The darkness in the room was not only because of the shades covering the windows, but also because of the evil in the room. The room was one long hallway that ran down to a throne, which had red cushions to help the sitter from the uncomfortable wooden seat.

Three men stood silent by the women sitting on the throne. They were dressed in all black, even their heads were covered so that only their eyes, nose, and lips were visible from their whole body. On their hips were swords that were angled at the tips in order to bring more pain when they stabbed someone. In front of the woman a man was kneeling to the ground.

"Milady. The girls seem to be more onto our plan."

The woman sitting wasn't completely there. You could see exactly through her. Her transparent eyes narrowed. "Insolent fool. That is because of your carelessness. If you weren't so important for this plan to work, you would be dead right now."

"I beg your…"

"Beg?" She raised an eyebrow. "Real men don't beg. Don't disgust me with your begging. I am not completely in this world. If the last step gets interrupted in away it will be your hand I feed to the dogs."

The man shuddered. The dogs- once they had a part of their prey would never stop hunting it until they devoured it completely. He would be one the run from enchanted, starving, vicious dogs that would rip his body to shreds.

She looked nonchalantly as another man walked into the room. She turned to him. "Your late. I have another assignment for you." She turned back to man kneeling. "Go. I have no more need of you now. I will have someone fetch you when I need you again." Her eyes narrowed again. "If you do so much as bat an eyelash the wrong way…say goodbye to your hand." She laughed as the man sulked away with shivers running down his back. Her laugh alone was enough to give a man nightmares.

"As always, you are so dreadfully evil." The man laughed, the same sounding laugh as the women

The women flicked her wrist and the three men slid into the shadows, they were off on their own mission.

"I found another wrench for you. She thought that we would help her poor sick mother."

One of the men came back into the room. He was pulling a young women no more than sixteen years old. Her tattered brown hair hung over her face. She made no move to struggle, she hung limp in the mans arms. Her dress was ripped and shredded in many places.

The women on the throne was speaking again. "Her father is dead and her brothers are off in the army. No one will miss her. You can have your way with her."

"Your plans are going well?" He paid no attention to the young girl.

"Of course. All I need is a freshly killed body and someone to give a little of their blood and I will be back." Her eyes gleamed as the thought of how close she was. Five years. Five years since they had first awoken her. She was going to first kill those annoying girls and finally have the kingdom to herself. Marrying the Prince didn't seem like a bad idea either. She found herself lost in her lustfully thoughts again.

The mans voice brought her back to the present. "Little of their blood?"

She grinned. For any normal person it was hearing nails down a chalk board. "That is all they need to know. Damn it, I am fading again. Go. Tell the king to begin. He will know what you mean."

The man waited until the woman faded out of sight. He turned to the man in black. "Take her to my room and send a servant up to clean her and to get her in appropriate dress."

The man in black grinned and snuck out of the room.

The other man walked out of another door to tell the king to begin.

The young girl felt confused as she awaked. She was in a huge room, the walls were painted black and the sheets on the bed were black too. She was wearing a dark green dress. She felt it. It was made of silk. Never before had she ever seen this type of fabric, let alone wear it. A noise started her and she looked up. In front of her stood a young man. His black hair fell into his face, giving him a dark and mysterious look. His eyes were green and narrowed. He wore a tight black shirt and loose black pants. A pistol hung on his right side and a angled sword on his left hip.

"You are awake." He looked at her nonchalantly as he walked over to a black desk that was set in the corner of the room.

"Who are you?" She was terrifed. Why was she here? Where was here? The last thing that she remembered was the nice man promising to bring her to a special healer he knew…then the red haired woman with green eyes. "Are you the healer they promised me?"

She was startled when he laughed harshly. "That would be the women that we are trying to bring back from the grave. She is my mother."

He laughed even harder when she was silent. He turned back to look at her. Now that she was cleaned and dressed nicely, she actually was quite pretty. Her eyes were surprisingly black and her brown hair flowed down her back, framing her face. She was quite thin.

"Relax, you don't need to fear her. You just need to fear me. Right now I am your worst nightmare." He turned back to the desk. "Your name?"

"What?" She managed to squeak something out.

He moved surprisingly fast. Suddenly he was not only standing in from of her but slapping her face so hard she fell to the ground.

His voice was chillingly cold. "I will never repeat myself. You listen to what I say when I say it the first time. Got that?" He kicked her and she doubled over in pain. He walked back over to the desk. "Now. Your name?"

"Marissa Smith." She chocked out.

"Sit up. Women aren't appealing lying on the dirty floor."

She began to sit up. He walked back over to her and kicked her down.

"Not quick enough."

She painfully sat up on the floor. She turned and looked at him.

He was growling as he slapped her again. 'You will never look at me straight in the eye."

She pushed herself up onto the chair she had been sitting on.

"Good, You are learning the rules quickly." He was smug as he began to walk back to the desk. He turned quickly when he heard the dress fabric move.

He caught her as she fell.

Horror filled her face. "I….sorry." was all she sputtered out as she quickly pulled herself back to a sitting position. She hung her face, ready for another slap.

"Are you hungry?" With kindness he didn't know he ordered some food for her.

"Thank you." And with that she began to silently cry.

He walked back and turned to work on paperwork while he waited for the food to come. Somehow her heart wrench cries hit him and he couldn't focus.

THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR REVIEWS! THEY HELP KEEP ME PUSHING TO WRITE MORE CHAPTERS. HOPEFULLY YOU LIKE THIS ONE JUST AS MUCH AS THE OTHERS :)