“Jessica?!” Amanda exclaimed as she recognized her friend’s face. At least this person looks like Jessica, the shape of her face, the color of her eyes, even the voice. But this person is more beautiful, utterly so. Her beauty is just like the lamias’. She was Jessica made eerily beautiful. Even her pimple marks were gone.
“You know my name? Do I know you?” the girl who looked like Jessica answered.
“It’s me, Amanda!” Amanda replied. She felt lonely that her friend did not recognize her, but a year is not really a long time. Something must have happened to her friend.
“Oh! Amanda! The village chief’s daughter!” Jessica exclaimed in recognition, “you have grown so much. How did you do that! We just saw each other yesterday, playing by the riverbank and now you are like a lady!” Jessica sounded happy, but her eyes were blank and glassy. Amanda knew that something was up, she knew how intelligent Jessica is. She is acting more like Grace and Irene now.
“What did they ever do to you? Wait, where is Ivan? Is Ivan here?” Amanda said. Looking around.
“Ivan? What are you talking about? Ivan would not be here, silly. He is busy running after Grace!” Jessica answered. Jessica’s lover, Ivan, did go after Jessica once but that was years ago. And he clearly left together with Jessica last year, or did he?
Amanda could not believe what is happening. Jessica is acting like they were still children. She clearly does not seem to realize that they are at this age now. And what happened to Ivan? Amanda started to piece the events together and the things that come to her mind are unbelievably awful.She needs to know the answer, she needs to find out the truth. The only way to do it is to see the Lord of this place and ask him.
“Human, you have stayed too long in the bath. Come over and have your body washed thoroughly,” the lamia ordered. The order seems to be reversed but Amanda thought that this might be a ritual.
“Can I have her wash me?” Amanda asked the lamias, referring to Jessica.
“That is why she is here.” The lamia curtly answered.
“It will be my pleasure. We need to catch up on a lot of things!” Jessica added, saying it more like a duty that her true intentions.
“Alright. Let’s go.” Amanda said as she followed Jessica towards an area with flowing water. There was a basin and some oils and perfume. Amanda surmised that this could be part of the ritual as well. She sat on the bathroom stool and allowed Jessica to wash her with water and then with the lathered perfumed soap. She never thought that she’d have the great Jessica do this for her. And she’s doing it with pleasure at that.
“How did you get here?” Amanda asked.
“I don’t know. I was carried? I can’t really remember. I was sleeping, right? And then I felt like I was flying. And then I woke up while I was brought to the Lord’s chamber!” Jessica replied, all giddy.
‘The real Jessica would never talk like this. This sounds stupid.’ Amanda thought. Still denying that this Jessica is the real deal. What she sees is nothing but an empty husk. A stranger made to look like a physically perfectversion of her friends. ‘This is way too eerie of you ask me,’ Amanda thought looking at the perfectly clear and unblemished skin. ‘Will they do this to me as well?’ Amanda shivered at the thought.
“So, you don’t remember going out with Ivan? The promise that we made before last year’s harvest festival? They said you eloped with Ivan, you know.” Amanda said, trying to look for any sign of recognition and reminiscence from her friend’s eyes.
“What are you talking about?” Jessica asked, looking genuinely confused. “Why would I elope with Ivan? He only likes Grace, you know.”
Amanda did not respond. This conversation will only run in circles is she pursued further. It would be best to move forward.
“So, the Lord. What kind of person is he?” Amanda said, sounding as indifferent as possible.
“Wow! It seems like you are interested with the Lord as well!” Jessica said in a manner that Irene would say, “What should I say? He is very handsome! I’m sure even you would be swooning over him.He is smart too!”
Amanda was shocked, she did not expect Jessica to actually remember what she prefers in men. “Well, I will meet with him soon enough. I will be the judge of that.”
“Oh! I am sure that you will love him. I had fun with him you know!” Jessica replied with a dreamy expression on her face, “in fact, all the girls around here love the Lord! He does not discriminate among the races.”
“Yeah. I should know,” Amanda responded coldly, ‘he is a monster after all’ she continued in her mind. She is afraid of what might happen to her if she said it aloud. She needs to make sure that she uncovers the truth before something bad happens to her.
“I think you are all set. I’ll tell the lamias about you,” Jessica said, and then she whispered, “be careful about those snake ladies, they eat almost anything.”
“Right. Thanks, Jessica,” Amanda wrapped herself in the white cloth that Jessica gave her. She looked at her friend longingly. Jessica only stood there, grinning at her. The old Jessica would have told her off by now, she never liked awkward moments like this. But this one does not seem to mind. She does not even know what is actually going on, she has completely been subdued. Amanda fears that this might happen to her as well. ‘Definitely not,’ she thought to herself as she was dressed and prepared in the next room.
_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
“My Lord, the sacrifice is ready,” the Lord’s assistant said after knocking on the chamber door.
“Very well. Let her in,” the Lord ordered. ‘Yet another woman who will go crazy the moment she sees me and will willingly knee at my feet.’ The Demon King thought. He does not really understand how this offering of sacrifices began. Ever since he was born, sacrifices have started to regularly arrive every year at exactly the same time.
What he has observed is that the human village close to the Dark Forest holds a festival every time they send a sacrifice. He did not even ask for it. This is why he finds humans annoying. They are irrational, noisy, uncouth, cheaters, and greedy. Every single man represents the 7 sins that give evil its power and that in itself is a feat. Even his demon generals only represent one of each sin. He himself only has wrath within him.
He kept staring outside through the large door that leads to the grans porch. The sacrifice is ready bit they would have to walk up from the second floor. It will take some time. This is the only time that he could ever find peace. He would either be in conference with his generals or being followed by the women that were previously sacrificed to him. He wants to actually go out and destroy all the humans before they can give even more annoying sacrifices.
He did not dislike the sacrifices though. At least he could have his way with different kinds of women. The beast women and the night creatures do not really have obvious individual distinguishing features. Those who belong to the same race almost look exactly like each other. The only difference is their behavior and the strength of their libido. Humans are different. The mystery in them comes with the fact that not only are they varied physically, they also have profound personalities.Although they all end up degenerating, they all come here as different people and the Lord finds it amusing every time. Just like the previous years, he is looking forward to tonight’s sacrifice.
Of course, he was not able to do anything to the first 15 sacrifices. He was still a child when they came. Some of them are still in the palace though, the others took their lives because of the desperation. Even the way they react to his sexual techniques are different. Some sacrifices give in right away, the others need a lot of time to break in. There are also those who have great technique, although he is sure that they are all virgins. There might be some secret book about techniques that the humans hold or else these virgins would not have developed the proper technique in bed.
“The sacrifice has arrived,” the assistant announced from the other side of the door.
“Let her in,” the Demon King said, still looking outside. He refuses to seem like he is anticipating this night. He needs to make sure that he shows who the most powerful in this palace is. Soon the double doors creaked open. In came the assistant followed by the Lamia guides. The woman that came in the previous year was following a woman wearing a white dress. Her head and face was covered in a thick veil.
“May we present to you, this year’s sacrifice.” The black-haired lamia announced and bowed. The other lamias and Jessica bowed as well. Amanda refused to do so. The assistant cleared his throat but Amanda did not flinch one bit. The Demon King turned around.
Dimitri was in awe. The woman in front of him is the most beautiful yet. Her skin was so fair that it looked like the petals of a flower that Dimitri only say in the forest when he was young. Her outfit matched her perfectly that she seemed to radiate as the lights fall on her face. Even though she was dressed and made up the same way the previous sacrifices were, and even if she just stood there at the entrance and stared at him, he can’t help but feel his beast blood boil.Something about this woman is calling out to him at the primal level. It bellows within him. It is something that he has never felt before and something that he could never feel again. He tried to shake it off but he gets entranced every time he looks at the woman now standing before him. Dimitri knew then that something was going to happen, he is not sure yet, but it is bound to be something.There was something off about the woman, though. All through the years, the women who were pre
The sound of the slammed door echoed within the room and through the hallway. There was a long silence that follows and it lasted for what seemed like hours. Dimitri stood there in disbelief – he has never been this insulted before. He was never challenge in all his life and the first time he did, it was by a human girl no less. She was nothing but a sacrifice, abandoned and betrayed by her people, and yet she still had the guts to actually show that sort of attitude to Dimitri. He was fuming, he was frozen with rage.“Are you sure about that?” was a question that followed after the steward, Alex, cleared his throat to break the eternal silence.“Sure about what?” Dimitri asked, his mind still seems to be off somewhere; he is clearly yet to recover from that.“Are you sure about not doing the ritual tonight?” Alex continued, “I mean, I get that you are furious after what that woman did, but shouldn’t we conti
The new clan chief looked at his family longingly as his wife and newborn son are slumbering. It is still quite early but they went on a trip earlier and both of them were exhausted from the hiking and the running around. His smile was suddenly replaced by a frown after he realized that his family could be living in a better place. The human’s attack on their settlements when he was young still seems fresh in his memories.After knowing about the secret in the forest, the werebeasts were attacked and displaced by humans so that they can claim the source of power. The women and children were evacuated and the new clan leader, who was still a child back then, had no choice but to leave his father and the village that he grew up in. it was true for the other children as well. That night, every child in the village lost a parent to the humans.It was unfortunate, but at least their race lives on with them, the new generation. And so a new but smaller village was erec
Alex still could find comfort in Dmitri’s decision. After all, he has known the Demon King since they were children. He was practically Dimitri’s caretaker growing up. Especially after his mother succumbed to a curse that took almost half of their people – the exact same curse that they are trying to prevent by performing the blessing ritual every year. And Dimitri has decided to call the ritual off for a mere sacrifice. But if Alex is being honest, he does understand why Dimitri would feel that way; Dimitri is, after all, still a male and the new sacrifice is definitely attractive.Fearing for the future of their people, Alex went to the only place where he could find comfort and solace; the one chamber in the castle that is hardly visited by anyone, even the current Demon King – the Chamber of Dedication. It is a chamber far detached from the main keep, towards the back of the castle. At one look it could be mistaken for a shabby shed, but no one wou
Amanda is still quite a bit dazed as she followed the Lamia Maid who prepared last night through the winding halls of the keep. Just last night, she was order to stay inside her room and never to go out. Even her breakfast was brought to her earlier. It seems like the Lord of the place was too angry with her that he does not want to see her face any time soon.Then just shortly after lunch, she was startled when the door to her room suddenly swung open and it revealed the full figure of the Lamia maid.“Prepare yourself,” The Maid announced without even bothering to excuse herself. “You will be taken somewhere else.”Amanda silently complied. There wasn’t much to prepare anyway, so they went on their way as soon as she was mentally ready; except that she actually is not. She thought that her time was finally up, that the Lord of the castle has finally decided what to do with her, and by the looks of the halls that they are passing t
“What the hell are you doing here?” Dimitri’s face had a mix of shock and anger as he saw Amanda by the door. It was 3 in the morning and he is about to get some sleep after a long night, and suddenly his door opens to reveal this feisty woman, wearing nothing but her night gown.“Who the hell told you to come here?!” Dimitri asked without moving from where he was standing on.“I- I was-” Amanda looked for the right words to say. She started to feel the warmth on her face and her ears from the embarrassment, “The Maid told me that you asked for me! She even took me here!”“What maid? I don’t see anyone besides you,” Dimitri replied, looking behind Amanda and seeing nothing but an empty hall.“She left as soon as we arrived!” Amanda replies, realizing how she sounds and finally understanding why the Maid just left without announcing their arrival, she know something was of,
“Look, mom.” A seven-year-old Amanda held a flower up towards her mother. They were on their usual trip to the lakeside and her father has just begun to set up for fishing. Her mother sat on the blanket and looked at her. “What pretty flowers. Do you know what they’re called?” Amanda’s mother asked and then smiled. She would tell Amanda the names of the flowers that they find wherever they go. “Wait! I know this!” Amanda almost shrieked. She remembers her mother telling her the name of the flower, she just could not recall the exact word. She waves the bunch of small white flowers in front of her as if casting a spell with her magic wand. The white pappi of the flower flew into the air and spread, as if indicating that the spell was successfully cast, “Oh! Oh, I remember!” “Really?” Amanda’s mother asked, she felt kind of dizzy but she tries to hide it from Amanda. “What is that flower called, then?” “It’s a Dandy Lion!” Amanda
After Amanda cried herself to sleep that night she has never woken up as light-hearted. She is still in the darkroom, she can still smell the filth and hear the growls and moans of the beasts, and she is still under the mercy of that pompous Lord of the castle. But at least she now has a clearer mind. She was able to cry out all of her bitterness that night and she is not one to stay slumped after an episode like that. This is now time to do something, to make her move. The first order of business, learn about the ins and outs of the castle, the people that she could most likely befriend, and the people that she needs to look out to. On top of her list are the Steward and the Maid; they are most definitely on the Lord’s side. The Harpy is neutral, and she already knows that Jessica is already a hopeless case – or maybe not. Maybe there is still something that she can do about Jessica and all the other girls who came before her. The question is what and ho