Ella in blood
"Come on Ella, pick up the work pace, you have something to do and it needs to be done tonight. The party is the place, trust me, I've been in this business for years." She's said that so many times I could have quoted her on it. I wipe my hands on my dirty rags, swiping my hair out of my face. She considers this a mix between payment and training, teaching me patience; giving me muscle and paying for all other types of training because she knows I'm poor as dirt. I wouldn't do this by choice but I have nowhere else to go, since my dad was killed. She did it. My step-mum. The one telling me to get a move on. I know she did it because I heard her talking to my step-sisters about it. She says she would have told me eventually, but she needed his money. So now all of our money and our beautiful manor house belong to her and unless i want to be turned out of it to grovel on the streets, I'll do as she says. But she's not content with being lady of the wealthiest house in the city. She's got higher aims. Which is the only reason I'm allowed to go to this damned party in the first place.
Finished cleaning the floor, my last chore before I'm allowed to get ready, I put my scrub brush down and speak up as she turns away
"I still don't understand why I can't come with you; it would be so much easier that way."
She turns back, peering down her nose at me and replying as if it's the most obvious thing in the world:
"We can't be seen together, and if you get caught I'm denying I know you. Be quick, be clean, get in and get out." And then walks off. Sigh. I won't get caught. I don't get caught. You taught me well. Leaving the bucket by the stairs, I rush to my room. I avoid my sisters as they compare outfits in their room, especially since they don't know I'm going. They don't know what I do. I make sure I put on my flashiest dress- white and silver that glimmers like frost in torch light. Making my blonde hair fancy and up in a braid, lining my blue eyes and darkening my lips with lipstick the colour of blood. My silver accessories glint in the artificial light, the gems in them sparkling and daring me to show them. But I keep them hidden, though knowing they're there is a huge relief, considering... well, considering what I will use them for. I see lights flash up the driveway, followed by a shadow of a limo that the rest of my family climb into. I'm probably going to be late. Oh well. I grab my bag, almost falling down the stairs in my silver heels, so sparkly they look like glass. I call for the other car, not as fancy as the limo (much sportier, though I'm not sure what it's called) and arrive at the party a fashionable ten minutes late. Of course everyone turns to look at me as I enter the room, especially the prince. I catch his hungry gaze and feed him my alluring smile, which compels him to offer me the next dance. We dance for hours and hours, drinking and dancing and drinking some more until we are practically tripping over each other. Well, I act the part well enough but he is definitely drunk and stupid. What an easy target. Then the clock strikes midnight and I run. Out the doors, down the path and to the most secluded part of the vast gardens. I only realise I've lost one of my shoes when I step on the wet grass and feel the moisture on my skin. I wait a minute or two and, as I knew he would, he comes half stumbling down the path behind me. He clutches my shoe in his hand, slurring
"You left your ssssshoe on the sstep. Bit da-dangerous that... Someone could- could fall over it." I smirk and kick off the other shoe, drawing my gemmed daggers out of their concealment. Best accessories ever, in my line of work. My mouth twists into a mean grin. Feral, dangerous, animalistic. He looks oddly sober when he starts backing away.
"Who are you? What are you doing?" his voice is high and trembling with fear. I stalk him like a hunter marking her prey, my body automatically matching his pace and getting ready to pounce.
"I am Cinderella, Slayer of the South and I am just about to earn my eternal freedom." He doesn't even have time to scream before my dagger plunges into his chest at just the right angle to pierce his heart. Hot, dark blood sprays over my dress. I watch, mesmerised as it oozes over my hand, wet and sticky. He chokes and seconds later, slumps lifelessly to the floor. Shouts in the distance. I yank my dagger back and run again. All the way home. -They find me two days later, as I am walking down the street after getting my last lot of the weekly shopping. The guards seize me from behind, making me drop the bags I am holding. They drag me into the empty street behind the house and try to put me in a police car. I fight back, but I am no match for ten well-armed and well-prepared men when I have been so caught off guard. But they are no match for her. She comes from thin air, like a fairy godmother at the sound of my snarls and curses. She cuts them down like they are a field of wheat and she has the scythe. She clicks me out of the cuffs, holds me by the shoulders and stares into my eyes as I breathe deeply.
"You have earned your freedom. We will take the castle and you can go free. I have contacted your mother. There is a bag packed and plane tickets on your bed. Go and get them. Leave and never look back. Fly free my dangerous little assassin and i hope you remember me well." I smile and for the first time in my life... I am free.