Huddling in the cold as they sought entry into the warm glowing big top, Archibald and Van stood at the end of a long line of men. They blew visible breath and shivered from top to bottom on this crisp would-be autumn night.

“I wish there was another way inside this blasted tent,” Van cursed. “There’s people who need saving.”

“This is nothing, my boy,” Archibald said. “I waited from dawn to dusk in 100 degree heat to see Shadalah the famed desert dune dancer. But when she was finally set to appear, she had eaten some green onions and cheese right and refused to appear. She didn’t wish to be known as the too-much-belly dancer. It was a let down of gargantuan proportions.”

Van’s poofy hair slumped over her face, darkening her eyes. “Not as much of a rip-off as showing up and having your soul sent to the depths of the underworld.”

“Touché,” Archibald said with a smirk.

Van’s eyes followed the long line. It stretched halfway the length of the whole carnival. She felt a lump in her throat. “This is probably the whole town.”

“Funny what a pair of good legs and the word of mouth will do,” Archibald said laughing as the line began to move.

The two clowns at the front, dressed in black and white makeup, started waving everyone inside. “Come one come all to see the amazing Rosemary. The fabulous show is about to begin. Come on in, we’re now ready to start and there are plenty of seats for everyone.”

“Hey,” Van said as they walked by. “What gives? Why’d they take so long to open? Do you like making my man beard stand on end?”

The clown gave a wide yellow toothed grin. It was as sickly yellow as his eyes. “The amazing Rosemary was debating whether she should dine before her performance or not.”

Van’s heart fluttered nervously and she bit her lip, earning the calm but serious glance of Archibald. “If I was to offer some advice to the famous dark dame- one should never dine before a show if you have performance anxiety. Otherwise, your audience may soon learn exactly what you ate!”

The clown with the grizzly face let out a hissing sound before talking. “You and Rosemary have the same opinion. She shall dine afterwards.”

Archibald gave a wink, a sparkling grin and a thumbs up. “Just some advice from one performer to another.”

Van sighed in relief and the two were about to enter when suddenly, the clown put his hand Archibald’s shoulder.

“You look familiar,” he said, his yellow eyes betraying a look of suspicion.

Archibald froze before giving a cool calm response. “I was giving your performers some sage advice earlier. Just because one is a clown doesn’t mean they should take delight in frightening fat children and throwing tomatoes at over-compensating ones.”

“Ah yes,” the clown hissed. “Go inside, but preach no more.”

Archibald and Van nodded and proceeded past the veil, and what they saw next, they hadn’t expected. Instead of a tiny Cabernet stage, there was a huge amphitheater. Dark red and black paint covered the backdrop to represent the sky at night. A crimson moon made of wood hung towards the top of the backdrop and large sheets of tinted red metal and wood stood in for the tops of houses. A withered and blackened hollow tree was the only prop on stage. This is a ghastly nocturnal stage fit for an Everblood, Van thought.

Archibald and Vanessa moved through aisles of wooden chairs and squeezed in between several hulking men. They all cheered and hooted, desiring to see their lady fantasy. The whole tent stank of beer and mead, making Van curious if the women of this town were really that undesirable, or if word of Rosemary’s appearance was really that seductive. The two heroes sat in their seats, giving short tense breathes waiting for Rosemary to hit the stage.

A loud spotlight clicked on and the boorish men in the tent fell silent. An organ grinder played woozy, cold and haunting chords that filled the room with a chilling malaise. Slowly against the backdrop, a tall feminine shadow moved in slinky motions. Its hips swayed and its long arms moved seductively, adorned with large circular bracelets. Vanessa looked at the men around her. They all gaped and stared transfixed, drool seeping off their lips. It baffled Van how they could be whipped into such a frenzy over a mere shadow.

The shadow made its way into the spotlight where Rosemary’s lily-white body shined like a diamond steeped in light. She let out a little moan and shielded her eyes. “A bit too much light,” she cried, playing it off. “If the dark dame performed in the day, I’d be called the light dame instead.”

She gave a light giggle at her joke and moved her hand to her face. Van could see the large men around her reduced to jelly over this coy gesture. The spotlight dimmed enough for only Rosemary and the backdrop to be visible. Rosemary moved to the front of the stage. “Before we get to the main event, I figured I’d tickle your fancy with a little number I wrote myself. It’s a somber, but sensuous ballad of nocturnal love and loss. I call it, “(When We Meet) Under This Blood Red Sky.”

Van and Archibald braced themselves. The second Rosemary opened her mouth, things would take a turn for the worst.

The howling organ created an aural chill in the air as Rosemary began to gently sway. She raised her pale hands as her bracelets jangled on her arms, and with a grip and a thrust of her red wine colored nails, the six lanterns at the corners of the tents extinguished with a ghostly whoosh. The only source of light was the dimmed spotlight on the chanteuse. Vanessa couldn’t even see the people in front of her, all she could see was Rosemary up on stage. She began to moan and coo in a voice that would make the moisture in one’s eyes frost over. Her voice told a dark story that befit the stage she stood:

Beneath the oak of Dark Hollows

We kept our secret well hid

Like the grapefruit moon, my essence you followed

And together we made our bid

Under this blood red sky

Van detected a change in Rosemary’s voice. Suddenly, her icy vocals changed to yearning and hopeful. She could see a wistful expression of sadness on her face when she sang the next verse.

Do you wish to live as long as the starry skies

And watch the people around us fade

To stay green, not brown, forever in your prime

And never languish in the ground, decayed

Take this stone and hold it tight,

Under this blood red sky

Rosemary’s voice changed again to a pleading tone. The organ rose higher as her voice matched it with every note. Her cries were vulnerable and a painful rasp outlined her vocals. Her body shook as if she was recalling a painful memory and she swung her head back and forth in shame.

You told me that you loved me

And you’d remain forever by my side

But why does your face darken like the sickly sea

Losing every trace of its false pride

When you hear me speak,

Under this blood red sky

Her voice returned to her trademark iciness, losing all of its vulnerability but gaining a dark sexuality to it. Vanessa could see Rosemary’s tongue dance along her lips as she sung the final verse.

You don’t look at me like I loved you

Like my face is not my own

But through eternity, my love will remain true

And for your body, I’ll slobber and moan

Every part of you is now with me

Under this blood red sky

Rosemary bowed her head as if to lament. She stood in total silence as men swooned at her decadent appearance, ignoring her words. Van felt bewildered. Never once did she believe a creature of the night was capable of stirring so many emotions in her. Her song was a lament, but for what, Vanessa’s young mind could not grasp. Rosemary spoke with an earnest voice and her head bent so her bangs covered her eyes. “Thank you for listening to a tale that I know not a single one of you cares about. But now…it’s time for the true show to begin.”

Rosemary lifted her head, and tilted it sideways with an audible crunch of her neck. Her face was a ghastly blue like the skin of a rotted over corpse. She began to let out moans and gasps of lust and pain as her now reptilian eyes moved around her head with no rhyme or reason until they rolled back. She raised her trembling hands and the extinguished lanterns changed to blue fire. Her voice became deep and guttural as she chanted loudly. “OUR…LIVES…WILL”

“Archibald” Van yelled shaking him. “Archibald, we need to distract her. Archibald.”

“I love you sweet Rosemary,” the Majester babbled.

Van realized that her greatest ally had been hypnotized by Rosemary’s siren song.

“NEVER END.”

Van grabbed her sword and leaped to her feet. I have to distract her, she thought. She squeezed past the many hypnotized drooling vegetables formerly known as men into the front aisle. She began to sprint towards the stage.

“OUR DEATHS WILL…”

Morales stood at the foot of the stage with the blue barker clown. The barker pointed a finger at her and shouted, “Hey! Freeze interloper!” while chucking a hatchet at Van’s head. Van ducked the hatchet and lifted her sword. “Engarde in the name of Cyrus, Trinity, Archibald and all my friends,” the female knight yelled and impaled the disarmed barker clown in the stomach.

The barker clowns eyes practically shot out of his head from the impact as he gasped, “May Rosemary live for eternity,” and fell to the ground.

“NEVER BEGIN.”

Morales brandished his sword and lunged at Vanessa who pulled her bloody sword out of the fallen barker clown. Morales swung violently at Van, aiming to kill the young swords woman. Van remained on the defensive, blocking all of his hasty blows. Her master had taught her that a swordsman who swings on the full offense will no doubt tire after a while. Van waited until the mime’s movements slowed a bit, before she quickly lifted her sword and stabbed the mime right through his wired mouth. Blood seeped from his mouth before he collapsed. “That’s payback for making a mockery of me,” Van said, before her attention was caught by Rosemary’s voice.

“HERE IN THE LAND OF SHADOWS…”

Van quickly pulled herself up onto the stage with a huff. “You…won’t…succeed,” the knight puffed out of her mouth.

“LIFE BECOMES DEATH AND…DEATH BECOMES…L-”

Van took a running jump at Rosemary whose blinded eyes and vulnerable position left her completely open to attack. She ran her sword right through Rosemary’s chest. The Everblood’s eyes rolled forward like a pair of demonic marbles accompanied by a slimy sound that made Henry’s blood curdle. “You…who are you?” she rasped, as Van flinched, nearly recanting on the fact she impaled the foul demon.

“My name… is S-s-sir Henry Celine, and I have vowed to expunge the world of Everbloods in the name of my coat of arms.”

“But… how are you immune to my charms, boy?”

Slowly, Rosemary lifted her hand to Van’s face.

Van flinched as Rosemary’s hands as clammy as dry ice brushed against her warm skin. “There is magic jelly on your face, child.”

“No there’s not there’s…I…” Van began to stutter as Rosemary’s age old eyes revealed their knowledge of her. With a brush of her frozen hands, Vanessa’s beard was removed leaving a smooth baby face.

“You cannot fool me,” Rosemary’s thick guttural voice hissed. “I’ve lived for six centuries and have seen all kinds of tricks. You’re no boy, you’re a girl with illusion cream mashed from berries on your face. I would have never expected one of the town’s women to disguise themselves to get in here, but I guess I should never underestimate a woman jealous of my eternal beauty.”

Van’s voice squeaked in fear having lost the manly beard on her face. The exposed female knight held the hilt of her sword, attempting to drive it in further. “Be-be-gone foul creature of the..night.”

“Creature of the night?” Rosemary said as her reptilian eyes moved separately to look at Van in two different ways while her forked tongue swished along Van’s cheek to smell her. “I am a woman just like you…Just a woman that has crossed over to the other ssssside.”

“W-w-what kind of woman debases herself like this?” Van asked, cringing but still angling her blade.

“It’s not my fault that men crave my voluptuous figure,” Rosemary said, and her voice changed from gravelly to her normal pouting teasing tone. “But let me make this clear to you, dear.”

Rosemary gripped her hands around the sword and with incredible strength, pried it from her chest. She lifted it up and pulled Van to her face. Rosemary’s eyes returned to their pale blue pallor and her voice grew sensuous and velvety as it rose and fell over her only pleasure. “I have not loved a man in over 666 years. I only desire what keeps me vital- The succulent blood of a royal family member.”

“Tr-Trinity…” Van murmured.

“Or maybe I’ll forget about that bratty princess and spoil myself with the cute little prize I’ve claimed today,” Rosemary said as her voice swooned and her body swayed. “Pudgy Prince Cyrus.”

“You’re not touching him!” Van felt the anger rise up in her body and she yanked the sword away from Rosemary and drove it back into her body. As Van did, Rosemary’s face reverted back to its hideous demon appearance. Her eyes bulged and her mouth displayed huge gnashing fangs as a large drooling snakelike tongue hung out.

Suddenly men began to clamor around them in the audience. “What’s going on, what’s happening?” They cried in fear as they saw the horrendous demon in place of their seductive chanteuse, Rosemary.

“You foolish girl, you’ve broken my infatuation spell,” Rosemary cursed in her gravelly voice.

“You’ve done it yourself with your ugly face,” Van screamed.

“Never mind,” Rosemary grunted and pulled herself away from Van’s sword with the sliding sound of a sword piercing flesh. “I still have my small army of underworld slaves. Because of your tampering, everyone who has witnessed this will die. Men. I want you to kill them so no one is left to tell the tale of Rosemary the Everblood!”