Crimson Velvet

"Bake at your heart's content."

I sighed deeply after hearing the advertisement on one of my favorite baking channels. It was quarter to ten when I glanced at the clock by the window. I quickly closed the television, stood up, and headed outside.

When I am finally stepped outside. I roamed my eyes around and landed on a new store opening right next to the boutique on the left side of the road.

As I looked around, I realized some things in our town. Things were simple in Luxuriantes. The town where anything could be bought. If you had money, you could acquire happiness, fame, beauty, dreams and even memories with the darkest secrets.

Driven by curiosity, I approached the new store. It had no name, just a simple line above the entrance.

Bake at your heart's content.

"How odd. I just heard that line a while ago, and now it's here?" I let out a small chuckle.

I pushed the door open. The warm interior was welcoming me. Filled with some scented baked goods. Shelves full of colorful cookies and cupcakes, pastries and breads, flour, and various baking materials that surrounded me.

One thing that caught my eyes was the Crimson Velvet flavoring inside the jar at the very top of the shelf. I was about to get it when an old woman suddenly appeared right before my eyes.

"Baking is more than just a recipe; it’s about creating memories with own blood, sweat and tears. Each item here has a story— and even memories, no matter how dark."

I felt a shiver run down my spine from what the old woman said. I couldn't help but wonder, what if everything could change if I bought one of these flavorings? Maybe I could become like Scarlett Monsieur, the world's greatest baker.

"If only those memories could help me. . ."

"To become the world's greatest baker?" the old woman smiled strangely—almost creepily.

"M-maybe? I don't know. I'm just an amateur baker. I can't compete with Scarlett Monsieur." I forced a smile, lost in thought.

"Choose one," she said, expressionless.

Without hesitation, I grabbed the jar of Crimson Velvet flavoring along with the other ingredients I had bought to bake a cake.

As I turned to leave the store, I realized I hadn’t asked the old woman for her name. When I looked back, she had vanished. There was no trace of her. I searched the entire store, but she was nowhere to be found.

It was so quiet earlier that I could hear the dust settling on the shelves. Suddenly, the silence shattered as a young woman appeared—no, there were many of them.

"Where did the old woman go?" I asked.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am, but there was no old woman here. We are the only employees in this store," said one of the young employees.

I was taken aback. Had I just imagined her? I shook my head and hurriedly went home, convinced that I could bake a perfect cake.

When I reached my house, I quickly took out the ingredients, including the flavoring I bought. It was a sunny day that baking inside would be a good thing for me.

Minutes passed, and I smelled the sweet scent of the baked Crimson Velvet cake wafting through my kitchen. As I carefully pulled the cake out of the oven, I was surprised to see the outcome. It was the perfect cake that I have ever baked. I sliced a piece and took the first bite.

It was everything I had hoped for, but after a couple of seconds, my head suddenly hurt like hell. It felt like it was being smashed by a hammer. A memory flashed in my mind, and I saw blood dripping and a woman wickedly smiling at me.

Blood as an ingredient to make the perfect cake planned by the world's greatest baker—Scarlett Monsieur.

What? Blood from living people? Is this her darkest secret?

But that's not all she's hiding. She's not just taking the lives of innocent people; she is a sweet monster lurking under children's beds, stealing their hearts to make a perfectly Crimson Velvet cake.

What surprised me even more was when I looked in the mirror. I saw her image transforming into mine. . . I was becoming her. Whispering something in my ears.

"Don't you dare run away from me, Red. You are me, and I am you." She continued to laugh like an obsessed evil.

"No! No! This isn't true!" I shouted as loud as a blood slithered closer with screams.

There was a bitter taste in the back of my mouth that I couldn’t seem to get rid of, it was something I wanted to disappear.

"You cannot escape from me; we share each other's darkest secrets."
 
I kept smashing the mirror in front of me. I saw the blood flowing right through my hands, and when I turned my face on it, blood was all over my face. The once-image of mine became the murderer's image of the world's greatest baker. 
 
I, then smiled evilly. "Was I a murderer?"