket Rain watches from the building above, yearning. To possess her would be too much; Rain doesn’t know what she would do. Would she consume her peach flesh or keep her?

Stage 1, continued

“Hey Rain” Kane greets her with a smile. People always laughed at how their names rhyme.

“Morning Kane” She smiles back. Her voice is earthy and sweet like a flower. She takes her place behind the till. Kane draws close to her, too close as always, she can smell his musk, sweet with aftershave but with an underlying scent of his body.  He kisses her cheek then draws back, retreating into his office at the back of the store.

She takes a deep breath.

Ten hours later her shift is over. Night starts to fall so she rushes home, beating the darkness. She locks the door behind her and exhales as she sheds the day’s bad karma. She eats alone and goes to bed early.

The next day she wakes with blood drying round her mouth the smell of burnt sugar filling her nostrils. Her hands were sticky and still wet. She shudders and feels like crying but instead drags herself from bed into the shower so the cycle can begin again.

Stage 1

‘Blood Sugar Sex Magic’ blares from her speakers as she showers, singing along. She shudders as the water turns from a comfortable warm to an icy cold. As she gets out the shower her long auburn hair swishes behind her. She looks in the mirror at her pale white skin, at her deep blue eyes, at her unperfect smile and button nose. She turns away from the mirror trying not to notice the last detail, trying not to see what others saw first, her scar. It runs from her forehead and down over her eye. Any closer and she would have been blind.

She walks to her bedroom and readies herself for the day. Someone once told her she should use make up to cover her scar but in doing so she never felt like herself, never quite right. So with a natural face, windswept hair and mismatched clothes she races out of the front door.

It took her a long time to find a job that suited her. Not public but not a boring office job either. Her dream job is here, Eden. It is an alternative clothing store run by her best friend, Kane. Here most people turn a blind eye to what is truly different in an effort to fit in.

Let's Begin

Night is still but moves unseen.

Night is dark and enlightening.

Night is oppressive and liberating.

Night is where she belongs.

To hide her face from this disgusting species. To move unseen away from their walls and social taboos. To see their darkest secrets.

You can’t stop her from seeing or hide your shame. She doesn’t judge, she doesn’t care what you do. She just watches the drama unfold.

She could help, but why would she?

This is her time, she is free.