The Ladies of Horror
Picture-Prompt Writing Challenge!

Strong as Marble, Warm as Blood
by Scarlett R. Algee

She is perfect, because I made her so.

Only my hands have worked the blue-veined, dove-grey marble I chose for her body. Only I look upon the fluting of her cheekbones and the impeccable dimpling beneath her lower lip, the width of every eyelash, every strand of every curl that falls over her forehead and tumbles to her waist. Only I have weighed the curves of her breasts and squeezed the span of her hips so often that their dimensions are like old acquaintances.

Delicately I hollowed out her nostrils, the near-translucent edges of her ears, seeking to put into her every ounce of the divine ideal I never yet discerned in her fleshly, breathing counterparts. I counted off every hair in each eyebrow, rasped her nails and the edges of her philtrum to fingertip-width perfection, measured out the space between her thighs.

And then, then, the final thing: paying out coin to whores who were baffled by my need to sketch their secret parts, accepting their scorn that I might chisel out all her intimate depths and polish their surfaces to glistening—that I might test them and count myself satisfied.

And now—I pray, I sacrifice, that the gods who once breathed life into a handful of dust can breathe it into this woman I coaxed forth from stone, whose sleek limbs gain more sheen with each sanding.

Because she is perfect. Because she is everything.

With another prayer upon my lips I splay my hand across the cool concavity of her belly, trace my thumb over the dip of her navel. Do I imagine the shudder in the marble, the flush of warmth beneath my palm?

But I look at her face and see color breaking out amid the grey, the drape of her hair softening as black spreads out from the roots. Another shudder and the smooth orbs of her eyes are wetly reflective, sclera and iris, white and topaz-brown and angry.

“You,” I whisper, and red lips part over sharp white teeth, and the noise from her throat is a growl.

I step back, but her perfect hands are around my neck: soft as silk, hard as stone.

Fiction © Copyright Scarlett R. Algee
Image courtesy of Pixabay.com

More from author Scarlett R. Algee:

The Lift: Nine Stories of Transformation, Volume One

The hall is dark and the overhead light flickers. Sounds echo, and there’s a creaking and clanging that gets louder as you stand in the semi-dark. The elevator opens and you’re offered a ride. Step inside and ride it to the story chosen for your transformation. Don’t be afraid, for Victoria, the mysterious girl who operates The Lift, waits to guide you. Set in the same world as the award nominated audio drama, The Lift’s first written anthology features nine all new stories by fan favorite writers and special bonus content by creators Daniel Foytik and Cynthia Lowman. The collection is brought to life with beautiful illustrations by Jeanette Andromeda for each story.

Available on Amazon!