Damsel or Enchantress

Once upon a time, in a land far, far away lived a mystical enchantress. The way of her life was unknown to the villagers, as she resided deep in the woods as far as she could manage to seclude herself. The villagers would tell their children tales of children that would go missing once they ventured into the woods in order to keep them from wandering too far into the Evergreens. The tales kept the children safe, yet every once in awhile adult males would randomly go missing. Most figured that those who vanished met their fate with a bear or another beast of the woods failing to truly believe in the tales they told their young ones.

It was a day like any other, the sun was bright and high in the sky, birds were chirping as they sat high in the Evergreens along the trail from the woods into town. A mysterious woman decided to lower herself down a cliff, holding on tight to a vine as though she had done the very act a hundred times before. The beautiful, raven-haired woman dangled from the cliff as her cries for help seemed to go unnoticed by any and all potential passerby. Her grip on the vine hanging off the edge held stronger than she let on as she continued to holler, “Help! Anyone, please! Help!” Just as the woman was about to give up hope on being saved, a response broke through the silence in the air. “Hold on a little longer. I’m coming,” a seemingly friendly, heroic male replied. The woman looked up with hopeful eyes as the gentleman appeared. He looked down upon her with sparkling green eyes, shaggy blonde locks, and seemed to be quite the muscular man. “Please, please pull me up,” the woman begged as she looked up at her savior.

Quickly, the man began to pull the vine lifting the woman with each pull until he was able to grab both of her wrists and safely return her to solid ground. Stretching her fingers after the lengthy held she managed to keep up for God knows how long, the woman eagerly smiled, “Thank you so much!” she began pearly whites never hiding from her features, “I don’t know what I would have done without you! My name is Esmerelda!” The male allowed a smirk to dance across his lips as he eyed the woman up and down taking in every inch of her perfect figure. “It was my pleasure, Esmerelda. The name is Thomas. We wouldn’t want a beautiful woman such as yourself winding up dead at the bottom of that valley,” Thomas spoke smoothly, as though the entire encounter was truly no big deal in his eyes. Esmerelda’s smile widened, a devious sparkle in her piercing blue eyes. Everything seemed to be going according to her plan. “Well please, Sir Thomas, why don’t you join me back in my cottage for dinner. It is the least I can do after you saved my life after all.” Esmerelda pleaded her voice poisoned with sweetness.

Esmerelda led Thomas through the woods entering deeper and deeper into the trees. Darkness began to cast over the pair as they continued their venture. The chirping of birds seemed to silence. It felt as though there were hundreds of eyes on the two the deeper into the woods they walked, yet as Thomas looked around there was nothing but trees to be seen. Thomas began to feel a sense of unease the further the woman lead him. “You sure live in pure isolation,” he stated matter of factly as he looked around for landmarks to lead him back to the trail. The devious sparkle in Esmerelda’s eye returned as she gazed back at the male, “The villagers have been nothing but cruel towards me, why would I want to reside anywhere near them?” she questioned in return. From that moment until they approached the lone cottage surrounded by giant Evergreens they walked in silence, a heart-wrenching silence.

Once inside the woman’s home, Thomas took in his surroundings. The cottage was well furnished taking him back to the middle ages. There was a giant fireplace in the living room large enough to warm up the entire living space and kitchen in the small home. “Please, take a seat. I’ll make some tea prior to beginning dinner.” Esmerelda insisted. Thomas did as instructed, finding it quite difficult to disobey the order. As he sat on the almost too comfortable couch, he continued to admire the stonework of the fireplace mantle. It was as though he was unable to focus on anything else in the room. The room seemed to grow smaller the longer he sat, attention locked on the fireplace. He couldn’t help but wonder who exactly he saved and if it was the right move.

Esmerelda, in the kitchen, worked on her “special tea” she brewed only for guests of the male variety that were brave enough to join her, chamomile lavender with a hint of her secret ingredient - a real knock out with all her guests. As soon as the tea was complete, she poured the contents of the teapot into two small teacups set on a silver tray and brought it into the living room. Handing Thomas a teacup she grinned, “Here, try this. I can ensure you it is exactly what you need.” Before Esmerelda had a chance to sit and hold the other teacup, Thomas had begun sipping the contents of his cup.

It was only a matter of seconds before the male passed out into unconsciousness, just as Esmerelda had expected. Standing up from her seat, Esmerelda brought the trey and teacups back into the kitchen, dumping the rest of the contents into the sink washing it down the drain thoroughly. She began to heat up her furnace and grabbed the largest knives she owned. If one thing was for sure, Thomas was going to make wonderful meat pies to get her through the week.

The enchantress, small in stature yet strong as an ox, dragged the male from the couch to the wooden table in the kitchen. As she lifted Thomas, a wicked smile crossed her lips. Yet another sucker fell for her oldest trick in the book providing her exactly what she desired. Once she had him laying on his back, Esmerelda looked at the long, shimmering blade in her hand and plummeted the knife into Thomas’ chest ensuring his death. From there, she took the knife rose it to her face, and sniffed the familiar, sweet scent of fresh blood she craved so much. Once she was satisfied with the scent, her tongue met the blade as she gently dragged it along her tastebuds allowing herself a bit of a taste of what was to come.

Thomas, the poor unexpected fool that he was, tasted as good as Esmerelda had hoped, which only furthered her desire to get to cooking the meat he would provide her. She continued to skin and fillet the male, covering herself in blood, body fluids, and more in the process. Once she had all the meat removed from the bones, she placed each bone into a large bucket. Esmerelda brought the bucket outside to the back of her cottage where a well was located. She brought up the pail of water and began to rise the bones thoroughly removing any bodily remains from the ossein matter.

Once the bones were clean, Esmerelda head back inside realizing she had a lot of cleaning to do in order to remove the stains from Thomas. With the bucket of bones in hand, she brought the majority of them to the fireplace, setting them in as though they were a pile of logs. She lit the fireplace and brought the remainder back to her bedroom, where her beast of a dog laid patiently on the bed waiting for his new treats. She placed three of the bones on the bed for the mutt to choose from and the bucket at the foot of the bed. “Spike, enjoy. Mama needs to finish cooking so we have food for the week,” she spoke in a joyous tone, the happiest she had seemed in days.

Back in the kitchen, the enchantress picked up the piles of meat placing them onto an empty plate. Her attention turned to her cupboard filled with herbs and spices, taking down various ingredients to begin her marinade. As much as Esmerelda loved the taste of humans, it was always better with her homemade marinade. With a variety of Italian herbs, spices, and a dash of olive oil, she began to soak the meat ensuring that it would be prepared in the time her pie crusts, all thirteen of them would be ready for the next step.

She carefully crafted her pie crusts, placing them in the tins. Each crust laid gently as though it was the proudest accomplishment of her life. When the baker's dozen of pie crust was prepared completely, Esmerelda took the marinated meat placing it away carefully in the pie tins before tucking it in, like one would a child going to bed, with the top pie crust. Finishing off the crust by brushing the rest of the marinade to the top, Esmerelda couldn’t help but smile at her beautifully crafted pie. One by one, she placed them in the furnace to bake.

While the pies baked, Esmerelda tended to the mess Thomas had made in her kitchen. Cleaning up each scrap that she could find, ensuring that every bloodstain had been removed. By the time she had finished scrubbing the wooden table and floor, the scent of freshly baked pies began to fill the air. She opened her kitchen windows, allowing the scent to drift into the woods. When the pies were complete, Esmerelda placed each pie on a window sill and took a seat in front of the fire allowing them time to cool.

To her surprise, a small knock pattered on the wooden door to her cottage a few moments later. Looking around, Esmerelda ensured that her home was spotless before opening the door shocked to find a young boy with eager eyes looking back up at her. “I smelled something delicious and couldn’t help myself. I hope you don’t mind,” the young one started, “My mother told me never to venture into the woods, but if I could just have some of that pie I will be on my way.” Once more, a devious look sparked in Esmerelda’s eyes as she pushed the door open wider to allow the small boy into her home. It was rare that victims just wandered up to her home so willingly and truth be told, it had been ages since she had the sweet taste of a child.