The World In a Lifetime

Being of the Dark

She danced through the shadows, black hair matching her dark garb, making it near impossible to tell she had any. She was invisible. She was one with the shadows, and no one knew. In the humid Georgian night, Sapphire was unseen. That's how she liked it. Her eyes were very brown. So brown that they seemed to swallow you in them. They were beautiful, enchanting, and devilishly charismatic. They were eyes that men and women alike could melt into and never come back out of. Her jawline and cheekbones made her face so that her cheeks were round, her entire face having the appearance of youth and innocence. Her chin was barely there at all, and she looked all but fifteen years old. This was deceitful as her personality. She was a liar. A liar, a cheat, and would do anything to scrape by. She didn't care for honor or anything of the such. She didn't care for love, for happiness. She was angry. The world had chewed her up and spit her back out, and she would bite it back for every wound that covered her psyche. She found what she was looking for, a man standing in the darkness nearby. They were behind a large building. It might've been a barn. This did appear to be a plantation, after all. But it was hard to tell in the dark, and frankly, Sapphire wouldn't have cared if she were in hell and making deals with Satan himself. She crept up on the figure from behind and put a hand on his shoulder. He jumped, dropped the lantern he was holding, and turned to her with terrified eyes, studying her figure in the dark.

"Y-You!" he gasped for breath. "I-I mean-" He breathed in, collected himself, and picked up the lantern that had been illuminating their feet.

Now that Sapphire could see his face, she knew he was a coward. His eyes were hollow, and her eyes looked right into his soul. His face was thin, and he appeared malnourished. She grinned at the short man's appearance, knowing he thought he stared a demon in the face.

"I-I need a slave dead." he said suddenly, his voice shaking almost as much as his hand that held the lantern was. "If I kill him myself the other's 'll revolt. It won't...be good-" She raised a hand and stopped him.

"Silly man, you do not need to defend yourself." she interrupted, her voice obviously northern, especially compared to the man's southern accent. "You're committing a crime and a sin. It is near impossible to defend that." She laughed as the man cowered, his eyes flashing with fear.

"And I am no better. But at least I won't lie to myself and think what I'm doing is fine." She smiled, her honey-coated voice drifting through the air like a poison.

"L-Look, you- you nasty b-bitch!" he stuttered in fear. "I don't need your lectures. I want a slave dead, and I'll pay you to do it. As long as you make it look like an accident."

Sapphire shrugged her cloaked shoulders.

"Whatever you want," she started. "as long as you pay the price."

"Alright," he smiled, a business-like aura surrounding him. "take your coin." He handed her a pouch made of leather. She opened it, seeing the pounds inside to her liking. The satchel was weighty, and she closed it, attaching it to her belt of silk.

"Give me a description," she said hastily, growing tired of this man's cowardly presence. "of the slave." She continued after she was met with a blank stare.

"O-Oh!" he seemed almost astounded that the dark figure before him needed a description. "T-Tall. He's a tall man. A natural leader. The other slaves revere him. He should be fairly easy to locate. He'll be the one doing the least work." With that, Sapphire disappeared away into the darkness, the satchel of coins bouncing against her waist silently.

Later, in the early morning hours just before the sun graced the sky, Sapphire stalked towards the barn once again. The same barn on the same plantation. If it was even that, but now that Sapphire could see by the light of her own lantern, she knew that it was indeed a barn. She opened the doors, not looking to find the slave she was to kill, no, she wanted to see if there were any good horses here. To see if she could take one as her own. She wasn't honorable, and if she found a good horse, she'd run off with it and the pay without doing her job. As she pushed the hefty red doors aside, the smell of horse manure entered her nostrils. She closed the door behind her and then looked into the barn. Several horse stalls lined the sides of the building, with a single hallway running through the middle. Sapphire heard a commotion a little ahead, and crept towards it silently. There was a stall door and a wooden wall separating what appeared to be a washroom for the horses. There were whispers coming from there, and Sapphire crouched beside the door underneath the barred window that the horses would look out of at the others who weren't fortunate enough to get a bath.

"We're getting outta here tonight. We'll take that big ol' stallion and bust right outta here," a voice whispered confidently.

"A-Are you sure? If they catch us... We're gonna be working on that farm without any arms or legs," another less than sure voice said, his tone shaking as much as Sapphire was sure he was.

"We'll be fine! This plan'll work. There's no way it won't."

"O-Okay.... It's worth a try....I guess," the second voice sounded defeatedly. Sapphire dove into the shadows where the lanterns hanging on the walls didn't light as the door suddenly slid open quickly. Two ragged slaves emerged. One walked confidently towards a stall with a purpose and the other followed, almost a shadow, except his back was hunched from years of heavy labor and his face showed horror. He didn't want to try this. Sapphire could tell from his eyes. But the man in front of him was different. He talked the other into doing this, and it was obvious he didn't care for the other man one bit. He was doing it for his own personal gain. Someone to thrust responsibility on. Someone to throw to the dogs. Someone to share his punishment should he be caught. It was almost guaranteed in Sapphire's eyes that this man was selfish, but defiant and had a thirst for freedom. He was not unlike Sapphire. She almost felt remorse for the fact that she was going to kill him. Almost. It would be better than the punishment he would be given for being caught, Sapphire reassured herself. She couldn't get herself a reputation of not doing her job as she had originally intended. That would not be worth what the horse was.

She waited, crouching uncomfortably in a corner, her back cramping.

"There's something i-in the corner-!" the second man suddenly cried, pointing to the corner Sapphire hid in. The first man suddenly pulled a dagger from his belt. He walked cautiously towards the darkness. Sapphire's heart raced, as did her mind. Her hand felt something metal that it had been resting on.

Suddenly, she leapt up and struck the man with the metal object she had grabbed, leaving a fierce head wound. The man stood for a few seconds, a look of surprise and horror showing plainly before he fell forwards. Blood seeped from the wound, and Sapphire looked at her hand. Through the crimson blood, she could see clearly now a horseshoe.

"Mm..." she said thoughtfully, the wave of different feelings keeping her occupied. She completely forgot about the other man standing before her, until a low moan escaped his throat.

"Oooohhhh...." he took a step back in pure terror. Sapphire looked at him a few moments before cackling.

"You didn't care for that man," she assumed, gleefully, almost insanely. "He made you do this. Didn't he? He didn't really bother whether you lived or died." The slave started to say something, but stopped, swallowed, and stepped towards her courageously. "I-I'll keep my mouth shut," he proposed. "If you.... Ugh, if you get me my freedom." Sapphire admired his bravery, but not enough to do as he said.

"Honey, I'm a killer," she chided, "not a demon to make deals with. Look, how about this: I set you up with a chance at freedom, and you keep your mouth shut." The man glared with stubborn eyes, but gave in.

"Fine," he sighed. "What do you propose?"

Sapphire smirked, and quickly explained that he would simply leave right now. No one would have any idea until morning that he was gone, and they'd have. A murder to deal with. The man nodded, and quickly ran off, bare feet slapping against the hay that lined the floor. Before he reached the exit, Sapphire lobbed the horseshoe at his head, it sticking firmly into his scalp. He yelped and then fell to the ground, and Sapphire pried the shoe from his corpse. Dead men tell no tales.