Chapter Text
The Serpent's carnations
The Serpent's carnations - Chapter 1
It was a Sunday evening, the library had hosted a small event that afternoon so after everyone left Aziraphale and Muriel stayed to get everything back in its place for Monday. They were staying a little later than usual, the library was already closed, but since Aziraphale would be working alone for the next few days Muriel helped him get the library clean and organized.
"I think there's only a couple of chairs left to move Mr. Fell" Muriel said coming down the stairs.
"Thank you dear" Aziraphale replied "You can head home now, it's starting to get late. Do you have everything ready for tomorrow?".
Muriel answered positively and asked if he wanted to add some final items to the list. Aziraphale thinks for a second while putting some books on the shelves.
"Actually, could you bring some flowers? Or flower seeds, I feel like they would make the place feel more welcoming. And we'll be having Miss Jemima's pottery event in a few weeks, that way everyone would have a few seeds to plant on the vases after they're done.".
Muriel agreed on the idea and when they asked Aziraphale which flowers would be best for the occasion he said that carnations would be splendid.
"But they aren't blooming this time of the year" he remembered, "I'm sure you can buy some seeds though.".
Muriel took note of that and headed back home to get some sleep before traveling. That isn't an uncommon event, occasionally they have to travel across a few cities to get different books and also to meet with library partners. And since Muriel started to work at the library they don't need to close for a week. That's how long these trips take. It would be fun to have company while traveling, but they both agree this is the best way to do it. Aziraphale knows Muriel does a great job when they're away, as good of a job as when they're the one to stay at the library.
Aziraphale finished with the library and went to his house right next door. Both places share a hallway making it easy for him to go to the library as he pleases. Occasionally falling asleep would be hard, so he would sneak into the library to read in the middle of the night. His place is quiet and cozy, but the library always makes him feel safe. But that night he managed to fall asleep soon after a cup of tea and a small read.
When the sun rose the next morning, Muriel took their backpack and picked up their horse, Cupperty, from the town’s stable. They departed early, leaving Aziraphale to work alone again for some days. He didn’t mind as he worked alone for a good while, but Muriel was a great helper, especially in the busier days. They traveled through different towns, checking their to-do list and marking the progress made during those days. The only thing they couldn't do was find the carnations. That wasn't a big surprise that time of the year but they weren't having any luck finding seeds either.
At the end of the fifth day right, as the sun was setting and Muriel approached the last town of that day, they saw a cottage on the side of the road. It was a beautiful building but something felt of. There was no light inside the house making it seem completely empty, and even though the house didn’t look new the doorknock appeared to be. Muriel got a bad feeling about the house itself, like it was haunted by ghosts. But what made them notice the house in the first place was the garden going all the way around. There were all sorts of plants and they looked full of life, especially compared to the house in the center. And among all the flowers Muriel spotted a few carnations. They were magnificent and magical as they weren’t supposed to bloom this time of the year.
After a few minutes of carefully glancing at the house, Muriel decided to head to the city, get Cupertty to the stables, and find some food and a room at the inn.
On the next morning, they left their room refreshed and determined to finish the last task. They headed downstairs and while eating some breakfast they asked the innkeeper if they knew anything about that mysterious house.
"It is certainly something, but we don’t like to talk about it here" he answered as he got some coffee ready "But why the curiosity? Did you see someone there?".
Muriel denied it and continued with "The house seems abandoned, is no one living there?".
The innkeeper picked up a tray with coffee and food and said "No people live there, that I can guarantee" before leaving in the direction of some tables.
Muriel finished their meal and went in the direction of the house with Cupperty. They gently tied the horse to a tree on the other side of the street and looked again at the house. The idea of ghosts wasn’t completely off their mind.
"Ghosts aren’t real" they repeated a few times "If they were the ghost stories wouldn’t all be in the fiction section of the library".
They approached the fence whose gate was already open, either as an invitation or as a warning. They reached for one of the blooming carnations.
"Only one will do, there are plenty of seeds inside I believe".
Soon after they took the flower they heard something approaching them rapidly. Before they were able to turn they heard a furious voice close to them.
"What do you think you’re doing?".
As they turned terrified, they could only see two yellow snake eyes surrounded by black and red scales. They seemed to be looking directly into their soul, feeding off the fear that they were causing.
Author's note
Here's the first chapter of "The Serpent's carnations"! I hope you enjoyed it, the next ones will probably be a little bit longer as this one was more of an introduction. And I apologize if there were any spelling mistakes as English is not my first language. If you'd like to keep updated when chapters come out you can check me out on YouTube and Instagram, I'll be posting there when there's an update. And if you'd like to have early access to new chapters and a couple of extra drawings you can check my Patreon too! All my socials are linked here. Thank you again for reading and what do you think will happen next?