Memento Mori

Chapter 3: Snakes Aren’t Friends

27th June 1935, London

Tom and Cordelia sat on the floor each with a plate of half-empty food in their lap. Cordelia had split the food unequally much to Tom’s annoyance, he attempted to give her more but she refused. She always refused and it always bothered him how scarily thin she was. 

To him, she looked too much like a fragile twig that could be blown away by a slight breeze. 

“Can you stop?” Cordelia finished her meal and glared at Tom. Half of his face was slathered in a white paste, probably something Martha did to treat his injuries. 

He acted as if he hadn’t heard her and carried on staring at her. He was still in disbelief over the fact that Cordelia was not only breathing but in front of him, alive and young and so was he. He spent the past five days contemplating and trying to wrap his head around his survival. 

Loudly, Cordelia put the plate down, attracting his attention. “Stop it.”

“I didn’t do anything.”

“No, you just keep staring at me. It’s so…” He tilted his head to the side and beckoned her carry on. “Never mind.” She’d never admit—he intimidated her. 

“You know, I can’t believe you went against Mrs Cole for me. I’m flattered.” 

There he went again, talking all strangely as if he was much older than he appeared. 

Over a month had passed since he fell ill and miraculously recovered on the same day, since that day he’d occasionally switch from speaking like his usual self to speaking like someone who had already lived a lifetime. 

She didn’t like that and it only added to his strangeness. “I didn’t bring it for you. Peggy gave me an extra serving after I told her about Dennis, Amy and Peter’s punishments. I couldn’t finish it by myself, you see, so I brought it up.”

It was clear to Tom, she was lying or not telling him the whole story. Whenever she lied, she looked to her right for a moment as if she was looking for approval from someone before looking back at him. 

She did it for him.

He grinned and reached out for her. Again, she pulled back, escaping his grasp. It was still too early for them to be so close. He’d have to do it all over again and gain her trust. “So you brought it up for me.”

“No, I brought it up for the ghost that rooms with you.”

“I don’t live with a ghost.” And Tom was back to acting his age. 

Cordelia smiled and felt relief wash over her. It was just a single sentence but it brought her a lot of comfort for an odd reason. “Right, because you can talk to ghosts so you know.”

“No, but I can talk to snakes.” He said without thinking. It was then he realised she didn’t know yet but it was too late to take back what he said so he left it and waited for her to react. He might as well tell her before she found out through some unsavoury means like last time.

Not believing him, she scoffed. “Yeah, right. I believe that.” But strangely, a part of her did believe him. Not only did she believe him, she felt an odd fear wrap around her throat, suffocating her when he mentioned his 'talent'. 

Tom finished his meal and put the plate on the floor. He leaned in close to her, his face close to hers. His dark eyes bore into her bright blue ones and she was a little unnerved by the sudden action. “Are you scared of snakes?” Quietly, he asked as if there was someone in the room with them. 

Confused, Cordelia shook her head. She wasn’t scared of snakes but she was terrified of spiders, he obviously didn’t know that at least she didn’t know he did yet. The two weren't as close as most thought them to be especially not close enough to share each other's fears and Cordelia would never admit to anyone how much spiders terrified her.

“Of course, you’re not.” He muttered under his breath. “You do despise spiders, I’m sure you’re terrified of them.”

“How do you know that?” He wasn’t meant to know. No one knew. Not Lucy who was the closest to her at Wool’s. Not Robbie who she spent time with reading in the library and not even Margaret. No one knew. “How did you know?”

He smiled knowingly and shrugged before he opened his mouth and made some strange hissing sounds. Nervously, she looked around when she heard something moving under the bed. He reached out for her hand and this time she didn’t pull away, too focused on whatever was hiding in the shadows. 

From the shadows under Tom’s bed, a small snake with brown and black splotches against its scale, slithered out of the darkness. It hissed at Cordelia, looking side to side before locking its gaze with Tom. 

Unaffected by the sudden appearance of the snake, Tom held up his free hand and the snake coiled up his hand obediently. Cordelia let out a a quiet shriek and tried to pull her own hand away from Tom’s grip but he tightened his hold. 

“Relax.” He softly said as the snake made its home around his neck like a living necklace. “It’s a harmless grass snake. It’s still quite young. I don’t really have a name for it—would you like to name it?”

Her eyes widened as she stared incredulously at Tom. He couldn’t be serious, could he? He wanted her to name a snake. A strange snake that had suddenly appeared out of nowhere and wrapped itself around his neck. There was no way he was serious. He was definitely playing with her.

She let out a laugh and shook her head, trying to pull her hand out of Tom’s hand. “This isn’t funny anymore Tom.” But Tom only tightened his grip around her wrist, almost hurting her. “Tom, stop it. I don’t want to play this game.”

“I’m telling you, Cora. She’s harmless.”

“It’s a snake.” Cordelia pointed at the thing around his neck, resting comfortably, blissfully unaware of all the commotion Cordelia was making. “You can’t talk to it…”

“Watch.” He looked down towards his neck and hissed out a few words. 

The snake looked up at him and nodded as if it understood him. It slithered down from his neck and went towards the door, going through the crack under the door and disappearing. 

“Where did it go?”

“To Benson’s room.” His tone was calm and he wasn’t bothered by her attitude. He was being very patient with her, he had to be. He knew her well-enough to know that one wrong move and he’d lose her forever. “She went to get your velvet ribbons back from Benson.”

Velvet ribbons? The only thing that sounded remotely familiar were the blue velvet ribbons her sister had once gifted her when she was four, still young to remember anything but she remembered a year later, her sister recounted the tale just around the time when tragedy struck. 

She was so sure, she had lost those after she came to Wool’s. “Amy doesn’t have them, I lost them after I came to Wool’s.”

Tom shook his head. He remembered this well: Helen, one of the older girls of that time when Cordelia came to Wool’s, stole those ribbons when she saw Cordelia wearing them. Tom knew from the beginning yet he never got them back from her. When Helen had to leave after she came of age, she passed them to Amy who also knew where they came from. 

A few moments later, the snake came back into the room. Its head was wrapped around two blue velvet ribbons. Instead of making its way to Tom, it went straight to Cordelia and dropped the ribbons in front of her and then went back to Tom. 

It sat in front of him, waiting before Tom stroked its little head like it was some kind of a dog or a cat not a snake. “See, what did I say?”

Cordelia stared at the ribbons on the floor in front of her in disbelief. Momentarily, she forgot her hand was in Tom’s. “...You…you can speak to snakes.”

“That’s right.”

“It’s not possible.” But it was. Tom could always speak to snakes, she just knew too late last time. “But it is. You can talk to snakes.”

He nodded again, being the most patient he had ever been. “Do you want to name her now?” He motioned towards the snake at his side. 

“Um.” Hesitating, she looked around the room. Name a snake like it was a pet? She’d never done something like this before. “You can talk to snakes.” She repeated like a broken record. 

“Yes. I’ve shown you I can.”

“Oh it makes so much sense.” Tom stared at her blankly, offended by her remark. She wasn’t complimenting him or anything. Noticing the way he looked at her, she attempted to save herself. “I mean…it’s a…very interesting talent.”

Still, Tom didn’t look away. He was offended but he couldn’t bring himself to be unless he wanted an argument to break out between the two of them. Cordelia had a temper, something he remembered all too well. “I know what you mean, Cora.”

“I wasn’t being mean or anything…I think you’re…special.”

The snake on Tom’s arm hissed at her and Cordelia jumped back, finally pulling away from Tom. Just because she wasn’t afraid of snakes didn’t mean she liked them. She particularly hated the one on Tom. It was giving her an attitude. 

Tom smiled down at the snake and stroked its little head again, amused by its hostility towards Cordelia. It was harmless but if it did attempt to hurt her, he wouldn’t hesitate to put it down. Sensing its master's feelings, the snake shied away and slithered down his arm, hiding itself away again. 

“It's a little shy.” Tom remarked even though it wasn't shy but scared of him. 

Moving her head to the side, Cordelia attempted to see where that damned snake had gone. “I don’t think it likes me.”

Tom scoffed. “Nonsense. Everyone likes you.”

Cordelia narrowed her eyes at Tom. What did he mean by that? “Not everyone and that’s a snake not a person.” 

“Snakes have feelings too.”

“You need to get out more.”

“I’m fine as I am.”

She didn’t think so. Even if he could talk to snakes, he was a near-recluse at Wool’s—snakes were not people and they would never substitute people even if he wanted them to. “You didn’t tell anyone else about this, did you?”

“No, I’m not stupid.”

“Good.” He raised his brows at her but she didn’t say anything more. She’d rather he told no one about his special talent, he was already ostracised at Wool’s; she couldn’t imagine if they knew about his ‘talent’.

Abruptly, she stood up. She grabbed the plates and the cutlery but paused when she heard footsteps, followed by a few knocks outside. “Tom, you in there?” Martha’s tired voice called out to Tom. “Tom? Can I come in?”

Cordelia and Tom shared a look and Cordelia hurriedly shoved the plates under the spare bed before sitting in front of it. Tom stifled a laugh as he got up to open the door.

The nurse who worked closely with the matron, poked her head into the room and looked around. Her small brown eyes scanned the room before she stepped inside. Her dry curly hair was up in a messy bun which sat on her head like a pile of hay while her pale skin was ashen and grey with heavy dark bags marring her under eyes.

“Oh good. You’re still awake.” Martha looked past him and noticed Cordelia sitting on the floor and staring up at the ceiling. “And Cordelia is here too. How nice. How are you, Tom? Is your face hurting?”

“I’m fine.” Curtly Tom answered, glancing back at Cordelia and hoping Martha would leave already. 

“Are you sure?” Martha tried to push past him but Tom blocked her path. “Well, in that case, I’ll leave you two to it. I am sorry that I didn’t bring anything for you to eat,” Though she had an idea that Cordelia already bought something upstairs for him. “Mrs Cole was very serious about what she said.”

It was unfair how Tom was punished for something he didn’t do. At least, that’s what Cordelia thought. “It wasn’t his fault. He shouldn’t have been punished. Peter, Amy and Dennis were the ones at fault and Tom was the victim—it’s not fair how Amy and Dennis always get away with everything.” The words spilled out of Cordelia’s mouth before she could stop herself. 

Martha agreed with her. If it was her, she wouldn’t have punished Tom. She would never admit it but she had a soft spot for the boy she raised alongside Mrs Cole even though the latter grew a little afraid of Tom as he grew older. “Afraid I don’t have a say in that—ah—the kitchen should be empty in ten and I believe everyone will be at the library for the weekly storytime—you should make your way there Cordelia, if you want to.” With that, Martha left. 

The kitchen would be empty soon. 

Martha wasn’t exactly subtle when it came to taking care of Tom. She wasn’t sure if Cordelia really bought him anything to eat—she wanted Tom to get himself something. How thoughtful. Tom wasn’t going downstairs anytime soon unless it was to sneak dinner for himself and something for his new friend.

The serpent slithered out of the shadow after a few minutes and looked around. Cordelia looked at it in distaste. She didn’t trust snakes. Trust? How odd. Why did the thought of trusting snakes come to her mind for no reason.

“Cora?” Tom called out to her, reaching out to her but she paid him no mind as she mindlessly gathered the plates and counted down in her head. 

“Eris.” Cordelia said in response.

Confused, Tom stared at her blankly. “What?”

“The snake…call it ‘Eris’.” She answered as if she was in trance. “You did ask me to name that…thing, didn’t you?” When she turned to look at him, he could’ve sworn her blue eyes were brighter than usual as if it was glowing but it was gone when he blinked. 

“Eris?” Tom repeated, moving a little closer to Cordelia. Curious about her eyes. He swore they were glowing. Eris. He kept thinking about the name. 

Eris, the Greek goddess of strife and discord.

A very peculiar name, Cordelia he knew would never pick. Yet strangely, the Cordelia in front of Tom had chosen that name. His curiosity peaked. 

“Eris, it is.” Tom said with a smile that sent shivers down Cordelia’s spine. 

She nodded at his answer and hurried out of his room with the plates and cutlery. Eris? What was she thinking? She didn’t know why that name came to her so suddenly and why she even blurted it out.

On her way down, she passed by the wide mirror in the foyer and barely missed what should’ve been her own reflection, instead it was the passing figure of a woman who looked strangely like the woman from her dreams. 

But Cordelia didn't notice the mirror or the reflection.