Dry Roses

[BELLS JINGLE LOUDER]

——

"The night has finally come!" There, I quietly hissed to myself albeit glaring at my reflection in a golden framed huge mirror. Nothingness but tears started to make a hideous waterfall on the floor of my cheeks. 

I clutched my chest instantly when I felt my heart start to beat against the unsteady walls of my chest. There is possibly nothing I can do than just allow tears to flood across my face. Dread had already touched every part of my throbbing organ with its sticky fingertips. "My tears…! How long do I have to cry!? Tis going to happen, I cannot escape it." I stuttered under my quivering breath, while both of my hands began to tremble. 

I wished I had not smelled despair as it floated helplessly almost victoriously in the air. My eyes which were filled with salty waters quickly began exploring my naked figure that shivered greatly as if I was struck by a bullet. With each intimidating kiss from the bone-chilling wind that has been mischievously sneaking into the bathroom, through the tiny cracks in the roof, my body shuddered as if dancing to the rhythms of the air. 

Looking around me, I found nothing to cover my figure with and that fueled an aura of grey to envelope both my heart and soul. I sadly took another close look at the reflection and immediately realised that my eyes had become so puffy and bloodshot that I could not recognise their original colour. 

Of course, they are puffy — otherwise, why wouldn't they be when I have been doing nothing but shed tears for the past three days, ever since I received words that were awfully poisonous for my ears? A bitter short smile slowly published itself across my pale face, right between both of my ears when I started remembering the very evil minute I was showered by cold, sharp words. 

It was an extremely ominous minute to the clock that I hopelessly wished it should have broken into seconds. There, I was kneeling before three individuals who were emotionlessly looking down at me. My chartreuse eyes were nervously darting around the luxuriously gigantic ballroom many now called the throne room. It was glistening with little different kinds of buzzing lights that pulsated enchantingly — victoriously illuminating fear that was rapidly painting itself across my features. 

My hands were quaking so hard that I failed to control their sudden movements. I quickly felt my oesophagus closing in — it was extremely hard to draw air into my lungs. Honestly, at that point, I had tried not to breathe but shamingly — it was hardly impossible. 

"In the third moon from today…should there be a chance for little ones to be conceived." Those words — those were words that made goosebumps creep on every corner of my skin. They were words that made an awful replay in the chambers of my tiny head — they glued themselves on every part of my head; hidden or not they thwarted me from thinking of anything else but them. They were so toxic, poisoning every tiny thing hidden in my system. 

My heart was now hammering wildly against my chest, vehemently humming a very loud song that enslaved my ears into a radiating void of pity. Now, I hardly moved an inch of my body — I was frozen to the spot, ensuring that my eyes did not collide with any of theirs. 

Here, just steps away a so-called prophetess who was shamelessly looking down at me whilst smiling wickedly as if she read the amount of agitated butterflies that were flattering their wings in the depths of my stomach. 

I wished I could run away this instant and hide inside someone's trouser pockets and never come out again but again, that was impossible. My figure had slightly shrunk a second I heard the alpha's booming, deafening laughter resonate with traceable waves of mockery across the throne room. As always, he was boisterous but on this day, he was way beyond that — happy I could say he was. 

My heart was already broken, everything inside of me was long dead. 

——

"I can't…give him children. No way! I have to run away as soon as possible!" I growled instantly when I had just shaken my head from the poisonous thoughts. My heart was racing at this point, my hands were uncontrollably shaking. I looked around me, searching for an escape route but there wasn't any. It was true, Chimera, the prophetess had warned me before — she had locked me up in a basement for days without food and light; I was in the dark for attempting to run. 

"You shouldn't be crying on this special day. It is all bad luck!" Chimera's wheezing voice floated straight into my thoughts, victoriously intruding into every unspoken word that was piling up in my head. It was then I realised that I was no longer alone in the bathroom. There she was, wearing a radiant smile that smelled of treachery. 

She loved it all, everything that was happening to me. I hate her — I know that she was smiling at my misery, at my tears. This day that she is calling "special" is a day she prophesied to be auspicious to perform the ceremony to make little ones for Alpha Xenos. He is the same alpha I wished every second of my life since getting married to him, to kick the bucket but it was clear that the Moon Goddess valued him too much to let him make me suffer. 

"It is true. The deed must be done and then…he can kick the bucket, dear!" Chimera spoke soon after she had applied an unusual oil on my back while slyly exposing to me a millionth time now, that she can read my thoughts. That was one of the reasons why I hated her, she made it so clear that my hidden words were transparent — that I was easy to read. 

"Don't worry. All the preparations are almost done. The prophetess foretold and with each word she aired, I swiftly averted my eyes at the mirror to find my figure raimented in a white, silky dress that shamelessly exposed everything inside. I could quickly spot my nipples rubbing against the soft, silky fabric, trying desperately to hide. My lips involuntarily began to tremble — I couldn't take my eyes off of my reflection. 

My tiny, innocent figure — everything will be taken away from me in just seconds. My pride, smile and freedom — everything I have ever owned will be snatched away from my grip. There was no way I was going to fight, for my hands were shackled. 

"Stop sulking! Quickly…it is time!" Chimera's voice pierced into my head, obtruding into my thoughts. My heart quickly skipped a beat when an unknown elderly women stormed into the bathroom. Without ever saying anything to me, they pushed me out of the bathroom and to a luxuriously decorated bedchamber. Everything inside was red — the huge bed was covered by red bedsheets, as silky as the dress I wore. Red smoke was dancing horribly, swirling in the air, filling the whole atmosphere with raspberry perfume that tickled my nose. 

Thither — the smoke quickly clouded my view, I hardly made sense of anything else that was inside but the tiny, wobbling flames of the candles that were put on every corner of the room. The two elderly women and chimera suddenly put their hands on my face, back and shoulders whilst whispering words that sounded like a prayer. "What…?" I whispered, my forehead frowning with confusion but of course, there wasn't a reply. 

Immediately when they were done, the three women left and I was now alone in the unknown bedchamber. Was I really alone?

With tear-filled eyes, I began a nervous tour of the foreign room. There was a huge blue code of ominous silence that swiftly made my heart throb as loudly and silently as it could. 

"Calm down, dear Ophelia!" A familiar wheezing, acidic voice suddenly boomed across the room, quickly encouraging chills to creep everywhere in my system. I could instantly feel goosebumps keeping my veins hostage — how unruly. I hopelessly began to search for the owner of the voice — the one for the first time called out my real name so boldly. As soon as I was searching, my ears caught footsteps slowly walking out of the darkness, not too far away from me. 

From the blackness, a familiar, wrinkled smile sparkled with greed right on my face. "Al..pha Xenos!" I frightenedly whispered under my wobbling breath. 

"Oh! How enchanting you are…! The night is young, my dear. Let us not waste time!" 

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