Bloody Mary

Chapter Two~Into the Night

Chapter Two~Into the Night

By the time Marianna Bennett had turned thirteen, her mother and father had arranged multiple meetings with the Commodore and his son, in hopes that the two could reach a truce and get along. Such was not the case. It would seem that as the two grew older, their feud grew fiercer. It started with name-calling, heated arguments, and the like. Their rows usually ended with their parents chastising the two for their immature behavior, but what are you going to do? Children will be children.

In fact it was only after their latest meeting that Marianna’s views changed. Like every other it consisted of cruel words, hasty insults, and outrageously raised voices. However, Marianna was mentally maturing at quite a pace. It was more than that actually, but she was becoming uncomfortable with the tight dresses and the elaborate hair designs.

This time, when a now nineteen-year-old Benedict (you would think he would have stopped acting so childishly by now) called Marianna a spoiled brat, she reacted. He was tall, but Marianna could reach. Thus her perfectly straight palm met his cheek in a valiant slap that echoed across the room. A room, mind you, her father, mother, The Commodore, and his wife were also in. Whatever words had been previously exchanged (or were in the midst of) were immediately silenced as they registered what had just happened. Benedict’s face was beet red, and Marianna was smirking mischievously up at him.

That night she was condemned to her room without so much as a second glance from her father. She cried, oh, she cried. She screamed too, having a complete fit. Her teenage hormones were raging, and her snug dress had been bothering her the entire day. Be it her nerves or the dress itself, she found it intolerable. She ripped it off, sobbing loudly as she did so until the wretched thing was on the floor beneath her. She kicked it into the wall, smacked it against the floor, and then finally threw it out of the window.

It sailed into the garden and landed in the dirt. It had rained the night before, so no doubt it was also caked in mud.

Only when she had stared at the ruined dress did she stop her tears, and wipe her eyes. She silently chastised herself for such childish behavior. What type of person was she if she cried at such a thing? She was sure there was worse being done to others, so why should she be the one to cry?

These had been the thoughts the circled her mind whenever something such as this happened. Today it would seem too much though. Her hormones were running amuck with her emotions, she didn’t even know half of the things that were happening to her body at the moment, and to add to that her mother had only recently told her of the monthly cycle all woman must endure. Oh, she dreaded it, for it sounded too awful to even comprehend.

Her mother had even helped her prepare for the event, and even shared that it would be soon when the young girl started her cycle. As horrid as it sounded though, Marianna found herself preferring bleeding for a week straight from her nether parts rather than battle the emotions that ran amuck in her chest. Sometimes, when she was around Benedict, they grew like a cold fire in the pit of her belly and soon warmed her chest. Sometimes she even felt nervous. Marianna knew that her distaste for Benedict was already disappearing, despite the fact that she had slapped him earlier that night. To be honest, she didn’t know why she did it.

No. Actually she did know why.

It had become far too painful for him to call her a ‘spoiled brat’ when she had become so uncomfortable with her lavish life. As his distaste for her polished life become more apparent, she found herself liking it less and less. She didn’t quite know what had changed to make her think such a way, but for some reason she had become somebody she had always thought she would never be.

Now she felt something missing in her life, something that called her to the open window, past her ruined dress and into the night town.

A sudden thought kindled inside her, and she found herself glancing toward her door to make sure no one would enter. She knew, of course, that no one would enter. It was nearly ten in the evening, and the sun had set. No one would be entering the room until eight the next morning. Including her.