Little Red Riding Witch

014: Enter Stage Left

[Enchantra]

He's coming tonight. I don't know how he found out, but somehow he knows.

He knows that I lost her.

I try to put myself together before he arrives, but it is of little use. My hands are shaking too much. I smear my eyeliner haphazardly across my face as I make a sorry attempt to fix my makeup after a long day of shooting. I know that without his favor I will lose everything. My beauty, my charm, and my success are all because of him and his influence and power. Without his "gifts," I'd still be that skinny kid on the docks selling herself for enough money to rent a room and buy a little food. I wouldn't be Enchantra Grey, small-screen siren, the face of late-night horror that everyone knows and loves.

I am fully dressed when I go back into the bedroom. Hunter is still sleeping, wrapped up in my sheets. It was fun, for a while, messing around with him but now I'm just bored. The fun is gone now that we aren't sneaking around. He's pretty to look at and energetic in his efforts, but he is a terrible lover. I'm surprised that Rosalynd could stand him for as long as she did.

The bed shakes as I kick it hard with my heeled foot. "Hunter, get the f**k out of bed," I shout. "I have company coming over and I can't have the room smelling like a teenage boy and sex."

He blinks awake "I'm 25," is all he manages to murmur before covering his head with my pillow.

"Like I care!" I scream. "Get the f**k out!"

He doesn't move, so I go into the kitchen and pull a water pitcher from one of the shelves. Marching into the room, I dump it all over his already shriveled nether regions. He jumps up quickly, cursing as he pulls the cold, wet sheet from his body.

"What the actual f**k, lady," he shouts.

"Now that you've had your shower, maybe you'll listen," I hiss. "I said get the f**k out! I have company coming."

He swears under his breath as he grabs his jeans and heads towards the bathroom to get dressed. "crazy b***h" and "stupid cunt" were there along with a few other colorful cuss words that I found new and entertaining.

Good, one thing off my list.

Burning incense, I open all the windows and air everything out. I cannot have him coming into my house smelling like it does. As I do this, I walk around picking up dirty clothes, dishes, and random bits of food and trash. God this place is a pigsty since Rosalynd up and ran away.

I barely have enough time to shower and change before the doorbell rings.

Sweeping my dyed red hair into a tight ponytail, I quickly cover myself with my best silk robe, belting it tightly as I move to open the door.

It has been ten years since the last time he came to check on her. It is a surprise that he is here today, with little notice, asking to see her again. His agent sounded nervous and frantic. There is something different about this request, something more urgent.

I stop to look through the peephole and see a handsome man wearing an expensive suit. His black hair is flawless, not a single strand out of place from his long French-braided mane. He is impeccably dressed, as always, in the finest tailored suit. Today it is a slate-blue to match the stunning color of his eyes.

Vincent.

Vincent Vex.

The man of both my dreams and nightmares.

Smoothing my robe into place I open the door, making sure to frame my body elegantly, showing off all of my angles and curves advantageously as I present myself to him. "Mr. Vex I..."

"Where is she?"

"I'm sorry?"

He pushes past me. I fall to the ground with force. He is angry, his body language promising violence.

"I won't ask you again. Where is she?"

"Vincent, I..."

He steps forward, grabbing me by the neck, lifting me slowly, my toes dangling, barely scraping the edges of my green shag carpeting covering most of the floors in the apartment.

He pulls me towards him, still holding me by the neck, and sniffs my hair. "Have you been siphoning power off of her?"

"Only a little.."I admit, understanding that if I lie to him there would be an even bigger punishment.

"I don't remember giving you permission to feed from her."

"I needed the power. I needed it to..."

"I don't care what you think you need," his steel-blue eyes are cold, hard. "I did not give you permission to feed from my..."

"But I needed to stay young to keep my job! I need this job to.."

"Haven't I given you everything you need?" he squeezed a little tighter, shaking tears from my eyes. "Do you not appreciate my gifts?"

"Of course I do, Vincent I just..."

"Haven't I given you everything you needed to be successful--eternal youth, beauty, talent?"

I try to answer but I'm gasping for air. I nod, and he loosens his grip slightly.

"I'm sorry, I didn't hear you."

"Yes," I manage to gasp.

"Yes...." he waits.

"Master. Yes, Master."

He seems satisfied with my response because his grip loosens a bit more. "Now tell me, where is she?"

I gulp, afraid to speak.

He waits.

"I..."

"Yes?"

"I lost her, Master."

"Lost her?" his eyebrow shoots up. I take a step back.

"Yes, Master."

"Remind me again why I keep you around?"

I try not to cry, but the tears fall anyway, ruining what is left of my makeup. "To watch over the girl."

"So," he adjusts his cuffs as if he had not just tried to choke the life out of me. "How did you lose her right before her birthday? On the eve of her powers blossoming? Your entire purpose was to keep her safe and hidden until the time came for her to rise by my side and you lost her?" He laughs. "Is that correct?"

I don't answer.

"What am I going to do with you?" he asks himself.

Head bowed in shame, I twirl my fingers absently around the ties of my robe, too afraid to speak.

"I'll give you one more chance," he places a hand on my head, patting it lightly as one would a favored pet. "You have until the solstice to find Rosalynd, wherever she ran off to," he grabs my chin, forcing me to look up at him. I whimper. "But if you do not find her by then, I will make sure that you suffer a fate worse than anything you would have suffered had I left you sniffling in an alleyway." He drops my face and wipes his hand roughly on his pants as if the touch of my flesh dirtied him in some way.

"Of course, Master."

"This is your last chance, Esther." He uses my real name, the name that nobody else remembers or knows, as a way to remind me that he knows me better than anyone else. "I need the witch here before sundown the night of the Winter Solstice. Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes, Master."

"Good," he nods. "Maybe you can get your little boyfriend to help you. This place reeks of him."

I look down at my feet.

Vincent turns to leave. Just as he is about to slam the door he adds, "Don't f**k it up."