Killing On Command

Chapter 9

Alex opened her weary eyes slowly as she felt herself begin to regain consciousness. It took her a while to confirm whether she was dreaming or not, but she knew that she was not at home any more. There was no question about it. She'd either bled to death last night, or had by some miracle been brought back to life. Now - she guessed - she had journeyed on to the afterlife where she would be met by the creators; just like her father had told her about in the stories from her childhood. She remembered him reading her the creation story before she went to sleep at night. He told her that even if she died in her sleep, the God of the stars would take her to the afterlife and take care of her. She felt a tear form in her eye as she recalled those days, silently hoping she had just slept through her journey, or that she could somehow find her way back home.

She sat up, confused as to her location at that particular moment. She was in a room she didn't recognize; the striped black and silver with a brilliant white ceiling were unfamiliar, and she lay in a four poster bed with white silk sheets and red curtains drawn around it. The theme of the room had an obviously royal feel to it, and she felt a little out of place. There was no door in this part of the room, but an archway leading into a bathroom, and she noticed that there were also no windows. She felt enclosed and claustrophobic; out of place from the richness the walls emitted onto her and how different things were to her own, familiar attic bedroom.  She wanted to know what time of day it was; how long she'd been dead for. But she would probably never know.

As she stood up, she felt her head spin, and the room turn a little distorted. She held her head in her hands, willing the sensation to stop. Once it had done so, she looked down, noticing that she had been dressed in a black corset - much like the one she'd worn to the dinner - and a pair of skin tight checked black trousers trousers. She shivered at the memory, but sighed in relief of never having to see the Millers again. She looked at herself in a large mirror on the wall. She looked extremely pale, and noticed that her neck had almost healed completely, with only a faint red line across her throat marking the injury with an ugly scar. Her pocket watch was fastened to a pocket on a worn leather jacket on the back of  a chair across the room, and she hurried to make sure it was still as she saw it last. The chair was pulled up to a beautiful dressing table with a large oval mirror attached to it.

It was only then that she noticed her eyes. She took a step closer, looking into her own eyes and examining them in awe. To start, they were the deep blue colour she had always seen, but they slowly began to change to a brilliantly strange shade of violet. After a while, she was staring into the same eyes she had seen on the man who had been carrying her; a beautiful fiery orange, and she barely recognized her own reflection. She stood back in shock and sat on the edge of the bed, put her head in her hands, pulling at her now wavy long hair. Her lips were black in colour, and was equally as dark as the corset, but didn't seem to smudge at all. She was slightly concerned that it would never come off, but she stood and rushed back to the vanity mirror across the room and found a damp cloth. She quickly washed her face and scrubbed at her lips, removing the charcoal substance from her skin.

A knock at the door awoke her from her thoughts as she sat at the mirror, and she began to panic. She had no idea who was going to be on the opposite side of the old oak door, and she began looking for something to cover her arms with. She grabbed the thin, worn leather jacket and pulled it on, not bothering to fasten the golden buttons. She walked over to the door, where she found a small gold key on the table to its left. A small tag on it told her that it was a key to the door. She picked it up and held it in the palm of her hand. She could feel her pulse under her skin where the heavy metal key rested. Alex unlocked the door before standing back cautiously, leaving the key in the door.

"Come in," She said. Her voice was a little raspy, but she sounded normal in comparison to the other changes she had experienced. The door swung open, and a tall figure entered the room, followed by a girl around her height. She also had black hair, but it fell around her shoulders in soft curls, and her eyes were red. Alex recognized her as her childhood friend - Maria. Before she could speak, a male voice stopped her.