The Nutcracker Bleeds (PUBLISHED 2017)

Chapter One: Snow Globe Drama

(A/N): As with my Neverland story, if this one looks familiar to you, that's because it was stolen from me on fictionpress and posted here by Innamorare, but I have since recovered it for myself.

This is a very long story and one of my personal favorites.  To me, it is one of my best works.  I hope you will enjoy it as well. As always, comments appreciated.

Reason for rating: Strong language. Graphic violence, blood and gore. Graphic sexual content including attempted rape and non-human sexual interactions. Scenes of horror and terror, off-page mild pedophilia situations.

Text copyright Lani Lenore

All Rights Reserved. No part of this publication may be produced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording, or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the author, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright law.

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In the attic room, dimly lit by flickering bulbs of gaslight, the girl sat atop her bed. Beneath her was a quilt, covered in squares that presented colorful dolls—her favorite blanket. She wore a blue dinner dress that she had spread out around her like a blooming flower; all the better to keep the wrinkles out.

No one had come for her yet, and time was slipping by into the evening, but Olivia didn't complain. She enjoyed this solitude, but she was never truly alone. No; there were always so many friends to play with.

She hummed quietly to herself, ignoring the snowflakes that gently kissed her window, only to be shunned by the selfish heat within. The girl was unaware of her simple beauty—completely oblivious to her nubile young body and her soft skin. She had no need for concern over those things, for she would never grow up. She would never be like them, and somehow, she knew that.

Putting down the toy soldier she'd been marching across the quilt, Olivia picked up a pretty doll whose name was Madeline, her ringlets and painted lips perfect. She'd been a gift from the one who loved Olivia most.

"If you want to marry her, you'll have to go to war, Edmond," Olivia said, always forthright. "Every girl wants a strong soldier to protect her."

There was silence in the room as Olivia balanced the soldier on his feet, making Madeline prance around him beautifully.

"You can make your claims all you want," she scolded as if the soldier had responded to her, "but she won't believe you unless you go to war."

Continuing quiet followed her insistence, and Olivia—very much a child trapped in a young woman's body—set Madeline down carefully and held the soldier up close to her face. She looked straight into his painted eyes and gave him a look of disapproval.

"What do you mean, you're afraid? You should have thought of that before you became a soldier! If you don't fight, you will be looked upon as a traitor by your country, and you'll be executed. I'd hate to see that happen to you, Edmond."

Olivia looked at the soldier harshly, and after a few seconds had ticked away in the stillness, she closed her eyes and a little smile spread across her lips.

"I'm glad you made that decision. Madeline is glad, too." Olivia pulled the soldier and the doll against her chest so tightly that they might have heard the beating of her heart against their own hollow bodies.