Prologue
"Please..." she struggled, "Don't... don't let them die."
"But why?" He said with his back still facing her. "They're so... young, naive- so... willing to die." A chilling and menacing grin came across his face.
"You're sick!" She yelled, disgusted with him, and within seconds he was standing over her with the blade pressed against her throat. A tear rolled down her cheek as she held his gaze.
"Don't worry sweetheart," he whispered through clenched teeth. "I won't kill you till you beg me for it. And to be honest, I consider myself... sociopathic, not sick. "
He grabbed her already scabbed and scarred wrist, and pulled it towards himself and with a quick stroke of the blade, blood bubbled at the surface of her skin. She let out a yelp of pain as she fought back her tears. He squeezed the wound as the blood trickled down her arm and waited until he was satisfied with the amount of blood she'd lost. He then pulled a roll of gauze out of his pockets.
"You should know by now not to talk back," he said.
He wrapped her arm carefully and tightly until it was soaked with the blood still leaking from her arm. He proceeded to reach out his finger and coat it with the crimson liquid, then licked it right off.
"Quite tasty actually," he said coating his finger again and extending it to her. "Would you like to try some?"
She couldn't speak so she simply shook her head ashe licked the remaining off of his finger.
"Those men, are going to die awful, horrible deaths. After the last one dies I will bring back a body and lay it at your feet. Everyday, you will see it and soon understand that I love you and I am protecting you darling." He said as he paced around her menacingly.
"You don't love me."
"Oh darling, if I didn't love you, you'd be dead by now."
He began to untie one of the several knots that enslaved her to the chair.
"Come downstairs after you change, put on something fancy. Oh and, bring my knife down with you."
She nodded her head and stood up. She hadn't moved her legs in hours, and they ached with every step. She quickly got changed and grabbed the knife off the dresser. She walked down the stairs as her dress swished side to side, and there he was. He sat slumped in the chair a wine glass in his hand. He then looked up and smiled as he saw her.
"You look beautiful. Set the blade on the table and come here." She didn't let go of the knife, in fact, her grip tightened around the handle and she looked at him with a hard gaze. "Darling, put it down. My gun is in my lap, and if you so much as take another step, I will blow you to pieces."
She put the blade to her own neck as fiery tears streamed down her cheeks
"I'll do it," she said.
"No, you won't. You don't have the guts to. You love me, " he said as he began to walk towards her.
Now he was close enough to touch her. He yanked her arm and put the blade to the side of his neck.
"Internal carotid artery. Bust that open and I'll be dead within a minute. So do it. Kill me.. C'mon baby, hurt me like I hurt you."
"W-w-what?"
He pushed the blade farther into his throat. "Te ll me you love me."
"I...I."
"Tell me!" He yelled.
He grabbed her waist an d pulled her close to him while yanking down her other hand. He kissed her on the lips before letting her go. Silence sat between them as he walked ba ck to his chair.
"Grab the wine from the kitchen, my darling. Our guests are almost here."
Till Death Do Us Part
There was a knock at the door. She knew that many people were going to die that night and there was nothing she could do about it. She heard the door open. The men greeted one another. She heard footsteps and turned around.
"Tonight is a very special night," he said. "You remember the rules right?"
She nodded.
"If anybody gets too close, tell me. Do you understand me?"
"Yes."
"Good girl," he gave her a kiss on the forehead. "Go pour the wine for my men and I."
She left the kitchen and all eyes were on her. No one had meet Nathaniel Fray's girl, and to be honest she was quite attractive. Her long brown hair was braided into a bun atop her head, and she put on the earrings that he'd given her a week before. Her dress was blood red and the slit went up far enough to woo anyone. She walked around each table, greeting the men, but not talking too much. Each one of them gave her a different look. Some glad to meet her, some suspicious, and some looking like they wanted to see what was under her dress. She didn't mind their looks, they were the only people she'd seen in months, maybe years, and last time she'd seen someone they'd been slaughtered right in front of her.
The night went on and everyone was having a good time, still heads turned when she walked by. Nathaniel told her the gentlemen's glasses were empty so she went into the kitchen to grab the "special bottle". She bent down to grab the wine when she felt a hand on her leg. She assumed it was him so she turned around, but she was met with a younger, handsome man. His grey eyes might've burned a hole through the top of her dress though. Her bra was too small and she hadn't felt self conscious about it until now. He looked up and smiled at her.
"Pour me a drink beautiful," he said as he raised his glass to her
She nodded and turned back around, but as she did that the hand on her lower leg suddenly became the hand on her thigh. As it moved farther up, she wanted to yell out for Nathaniel, but she knew that would cause more trouble, so as his hand roamed over the lower part of her body, she said nothing and continued to pour the wine.
"What's going on here?" Another voice asked.
The man immediately pulled his hand away.
"Nothing Sir, just getting another drink."
"Is that true Rose?" He asked her.
She was relieved and quickly muttered, "E-ev-everything is fine."
"Are you lying to me?"
She shook her head and he smiled. Nathaniel reached for the glass in her hand.
"Isn't she beautiful?" Nathaniel asked.
"Yes, very actually, " the other man said.
"I love her so much." He reached for the "special bottle" and she knew what was about to happen. "Would you like some? I made it myself," he grinned and let out a snicker "thought tonight would be the perfect night to open 'er up."
"Sure," the young man said.
Nathaniel put the glass down and opened the wine. The smell instantly flooded their nostrils.
"Hmm, smells like-, " the gentleman said.
"Almonds? Yes," Nathaniel said. "Well, aren't you going to have a taste?"
He brought the glass up to his face and took a gulp of the wine. He reached for his throat, and almost instantly as she saw his flesh burning through now, a hole in his throat. He struggled and gasped as he collapsed. He was dead before he even hit the ground.
He walked beside her and kissed her temple.
"Go up to our room darling. I'll deal with you later for lying to me."
They both left the kitchen as the young man's lifeless body liedon the floor . As she began up the stairs, she could hear Nathaniel's voice.
"Young men, this is a scary business I am in. I want to test your worth so I need you to be honest with me because the truth is very important. How many of you were looking at my wife?"
They all froze as Nathaniel's expression softened.
"It's fine fellas," he chuckled, "I hope one day you will have a girl like Rose to call yours."
"I did," a voice muttered. "She's hot and who's going to blame me for having eyes, right?"
The others agreed with him and she knew that was the wrong answer.
He walked around the tables and began pouring the wine into their glasses.
"To honesty," He said as he raised his glass.
"To honesty!" They replied.
Everyone took a sip except Nathaniel.
"And till death do us part."
They would all be dead soon.
She could hear their screams from the bedroom and she shut her eyes to try and wake up from this horrible nightmare she was living in.
Then, everything stopped. There were no more screams, no more sound, no more hearts beating, no more signs of life. She heard footsteps coming up the stairs. She lied back on the bed and closed her eyes. Maybe if he thought she was sleeping, he would wait till the morning to punish her and forget. She closed her eyes tightly as the door slowly opened.
"I know you're awake." He said as he undid his bowtie.
She didn't move.
"Rose, you don't have to be afraid I just want to know why you lied to me."
"I..."she said as she sat up. "I was scared."
"Why?"
"I thought he would hurt me," she lied.
"Darling, you never have to worry about anyone hurting you. Those men betrayed me, so that's why they had to die. They were going to hurt you and I love you too much to let that happen."
"I know it's just—,"
"It's fine. We can talk about this tomorrow," he said as he pulled out a needle. "Just to help you sleep for the night."
She yelled and pleaded for him not to, but as soon as he grabbed her arm there was nothing she could do. She began to feel drowsy and soon enough she couldn't keep her eyes open and drifted off to sleep.
