Inferno

I directed my shocked expression to Iseult. What was this giant of a man talking about? Snake bites? Since when?

“Danny, hunny, now I can explain,” Iseult begins, my mouth continues to hang open, “You know how we used to talk about how you wanted a piercing and your parent’s would only let you get your left ear pierced and how you wanted snake bites… and how I promised you that one day I would take you out and pay for them and everything then take you home and defend you? Well this is that one day, now go sit in that chair and no complaining, I promise you I’ll look after it all,” she smiles at me assuredly and I shut my mouth.

“Iseult, you know they’ll kill me,” I sigh and shake my head, signalling that I refuse to obey her.

“If they try, you can come live with me,” she grins brightly and I melt. I nod my head.

“I bags your bed though,” I tell her as I follow Moose to the chair and to my certain death.

After puncturing holes into the right places, Moose puts identical studs into them. He then hands me the cleaner for it and tells me what I have to do to maintain the piercings. I thank him and Iseult gives him another hug, we walk out of the red door and back to her car, I place the cleaner into the centre console and watch the world whip past us as we travel down the motorway with the windows down, savouring how heavenly the cold air feels on my fresh piercings.

As the car comes to a stop in a driveway I look puzzled at the house before us. I didn’t recognise it but I decide that this must be her house. She turns the car off, handing me the cleaner for my piercings, she unlocks the front door and I follow her inside. She tosses the key ring into a glass bowl near the entrance way and I follow her down the hall and into the kitchen watching as she pulls open the fridge door.

“We have coke, solo, lemonade, beer, cruisers, juice or water,” Iseult rattles off the list of beverages and I frown when she includes the alcoholic ones, I request a coke and she hands me a can, taking one of her own and nudging the door closed with her foot. She walks back towards the front of the house and then turns abruptly to walk up a set of stairs. A girl, slightly shorter than Iseult with mousey brown hair and icy blue eyes is walking down the stairs as we walk up them.

“Elva, Da said to tell you he and Ma won’t be home tonight,” the girl tells Iseult.

“Yeah, okay Mouse,” she smiles at the girl then hugs her, “Colleen this is Dante, Dante this is my little sister Colleen.”

“Nice to meet you,” Colleen seems a little reserved, maybe a little icy when she shakes my hand.

“Nice to meet you too,” I smile at her.

“Mouse, I actually like this one, you can be nice to him,” Iseult obviously notices her sisters reluctance.

“You said that about the last one too,” Colleen mutters as she continues walking down the stairs. Iseult shrugs and walks up the rest of the stairs and turns left then another quick left and through a door.

*

“Sorry about my sister, she doesn’t really like it when I bring home friends, she’s really only just gotten used to Bailey,” Iseult tells me with a sigh and sits on her bed.

“It’s alright, so why did she call you Elva?” I ask confused.

“Because Elva is my middle name, my Gram, decided that she likes the name Elva better than Iseult, so since birth she’s only ever called me Elva, I guess over the years it’s rubbed off on Mouse,” she explains.

“Ah, sounds cool then, why you call Colleen, Mouse?” I ask, grasping the chance to talk about her family, a topic she seems to avoid.

“Well she’s always been quiet like a mouse, both in the way she moves around the place and as in her personality, people usually think its cause of the colour of her hair, but really its cause we never hear from her,” she explains again with a far away smile.

“So it’s Iseult Elva Talley, where did they get Elva from?” I ask.

“Elva means Elfin and is Irish in origin, Gram always told me I reminded her of an Elf, so she preferred to call me Elva, Ma and Da obviously hated it, but Da always has had a soft spot for Gram,” That far away smile still planted on her face.

“You prefer it with your Gram to your parents?” I ask cautiously.

“Yeah, but Gram went back to Ireland with Granda a year or two ago, they promised I can go visit them once I finish school, I’m planning on spending Christmas with them, they’re with my Aunt Glynna, Aunt Glynna had a new baby a few months back, Eliza, Gram sends me photos of her all the time and I just can’t wait to meet her. Aunt Glynna was the only one of the family to stay in Ireland when my grandparents and Da and his other sister Kelsi moved to Australia. Da met Ma a few months after moving out here and they got married after about 2 years of dating. Ma fell pregnant and they decided to go visit Aunt Glynna seeing she was getting married, they stayed a little long and then decided they didn’t want to risk flying home whilst Ma was so heavily pregnant so I ended up being born in a hospital in Wicklow, the town my Da was born in,” Iseult slowly drifts off.

“Wow, I didn’t know you were born in Ireland,” I look at her amazed and take a sip of my coke.

“Yeah, we didn’t come home to Australia until I was 2 months old. I’ve always loved Ireland more than Australia, have you been there before?” she blinks herself out of her little memories and looks at me.

“No, but I’ve always wanted to go there, apparently it’s beautiful,” I admit.

“Have you been to Tasmania?” she asks suddenly.

“Yes…”

“Well Ireland is like Tasmania, though way better, its amazing over there,” Iseult smiles at me again and my heart melts, “You should come to Ireland with me this Christmas.”

“I would love too,” I smile at her and she takes a mouthful from her can. She sits there for a little studying my eyes, I return her look and don’t notice as we slowly inch closer to one another. Nor as our eyes gently close just before our lips meet.