Her Name is Bliss

Chapter 8

"Sometimes I'm terrified of my heart; of its constant hunger for whatever it is it wants. The way it stops and starts."

― Edgar Allan Poe

Curse after curse. Slash after slash. Whistle of the wind after whistle of the wind. And then a maniacal laugh tied everything together with a blood-drenched bow.

She emerged from the alleys covered in splatters of darkness and a beaming white grin on her face. She spun, her scythe out to her side like a wing. Blood slid off the scythe's cool slick surface, so when she stopped, her scythe gleamed blood-free. It did not last long however. All too soon, she would walk into another alley and again she'd drip blood.

The sun arose and caught her just as she had spun herself clean for the fourth time. She flinched as the sun burned her eyes suddenly. In the process, she flinched back into the shadows of the alley, and her scythe slipped and fell to the floor. Moments later, Bliss stumbled out of the shadows rubbing at her eyes and cursing under her breath.

While she continued to rub the burning light from her eyes, a small child bumped into her and began to cry, "I'm sorry, Mr. Undertaker! I... Uh... Please don't hurt me..."

Bliss frowned down at the child, "What are you babbling over?"

The child looked up confused. He wiped an arm over his snotty nose and studied her. His small eyes took in every detail of her, "You're not him..?"

Bliss' frown grew, "Who is him?"

A small girl ran up to them then. She took the small boy by the arm, which made Bliss grimace in disgust. Unaware, the girl grabbed onto the boy's dirty sleeve and tugged at him, "Come now, Edward. Mum has warned you to stay away from―er, I mean, not bother―Mr. Undertaker."

The boy pulled his arm free, "But that isn't Undertaker. That's a girl."

The girl tugged at the boy once more, "What are you talking about? Do you not see the sca―"

Bliss took the girl by the neck and held her against the wall. She lifted the girl off the ground, and the girl kicked her feet helplessly, trying and failing to free herself. Bliss smashed her once against the wall to calm the girl down. The girl stopped kicking, and the boy, who Bliss presumed was her brother, could do little more than watch in terror.
"This scar! What do you know of it?! Who is Undertaker?!" her grip tightened with every word she desperately uttered.

The girl sputtered and choked. She gasped for air barely able to breathe, let alone speak. Bliss loosened her grip with shaky anxious fingers. The girl gasped and gulped at the air as if she would never fill her lungs again, and, before Bliss made that true, she spoke with a raspy voice and in between coughs, "Undertaker... runs a funeral parlor... He looks very much like you... He has that same scar... Although, no one truly knows how... he got it... Most people... stay away from him... No one really... knows much..."

"Where..?" Bliss did not meet the girl's eyes as she spoke.

"What do you―"

Bliss smashed her against the wall once more. Her force was careless and unmeasured. She was losing herself to emotion; Bliss was acting with her heart on her sleeve. In turn, the girl seemed to crumble and go limp from the force of the impact. The small boy, Edward, snapped out of his trance at this point, "Stop!"

Bliss dropped the girl to floor like a child bored and done with a toy. The boy ran to his sister's side and wrapped his arms around her. He fussed over her, checking that she was fine, and begging her to forgive him. The heartwarming scene made Bliss sick. She turned her eyes away and spat out in a monotone voice, "Speak."

The small boy cursed at Bliss, but a single glance at his sister had him silent and his anger in check. "Undertaker has a funeral parlor around the corner down the street," he admitted. "There's no missing it..."

Bliss glared at the child. There was an unnatural hate in her eye. Something that sparked the twin emerald flames to life. It was as if it was her but not her. She was something far darker. It was as if a beast of the cruelest kind had taken the form of Bliss. She looked at the child with the hatred visible even through the veil of hair and seethed, "If you are lying..?"

"Why would I lie?!" Edward now stood up, challenging Bliss. His small form shook with fear, but his fists were balled with anger. "Have you not done enough? You come and hurt my family for no reason. Do you know what that's like?! How twisted are you?! What kind of monster are you, that you would beat family in front of family?! I would not doubt you killing her even! Do you not have a family?! Do you not know how much seeing your family in danger hurts?!"

"Tch!" Bliss looked away. The flame in her eyes slowly dying away. She kneeled before the girl and simply raised a hand to stop the boy as he stepped in defensively. Bliss rested her hands on either side of the girls face, and, in seconds, the girl lifted her face up in Bliss' hands. Her eyes bright and innocent as she looked at Bliss.

Nothing. There was nothing in Bliss' eyes. She said nothing as she stood. She said nothing as the boy threw himself into his confused sister's arms. She turned her back on the pair and walked out the alley, but, as the sun hit her pale skin, she turned to look over her shoulder. "Boy," she said. "Look after your family. Girl, you are lucky. You both are. You care for each other. You look after each other. You two are family. Cherish it."

Then, she turned the corner and left. She walked down the cobble stone streets on shaky legs. Suddenly, she stopped. There it sat. A small building with coffins leaning against it, and a beaming sign that read "Undertaker" sat above the door adorned with a skull. She gulped as she let her hand fall on the small cold knob. It took all her force to slowly wrap her fingers around it and turn it.

She took a deep breathe before slowly creaking the door open, "Hello..?"