Femme Fatale

• Eva Walters, Grade 11
• Short Story
• 2013

“She’s watching you again” the bartender informed me, nodding towards the back corner as he filled my glass. I grunted and downed the burning brown liquid, lifting my eyes to the back corner. She was there, she was always there watching me with those eyes that flickered like fire in the dimly lit room. As our eyes met, I saw a small smile grace those perfect blood red lips of hers. She was beautiful with hair darker than the night sky and skin that shinned bright white. She could have been an angel if not for the sinister smile that she wore.

“Maybe you should go for it” I heard the bartender suggest.

I looked up at him; he was watching me thoughtfully while cleaning out a glass with an old rag. I shook my head slowly, “I’d rather not.”

He looked back over at the woman and shrugged, “Your loss.”

I sighed and was about to swallow another drink when I heard the stool beside me slide across the floor.

“Hey, buy a girl a drink?” A feminine voice asked.

I looked to the strange woman who now sat beside me, “No.”

She pouted at me, “Aww, what wrong?”

“Nothing you can help with.”

She smirked at me, “Hmm let me guess… heartbroken?”

I downed the shot in my hands and stared forward, not daring to look at her again. I felt her hand on my arm. It was frozen, like she had no warmth in her body. “Come with me” she whispered into my ear. Even the breath that I felt against my neck which should have been warm was freezing cold. I stayed seated on the stool defiantly. Something about her just seemed off. She tugged a bit harder. I turned to face her and my eyes glued to hers. “Come with me” she repeated. This time I couldn’t stop myself; my body was moving with a mind of its own. I let her drag me towards the back of the bar and out a door which lead to a darkened alley. It reeked of trash and other dead things but I didn’t have enough time to think about it before I was falling to my knees. They cracked hard against the dirty pavement. My brain could hardly register the pain from the fall as I chocked on the dark red liquid spilling from my mouth. Blood spilled down the front of my shirt, soaking into the once white fabric. I looked up at the woman, barley able to see her through the tears trickling from my eyes. Even through my panic I noticed the change in her appearance. Her ears had transformed into dagger points and beneath her blood red lips her teeth had sharpened and turned a dark yellow colour like the colour of rotting flesh. She gave me a sinister smile as her fiery eyes burned into mine. Before I knew it, I was engulfed in the flames.