A macabre teaser today. I'm sure there are other, lighter ones on the blog
Her mother and aunt flanked her, keeping Lizzie moving. They
were herding her, but where? She had tried to ask, twice now, but was hushed. A plain wooden door opened at her mother’s
knock and a weathered brown face peered from the crack.
“Who is it?” a brittle, raspy voice asked.
“The Viscount’s wife and daughter. May we come in?”
The door swung wide to reveal a head of white hair, frizzy
and standing in all direction. A hunched back was covered in tattered cloth
that looked as though it might fall apart at any moment. Hunched as the person
was, Lizzie couldn’t have said if it was a man or a woman.
“She is ready?” the old one asked.
“Yes. Let us prepare her.”
Lizzie didn’t understand. No one would tell her anything.
“Lie down, love,” her aunt said, helping her onto a fainting
couch. She took Lizzie’s arm and held it out from her body, over the floor,
draping it slightly.
“Fear not,” her mother said, just before leaning onto her
shoulder with all her weight. Her aunt captured her legs beneath her skirts and
sat on them. Lizzie didn’t struggle until she saw the knife and blood.
