Bizarre Beginnings

Chapter 1 ~ Crimson Eyes

  Quiet stillness filled the parlour. Quiet stillness always filled the parlour when father was on an errand. Laughter seemed to follow him but never stayed long where he wasn't. I'd tried chuckling at a few of my own jokes but the sound was hollow and void of true emotion. I prodded at a corpse out of boredom to see how old it was. It was a day at most.

  With lack of better things to do I started to work on the body. This one was a nobleman who'd had a drinking problem and broken his neck in a rather nasty bar fight. I grabbed a black satin ribbon and pulled back my bright red hair in a makeshift bun but my bangs refused to cooperate. I struggled, trying to blow the strands of hair from my eyes but they only flopped back into place. Giving up I slowly threaded a gleaming needle, cleaned to perfection, and started to stitch some of the cuts along his face. My hands were several shades paler than the man's, only father was a pale as I was. It was simple work and though I could stitch both neatly and quickly it took me over two hours to finish stitching the lacerations.

  For the most part his bruises had faded from the simple fact of being dead and having no blood flowing to colour those areas anymore. However I did need to get the powders and creams to hide any trace of blemishes. Father had a special cream and pigments to mix into it to make the perfect makeup to hide the dead's bruises, rashes and scabs. This part was fairly enjoyable, father had once said it was painting the youth and beauty that the dead had desired before their end. I found this to be a nice idea and always took extra care to make the corpses radiant like they might have liked when they were living.

  "Oh darling," cooed a voice behind me, "He's absolutely ravishing! Why if I hadn't reaped him myself I'd have snatched him up already!"

  I spun and grinned. A flash of bright red met my eyes along with a toothy grin. I wrapped my arms around the beloved red head.

  "Grell! I didn't know you were coming today," I held Grell at arm's length, "What brings you here today?"

  Grell flashed me a sharp toothed grin, "You're divine selection of men of course."

  "Besides that Grell," I smirked, "Did you make a mess of something?"

  "Quite the opposite, Jez," Grell sat on a coffin, delicately crossing one ankle over the other, "Something's made a mess of me."

  "Oh?" I sat next to Grell, "What could get you into a mess besides a... Grell!" I squealed and scooched closer, "Who is it?"

  "Well, there's this absolutely devilish butler I met. He's gorgeous, Jez," Grell gazed dreamily into the distance, "He has this smirk and these eyes that just," Grell shuddered, "He's intoxicating."

  "He sounds delightful," I grinned, "Do you think I could meet him?"

  "Oh Jez, I wish I could," Grell sighed, "His master works him like a dog. They're working on a very special case but I doubt he'll be able to solve it."

  Grell winked at me. I smiled sheepishly, not knowing if I should ask more about the case or let that matter lie. Before I could decide either way Grell stood and stretched. I followed suit and brushed the wrinkles from my skirt. Grell looked at the skirt disapprovingly.

  "Darling! You must have something less drab. Something..."Grell tapped the chainsaw on the floor a few times, "Red."

  I looked away, embarrassed about my plain black blouse and skirt, "Father says this is all I need, he says that colors aren't suited to this profession."

  "Red is perfect for a young lady," Grell chuckled, "It's passionate. At Least put some lace or frills on that," Grell gestured to my entire outfit.