Immortal Beauty (50 page)

“Mother!” Isis cried out like a little girl.

“Thank Godess you are here!” Celine cried back. Osiris pulled on the stone to hasten their reunion. The stone fell with a resounding thud and the two creatures embraced Celine. They were beginning to worry that she would never find them or that something terrible had happened to her.

“Come. Come my darlilngs.” Celine cooed at them. She was so proud of her creations and couldn’t wait to perfect the next generation. These two were powerful alright, but they were too needy and emotional. They were far too human for her taste. She wanted more obedient creatures who would be more terrifying to any enemy that dared face her. These two could be disposed of later and become legends like all the rest. For now she needed them. She led them to the pool of water where they lapped it up like thirsty kittens. It was so good and they could both feel the energy coursing through their bodies. Celine joined them and when they felt they could drink no more she walked them hand in hand through the hall of memories and showed them where their images would be drawn alongside her own. One on each side, just like now. She whisperd the prettiest lies to them. The brother and sister were excited now. They were entering the world with their strong and powerful mother who would rule them all. They walked through a door into the enormous room filled with opulence and the two creatures gasped at such beauty. All that was human in them was responding to all of this magnificence. Looking out into the garden they gazed upon their own private Eden and they both longed to run openly through the trees and the hills until their muscles ached but Celine still had work for them to do before they could play. They were still paralyzed by all the sights and sounds and smells that were all new to them. Their genetically heightened senses were being overloaded with too much information and they barely noticed when Virginie walked in upon them all. It was only when she let out a loud cry that they jumped into action. Celine glared at the horrified maid and regarded her as if she were an insect under a microscope.

“Bring her to me!” She commanded regally and her two children sprang into action. With reflexes faster than she could comprehend, Virginie watched herself as if from afar being dragged helplessly to the beautiful stranger with the wild red hair. Osiris had his hand over her mouth so she could not make any more noise to alert the others. Isis idly played with the material on the maid’s uniform. She liked the white lace on the collar and traced her elongated fingertip over the pattern completely infatuated and Osiris smelled her like she was lunch which terrified Virginie even more. What were they? They were almost human. That was the only thing her mind could piece together and she struggled futily against the strength of her captor. She pictured suddenly an old photograph she had seen in a book of the circus on one of those stands on the river by Notre Dame. It was from the turn of the century and it featured all the oddities that attracted people from far and wide. She remembered on picture in particular of a cat man and cat woman. They had a feline look to them and these two things had a similar look. Their eyes were the most discerning to the French woman. They looked like those freaky conact lenses that people wear around Halloween. She tried to keep calm and stopped struggling. Celine walked up to her and motioned for Osiris to remove his hand from her mouth.

“One sound from you and he snaps your neck.” Celine snapped her fingers cruelly to emphasize her point. It worked perfectly on the trembling woman. “If you want to survive and if you ever want to see Marcus alive again you will do exactly what I tell you. I am the new mistress of the chateau.” Her green eyes glowed with power. “Do you understand me?” The idea that she might actually survive gave Virginie incredible hope and also a new strength to gather herself and be as clever as she could be. She loved Marcus more than anyone in her life and in that moment she decided she would do whatever it took to ensure his safety. She nodded slowly and smiled. She hoped her voice reeked with the sincerity she was pouring into it.

“Yes Miss. It will be nice to have a woman run the house for a change.” This seemed to please the insane woman who commanded the male creature to let her go.

“Excellent. Since you know the house it would be easier if I didn’t have to get an entirely new staff.

“Monsieur D’Alessandro left with the police half an hour ago.” Virginie was hoping to prove a sense of loyalty to her new mistress.

“My dear. That was not the police.” Celine smiled maliciously at the young woman whose eyes grew wide with fear. “Now listen very carefully. I want you to send every other servant home. Tell them Marcus is temporarily closing the house for repairs and tell them Marcus will call them when the work is finished and that there will be no interruption in their pay.” Celine was half expecting the girl to write everything down. “That sounds like something Marcus would do…no?” She smiled maliciously at Virginie who could barely speak and only nodded her head and mouthed the word ‘yes’. Virginie thought is was strange that this woman would be concerned about their salaries and then it occurred to her that it would be exactly what Marcus would do and this would arouse little if no suspicion. She looked at the strange woman helplessly and wished that she would not hold her so tightly. Her arm was hurting where the strange monster held its vice grip on her. Celine spoke directly to her now.

“Where are the other guests? If you lie to me you are dead.” Celine actually sounded bored.

“Mr. Hamilton is in his room. Frankie left out through the gardens and I have no idea where Claire is. She comes and goes as she pleases and she spends most of her time out there.” Virginie pointed to the beautiful park out back.

“Very good my dear. I think we are going to get along perfectly as long as you continue to do everything I say I can guarantee you a very fortuitous future. But if you so much as step out of line or try to contact anyone about what is going on here I will have Marcus killed and then you.” She pointed at Osiris and Isis. “These two have exceptional hearing and have no problem ripping out the throat of anyone who goes against me. Do we have an understanding?” The evil smile painted red never left her face.

“Oui Madameoiselle!” The creature let her go and pushed the maid away from him as if she disgusted him. She tried not to look at the creatures but was too fascinated not too. The female continued to sniff at her and circle her predatorily.

“Mother. I want a dress like that.” Her voice was high pitched and there was a squeaky whisper to every word. The red haired woman laughed at the thing and pulled her close.

“My darling. You shall have hundreds of dresses, but none like this one. This is the dress of a servant. You shall wear the gowns of queens!” She hugged the beast close and watched carefully as Virginie left the room. She looked out into the garden.

“We’ll have to take care of Claire later. I know she’s out there in her beloved nature.” Celine spat the words. “Follow me. I want you to help me capture your brother’s killer. The three of them ran quickly and stealthily up the glorious staircase in search of Taylor.

Taylor was still sitting on the bed when the door was ripped off its hinges. He jumped onto the floor quickly and stared at Celine. It couldn’t be! Yet here she was all dressed up like some fashion model with her monsters in tow. Where the hell was Marcus?

“Well, what have we here? A lovesick boy pining away for something that will never be? How pathetic!” She hissed and at that moment Taylor rushed at her with all his strength and was thrown back on the bed by one of the creatures. He couldn’t imagine what they were going to do to him. The monster raked his claws against Taylor’s chest and he let out a howl of pain as his skin ripped like paper.

“You killed my brother!” The creature screamed into Taylor’s face.

“He wasn’t your brother you fool! You’ve been created in a test tube by that crazy lady over there! She’s just using you and as soon as you are no longer any use to her, she will kill you too. Trust me, I’ve known her a lot longer than you have.” Osiris struck Taylor so hard across the face that he blacked out for a moment. When he came to his senses he saw that Celine had moved toward him with a thick cord of rope in her hands. With Osiris still on top of him Taylor felt Celine tying his legs together.

“You poor fool.” Celine was saying as she tied his ankles together tightly. “To think you could have shared in all this glory and instead you choose to turn your back on an eternity of conquest. Now you will face an eternity in Hell! You will forever regret this decision you have made.” She smirked at him enjoying his torment.

“Oh shut up Celine! This song and dance is getting old and with each passing year you just get more and more insane!” He was not giving up. Not as long as he was still breathing. “Just wait until Marcus finds out what you are up to.” He tried in vain to escape the incredibly strong grip Osiris had on him.

“Oh Marcus knows all too well by now exactly what I am up to.” She secured the knot. “Isis, get me the hood.” The female animal jumped at Celine’s command and pulled out a black hood that Taylor knew with a sinking heart that it was going over his head.

“Isis? You are fucking kidding me right? Isis? Not only are you insane but you’re ridiculous as well.” Osiris struck him again.

“You speak to my mother that way again and I am going to rip out your heart.” He held up his long claws to prove to Taylor that he could indeed do such a thing.

“She’s not your mother I told you that! She made you in some lab. You are an experiment to her and nothing more!” He was shouting hysterically now feeling the constraints of his bondage. Celine started tying his hands behind his back.

“Oh that’s where you are wrong Taylor. I am their mother. Where do you think they got their human DNA from? Do you think I would use the genetic material of a mere mortal? Like so many times in the past you have underestimated me. You’ve never even tried to understand me Taylor and I am truly disappointed. You an Sasha could have ruled by my side at one time, but that time is over. You’ve made your choice.” She forced the hood over his head and now he was completely helpless. Osiris picked him up like a sack of potatoes and threw him over his strong, lean shoulders. Taylor was carried up the stairs and thrown into a car where he listened closely for anything that might help him.

“Take him away.” Was all Celine said and he heard the car door slam before it sped off into the coming evening.

Claire emerged from the woods yawning from her afternoon nap. She was longing to leave the city now and began to make plans to find some new wilderness which she had never seen before. Marcus had Celine now and he could do with her whatever he liked. She was his former lover after all. The wicked thought made her laugh bitterly as it would have been so funny had there not been so much tragedy linked to all of this. Magdalene sat on her shoulder and looked straight ahead. Claire was close to the house now and half expected to see the others on the terrace having dinner. The air was beginning to turn cooler and the thought of a hot bath made her move a little more quickly over the neatly laid paths bordered by endless blossoms. The light was beautiful in a way that only occurs in Paris and the blue gray of the day was transmuting itself into a steel blue of deeper hues. A hint of gold and yellow peaked out over the building tops where the sun was saying goodbye for another day. She had to admit that she still loved Paris after all these years. There was something so unique to this city that was unlike any other. She would never have been able to endure it if Marcus didn’t own this private paradise in the center of all the drab color of the stone buildings that covered this metropolis. She was almost to the terrace when she started to think about Sasha. She wondered if she would really be able to escape this curse. For her sake she hoped so. Claire had seen her die before in agony and had no desire to repeat this experience. Sasha’s abrupt leaving had given Claire a new strength. This time she would not return for the waters. This time she would enter the real world and find some place uncomplicated by the modern chaos that people called advancement. She would stop drinking the waters and grow old and die just like everybody else. She just needed Sasha’s example to give her the push she needed to make this decision. Seeing Sasha turn her back on all of them without so much as a goodbye made her realize how self imposed her own constraints were. She had always felt that they owed each other something. She had begrudgingly remained in contact with Marcus believing that he needed her. Sasha shattered that illusion by simply leaving the table and walking away. For hundreds of years Claire had threatened to do the same thing but was never able to go through with it. Seeing Sasha do it so effortlessly gave her a new conviciton that was utterly lacking before. She didn’t owe them anything. She didn’t need to explain herself. She simply needed to be true to herself. She was on the terrace now and could see the warm glow coming from inside the house. Her thoughts ceased instantly when she saw the impossible. There in the grand room was Celine, dressed flawlessly in lavender acting as if nothing unusual at all were happening. The drug had apparently worn off and she could see her giving orders to a visibly trembling Virginie who bowed and obeyed without question. She could not believe that Virginie was capable of betrayal and suddenly Virginie looked up to see Claire standing there. She mouthed one word carefully when Celine was not looking and although Claire could not hear her, she understood what the word was.

“Run!”

Claire turned her back on the house and flew over the steps. The birds in the trees caught her fear and despair and began to cry out to the crisp twilight air. Magdalene began to caw in warning. Claire made it past the landscaped gardens and was about to vanish into the sheltering plane trees when a figure stepped out from behind one of the ancient arbors. It was Isis. She was dressed now in a simple and flowing sundress of the richest red color. She looked like something out of a fairytale, almost like an elf or a nymph with her pointed ears and strange eyes. She looked ridiculous and by the way Claire was looking at her Isis knew that she would never be the pretty girl her mother told her she was. She would never be glamorous and glowing like Celine. She would always be something different; something that people would always fear. Looking at the pale and delicate beauty of Claire was suddenly too much for Isis. She leapt into the air and knocked Claire to the ground. Magdalene screamed in distress and flew about Isis’ head to distract her. With her feline DNA in full throttle Isis swung her hand into the air and one of her claws ripped into the bird across its breast. Claire screamed and with all her energy she commanded Magdalene to flee. She knew it would be hard for the bird to depart when her mistress was in so much trouble so Claire focused on giving Magdalene a mission. Concentrating as hard as she could she sent her thoughts to Magdalene.