The Black

A story that I had to write about one of my live-action roleplay characters.

Liliana stood in front of the young man, regarding him with a look of contempt. She didn’t actually hate this man, in spite of his views to the contrary. She just wanted him to think that she did. If he thought that she genuinely and truly hated him, she thought, he would be afraid to make her angry, and thus would acquiesce to any of her demands.

It was all a power game, truthfully, and if there was anyone that knew how to play that game, it was her.

This young man did not cringe at her withering look, however; on the contrary, he looked at her with a defiant glare. He was not afraid of her, and he did not care if she knew or acknowledged it.

The expression on her face did not change, but on the inside Liliana was grinning like a mad-woman. He was everything that she had thought he would be, and more. He would make the perfect test subject.

Finally, she spoke: “Did you do what I asked of you, Rochard?”

He nodded. “All the materials you requested are at my laboratory. If you would like, I can take you there and show you how I plan to do this.”

This was a new development; his laboratory was his inner sanctum, and he had never once before offered to bring her into it. She had planned for this, though, as she planned for all of his actions, and she already had the next two or three steps worked out in her infinite mind.

“That sounds lovely,” Liliana replied, her look of contempt replaced with one of ingratiation. “I always have wondered how it is that you do what you do.”

“As I to you, my dear,” Rochard replied, grabbing his coat. “Though I may have power over some aspect of life, you seem to have power over all aspects of death, and frankly… you are vastly the more powerful in your craft.”

~             ~             ~

When they arrived at Rochard’s lab, Liliana was struck by its simplicity. No one passing by would view it as anything but an old shed that sat at the back of the property, unused and discarded like many other buildings like it.

In here, though, was the workings of a lunatic, and no one wanted any part of it but him… and now her.

“Hello, my pets,” he crooned as he opened the door. It took Liliana a minute to realize who he was talking to: lining the tables and walls were multiple cages, each of them containing black rats, chittering angrily. It was almost as though they were chiding him for being gone for so long.

“So this is your pet project,” Liliana said with a smirk. “Rats?”

“Rats are the future,” Rochard replied. “It would figure you wouldn’t see it; no one does.”

She dismissed his comment with a literal wave of her hand. “So what is this break-through that you wanted me to see?”

In response, he held up a vial with a pale green liquid inside.

“Some kind of acid?” she required.

He shook his head. “A disease. One so potent that it can kill a man in days. See, I figured that this way, if this were introduced to a few locals, I could provide you with a few more… subjects.” He winked at her. “Being the local coroner does have its advantages, you know.”

She merely shook her head. Only a man as deranged as she herself was, would find joy in being around so much death.

“You really are amazing, you know that?” Liliana said with a smile. “Is that the rest of the batch?”

He shook his head. “The rats have been infected as well; as a matter of fact, they were infected almost three weeks ago. Yet somehow, they are miraculously still alive.”

She didn’t care about his damned rats. All she cared about was how this would affect her work, which as far as she could see, was about to get a sizable boost.

“When can I see results?” she asked.

“I gave some of the town elders this disease, so they should be dead by tomorrow morning. Then you can have your bodies.”

She smiled. This would be easier than she thought.

~             ~             ~

Six Months Later

Liliana sat on the steps to her mansion. Around her were undead of varying stages of decay, forming a protective barrier of sorts. At the very least, they would provide a meat shield against the masses who wanted her dead.

She smiled as she thought back to the man who started it all, with his rats and his disease. She did not foresee the plague spreading as rapidly as it had, but it could not have worked out better, even with the local townsfolk finding out about her involvement and wanting to kill her now.

Her eyes flashed black, as she gave a telepathic order to the undead on the perimeter of the property, who began to move into position.

“Now,” she mused, “all that is left to do… is wait.”

Reviews

[Drako]

hmm, this is interesting, especially because you never once use a name. Seems like it should be longer though. Guess that's the point?

[Dean Kuch®]

Ah-h-h-h, the second coming of the Black Plague. How morbidly delectable! Creepy little story.