Black Roses

"Shut the curtains Herbert!" hissed Mother in a way that was unbecoming of her. Herbert looked back, his face pained with the surprise. After years of hearing nothing but a whisper from his mother, the increase in octaves felt like an unpleasant gift. He scuttled away from the curtain in an instant, his back taut and his head bent to the angle his mother preferred. He peeped at her from the mirror in the back, gazing upon her beautiful face. She was known for her distinctive features and had often been described as jolie laide among the servants in whispers.

Ugly but beautiful. Herbert despised their words but wouldn't dare repeat them to Mother, nor did he have the guts to confront the servants. 

She'd skin him alive if he did. For all of her gentle words and her soft whispers, Herbert knew mother had another side, a much darker and sinister one. He felt it like animals felt an impending disaster, inevitable with its slow advent. 

"May I ask why, Mother?" Herbert inquired lowly, shifting back to his present as his eyes ventured to his tightly laced, shining boot. 

"Look up" Mother ordered, with a soft release of breath and Herbert flinched. It seemed his blunder had forced Mother to go against her ironclad rules. He seemed unsure, not comprehending if whether this was a test or she was simply asking him to fulfill a simple gesture.

"Herbert, when I implore you to look up, do as I ask. You know I despise disobedience" 

Herbert snapped his head upward before she could grace him with her final words. His eyes stuck on her face, his breath catching in his throat as her dark hazy eyes bore into his. The unwelcome intrusion was alien for his body and he felt slightly nauseous. Despite desiring such a moment for years, his body rejected it the moment he was bestowed with it. Herbert berated himself, he should've been leaping for joy. Instead all he felt was the imminent peril his instincts warned him from. Even then, he forced himself to look into Mother's eyes. Her irises treasured a ruby red hue, her lashes plentiful and dark. Her bulbous nose loomed over her face like an unwanted guest and her plump pouty lips were forever held in a position that felt like a kiss, the softest of kisses. Despite her ungainly features, she was still force of beauty. The aura of a siren leapt around her and her gaze alone could force one to submit to her desire.  

"I asked you to step away from the sill because I don't want you to be seen" She explained. Herbert tilted his head slightly, he was used to her berating him. She noticed the shift in his emotions and immediately set to justify her words. "A new copper has been assigned to the town" She continued, her voice having returned to its softer hues, like the waves of an ocean gently sifting back and forth in the moonlight. Herbert felt happier but her statement confused him.

"A new copper?" He asked, his eyebrows stitching into crosses. He knew his mother had an invisible hand over all of the town, no new copper could be assigned without her consent. 

"Yes, a new one" She answered, her tone suggesting she was annoyed. "Apparently he was assigned from the main county and our informant received word of it too late" She ground her teeth slowly and Herbert caught sight of her tooth retracting slowly. 

"Why are you worried about it Mother, I'm sure the new one will become your servant soon enough" Herbert voiced reassuringly. 

In an instant, Mother flashed her blood-red eyes at him and he staggered back. "Because Herbert, I do not trust what I don't know of and this particular gentleman has announced that he will pay visit to the manor. How can I trust him around my children?" She vexed venomously, pacing back and forth angrily.

"A copper announcing to come to my manor? How dare he? I will kill him" She bellowed, increasingly agitated, her hair crackling with the electricity. "Never in a thousand years" she hissed again and Herbert watched, horrified as her nails dug into her palms and her hands bled slowly. 

"Mother" Herbert implored, his heart beating faster than a hare. "Get out Herbert, GET OUT! AND STAY OUT OF SIGHT" The woman screamed as her entire eyes flooded with blood, her mouth salivating like a rabid animal. 

Herbert fled from the room, his emotions in a grind as he escaped from the wrath of his mother. His limbs felt like they were morphing into lead, each of his steps heavier than the last as he tried to sprint. He could hear her screeching in the background and his fear tripled. He dared not look back and burst through the front door with a crash. Falling from the stairs like a sack of wet flour, he groaned as his injuries encapsulated him. 

"Are you okay boy?" Sergeant Donald asked the pitiful creature in front of him as he leaned towards him with concern. Sprawled on the manor stairs like a crushed ant, Herbert laid his head down on the cold marble. Donald felt sorry for the poor mite, his body was nothing much skin and bones, it felt like the vitality had been sucked out of his body. 

"Come on then, get up" He said slowly and set to assist him. Donald gasped and his hand touched the boys, his limb jerking involuntarily from the cold skin. The boy was colder than the freezing winds of December. The Sergeant stepped back momentarily, watching the shivering mammal hug the stairs like it was his mothers teat. A stream of blood leaked from his forehead from where he cut himself and Donald watched as it dripped down the stairs slowly. For a while, he was too mesmerized to act and assist the boy. 

"And who might you be?" a throaty voice inquired from him. Donald jerked violently, looking at the woman materialize before him out of thin air, his hand flying to his holster. The woman looked at him distastefully and he removed it at once. 

"Good Afternoon Madam, I am Sergeant Donald, I sent word earlier on regarding my visit" The Sergeant spoke loudly, puffing his chest out like a proud rooster. His eye caught himself in one of the mirrors outside the manor and he stuttered at his ridiculous form. Why was he behaving in such a delinquent manner? Correcting himself immediately, he looked back at the woman and his eyes widened at the her predatory glance. Her eyes scraped over him from top to bottom wantonly as if savouring his body and Donald coughed to regain his composure. 

"Well, Madam?" he inquired, his throat suspiciously tight. Her eyes widened slightly and then curved in appreciatively, like she considered him a challenge. 

"Follow me Sergeant" she said and walked back to her house. Donald looked down with a start as he realised the boy with the frozen touch had disappeared. "Wait a minute Madam, where is the boy?" he asked urgently. "The boy?" the woman asked as she halted the sway of her hips and looked back with a uninterested glance. "Yes, the boy who fell on these stairs a moment ago" 

The woman, who Donald had come to know as Lady Roswell from the village simply shrugged her shoulders and continued her walk. He jogged behind her but didn't breach the matter anymore, apprehending that she wouldn't reply.

The interior of the manor felt ancient, with its strange art and sculptures lined majestically, row by row on black and white tiles, in the parlour. Vases of red flowers complimented each corner of the room. Everything was touch of black, white and red, like a deck of cards. The Sergeants eyes transfixed on one particular sculpture. With his long abdomen and a face that looked like it was melting off, It was that of Geras, the God of Age. 

"I see this piece has attracted your attention" Lady Roswell asked breathily. Donald looked back at her and nodded dumbly. "May I ask why you chose this particular god to keep at your abode?" He asked as he looked at the woman before him. The side of her mouth curved into a sneaky smile, like she was aware of a joke he was left out of. "I admire him for his... dedication to stay alive in such a world" She replied and giggled like a child. Donald inhaled with surprise as he felt a ridiculous surge of happiness while looking at her surprisingly youthful profile. She seemed to grow younger by the minute while he felt older and weaker. He looked at her again and her eyes changed their colour from the ebony black to a startling red. He gasped but her eyes had kept him entranced. 

It seemed like a slow haze was settling onto him and he was being lulled to sleep. He fought to keep himself steady, but the strange spell grew stronger and stronger by the second.

"Madam I-" He began before the world blackened and his head fell back in defeat.

Mariana Roswell looked at the man before him, tied to the chair. She laughed in glee and she ran her delicate fingers on his roughened face and stubble. He was surprisingly handsome, for a man who worked for the law. Raven soft locks fell on his forehead, joined by big eyes and an aquiline nose paired with a strong jaw. She was going to have fun with him.

 "Wake up beautiful" she whispered and his eyes snapped open in an instant. She smiled as she ran her fingers through his hair and across his neck. "What are you doing? Why do you have me detained? Release me at once!" The Sergeant demanded angrily. Mariana inclined her head back and chuckled. 

"Foolish pompous men, always thinking they're in power, even when they're tied to a chair" She stood back and looked at him with acid rising in her throat. She despised his kind, stupid lumbering brutes. She extended her arm and slapped him, gaining a cry from his despicable lips. "You're in my possession now, you animal" 

She watched, satisfied, as a trickle of blood extracted from the mans mouth. She leant forward and licked it off his face, the elixir earning a content moan from her. "I know what you are" The Sergeant spoke and Mariana whipped her back at him. "What did you say?" She asked. 

"I know what you are Mariana Roswell, I know that you're a monster who drinks the blood of humans and uses innocent children to keep herself youthful. I didn't believe the rumors at first, but the boy and the sculpture confirmed my suspicions" He spoke languidly, not a care that he was at the mercy of her, tied like a strangled chicken. Mariana scoffed at his confidence but was wary of his admission. Who else knew?
"Well, I'm just going to have to kill you then" She announced, hoping he'd say something to stop her. But he didn't, he simply sat in the chair she'd tied him to and stared at her. So she advanced towards him viciously, her claws sharp. He waited and watched. 

With a loud screech, Mariana swung her arm at him. There was a heavy grunt and Marianna smiled before she realised the grunt came from her mouth. A burning stream of fire lit at her abdomen and she squalled. He had escaped from her bounds!

"You? How did you?" she swayed backwards as she noticed the long protruding blade decorate her belly. Her blood leaked heavily as her dead cells worked furiously to regenerate but the blade somehow prevented it. The Sergeant got up quickly, prowling towards her like a panther, his dark hair falling into his eyes. He made a move to throw another knife at her but Mariana used the her reserved strength and flicked him backwards with her hand. He hit the wall heavily and Mariana felt the air digress from his lungs. She tried to smile but her mouth flooded with blood. "Abominable blade" her words choked through as she leant to remove it, ignoring the burning pain which lit all of her body. The moment her hand came in contact, she cried out as the heat from the blade burnt her sallow skin. "It was forged to work against the likes of you, Mariana" The Sergeant spoke as he walked towards her with his hand wrapped over his body. His forehead was covered in blood and his hair matted to a side. Mariana looked at him as he ascended and she felt something she hadn't felt in a long while; fear. 

"No, I can't lose" she argued but her failing strength confirmed the sergeants words. She found herself stepping backwards, her back hurting diligently. "Your days of hurting innocents is over, go back to the hell you belong to" He spoke and took the hilt of the blade in his hand. 

Mariana and Donald locked eyes as he gave her one final look. She felt tears rolling down her cheeks, her dead decaying heart hammered slowly and she heard the blood coursing through Donald's veins. He looked at her somberly before he sliced the blade through her lungs and the woman evaporated into mid air.