The Serpent's Kiss

58

The Serpent pulled the car into the parking garage of the Greektown Casino and drove to the top floor where there were the most open spots and the fewest cars parked. He circled twice, studying again the security cameras and what he perceived to be the blind spots. He especially liked one dark area in the center, blocked by a support column. It was available, which seemed especially fortuitous. The gods were indeed smiling on him today.

That thought amused him. By birth, he was divine, a child of a god. Soon, he would be recognized for who and what he really was. Soon.

On the radio played WDET, the local National Public Radio station. They had shut off all music programming and were covering The Serpent. He felt thrilled by that. The focus of so much attention. So much fear.

It felt powerful.

For a moment, or maybe it was longer, The Serpent lost track of everything, of the mission, of the tasks ahead, the challenges, and reveled in the destruction he had caused.

Suddenly jolting back to the present, The Serpent studied the clock radio, trying to figure out how much time had passed. Five minutes? Ten?

It was now 3:47. Had he been sitting here in the car all this time? For a moment panic gripped at his heart. What was happening to him? Was he blacking out?

Shaking his head, he scanned around the structure, looking for any witnesses. It was nothing. Just the stress of the day. It was tiring, being a god of chaos.

A smile played at his lips. The Serpent. He was already famous. And by the end of the day, everybody in the world would know The Serpent. And The Serpent would be the head of Aleph. Today he would show the followers and the hidden the way to salvation. It would be like a second coming.

When he saw no one, he set about preparing for the next phase of his operation.