by Detergent
Nearly a month had passed since Jane had first seen the full-colour booklet advertising an estate sale deep in the countryside at the rustic seat of a minor aristocrat. The noble family had decided to auction off a few heirlooms, some historic, some simply pieces of luxury they felt they could part with to fund this or that project after the passing of one of the older generation. She hadn't paid too much attention to the paragraphs explaining any of the pieces. However, the section detailing the jewels and attendant pieces had burrowed into her imagination and haunted her dreams.
She had dreamt of a huge man with black hair and eyes that burnt like obsidian shards of dry ice. He led her through the estate from the book until they reached the boudoir where the auction company had arranged the earrings, necklaces, brooches and such upon velvet swatches or in jewel cases or upon antique mirrors, the better to entice those who were able to afford such luxuries. Jane followed him unhesitatingly even though his black form seemed devoid of anything other than malice, poison, and deep, sinister hunger.
"It took me too long to find you. Whyever did you hide yourself in this cursed land of sheep and slate?"
Jane began to take a breath to answer but he cut her off.
"No matter. You have worshipped me unknowingly and in silent ways until now. Our relationship is written in your DNA. You were one of my priestesses formerly and you shall take up that role for me again. I will teach you the old ways and you will bring my power into the world more fully. It is past time you learned."
He sat her on the bed and showed her how to offer to him, slicing the pad of her index finger with his long fingernails, dripping her blood into a jewel-encrusted goblet of wine that appeared from nowhere. He quaffed off the wine and threw the goblet down as she watched blood ooze from her wound, which he ignored. She left smears and bloody fingerprints on the costly bedspread as he taught her about his worship. Blood and wine, lifeforce offered during the year wheel, celebrations, tasks she would complete, the conversion of other people, carrying his Unlight into the world.
"Of course, you won't be entirely mine forever, Janie, but for now, yes, yes you are."
The endearments turned her spine to ice but the cold pierced her body, inducing a sharp euphoria, so Jane didn't care if he were a monster or not. She always knew she was special and this hollow god had confirmed it.
"And I will have power?" She managed, tossing her long mane of burnished dawn. Her hair was always the colour of sunlight and roses in her dreams, instead of the plain black she sported during her waking life.
"Of course," his chuckle echoed ominously. "If you do my bidding."
Jane nodded. Of course, she would. His presence here was proof of her high place in the world, proof that she was set aside from all others, filled with a special destiny.
The dark, empty god reached over to the dressing table and caught up something. He opened his palm and held out a jewel box for Jane to examine. "Find this jewel box when you wake. It will give you my blessing. Spare no expense. I will reward you for obeying me."
The jewel box was a small affair, made of frosted, deep claret-coloured translucent ceramic, a cameo of a beautiful woman carved into the top, her features picked out in bone white. The woman wore a crown atop her long, flowing hair; if she squinted, Jane could make out the tip of a pointed ear poking through the woman's locks. She couldn't rip her eyes from the carving. Her stomach fluttered pleasantly as if she had taken a draft of a potent fizzy drink. Her head swam as her vision focused on the carving and her mind felt so acutely clear. Waves of euphoria coursed down her body as if power rushed into her from all sides, as if sucked in from her surroundings and everyone else in the room.
Jane loved going to estate sales. More often than not, she could snatch up real bargains due to the misfortunes of others, two things she enjoyed immensely: the misfortunes of others and a good bargain because even though she was virtuous by dint of being rich, getting something expensive for less than its appraised value left her with more wealth and, therefore, that much more virtue than everyone else. She basked in the feelings of bliss and moral superiority, unknowingly causing another frigid wave to wash over the large room where the estate had displayed the jewellery and associated items the heirs wished to sell.
"Brrr," she heard one of the other browsers breathe, his shiver made audible. "Do you think it's gone cold in here, Tamsin?" she heard him murmur to his companion.
"It is a bit chilly," the companion admitted, drawing her light cardigan more closely about herself.
Jane couldn't feel the chill at all. If anything, hearing them comment about a chill made her feel warmer as if their discomfort stoked a fire in Jane's belly.
All morning as she browsed the other items set for sale, Jane's mind returned again and again to that small ceramic box. Not only was it beautifully wrought, such expertise and delicacy had gone into the carving, but it radiated power. It was the gift of the dark god. She had dreamed true: The box contained his blessing. Just thinking about it made her feel tingly, as if he watched over her, waiting. It was as if he was ready to give her a special gift, something crafted for her and only her. She found some lovely rings and admired some exquisite ceramics that would elevate her collection. But the jewel box kept presenting itself in her thoughts and she knew without question that this trinket was what she had been told to obtain and that she was the only person here worthy of it.
When the curio went up for bidding, Jane brushed her cheek again and again with her bidding card, driving up the price against anyone who dared to raise their own. Finally, the bidding closed at an astronomical sum but Jane didn't care a whit. She sashayed up to the cashier and proudly wrote a cheque for the full sum, proof of her superiority to everyone present. 'Spare no expense,' she had been told and she happily obeyed. One of the assistants brought Jane her purchase after she had handed over the cheque. She snatched it out of his hands and departed the estate, eager to get her prize home so she could have it in her hands, feel its energy, and fondle it in private. She couldn't wait to taste the power sealed inside.
She could barely keep from unpacking the jewel box on the train ride home. Her well-manicured fingernails kept sliding under the tape holding the small box closed as she held it on her lap.
She had decided to unbox the trinket in the presence of her Lord. Much as she wanted to have the cool ceramic in her hot, dry grasp, she tamped down the urge and left it in its packing, despite the growing lust for the power shrouded within the layers of cardboard and packing peanuts.
Jane had put out the offerings as her dreams instructed. The candles sat equidistant from the chalice that contained vintage red wine and a drop of her blood.
"Oh dark and hollow Lord, make yourself known to me!"
The air in the room crashed coldly upon Jane's body as the form of the god coalesced. He looked down at the box from the auction and his lips stretched into a terrifying smile.
"Well done, minion," his deep voice praised, in a timbre she felt in the marrow of her bones.
"You may ask for a boon."
It took no time at all for her to answer. Jane had always wanted a better coiffure. Black hair was so ordinary and she tired of the endless trips to the salon to cover her prematurely greying roots. If only she could have waves the colour of strawberries mingled with honey.
She answered unhesitatingly- "A thick, luscious pelt, a mane, thicker than anyone else's..."
The dark lord nodded, interrupting her. "Done. A thick pelt for my Janie. Thicker than anyone's."
But, as was the way with such beings, her master twisted her wish. Jane received the thick, enviable pelt as promised but upon her back and ass. The silky, luxuriant hair sprouted in a twinkling before she could intervene to change its location.
His promise more or less satisfied, the Dark, Hollow One began to fade, dimming, wavering like a heat mirage in high summer.
"This isn't what I wanted!" screeched Jane.
"A deal's a deal, sweetheart. Do more for me and maybe you'll earn another gift. You got what you wanted: A beautiful pelt, thicker and much more luxurious than anyone else's. Work hard; be a better servant. Invest in a good razor. Later, toots."
Jane screamed her rage until she wore herself out. She left the box on the floor where she had laid it and went to bed exhausted and did not bother to clean up after herself.