The Last Ruby Rose

Chapter 7, 1969: A Rose Of Blood

Never before in her life Alcina had felt like that. She was not able to move her body, not able to catch a straight thought, not able to open her eyes. It felt not like she was sleeping, but rather like she was flying in endless darkness.
Her throat felt dry and her heart was still hurting a bit. She could still feel the comforting warmth of Melisande's small body, although she doubted that she was still there. All the lady could think of were her eyes. Those beautiful eyes. What had she done to her? Why was she feeling so drawn towards this woman? She did not know.

Suddenly for a fraction of a second the picture of a red rose flashed before her eyes. Then again and again until she found herself in a misty forest. Everything was grey and cold. It seemed like the forest consisted of dead trees, standing very close to each other. The grass felt dry and unpleasant underneath her feet.
In some distance she spotted a red rose standing peacefully in the forest, being a huge contrast to the desolate surroundings. She walked closer, kneeling down and observing the rose. She looked like she was made of glass, a red liquid flowing within the petals. She shined like a Ruby in the sunlight, being both beautiful and surreal. She reached out for the rose and felt a sharp pain in her hands, she screamed as she felt the venom spread in her body.

The scene changed and she saw a man standing in front of her. "I am sorry, Madame. There is nothing we can do for you. You will die, but I cannot say when that will be."

Again it changed. She saw a girl laying on the ground. She had beautiful blonde hair, porcelain like skin and blue eyes. She could not be older than 8 years. Her throat was cut open, blood was flowing out of it, staining her blue dress and the floor. "No!", she heard Melisande's voice screaming when she was running towards the girl, taking her in her arms and pressing her against her chest. "Why?!", she looked at a man with blue eyes, dark hair and a both furious and threatened expression on his face. In his hand he was holding a huge knife. It was only then when she noticed another dead body laying behind him. It was another girl with dark hair. Her silver eyes were widened in shock and fear, her mouth was opened to a silent scream. This young woman could have been 17 years old, maybe a bit older. Her head was nearly cut off. She looked around in panic and let out a suffocating scream when she spotted a young boy of maybe 3 years with blonde hair and silver eyes laying on the ground to her right. His stomach was opened and his organs were spreaded all over the floor. "Monster!!", she heard Melisande screaming in pain. The man raised his hand with the bloody knife. "You call me a monster? YOU are the monster! I would never have married you if I had known about this disease within you! You are disgusting and you poisoned our children! I had to kill them. It is for their own sake.", he grabbed her by the neck, strangling her. "And now I will free you of all your pain, sweetheart and I will free the child within you!" He was about to ram the knife into her stomach, when he suddenly stopped and threw her away from him, but it was too late. His arms turned blue and then white. He screamed at her while fighting with his slowly petrifying body. "You monster! WITCH!", he screamed when he turned completely into stone.
She sank to the floor, crying and screaming.

The scene changed and she was running, running deep into the forest. It was cold and snow was falling from the clouds. Her hands were blue already, her feet hurt and her heart was slowing down forcefully, then everything went black again.

~oOo~

When Alcina opened her eyes she was tearing. Her body was shaking and her heart was hurting with every single beat. Nothing motivated her to look around, to sit up or to think about how she managed to get her into her bed. The lady tried to calm herself down, but she felt so hurt, so sad that it was crushing her heart. She raised her hands and looked at them for a few moments then she covered her face with them and allowed herself to cry. What she had seen was one of her biggest nightmares, to see her children, her daughters, die and Melisande had lost all of her three children, because of a disease she had no control over.

Suddenly she felt the urge to look for her daughters, so she got up, realizing that Melisande was not there anymore. She stepped out of her room. "Cassandra! Daniela! Bela!", she shouted, trying to hide her tears. Within seconds swarms of flies were filling the hallway, transforming into three beautiful women. "Yes mother?", they said in unison, but their smiles disappeared when they noticed the expression on their mothers face. "Mother?", Daniela asked carefully and stepped a bit closer. Bela looked really worried. "Have you cried?", Cassandra asked sensitively. Lady Dimitrescu needed a few moments to look at them, ensuring they were safe and sound. "Everything is alright. I just wanted to be sure you are alright.", her voice sounded a bit cracking and a single tear fell down her cheek. The three looked at each other. "Oh, mother.", Daniela said before the three of them hugged their mother. Alcina bent down, closing her arms around her children, pressing them against her belly. "No worries mother.",Cassandra said, looking up and giving the lady a kiss on the cheek. "We won't go anywhere anytime soon." The other two smiled agreeing.

Alcina calmed down and stood to her full high, releasing her daughters. "Very well.", she said, collecting herself, she did not even wear her hat. "Have you seen Melisande?", she asked, her voice being already more steady. "I don't know exactly where she is, but I saw her running into the northern part of the castle." Bela answered. "Thank you, dear.", Alcina said, placing her hand on her daughter's shoulder for a second. "You can go now and be careful."

It took her a while to find Melisande. When she was opening the door to the greenhouse, she was surprised to see plants and flowers of all kinds growing high. It smelled lovely and it reminded her of the time her mother was still alive. "Wow...". Alcina looked around and nearly forgot why she was here. "It took me a while, but most plants grow surprisingly well in here." Alcina turned around fastly, looking at the old fountain her mother had loved so much. No water was flowing in the canals of the greenhouse, because the fountain seemed to be broken. Melisande was sitting at its edge looking at the flowers decorating it like they were the reason for the not flowing water.

Lady Dimitrescu slowly walked closer to her and sat down. Melisande avoided eye contact with her Countess, looking to the ground. "I am sorry, dearest.", Alcina said. "For what, my lady?" "For your loss... I cannot imagine how you must feel..." Melisande nodded slightly. "Do you understand why I did not want to talk about what happened?", her voice began to crack and Alcina saw her tears dropping down on her lap. "Look at me, darling." the lady cupped her cheeks forcing her to look at her. Her silver eyes were red from the tears and missed that shine she loved so much. Carefully Alcina wiped her tears away, before she pulled her into a hug. At that moment, this scene was just about two mothers. "I feel so empty, so alone.", Melisande explained to Alcina who nodded understanding. "I know, darling."

"Do you really die? Is there nothing we can do?", Alcina asked. Melisande carefully broke the hug, looked up into Alcinas eyes. "Do not worry.",was all she said and stood up, now standing right in front of Alcina. She began to open a few buttons of her dress, which closed in the front. The Countess could not resist to think about her dreams and gulped. When her cleavage was nearly fully exposed, Melisande took Alcinas hand, placing it between her breasts. "Can you feel it? As long as my heart beats like this there is nothing you have to worry about." The silly feeling of her skin and the comfortable warmth of her body drove Alcina nearly insane. She wanted to kiss her, right there where her hand was feeling her heart beating calmly in her chest.

Melisande let go of her hand. Alcina slowly brushed over her skin with her long fingers, enjoying the feeling. It made her angry to know that a man had tried to ruin her flawless body. "Let me ask you a question.", Alcina said with a smile on her face and let her hand wander down to her belly, placing it there. "Are you still pregnant or have you...", she did not finish the sentence for her sake and for Melisande's. She sighted and placed her hand on Alcinas. "I do not know. It happened so fast that I do not know if I was bleeding." "I see. Well then we should wait. How old is it?", Alcina asked. "Maybe 3 Weeks." The Countess nodded satisfied. "One more week and the baby should be big enough for me to sense its presence, but for now..." her hand went back to the spot between her breast, brushing up and down, causing Melisande to blush a bit. "You are very brave to show me that much of your upper body and neck.", she hummed, her pupils dilating. "My lady?", Melisande asked innocently, but Alcina could tell from her gaze that she perfectly knew what she was doing. "I am a vampire, my dear, and you make it incredibly hard for me to resist you." her hand wandered to her neck stripping off the fabric to free her shoulder. "You smell delicious.~", she noted, grabbing Melisande by the waist to pull her closer. "Just one sip, alright? ~"