(Scars do not appear to be cause of death –shock ... - Bad Request

"Greetings... Ravel," I rubbed my tongue against the roof of my mouth,
trying to work up some moisture. My lips felt suddenly dry.
"Well, now, my pretty thing, have you returned at last?" Ravel's face split
into a grotesque smile, displaying a row of chipped yellowed fangs. "You
were a-gone so long, I a-feared you forgot poor, lonely Ravel."
She sounded like a lonely old woman, waiting and pining for her children to
visit. Would she pinch my cheek with those grimy talons? Offer me tea and
candies from a dusty bowl, stuck together in a single sugary wad? There was
power in those eyes, and age, and need... and if I could sweet-talk my way
into her heart maybe she wouldn't flay us all alive. "How could I forget you,
Ravel? I missed you, but you hid yourself in a place that was difficult for me
to reach. Come now... did you not wish my company?"
"Ahhh...." Ravel's yellow smile widened, peeling back the folds of her skin,
and she cackled softly. "Such sweet words... you already are a-knowing the
answer of your asking, my precious man. I scattered clues like caltrops, and
these were my means of a-guiding you to my garden. I a-feared it was YOU
who had forgot I."
"I assure you, I did no such thing. I have returned to you at last."
"Have you? But WHAT has returned?" She squinted at me with her
black-veined eyes and hissed softly. "Let Ravel see how you've a-fared in this
life." She reached out, as if to caress me, and my eyes were fixed on those
talons, each fingernail filthy and wickedly sharp.
With a gulp I let her feel me over, as if she were examining a prize horse.
Her ragged talons traced their way across my skin, and in their wake I felt
the same strange tingling sensation from when Ravel first looked at me. Her
eyes dimmed somewhat, and her talons slid gently along the contours of my
face, lingering on my scars.
I was beginning to remember something, a memory bulging near the surface
as if it were a bubble near bursting. I reached out to touch her and feel her
features.
My hand touched Ravel's cheek as her talons caressed my face, and
instinctively, I mirrored her touch - as her talons dragged along my left
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