Beatrice was standing before Susan's house with a paper that bore Susan's home address. She was about to knock when the door opened, and before her stood Susan.
Beatrice lifted the paper. "My colleague gave it to me."
Susan nodded. "Glad it found its way to you."
"Yes, it did. Is your offer still on?"
Susan stepped aside. "Come in. Pick any room you like."
"Thanks." Beatrice walked in.
Susan looked at the darkness outside, she turned to show Beatrice upstairs, the door closed behind her.
The first room Beatrice was shown was the very one she chose, for she had a belief that beggars aren't choosers.
Susan woke to feel the metal bars beneath her, she looked up to see she was surrounded by darkness."Fire!" she said.A circle of flame appeared on the ground with Vivian in the middle and in a white gown, both hands before her, Susan realised her sister had locked her up in a cage.Susan tried to stand, but her bones didn't give, so she remained in a sitting position. "What's this, Vivian?""There are things, Susan, things that may forever remain a secret to you," Vivian said."Why am I in a cage?""I just wish to talk.""I can do so quite effectively outside here. Let me out." Susan looked around. "And what's this anyway? What did yo
Susan was in the comfort of her room, filing her nails when Jake left for the city with one of her cars. He had gone to find himself a job, and she knew today, he won't be so lucky because she had wished it so. She needed him to return, at least, for his own safety.Beatrice on the other hand was supposed to be out by now, but the death of her manager and the incident of yesterday at Els Street came rushing back to her, making her eyes blurry with tears, and she considered not going to work today.In a flash, Susan was before her door, she knocked.Beatrice looked at the door and hastily wiped her eyes. "Just a second."
"The lightning leaves its mark," Hannah said as she cleaned the wound on a lady. "She could die if not attended to.""How many of them are wounded?" Susan asked."A lot.""Bring them all here."Hannah passed the order, and they brought all the wounded, and bleeding, and dying ladies who had been subject to the scattered flash of the lightning of death before Susan."The beauty of life," Susan said. "Being able to kill, and make alive. Heal."Everyone was awestruck as their wounded comrades healed, and those dying returned to life.Susan turned to Hannah. "Now, take me to him.""Who would ta
"Our tribe is known for hunting," Susan told Vivian over breakfast the next day at a diner named B's Place. "I had to throw mother off our scent. Although, I'm sure she did ask where we went.""And knowing the Hex Sisters," Vivian said, "they would die rather than talk.""Hence, the perfect distraction.""How did you manage it?""Easy. I knew mother had her gaze on me, so to throw her off my scent, I presented her with the immediate problem. I left a bit of me in one of the Hex Sisters, and that's how she discovered their location. If I had met the Chief priest without doing that, it wouldn't take anything for her to discover me. I don't want her knowing what I'm up to.""And that's the problem, dear sister. Mother knows."Susan sighed, and leaned forward, placing her hands on the table. "What works?"Vivian shrugged."Does she know you're here?" Susan asked."Mother always knows where we are," Vivian said. "A word of advice, sis
"How did yesterday go?" Susan asked Jake over breakfast the next day.Jake shook his head. "Not so good.""What happened?""No one wanted to go through my application. They kept saying there was no vacancy." He sighed. "I fear that soon, I'll be a burden to you. When a man like me lives with someone and is unable to make a contribution, he feels it, and..." He couldn't finish his words.Susan and Beatrice had their gaze on him."I just—I'll do anything to prove I'm not a failure," he said. "However difficult, I'm teachable, so I'm willing to learn."Susan didn't want to say it, but today, he would get the opportunity he wished for. He would get a job."Well, try again," Susan said. "Hope you don't think of quitting?""No." He shook his head."Good. Life can be frustrating. Even with certain privileges, it sure tends to throw the monsters our way. You're resilient enough. I'm sure what you want, you'll get.""Thanks."
Susan, Beatrice, and Jake met at B's Place to celebrate Jake's new job, for as Susan had silently predicted, so had it been for Jake. She couldn't tell anyone the number of people that had to die for him to secure the job he now had. She had promised a celebration, and that's why they were here."You were so optimistic," Beatrice said to Susan. "I for one wasn't certain knowing how this world works and all."They were all seated around a circular table between them under night skies and the cold air gently caressing their skin."No one really knows how the world works," Susan said. "Sometimes, you can either sit in hopes not to offend anyone, or you can step out and get what you wa
The only time the world was at peace to Susan, was when she was asleep. She was an idol to herself, a being not meant to be worshipped, but one who death brought a semblance of peace to her whenever she was awake. In this state of rest, she could avoid all that and not think of anyone, not even herself. She was one with the world at this time, but when she was up, she was against it.She would have laid still this way, facing the ceiling, and enjoying the silence of the room, but then her eyes opened, and with it came the hunger to kill.Ray, the guy from last night's celebration who had sent her the note through the waiter was next to her on the bed in a hotel room, Susan noted his body was beginning to stir.Only if he was still asleep, Susan thought. But she knew what came next. At least, after an amazing night o
Susan knew the rules of High Town city all too well. There were hidden laws that governed feeding, daily lives, especially that of businesses, and the peace in the city, and now she had made Beatrice the owner of B’s place, trouble unknown to Beatrice was meant to happen.After Susan had killed Ray that morning, she appeared in a bar unnoticed, and sat by an empty table. There were men speaking among themselves behind her, and she listened.“Where are you going? We’ll all be at the Grim to drink our fill and you wish to just go, like be somewhere else.”“B’s Place has a new owner.”“Oh.”“Yes. And I guess the last owner didn’t do the filling in.”
With fire and blood in her eyes, and with a speed that made time halt and made her unseen, causing Chadwick and the Red Haux to wonder, Susan engaged these beings all at once. It wasn’t with a curse she did this. It was with absolute raw power, and right now, she was in the blood rage.No sparks of fire lingered in mid-air, nothing to mark Susan’s presence save for the tearing and slicing of skins. Heads had been sliced off, but it was all still within a second, so her victims were alive, but briefly, for once the hand of time moved, it would be against them, and they would see a bitter end.But Susan didn’t stop. She didn’t want to. She loved the feel of their skin against her swords and sharp claws and the smell of their blood as perceived from mid-air. She could see the horror in their eyes, then Eleanor spoke.“Stop!”Susan zapped to a stop before her enemies, and they all looked at her. She unfroze time, and the Re
An army of visible translucent spirits stood with a storm wind, and they were like the colours of ice in the distance. Before them was an army of bloodstones all in red gleaming armours made from red diamond, and in the lead was Vivian, Janice, Hannah, and Dena.Vivian saw Chadwick standing twelve feet tall behind this ghost army with a host of others a few feet taller than him. They looked like men, but from here, she could see they had no eyes, no soul, no spirits. Surely, these were the Red Haux, and they made a perfect match for beings made from stones, she thought. Now, to make the first order. She just hoped Susan made it in time for mother was watching.No, mother couldn’t make it to this party. The throne required that she stayed on it. She leaving was definitely the last resort. But there was Susan, so there was no need for that.Flashes of lightning lit the dark clouds above both armies, and they simply waited for which army would make the first
Susan materialized before Vivian. “What is it?”“It’s time,” Vivian said. “Chadwick is here. Hannah has been called back to the blood sea to join the bloodstone army. Dena would be joining her. Janice and I have also been called back.”“What’s with the big preparation?”“He comes not alone, but with an army. There are things you need to do to ensure our victory, else, the casualties would be so great.”Susan gave a single nod. “What about the lines of powers, and all those under our control?”“They are currently preparing,” Vivian said. “The war will be fought on the surface. It won’t be beneath the blood sea like before.”“This means he has us at a disadvantage.” Susan briefly looked away.“There’s nothing to fear. You’re all he should fear. Remember that. I must go.” A red diamond armo
“They may fire me with the way you keep making me miss office hours,” Jake said to Susan as he had lunch with her at the Pelazio Hotel restaurant.Susan smiled. “Relax. I bought your company.”Jake laughed. “You can’t be serious.”Susan arched a brow and made a side head gesture.“Wait. You actually are serious?” Jake added.Susan chuckled. “Yeah, I am serious. And I need you to be the new managing director. Your old boss is under strict orders to educate you on all that you need to know. So, what do you say? Do you accept the offer?”Jake’s expression had the look of surprise mixed with unbelief. “Wow. This only happens if someone is in love with you. Are you in love with me, Susan?”Susan laughed. “So shocked,” she said. “What if I am?”“You—you—you play hard to get like nothing can go through you. And
Susan turned to leave.Vivian stopped her by the shoulder and tossed her with her back against the wall.Susan released herself from the wall. “You really want to do this here?” she asked. “I am ready if you are.”“Oh, I’m always ready,” Vivian said, Janice moved to stand next to her.Susan laughed. “Two against one. That’s fair. You two always thought you could restrain me, but I just thought to behave around you because you weren’t really who I was scared of, and quite frankly, I’m fairly certain Mercy wouldn’t want to involve herself in a bit of family squabbling. So, what’s it going to be? A lecture, or a fight?”“How about both,” Vivian said.Susan folded her arm. “Then, this would be interesting. However, Dena and Hannah should leave with the lady, for if they stay, or decide to choose a side, I doubt I would be merciful. Except to the lady of cou
Susan finished reading a newspaper as she sat on her sofa by the window in her room upstairs, then she kept it aside, and moved to pick up a novel by her bedside table. She returned to the sofa, opened the page where she had stopped last night, and kept on reading.Reading novels, Susan discovered, was perfect for distraction. It took her mind off recent happenings, of her world, and took her to a world of her own. In her world of fantasy, she didn’t care what happened in her and without, especially the disturbance slowly stirring in High Town City (which the news, and the newspapers carried), and the great, uncontrollable urge to kill. She cared for nothing in this state actually, save for the story she read, and this way, she could control her power.The voices in her head would always speak, and sometimes, they read to her. She loved it when they read—these voices could be soothing. But there was nothing more annoying than when she was the central subjec
Susan appeared with Vivian on red reflective tiles. Before her was a red veil, and Susan knew who sat beyond the veil. For some reason, she couldn’t stand because she didn’t have the strength to. So she stayed on her knees just how she had appeared, and she knew exactly why she had been brought here.Susan recognized this vast court as her mother’s privy, and it had lots of red silky curtains that danced to a wind circulating within.Vivian, in a red gleaming armour, bowed before the Queen, then she stood erect, and turned to face her sister, Susan.“The Queen wishes to know why you caused a war with the lines of power,” Vivian said.Susan laughed. “Like she cares. Why, can’t she end the war?”“You’ll behave yourself before the Queen, or—”“It better be with death you wish to threaten me with. Then, I’ll have no cares, and nothing to worry about. That way, I
At midday in High Town city, Beatrice walked into the Crystal Bank to make a withdrawal. Beatrice met a queue within the bank, but with a card Elvis had given to her in hand, she showed a security man, then he led her to a private room where she was quickly attended to.With a bag of money in hand, Beatrice was seen out of the room, then the sound of rapid gunshots was heard within the bank.Beatrice briskly turned to see lots of armed men, she laid on the ground and held her head.This, she thought would be the end of her, and so she stayed still and prayed.“Nobody move, else, we would kill you.”More gunshots were heard, and Beatrice flinched a little.Feared raked at her body, causing her to shiver. It was hopeless now, Beatrice thought. She would either be killed here, or she might lose her money. She remembered the failed robbery in her restaurant and wondered if such a miracle could repeat itself here, today.Soon,
Susan impaled a follower of Chadwick on a pike while Vivian and Janice watched. Dena was setting some bodies on fire, and Hannah moved to decapitate the heads of a few men sitting by the corner.With brute force, Susan tossed a man against the wall. Before his back could collide with it, she dreadfully aimed two rods for his shoulder blades. They passed through, spilling blood, and pinned him against the wall.The man wailed in pain, Susan walked up to him.“You have no idea how long I’ve been waiting to do this,” Susan said, stopping before the man. “Now, I’ll like to know what you know. Rumour has it you’ve found a way to hide certain things from me. I need to know how.”“He was here,” the man said. “His representative. He said the chant would work against you, and we tried. We tried. Some said he was from the Red Haux. I don’t know how true that was. Seems they have something on you, tho