Feeling positively homicidal tonight, so I went to feed the serpent of the rainbow. Took all the fire in my belly and threw it into the pit, laughing at the sky like a demented old crow.
I watched the white heat of my anger burn bright as it fell; uttered a word of prayer to the Orishas while I waited for the serpent to rise from the spiraling well.
The Loa who crawled out gave me a crooked little smile; his hair a tangled mess of dreadlocks reaching to his knees. He took my hand in his and placed something on my palm; I didn’t have to look for I knew it came in threes.
He had eyes that glittered in the moonlight, pale golden reptilian orbs watching me the way a snake would watch its prey. Soul fire in exchange for demonic chill pills; what a way to end the day.
He got what he wanted, the serpent of the rainbow. Heat enough to warm the depths of a cold, dark grave and I got what I wanted; tranquilizers strong enough to make me behave… till the next time those freakin’ demons start rattling cages in my head, begging to be saved.
The beast was here all along…