A/N: Warning! Dominating sexyness ahead!
He stood, silently watching her dance.
The ignorant Prospero moved his darling lady to the music. The Red Death saw obviously that she was in a daze of worry as she was made to dance with Victor. She was only worried about how himself would appear, when The Red Death would come and what form. Would he scare everyone, would he make a scene, would he sneak through the window into her room at night? He could almost hear her thoughts. He smiled realizing she was starting to fear a darker, sinister sexual aspect of him.
He was not a burglar who wouldn't hesitate with vulgar actions. Yes, he would try some things…but it was all in the plan to excite her and make her mind stronger. Then when the time is right, he would experience consensual acceptance and her love. He was confident she would fall. But he would be satisfied if she was harder to get.
The music went to a slow one, the dancers already knowing that their Prince would make a move on her. It did not matter if she was disgusted with him. She would be kissed anyways. The Red Death in the shadows only hoped that he would not succeed in forcing her to bed in the coming years.
But if he tried, he would persecute those who offended his lady.
The skull faced man sighed. No more was the world filled with honest women and honorable women. No one respected each other, no one trusted, no one loved, and no one cared. All of the land, in his opinion, had turned to scum and dirt. The powder on their faces hid the slime coating their disgusting wretched souls.
At least Virginia was blessed with beauty and wisdom. The only other with a pitiful amount of intelligence was her foster brother, but he was weak and not strong enough to rebel and change. His heart was soft and pliable and filled with too much goodwill to get anything done to clean up the swamp of government. He, the man thought, shall be dead tonight.
The music took an ending, cueing The Red Death to turn and watch what would happen. As expected, Victor pulled her in for a deep kiss as the crowd clapped. Her eyes were wide with fear and disgust…but they got even wider as they locked with his own. He glared, watching his arrogant rival claim his beauty's mouth. He imagined it certainly must be wretched.
Victor beamed with a smirk as he let go, but Virginia was still staring. Her jaw had dropped and looked at Victor, biting her lip.
"Anything wrong, my dear?" Victor indignantly replied.
"Yes. You! And The Red Death!" She hissed. Immediately she pushed him away and took off running to the nearest exit.
The guests were left behind chattering and laughing, and resumed their dance. What did they care? They'd rather have conversations about themselves and didn't have time to worry about the wild woman!
Victor was left standing there, before he decided to follow her. No one had the right to push away his fine lips!
Virginia ran trough the gate, holding her blue dress up so she wouldn't trip. Her panicking made her run through the maze, going actually further and further away form the part and the nearest manor homes. The only illumination now was the bright full moon, making the hedge leaves gleam and the occasional bird bath brighten with moonlight.
Finally she stopped and sat down on a stone bench. Her heart was racing wildly as she settled down her nerves and heart. The funky blue hat was bothering her and she threw it off to the cobblestones. Her hands nervously clutched the ruffles on her dress. She was determined not to be afraid of him. She was determined to be a strong, capable woman of power.
The bushes rustled from where she had come. She stiffened and prepared to face that face she saw so often in her nightmares. But instead, it was of her brother Henry, worried and rushing over to her side.
"I saw what the prince…did to you. I didn't know it was rather rude or anything…" He bent down to his knees and held her hands.
"It is rude. I hate him! And he wants to do what he wants with me! Well I won't let him…and I, won't let The Red Death come…again." Said Virginia. There was a tear in her eye from the frustration. She was close to spitting out the foul taste of Victor's breath.
"The Red Death isn't here. He won't come, we will find a cure very soon…" Henry whispered as he wiped away her tear.
"No, he really is coming, he said he would. He's going to kill someone, maybe you if you don't get away. He won't take me with him, I know it…but he'll be here, he'll do something to me, he'll touch me…" she thought she was impervious to it all, but she was still not strong enough to not panic slightly as she said this. A woman has strong intuitions. And she felt that something was going to happen that would not only horrify her but make her very uncomfortable.
Henry couldn't say anything. He didn't know if he could cheer her up enough. But certainly he knew that there was something watching him.
There were cool, soft steps of some one with fine shoes coming into the circle of cobblestones where they were.
Henry immediately pulled out his flint-lock pistol from his sash and stood up, cocking it and aiming it at The Red Death. There was the determination of a General's son in his eye. Henry was not without military training and the will to protect his sister who sat watching behind him.
"Get away from her. If you want her, you will have to go through this bullet." Henry said. His kind sensitive self as put away for the moment and a determined strong man was talking with the gun.
The Red Death was wearing fine dressy dance clothing, his cape this time only a sash draped over his arm. His hair was beautifully braided and tied with a golden ribbon. He was dressed like a crown, an elegant man who was the glitter of ruby and gold.
"I do indeed want her, but I will not come to her unless her predicament demands comforting and adorations of the one who loves her. But for now, I have no need to come closer till your weapon is disposed and so are you." The familiar melodious voice of dreams said. The Red Death still had not lost his touch in his cold statements of facts. Virginia felt like she could have swooned hearing his voice in the flesh instead of the apparitions in dreams.
"You do not need to comfort her. Already you distress her enough and murder hundreds each day. Go, begone you fiend! Or I shall shoot and wound you." His teeth were clenched in the iron will to shoot him.
"No mortal bullet will hinder my power. There is strength in my blood and my body that enhances my will. I shall not die from these simple means." He said. He raised his gloved hand and his fingers appeared to crush something in the air.
Virginia, almost shaking, watched as Henry's gun was crushed and dropped to the ground. Henry backed away and watched as The Red Death was taking steps forward towards them.
Henry readied his fists. Virginia got up from the bench and moved away.
The Red Death raised his hand ready to block any blow at him as he approached Henry. Now he stood only a few feet away.
"Virginia…will you come with me?" The Red Death said as he turned his head to her.
"Never." Virginia breathed.
"You know the consequences. This is final." He said again in the same tone.
Virginia would never let herself be in his power. All her life she was only concerned about herself. Herself, for there was two men after her. She was so worried and afraid that she could hardly care that the world was dying around her, that a person would be sacrificed for her sake and die for her. She knew she was going to be used for something terrible, but being with The Red Death now was not what he wished.
But her loving devoted brother was being killed.
Tears came freely from her eyes as Henry attempted to punch at The Red Death. But he was overpowered, and The Red Death easily blocked his fists and grasped his wrist. Immediately, a red mist coursed from his sleeve and went to smother Henry's body. Henry's face turned to terror as he started choking, making a gurgling sound as his skin started breaking out in blood seeping through his skin. Henry fell to the ground, dead as he hit the stones.
Virginia could have screamed. The only person she trusted in the entire world she had left to senselessly die. This was not love, nor life, but she didn't know if it was truly the right thing to do. Having him die was something…terrible. It was a terrible loss for her down the road, because now she was all alone.
Guilt for her sin caused her to fall to her knees. Now she was sure se wasn't as strong as she wanted to be, for The Red Death. No way in her mind she could feel good and well, no way would she show that she was the weaker one. Sorrow and grieving however was a powerful emotion, and with this it gripped her and she couldn't at all process anything that would tell her to get up and run. It was only telling her that she should cry over her brother's body.
The Red Death looked down at her, watching as she wiped her face of the tears. Standing up, she glared at him with anger and hate, slowly making her way towards him.
"There are ways to avoid such disasters. If only you'd end this misery. I could give you everything you want and wished for." He spoke.
"You have given me nothing but pain. You have made me hide within myself and left me all alone in the world. I cannot be able to trust you. Your manner is that of a heartless gentleman, in love with me but you wish to destroy." Virginia said. Her throat was getting dry with frustration and grief.
"I am not destroying. I am cleansing the land, making the world a place for us. I do love you, Virginia; I love you and would never hurt you. You are only becoming stronger through your wild emotions." Said The Red Death. As he spoke, his hands were reaching towards her.
She backed away with a sharp movement and raised her arms, in a small attempt to protect herself. His calculating eyes never flinched as he stretched his arms out more to her.
Virginia responded by punching his face.
He backed up a bit, his mask unmoved as he returned his arms to his back, holding them there and tilting his head in mock amusement. Virginia's hand was hurt from the hitting the heavy mask, and she backed up some more holding it while gritting her teeth.
"If you touch me, I'll fight unlike what I did last time. I'm not a little girl anymore. I won't let you even near me!" She hissed. "I know what you want. I know, no matter how much of a gentleman you are you still look upon me with lust. Everyone does that to me."
"I cannot deny it." He said. Virginia paled, surprised how bold he would admit it. "I am an honest being and I truly love you, body and soul. Your eyes are as blue as the heaven's sky, hour hair as golden as the warm sun, and your skin glows with the luminous blush of a rose. The rose is the most perfect flower…"
"Your flattery will not help your case. I hate you." She turned her back and stamped her feet.
"It is how I wanted to show my love for you. I thought perhaps you would be delighted by traditional court flattery. But it appears you are not fond of the corrupt government's way of love and vanity."
Virginia stiffened and started walking away.
"I want to talk to you." He said. She quickened her pace to the labyrinth gate.
But she didn't make it, for The Red Death apparently was right behind her and pulled her against his chest. She was swept off her feet as he grasped her possessively and suddenly by the waist and collarbone.
She started to breathe faster and was squealing, his boney hands holding her against him. She felt his hot breath in her hair as she struggled. It was most certainly a terrible surprise. She was trapped within his arms. She had been in this situation before, against a wall when she was 14 but…being held n such a possessive grip was making her panic even worse than before.
"You lips…should have been mine." The Red Death hissed in his ear as his mouth started kissing her temple and face. The thought occurred to her, as she yelped and tried to move her head away, that he was jealous of Victor. Especially of Victor's disgusting kiss.
"They were never yours! They're mine!" She said in a feeble attempt at defiance.
His grip went to her chin pulling her head back to face him.
"Then I shall claim them myself." His eyes were red, glowing fiercely enough to make any woman quake. He closed them, and she saw he painted the eyelids and the area around it with black paint to give mo illusion that his head was of a skull.
That was when he kissed her.
His breath was very hot and tasted of blood. His tongue slipped with ease inside her parted mouth, exploring with a hungry passion.
She had the plan as soon as he kissed her that she would bite that evil tongue of his, but now that it was doing pleasurable and gentle sweeps inside she was perplexed and limp. It was so shocking, the strange sensations that she became immobilized and curious. She kept staring at his contorting features as he kissed and tried coaxing her tongue to explore with him, but it wasn't really working. She was too shocked, and he pulled away and started to ravish her neck.
She blinked a few times and let out a disgruntled moan as she came to her senses. Her senses were now telling her that he was kissing licking, purring and groaning as he gently chewed and bit her bare left shoulder and neck. She didn't think that a regular man would do this. However when he made a nip, a cut from his teeth on her neck she cried out in the jolt of pain and did not want him at her neck any more.
"Get off! Now!" She demanded and started pushing on his chest, trying to get him off. His grip on her back and her rear, holding her up, became stronger. His hands became busy massaging her neck as he sucked at her skin, sounding like a strange creature of the nighttime.
"Your blood is so sweet…" He groaned. "I have little time to enjoy your beauty, and soon, I must leave till the coming years will end." He purred and gave on last lick up her throat to her chin. She shivered and breathed harder.
"You told me once y-you were such a gentleman. Yet now, n-now you attempt to molest me." She stammered and stared with renewed fear and experiences.
"I did not attempt to. A fit of jealously blinded me, and it has been ages since I last caressed your radiant flesh. Soon, perhaps you will welcome my advances." He purred and gave a slight smile.
"Welcome them? You who, who just kissed me and a-and bit me and did other strange things…to me? Never. I will never love a beast who does this to me." She gulped and started calming down a bit, though she was still held tightly in his arms.
"We shall see how much of a mortal you are." He purred again, and let her go. Virginia stumbled slightly, backing away and leaned against a hedge, watching him as he tipped his hat and pulled out a rose from his jacket.
"For you my beloved. A token of my love." He bowed slightly and steadily moved towards her, placing the rose between the patch of blue asters in her hair. She let him, wishing he would just leave her forever, and leave this land and the destruction he caused behind.
He turned and with the air of a debonair, walked into the rest of the maze, disappearing in the hedges.
Virginia slowly in a daze made her way to the stone bench, sitting down and rubbing her neck. It was wet from his salvia and she felt the small bruise and cut from where he had bitten her. Such vicious bloody behavior was not welcome at all, nor was it a part of traditional courtship, biting while necking. Even the fact that his mouth was on her was even more disgusting than imagining Victor doing that!
It was all barbaric, against her will, and showed how desperate The Red Death was for her. He was in love…and lust. She would have to be even stronger to keep him away. She would have too…for on her 18th birthday he would come again, and this time take her by force instead of letting her go.
She feared him even more. Now, now she hoped that she would be able to learn and understand. Now she was sure that she would be wittier, smarter, and braver against a foe of obvious learned techniques, intelligence, knowledge and wit. He was also power hungry, selfish, obsessed and had the possibility that he was a good man once, if he ever was a man at least. He looked like one, had some mannerisms of a human, but certainly didn't always act like one. He could be a demonic apparition, or possibly like he said to the people that fled him that he was, indeed, a god. The God of Blood, as was his other name besides The Plague, Red Fiend, Blood Demon, and The Red Death.
Now there was nothing left but to become a powerful woman. No more would she be kept silent under the rule of Victor. She would speak up and learn, she would be a powerful politician and the savior of her empire!
That was her hope and reason. She must move on and not think of the past, for it had blinded her and made her into a weak, submissive young woman. No more, she vowed in her head, would she weaken at a kiss! No more would she follow Victor's orders exactly, or wear what victor told her to wear. She would take part in the court, she would study and observe, she would know who she was marrying, who was The Red Death, and how to find a force to kill him. She doubted there was any cure to the disease, there was only powerful herbs and spells to help cure the not so wounded. Those just barely touched, with proper medical help, survived. Those given larger doses of the red mist and the disease invisible to the eye were not able to be saved without themselves causing their beak doctors to die with them.
There had been so little research for medicine and science, she thought. Now that the world needed studies in antibiotics, pills and such they were behind. Now that she thought about her history classes with the tutors, they mention that there was a time many, many decades ago that the last king had shut down the Academy of the Sciences, Chemistry and Healing. All that was left of knowledge was left to the universities of literature, alchemy, religion and arithmetic. There appeared no apparent need to delve into the controversial mysteries of blood, disease and analyzing liquids. Now all the healing was done with prayers and herbs.
It was a sad state of affairs.
Sighing, she fingered her gloved hand and pulled it off. There was her hand with The Red Death's ring, glowing faintly. It was a gift from his last visit. And now the rose that was in her hair, a deep beautiful red like blood. Gifts and treasures from an evil man who only wanted her, nothing else besides the bath of blood he bathed in, in his quest to murder the world.
Victor soon stumbled out of the bushes. Obviously, he got lost in the maze and now found her. He also found Henry, who was dead in a pool of blood near the seated depressed Virginia.
She took no notice as he helped her back and the butlers came to take care of Henry's body. She was in a daze of frustration and iron will. She had no thought of Victor tugging her by the arm to her room, nor of her distraught mother wailing in her own bedroom down the hall. Henry the innocent was dead, the entire world would be dead soon and now, she felt dead.
The world was truly unfair to her today.
A/N: Things are getting really tough now…We can only hope the world won't end that quickly!
Shoys.