Blood stained the stone floors of Princess Morgan's chambers. It was not her own.
It was the blood of the many men who'd come to court her.
She stood among the bodies humming a strange and haunting tune as she stared blankly at her small bloodstained hands.
And she sang:
More, more
Never enough
I need more men
Strong and tough
Sweet, sweet, sinful blood
I must rid the world of this kind
Kill, kill, smite those greedy men
Even if it costs me my sanity and mind
She looked up into the darkness, extended her hand from where she stood, and a boy came out from behind a wall looking frightened but still mesmerized by her sweet voice. It didn't seem to matter what she was saying.
"I will rid this world of it's disgusting humans," she hissed. And she sank her teeth into the young boy's throat.
This was when I woke up. That's strange, a vision from the past. It was Queen Morgan before she'd accomplished what she'd always dreamed of.
Total annihilation of the human race.
Well, almost. She'd decided to let the few special live for sustenance and because she thought they couldn't be that dirty if they were granted such special abilities.
Right, like I would believe that after what happened to my parents. Despite my "special abilities." I'd tried to use it to protect them, instead it had only hastened their deaths.
Of course, that was before I'd gained control and experience.
I sighed and finally forced myself out of the bed. It was not good to start the day off with such depressing thoughts. I went to my mirror and picked up a brush but stopped as soon as I saw my reflection.
I looked like hell.
Dark circles under my eyes gave me a strange, haunted look. My skin was as white as the paint in the apartment. And my hair. . .
I shook my head firmly and just began to deal with it. I couldn't take another day off work and risk angering my bosses.
Damn temperamental witches.
I'm an oracle, just so you know. The only one of this generation. At least that's what everyone calls me. The truth is I don't just get visions of the future, I got visions of everything. Usually I can control it but in my sleep that was nearly impossible.
When I was done yanking the hairbrush through my unruly hair ad trying to pull it into a simple braid, I heard a loud, angry knock at the door and I didn't have to be an oracle to know who it was.
I opened the door and Naomi stormed right in with her eyes narrowed in anger.
"Stasia," she turned to me, "you're the oracle. Why in the hell did I have to be one of the few females in a wolf pack made of chauvinistic assholes?"
"Couldn't you control your language a bit?"
She snorted. "Do you?"
"A lot more than you do."
"Just answer my fucking question!"
"You see what I mean?" I shook my head, exasperated. "And you know I can't answer that."
"Yeah, but why not?"
"Just drop it and tell me what happened."
Naomi took a deep breath, trying in vain to calm herself. "Jared was being a sexually harassing bastard."
"Again?" I raised an eyebrow.
"it's getting worse. Mating season's close," her eyes widened slightly in fear. "Have you Seen me?"
"No," I took her hand. "But do you want me to try?"
"Please," she said softly, dropping the tough girl act. Her suddenly sheepish expression didn't go with her stunning exterior. She was tall, dark, and exotic. Her Native American background giving her her dark skin and and long, straight, black hair but the bright green eyes came from her German grandmother.
"Fine, but I have to leave for work soon," I closed my eyes.
And I Saw.
Visions of Naomi as a baby, the Naomi of her childhood, and the Naomi before me now flashed through my mind. I Saw Naomi during mating season with Jared chasing her hungrily in the woods. He was closing in on her.
They were in their wolf forms and they were running faster than they'd ever run before. Jared was laughing maniacally behind her before finally leaping on top of her. And that was when I heard a howl and watched in shock as Jared was brought down by a silver bullet in the back.
And I pulled out before I could See anything more. I already knew what I needed to know. I would probably dream the rest that night.
As I pulled out, I gasped.
"What did you See?" she demanded, voice shaking.
"You'll be fine," I said with an uneasy feeling. It wasn't the complete truth but it was close.
She gave a sigh of relief and hugged me tightly. "Thank you."
I didn't reply. I couldn't. I didn't deserve her thanks.
I arrived at the witches' store with the heavy feeling in my heart of one who has lied to her best friend only to be greeted by Lily, the more cheerful twin. Unfortunately.
"Thank Morgan! You got here just in time. Black Rose was just about to kill Philip!"
I fought to keep my expression simple and blank as I nodded and walked into the back room of the store. Inside they stored all of the stock: blood, potions, wolf's bane, movies, CDs, normal food and drinks. . . And among all of this stood a deathly calm Black Rose and a a quivering Philip.
Philip was a shifter who constantly came back to the store paying to have his his future told when in reality he wanted to be closer to Black Rose. He'd never dared to tell her the truth but from the way this looked I guessed he'd finally gathered his courage. . .
"Did you know about this?" Black Rose asked without turning to look at me.
"About what?" I asked emotionlessly.
"Don't play dumb with me, Sybille Anastasia," she said, angrily. "About this. . . This worm's feelings for me."
I frowned at the use of my full name before saying, "Yes, I did. I tried to dissuade him but he insisted that you were meant to be-"
I was interrupted by the sight of Philip shrinking until all that was left of him were clothes and a little worm struggling to get out of them and get away.
Black Rose smirked evilly and lifted her foot.
Anticipating her move, I grabbed the worm and told her to please calm down. She'd scare away customers.
At the thought of losing money, she quickly left to check on the store. I put the worm back down on the ground and left the room to give him the privacy to dress and escape.
Lily smiled brightly at her sister before taking her hand. "So, how's my brother-in-law?"
"You're lucky I didn't kill him. Why did you leave me alone with him?"
"I thought it would be fun to give him a courage-inducing potion and leave him to confess his undying love for you," she said, sweetly.
Out of the corner of my eye I saw Philip sneaking out the side door. He wasn't a bad man, just not too attractive. He was bald and so skinny you could see his bones. Black Rose had a thing for pretty boys. Preferably incubus.
"Sybille, what are you still doing down here? Go upstairs and get to work," Black Rose snarled.
I frowned again at the use of my name but went upstairs anyways, not wanting to anger her again.
I hated using my first name. My father who used to have premonitions as a child had decided that I would end up the same and so named me Sybille which means seer. My mother didn't like it but she settled for giving me a normal middle name: Anastasia or Stasia for short.
As I entered the attic, I looked around and noticed they had changed the scent of the candles again. I wrinkled my nose. Lavender again.
The room was filled with candles that I lit every night and two beanbag chairs for me and the customer to sit in. Otherwise it was completely empty.
I took my place in my chair after having finished lighting the candles and began to meditate as I waited for my first customer.
Princess Morgan wore her blood-drenched dress with pride as she left her chambers with the young boy she'd just turned. He stared up at her with his innocent expression of worship and asked, "Are you a queen?"
She froze and turned to the boy with a gentle mile. "Not yet, I'm a princess. But I will be very soon."
At that moment her mother appeared.
I was jolted out of my meditation at that moment by someone shaking my shoulder roughly.
"You have a customer," Black Rose said, irritated.
Ah i love the name black rose. i liked the stor alot and there is really nothing to critisize. if it was a book at a book store i would buy it. i love how you talk about the candles and their scent.
keep writing < 3