Bella Peligrosa

Bella Peligrosa - Dangerous Beauty

All her life she had been told how beautiful she was. As a child this was sweet, it made her feel good. Her cheeks were pinched, her restless hair was gently combed and hugs lasted long. As she grew older and more beautiful she had to stay that way. Her cheeks once red from pinches were now red with rouge. Her once restless hair was braided too tight and hugs lasted far too long. 

At 15 her cactus horns saw their first bloom and she began to notice the once hidden things. Other girls peered at her with wary eyes. They whispered behind her, sharp tongues flickering like snakes, just loud enough for her to hear. Friendships came bookended by quotation marks. Men never looked at her. They leered at her in poorly hidden glances. And soon after, even that veil fell. They pranced and jeered, they sucked their teeth at her. They surrounded her and called out to her, “Come. Sit here. Smile. Smile more!” She found no real love, for men didn’t want to love her, they wanted to own her, to control her. This was how she learned that her beauty was dangerous.

The times were dark, she walked through life as a sort of vagabunda, never in a place that felt like a home. It took time, but she found a coven. One that lifted her up and showed her what she was and what she wasn’t. And things, ever so slowly, began to grow brighter.

It was at the end of a hot summer, one filled with her own lust and her own desires, that she found her teeth. She saw them one day in a store window, bright, shiny and sharp like those of a vampire. These teeth were both armor and weapon. A warning sigil cast in gleaming gold. They were a thing for her new self, one that was beautiful and dangerous.

After this the noise quieted. The whispers went unlistened to. The lascivious leers were met and returned with the eyes of a dauntless hunter. And admonishments to smile were met with the wide gold grin of sharp teeth.