4: Murder

"Nobody owns life, but anyone who can pick up a frying pan owns death."

― William S. Burroughs

Mariennne's POV:

Letting myself in the dark room, I closed the door with a loud sigh, my head throbbing as I tried to take deeper breath, voices roaring in my head.

These days, the voices seemed to become more prominent, more loud.

Coiling in my mind, putting on a freak show.

I licked my lips.... I enjoyed the taste of my crazy.

They echoed throughout my mind, trying to rule me, break me, until I gave in completely.

I could hear them acuter than before, louder than before. They commanded me to do things that I shouldn't do, but I just cannot let go of them.

They have been with me since my existence.

Groaning loudly, I took off my suit and the tie, throwing it somewhere in the room.

The clothing articles landed somewhere in the dark nothingness of the room with a loud thud, and then the room became silent again.

Silence.

Comforting yet painful silence.

I sat myself down on the bed and raked my hand through my hair nonchalantly. Closing my eyes, I focused on the voices. Not that closing my eyes would matter, the room was dreadfully dark anyway.

And I listened.

".....You like her, don't you?...."

".....Madeline?....."

"Don't you want to go back to her?......."

No!

I didn't want to go back to her!!

Stop!

"....She is pretty...."

Please stop....

"She is a vixen...."

That waitress back in the restaurant, Roseline.... She unnerved me. For some reason, she seemed really familiar.

Red, hot, anger consumed me in it's gorgonian flame. I clenched and unclenched my fists, trying to keep my anger in check.

Earlier, in the restaurant, when the cute minx brought us food, I felt myself looking into her eyes, her chocolate brown pool that shone with purity and the flame of wrath.

Why couldn't I put my fingers round whatever it was?

The aura it left as soon as it came, with her, evaporating in the thin air, leaving me with my monsters.

I found myself questioning, who was this woman?

Why did she seem familiar?

She is a seductress.....

That had to be it-

"Marriene!" Madeline's sweet voice echoed throughout the corridor, breaking my reverie. After a short while, an annoyingly bright light filled my vision as a sound of a switch flicking made it's way into my ear.

I looked up, only to find her standing in the doorway with a plate full of some gooey stuff in her hand.

Another one of her experiments?

I must've had a murderous look plastered on my face, because her smile faded as soon as her gaze landed on me. She paled visibly as her form shrunk.

Oh no!

Shaking my head a couple of times, I forced a smile on my face. "What do you have in your hand baby?" I questioned.

"Oh," she mumbled, looking in her hands, "This? It's a leche flan I made for you! Taste it?"

I looked at the 'leche flan' in her hand.

It didn't look like a leche flan. It looked like a mixture of burnt milk, colour and rotten eggs.

But I wasn't going to let her know that.

I smiled at her, all my previous anger forgotten and buried inside my heart as I took the plate in my hand. I carefully examined the 'food'.

"Um....." I uttered, "Is it okay to eat it?"

She narrowed her eyes. "Why wouldn't it be? It's your favourite dish!"

I gulped and smiled nervously as I took the spoon. I cut a small part of it and put it in my mouth. Suddenly, a loud bang was heard from the backyard.

Madeline looked at me with wide eyes as she seemed to force a smile on her face. "Must be the stray cat. Let me check on it quickly honey."

I nodded as she pecked my cheeks. Giving me another nervous smile, she sauntered off, leaving me with her half burnt, half cooked leche flan.

I kept the plate aside with a loud sigh. My mind suddenly drifted off to the place where it shouldn't be.

That girl....

Suddenly, I felt dizzy. My body seemed to have gain a thousand kilograms as my knees buckled. Everything seemed heavy and blurry, a sharp pain shot through my head as I was reminded of my negligence towards medicines.

Why does it feel so.... vague?

I couldn't bear the heavy weight anymore. My eyelids felt like stones and my head felt like it was going to burst in any moment.

What is happening to me?

I tried to call for Madeline but nothing came out of my mouth.

Letting out a loud gasp, I clutched my head and carried myself over to the nearest sofa.

Why did I feel so... sleepy?

My eyes felt droopy as I tried to fight off the sleep, the voices vanishing into the horizon of my mind as purple and blue began to pirouette in my vision.

My hands roamed all around, searching for my medicines, but I couldn't find it.

My balance was faltering, I had this urge to throw up.

I was bathed in green, blue, red.... the grey around me seemed lighter as colors burst in my vision.

I felt like a drop of rain on a lillypod.

Where are they?!

Just when my hand came in contact with the bottle, I heard an obscure sound of a door bell.

Groaning, I popped in a pill and gulped down half a bottle of water.

Ah! Why was it.... so.... blurry.....

Rose's POV:

The handsome guy, who was the subject of my fear, did leave something other than his creepiness that haunted me the entire day.

I found it when our third sitting was almost over. A burly customer, who was sitting in table 23, called upon me and showed me this beautiful pair of earrings.

After a lot of examination, I found out that those earrings were made out of emerald.

Well, shit.

My first thought was to courier them back, so that I didn't have to come face to face with that guy. But the couriers didn't want to send something so expensive, in such a short distance.

So I dug out his information from the public records and now, I was standing in front of the magnificent villa, pondering on the fact that I would have to face him again, contemplating, whether I should go inside or not.

The word 'VICTORS' were curved on the iron gate beautifully in a neat cursive. A tall, stony statue of mammon stood proudly at one side and a giant lion on the other.

Biting cold bit into my skin like sinking it's teeth inside me. It was freezing.

This manor gave off a mystique yet, haunting vibe. It looked old, a Victorian style castle. It looked lonely, secluded and it was hard for me to fathom that people actually lived here.

Everything about him seemed so intimidating, yet alluring, including his manor.

The area seemed pretty lifeless too, making me wonder if I got the wrong address.

"You can't go inside without a permit, lady," the guard informed me gruffly.

"I-" I looked around nervously as I held up the box that held the earrings, "I am here to give the missus her earrings back. It's important."

"Miss Quarsiekiev?" He asked, "We have to ask her, madam."

I nodded as I waited for the guard to ring her. He spoke something in the phone in a foreign language, nodded a couple of times and kept down the receiver.

"You may go inside madam."

I nodded and made my way into the beautiful manor.

The place was beautiful.

A fountain adorned the pathway, the design of which was probably inspired from cupid. Giant trees lined up along the narrow way, making it seem more mysterious and polished. Street lamps lit up the road, lighting it up sufficiently enough to see, but not too much to snatch away the beauty of the night.

The estate was chilling, yet beautiful. It was the one that gave you shivers, yet, engraves itself in your mind.

Everything was so beautiful.

I didn't notice that I had reached the mansion in my gawking session.

Suddenly, my vision halted on something unusual during my admiration process.

A whisper of a silhouette was moving to and fro on the backyard. I could hardly make out the intruders face because of the darkness, but it was still there.

From what I could understand that the shadow was of a man, who was pacing relentlessly.

Suddenly, a woman came out of the house and pecked him the cheeks. He stopped pacing and engulfed her in a hug. Soon, they went inside the house.

Something was about this scene that made me shiver. It was like an insinuation, a bizzare point out. It was odd, but I could feel that something was going to be wrong.

Taking slow steps, I let myself in the huge manor, quivering as the chilly winter breeze sashayed past me. I rang the doorbell and waited for someone to fetch the door.

Soon, Ms. Quarsiekiev opened the door with a huge smile. "Welcome!"

At the restaurant, I didn't have the opportunity to examine her face carefully. But now when I did. something about her face seemed very familiar.

I felt this familiarity before too, but now it seemed a bit more familiar.

Did I see her somewhere before? Maybe she acted in the tv?

She gushed me in as I extended the box at her politely. "I think you left this earrings in the restaurant...."

Her eyes widened as she took the box from my hand, "Oh honey! I tend to forget stuffs these days."

My eyes widened as I took in the picturesque and artistic interior.

The manor was more lavish and luxurious in the inside. The lobby was extended to a huge kitchen, Two spiral staircase ascended from both side of the gigantic room.

The wooden floor was laden with posh Persian carpet, which only complimented the crème theme of the room. A huge chandelier adorned the ceiling, lighting up the room enough to make it seem like the masterpiece it was.

It reminded me of an abandoned castle.

Madeline led me to a comfy looking maroon sofa and ushered me to sit, as she began to ramble, "I am so sorry for making you come along the way. You see-"

BAM!

Everything happened so fast, yet slow.

Like everything was in a slow motion.

One moment Ms. Quarsiekiev was standing next to me, apologizing to me, and the next moment.....

I let out a scream as I saw her clutching her chest.

Blood.

So much blood.

My hands shook as I quickly held her form. She was losing so much blood.

Someone had shot her........

"M-Miss!' I mumbled through my tears as I tightly held her diminishing form. Her green eyes had turned into a shade of dark green, they were lighted with a strange look,. They glistened under the soft chandelier light with some unfamiliar emotion as she took her last breaths.

She cupped my face with her bloodied hand as she smiled, her pain evident in her features. "Do you remember me, Rose?"  She whispered.

A clasped her hand tightly, trying to form a coherent reply. But her life was slowly draining away. She was there, ebbing away and then-

Then nothing.

Empty.... That's how it felt.

Just a moment ago, she was so rejuvenate, so full of life, like a chirpy bird in spring and now she was nothing.

Her body was in my arms, but she wasn't. Her crimson blood still oozed from her heart.

My body shook with the heaviness of the shock and agony of the events.

What happened?

Somewhere along the stairway, I heard a loud bang as my head snapped towards the direction of the sound.

Through my teary eyes, I saw the turquoise eyed man standing there, with a look of hollowness and vehemence plastered on his face.