Darling Poison - Lustre 1

Chapter One - Mavis

MAVIS
"You will walk in there, pick the pot I told you to and walk away. No deviation, no wandering off or I will carve your disobedience into your back like the useless fucking creature you are. Am I understood?"
Clenching her chattering teeth together, Mavis nodded, her body still aching from her last punishment. The Null gripped her wrist tightly, enough that she would surely be left with bruising later and dragged her along blindly. Her chest shook from caging her sobs inside her body, whispers of sound leaving her clenched jaw as she tried to be brave. Tried so hard to be strong.
Anger and upset clashed within her bones, rage and disgust at the Null she was bound to. To the one who had claimed the spot of her caretaker when he was lesser even than that. He was nothing. Just an empty vessel trying to move up in the world and using her to do so.
His steps hurried causing Mavis to quicken her own, almost jogging to keep up. It was tradition for the Lustre to choose a mate from the Sanctuary.
Once of age, all Lustre of the institution attended a ceremony that required them to choose a small potted plant from the room and flow power into the little plant in hopes it bloomed. Nobody knew who the pots belonged to or where they had come from, only that the person on the other end sensed the moment the flower grew alive.
It had been so long since Mavis had seen a plant that wasn't corrupted by her touch. Had stroked a petal or looked at wonderful shades of green that made her think of springtime and soothed the raw emptiness inside of her compared to the corroded rust it turned under her attention.
So rarely had she been out of the place she considered her home. Never had she been this far and never had she been in the company of so many others of her own kind. Already, she could hear chattering voices and whispers of excitement.
Other Lustre were excited at the turn life was about to take for themselves. Mavis knew better. This was no celebration for her. She would be coming out of that room exactly the same person she went in. A pawn for others to use. The Null that dragged her along wanted to use her. To profit off her rather than let go of his charge.
To be a Lustre was to be a creature of the light. Soft and dainty, to be fawned over and pampered. But not Mavis. Not with the things she was capable of. Even in the institution that raised Lustre to maturity, she had been secluded from them.
Mavis never made beautiful things. She never made wonderful flowers or bloomed gardens of happiness.
Rather, everything she touched turned to poison. Her creations were used as drugs and dangerous things to sell at a profit. Everything she brushed a fingertip over twisted and turned ugly. Like herself. Like the horrid ability underneath her skin.
Every small cut the Null had made into her skin was a tally to the days spent in the company of a cruel person rather than being cared for and loved.
He had her dressed entirely in black. A mourner rather than celebrating her coming of age, her day choosing of a mate to be something she would be robbed of at the expense of his own selfish needs.
A thick blacked-out veil covered her face, heavy material wrapped around her body, a fabric prison leaving her stuck. Gloves were strapped over her hands and bound so tightly that her fingers tingled from slight numbness.
Rather than release her out into the wilderness and let nature take its course, her caretaker preserved her in the dark and cold. Like mould. What he hadn't taken into account was how comfortable she had become in the dark. Where the wild things grow, where the monsters lurk. Where she felt most comfortable even while drowning in loneliness.
Feet shuffling, Mavis was manoeuvred by rough hands to where she could make out more voices coming closer. Through the fabric of her veil, some scents broke through. Flowers, perfumes, sweet and soft. Everything that said female, everything that made her picture hazy spring days and crushed petals scenting the air. Of silk and comfort she had never known
Divinely feminine.
"Stand here. Don't fucking move until I move you."
"Of course." The grip on her until she hissed. "Sir."
Bile rose at the back of her throat just having to refer to him as such. Like he was any kind of superior figure to herself. The man was nothing but an abuser who would get what was coming to him. Mavis prayed to the Mother every night that the man who used her so cruelly would somehow fall and crush his windpipe.
Maybe he would be stabbed through the chest accidentally. That he stumbled down a flight of stairs face-first until the bones of his face smashed into the empty space between his ears.
But that was just her poisonous nature talking of course.
Wringing her hands together tightly, the fabric of the coarse gloves stung her palms and fingers. Beneath them, she had chewed her nails down to an almost painful level with anxiety and worry gnawing away at her.
An hour passed.
Maybe two.
There was no way of telling how the crowd dwindled or how long she stood there until her legs grew sore and cramped. The tears had since dried and her mood had turned dejected. People were leaving happy and joyful, talking about their futures while Mavis would never experience such a wonderful thing.
With a huff of annoyance at her left, the Null grabbed her shoulder and pressed her forward. Did he intend to come in with her? Had he struck a deal with the others to allow it? Her heart thundered almost painfully in a panic that he would be right there to force her into the choice he demanded.
"I'm sorry Sir, this is as far as you go. As you're more than aware, the Blooming ceremony is one at a time. No allowances."
"My charge cannot see what she's doing. How would she know where to go?"
"The Mother will guide her." Came the helpful answer. Mavis couldn't help but picture the vein in her so-called caretaker's head standing out and throbbing. He never did like being told what to do by other women. How unlucky for him to be born into a species that also worshipped one.
"Lustre, please follow me."
Reaching out a gloved hand blindly, a similarly-sized palm slid against her own, the heat of skin soaking into her chilled fingertips through the leather cover. Even blinded behind her veil, Mavis didn't need to look back to know the Null was staring daggers at her. The skin on the back of her neck was prickling in warning.
She would bear the punishment of even this, no doubt and couldn't help but wonder how deeply he would cut this time. Enough to leave more scars no doubt.
"You must be excited. This is a big day for all you girls coming of age. Finding a mate. It's like a mystery proposal isn't it?"
All Mavis could muster out of herself was a hum of agreement. She couldn't even attempt to fake excitement or interest. All she could think about was the aftermath, a foreboding sickness twisting her stomach into knots. The pain she could soon be facing just so the Null had a body to take his temper out on.
To be a Lustre was to be a soft, omega-like, gentle light to the soul of an Erebus.
The Erebus was considered the alphas of the race, dominant males that could both rule and rage. They were everything between sophisticated billionaires and dangerous criminals of all types with magic in their veins to allow them to shift into any form of their own soul. Animals mostly, some took on a rarer ability, some even became great big dragons and some weren't so lucky.
Nulls were stuck in the grey area between the species. They were neither submissive to their own nature nor dominant over the others. A Null had to carve out their own space in their world and given how her caretaker behaved, they took their space by any means necessary.
Even if that meant using and abusing their charge.
Once the pair had stopped walking, Mavis was brought to a stop, her hand lifted and pressed up against what she could tell was a handle.
"Once you go in, please remove your veil. Nobody else is inside the room. Take a walk around. Get a feel for the area and when you feel it, lift the pot you're most drawn to."
What if I have no pot? What if I don't feel the pull towards any? The question was spiralling around in her head. What if nobody wanted to be tied down to the likes of her?
Nodding, the helper gave her a small encouraging push before she opened the door. Mavis stood perfectly still until the door closed behind her, shutting her inside the quiet space. As soon as she was sure nobody was around, she lifted away the heavy veil to finally breathe in a decent breath.
Yet the air caught in her lungs at the grandness that met her. A huge greenhouse, rows upon rows of little pots lining the walls and small benches. None had grown through the soil at her, none had curled green leaves to her mere presence.
Swallowing hard, Mavis straightened her spine and wandered further inside. She ignored the space her caretaker had told her to look for, determined to find her own. Determined that she had more to life than to just be a puppet for another.
She was a Lustre. That had to count for something. She had to be destined for something more than the world she lived in. Twisting her fingers together, the gloves creaked at the movement. Rows upon rows of soil passed her, all the same, orange pots, nothing to distinguish between them. Nothing to give it away.
Some places were empty, other Lustre having found their calling, found their bond. Anxiety twisted inside her more. Nothing was calling out to her. Nothing was blooming to life and showing itself. The more pots she walked by, the more dread built.
Nothing.
There was nothing.
Mavis had walked the sanctuary so many times already that her feet ached. There was only one door inside and the same door out. No hope of escaping either. Her caretaker would drain her of every drop of light she had within her and leave her a husk. A shell of what she could have been in the right circumstances.
The back of Mavis's eyes burned sharply, tears making her surroundings blurry to the point she had to sit down in the corner of the huge greenhouse, a heap on the dirty floor in a space that brought so much joy.
Tucked away where bags of fresh soil and gardening tools sat, Mavis curled herself into the corner as tight as she could. Maybe if she never came out, nobody else would enter. Maybe she could hide away somewhere it was safe.
Tears fell freely, landing in gravel and soil, sizzling onto the ground in reaction but she couldn't bring herself to clear them. To stop the flow before it went any further. Instead, Mavis cried. Until her eyes were puffy and her face blotchy red. She felt desolate. Unwanted.
Unloved.
Life had dealt her an unfair hand, one she didn't think her body could hold up against anymore. All that perseverance for what? For nothing? Enduring all that pain to get nowhere?
In little droplets, her tears sank into the soil, burrowing a path as if they had a life of their own towards a small broken pot, neglected and forgotten. While she sobbed into her gloved hands, any tears that spilt watered tiny roots and took life. Twisted and slithered into the soil until darkly green leaves unfurled. A small flower, twisted into its petals free, small and purple, a tiny berry in the middle full of sadness. Full of poison that came so easily from her and turning it into life.
The more Mavis cried, the more the plant grew, twining around the rows of other pots and overtaking the wall behind her slowly. Curling around her ankles and limbs almost protectively, a plant trying to comfort her heartbreak even as thorns cut into the fabric she was swamped in.
The air in her lungs was tight, making her breath stammer and hiccup in her chest as Mavistried and failed to pull herself together.
Failure. That's all she was.
Stupid, stupid, stupid! Her fury at herself caused the thorns to sharpen further, the belladonna to grow like a barrier around her crying form and hide her from the outside world.
"Mistress, why are you crying?" A cool hand slid over her cheek, wiping away the tracks of tears despite liquid-burning skin on contact. Opening her puffy eyes to shy away, Maviswas met with the strangest thing she had ever clapped eyes on.
A suit was kneeling in front of her yet without a tangible body. She had been convinced somebody spoke, convinced she could feel a solid hand against her cheek where the sleeve was lifted still. But no face. No eyes. No mouth to speak from.
"I am Merrick. My Sire has asked me to retrieve his Lustre and return home with you. Please," The suit reclined from her, the cool touch sliding away to stand. "Follow me."
Her throat dried. There was a sleeve pointing at her but nothing to grab. All Mavis could manage to do was blink at the creature in front of her in confusion.
"Ah, my apologies." Taking a moment, invisible limbs pulled on white gloves, a foggy cloud of a head taking shape, moving in what seemed like a breeze despite everything being still in the sanctuary. "There. Forgive me, sometimes I forget I have a corporeal form at all. My mind slips away with the wind some days." Its voice was deep, pleasant yet coming from where she couldn't understand.
Still, Mavis stared at him. "I'm nobody's Lustre. I don't understand." But she took his hand all the same, being lifted to her feet while the thorns began to retract. "If I'm his, why isn't he here himself?"
The cloud thing- Merrick -tilted its foggy face slightly. "This is considered a holy place. My Sire cannot step foot in such things, he finds it distasteful."
"And who is your sire?"
"He is a nightmare. And you are his light. My esteemed sire is Corvin Melantha."
Whatever colour was in her face drained at the mention of it. She knew that name. Every Lustre in the realm knew that name.
Erebus of the Monsters. Alpha of Disasters.
"Oh now, please don't fret. He's very misunderstood. Think of him like a rather large, angry bird if you will." Merrick laughed at whatever joke he had implied but it went entirely over her head. The cloud puffed in a wave as Merrick straightened a little more. "Yes well. You'll understand that joke soon enough as well. Let's take our leave, shall we?"
The cloud in a suit clapped his hands together sharply three times, the ground beneath Mavis's feet beginning to shake and tremble. Clouds began to form in the rafters of the sanctuary, billowing to life, dark and heavy with rain, swirling together. Like a pet being called to its master, Merrick offered a hand to the ceiling, a stream of foggy clouds twisting down towards him chilling her skin as they began to surround the pair.
Merrick must have read the dismay on her face. "I wouldn't fret, Mistress. Our home will have everything you could ever need."
At this point, did Mavis even have a choice?
"No madam, I'm afraid you don't." At her pointed look, Merrick's shoulders lifted in a shrug. "You said that out loud. Apologies."
"Okay. Okay, let's go."
"Wonderful." Merrick clapped his almost pristine white gloves together while Mavis tried not to notice the fine sizzled surface from her tears at his finger. "Off we go." With a flourish of hands and arms, clouds came to life around them, bubbling like a liquid in the air before turning fluffy as they crowded in close. "This might seem a little chilly, Mistress, but it will only be for a moment. Have you ever travelled by lightning?"
Her head whipped around to the strange creature as her hair began to lift from static, electricity building while the fog enclosing her thickened and cracked with muted thunder. "No? I've never... I don't get out much to do that."
"You'll love it. Home we go!"
Two things happened in a split second. The huge doors to the sanctuary swung open, sending a breeze through the room enough to waft the clouds encircling her. Mavis only caught a glimpse of the Null's angry red face as he launched himself towards them, screaming at her to come back while Merrick clapped his non-existent hands together.
A flash of light was all it took.
A clap of thunder and lightning moved her from one place in the realm to another entirely. Gone were the high walls and rows of little pots. The wind whipped around her sharply, sending shivers through her entire body. Rain pelted against her flimsy dress soaking her to the bone, the sky beginning to darken as stars twinkled and a wonderful navy was gradually taking over the sky above beyond the grey clouds.
"Hurry madam! You'll catch a cold out here before you know it!" Being ushered along by Merrick, Mavis was nearly frozen to the spot as the fog around them cleared more. Her hair stuck to her face as rain pelted harder while she gazed up at the building that was half mountain, half home.
The place looked like it had been carved from the stone itself, arching windows and lights twinkling, moss and vines growing naturally along the rock as Merrick opened a grand double-door entrance. "Madam! Quickly now, here we go, in from the rain!"
His cloud of a head was whipping in all directions from the wind though never truly losing its shape. Mavis was never going to get used to that creature. Hurrying through the doors, heat suddenly enveloped her. Like a wall of warmth swarming around her soaked and chilled limbs making her shiver at the sudden change. Merrick closed the doors away from the worsening storm as she took a second to stare even more.
Everything inside was lavish. The entrance was huge, dark oak and soft lighting. Candles flickering here and there as well as wonderfully placed lamps. A chandelier twinkled high above them lighting up a painted ceiling. The entrance alone screamed luxury and wealth. Of a life she had never hoped to experience. Standing there, dripping rain onto the flooring made her stomach twist with nerves and how expensive even that had to be.
"Lovely, now, let's get you warm and dry. We can't have the Sire meeting you looking like this, he'll put me into a box and shake it violently."
Merrick removed the drenched veil from her hair, squeezed her hair out, leaving a small puddle on the floor and began ushering her forward through the absolute mansion they were within. Even ascending the stairs, Mavis could see where bits of jagged wall and mountain faces invaded.
"Why is this place built into the mountain? For protection?" Did monsters need protection? Or was it to keep them away from others more than anything? Mavis barely had time to consider it as Merrick rushed her through the place, glancing at doors left ajar with lights flickering inside as the world outside went dark and the house seemed to be coming to life.
"Where is he? Your sire?" The butler brought her to the end of a hallway that was lined with glass windows to oversee the world outside. Vast forests lit up as lightning struck, throwing the distance into a navy perspective before she was led into a bedroom fit for a king.
"The Melanthe house is nocturnal. Almost all of the members of the family cannot be out during the sunlight hours. I suppose it's genetic, but it suits them best given their Erebus nature. The sire will undoubtedly be on his way home post haste now the sun is down."
"He's not here already?" Holding her gloved hands to her chest, Mavis tried to keep her mess to a minimum, her teeth beginning to chatter as the cold sank into her bones.
The room Merrick had led her into was wonderfully dark and brooding. Brown so dark it was almost black and deep silk reds. It was luxury and mystery married together gorgeously. The bed was so large she didn't dare consider the size of her mate. Silk sheets and decorative pillows she knew would be lavish to the touch. Knew would be oh so wonderful against her skin and could never touch them.
Her fingers curled tightly into her palms. The gloves could never come off here. She would taint everything. Ruin everything.
"Unfortunately not," Came the reply from what must have been the en suite, steam beginning to sift from the doorway with the sound of running water. "There was an incident last night and they were kept from home before the light broke. While some of the others come home through the light, Master Corvin's beast abhors the sunlight. Which is why he summoned me when he felt your connection to him. He wished you home as soon as possible and I never say no to my sire."
The butler strode out, fixing his white gloves back into place and pulling the waistcoat of his navy suit down as if fixing himself. "Now, I have run a bath to heat you up from the rain, we'll have to make a run into the city for hair conditioner and such but that will all be taken care of once you're ready. If you'd like any changes made to the bedroom, please let me know as well. I'm sure there won't be any arguments. Can I take those for you?" Motioning to her gloves.
"No! No thank you, I'll keep them with me."
"Very good. Please, get comfortable and I'll bring you clothes to change into."
"Something that covers everything. Please. It's dangerous when I have any ah, when any skin is exposed because of my... condition." Her cheeks heated, a flush of heat running up from her neck. She never liked to talk about this. Never liked to go into details about what could happen though she doubted a cloud could go sizzle, melt and bang on contact with her.
"Very good then. I'll let the Sire know once you're comfortable that he will come up and introduce himself." With another flourish of white gloves, Merrick left Mavis to her own peace and quiet.
Standing in the doorway of the bathroom, the butler had sprinkled petals into the water, bubbles frothed and she couldn't wait to climb inside. Peeling off the sodden, horrible dress the Null had forced her to wear, Mavis left her black gloves in place. Better safe than sorry in the face of such expensive surfaces.
Dress forgotten in a puddle on the floor, the Lustre was careful as she reached onto the edge of the huge black marble tub and dipped her feet into the hot water first. Water burned against her skin, sinking heat into the core of her being as she dipped down until bubbles touched her chin and every inch of her was submerged.
Nothing had ever felt so wonderful around her. The ends of her hair floated around, steam fogging her vision as she tucked herself back into the wall of the tub, tilting her head back comfortably.
It was a luxury she had never thought possible. When left in the care of a Null that wouldn't even provide his name to her, Mavis had thought maybe over time, he would lose interest in her. Or the opposite, that he might come to see her as more than just an item but both thoughts had been wrong. The Null had forced her to use her twisted light, and had forced her to grow varying poisons in the name of selling it on.
She knew he had been using it for money, had been using it to make drugs in whatever circle of the city he took them to and now, without his prized provider, she had to wonder what would become of him.
No matter what this was going to become, it would be infinitely better than the life she had led. Maybe her mate wouldn't care if she never took her gloves off.
Dragging a deep breath into her lungs, Mavis breathed in her anxieties and worries before releasing them. Relaxation sank through her, her limbs heavy and exhaustion that felt soul deep surrounding her. Her lids were growing heavier the longer she sat in the heat and comfort, muted light from dimmed lamps creating the perfect ambiance around her.
In the drowsy haze, Mavis's head lolled to the side for a moment as the steam cleared.
A monster was in the doorway.
A horrific creature of bone and blackness filling the space entirely to the point it had to duck it's great skull head beneath the doorway to peer inside. Cherry red eyes gleamed at her through the haze, a predator looking at its prey. Great clawed hands reached inside towards her.
Jerking her body up in a jolt, the small female scrambled, bubbles and water sloshing everywhere as she went under with a gasp. The moment the water closed over her head, Mavis flailed, her gloves slipping against the marble and hot water burning her throat as she made the mistake of sucking in some liquid air.
A strong weight wrapped around her waist, hoisting her up and out of the water coughing and sputtering in a rush. Her hair was flipped over her face in a heavy soaked curtain of bubbles and froth while Mavis choked out a mouthful of bathwater.
"Breathe, little love. In and out."
The deep voice vibrated her very bones. There was no monster there in front of her. Her hands met huge solid biceps as Mavis tried to blink rapidly through her stinging eyes. A large warm hand wiped away the strands of her hair hiding her to lay her eyes on the male himself. The male they whispered about in dark corners and who so many feared.
Corvin Melanthe.
The biggest male she had ever seen in her life. Easily twice, if not three times her size and distractingly beautiful. Could a male be beautiful? He looked like he'd been carved from marble. Something wicked and warm unfurled to life in the pit of her stomach, something she couldn't name entirely.
Smooth skin, the colour of caramel tan with a shock of pale hair that was cut short at the sides while being long and dishevelled on top. White brows were crunched down over wondrously cherry red eyes that missed nothing as they roamed over her face, surrounded by snowy white lashes that were spiked from water that had caught. Pointed and pierced ears that protrude slightly from the sides of his head only making him look even more fantastical and intriguing.
He was the kind of male all others dreamed of being. Something dangerously feminine woke up inside the smaller female and sighed with wonder. The male was crouched over her, Mavis's smaller frame lifted up against his chest, a jean clad thigh sitting snugly between her own. The black t-shirt he wore was now drenched and clinging to very, very well defined chest muscles, his black jeans no doubt suffering the same fate given he was waist deep in the water, a hand braced behind her head to cushion from the hard surface of the tub.
And all she could do was stare up at him, dumbfounded looking like a drowned rat no doubt. "You can let go now."
His red eyes twinkled as he pulled her that little big tighter against his larger body making her cheeks flush for a whole other reason. "I don't think I want to."