Thread: The Labyrinth (Silvamoon & Thomas_Waller)

THE LABYRINTH Lady Wesson lay on the brocaded lounge. Her head lolled from side to side. A gaggle of servants tended to Her Ladyship fanning her face, dabbing her brow, administering smelling salts and all fretting, fretting, fretting. His Lordship in contrast sat, stone stiff, in the large wing-backed chair. His mouth worked open and closed as if in speech but no sound accompanied his attempts. The old man was white, pasty white, deathly white. The servants, as they clattered and dashed about the room in fits and stops would occasionally cast accusatory glances at the young stranger who occupied the center of the room. It was upon seeing him that their mistress had collapsed into a dead faint and His Lordship had sunk into his current stupor. What about this young man had brought upon such dramatic reactions? He was large certainly, but athletically not brutishly so. The housemaids, Beth and Tildy who saw the butler admit him into the foyer were struck by him as well but struck in a completely different fashion than Lady Wesson. Oh my, stone me Tildy, if that aint the most andsomest man, Ill eat my at and his too if hed let me. Beth clutched her duster to her breast. Tildy froze in her place, her mouth gapping, Handsome? He aint handsome Beth... Hes beautiful, just bloody beautiful. The pair had leaned to follow the man across the marbled floor and into the drawing room. So it happened that they and Jenkins the butler had all observed the shocking reaction of their master and mistress. It was the three of them who had roused the household into a flurry of unorganized activity. Count Villacourt, the object of their curiosity and derision stood stalk still, calm, unruffled with his hands clasped behind his back and waited. The faintest of smiles suggested his amusement at the proceedings. He was clearly the tallest, broadest man who any of the staff had ever seen. And, his chiselled good looks made him appear more a statue, a colossus, than a man. The Lady Wesson did eventually come around and began to sob into her handkerchief. Then, Lord Wesson found his voice with a vengeance. Out, all of you... Leave us...Now. And if any of you get up to your usual tricks of listening at door jambs or peering through keyholes Ill have you skinned alive. And I mean it. Not one of them had ever heard their kindly master use such language or such a tone. They fled like mice from the scene and the three principles were left alone. But how? It was sixty years ago. You have not altered a whit. It is not possible. None of this is possible. We had even begun to hope that it was all an illusion. We lived for so long in dread, a dread which faded as all things do with Time... All things it seems but you Villacourt. All of this was made clear to you those many years ago. You accepted my offer with open eyes. You both accepted. I believe you may even be able to cite every line of our contract as well as I. His voice rumbled from his massive chest like the sound of darkness itself. He produced a worn document from within his waistcoat. No one in the room needed to see it or the signatures it bore. Its making was etched into their minds. A pair of young lovers who got everything they desired, everything they asked for each other, wealth, health, refinement, adoration. I skimped at nothing. There was no chicanery involved. It was sixty years to the day that you stole into my lair looking for the rumored magic, ready to sacrifice anything to the darkness, if only you could have each other. Well, I gave you that and more, much more. You will not cheat your fate, nor my power. It is time to repay your debt. I will now take what is rightfully mine my hearts desire. You only give up what I have granted. I have yet to examine your lives, your possessions, there will be something that catches me. And I will take without question. You will have me about the house and grounds for a time. When I see it I will know... When I see it you will know. When I see it I am gone. A terrible silence settled over the room a deep, thick silence. Mamma? Pappa?... came the call from the foyer as Lord and Lady Wessons newlywed daughter entered the mansion. Are you there? Are you home? Jenkins, where are mommy and daddy? The Count raised his head and sniffed the air. A large closed lip smile spread slowly across his handsome face.