'Ello. This'll all be my stories that never quite got off the ground... Maybe I'll come back to them but more likely than not they'll stay unfinished. Enjoy and feel free to comment! :D

First Story
Title: Wedding (Imaginative, isn't it?)

~*~

Most stories start with a birth and end with a wedding where the hero lives happily ever after with the love of their life... My story starts with a wedding to a man I had never met, seen or even talked to.
My lord husband was a large man; wide of shoulder and thick of wrist. Through the white wedding robes he wore, I saw that his arms were sheathed in a layer of thick muscle and I knew that he could break me in half if he wanted to.
Beneath the thin layers of white wedding silk I wore, I felt cold and my stomach was a tight ball of misery and fear as I looked at the man who, from now until I died, would rule me.
I hoped that no one could see my fear, that no one noticed the delicate trembling of the bouquet of white roses, lilies and baby’s breath that filled the air in front of my face with soothing perfume.
I felt some relief knowing they could not see my pale and terrified face, thanks to the long, sheer veil that covered from the top of my head, to my knees in a flimsy, gauzy sheen that made the world around me look misty and vague.
My white gown, made of thousands of layers of silk so thin, I had been able to see through them to my naked body beneath until about ten layers on… then my body had been delicately veiled, but the cool silk still pressed against the curves that were barely there and made me feel naked.
Now, with a thousand layers on, the silk still pressed lovingly against my skin though not immodestly so… but I still felt bare and naked to those around me. I clung to my bouquet as if was an anchor and tried to stifle my sobs.
Behind me was my long train extending from where I stood, at the temple entrance down the tall marble stairs, fluttering gracefully with the soft wind that stirred through the massive temple, finding me through the forest of pillars and chilling me to the core.
Outside the night was cool and quiet, the stars shining like chips of ice in the dark cerulean sky and the moon lit the outside of the cool, white temple and made it glow magically in the night.
The temple boasted no walls and the chilly night breeze made the light flicker. I looked up, and saw that, in their little brass bowls, the fires were dipping and bowing beneath the hand of the wind.
Beneath the brass bowls with their small and flickering fires, were those observing my wedding. As royal wedding’s go, mine was fairly small; only my mother, father, younger brother and the thirteen-member council that oversaw all aspects of life inside and outside the palace were watching me from the left, where I would stand by my husband’s side.
On my right, were my lord husband’s family and council stood. Furthest from me, there was a tall, austere woman with a long and narrow face and frozen grey eyes. She looked at me without even the barest hint of human emotion and seemed to be rather bored by the entire ceremony.
She stood straight and tall in a high necked, black gown that, oddly enough, accented her sharp and angular features and her black hair that was swept up to the back of her head in a shiny, black braid that dangled to her waist.

Wedding Continued

~*~

Next to these two women there was a group of nine men and women all dressed in identical grey robes. All of them, even the women, had shaved heads with only enough hair to give their round heads a delicate grey shadow and all of their lips were painted deep, deep blue, as if they had eaten handfuls of blueberries before the ceremony.
My family and my fathers council to the left, my husband’s family and his council to the right and in front of me, my soon-to-be lord husband, standing at the alter and looking back at me with his hard and angular face, as he had been the entire time.
His gaze, I couldn’t see the color from so far away, was unwavering and intent, as if he was a hunting hound and had caught the scent of a fox. I looked down through my veil and at my feet and took a deep breath.
“Princess Lily Narcissa Bacharius, daughter of King Morgon Bacharius, first of her name and first born to the Monarchs of Nemul,� the Priest, standing behind the alter called out. His clear, soft voice carried though the empty temple eerily.
It was time for me to step forward, walk the length of the marble hall and meet the rest of my life.
For a moment I couldn’t move, nor did I want to; I was afraid of taking a step since my knees felt like jelly and I had a horrible vision of myself, in all my white, silk glory, tumbling to the ground and breaking out my teeth on the cold, marble floor.
Finally I managed to move and I didn’t fall. I kept my eyes firmly on a vague spot above the Priest and concentrated on keeping my steps slow and graceful, trying to ignore the feeling of mud sucking my feet back down.
I ignored the face of my family and the council, of the blue lipped, bald strangers and the women who looked so still and regal, as if they had been carved out flesh-colored stone.
Most of all though, I ignored the intent gaze of my fiancé, still on me and making my skin prickle oddly.
Entirely too soon, I stood at the two stairs that led to the dais where the waist-high alter made of gold and white marble. Sitting on the alter was a crystal goblet filled with deep red wine and next to it was a small dagger, the tip of the blade carefully balanced on a golden stand.
I lifted my skirts slightly and took the two steps needed to stand in front of the alter, and next to the King of Abyssor, my husband.
He was even bigger than I first thought. It was easy for me to imagine him in a suit of strong and blood stained armor. His right hand rested on the alter and it looked large enough to choke the life out of me without trying.
At that thought my shaking got much worse; I felt like my teeth were going to be rattled out of my skull and as I lay my hand next to his on the gold, I knew he saw how it shook.
He looked at me out of the corner of his eye and I saw that his eyes were a pale green, like jadestones.
He shifted his hand ever so slightly and extended his little finger so it brushed mine ever so gently. I suppressed a gasp and looked at him quickly to see his lips curve in a small, reassuring smile before he turned his eyes back to the priest and waited.

Wedding Continued

~*~

Once again I felt a flood of relief for my veil as it hid my wide eyes and gaping mouth from the rest of the world.
The ceremony began, with the Priest singing out in a clear, sweet voice of the blessings of the thirteen God-Kings who ruled the heavens and created all life but I paid no attention.
The King of Abyssor still had his pinky pressed against mine and showed no sign of moving it. It was the slightest of contact but it offered more comfort than anything the Priest was saying. That slight touch offered me a new vision of my future life.
The Priest lifted the dagger from its stand, holding it above his head where both moonlight and firelight glinted off the shining blade. Once again my stomach clenched in fear and I shuddered.
“With this dagger,� the Priest called out, “both shall shed the other’s blood and let three drops fall into the wine.�
He offered the dagger, handle first, to my fiancé and declared, “King Marek Darius Vilmar, you shall shed the blood of the Princess first.�
We turned to each other and I held out my hand, cupping it delicately. He placed his hand beneath mine and his skin was warm and callused but somehow offered me comfort.
He held up the dagger and pressed it against my flesh. The metal was freezing and I squeezed my eyes shut, so I didn’t have to watch my own blood flow. There was a sharp pain and then a dull ache. I opened my eyes and saw the slim cut down my palm, blood pooling in the center.
“Princess,� the priest murmured. King Marek lifted my hand and guided it above the chalice then tipped it so that my blood dribbled into the wine.
The wine darkened to a deeper, richer red and began to steam.
King Marek extended the dagger to me, handle first and I took it with my unwounded hand. The hilt was still warm from the King’s grip and I drew from the warmth to give me power.
He held out his hand to me and I cupped it gently with my wounded hand and pressed the blade against his palm and took a deep breath then cut through the callused skin.
I saw a little twitch of his lips but that was the only reaction. I glanced down and dragged the point of the dagger down the palm, cutting his hand open the way he had cut mine.
Then as gently as he had, I guided his hand to the goblet and tipped it so that his blood joined mine in the goblet. The wine turned to a red so dark it was black and now it was positively smoking.
“Press the cuts against each other,� the Priest commanded.
I had been holding my hand flat so that the blood didn’t stain the white of my gown now I lifted it and felt the delicate tickle of my blood running town my hand to drip to the floor. King Marek matched my movement and pressed his cut against mine.
I felt an odd jolt when our cuts met and shuddered. He did the same.
“And now, with blood and hand still joined, drink the wine,� the Priest ordered and offered the goblet to King Marek. He took it in the hand not pressed against mine and, not taking his eyes off of me, lifted it to his lips.

Wedding Continued

~*~

I watched his throat work as he swallowed the wine where our blood was already joined. He shuddered, though his face did not twist in pain.
I placed the dagger back on the stand and took the goblet that my fiancé offered. I held it in my unwounded hand and then took a long gulp through the gauzy veil.
The wine burned my mouth and throat. It tasted both sweet and salty and had an odd, smoky aftertaste that was strangely pleasant.
I put the crystal chalice down on the alter and gasped when I saw a vivid red glow emanating from our joined hands and felt an odd, shivering tingle run up and down my spine. Marek was looking at me and his eyes were practically glowing with intensity. I stifled a small bubble of laughter and tried to keep a straight face.
“By the power I hold in the name of King Morogon and in the Thirteen God-Kings, I now pronounce thee husband and wife,� the Priest declared, “You may now kiss the bride.�
Marek fairly ripped the veil from my head to get to my lips and when he coiled one arm around my waist I felt an odd feeling of weightlessness. Without the veil I could mark every contour and curve of his face.
His long, dark brown hair was tied back in with a white silk ribbon, but some stray hairs managed to escape his carefully groomed mane and fell roguishly into his face.
I smiled up at him and told myself that it was the wine that was lending color to my cheeks.
Then his lips were against mine and there are no words that I have that can describe the bright, burning heat that spread from his mouth to mine; as if I had just swallowed a drop of sunlight.
His breath was spicy and his tongue tasted like cinnamon against my lips. I had never kissed a man before but now I opened my mouth willingly; scandalized by my own boldness.
The Priest cleared his throat softly and we broke apart but didn’t look anywhere but each other.
Though our lips had separated, our hands, still glowing a bright, vivid crimson stayed locked together and his arm stayed around my waist as if he was afraid he would lose me.
Marek, my husband, smiled down at me and, with color still bright on my cheeks, I smiled back boldly.
We turned together, as if we had known each other for a hundred years and faced our families and councils.
The cold and stoic woman who I had seen no warmth from at the beginning of the ceremony had an odd, proud gleam in her dark grey eyes and the girl next to her gave me a shy and hopeful smile. I beamed at both of them and at my own parents who were looking at me as if they had never seen me before.
“Queen Lily,� Marek murmured in my ear, I shivered when his lips brushed against the sensitive skin, “It has a lovely ring to it.�
I laughed softly and leaned my head against his shoulder, “I think I prefer Lily.�
He smiled down at me and kissed my forehead with all the tenderness of someone touching a rare and sacred jewel, “My Lily,� he whispered, “my treasure.�
I had never met the man before our wedding but looking at him then, I knew I had found my happily ever after.

~*~

End!

Alright, this next drabble-thing is based on a song by Within Temptation called Dangerous mind. It's one of my favorite songs and I recomend that if you like uber dramatic music, to check it out!

All hail youtube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xcHq4InNnno

~*~

They flew through the skies like shadows with wings and only those who dared look up into the chilling gaze of the stars would ever see them.
That was how they were never seen, that was how they were never discovered and that was how their secret had been kept for so long.
They were the Vespertilio. Creatures that came from the caves and winding tunnels that wove beneath the soil of the Darklands like an endless, and unknown, labyrinth.
At night, when the sun had left the sky, these Vespertilio emerged from their hiding places beneath the city in the winding tunnels that the humans called sewers and they took to the sky; their great, leathering wings snapping beneath the moonlight only to be lost in the all consuming darkness that was the night sky.
They lived like that, hidden and shamed for hundreds of years, until one night a child was born. This baby had skin as white as moonlight and eyes that looked like blood and beneath the starlight he would glow like an angel of darkness.
This young boy was named Veles Desdemona.
He was taught the ways of his kind; how to fly without detection, how to feed without being hunted but no one expected anything but the incredible from him… and he delivered.
Though his skin was even more sensitive than his families he walked through the streets, disguised as a man, in the bright, summer sunlight, his incredible eyes hidden by darkly tinted glass and dressed from his neck down to his heels in black.
The royals and lords of the city looked upon his moon colored skin with envy and interest, as it was in style to have very pale skin when he emerged from his caves, and he was invited to some of their gatherings so they could pump him for information about his family, his home and his past.
Veles answered their questions with so delicately and so well that they assumed he was a great prince from a far away land and he was welcomed into their inner circles.
He excelled in their mind games and soon had a great mansion, land, servants and slaves all at his beck and call but every full moon he dismissed them all and allowed the moonlight to bathe his wings… Changing and contorting his form into something that could be never be mistaken for a human though he retained his silvery-white fur and skin.
The next day when all the cooks, maids and servants returned they would find their master deeply asleep and covered in bruised and hideous wounds that they were forbidden from talking about for fear of their lives.
Though Veles lived in wealth and splendor his people did not suffer; instead he showed them how to live in the dimmest part of the day and hide their wings so they might walk with man.

Veles walked down the bustling market, watching as others of every gender, race and size did the same. All of them so wrapped up in what they were doing they didn’t notice the fine cut of his robes or the jewels that glittered in the eyes of his gargoyle cane.
All they saw with him was long, fine hair the color of spun moonlight and spiders silk and skin that looked bleached. His eyes were covered by the black glasses that hid their color and his entire body, from just under his jaw, down to his feet was covered in beautifully made, perfectly tailored black cloth. Even his hands were covered in thing gloves of the same shade.

Song Story Continued

~*~

From his hair and the colored glasses, the people around him knew not to try and pick his pocket or steal the silver and platinum cane in his hand… This man was feared by the other nobles who lived in the higher city… down here he answered to no laws so it was best not to go near him.
Veles could smell their fear and relished in it. The fact that they parted like a sea beneath the hand of God was enough to make him smirk in pleasure but they wouldn’t even risk meeting his eyes and that was something that no amount of money could buy… Only fear could give him the pleasure of seeing those lower than him scurry away from his footsteps.
The vendors lining the wide street on either side called out to the surging crowd; promising that their fish was the freshest, their jewels the brightest, their perfumes the most fragrant.
Veles ignored them all. He hadn’t come down to the lower market to shop… this was where he came to look for his prey and this was where he could see others of his kind hiding in the shadows and watching him with a mixture of pride and envy.
He didn’t acknowledge them; to do so would be suspicious so he ignored their mixed gazes that he could almost feel… like insects crawling over his skin.
But he hadn’t come to gloat silently at them, today he had come to find some lowlife, scum sucking, bottom feeder that he could kill and devour without anyone coming after him. He had learned at a young age that while the nobles were the ones who kept the city spinning it was the simple farmer and merchant who kept those nobles elevated to their lofty positions so the law was: kill a lowlife commoner and stay alive and on top for one more day.
Now if he could just find one…
There were merchants who had relentlessly overpriced their wares but to mark one of them would be foolish… while they were an annoyance to their fellow commoner, they were nowhere near cruel enough to be jeered at when they were lowered into the ground.
Here was a pickpocket, there a charlatan, but none had crossed into his realm of filth where he could kill them without fear of being hunted down himself.
That was when he saw her. She was small, tiny really, barely a woman and obviously underfed and badly cared for but there was a deep, hurt, hunted look in her large, dark eyes that spoke of a cruel past.
Veles watched her flit from shadow to shadow, dressed in a ragged black shirt that had had the sleeves shredded from it and displayed her jutting ribs. Pants of equal raggedness were slung low on her hips and held up by a molded rope-belt covered her short, slender legs and did nothing to hide her protruding hip bones.
She wore nothing on her feet and her hair, so mud streaked and filthy Veles could not tell its color, was short and raggedly cut; one side of her face covered by a mass of filthy locks.
Veles followed her, sure that if he found the man or woman that ‘cared’ for her he would find his perfect prey. She was hard to follow at first, as she kept to the shadows and could weave in and out of the crowds. Despite the crowd desperately moving out of his way he could not simply dart after her without causing undue suspicion so he kept his gait slow and controlled and simply followed her with his shaded eyes, careful not to lose sight of her.

Song Sotry Continued

~*~

Luckily for him she stopped at a vendor and pointed at something displayed on the man’s table. Veles made his way to the edge of the crowd and leaned against one of the crumbling housed, folding his arms and tucking his cane into the crook of the elbow so he could study the girl while she spoke to the merchant; he could even hear what said merchant was saying.
“You can’t really expect me to sell that to you, can you?� the merchant laughed.
The girl nodded her head once, staring at him with those large, dark eyes… Veles wished he could see what color they were but from this distance and lack of true light, he didn’t expect to be able to.
“Look, girl, I can see you need some help but I don’t even know you can pay--�
The man was cut off when the girl pulled a shabby black purse from inside her shredded pants and dropped it on the wood, staring meaningfully at the merchant.
The man leaned forward and picked up the purse, opening it and looking into it. Veles thought that whatever was in there must be pretty amazing because his mouth dropped open and he looked up at the girl with wide eyed fear.
“Please,� Veles heard her say in a soft, melodious voice.
“Take it,� the merchant said hoarsely. The girl did so, plucking something from the table and sliding into the hiding spot where she had brought the purse from and then walking towards Veles but before he could really study her face she darted down a narrow alley.
Veles hurried after her, using the advantage of long legs so he wouldn’t fall too far behind. His haste was rewarded when he saw her dart down another alley half way down the first.
This one was much narrower and almost devoid of life. The girl was still hurrying up ahead and now she was looking around with darting little movements, as if she knew she was being followed.
Veles froze and tapped his cane on the ground sharply. From where his cane hit the uneven and broken stones spread a shadow that quickly swarmed over him; cloaking his form from all but the most vigilant of eyes.
The pale man followed more quickly; sailing through the shadows after the girl in almost perfect silence, the only hint of his presence being the shadow that slid along the wall next to him.
She led Veles through a narrow, winding labyrinth of alleys and passages, leading deeper and deeper into the city. The shadows here were deep and the very air felt dark and oppressive.
Even the light here seemed dim by some ominous force that clung to the filthy, putrid walls, and still they went deeper, the girl maintaining that hurried, frantic pace that gave Veles no time to study his surroundings.
Finally she slowed, stopping in front a small, derelict house that leaned drunkenly to one side, the small, sagging door looked to be made out of drift wood and the windows were covered with rotting planks, nailed crookedly across the sills giving the house an eerie, sly-eyed look.
The girl stood in front of the rotting, sagging steps, whatever she had purchased clutched in her small, pale hands in front of her chest. Her wide, dark eyes were filled with fear and her entire frame was trembling violently.

Sony Story Continued (this is a bit of a long one XD)

~*~

Veles moved up behind her until he was an arms length away and then he looked at the building; sensing the darkness oozing from this place.
The girl jittered from one foot to the other and then darted forward up the steps, moving at the same speed as a fleeing mouse and looking almost as frightened. Veles followed, careful to step softly so the wood would creek under his weight.
She opened the door and scurried into the murk beyond and Veles followed, slipping in after her before the door could close. In the darkness his eyes were perfectly suited to this oppressive gloom but he was almost sure that she couldn’t see and that was why she had paused just inside the house to let her eyes adjust. All Veles had to do was remove his glasses and then make them vanish into thin air to be summoned at a later time. With the darkened glasses removed from his eyes, Veles saw the room as if it was bathed in blue sunlight.
While she stood there silently, blinking through the darkness, Veles studied his surrounding, wrinkling his nose at the stench that seemed to permeate the walls. It was mixture of all garbage, rotting meat, sweat, blood and fear.
He was standing in a narrow entrance hall that was split in two. To his right there was a flight of stairs, some of them missing or broken through with bottles of some stinking alcoholic beverage scattered over them.
To the left was a hall that led about ten steps down, lined with photos of long forgotten people that were being used as canvases for crude, immature art or target practice. Beneath the pictures was a long, narrow cabinet covered in more bottles, plates that were crawling with maggots and swarming with horrible, many legged insects and one or two candles that had long since guttered.
To Veles’ right, past the staircase, was a small, arched door that led into a lightless room beyond, only with his keen night vision could he see the old, moldy couches and chairs and the bodies draped over them, deep in a drug or beer induced slumber.
To his left was a better lit room that had a long table covered in maps, more bottles and note books, the cabinet pushed to one side had been emptied of all of the fine china, the doors sacrificed to someone’s explosive temper, were hanging off by their hinges and swinging back and forth with an eerie creaking.
Finally the girl moved forward, down the narrow hall, casting a fearful glance at the pitch-black, room where the crowd of men slept. Her step was as soft as Veles’ was and both moved down the darkened hall in almost perfect silence.
They moved past the bureau and the graffiti marred pictures. Next to the cabinet was a small cubby where there was a small nest of blankets, strings of shells, and other oddities that could only belong to the girl that Veles had been following.
At the end of the hall was a narrow door with its handle missing, and to Veles’ eyes it looked like it hadn’t been used in a very long time. The girl ignored both the cubby hole and the narrow door that probably led into the cellar and went to the last door on the left, where a small, meager light was flickering.
The two walked silently into a shadowy kitchen; the one light coming from a half-melted candle sitting on a scrubbed wooden table. Sitting at this table was a small man with tiny, watery eyes and a narrow, pointed nose.
There was something intensely slimy about that man; from his shabby coat to the carefully combed back hair… he reminded Veles of a pickled rat.

Song Story Continued

~*~

“You’re early,� he said in a rasping, smokers voice. He tapped the table twice with his first and middle fingers and turned away to fetch a long, black cigar from the counter.
The girl quickly reached inside the rip on her thigh and pulled out a little bundle of ragged, black cloth, setting it gently on the table and then backing away, almost running into Veles.
When the man turned back the cigar was smoking and filling the already rank air with an acrid smoke that made Veles’ eyes water.
The smoker reached out and flipped over the cloth with one hand, the other hand he used to pull the foul smelling cigar out of his mouth, displaying a mouth full of uneven, rotted, yellow teeth.
When the last corner of the package was unwrapped the man looked down at what lie there, Veles followed the man’s piggy gaze and his eyebrow shot up.
How had a merchant gotten a hold of that?
“Ah,� the man said, blowing out a cloud of grey-green smoke, “Retep was right… Isn’t a pity I had him killed?�
The girl said nothing, just kept looking at him in nervous, darting glances.
“You’ve been a good girl, Nareeza,� the man said around his cigar, folding the cloth back over the shining thing on the table. “So you should get your reward, shouldn’t you.�
From his breast pocket the man pulled out a small vial of dark grey liquid; it swirled with dark lines of some type of oil and continue to move and swirl when the mans hand had stilled.
Nareeza’s great, dark eyes widened in hungry desperation when she saw the vial and she moved forward hesitantly.
“Do you think you deserve your medicine, Nareeza?� the main taunted, pulling the vial back away from her. She stopped her advance and simply kept her eyes locked on it, clutched in the man’s pudgy hand.
“Did you hear me?� he asked sharply.
“Yes,� she whispered, her voice barely reaching Veles’ ears.
“I asked; do you think you deserve you medicine, Nareeza?� the man repeated, a cruel smile lifting his smoke-tinted lips to reveal those ghastly teeth. “Well? Answer me!�
“I did what you asked!� Nareeza cried desperately, tears of frustration welling up in her eyes and then sliding down her filthy cheeks.
“That wasn’t my question,� the man said, that horrid smile growing. Nareeza sobbed raggedly and Veles felt his temper, which had been growing since he had seen that man, double at the sad sound.
“Answer my question.�
Nareeza sobbed again but said haltingly though her tears, “I… I… I think I deserve my medicine.�
The man stared at her for a long time and then palmed the vial, slipping it back into his breast pocket. When it went away, Nareeza let lose a broken, ragged sob that snapped Veles’ control on his temper.

Song Story Continued

~*~

He dropped the cloaking spell and stood behind Nareeza, looking very much like her guardian angel as his monstrous bat-like wings ripped through the finely made cloth that made up his shirt.
The man jerked, as if he meant to stand, but Veles stretched out one white wing and slapped him across his fat face. The man went sprawling, shaking the ground with his weight as he did so. Veles gave a cold, knife edged smile.
Striping across his face was a shallow cut that had started weeping blood. Veles felt a grim satisfaction that if that man somehow survived the encounter he would be forever marked.
Nareeza had turned and was now backing away from Veles warily, tears making her eyes bright. And as she passed the candle, the light fell across her face and he saw that her eyes were a bright, vivid red… like fresh blood.
Did she see how his eyes reflected hers? Did she feel the kinship that Veles suddenly felt with her?
He had been going to destroy and devour the man who had made that broken sound come from Nareeza before he had seen how similar they were… now that he knew they were of the same ilk he was going to do much worse to him.
Veles turned his own crimson eyes on the man and snarled, “Hand the girl her medicine.�
The man had pressed one hand against the wound to try and stem the bleeding but when he heard Veles, he looked up through his pudgy digits, staring up into the bright red eyes that seemed to glow in the darkness.
Slowly the fat, rat-like man pulled his hand away and reached into his breast pocket, pulling out the vial and holding it out to Nareeza. She darted forward and snatched it away before the man could play any of his horrible games and removed the stopper with a wild sort of desperation that hurt Veles deeply. The stopper was flung across the room and the liquid downed quickly.
When Nareeza swallowed a shudder ran down her body and she doubled over, gagging quietly but after a moment she straightened and looked much better, despite the filth that caked her face.
Veles advanced towards the man with a slow, deliberate stride.
“I gave her the medicine!� he yelped, trying to get away. Veles planted a foot on his chest to stop him. “I gave her the medicine! What else do you want from me?!�
“How many times did you withhold that medicine?� Veles demanded, “How many times did you laugh at her agony?�
The man did not reply, simply wailed with great, childlike sobbing. Veles curled his lip in utter disgust and turned to look at Nareeza who was staring at him with tearful admiration and raw gratitude.
“The men in the other room,� he said in a gentle voice, “have they ever hurt you?�
She gave a quick nod. Veles nodded back slowly.
“I see… go and get your belongings and wait outside… I don’t want you to see what I’m going to do to them.�
The girl nodded again and then leaped over her tormenter and dashed to the cubby hole. There was a great deal of scraping and fumbling when she collected here meager belongings but Veles waited until he heard the door open and then slam before he turned his blood colored eyes on the man beneath his foot.

Song Story Continued

~*~

Now,� he whispered as his shoe bulged, ripped and then exploded with the great taloned foot that had suddenly grown within it. “Now you see what it’s like to be laughed at while you beg for mercy.�
Veles felt the grating pain as the bones of his face rearranged themselves; widening his jaw and making his eyes growing into huge orbs of blood red… and the fear that contorted his victims face was almost as satisfying as the taste of his flesh and blood.
…Almost.

When Veles exited the house the sun was setting. His great wings were folded against his back but the only part of his clothes that were left was enough to cover the parts that would make a young girl blush.
He carefully closed the door on the carnage within the house, closing off the overpowering smell of blood and human excrement.
Outside, the air was still stale with the stench of garbage, but it was much sweeter than the air within the blood bath behind the sagging door… While Veles quite enjoyed the smell of fresh blood, human excrement was one of the most foul he had ever known.
And there was Nerezza; small and frail against the dark backdrop of the alley ways and building storm clouds that growled with thunder high above her head.
She looked unafraid of the world around her, instead keeping her eyes on him as he descended the rickety steps down to the street. Veles noted that he could smell no fear from her.
Dangling from one hand was a pillowcase, lumpy from the treasures within, and folded beneath one arm that was tight across her chest was an old, porcelain doll, it’s pale face painted with a great, many-colored butterfly wings and its slim body dressed in fine, colorful silks. An expensive doll and meticulously cared for… somehow Veles doubted that the girl had stolen it.
“Nerezza,� he greeted in a soft, hoarse voice, “I had not expected you to stay.�
He walked gingerly towards her, the soles of his feet sore from the sudden transformation and his entire body aching from the abrupt return to human form.
“You told me to,� she said in her melodic voice, stepping closer to him tentatively and looking up at his enormous wings.
“Do they frighten you?� Veles asked, readying himself for the pain of opening his back and hiding the wings within.
“No,� Nerezza said mildly, reaching out a hand to brush her fingertips over the soft, fuzzy skin. Veles smiled at her curiosity and spread them to their full extent, stretching the aching stress out of them.
Nerezza closed her eyes and smiled slightly as the skin moved under her fingertips and then withdrew her hand to hold her doll again. Veles wouldn’t admit to himself that he was a little disappointed that she had broken contact.
“They’re so soft,� she said quietly, “I would expect them to be rougher.�
“Some wings are,� Veles admitted, “I take care of mine and feed on a regular basis so they stay soft.�
“What are you?� Nerezza asked, looking up into Veles’ face curiously.
“My people are called the Vespertilio. We live here in secret,� he told her.
“You don’t,� she pointed out; “people talk about you. They say you live in a great, shining castle where you keep the heads of your seven wives.�

Song Story Continued

~*~

Veles laughed softly, “Nothing so theatrical; I live in a mansion and I can assure it’s not filled with my wives heads… I’ve never even been married.�
Nerezza smiled slightly and then frowned, “Now that you’ve killed… everyone… where will I live?�
“Would you like to live with me?� Veles asked mildly. Her eyes, dark again in the lack of light, widened sharply and a small shocked smile jumped onto her lips.
“Really?� she whispered.
“Really,� Veles replied.
She opened her mouth to reply a few times and then snapped it shut when nothing came out. On the fourth try she just grinned at him and nodded frantically. Veles grinned at her.
“I thought you would say that,� he told her, “now to get there we’re going to have to fly… Do you mind heights?�
Now grinning hugely, Nerezza shook her head, her dark hair flopping over her face in filthy locks that looked glued together with mud.
Veles stepped forward and scooped the girl up, unsurprised but still angry about how light she was; beneath her skin her bones felt small and delicate, and there was almost nothing to holding her… Like trying hold a bag of feathers.
“Hold on,� he told her as she wrapped his arms around his neck.
He crouched down, feeling his body groan in protest and concentrated all of his energy into his legs. The strength there began to grow, the muscles protesting at being used so rudely after being worked but Veles took that pain and made it work for him… making the power in his legs swell more and more.
Finally he released the crouching positing and shot up into the air, his wings billowing out like sails filled with air. Veles took that wind in his wings and pushed it behind him, shooting further into the storm darkened sky above.
He heard Nerezza catch her breath and felt her arms tighten around his neck in fear but after a moment she loosened her hold and began to look down at the city, spread before her in its glittering, candle-lit glory… looking like a carpet of light.
Over the city Veles flew with the small Nerezza in his arms, craning her neck to see the glittering ocean and its little collection of lighted boats that cast reflections of light onto the glassy surface of the water.
He smiled at her out of the corner of his eyes and then dove. She gave a breathless little shriek of laughter and tightened her arms around his neck. To her credit, she never looked away to the water that was rushing up to meet them.
Veles extended one hand and trailed a taloned finger through the water. After a moment Nerezza did the same, laughing joyously. She grinned at him brightly in thanks, the rushing wind making it impossible to talk.
Through her thin, stretched skin, Veles could feel Nerezza’s gratitude and joy and felt a little smug smile tugging his lips upward; he had given her the best day of her life.
The fact that the only thing he had done was kill her ‘guardians’ and take her flying made Veles angry and he promised himself, and Nerezza, he would make her laugh like at every opportunity.

Song Story Continued

~*~

Veles dropped onto his balcony and bit down to stifle a groan of pain. He was going to be covered in bruises tomorrow and he was going to be stiff for the next week.
Nerezza looked over the edge of the balcony and Veles chuckled. She had just landed from a flight that took her much higher than a silly balcony and yet she was gazing down at the garden far below her with the same avid interest.
Born to fly, Veles thought with a rueful grin. He walked toward the folding glass doors, limping only slightly and turned his head to call for Nerezza.
She was right next to him, huddling beneath the protection of one half-extended wing and looking at the doors curiously.
Veles grinned at her and opened the door, walking forward and ushering her inside with a gentle sweep of his wings that stirred her filthy hair. She giggled and looked up at him worshipfully.
Odd hero values she’s going to have, Veles thought with a soft laugh. The candles about the darkened room all burst into flickering life, lighting the great, round chamber.
“Wow…� Nerezza breathed.
The floors were dark wood and covered with lushly colored and textured carpets. To the far right, one curving wall sported a deep hearth a fire crackling merrily within as if it had been burning for hours. Around the fire, bathed in its rosy glow, were a small collection of chairs, couches and a single, dark wooded table that was low enough to threaten the shins if one was to wander around in the dark.
Opposite the fireplace was a door that led to Veles’s bed and bathroom.
Nerezza seemed more fascinated with the carpets beneath her almost-bare feet. She was burying her exposed toes into the weave with a look of concentration and sheer bliss on her face.
“This is my room,� Veles said quietly, “the servants don’t know that I’ve left and I’d like to keep it that way.�
Nerezza nodded solemnly and then said, “Then you should change your clothes.�
Veles pressed his lips together to keep from laughing at the matter-of-fact voice Nerezza had adopted.
“I’ll wait here,� she said in that same unquestionable voice. She sat gingerly down on one of the chairs, looking as though she expected the thing to collapse beneath her.
“Yes, m’lady,� Veles said in a voice strained fro trying so hard not to laugh.

~*~

WHEW! That was a long one. Not sure where I was gonna go with this one. Maybe a were-bat thing where he went nutters at the full moon and killed or almost killed nerezza and then was all angsty >.> Not sure. Not sure if I'll revisit it or not but I hope any readers enjoyed it!

Heyo! This drabble was actually for my Earth Science class... but I really like and would love to continue someday!

~*~

The world had been changing. That much we had always know; had always suspected… but now it was different.
We had never considered the pole reversal would be so damaging to our comfortable lifestyles… we hadn’t considered the catastrophic destruction that would stem from the last shift into the reversed poles.
Electricity was disturbed, communication satellites were scrambled, all of our machines that depended on orders from orbiting stations were suddenly useless, their transmissions sent to empty space.
Animals, tame and feral, went insane, their brains unable to cope with instincts that no longer were correct. Once docile pets suddenly turned on their owners with vicious intent and the nighttime streets became increasing dangerous as more and more cats reverted to their basest instincts. Birds began to circle the world, back and forth, north and south until, exhausted and confused they too began to attack humans.
Massive waves washed away coastal cities and the lives that had once inhabited them. Earthquakes shook the very foundations of civilization and volcanoes spewed toxic smoke and flaming rocks into the sky, destroying cities and plunging the world into darkness.
The tick, volcanic ash-clouds turned out to be a blessing and a curse, however. Plants soon withered and died without the warmth of the sun and the temperature of the planet plunged ruthlessly… but it blocked out the radiation from the sun.
Once that radiation had been deflected by the magnetic fields that surrounded the planet… but now the magnetic field had realigned and the world was unbalanced. Without the cloud of toxic smoke, we would have all developed oozing skin ulcers or simply died out.
The cloud of toxic chemicals was deadly and it made the once lush valleys and rolling hills nothing but frozen wastelands… but it gave us a little time to try and rebuild our world.

~*~

That's it! Short, yes?

Okay! This was my attempt at a gumshoe/book-noir sort of story, that's why all the personification funness! Love this story!

~*~

I woke pressed against the chilly walls. The blankets were clinging tightly to me, tangling my legs in their fabric coils. Sometime in the night I had forsaken my pillow and now it slouched drunkenly against the wall, forlorn and forgotten.
With much groaning and wordless complaining, I rolled myself from the nest of blankets. Many of them grabbed onto me desperately and were stolen from their home and left in a trail of cloth on the floor.
As for me, I stumbled out of the room, the wall offering silent support as I leaned against it. I stretched and yawned on my way down the stairs, careful to keep my hand wrapped around the railing in case the stairs were feeling homicidal and were going to try and pitch me off their back.
I made my way into the bathroom with my eyes half closed and turned on the sink faucet. The pipes squealed and protested the sudden use after being ignored all day and into the night and a headache started to grow behind my forehead. I dared look up and the mirror glared back.
Beneath the uncaring lights of my filthy bathroom I peered at myself, blinking owlishly to get my eyes used to the bright light. I flinched and looked back down to the rust-spotted sink that looked like some infected cretin that only had a few days left to live.
I smiled grimly; I matched my sink, didn’t I?
The water spraying from the tap had become reluctantly tepid… at least it wasn’t frigid. I splashed it into my face and gasped as the chilly water bit into my still-sleeping skin. What a way to start the morning.
Properly awake I shut off the water and, thankfully, the pipes stopped groaning out their complaints to me… I’d have to pass on the complaints to the slum lord that owned the building when I passed along half my check.
I limped into the kitchen, the bullet-hole in my thigh felt a little sadistic today it would seem. I rubbed some blood back into the leg while I made myself some weak coffee under the uncertain lights of the kitchen.
Outside the dark city leered and chuckled to itself like a mental patient, just as crazy as all the nut jobs that had taken root in its overbearing shadow. I count myself among the nut job population; you have to be crazy to live in the city.
The kettle on the stove shrieked angrily at me when the water was hot and it joined the coffee grounds in preparing my cup of fuel. The smell alone was enough to set my nerves to dancing and I waited impatiently as the coffee streamed into the waiting pot beneath. The liquid was the color of tea and thin as water but it was the only thing I had, and it was enough to wake me up.
To kill time while my coffee percolated, I lit a cigarette, inhaling deeply to burn away the smell of sewage that waltzed in from the street below. I exhaled, breathing out the nightmares that had plagued me all night… that always plagued me… that would always plague me.
Damn persistent things.

~*~

'Nother short one. I still love it though XD!

This was an assignment for Creative Writing where I was supposed to write a story where I was the heroine who saves the day. The problem with that is in all of my daydreams I'm the villain... soooooo... I put a very different twist on the hero role. Enjoy!

~*~

Whispers filled the night. From the shadows and dark, scary places, voices of the dead murmured softly, like patrons at a library. Outside, the pale eyelash of the moon offered its meager light to the earth that shivered beneath the breath of darkness that I brought with me.
In the long shadow I cast, surely too long to be mistaken for a mortal, two other girls walked. With bright, eager eyes, the looked upon the world of darkness that I had so recently introduced them to. Both smiled up at me and I smiled down at them as a mother would smile at a favored child.
We walked over uneven cobblestones and through tendrils of mist that coiled around our feet like a loving cat and I taught them how to look for prey.
“It’s in their smell,� I whispered softly and lifted my nose to the misty night, inhaling the scents of the small town and tasting the air with the tip of my tongue; it was a cool night and the air was bracing going into my warm mouth and chilling my lungs but there was something refreshing about it and I drew strength from that, as well as from the cold light of the slight moon.
The two girls looked up at me eagerly, a pair of lightning blue eyes and a pair of grass green, both laughably innocent when I considered what I was preparing to show them.
“What do you smell?� the blue-eyed girl whispered.
“I smell…� I sniffed at the air again, a blood hound on the scent of a wily vixen, “I smell a loving family… A father, mother, sister, brother… and a new baby.�
My mouth watered at the thought of the child… It would be a joy to show my two new apprentices the sweetness of young blood.
“Are they our prey?� the green eyed child breathed, eager as I had been on my first hunt. I could imagine a puppy, wagging her tail so hard, her entire backside wiggled. With that vision in mind a laugh rolled through my throat, soft, purring and dangerous.
“Yes, puppy,� I told her, “they will be our prey.�
I led them to a small cottage and stood back, studying the door, the curtained windows and the thatched roof… There was nothing there to deter me; so many had dismissed my kind as outlandish that few took the precautions anymore. There was no line of rice or salt outside the door, there were no silver bells hanging from the windows and no moving water anywhere near the house.
“Pathetic,� I muttered to myself. The two girls looked at me curiously but I simply smiled at them and ran one long, talon-tipped finger over the lock and heard the satisfying snick as the bolt drew back.
Silently, I pushed the door open, holding it for my two little shadows and then closing it just as silently behind me. If it had just been me, I would not have even bothered with the door, but simply turned myself into ground mist or a spider to slide through the cracks. But neither of the little ones had yet mastered any sort of transformation so it had to be the door, as common as it was.
Silent as shadows, we slipped through the house, gliding up stairs as if we weighed no more than silk. At the top of the stairs I held up one, long-fingered hand and the two stopped, watching me with huge eyes.

Heroine Story Continue

~*~

I waited for a moment, straining hypersensitive ears to listen to the soft, faint breathing of the family. When all five had breathed slow, deep and even I allowed myself a moment of relaxation.
So close, I could smell all of them to an extreme that was almost uncomfortable; their skin alone was drenched in different perfumes, soaps, and colognes that did not mask their own sweat. Not from me anyway. They all slept on wood beds, a spicy, perfumed sort of wood that tickled my nose and added to the confusion, feather quilts, leather boots and soft, doe skin slippers, fur and skin all crowded my sense of smell.
“Be aware, children,� I whispered, “these people have a hundred different scents on them each… Do not breathe too deep.�
I could hear them nod and smiled.
I slipped down the hall and the two girls tip-toed after me. The green eyed girl was holding her breath and the blue eyed girl was breathing shallowly. We stood in front of a closed door that led into one of the bedrooms of the children.
I stroked the wood softly, inhaling deeply and listening to the soft movements of the sleeping child within.
“The sister,� I whispered, “Six years old and as docile as a lamb.�
I smiled a twisted smile and looked at the green-eyed child that stood next to me. She was staring hard at the door but looked up when she felt my eyes on her skin.
“This one,� I breathed, “is for you.�
She grinned and I pushed opened the door. Moonlight fell across the floor and onto the bed where a tell-tale mound indicated the little girl was indeed there.
The green-eyed girl whispered forward with steps as light as a hunting wolf, her eyes shining with feral hunger. I watched her as she held one small hand over the child’s mouth as a precaution and then bowed low over the exposed neck and then sliped inch-long fangs as pale as moonlight into the child’s throat.
I watched as the little child jerked slightly, heard her draw a breath to scream and smelled her choking fear but then the venom that the green-eyed girl had inherited from me began to take effect and the little girl-child slumped back down in her pillow.
Transferred through saliva, our venom was deadly because it brought on a sweet sort of numb that our victims could not afford. A single kiss from any of our kind would leave the strongest of warriors smiling vacantly… he would sigh softly when fangs slipped through the delicate flesh above his jugular and he would not complain once while all of his blood was tasted, swallowed, devoured.
I know this because I had done it… a kiss and they were mine.
When the child’s breath had stopped and when she lay entirely too still, my little green-eyed daughter came back, her lips a bright crimson and her eyes glowing like little green suns.
“Better?� I whispered.
She looked up at me with the sweet sleepiness of a well fed child and nodded.
I smiled down at her and looked over at the blue-eyed girl that watched quietly, when she saw that I was looking at her, she smiled and walked across the hall to the other door.
I followed her and smirked; the smell of adolescent boy was unmistakable, I nodded to her and she opened the door, padding quietly across the floor and kneeling next to the boy’s bed.

Heroine Story Continue

~*~

There was no fear in her, no wild excitement either… simply the need to eat as anyone would have. She bent over the boy’s neck, slid her hand over his mouth and plunged her own fangs into soft, warm flesh.
The boy jerked once in surprise and then fell still, sighing softly as if he had just lain down after a very long day on his feet.
I inhaled deeply, the smell of blood made my mouth water but in all packs, the pups eat first and only when they are well fed and satisfied is the mother allowed to eat.
So I waited, still and quiet as the last drop of the boy’s blood slipped, still hot, down the blue-eyed girl’s throat. She rose and hurried quietly back over to me, grinning happily. I chuckled and ran my hand over her soft, dark hair… Now it was my turn and I was ravenous.
With the two girls in tow, I padded down the hall on the balls of my feet to the room at the end of the house. Through the door I could hear the husband’s heavy snores and wife’s soft breathing, still sound asleep while their children where being murdered a few steps away.
I pushed the door open and stepped into the darkness, following my ears to the husband’s side of the bed. I stood over him for a moment, admiring his shapely jaw, the proud curve of his nose and then I fed heartily.
His blood flooded over my lips, filling my mouth with sweet, salty life. I swallowed, drinking as eagerly as any the first time I had ever fed. I swallowed the red and felt it warm my throat, pooling in my stomach thickly like wine and felt the energy the blood contained swell within me.
The man had not even woken.
I took a small measure of pride knowing that I was skilled enough to not wake my victims, even when I fed off them. I glanced over and sneered when I saw that the woman was still sleeping deeply.
Unlike my two apprentices, who were watching with white eyed appreciation, I was still hungry, even after such a meal as a grown man. With the same ease with which I had killed the husband, the wife’s life was ended with a few pulses of crimson.
Only then did the baby start to cry out softly. I turned on the crib, my appetite, a moment ago satiated, roared back to the surface; I had forgotten about the baby.
“Now,� I said softly to the two girls behind me, “You will know ambrosia.�
I walked to the crib, not bothering to move with shadowy stealth but still making very little noise. The two girls followed me, standing above the babe’s head and looking down at him curiously. Behind them a shadow sailed over the moon and darkened the room.
“Hello, my little one,� I cooed to the little boy, who stared up at me with eyes wide with terror. One thing can be said about babies; they always know when there is something dark lurking near them.
“He’s just a baby,� the green eyed girl said with a frown, “He’ll barely be a gulp each.�
“Oh, but that one gulp,� I purred, “will be like drinking the moonlight.�
I reached into the crib, my long, dark nails looking especially sharp so near such tender flesh.
I brushed a finger along the baby’s nose and cooed to him softly, taking a malicious sort of joy at his terror.

Heroine Story Contine

~*~

Then bright, white hot pain exploded in my right shoulder-blade, numbing my arm and soaking my back with black blood.
I turned, snarling like something feral and looked at my attacker.
A man stood there, his dark eyes locked on mine and a grimace of hatred and concentration twisting his face into a grotesquerie. Though when he saw my face, my dark lips pulled back from a mouth full of long, sharp teeth, the hatred and concentration dimmed to terror.
The baby started to wail and the terror vanished; once more replaced by hate; he knew exactly what we were and what we wanted. Good for him; he had still brought me pain and that meant he would have to die the slowest, most excruciating death I could imagine.
And after 900 years, my imagination was very vivid.
I would have attacked him, pressed my lips against his skin and sedated him so I could have a long, leisurely time killing him but then he raised his weapon, a wicked looking crossbow, and aimed at my green-eyed child.
If my heart still pulsed, it would have stopped.
The quarrel was released with a twitch of the man’s finger and went screaming though the air. I did the only thing I could do in such an abrupt situation.
Moving with a dancer’s grace and twirled into the path of the quarrel and cried out when it lodged itself in my throat.
No sore throat could compare; every time I tried to swallow wave after wave of pain washed through me… but I wasn’t dead and I was filled with all-consuming wrath, which made me powerful.
I wrenched the quarrel from my throat and tossed it on the ground between myself and the hunter.
“Leave now, my children,� I rasped hoarsely. To their credit they both looked like they would refuse before I said in a low, dangerous voice, “Now.�
They both crashed out the window and tumbled down the roof. I heard their feet strike the concrete and then nothing as they vanished into the shadows where they would wait for me.
The man raised his cross bow but with a jerk of my head and a flicker of thought it went flying out his hands, exploding into the wall and falling onto the heads of the dead husband and wife.
“Now we are as we were made,� I told him softly, stepping forward, “You are at my mercy and that is the way it should be.�
He did not back away but stood strong, attempting to stare me down. But I had seen worse than him… I had murdered worse than him and he did nothing to frighten me.
I imagined opening his stomach, imagined his intestines sliding over the wooden floor, staining the rugs with his blood and I smiled.
Some of what I was thinking must have gleamed through that smile, for his eyes widened slightly and he finally took one stumbling step back. But as I was stepping into reach I heard the door bang open and a handful of men rush in, worried for their neighbors.
With a snarl of rage, I threw myself out the window, massive black wings billowing from beneath my cloak. I glided down to the ground and gathered my two little apprentices.

Heroine Story Continue

~*~

They wrapped strong slender arms around me and, with deep, powerful strokes of my wings, I propelled us across the sky, over the town and into the deep, dark forest that offered sanctuary.
When I landed, the girls simply tightened their arms around me and began to cry quietly.
“Oh, oh, children,� I murmured, dropping to my knees and cradling them both, “there is no need for tears.�
“Y-y-you almost died!� the green eyed child sobbed.
“Yes,� I told her calmly, “hunters are a threat, even to us… but I am still here, aren’t I? He did not succeed and I am still here…�
That seemed to calm them and soon their sobs had trailed off into soft, sleepy sniffles and then into deep, quiet breathing.
I sat still, holding them as they slept and kept watch for a dark-eyed hunter with a crossbow and a grudge but he did not come… not then, anyway. Perhaps one day I would turn around and he would be there, a quarrel aimed at my heart and he would succeed in his mission and send me into a flame of glorious true death… but he did not come that day and it would be a long time before any mortal caught me by surprise again.

~*~

Alright! Evil, bloodsucking vamp as a hero! Fun stuff! I know that vampires are considered cliché these days but it seems to me that, if you can write a vampire who enjoys being a vampire, then more power to ya! It's just the bleeding hearts that irritate me.

Hiya! Alright so this next drabble wasdone for my creative writing class... it was only supposed to be five to six paragaphs but I got into the story and now it's six pages long. Heh heh. Yeah. Enjoy!

~*~ Envy's Heart ~*~

Princess Rose Redd stood leaning against an arched window hollow and watched as her sweet cousin exit a gleaming ivory carriage. The gaudy thing was a gilded glittering masterpiece… some ornate music box… How fitting for the little white princess, who looked so much like a delicate ballerina.
Snow White looked up at the crimson palace shyly and, even from a distance, Rose saw the younger girls pale eyes widen. The older girl’s plump scarlet twisted into a smug smirk; Redd Palace crowned the top of a steep hill that overlooked gardens filled with small labyrinths made of garnet, trees pruned to look like they were burning and constantly robed in the colors of autumn. The Palace itself was carved out of gleaming, ruby stones with great warriors flanking the doors and winged gargoyles leering down from tall, twisted parapets, long crimson fangs bared in hungry smiles.
It was a place for great warrior queens… not pampered princesses.
Rose’s cousin brushed fluttering hands over a simple white dress, sweeping back tresses of pale silver-blond falling over her shoulders in gleaming hanks. Rose felt a twist of envy and hatred inside her; her cousin was prettier than she was… Damn her stupid white head.
Self consciously, Rose brushed long, tanned hands tipped in shining red nails through the mass of crimson that curled from her head to her shoulders in wild ringlets. Rose herself was lovely in a very… red way but she knew that the wafer-thin, delicate girls were considered pretty this year.
“Probably weighs ninety pounds when she’s wet,� Rose sneered, running her hands over her curvaceous body, almost reassuring herself that she was still there.
“Who ever are we talking about?� a guttural voice spoke from somewhere around Rose’s ankles. The princess looked down and saw the monstrous hound that had curled himself around her feet. The beast looked up at her with eyes that shone like two gold coins and, like the rest of everything owned by Rose, was the color of freshly spilt blood. This great beast of a dog was aptly named Bull.
“My cousin, Princess Snow White,� Rose growled, looking away from her dog to watch the other little princess pick her way delicately up the path. Rose bristled; as if the palace was uncivilized and messy!
The hound stood on paws as large as tea saucers and stretched out, wagging the tip of his sleek, red tail. He sat heavily next to his charge and watched with her as the Snow White came primly up to the door.
“And the woman next to her?� Bull asked, looking up at Rose, though he didn’t have far to look; his head came up to a few inches above her elbow.
Rose followed the golden gaze of her dog and looked at Queen Ella. The Queen of the White was a tall, slender woman with hair as straight and as white as bone, cascading down to her hips and swaying with the most subtle movement. Even paler than her daughter, the White Queen seemed to glow beneath the pumpkin-orange sun that hung low in the hazy sky. Of course she was covered from head to heel in the palest ivory and the most delicate tracing of winter blue.

Envy's Heart Continued

~*~

“Aunt Ella,� Rose grunted, disinterested in her aunt. It was her cousin who she hated, her aunt was just a faceless enemy to hate later.
“What are they doing here?� Bull growled, so much like his mistress.
“Invading my privacy,� Rose muttered.
As dog and girl watched, the enormous black-red doors were opened and a tall, magnificent woman swathed in crimson and ebony swept out, curls of crimson flurrying behind her head in an elegant tumble. She grasped Queen Ella’s arms and the two women embraced looking like blood and snow. Rose thought her mother was the prettier of the two; with a strong jaw and a proud curl to her full lips.
Then the Red Queen turned to smile down at her young niece and Rose felt the weed of envy bloom brightly in her chest and start coiling venomously around her heart. She watched with mounting dislike as her mother embraced the tiny, white creature and dropped a kiss onto the little girls pale head.
Rose said something that she was sure would have made her mother gasp and the White Queen faint.
Then the Red Queen led the White Queen and the Pale Princess into the Red Palace and Rose swung around and pressed her back to the window, sliding down until crimson skirts puddle around her, making her look as if she was bleeding to death.
“Here for the entire holiday,� Rose muttered bitterly, “As if they couldn’t spend their Mid-Summers festival in their own kingdom.�
She sighed bitterly and felt hot, frustrated tears flood her eyes. Angry, ashamed and disgusted with herself, Rose knuckled them away ruthlessly. Tears were a weakness; the Redd Family could not abide weakness.
Bull looked down at her with his knowing yellow eyes and leaned forward, rubbing his soft, sleek muzzle against the princess’s ear and neck in comfort. Rose ran her fingers through the beast’s fur and took comfort from his warmth.
An entire weekend thinking she was second best… Rose’s teeth tightened; she would have to handle it… like she had every year for her entire life.
Rose closed her eyes, finding comfort in the darkness within her mind and began to drift through her own dreams filled with crimson.

The young girl jerked sharply, curled up on the floor, her head pillowed in one arm and her other hand laying delicately on Bull’s massive chest. At her sharp movement, the hound woke, snarling, his ridge standing up in a swath of black fur down his spine and his tail held rigid, prepared to rip anything in the room apart.
Rose smiled slightly and rubbed her fingers behind the big dogs ear.
“It’s all right, you moose,� Rose chuckled.
Bull sighed gustily and put his head back down looking around the darkening room suspiciously.
Rose sat up and groaned softly as her back protested with a series of creaking pops, sounding like an old house in a gusting wind.
“It’s what I get for sleeping on the floor,� she yawned, pushing herself to her feet and straightening out her scarlet skirts that looked black in the dimness.
Rose turned and looked out the window, searching the dark orange-brown sky for the jack o’ lantern moon. She saw it hovering just above the steeple of a church, basking the Red Palace in its Cheshire smile.
“Why do you suppose they didn’t come get us for the evening meal?� Rose asked Bull as the dog heaved himself to his feet and stretched.

Envy's Heart Continued

~*~

“Maybe they couldn’t find us?� he asked, tipping one ear forward in thought.
“I guess we would blend in with the floor, wouldn’t we?� Rose asked with a small smile.
“We would. You don’t suppose they’re worried do you?� Bull asked, not really concerned.
“With the little white princess here to fawn over?� Rose scoffed. “For the next four days we’ll be lucky to be noticed enough to be yelled at.�
Bull snorted angrily and pressed himself against Rose’s leg, it was a moment before he said, “I’ll always remember you’re here.�
The young, red princess smiled a little sadly at that and patted Bull’s massive head.
“Let’s get something to eat and then head to a real bed for some sleep,� Rose said and crossed the dark ruby room in a whisper of crimson skirts.
The princess and her constant canine companion whispered through the darkened Redd Palace until the found the kitchens. There Rose hunted for scraps of dinner without waking a soul, despite the fact that one of the fire maids had fallen asleep on her post. With out her administrations, the fire that should have constantly roared in the hearth was nothing more than a bed of glowing, ruby coals.
Rose made herself a cold chicken sandwich and gave Bull two whole rabbits, which he ate with much slobbering and crunching. Blood spilled down his chin and chest, pooling on the kitchen floor and darkening his already dark fur. Rose thought he looked rather nice with blood on his lips and imagined it to be her cousin’s precious blood.
Though it’s more likely her blood is white rather than red, Rose thought and giggled.
When the two had fed on kitchen scraps, a fact that both of them laughed bitterly at, they returned to Rose’s massive bedchamber and in silence and in darkness, Rose slipped from her voluminous gown to a simple nightgown.
Bull settled down at the foot of Rose’s bed, spreading across the many blankets and sheets that crowded the goose-down mattress. He was long enough to have his front paws dangling off the edge and his tail waving over the other side.
Rose herself snuggled beneath the blankets, throwing her head against the mountain of down pillows and letting the darkness spread over her again, a comforting cloak of sleep and perhaps in her dreams she would be the favored child instead of Snow White.
The sun was high in the sky when Rose awoke the next morning. She opened her eyes to crimson darkness and stared up at the silk underside of her canopy bed, admiring the ripples the wind made over the thin silk.
Bull looked away from the window where he had been gazing thoughtfully and wagged his tail when he saw that Rose was awake. As if he was a puppy much smaller than he really was, Bull trotted from his post at the end of the bed and flopped heavily down near Rose, throwing himself into her side with bruising force and smiling a doggy smile at her. The young princess had her breath knocked out of her and she started laughing before she even got it back.
“Alright, alright,� Rose groaned, still laughing, “We’ll go out.�
She dressed simply and, after tying it back in a black silk ribbon, ignored her red curls expertly… it came from years of practice, she told Bull as they walked through the red corridors, Rose munching on hot toast that she had stolen from the breakfast table and tossing the crusts to Bull, who caught them in long, snapping jaws line with ivory teeth.

Envy's Heart Continued

~*~

They entered the sloping, emerald lawns on the royal gardens and Bull bounded off, Rose following at a dreamy pace. The big dog never strayed far, too protective of his princess to leave her side for very long.
Surrounded by flowers opening shyly to the suns tender light, Rose felt a semblance of peace and dismissed her cousin for the time being. There was no point in letting a pale little waif ruin such a glorious day. Besides, the weekend would be over soon, if Rose was very clever, she could avoid seeing her little cousin altogether.
“Rose!�
The voice was just as pale and delicate as the girl herself. The Red Princess felt her spin stiffen and her lips firm together in a disapproving line. She turned and looked on the delicate girl-child gliding towards her, looking as sweet and as pretty as a snowflake.
“Not as clever as I had hoped I was,� Rose muttered to herself.
“Hello, Cousin Rose!� Snow White said sweetly, “Isn’t it wonderful that we get to spend the weekend together?�
“Thrilling.�
Rose looked down at her cousin’s smiling face and curled her lip in a sneer then turned away. She made no secret of her contempt for the White Court and yet Snow continued to bother her.
Without looking to see if the younger princess followed, Rose continued on, following the path of broken and bent grass that Bull had left in his wake.
“Where are we going?� Snow asked, trotting to keep up with the taller girl.
“I’m following my dog,� Rose said, rolling her eyes, “I have no idea what you’re doing.�
“Following you!� Snow chirped. Rose pressed her lips together.
The two princesses walked around the gardens, Snow talking insistently, Rose responding with a noncommittal grunt now and again, trying to convey disinterest and boredom… Obviously the little white princess had a thick skull, because no matter how brusque Rose was, she continued to chatter away.
Her skull is the only thick thing she has, Rose thought, feeling a headache begin behind her eyes.
When Snow finally fell silent Rose looked around to see what miracle had caused the younger girl to shut her trap. The younger princess had fallen behind and was peering curiously at something a young lord was holding. Rose watched as the knight grinned at the little princess and held something up to her. Whatever it was caught the light and spun it out in a hundred different directions in a hundred different colors.
Unimpressed, Rose continued on, walking into the dim, red interior of the palace and with Bull walking beside her. Done with the outside world, Rose locked herself in her room and lost herself in her daydreams, staring over the shining city and into the land beyond without moving for hours.
The only clue that any time passed was the slow shift of red shadows over the walls. At one point a timid knock came from her door. With nothing more than annoyed glance, Rose ignored the intruder and soon they walked away, sure that no one could be so rude.
Rose smirked.
In her darkness and solitude was where Rose spent the day, lost in a wonderland of her own design and only when the church tolled midnight did she realize that she was hungry.