00:00Hey everybody, it's Sai Marie. I'm coming at you because, of course, you know I still need your daily free votes and those donation votes for the Starlight Children's Foundation.
00:10But while I got your attention, I want to tell you a little story.
00:14And this kind of just goes along with what I do, aside from me attending to this campaign for this contest, but just to, you know, give you a little bit more of a connection with me.
00:25And so, right now on the Olive Branch review, I have a short flash fiction, it's a flash fiction actually, story called Charisse.
00:36And this was inspired by Carmilla. I'm not sure how many vampire enthusiasts know about the story of Carmilla, but nevertheless, if you know, you know.
00:45So I thought I would read you guys Charisse real quickly.
00:49Charisse by Sai Marie Johnson.
00:50She hadn't known, this is the blurb basically, she hadn't known Catronel Magdalena at all.
00:57The woman had died before Alara's 10th birthday, remembered only in fragments passed down through silence.
01:03A scent of rose mater, a velvet box no one opened, a name spoken like a spell and then buried.
01:09But the diary was unmistakably hers, and it was not a record of domestic life.
01:14It was a confession.
01:15The train hissed into Oradea like a serpent, exhaling secrets.
01:23Alara Moranu stepped down, gloved hand clutching the parcel that had arrived two weeks ago.
01:28No return address.
01:30Only a crimson wax seal and a name printed in calligraphic blood red.
01:37Casa Morana.
01:39Inside the parcel was a deed, a key, and a diary.
01:41She hadn't known Catronel Morana at all.
01:45The woman had died before Alara's 10th birthday, remembered only in fragments passed down through the silence.
01:51A scent of rose water, a velvet box no one opened, a name spoken like a spell, and then buried.
01:57But the diary was unmistakably hers, and it was not a record of domestic life.
02:01It was a confession.
02:03She adored me.
02:04I sang as the veil lifted.
02:06I sang as the hunger came.
02:09The entries were scattered, fevered, erotic.
02:13They spoke of a lady named Contessa Charisse Valora, of a lady evidently from the old country, and of a love that could not be named, only ritualized.
02:24There were no dates, no locations, only longing.
02:29Alara absorbed every page.
02:31She dreamed of mirrors of silk.
02:34She dreamed of Charisse.
02:37And then, a parcel arrived.
02:40From it, Casa Morana rose from the mist like a cathedral of velvet and bone.
02:45Moorish arches, veiled windows, ivy-like veins.
02:50The gates opened without a touch, and inside candlelight flickered, but the mirrors were strangely veiled, and an eerie silence settled into the wood.
02:57Alara found the mirror in a chamber lined with silk and dust, crimson veil, ornate frame.
03:04Her breath caught.
03:05She reached to move it, and the veil fell like a sigh long overdue.
03:10In the glass, her reflection shimmered, but it wasn't hers.
03:14The woman before her wore silk, her hair meticulously pinned in 1940s waves, mouth parted not in fear, but in longing.
03:24She looked identical to Alara.
03:26She was Alara, only older, softer, and somehow hungrier.
03:33Catranel Magdalena Moranu, Alara whispered, bespelled by the image.
03:40The mirror pulsed.
03:42Returning to the diary again, Alara filed the strange apparition into her memory as she glanced through the page.
03:47The final entry seemed oddly new.
03:51She returned.
03:52She remembered.
03:54She sang.
03:55The light seemed to bend then, and the air thickened.
04:00Only then did Alara see.
04:03The memory, not as words, but as flesh.
04:09Catranel bowed her neck forward, tendrils of dark silken curls trailing across her ivory skin.
04:17Chill bumps rose along her exposed flesh, and a soft sigh escaped her lips.
04:22Charisse, veiled in crimson, watched with revenge and hunger.
04:25Her mouth was stained the color of ripe pomegranate.
04:29So easily doth the dove bow to the lips of a predator, Charisse mused, as the gorgeous woman in her embrace lay unsuspecting of all that awaited.
04:39Her thoughts flirted with the possibility of engaging this one differently.
04:43A purposeful change.
04:45A ritual rewritten.
04:46An angel turned to the most beautiful of demons.
04:49The vampirist slid her long finger between the young woman's thighs, fingertips slick with the sweetness of her surrender.
04:58Catranel gasped, intoxicated by the entrancing woman whose lips now pierced her tender flesh.
05:04Writhing against Charisse's hand, she moaned softly, willingly acquiescing to the hunger that waited generations to be fed.
05:11Now Charisse is chosen.
05:15Catranel bit into her lower lip as waves of ecstasy coursed through her veins.
05:21The manor pulsed around them, candlelight bending, mirrors shimmering.
05:25Charisse broke away from her skin.
05:27Droplets of soft scarlet dripping from her potent lips.
05:30A salty whisper escaping her.
05:32Heaven, tis such a wondrous place to fall from.
05:35The mirror shimmered, and the memory dissolved.
05:40Alara stood in the chamber, breath shallow, thighs trembling, with a pulse singeing in the places she had never named.
05:47Her fingers hovered over the final page, her body flushed with the heat she could not explain.
05:53She had come seeking answers, but what she found was herself split open, aroused, aching.
05:59She had never known this kind of hunger, and hadn't even known she could feel it.
06:08Her hand slid to close the diary, and then a sultry voice slipped through the air just behind her.
06:15You read it all.
06:17Charisse cooed against the nape of her neck.
06:19Alara turned with a low gasp.
06:23Charisse stepped forward, eyes gleaming, her voice suave like velvet.
06:26Come, allow me to show you the tastes of the sublime.
06:33And that, my friends, is my flash fiction vampire suffix story, loosely inspired by Carmilla, available now on the Olive Branch Review.
06:44Please do go vote for me.
06:46I could really use your support.
06:49And I was in fourth place last I checked.
06:52I am very grateful for all we've done here together.
06:55And as we come into the last 48 hours of the competition, I wish all of the competitors the very best as the face of Halloween quarterfinalist rounds start to come to a close.
07:10Please remember that you can donate to the Starlight Children's Foundation on my behalf and boost my votes, which is what I really need people to do now.
07:18Let's get these children as much money as possible to bring them the smiles that they deserve.
07:24Once again, vote for Cy Marie, final girl.
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