The Undertaker's Brides

Faint sounds tickled her ears as eyes, grown accustom to being closed, resisted her efforts to open them stubbornly. Sadness ... crept into her soul. Something was wrong, she could feel it in every pore of her body. Unnaturally blue eyes opened and the room swam into focus, as the sleeper awoke and realized what she'd lost.

"JUDY!!!" A voice that could have been mistaken for Kiri's swept through the Undertaker's home like lightning through the air. It was inhuman and filled the barren rooms of his home with electricity born of fear in its wake. The women sitting silently in one of the larger rooms of his domain leapt back as the sound raced through them. They felt the word hit them in the chest like a concert amp blasting at short range.

"I think Kiri's back." Cyn said nervously. That wasn't exactly the way she expected her baby sister to wake up. The other women glanced at each other nervously as Cyn put down her diet green tea and headed for the door. Kane met her there and together they went up the stairs to the room where Kiri rested. Kane opened the door cautiously and stepped in ahead of the smaller woman. He stopped walking with a choked sound. Cyn growled a bit and stepped out from behind him to look at her little sis. She was shocked. Kiri's eyes were glowing. Not the cute glowing that you'd think of, bright glowing like a television in a dark room. The two of them exchanged a look and Kane shrugged. Cyn sighed and stepped closer to where Kiri stood staring at her reflection in a mirror. Fingertips brushed the cool glass in silent awe of what she saw in her own reflection.

"Uh ... Hi, Kiri. How ya' feelin' hon?"

"Like death." A ghostly whisper replied. Cyn frowned harder. This was bad. What did Paul do to her? Kane placed a hand on Cyn's shoulder as he spoke.

"Kiri, Judy has..."

"Died ... I know ... I felt it..." She turned on them as she spoke and her voice raised as she continued. Her eyes were locked onto her elder brother, they were unblinking and unforgiving. "She died because the Undertaker ... the Lord of this place ... left you to battle that thing alone. He failed. He has failed before. He will not fail again!" Kiri was enveloped in a glowing purple light and vanished. Kane simply looked down into Cyn's eyes. Each saw the worry and pain in the other's eyes as siblings mourning the change in their little sister.

* * * *

"UNDERTAKER!!! It is time!" Kiri's voice echoed through his domain and as the gathered brides turned to look at him, they saw him disappear looking surprised as a purple mist enveloped him. A cold breeze ripped through the room and the screams of unknown souls wailed within its embrace. The Undertaker appeared in the ruins of the Parlor and watched as it slowly reformed itself. Walls rose from the warped floor as those very floorboards straightened and carpet appeared above their golden tones. The fireplace rebuilt itself and a fire burning an alien violet leapt to life within it. The Parlor reformed itself to its mistress' whims and in the end it bore a strong resemblance to its early self, but now seemed darker and less welcoming.

The tall wooden doors across from the fireplace opened and Kiri entered. Her hair was no longer the brown-red-copper blend it had been. It was now a deep black with faint traces of blood red within its highlights. Her eyes seemed to glow the same alien violet as the flames did and when they came to rest on him, he felt a chill race through him. Her outfit clung to her possessively. The black silk shirt and flowing slacks were a stark change from her usual blue jeans and a T-shirt around the Parlor in the past. But it was the look on her face that most surprised him. He saw no love and no happiness in her eyes. He saw hatred.

"You are supposed to be a Lord here. A strong hand to protect those who flock to you." Her voice was a dark whisper. "You failed. You failed. You failed. You act as if these women are your personal concubines ... that they are here merely for your pleasure. They made you ... they made this place ... they are the reason you exist and yet ... and yet you treat them with no respect ... You prove that you are a fool and a heartless beast."

He growled low in his throat as his eyes rolled. She dared to challenge him? Him? This was his domain. He was in charge here. He drew power to him to strike down her illusions of power and to reduce her Parlor to ashes around them. She may be Kane's little sister, but she wasn't his and it was time she learned respect. The power flowed into him and he unleashed it upon her and the Parlor. It faded to nothing before it struck her and she smiled a dark, evil smile. The large doors slammed shut and the shutters closed over the windows with multiple tiny explosions of noise. The flames leapt higher in the stone lined fireplace as she slowly drifted towards it seeming to warn her hands in its glow. The Undertaker stood in a stunned silence. This couldn't be happening. He was certain she wasn't stronger than he was.

"I'm not." She purred as she continued to rub her hands near the violet flames. "I do, however, know a few people who are." She smiled as she looked into the fire as visions of what she'd learned with Jean's Dark Lord and his Lady during her forced downtime. "You see, you have a job to do ... And you do nothing to learn the skills or to develop your domain to better suit your subjects and followers. If you will not lead," she turned to face him and her eyes sparkled as she spoke. "Then you will either follow loyally or be ... destroyed." She giggled a laugh not unlike the wicked laughter of "Callisto" from that show that a few of the Brides seemed to like. He didn't like this one bit and opened his mouth to tell her where she could go.

"Been there, done that, got the T-shirt. See?" She mocked as a T-shirt appeared in his now outstretched hands, which read "Hardrock Café: Hades" and smelled of brimstone. "Just can't get that smell outta anything." She laughed again it sounded not quiet ... sane. The T-shirt exploded into flames and disappeared, she wiped her hands and then rested them on her hips.

"Listen up, Stretch. You ain't cuttin' it as a Dark Lord. You had a chance to turn an enemy into an ally, you were too afraid to make the effort. You knew I was in danger and you failed to go to help me or even to look in on me. When asked why you didn't go, you had the balls to say that Paul was too dangerous. Too dangerous? You are the Lord of this place. Your power should have been enough to protect you and anyone you choose to protect. No, you sat here trying to decide which girl you would add to your harem. You get your ass in line or the older and more powerful Lords are gonna dump you and push Kane into your coveted spot. Trust me, Kane can handle one woman's love and the job. Unlike you, Mr. Any-Chance-I-Get-To-Get-It-Up-I-Take. You are responsible for Judy's death. You drove her away. You used her. You used Kaliegh. You are nothing but an abusive bastard. You knew it hurt Judy to see you with Kaliegh when you told her you cared for her. Then you hurt Kaliegh to get it on with poor Judy. Kaliegh had the balls to tell you off and that's fine and good. But Judy's dead because she had to go looking for love and respect. Love and respect that you should have been able to provide her. At least enough love to go after her when Kane said she was in danger, which might have made you worth something if you'd gone. No, Kane went to fight the monster. Kane tried to save her from the pain YOU CAUSED! Kane came after me, to rescue me, to help me. You? You hid here to protect the Brides you said! Besides a few bruises and a good scare, they would have been fine. This is MY PARLOR! NO SISTER OF MINE WOULD BE HURT HERE! Not once I learned what my role was in this place, at least." She turned away from him. "I respected you until I saw you hurting Judy. Kaliegh ... she didn't need my help. She can kick your ass herself, but Judy ... Judy loved you. Judy never wanted to hurt you ... AND YOU LET HER DIE!" Kiri spun and as her eyes fell on him, he lived Judy's last moments. The agonizing pain of having his throat ripped open by the hungry fangs of the monster, the fear of dying, the fear of becoming like that beast that made her think he loved her and the fear that the Undertaker would fail her again. The feelings passed and the Undertaker fell to his knees sobbing. It took him a long time to stop and Kiri stood watching him with no emotion on her face. His tears, his pain was nothing compared to that of the Brides and of Kane. Kiri had fled his stronghold and retreated to hers when the other Brides' pain had echoed through her. When she left with the Undertaker, her newly discovered powers had touched the agony in her sisters and they had heard their own pain crying as she had escaped.

She had learned her role during her rest. The Dark Lord Jean had visited had drawn her away when Paul attacked her fallen form. She was a lost soul and he showed her the tasks she was to do and the destiny that was hers and hers alone. She was to be the feminine force in this place. The daughter, the sister, the mother, the lover and the protective female force of the Creatures who ventured here. She was the warrior who fought the demons that plagued them and the mother who taught the lessons they needed to learn. She was ... alone to care for the lost in this place. When they searched, it was her doorstep they would fall upon looking for help. She had learned her place here. It was time for him to learn his and stop playing God when there was real work to be done. She wasn't sure she was up to the tasks before her, but she knew she'd try. The first task lay before her on its knees, a task that was nearing completion.

Red-rimmed eyes looked up into the unyielding, unloving eyes of the Mistress of the Morgue as he spoke. "Teach me. Show me. Please..."

"No." She turned away. "I'm not the ones you need to seek for lessons ... I'm not anything to you ... not anymore ... good bye ... Do not return to my Parlor. Do not call on me unless the Brides seek my help. You are not my blood. You are not my equal. You are a fool on the path to enlightenment." She vanished and the sounds of a woman mourning filled the Parlor as its mistress wept for her fallen sister whom she could not yet release from her heart, for her father who could not save himself alone and was too weak to ask for more of her help and for the Brides ... who had yet to learn that their sister had forsaken her Lord.

Book Twenty One of The Undertaker's Brides

© 1998 by The Brides of Darkness

**This story cannot be used in any way without written permission