AN: If you feel like you've seen this story somewhere before, you may be right. I've posted it on ao3 and Wattpad, too so this is kind of a "reupload". I might forget to add the chapters here, so I'll link the "original" below.

10:00 P.M.

You heard the ringing of Big Ben and smiled slightly. Because you couldn't fit your pocket watch into the cheap and dirty dress you wore for work, you had to count on the bell in the north tower so you didn't miss your meeting. Since you were working at the small but important hotel in central London, you knew when the few guests would be coming back to their rooms after they had too many drinks and very important business meetings. You also knew that the other servants would be sleeping by now because you were on night shift since you started working as a maid which they were very thankful of. They trusted you because of your "cute smile" and "kind appearance". Fools. They were all fooled by your friendly little mask. Nobody of them assumed that you were only playing with them like you were playing chess. All of them were your little figures and you were about to make your last move to checkmate the white king.

Your white king was an important salesman who pissed your customer off pretty badly. He wanted to marry your customers's daughter, but your customer had other plans - so he had to get rid of him before his daughter could do something dumb and rebellious. His daughter kind of reminded you of yourself when you were younger. Once you were rebellious, too. This was until your father tied you to a tree in a stormy night and punched you with a bible before he let you stay outside until the morning. You still got a small scar on your cheek from the edge of the bible that reminded you of that day every time you saw it in the mirror. No, Stephen Morgenstern was not a loving father, he was more like a teacher. He never said that he loved you, his only daughter, and he told you that love was only a distraction.

With a quick shake of your head you brushed those memories off. You had to concentrate on your job now. About five minutes after you heard the ringing of the Big Ben you were able to hear some footsteps coming towards you. You were hiding in the room next to your victim's, waiting for him to stumble into his room.

Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, tap. Tap, crash.

He stopped next to the door of his hotel room and pushed the vase over so it fell down in the hallway, making a huge mess of shards, water and white roses. This was not planned, but you were going to to make the best out of the situation, so you stepped out of your hideout. "Oh dear. What happened, Mister Pomeroy? Are you hurt?", you said, faux-worried. Mister Pomeroy lifted his gaze from the shards on the ground and gave you a drunk smile. "I think it fell down by itself.", he answered you and giggled. You simply shook your head and took his key. "I'll have to clean this up now in the dark, but first I have to be sure that you are alright ."

"How sweet of you to insist on taking care of an old man.", Mister Pomeroy answered. You were able to hear his perverted grin in his voice and it made you shiver with disgust. Oh hell, you just wanted to get this done. Quickly.

Mister Pomeroy somehow managed to open his door and held it open to you like the gentleman he never was. You stepped in and the door was shut in the second you were inside the room. Your victim slowly walked to his bed and opened his tie as you turned around and smiled like he was the most attractive man you ever saw. He wasn't . "I think I should bring you to bed, what poor service would I offer if I wasn't able to make sure our guests are all satisfied?", you said in your most seductive voice and your hand slowly slid in the pocket of your dress. You grabbed the small bottle that was inside and placed yourself on Mister Pomeroy's lap. He stared at your breasts, which were directly in front of his face. The poor man was so distracted from your deep neckline, he did not notice the bottle in your hand or that you opened it. "I managed to steal whiskey from our private collection, do you want to taste it?", you whispered in his ear and he put his head back and opened his mouth willingly.

The small bottle of poison was technically enough to kill three men but it was quicker with a higher dose. You had mixed some cheap whiskey with the belladonna extract so it would be hard to smell the poison. Slowly and with the first honest smile of the day you poured the liquid into Mister Pomeroys mouth. He swallowed it and began coughing only seconds after.

His grey eyes stared at you in the dimmed light of the few candles that were lit in the hotel room - they were filled with panic and fear. He seemed to realize that the loss of air was caused by the liquid he just swallowed. "You... YOU!", he coughed again, "You are this damn witch!"

You knew what he meant with 'this damn witch'. He meant all of the murders with belladonna poison, which was kind of your trademark. Afterwards you always took a small, but important thing from your victim and placed a single red rose on the dead body. You were a killer, but you did not want to be cruel or unrespectful.

Mister Pomeroys eyes were still fixed on you and you simply nodded while you were able to see the light in his eyes fade. Seconds later, he didn't breathe anymore. Your victim, Augustus Sean Pomeroy, was dead.

If he was a bit lighter you would not have needed so much time to prepare him. You laid him in his bed, re-did his tie and placed a rose on his chest, then you took his pocket watch. There was a small photography of him and his family in it, so you thought it would be "small but important". With a smile you whispered "ave atque value" - it meant "hail and farewell". You once thought this would fit because you did not know the people you murdered enough to find the right words.

After you cleaned up the mess in the hallway, you left the hotel, dressed in your simple brown cotton dress with the pocket watch in one pocket and a shoulder-length black wig. Nobody would have been able to tell that you were the youngest member of the Morgenstern family and the silent killer everybody just called"Black Rose".

Original: /works/14187336/chapters/32702658