4I wrote this for an ask I got on tumblr, concerning the asker's pairing, Bloody Mary and Elizabeth Comstock's first impression of each other.
It was ominously dark outside. Not the kind of darkness that comes along with the night, however; it was only afternoon, yet thanks to the huge gray clouds hovering in the sky, it was much darker than it was supposed to be.
A mere storm- nothing out of the blue, nor too surprising. Throughout her life in the tower, Elizabeth had gotten used to witnessing various weather occurrences, and most of the time she enjoyed watching the sky, clouds and stars, trying to match what she learned from the books with the marvels of the mighty dome. Apparently, today wasn't one of those days, because she was very, verybored. She huffed loudly and leaned on the books scattered around the table she was sitting at, one hand cupping her gentle face in order to keep her head up. She huffed again, rolled her eyes and watched the sky becoming electrocuted by several flashes of lightning -quite the harsh, yet fascinating sight. She wondered where Songbird was and thought, with a momentary pang of worry shaking her elegant form, whether he was doing alright. He probably was, considering this wasn't the first time there was a storm out there. Feeling relieved, she went back to being bored.
Trying to find a way to entertain herself, Elizabeth scanned the tower -but to no avail. She had already read all the books in there, she wasn't in the mood to watch the storm, she didn't want to play chess all by herself either; the storm and the darkness it brought made everything around her too surreal to pay serious attention.
She suddenly straightened, her hands falling onto her lap, a tiny spark in her eyes- this could be the evening of reading some horror! She got up from her chair and scurried up the stairs, heading to a section of Gothic novels, horror stories, ancient myths and folk tales. She started looking through the hardcover books excitedly. She had already read all of them, of course, but it wouldn't hurt to let herself get lost in some uncanny experience. She gasped slightly as she found what she was looking for, reached out and took out a book with crimson cover; it was about some superstitious folk tales. She smiled to herself and shook her head slightly at how unbelievable these tales were, yet she took seat in a comfortable sofa and started rereading the book.
Several more flashes of lightning illuminated the tower as minutes passed, horrendous sound of thunder following afterwards; this meant nothing to the young girl engrossed in the supernatural.
She was half-way through the book when a strange, mild wind played with her hair and gained her attention. There must have been a crack of window somewhere, she thought, it wasn't a rare occasion when the weather was this bad. Then the lights flickered and died. Elizabeth set her book down and slowly got up, this wasn't a rare occasion either. She moved around slowly, trying not to trip over anything while looking for some candles.
Flicker, flicker, lightning, thunder. The lone candle came alive, dancing of that tiny spark of fire captivating Elizabeth's gaze for a moment. She stood, one hand holding the candlestick, the other casually thrown over her hip; she pursed her lips as she tried what she could do now. She didn't want to continue reading, the light of the candle would be too problematic to benefit from as a light source. Another flash of lightning struck, illuminating the room for a second; Elizabeth's eyes were fixated upon the book. She hummed, a sudden thought on her mind. She shook her had disapprovingly, it was ridiculous. Then again, she had nothing better to do.
She headed to the cheval glass standing near her bedroom, pulsating every time a flash of lighting occurred. She sighed loudly, rolling her eyes at her reflection and questioning why she did this. She had to admit that she had already made the decision, though; it wasn't like strange things would happen anyway. She stole a glance at the book she left on the sofa and the particular page that lay bare. She turned to the mirror and met the eyes of her reflection.
"Bloody Mary." she said, her voice slightly shaking. "Bloody Mary." she coughed slightly and closed her eyes, "Bloody Mary." Was she afraid? "Bloody Mary." This was ridiculous! It must have been the eerie thunderstorm out there. "Bloody Mary." She hadn't noticed she was holding her breath so long.
Nothing happened, of course. What was she expecting, a bloody corpse emerging from the mirror and rip her throat? She chuckled at her childishness. She smiled at her reflection, meeting her cheerful hazel eyes for a second- wait a moment. Her eyes weren't hazel colored.
She let out a scream as the figure of a slender woman literally leaned toward her from inside the mirror. Instinctively, Elizabeth did what she knew she had to do in such a situation- she defended herself.
Receiving a well-timed and confident punch to her face the moment she set foot on Elizabeth's tower was definitely not the thing Bloody Mary was waiting for. She staggered back, slightly hitting the mirror. The maniacal grin on her face gave way to a slightly confused expression. "You…" she grumbled threateningly, "You hit me."
"You came from inside the mirror!" Elizabeth yelled, "What did you expect me to do!" She needed to retreat, to find something to use as a weapon (other than the pathetic candlestick in her hand), or at least kick or punch this strange woman! But there she was, lost in the eyes of this so-called demon, the nightmare, her heart beating faster and faster with every passing minute. As much as she didn't want to believe it, she knew what she saw; how the woman walked from inside that mirror. She really was Bloody Mary then! Her eyes widened, why wasn't she as afraid as she was supposed to then?
The hazel-eyed woman seemed almost as confused as Elizabeth. "I should rip your limbs off and hang them to places for people to see…" she sneered. "No-one has ever dared to lay a hand on me, yet you…" She reached out to her again, this time slowly, and held her chin with one hand. "You're different." she murmured, seeing something in Elizabeth that sparked her attention. Elizabeth wasn't complaining, she'd very much prefer to stay alive- plus, this… version… of Bloody Mary was awfully captivating.
Bloody Mary leaned in, searching Elizabeth's face greedily for a clue. She stopped just as they were only a breath away from one another. "You can see the doors." she sighed, mildly surprised. She moved an inch back and examined the younger woman's face with attention this time.
"Y-you mean the tears?" Elizabeth breathed, unsure. Bloody Mary let out an interested hum and took a step back, letting Elizabeth's face free. She wasn't sure what to think of this girl, but she was definitely curious about her- how quaint! She put her hands behind her back and walked towards the sofa, the clicking of her boots and the shuffling of her dress almost unheard due to thunder. She sat on the sofa, casually flipping her long hair back and picking up the book Elizabeth left. She humphed disapprovingly as she looked at the page that had the title Bloody Mary in fancy, cursive letters. She turned to look at Elizabeth with a delicious, evil smile on her face, "Lies!" she said, showing her the book, "They never talk enough about my marvelous ways of punishing those who dare to say my name." She grinned at Elizabeth, who flinched at the thought of her possible fate. "Don't worry, young woman, you're more interesting and valuable than those." She patted the empty part of the sofa, "Come now, sit. It's not too often that I actually enjoy someone's presence." Her heartbeat almost unbearable and her mind still full of questions, Elizabeth did as she was told.
As another flash of lighting covered the dark sky, two women sat in silence and gazed at each others' eyes, still unsure what to make of one another.