Zana

Murder is a Secret

The chaotic clatter of metal pots and pans ring throughout the sweltering kitchen.

Clouds of hissing steam mix with the sweet aroma of dumplings cooking.

The head chef, Mr. Chow, screams orders to the frantic gang of busy cooks.

Who slave over hot gas flames.

Beads of salty sweat lining their furrowed brows.

The Stockings and Garters Club only serve one dish to its patrons.

A spicy steamed and flash fried chilli crab dumpling.

World renowned and adored by even the most discerning food critiques.

Earning the club a coveted Michelin Star.

The orders are flying in.

One blind waiter after the other enters and quickly leaves the kitchen.

Carrying plates of freshly cooked dumplings.

The French Bulldogs bark excitedly.

Tugging on their leads.

Guiding the waiters to the tables inside the club.

Bela floats through the kitchen like a pale ghost.

Unnoticed.

Hidden within the pandemonium.

Rage surging through her veins.

Nobody pays attention to her hand taking a razor sharp knife from a magnetic rack.

Or see her quietly slip away down the service corridor that runs behind the crimson curtains.

Murder is the secret you never discover until it's too late.

~

'Pass it on', by The Knife, is playing.

Velvet stands up and reaches into the left pocket of the paisley pink smoking jacket that falls from his narrow shoulders.

He pulls out a bottle of 666 vodka.

A party trick that actually isn't a trick at all.

The secret to his magic is simple.

It is real.

Sophia burns bright and lights a crumpled cigarette.

Drawing in the poison.

Kitty has joined them.

Sophia stares zombie-like and watches as Velvet pours the liquid damage into Kitty's thirsty mouth.

Miss Fly parts the sea of gyrating club patrons.

She is wearing a multi-coloured frizzy wig.

Sophia locks on to her dazzling vibe and beckons her over.

She sighs.

This story needs a twist and Miss Fly is a plot line waiting to happen.

She squeezes in between Kitty and Sophia on the purple couch.

Velvet flashes Miss Fly a crooked smile.

Miss Fly mimes outrageous laughter.

She points at Velvet's top hat.

Black and silky.

He removes it.

There is nothing there.

They all laugh hysterically

A side effect of Vivid.

A moment of insanity.

~

Bela can hear the muffled laughter coming from behind the crimson curtains.

Her eyes slowly close.

A distant memory forming in her broken brain—half toy, half Zana.

Back to a time where black balloons hung by red ribbons in weeping willows.

The drooping branches reaching down and touching the icy water of a dark and dismal lake.

Where wicked weeds grew.

Crazy children driven mad by a sugar frenzy play a game of Hunt the Crow.

Screaming like drunk banshees.

Chasing a sniggering dwarf dressed in a black robe and riding an Irish Wolfhound.

Little hands throwing rotten apples as they ran.

Trying to knock him off his galloping mount.

Zana opens her eyes.

~

Sophia feels a momentary rush of wind.

As a pale arm emerges through the crimson curtains.

The sharp blade swiftly writing a thin line of red across her pretty throat.

Her blue eyes strangely calm.

Meeting Velvet's horrified stare.

Blood starts to gush.

As Sophia's life drains away.

Trembling lips whispering her final words.

"I love you, Velv."