The Blood Rose Lady

Maebh always knew that she's special.

She knew that there is a stronger power that lies deep inside her, hidden for many years. She also knew that this unimaginable power had been waiting to be unleashed at the right time and at the right place and at the right moment. She glanced at Ludwig, who was patiently and perfectly pretending to be nice with the Mullins' niece, Allyssa Mullin.

'Such a rubbish name,' Maebh mused. Ludwig waved at her and she waved back. Allyssa waved back as well. When the latter wasn't looking, she rolled her eyes and touched the locket between her growing breasts. It was the gift from Ludwig yesterday when she blew out the candles of her cake for her twelfth birthday.

It was also yesterday that they had their first kiss. It may be too young for others but not for her. Age is just a number. It was never a hindrance. She liked being his girl. Though the fact that she had the life she had been dreaming of, despite the fact that she's now a Mullin and has a very supporting boyfriend, Maebh still felt as if something lacked inside her as if a missing piece inside her was longing to be found.

She glanced at herself on the back of her comb that has a lustrous mirror and smiled.

Perfection is not a goal. It is a habit. A habit that had been a part of herself, branded into her entire being by someone she doesn't know-or yet to know. Perhaps it was the woman who gave birth to her. Maybe it was the man who gave life to her in her mother's womb. She's not sure. But whoever it is, she's thankful. Maebh was grateful to them for possessing the powers that other twelve-year-old girls like her don't have.

She knew there's a raging power, some sort of magic or supernatural force, hidden inside her. Waiting to be opened, unleashed. Waiting for her command to be unchained.

She was the lock and the key, the cage and the door to her powers-that secret magic that had been with her ever since her birth.

And all Maebh has to do is to give it permission to be shown. Which is exactly why she had begged Ludwig to befriend Allyssa. A good old pig is best roasted when pampered and given enough attention. It was said by one of the late cooks in this manor when she was celebrating her tenth birthday.

And so she will not waste time. When there's a lock, there's a key. And when there's a key, it means someone must turn the key.

And since she's the lock and the cage, that young, dumb, and so-called beautiful Allyssa Mullin shall be the one to turn the key with her own hands.

***

"Why are you so ugly?" Maebh asked Allyssa with a subtle smirk on her face.

"Am I what?!" The girl frowned.

"I asked you why you are so fat and destitute-looking, Allyssa.."

The girl released a maniacal laugh inside her boudoir. "A question asked by the adopted orphan herself..." She stated in a mocking, insulting tone.

"I may be an orphan but at least I'm beautiful and lovely. Young and attractive to anyone's eyes," said Maebh with a chin held high.

Allyssa slammed the comb on the wooden table and faced Maebh. "I may be ugly in your eyes, but at least to you only. Ludwig says I'm the prettiest gi-"

"Ludwig is my boyfriend and lover!" She wholly and proudly declared to the sixteen-year-old niece of the Mullin family.

Allyssa just glared at her and clicked her tongue. "You've been hallucinating aren't you? Or perhaps you've been indulging in weed delight at such a young, young age."

She sauntered towards her and Maebh just pretended to step back, as if she's weak and meek and can easily be crushed.

"No one will love you, Maebh. Your parents abandoned you. And that boy Ludwig..." She hoisted her two hands in the air. "It's either he's dumb for choosing you over me or that you're lying you bitch!"

A strong slap landed on her face even before she could blink. Allyssa was panting; she inhaled and exhaled, repeating the process.

But, her face remained white and seemingly untouched. "What cosmetics are you using huh? Why is that your face isn't red despite that vicious slap from me?!"

Maebh laughed in a creepy, malicious way. She kept on laughing even when Allyssa tried to slap her for the second time around, then the third and fourth and fifth slapped. Ten slaps have landed on her face but she was still as blooming and youthful as ever.

"What the fuck are you, you bloody hell!" Another slap hit her cheeks on the left side of her face. Yet, Maebh was still maniacally laughing, smirking. "Enough of this!" Allyssa shrieked.

"Why are you telling me that, little Lyssa? You're the one who started this freaking show!" Maebh crossed her arms. "I have never seen a mouse attack a cat until now. How are you feeling? Is it good to feel your hands in the face of someone who you looked down on just because she's an orphan?"

She clicked her tongue and shook her head in dismay.

Allyssa Mullin's face yielded fear now. Maebh could smell the anxiousness shrouding this young woman. "Remember the biblical story of David and Goliath? Yeah, that's exactly what we are now. And as for your question about my identity..." Allyssa's brows rose. She was about to open her mouth when Maebh clicked her finger.

The two of them are now surrounded with thick fog and on the top of a huge and tall tree. Allyssa managed to look down and a voiceless scream escaped her mouth. They were a hundred meters from the ground. Maebh laughed again in the same way she had laughed before, utterly hair-raising and scary-demonic.

"I am the daughter of a Heathen. And that makes me a fucking witch, am I not?"

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The branch suddenly broke and even Allyssa doesn't know how it happened. It just broke. Allyssa managed to shake her head-whether as an answer to Maebh's question or a reaction to her sudden fall that would surely end her life-she doesn't know. Maybe both.

A loud thud echoed when Allyssa landed on the ground-the body of Allyssa Mullin rather.

"Perfect!" Maebh exclaimed. She looked to the left then to the right first before clicking her finger.

And in a blink of an eye, the place was revealed to be an illusion only. She was actually on top of the staircase and that the branch that seemed to break was actually the chandelier.

Allyssa plummeted to the ground to her death, just like her cousin Ariadne Mullin. Both died from falling and because of an illusion.

Ludwig appeared from behind and Maebh gently fixed her little black dress before arching her cheeks to him for a kiss.

"You truly are a witch after all, hmm..." He stated after placing a kiss of greeting to his lover's cheeks. Ludwig's eyes then shifted to the young lady lying on the floor, exactly below to where the grand chandelier is located. "You are one cunning witch, Maebh Aisling." She brushed a kiss on his lips then to his temple.

"Why do you think I'm very good at manipulating things, hmm?"

The two then calmly walked away from the scene as if they just finished a movie and left the place.

It is in the dead of night that this macabre occurrence happened. The night is indeed full of darkness and terror and pain and unearthly energy.

No wonder why the Mullins family have discovered that they have lost another member again as soon as the morning star has climbed the vast heavenly blanket.