Iris couldn't recall what had happened last night. She only remembered that she had gone to the bar with her girlfriend Annabel and two of their friends. But after that? No clue. She had probably expected to find herself and Annabel from their or some friend's apartment and not from... here.

As Iris had come to her senses, she had been greeted by a dim room, only illuminated by candles. She had got up to sit, and looked around, perplexed by why she would find herself from such a place. It seemed like she was in a castle of some sort. But why? And how? This definitely wasn't a place where you would expect to wake up after having some fun in the evening. Of course, she had been so drunk that she probably wouldn't remember what had happened anyway because of that, but somehow this felt different. Something was certainly wrong, she just knew it.

And where in the hell was Annabel?

Iris swung her legs to the side of her unfamiliar bed and stood up. It was then when she realized that she was completely naked. She started immediately feel embarrassed, even though there was no one around – she had never felt that comfortable with her body, even though Annabel had said that it's beautiful. Iris didn't want to leave and investigate where she was totally undressed, so she stole the blanket from her bed and intertwined it around her body. It wasn't a perfect solution but it was better than nothing.

Suddenly the thunderstorm roared, startling Iris. The rain drops began to fall down, whipping violently the old windows. She had always been a little bit afraid of storms, but past few years she had felt that she was safe, thanks to Annabel who would always protect her, no matter what.

She had to find her.

But before Iris could leave, she heard an abrupt knocking from the door. It alarmed her, causing her to look around the room to find something that could be used as a weapon. But the door creaked open sooner than she would have liked. The comer was a maid of some sort. There was something odd about her... Her clothes looked ancient, but they definitely matched the environment. And... What was that in her arms? A dress?

“Good evening, lady Iris”, the maid said in a rather monotonous voice.

Iris was confused and surprised at the same time.

“How... How do you know my name?” Iris wondered.

But the maid didn't answer to her question. She walked close to Iris and examined her with her gaze for a while. Then the maid said: “Could you please return the blanket back to the bed? I have a dress here just for you, lady.”

Feeling a bit humiliated, Iris reluctantly gave up her temporary piece of clothing. She didn't like at all to be naked in front of unfamiliar person, even though the maid didn't seem to care at all.

“Good, now let me help you get dressed”, the maid said. “The master is waiting for you to join the dinner.”

“Master?” Iris inquired. “Who?”

However, maid's lips were sealed and she remained silent. Without saying a word, she started to help Iris to get clothed. The woman had brought a beautiful dress for Iris to wear; it was dark with golden embroidery. It looked like a baroque styled dress. As Iris had got stuffed in her new piece of clothing, the maid directed her to look at the decorative mirror that had been placed on the wall. She stared at her reflection for a while, carefully inspecting every part of her body. Was it really her looking back from the mirror? She looked so strange, so unfamiliar. Maybe even beautiful for once in her lifetime... Perhaps Annabel would have loved to see her like this.

And that's when Iris snapped out of admiring her reflection and remembered the most urgent thing.

Iris turned to face the maid and nearly shouted at her: “Have you seen another woman? Tall, slim build, long blond hair?”

But the other woman didn't utter a single word. Her face was completely emotionless.

Iris was upset. “Please, tell me!” she yelled.

The maid didn't seem to care. She just turned around to face the door from which she had come in.

“Follow me”, she said in a dull voice. Then she stepped out of the room. Feeling desperate, Iris surmised that she had no other choice, so a bit unwillingly, she went after the quiet maid.

A long hallway welcomed them.

“This way”, the maid spoke and turned to left, Iris following behind her.

Iris looked around, feeling a bit bewildered. She was impressed by a lot of things; a deep blue carpet that did seem to have no end, beautiful chandeliers that created just barely enough light for the corridor wanderers to see around them, frightening gargoyles lurking in the shadows, and outright gorgeous stained-glass windows even though they mirrored pretty much only dark themes... Before she knew, the maid had leaded her in front of some rather large doors.

Then the maid opened them.

A great hall was waiting behind the doors. From the ceiling hanged the most stunning chandelier Iris had ever seen, and there stood next the walls quite a few ornamental armors guarding the room. In the center of the hall was a great table that could invite dozens of people to sit and enjoy around it. However, now it had been set for two people only, and currently there was no more than one person sitting at one end.

The maid closed the doors, leaving Iris alone with the unfamiliar man.

That was when Iris noticed that something was horribly wrong.

“Ah, lady Iris”, the man said with a rather pleasant voice. “Come, come sit down, please. We have a very special dinner today, just for you.”

Iris was terrified. The man had black clothes similar to baroque style and they were... they were... covered in blood...

But the most horrible thing was...

She had found Annabel.

Iris was shocked. She raised her hands to cover her mouth, smothering her screams of horror, and she felt hot tears starting to run down her face. This couldn't be happening... this couldn't be...

Annabel's naked body lied at the center of table. Her stomach had been cut open, all the way down to her vagina, like someone had butchered her like a pig. Her breasts were cut off, and her chest's contents were also exposed, her ribcage twisted into unnatural position. Her guts had been torn out, and there were blood all over her. Her eyes were dead and soulless, reflecting nothing more but the horror she had endured before getting brutally murdered. Anybody would feel absolutely horrified and heartbroken after seeing their significant other in such atrocious condition, and Iris was no exception.

She turned to face the blood covered man who was sipping wine – or some other red liquid – from his elegant glass.

“Why?!” Iris screamed at him. “Why did you do this?!”

“Now, now, calm down, please”, the man said. “I simply did you a favor.”

“A favor?!” Iris was completely incredulous. “In what world would this be called a favor, you sick fuck?!”

A soft chuckle escaped from the man's lips. “She didn't love you, you foolish little girl. She cheated on you.”

“That's not true!” Iris screeched.

“Well, let me show you a thing.”

The man raised his hand – and as he did so, some strange oval-shaped... window or mirror or something appeared on the air. The whole thing was otherworldly, something beyond Iris' comprehension. Was any of this real? Maybe... maybe she was just having a nightmare? Or so she wanted to think. Everything was so fucked up.

But no matter how much she wanted to convince herself that this was just a dream, she knew the truth all too well. Denying it wouldn't make anything turn better.

So she looked at and focused on the odd reflector thing.

First she saw only white smoke. But slowly it took a form of two people; one being Annabel and the other one was some man Iris had never seen. They smiled at each other, clearly enjoying their time together. Iris immediately felt a sting of jealousy. But she continued to watch the images in front of her. Little did she know that the worst part was coming. Annabel and the man started to kiss each other in very passionate fashion. In Iris' eyes it seemed that their kissing was much more adoring than what she had ever had with Annabel. Then, the scene disappeared into smoke once again, and after that, it shaped two figures; Annabel and some different man. They were having sex, their naked bodies embracing each other. Iris couldn't watch anymore, tears veiling her eyes. She was having inner struggle whether the images she had seen were telling the truth or was just cruel magic tricks.

Feeling a bit numb, Iris looked at the strange man and asked: “Who are you?”

“Just call me a baron”, he simply replied, smiling.

“How can I be sure that what you showed me were true?” Iris inquired.

“It is up to you to decide”, the baron said.

“Why are you doing this?” Iris wanted to know.

“You are very lucky person, lady Iris. I found you and have offered you a chance to punish the one who broke your heart and betrayed your trust. It's a luxury that most people won't get because of these society's so called laws. But here, in my territory, we are beyond that.”

“Lucky?! You call me lucky?!” Iris was infuriated.

“Would you have rather lived in a lie?” the baron asked. “She committed the worst crime possible, the crime against an innocent heart. Don't you agree?”

Iris didn't know what to say. She stared at the Annabel's mutilated, once so beautiful body.

[i]She deserved that.[/i]

The baron stood up. He walked next to the center of the table where Annabel's corpse lied.

“Here. She promised you her heart. Take it.”

Then he dug his hand into Annabel's chest, and by brute force, ripped her heart out. After that, he strolled to one end of table that had been set and placed the heart on the plate.

Iris got a strange, indescribable feeling. Almost like in a trance, she wandered to the table, and sat down. She stared at the heart on her plate. Suddenly, it looked really irresistible, like the most delicious meal in the world. So, Iris picked the heart from the plate and bit it. She ate the organ voraciously, like a monster. She would have never done that before but now, for some reason, she felt that it had to be done.

The baron had gone back to his seat and looked at his guest with a satisfied face. He took another sip from his red drink.

Then he said: “I'm pleased that you have joined me on the dinner. Now, let's have a great, luscious feast!”

Iris agreed.