Meet Tiffani
Part I
"Tiffani Maynard. What a doll. I wish I could get me a piece of her!" a burly man named Charlie chuckled.
He was no more than 60 years of age with long, blonde hair tied back in a pony tail. Accompanying him was a man about the same age but with a lot less hair and darker in colour.
"Who is this doll you speak of?" Damien, the smaller of the two asked. "She is a slice of heaven." Charlie said, making the curves of a woman's body in the air as he spoke, "A waitress in the Cloak and Dagger Tavern just down this street and boy is she something. Makes me wish I didn't marry that old hag I got. Speaking of which, she'll be home soon. Wanna get outta here?" Charlie said, a chuckle still in his throat. Damien looked seemingly at the hand motions. Unknown to Charlie, someone was watching them and Damien was actually staring straight back at her. She disappeared from Damien's view.
"Take me to her." Damien ordered after a few moments of Charles' laughing. "Eh? Tiffani?" the large man asked. He stopped laughing and looked curiously at the other, wondering if he was serious or not. "Yes, her. Right now. I want to meet this fine lady." Damien demanded, giving Charlie a wink. "Righty'o let's go then eh?".
Both men abandoned their drinks and walked out the door, the house left unlocked.
She watched the men walk down the cobbled lane, their shadows growing and shrinking beneath the oil lanterns with every step until their voices were nothing but a faint whisper. She turned the door knob and walked in.
The house was a complete mess; alcohol bottles, food and clothing stashed everywhere. The entrance smelled of body odour and the walls looked as bad as the smell. Tiffani unveiled the dark hood that concealed her brunette locks and with a quick glance around, headed straight into the bedroom.
It was a bit neater but hardly what you'd call clean. Large oak drawers welcomed her in, a comfortable looking bed stood on the far side and a full length mirror beside it. "I guess vanity is in our blood no matter how treacherous a man is" she said to herself.
Searching each drawer she pulled every item out and tossed it on the floor behind her. When she couldn't find what she wanted she pushed the entire chest of drawers to the ground and moved to the bed. She felt under the mattress but there was nothing. It wasn't in or under the bed at all. "Where did he put it?" she muttered frustratedly.
Just at that moment Charles' wife opened the door.
Elizabeth took off her coat and waved goodbye to her friends outside. She let out a loud sigh as she turned to look inside. It was only two days that she left Charles alone for the weekend and the house was already a mess. It stunk too. She took her coat off and hung it up on the coat rack, her curly red hair falling down the side of her face.
She started to walk to the kitchen when she noticed the chest of drawers on the floor, half out of the bedroom. "When will that boy ever grow up and learn to be responsible?" she grumbled, walking over the drawers to get into her bedroom. She fluffed up the pillows and straightened the quilt before walking over to the full length mirror to admire herself. A woman standing behind her reflected in the mirror. Elizabeth spun around but no one was there. Something icy cold and razor sharp gently touched her neck.
"They never grow up." the intruder whispered in Elizabeth's ear. The flat side of the dagger pushed Elizabeth's chin up and a hand on her shoulder turned her around slowly so she could see into the mirror.
The woman was cloaked in darkness, a black hood covering her eyes and shadowing her features. The only reason she turned Elizabeth around was to see the absolute fear in her victim's eyes and there was indeed fear. Elizabeth was trembling with it. "My my aren't we a quiet one. I won't keep you here too long, I'm just searching for something. A letter. Have you seen it?" Tiffani asked. Elizabeth stuttered incoherently, afraid for her life. The intruder sighed loudly. "I don't have time for this. Answer the question and I promise I'll let you be." she said sincerely. Elizabeth pointed to the mirror. "B..beh.. hind..." she stuttered, terrified.
"Very good." Tiffani said, removing the dagger from beside her neck and pushing her roughly to the bed. With the dagger back in it's hilt, Tiffani grabbed the mirror and slammed it hard into the ground. Shards of glass littered the carpet and, just as Elizabeth had said, an envelope lay folded on top of the glass. She pocketed it, turning her head to the bed.
"Thank you. You have been most helpful." Tiffani said, picking up a large piece of the glass. Elizabeth scrambled to her feet. "Y...you're... wel... welcome milady." Elizabeth gripped a pillow tightly as she mumbled, her eyes fixated on the cloaked woman.
The reflective glass broke under Tiffani's boots as she stepped over the broken mirror to Elizabeth where she forced her back onto the bed. "Do you know where your husband is right now?" she said to the frightened woman. Before she had a chance to answer, Elizabeth screamed out in pain. Tiffani moved her hand away from her Elizabeth's leg where the glass was now embedded into the bone. "Oh I'm so sorry. Did that hurt?" Tiffani pouted mockingly.
"You promised you would let me be if I told you!" Elizabeth yelled out to her, the subtleness and fear gone from her voice. "Promises were made to be broken." Tiffani smirked. Her dagger was unsheathed and she held it close to her victim's quivering face. A wave of fear washed over her once more as the realisation of the situation hit her. The dagger drove deep into the flesh and pierced Elizabeth's heart. Blood gushed out from the wound and both women knew Elizabeth only had precious seconds of her life left. Prayers to Athlendyr poured out of Elizabeth's lips and tears streamed out of her eyes as Tiffani leaned in close, pushing down hard on the dagger. "Your husband went out to spend the night with me." she smiled cruelly.
Elizabeth died with the expression of pain and heartache that night.