Bleeding Hearts (Free Read - Genre: Horror, Rated M)

Bleeding Hearts - Free Read!

©AJ Hampton 2008

Warning: Suitable for those over the age of 18. If blood play or torture makes you squeamish, please read no further.

Chapter One

Thick, black curtains fluttered against the pale wall. A breeze drifted through the open window and it did little to dampen the heat of the room. Lucas O’Connell stood beautifully nude in the flickering candlelight as he ran his eyes over the woman in his bed. Chin length russet waves fanned out behind her and contrasted against the silk, ecru sheets. Her skin was flushed and even in the darkness he could see the delicious curves of her body.

His hand tightened around the blade he held hidden behind his back and a thrill ran through him. The metal was cool when he pressed it against his spine, such a contrast to the heat pulsing through him.

Tonight he’d make Ella Davis his forever. Silently, he took a step closer towards the bed.
Like she was in a trance, Ella watched her lover stride through the shadows. Barely visible through the silhouette of candlelight, each step tightened and defined his sculpted muscles. Her eyes fluttered as she admired the breadth of his wide shoulders. Glancing lower, she followed the muscular lines of his abdomen that pointed toward his groin.

Branches wavered in the night, rusty leaves dancing with the curtains that were now drifting in and out of the window. The wind was picking up. Despite the beauty that lay outside, all she could see was Lucas. Sweat lingered on his chest and dampened the sparse hair that matched his unruly chestnut locks. Resting against his thigh was his cock, still thick even though he wasn’t fully aroused.

Ella sucked in a deep breath as a cold breeze caressed her skin. The few remaining candles scattered along the cherry oak dresser dimmed. For just a moment, the room was filled with darkness before they flared back to life. In that moment of darkness she was able to trace the way Lucas slid his tongue over his lower lip. He had a way of looking at her, like he was right now, a way no other man had before.

Despite her short comings, he made her feel beautiful, cherished. Exposed, sweaty and naked on his bed, she felt desired no matter how awful she knew she looked. The wind stirred the stifling heat that pumped through the vent in the wall and she was glad that he’d opened the window to vent the extra warmth they generated. In the middle of November the temperatures this late at night were nearly freezing. The candles gave off a vanilla scent. It was his favorite. The sweet smell rose with the wind and became so potent she could taste it.

His dark, chocolate eyes drew down her stomach to the gap of her thighs that she spread at his silent command. Shivering, her breath skipped at the look in his eyes. Her nipples tightened, hardening into pebbles. Lucas stopped at the foot of the bed. He said nothing. He didn’t need to; his face told her everything she needed to know. His lips curved into a sly grin.

Slowly, teasingly, he brought his hidden arm into view, showing her the present that he’d saved for this occasion. Ella’s heart skipped a beat. A flash of orange moved across the wall as the knife in his hand caught the light. It shouldn’t have made her stomach roll in arousal, but it did. Pulsing with a renewed need, her sex dampened with arousal.

“You trust me, don’t you Ella?” he asked.

His voice was deep with desire and she felt his words like a sheet of velvet had been teased across her aching breasts. Her body throbbed as she imagined what he might do to her.

Lucas’s nostrils flared at the scent of sex and vanilla that tickled his nose, at the gleam of excitement that shone in her eyes. He’d already taken her twice that night, marked her with his seed but it wasn’t enough. It would never be enough. The sweat that clung to his body chilled when the wind howled and tore through the bedroom. He looked deep into her hazel eyes and the only thing he saw was trust.

Muscles he hadn’t even been aware of ached as he dipped a knee onto the bed. He paused, taking one last look at the smooth, flawless surface of her bronzed skin. With each breath she took her chest rose then fell and he watched the way her breasts swayed with the movement. Her stomach indented, showing the lines of her ribs that he longed to trace with his tongue. She was gorgeous, even if she didn’t realize it.

Ella’s pupils grew large as her eyes settled on the razor sharp object that he teased up her leg. The blade was cold, sharp. It was so different from his callused fingers that moved over her opposing thigh. He lifted the knife, excitement dancing in his eyes. Reflected in the polished silver, she saw the perfect mirror image of her face. Wildly, her heart began to race.

His hand tightened, fingers flexing around the hilt of the knife. Hidden beneath his palm was the richly incrusted letters of his initials. Ella didn’t need to see them to know they were there. The small knife he now traced over her abdomen was a memento he kept on him at all times. It was a parting gift from his father before he’d passed away and left his mother a widow.

A wave of arousal washed over her already sensitive skin. A slow, sly smile spread across her heart shaped face.

“I trust you with my life,” she answered honestly, letting him see how much she loved him.

A devious smirk dented his cheeks, showing a hint of pearly teeth that flashed through the part in his lips. He crawled on the bed, his arms gracefully flexing as he moved toward her. Inching forward, his shoulder blades rose with each precise movement. Like it was his tongue, Lucas traced the tip of his knife along her ribs and imagined it was his mouth. Below him Ella trembled, her skin puckering in goose bumps. If it was from excitement, cold, or fear he didn’t know.

“That’s my girl,” he whispered against her lips.

Dipping down, he dropped his weight on top of her, covering her like a blanket. Their legs intertwined, bodies melting perfectly together. He cradled her in his arms like the treasure she was. To him she was the most precious thing in the world and he would do anything to keep her safe.

Ella lifted her hand and trailed it down his cheek before she cupped his jaw. The short, dark stubble was rough under her palm. “I’ll always be yours.”

Their eyes met, the obsessive passion they felt for one another spiraling. Before she could blink, Lucas smashed his lips against hers. She moaned into his mouth, the feel of his tongue slipping inside of her mouth more sensual than the feel of his arousal pressing against her center.
Pleasure moved through Lucas as he took her mouth harder, deepening the kiss until he felt her body surrender beneath him. Thrusting, the tip of his shaft moved against her dripping slit and the friction tightened his stomach in anticipation. He’d never grow tired of making love to her, of making her scream.

Writhing beneath him, Ella wrapped her arms around his neck and drew him down until their chests were flush. His heart was pounding and she felt each beat deep inside of her. Hard, aching nipples slid against his chest and the sensation was almost too much. She tightened her fingers in his hair at his nape, holding the damp strands as they kissed feverishly. Each gentle thrust of his hips brought him closer to where she needed him to be.

Breaking away slowly, Lucas’s teeth scraped against her lower lip until he pulled the flesh out into a pout. He smiled at her, his eyes sparkling before he moved off of her body. Ella could feel his love, could see it in his eyes as he looked to her longingly. Never in her life had she ever felt these emotions before. She loved him with all of her heart, with everything that she had to give. She belonged to him forever and him to her. She knew tonight he was going to ask her to prove it.

Ella lifted her arms above her head as she stretched like a graceful cat. The wooden slats of the head board were cool when she wrapped her hands around them. It was a position that was familiar. How many times had he bound her to his bed? Tortured her body into a pleasure that was mind numbing? How many times had she repaid the favor?

Stretching, she flexed her right leg outward before curving it over his calf. Breasts flat against her chest, Ella’s ribs were elongated, each bone barely visible through her thin skin as her stomach hollowed into a flat slate. Lucas grinned at her submission, her willingness to play the torrid games that haunted him.

From head to toe he drank her in. Her smooth, tanned leg bent at the knee, her toes rubbing against the soft sheet as she rested her foot on the bed. Slowly, Ella gave him a coy smile and spread legs to expose the glistening folds of her sex. He licked his lips seductively, mesmerized by the engorged flesh that was full with need.

Ella watched the desire in his eyes, a thrill shooting up her spine. Her eyes darted from the knife that he was slowly trailing over her stomach and then to the finger that was moving up and down her leg. There was an antagonizing slowness in his movements and she knew he was trying to drive her crazy.

“This wont hurt, much.” Lucas grinned as he straightened her leg and moved to her side. “Try not to move,” he added softly.

The wavering flames shone from the shiny metal, glints of color reflecting on the pale white of the walls. The wind continued to drift softly in, the flickering candles blowing down to the wick before they illuminated in heat once more. Shadows danced along the walls as Ella stretched back further on the bed. Lucas had nothing but time to admire the glow of her skin, the light in her eyes as yellow light brightened the room.

“I love you,” Lucas said as he straddled her thighs and pinned her to the bed. “Tonight, I’ll make you mine. Will you let me do that?” he asked.

To show his point, he traced the sharp tip of the blade against the bone of her hip. Goose bumps rose all over her body. She shivered.

Nodding, she whispered, “Mark me. Make me yours.”

As she spoke, he traced his initials against her hip. Applying more pressure, she felt the first sting of the blade and it made her quiver. Her hips gyrated up towards the knife, her body undulating beneath his as she moaned his name. Ella had known exactly what he was going to do the minute he brought the knife into sight.

“Till death do us part then,” he grinned.

Ella’s scream resonated against the walls. The knife cut through her flesh like scarlet rose petals resting atop water, the blade sharp enough to part the delicate flower as it slowly split in half with the drifting current. Deep, red blood streamed from the precise cut, the liquid running down the curve of her hip and onto the white silk of the sheets. One drop turned into two, two into four until a steady stream raced across her skin. Crimson bled into the strands, each fiber slowly spreading to the next. The sheets would be stained with the love that would be spilled by his hand, the blood that would forever be his, and the blood that bound them together.

Meticulously, Lucas began carving into her skin, applying enough pressure to scar, to brand her as his. Her screams of pleasure and pain marked his heart, as did the tears that ran from her eyes.

Grady O’Connell raised his dark eyes from the adjacent room. Looking into the knife he held in his hand the only thing he saw was the fragmented image of his brother. Whenever he looked into the mirror, he saw him. No matter how similar or un-similar they may appear to be, it was always Lucas’s haunting eyes peering at him. Wordlessly, he twisted the blade in the palm of his hand. Too numb to feel it, the wound he inflicted deepened. Slowly blood filled his palm before it ran down his arm. Hot, sticky, it felt like the sweat trailing down his spine.

The sound of erotic screams filled his ears, replacing the deafening sound of Ella’s moans. His jaw tightened.

Naked, he sat alone in a nearly empty bedroom. His bare feet rested against the hard, cool floor but it did nothing to combat the heat that pumped from the small vent at the bottom of his wall. It was that vent that connected his room to his brothers. It was the only window he had into his twin’s private life.

With a low growl the matching blade of his brother’s dagger suddenly flung from his hand. The knife wobbled as it embedded into the wall with a thwacking sound. The gleam of his initials hit his eye in a flash. The sound of the wood splintering was only a faint comparison to the screams of his beloved. After tonight he’d make sure Ella knew who she truly belonged to.

Chapter 2

Grady’s soul was black, tarnished. Any lightness that had been shined down upon him had been erased the day his brother stole Ella from him. He had once said that she was his light. It was she that kept the darkness that threatened away. Now, it was her that invited in the cold bleakness that overwhelmed him. Because of her, his soul was nonexistent.

Like a hawk stalking its prey, Grady’s eyes never left Ella as she made her way from his brother’s car to her front door. Cloaked in the shadows of the night, they’d been too ignorant to notice his approach. The wind gusted, tangling the dark strands of her hair. Ella’s bright smile cut through the darkness. Grady watched as Lucas pushed the hair from her face and smiled down at her.

Unnatural and all consuming, the tender exchange made Grady sick with hatred. It disgusted him how beautiful they were together. Slowly, carefully, the couple in the distance lost themselves in a passionate embrace of lips and hands before they stumbled into her house and slammed the door shut behind them.

A flash of orange embers sparked as Grady threw his half-smoked cigarette to the ground. Smoldering in the moist grass, a twisting curl of smoke disappeared into the chilled night. Heavy, black boots crossed the yard without a sound. He’d gotten good at sticking to the shadows. Grady rounded the back of the white, two story house. Pausing, his neck craned back until he found her bedroom window. Fumbling for only a moment, his hands patted the inside pocket of his thick duster, searching for another smoke.

Cigarette hanging between his lips, Grady alternated his gaze from the matchbook he clutched in his hands to her window. Bright, yellow light flooded the upstairs room just as the scent of sulfur filled his nostrils. Drawing in a deep breath of air brought a fresh wave of sweet nicotine into his lungs. Carelessly, he tossed the used match to the ground where it joined the pile of cigarette butts that already littered the ground.

Grady’s eyes blistered in the night as he watched Ella’s shadow pass in a silhouette in front of the window. Everything around him disappeared in that instant. All that remained was the sound of her passionate mewls as Lucas drew her shirt over her head.

A slow, sadistic grin curled Grady’s lips into a sneer. Brother or not, Lucas was about to dance with the devil.

A thick, rancid odor drew Lucas from unconsciousness. Spicy and rank, it reminded him of copper and ammonia. Blistering with pain, the more Lucas woke, the more he realized what that smell was. He’d know it anywhere. It was a mixture of sweat, dried blood, and urine. At sixteen, he and Grady had worked in a slaughter house. The smell that he’d desperately tried to wash off, night after night, never quite left him.

Struggling to open his eyes, he found his vision blurred and his right eye swollen shut.

Lucas blinked away the looming darkness, desperate to stay awake. Today wasn’t his day to die.
Dread sank into Lucas’s gut; it hadn’t been a nightmare. Slowly, the bleakness of the past hours returned. It was a disturbing reality. Faint slivers of light filtered in from the decayed walls of the abandoned warehouse and gave him a glimpse of his surroundings. There was a layer of dust that floated on the air and through it, the particles played like taunting little gnats.

Covered in a layer of thick debris, the ground below him was concrete. The debris ranged from wood chips, to littered trash and used needles, to rat excrement. His bare feet were sticky with dried blood and urine. With a teasing sting of acid, vomit rose in Lucas’s throat. He had to get out of there.

Struggling against the restraints that held him hostage in the chair he was tied to, caused a new wave of pain to move through him. His stomach tightened in fear. His arms were bound with thick, abrasive twine. Lucas kicked out his legs and found that they too were bound with the same abrasive rope that cut into his skin.

The last concrete memory that he had was of Ella. He remembered how her nude body had looked stretched upon her bed. He remembered the ecstasy in her eyes when his lips moved over the scar on her hip. The taste of her blood still lingered in his mouth. Only now, it was mixed with the taste of his own. He’d left her sleeping soundly. With one last lingering kiss to her cheek he’d snuck out her door. Distracted, he’d buttoned his shirt on his way to the car. He recalled in perfect clarity how biting the wind had been against his skin. That was only seconds before the sting of cigarette smoke erased the sweet scent of Ella that clung to him.

Like fog that appears out of thin air, his twin brother suddenly appeared in front of him. With an evil smirk that had sent chills down his spine, Lucas knew that his brother’s fragile mind had finally broke. He hadn’t been eye to eye with Grady; he’d been in front of the devil himself. From that point on, it was a blur of torture and pain. Pain so severe he had begged for his life to end. Pain so severe he had spent most of the night in and out of consciousness.

His wrists were raw and bloody as he pulled once more against the harsh twine that pinned him in place. His body blistered in a pain that began to border on numbness. Twisted from his socket, he realized his right knee was cocked at an unnatural angle. He suspected that two or more of his fingers had been broken. A shiver ran down Lucas’s spine as he drudged up the memory of the sickened crack that would leave his hands disfigured if he made it out alive.

Rich laughter bubbled from behind him, echoing off the barren walls. Lucas felt a renewed energy overtake him. He had to get out of here; he had to get free. He struggled through the pain as he rubbed his skin raw from the restraints. He couldn’t die, not like this.

“Lucas,” Grady taunted as he emerged from the shadows. “I see you finally woke up. It’s so much more fun when you are awake.”

The thick, black leather of Grady’s duster stirred the debris on the floor as he stalked around his prize.

“Jesus, Grady, what in the hell are you doing? Let me go,” Lucas coughed.

“We’ve been over this brother,” Grady sneered. “From you I want nothing but your pain. It’s the whore that I want something from.”

Anger tightened Lucas’s jaw. Ella wasn’t a whore. “Leave her out of this.”

The cold sound of Grady’s laughter filled the room. How could have Ella chosen his brother over him?

Kneeling before his brother, Grady ignored the wetness that seeped into his jeans. Looking up at his Lucas’s once handsomely chiseled face, he took pleasure in the fact that he’d made him ugly. If only Ella could see him now.

Grady’s cruel smiled twisted into a frown as his mirth morphed into anger. “She was mine!”

Shaking his head back and forth, Lucas struggled to scoot backwards. His brother had always been a little off. He had always taken too much pleasure in the darker aspects of life. He’d never known Grady was this screwed up until now. Looking into his eyes was like looking into a void. Empty. Grady had no soul.

“She was never yours! Your sick and you need help. Let me go and I promise we’ll get you the help you need. I love you, you’re my brother. You don’t have to do this,” Lucas argued.

Rolling his eyes, Grady withdrew a long jagged blade from his duster. “You’re wrong.” He shook his head. “Dead wrong.”

Lucas stared at the beaten reflection of himself in the blade that Grady waved in front of his face. Dried blood caked from his swollen eye. His lips which were normally pale and thin were puffy and bleeding. Above the pain of his cuts and bruises, was the betrayal of his brother. They were twins.

“I’ll do anything… just leave Ella out of this,” Lucas pleaded.

Knife poised in his hands, Grady rose from the ground. Helpless to stop it, Lucas felt a warm tear slide down his battered face.

Blood surging, Grady felt the rush of power overwhelm him. For the first time in his life he was free from his brother’s shadow. He never compared, never lived up to the sibling that was born just minutes before him. Fear filled the room, Grady could smell it, and drowned out the foul odor of the warehouse. For the first time in a long time, Grady felt something besides his own pain. He felt Lucas’s. Something deep, something evil, inside of him came to life in that second.

“Aw Lucas, that’s cute. You think your tears can save her. You think you can get out of here, hop on your broken leg and save your little princess,” Grady taunted. The dark smile he flashed did nothing to light the shadows that covered his face.

Grady paced before him and Lucas tried to focus on the echoing sound of his boots. Instead, all he could do was watch the way Grady tapped the knife in his hand. Each time Grady’s foot hit the ground, the knife landed in his out stretched palm. Over and over again, the blade bounced, teased.

“Tell me Brother,” Grady spat. “Do you know how it feels to have your heart ripped out?”

Grady’s eyes went cold, colder than they had been. They were dead. Ella had killed a part of him the day she chose Lucas over him. The malevolent smile that had twisted his dark features was gone. Air crackled around them and Lucas felt goose bumps rise along his bruised flesh.

Using the jagged edge of his knife, Grady ran it down Lucas’s chest. First one bead of blood immerged, and then another, until the wound ran rich in a faint trickle of crimson fluid. Grady ran the blade all the way down Lucas’s chest, past his abs and stopped just above the navy blue boxers he still wore.

A scream tore from Lucas’s throat, despite how hard he tried to contain it. It was a pain that seared all the way through to his gut and engulfed his entire body. Hot pain fired his blood as it flowed from the incision that ran down his torso.

Grady grabbed a fist full of his brother’s hair and pulled him toward him. Slowly, he brought their faces inches apart.

Grady smirked. “You didn’t answer me.”

Lucas coughed through the pain as he struggled to find a steady breath. Everything was fuzzy. Warm, thick blood ran down his chest and legs to form a puddle at his feet.

“Answer me!” Grady demanded. “Do you know how it feels to have your heart ripped out by someone you love?”

“No!” Lucas yelled. “I don’t know how it feels.” He couldn’t breath; couldn’t think.

“Well lover boy, it’s about time I show you. Ella belongs to me, only me.”

Plunging deep, Grady thrust the knife deep into Lucas’s chest with a sickened thud. The hilt of the knife struck all the way through and stopped only when the handle hit his sternum. Only then did Grady twist and push a little bit harder.

Lucas’s agonized screech brought a new smile to Grady’s blood splattered face. With morbid pleasure, Grady lifted his brother’s face so he could look into his eyes. He dropped the bloodstained knife to the floor. Grady looked deeply into Lucas’s eye as he shoved his fist into the wound he created. Growling, he ripped his heart from his chest.

Grady watched in perverse delight as the color drained from his brother’s face and left his eye dull and vacant. Releasing the hold he had in Lucas’s hair, the head sagged forward. The body that once struggled so desperately against the restraints now lay limp. Blood ran from the corner of his swollen eye.

The air stank of death. It smelled of fresh. Grady felt his twin’s death deep in his soul and he rejoiced. In the palm of his hand, he held Lucas’s bloody heart. In his palm, he held repentance.

“Only for you my beloved,” Grady whispered as he walked from the empty warehouse.
A trail of bloody footprints followed in his wake. It would only be a matter of time before the blood that ran down his arm belonged to Ella. It was only a matter of time before he held her heart in his hand.

Ella would pay for her betrayal in flesh, and Grady couldn’t wait to get started.

Chapter 3

Ella’s head blistered with pain, and her closed eyes throbbed with each beat of her heart. It had been a long day and an even longer week. Four days ago Lucas had snuck out her room and she hadn’t heard from him since. It made no sense.

The cool, night air bristled around her and Ella’s spine stiffened. The uneasy feeling she had in stomach grew more prominent. Something just felt off. Hastily she inserted her key into the brass doorknob of her two-story townhouse and twisted. Rolling her eyes in annoyance, she jiggled the key.

“Damn it! Stupid lock,” she mumbled.

A bolt of pain shot through her toes and up her leg as she kicked the bottom of the door. Cursing loudly, Ella gave the lock one last twist before it finally turned and gave way. She opened the door in exasperation. She’d meant to ask Lucas to fix it over a month ago. With a heavy heart Ella entered her house. Her and Lucas had never spent more than one day apart, let alone four. Something, she knew, was terribly wrong.

Too tired to turn on the lights, Ella left them off. Without Lucas her house felt empty and bland. Why even flick the switch to illuminate the fact that she was alone? Sighing, she threw her keys haphazardly on the small mahogany end stand next to the entryway. One button at time, she slowly undid the jacket to her dress suit. Pulling her cell phone out of her jacket pocket, she flipped it open with one hand. Still nothing.

Kicking off her heels one at a time, the black pumps thudded loudly when they hit the floor. Ella’s stocking covered feet glided across the hard wood floor as she made her way blindly towards the stairs.

Ella paused. She gulped suddenly and held her breath as she felt soft silk petals press between her foot and the floor. The fragrant air assaulted her noise as moisture seeped through the small holes in her hosiery. Ella closed her eyes and tried to fight the girlish delight that welled inside of her. Was this why she had not heard from Lucas? Had he planned some romantic weekend?

Taking a few steps backwards, her feet fell in the same spot she had just stepped in. With an annoyed sigh she drew her hand up to the wall. Her finger flicked the small switch on the wall. Soft light illuminated the hall, and light bounced from one white surface to the next. Ella gasped as her eyes went wide with shock.

Dark, blood-red rose petals littered the ground. Her eyes fell on the few she had stepped on. The red had stained the floor to create a pinkish hue on the wood grain.

Looking quickly around the room she scanned the area for anything out of place. What she saw made her hand fly over her mouth to cover any beginnings of a cry she could muster.

“Oh Lucas…”

There were at least a hundred vases of roses that littered the apartment. There was a crystal vase that lay only a millimeter from where she had thrown her keys. In addition to the vases, there were loose flowers, scattered and thrown over almost every available surface. She peered up the stairs. Her hands clutched to her chest as she felt her heart beat out of control. He’d done this for her?

Taking one small step at a time, Ella couldn’t have cared less about the petals she stepped on. There was a path that led up the stairs and into her bedroom. Petals were everywhere, scattered in no particular pattern. It was beautiful chaos.

Slowly she entered her bedroom. Soft candlelight cast shadows that danced on the walls. There was an unnatural orange glow that seemed to blanket the room in warmth. She pressed her hand against the door, the hinges creaking eerily as she pushed it all the way open. Lace curtains whipped against the open window. They danced so gently in the wind, so erotic and so beautiful.

The blazed embers of the candles flickered with every gust of wind. It created puddles of wax that melted onto every surface of her furniture and floors. She wondered how long the candles had been left here to burn. Some still stood tall, and others were just stubs that had started to burn out as the fire struggled for oxygen against the force of thick wax that drowned it.

A fragrant breeze of roses mixed with vanilla filled the room. Ella looked to her bed, her eyes riveted to the medium sized box that lay on the middle of it. The box was the same blood red color that covered her house. A thick black bow was wrapped around the present, and it contrasted against the white lace of her comforter. Any air that Ella had in her lungs was forced out as she let out a choked sob.

It was the first time her and Lucas had made love. She had walked into his bedroom, apprehensive and nervous. She’d been a blushing virgin. The room had been aglow in soft candlelight. She remembered the wax and how it had mesmerized her as it dripped down the stalks. Heavy in the room, the sweet scent from roses that had been scattered across the floor and bed were the only thing she could smell. As if it was happening again, her cheeks felt hot as she remembered opening the gift Lucas left for her. She remembered how his eyes felt on her body when she emerged in the black silk negligee he had gotten for her.

The mattress squeaked as Ella sat on the corner of the bed and picked up the box. She looked at it, enthralled by the swirling pattern that was imbedded into the box. She pulled on the black ribbon with excitement. The material fluttered around the box and into her lap in a smooth, fluid motion as she pulled it. She closed her eyes, afraid to see what was in the box, afraid not to see what was inside. As soon as the lid was lifted, a pungent odor rushed her senses. Her noses wiggled and her face scrunched up in disgust. It smelled foul. It smelled like death.

A white card lay nestled atop an array of tissue paper. Tentatively, Ella placed the lid to the box to the side. In a careful dance, she traced her fingers over the embossed surface of the card.

It was blank, perfectly crisp and clean. She picked it up and her hands began to tremble so bad she could barely make her fingers move to open the unsealed lid. Ella stopped breathing all together at the first glimpse of the inside of the card.

The handwriting was unmistakable.

Time stood still for what felt like an eternity. The wind howled in the background as the candlelight made her pale skin glow orange under the light. Her eyes watered as she read the words in her head.

My Beloved-

A blood red petal for every day I spent thinking of you. I promise you this; I will hold your beating heart in the palm of my hand as I rip it from your chest as you did mine all those years ago.

Tell me, will you scream like you did when my brother branded his name into your flesh? Into your soul?

Your lover paid the price for your betrayal. You belong to me Ella, when will you accept that? I own your heart and your soul. I have come to collect both.

We will be together soon my love, sweet dreams.

-Grady

Hot tears streamed out of Ella’s eyes. Her breath hiccupped in her chest as she struggled to breathe. Moving the thin tissue paper to the side, she hesitantly opened the rest of the package.

She didn’t want to open it. But there was something inside of her, something that made her do it despite how terrified she was of what she’d find. Grady, her lover’s twin brother, looked like him in so many ways. But for how similar they appeared to be, they couldn’t have been any different. This proved that.

Nestled under the paper lay a heart, a human heart, pierced with a metal stake.

“No,” Ella whispered.

Ella could almost see it beat with Lucas’s life and blood. She knew without a shadow of a doubt it was Lucas’s heart. The flowers, the present, it had all been from Grady. A blood-curdled scream ripped from Ella’s mouth. She screamed, loud and raw until her throat was hoarse. She dropped the damaged heart back to the bed and scrambled away. She fell off the bed and onto the floor with a hard thud that bruised her tailbone.

Grady had been there, in her house, while she’d been at work. Tears streamed from her eyes. Ella struggled to push past the pain. Lucas was gone. He was killed by Grady for some psychotic notion of love. She’d never loved Grady, had never even dated him. Her chest rose and fell so fast she hyperventilated.

In a rush, every single memory of her and Lucas came to the surface in a rabid storm. She felt like she was caught in a cyclone. She screamed, cried, and kicked her legs against the floor as she wept for him.

Moments passed as hours as Ella curled against the wall. She tucked her knees up to her chest and wrapped her arms around herself for warmth. How could she go on knowing that Lucas was dead because of her?

A crack of lightened shattered the silence of the night. Rain poured from the heavens, and the steady beat of water filled the room. Ella sat silently, watching through tear blurry eyes as the candles began to fade. One by one they burned out.

The last candle finally gave way to the liquid wax, surrendering its life and left Ella’s crumpled form alone in complete darkness. It was only then that Grady emerged from the dark shadows of her room.

“Hello lover,” Grady purred, and his mouth curved into a perfect smirk.

He had waited five years for Ella to realize her love for him, he wasn’t waiting another moment.

Ella screamed at the sound of his familiar voice. Scrambled, her nails dug against the wood floor as she tried to crawl away.

“Lucas isn’t here to save you now, princess. Did you like my gift?”

Sobbing, Ella fought as hard as she could when Grady threaded a hand through her hair and lifted. The floor disappeared from beneath her and she knew when she looked into the cold depths of his eyes that she was going to suffer.

Hard, demanding, his mouth landed on hers before he tossed her to the bed. The mattress groaned, but it was no match to Ella’s screams as Grady pulled out the stained knife that had killed his brother. He’d gone too quickly with Lucas. He wouldn’t make that mistake with her.

~The End~