Slaughter River

What the mind hide, blood tells. Clutching her stomach, her breathing raced with her heart. Anara felt tears draining out of her eyes. She needed to her out of this place. For her, 1440 in Romania wasn’t the beautiful place she has seen before. There wasn’t life anymore, just death, destruction, and war. There were no birds singing, no rose’s blooming, no flowing blue water, and no children laughing. It was gloom and dark. The sun never rose, and the night never ended. Blood was shed every hour, so no compassion was shown within a hundred miles. So she needed to get away from him.

Her heart was thumping heavily as it crashed against her chest. Coughing and choking, Anara’s sobs flooded the room.

The pure white corset she was sporting was cutting off her air supply. She needed to breathe. This wasn’t her. This wasn’t Anara. The Anara that people had known was kind, caring, gentle, smooth talking, and perfect. Even though her eyes were outlined in black, people accepted her for who she was. They didn’t leer at her for wearing long gothic style dresses, corsets, and makeup. Her paintings and poems showed off her true nature more then anything else. She painted what saw, no matter the situation. She had had a good heart.

Suddenly, the door burst open, revealing a man with all black leather on. He wore his hair long, with the straight black sheets cascading down below his shoulders. Anara’s head twisted over to the man who was her husband.

"Your tears are not acceptable. I will not have them." Slade said with a thick Romanian accent.

"Slade, I did not mean for you to be disturbed. I’m—"

Anara was cut off from her sentence by Slade grabbing her chin forcefully, and pulling her close to his face.

"I’ll not have you crying on such a beautiful day."

Anara’s hand slid to her lower stomach area. As her eyes went wide, Slade nodded and grinned.

"The doctor just confirmed that you are indeed pregnant with my young."

Angry tears poured out. How could this happen? She didn’t want this! She didn’t want anything to do with him! Slade was merciless, dangerous, and heartless. He killed without a second thought, and with no remorse. He was utterly deprived of everything, and it seemed to Anara that everything dealing with him, called for blood.

She wouldn’t put up with this any longer. Anara was already in way over her head. She couldn’t stand the way his being lusted for blood. It was so unnatural. It was so frightening, and she couldn’t handle it any longer. It would all end tonight. Anara knew this for sure.

"My love, no more tears. Go get ready for bed so that you can rest. A new day is coming, and what a wonderful one it will be." Slade exasperated, kissing Anara’s forehead.

Anara did what she was told, but as Slade fell asleep, she did not follow. With her decision final, her plan would be put into action right this very moment.

Leaning over, Anara kissed Slade’s cheek, disturbing him from his peaceful sleep.

"Precious, what is it?" He asked, cracking open his eyes to get a glimpse at his wife.

"I love you." Anara whispered, and with that she dashed out of the room.

Running as fast as she could, all the while hearing Slade, who was just behind her, calling out her name, and trying to catch up to her. Anara reached the wall, and jumped onto the ledge with immense grace. Turning around, she grasped the silver cross, which hung around her neck, in her hand. Slade halted just a few feet away from her, and with eyes wide, he stretched out his hand, almost willing her to step down.

"No, Anara," Slade pleaded in a calm voice, "Come here to me. Grab my hand. Anara, please."

Anara just shook her head.

"No," She replied, "I love you."

Then, kissing her cross, she let her body fall back over the edge. Time seemed to stop as Slade ran up to the edge and looked down. Screaming with anger, he watched his wife fall. For Anara, it was a time of salvation for her. Even though she was committing suicide, she felt a happiness that she hadn’t felt in a very long time. Being forced to marry this blood lusting man, her life had been taken away. She could no longer feel anymore. Everything that had once been important died. But now, as she plummeted down to the river, she closed her eyes and smiled. She welcomed death, and was happy to embrace it as it came full blast. Her blood wouldn’t matter, because the river was already tainted with it. So you wouldn’t be able to tell that Anara’s blood flowed through the stream. The river was her coffin.

It was finally over. Anara was free.