When a rose turns black chapter 10
“Hunter and prey”
A/N it’s been a while since I updated wartb! Now it is time to post chapter 10! In this chapter, the big bad Donovan has a change of heart and decided to help his would-be killer! It is just sickeningly sweet! mentions of a ch¡ld being eaten! I warned thee!, Now! enjoy reading 💕💕
In Tortaárn, A jungle, On the west side of Virginia territories. There lives an infamous, feared hybrid beast, Between a Human and an Antāris. His name is Donovan.
He lives in a dark, gigantic castle, Much like Maleficent’s in the Disney animated movie. He sat on a chaise lounge vintage sofa. Enjoying the warmth of the fire before him. While He waited for the witch hunter to come. He is close, So, Donovan’s excitement for the game.
He commanded the fire to show him where the witch hunter is. And it obeyed her master. The fire shows him the witch hunter. Completely unaware that he is being watched by his presumed “prey”, Donovan couldn’t wait for the witch hunter to come and fight him. He is excited.
But he feels there is.. hesitation? Lingering in the witch hunter's mind and soul. He felt torn between obeying the queen and fearing for his family, He fears that Donovan's vengeance will reach his family too.
For the first time in forever. Donovan felt compassion for a human being. He felt the urge to help this fooled witch hunter, He may retreat. And go back to his family. Surprisingly, Donovan doesn’t want to kill this man. He had been fooled once, he never wanted anyone to feel the same. Let alone used for one purpose. And that is to do the queen bidding’s.
Donovan now teleports outside his palace to meet the witch hunter. He doesn’t want to attack him, he only wants to talk with him.
The Witch hunter knew that the target uses magic, so, he is prepared for anything, any surprise.
“I’m not here to fight you,” Donovan began, shocking the witch hunter. But, the witch hunter never speaks to Donovan. He remained silent, waiting for the beast to talk once more.
“As I said, I’m not going to fight you!” Donovan repeated, trying to make him talk. At least, it would be awkward for Donovan to talk alone without the other replying.
Finally, The witch hunter spoke,” I’m here because you are a monster, and you need to be dealt with!” He replied sternly at him.
“Oh! Hoho!” Donovan chuckled,” True! I am a monster, but!, Have you ever asked yourself why?” He questions. Making the witch hunter cocks his eyebrows at him.
“Don’t know, don’t care” he muttered nonchalantly.
“Oh! Playing “cold” aren’t we?” Donovan amused. “You don’t know the real coldness yet!” He added,
“I am cold,” the witch hunter replied coldly.
“I advise you to return! Where you came from!” Donovan sternly says. “You will gain nothing for endangering your life doing a whore biddings!” Donovan coldly continued.
“She told me that you killed a harmless woman!” He pointed out.
“That is not true,” Donovan answered,” She was an assassin sent to kill me!” he explained,
The witch hunter was surprised by what he had heard from Donovan, the beast he was supposed to kill, he was speechless for seconds, he doesn’t know what to do anymore. All they ever told him was to kill the beast named Donovan. They didn’t pay him in advance, which, proves the point that he may never succeed, Even worse, he may never come back alive... He cursed himself for being such a fool. He had never seen the signs, all the previous people who were sent never returned alive. Donovan knew that the witch hunter is regretting his decision for accepting this mission. Donovan looked at him. He calmly and warmly said “return home”.
“I can’t..” the witch hunter croaked.
“Yes! you can!” Donovan argued, “you are a mortal, you have free will, and you can choose to return home and be alive!” He added,
“Are you obeying a “queen” of a doomed kingdom?” He mocked, “she cannot even feed herself now, she made a humiliating pact with King Midas!” Donovan pointed out.
“You are right…” He admitted, “I should’ve seen between the lines,” he bitterly added.
“Thank you, for opening my eyes” The witch hunter thanked him.
“Don’t mention it,” Donovan uttered,
With that, the witcher hunter left to return home. Now, he will never fear the queen or her loyalists, if they ever crossed his path again, he will use his gift on them. Even though, he swore that he would never use it on a human. But they deserve what’s coming to them. He would have died like the previous assassins. That she sent with no regard for their lives, or their families, let alone think of their fates.
This incident made him rethink his life choices and decisions, of all the people and the creatures, he never thought that Donovan the one who talked with him like this, Like that beast, had a change of heart, and he thought that beasts cannot be redeemable! Who knew that a beast helped to open his would-be killer eyes? Such a strange incident and life is full of strange incidents!
In the heart of Khÿeroma’s desert, A woman sat, she was humming in pure delight, little known of her dark origins. And little of her life, Around her the corpses of her beloved donkeys. The humming of pure delights turned into an eerie sad humming. She is mourning the death of her beloved donkeys. Her favourite pets, she gently rubbed the solid skin of the corpse near her, as the flies gather to feed on the corpses of the donkeys. She didn’t try to drive them away, she just didn’t do anything. She only sat in silence, watching the flies feed on the rotting corpses of her beloved, favourite pets.
She believes in the cycle of life, An animal feed on another animal. Thus, the cycle never breaks, and never ends. It will continue and continue till the end of time.
“This is life,” she sadly muttered to herself,
She is an undead woman, Once when she was alive, She was called Samira Macdoni. Now she is called the “Donkey Lady”. A pale and evil version of her human counterpart, She is an undead, evil, demonic lady. She can’t remember much of her previous life. only that she is the wife of the leader of a tribe, Her memories are a blur. All she remembers now is that she loves donkeys, cares for them, and tortures the man who announced killing them as a ritual of his tribe.
This only aggravated the demonic patron of the donkey. And he cursed the tribe for this, When the donkey lady knew this she started to worship this demonic entity of the donkey patron. Giving him all he wants, she gladly serves him. She will do this until she perishes, the human inside her is long dead, but, still, she wishes that someone or the superiors kill her, thus, setting her free. Free from this dark prison, free from this fate, even death is a blessing compared to her fate.
But that has to wait! She is not going to die now or tomorrow, She is starving now. She must feed. So, she teleports to a village. Her favourite type of food? Children! She loves to allure children with sweets and toys. They will fall easily for her tricks and meet their painful ends.
She hides her undead features with magic. The spell she used makes her look like a beautiful, young woman, Hiding her demonic features and her donkey-like ears. She wears a nomadic, traditional red and black dress. Her dress is long and a bit tight, defining her slim body.
She sees a boy he sat alone near the door of his home. She knows that the boy is unloved by his father, His poor mother tries everything in her power to let her son sees the total opposite. The donkey lady saw the perfect food. A child is unloved and neglected by his father! No one will miss him! Only his poor mother, The donkey lady never hesitated to go to the boy. She saw him whimpering and then wiping his tears. Although, that the tears kept welling in his eyes, strangely, she felt his sorrow. She decided that she eats him less painfully. She came to him and greeted him
“Hello there!” She greeted, “h-hi!” He greeted back, “what’s your name?” She asked again.
“My name is Neil” the boy answered, “Neil! What a beautiful name! Mines is Samira” she replied to him. Which, makes the boy happy.
“Do you wanna play?” She sweetly asked, “you wanna play with me?” The boy uttered, he couldn’t believe it, a beautiful woman asked to play with him, Normally, people would ignore him. He understood that he is ignored and neglected by the people and his father.
He smiles at the woman, and she extends her hands to him, which he happily holds it. And goes with her. Unaware that she is going to snuff out his life.
The donkey lady grabbed a ball from nowhere. She told him the rules of the game and he nodded understandably, she throws the ball to him and he catches it. She throws the ball again and he catches it again, after a while, she suggests that they will play hide and seek, and the boy nodded happily. She told him that he will hide and she will search for him. He nodded happily again.
“1…..2……..3…” she counts, giving the boy the time he needs to hide before she starts to search.
The boy goes to the backyard of one of the houses. Far away from his home, he decided. It is the best hiding place. He guessed that she will never find him, how wrong he was...
The donkey lady intentionally wastes time, she wanted to the boy to win in this game. She decided that she wants him to be happy before he fade away to black. She uses her donkey-like ears to listen to the boy's breaths. His breaths and his heartbeat are calm. Only seconds and the game will end, the boy left his hiding spot to win the game and goes to the spot that Donkey Lady was counting in. He runs happily to the spot and puts his hand on it, yelling “I won!” He happily shouted.
“Wow! You are so good at this game!” She mused, she clapped for him, and she smiles at him.
“thank you! You are good too!” He innocently replied as he laughs.
Then both of them went into the woods near the boy’s house. Donkey Lady made a fire since the atmosphere is getting cold, she magically made hot cocoa and biscuits for the boy. She never wanted to feed on empty-stomach prey. Then she hands them to the boy.
“A little snack after a long day!” She offered, and the boy took them from her, but before he eats and drink. He thanked her
“Thank you! For everything you did for me today!” The boy thanked her, not just for the snack or the hot cocoa, but for the time she spent with him. The games she played with him. She made him realize that he isn’t ignored or neglected by the people.
“You are welcome, you are a very precious boy!” She replied, smiling at him.
After moments, the boy felt sleepy. But he didn’t ask to go to his home, instead, he slept near the donkey lady, she sips her tea giving him the time to fully sleep so that she can snuff his life without him knowing or feeling it. 10 minutes passed by, and she still sips her tea. After drinking all the tea, her hands glows dark purple energy, she swiftly passed them near the boy's head. And they absorbed his life energy away. Making him die in the process, now, she beard her sharp fangs and started to eat his flesh hungrily. Blood splattered on her face, her dress, and her hair. She kept munching her food. At least he died happily, and someone played with him before he fade to black.
She didn’t eat his head, she only ate his abdomen, hands, and heart. She left the rest for his father to see. So, If he was blessed to have another child, he would care for it and never neglect it.
The father and the mother of the boy are terrified and worried sick because their child didn’t return home, They kept searching for him and searching. Until they saw his body disfigured and eaten, and his head hung on a branch of a tree, The mother fainted after she saw this and the father kept crying, cursing himself, and regretted unloving him and neglecting him.
A lesson learned painfully for those poor parents. A reminder never leave your children with a stranger.
Hadi Aepel is shepherding the sheep near the camp. A wooden staff in hand, and a leather water canteen hung on his abdomen. He is aware of the beasts that feast on sheep, and lambs. He can defend his sheep. But, It has been 3 days and no wolf, or a wild dog, or a beast attacked his sheeps' pack, It is strange. It made him realize there is something wrong. But he can’t quite put his finger on it, much like the case with Mr. Peitz! Speak of the devil, Mr. Peitz came to greet him.
“Hello, Hadi!” Mr. Peitz greeted, smiling at him.
“Hello Mr. Peitz” Hadi greeted back, Hadi’s face is normal, his face didn’t look surprised or happy, but he slowly smiles at Mr. Peitz.
“Are you ready? tonight is your turn to tell a story near the campfire!” Mr. Peitz asked,
“Hehe, I am ready,” Hadi replied, happily,
“Okay then! see you tonight! near the campfire,” Mr. Peitz reminded,
That was strange! Hadi felt that voice again, Hadi closes his eyes to focus on the voice inside him, and he concentrates to hear it. The voice only told two things, Stay away from Mr. Peitz. Again, he never knew why, he trusts his instincts and intuition. They never failed him, and he won’t fail them in return. But, there is this curiosity. When someone wants to know why.
But he shoved this feeling in the back of his mind for the billionth time. He decided that time will tell, he doesn’t wanna take the matter into his hand. As the saying goes you can’t just rip someone's heart to know what they are thinking.
Night falls at the camp and everyone started to prepare their things before they sleep, Hadi and his friends prepared the sleeping bags. Hadi prepared the campfire for warmth and comfort. He enjoys the campfire and the night in the desert. Desert is known for its dangers and uncertainty, Her uncontrollable shifting mood. Her shifting temperature, Her illusions, Her mischievous nature. And finally, Her mirage.
Hadi sighs in relief. As he looks at the warm campfire. He thinks of the story that he is going to tell, he has a few stories. One of them was told by his father when he was a young boy, The story of “Abu fanous”, An evil Djinn who lives in the desert, appears as a ball of shiny light, and travels alone in the desert at night. His favourite hobby is to make people follow him and get lost, then die in the deepest and dark depths of the desert.
Abu fanous is feard among the travelers in the desert, He can easily sway the people from their thinking and main destinations.
His father, Alii Aepel warned him not to follow anything he deems paranormal, Or eerie, He should always be aware and cautious.
“Fathers know best,” he muttered to himself,
Now, his friends gather at the campfire to listen to Hadi’s story. He sighed once again. He still isn’t sure what story he will tell. But he let his intuition be the guide, he sighed once more.
His friends waiting for him they can’t wait for him to hear the story.
“Once there was a rose,” he began, telling the story. “The rose resembles beauty and innocence” he continued
All his friends seem interested in the tale he is telling, they stopped the side-talking to hear him well,
“but that rose belongs to a creature, this creature believed to be a hybrid of a human and something else,” He added,
“The creature fell in love with a daughter of a princess, the princess feared for her daughter and sent the assassins after the creature,” He continued, he stopped for a few moments to catch his breath.
“The assassin was sent to kill the creature, but the creature was not weak so he defend himself, eating the assassin that princess sent to kill the creature,” Hadi continued telling the story,
All his friend seems more interested, Till the point, they told him to continue excitedly. He nodded the continue.
“After the creature killed the assassin ruthlessly, one of his beloved roses turns black, meaning, he did a dark deed, killing a person. But that was to defend himself from the assassin!” Hadi told, then he look at their faces to see their expressions.
“That is a quite story!” Mr. Peitz replied,
“Yeah! It is!” Sam muttered, one of Hadi’s friends.
“But! It is awesome!” Nadeem smirked, one of Hadi’s friends too.
“Guys! Let me finish!” Hadi chimed, they nodded and let him continue telling the story.
“Once the maiden he loves knew about this, she didn’t hate him, or she is scared of him, In all likelihood, she loved him and kissed the true love kiss, which makes the black rose turns to its original colour!” He continued telling the story. And, telling the end too.
All of the are happy listening to a beautiful story, let alone a tale with a happy ending! It is everyone’s favourite story.
“And some people say villains don’t get a happy ending” Nadeem joked,
“They do, Nadeem, they do” Mr. Peitz repeated,
“This is such a beautiful and wholesome story!” Sam said,
“Alright friends, Good night!” Hadi muttered, then he fixed his sleep bag to sleep.
All his friends followed suit to sleep, everyone except for Mr. Peitz, he developed a habit to stay up until dawn.
Well, Well! It seems that you reached the end of this chapter! Thank you, everyone! Thank you for liking my chapters, Commenting! And mostly! Thank you for encouraging me! 💓💓💕✨❤️😘😘💋💋💋