Life had not been kind to Maryanna. Growing up with an alcoholic father, a resentful, cold and bitter mother, uninterested older siblings and mean school bullies meant she never felt much love. And naturally she made the mistake most beautiful women that have never felt loved make. She married the first man that proposed to her. Rich, handsome, charismatic and filled with promises. He swept her off her feet and they were married in two months. Had her family cared more, they would have questioned why a man like that would be interested in eighteen year old Maryanna. But of course, they were blinded by the generous gifts he bought them.
The first few weeks were nothing but bliss. But soon, he had to travel for work and she was left bored and alone in their mansion. As she snooped around she found a locked door. She searched the house for the key but couldn’t find one until she looked behind their nightstand. She ran back to the locked door with the key and opened it only to find a small chest in it. With shaking hands she opened the chest and what she saw brought bile to her mouth. It was a beating heart. Hurriedly, she slammed the chest closed and left the room, locking it behind her.
She sat on her bed, still in shock. She had hear stories about this. A monster of a man had found a way to stop aging. Every few decades, he would steal the heart of a beautiful young woman and marry her. Only to literally steal her heart. He would store the still beating heart until it stopped beating and then he would bury it and find a new victim to sacrifice.
She would not be one of his victims. Before wasting any time, she wrote to her brother telling him she was having marital problems but not mentioning what she had seen. Like the rest of her family, she knew he didn’t care for or about her. But he cared enough about her husband’s money to visit the mansion and make sure she did not leave him. And she had been correct. As soon as he read her letter, he made his way to their mansion. The only problem was, her husband had returned from his business trip early.
She desperately tried to act normal but he immediately knew something had changed.
“You opened the door, didn’t you?” he asked her calmly.
“Yes,” she replied, honestly.
“So you saw that it was still beating?”
“Yes.”
“Why do you think I married you, Maryanna?”
“For my heart…”
“I have a heart, actually I have two,” he chuckled, looking amused. “I don’t need your heart,” he explained, looking into her eyes.
“Then… why?” she asked, confused.
“Because, I love you. I truly do… from the bottom of my hearts,” he joked.
“Umm… I don’t understand,” she admitted.
“I want to spend forever with you, Maryanna. Literally. I was out looking for a worthy heart you could to add to the chest so you can stop aging too,” he explained.
Just then, they heard a knock on the door.
“Are we expecting company, darling?” he asked her, raising his brow.
“I… I wrote to my brother and told him to come, that must be him,” she whispered, looking scared. “Are you angry?” she asked him.
“Far from it my love, it seems you found a suitable heart for the chest before I did,” he said to her. He smiled at her and took her hand in his. And just like that, two lonely souls found someone that they could spend eternity with, never feeling unloved and alone again. Who said soulmates don’t exist? As for Maryanna, legend has it that she still roams the street every few decades looking for hearts to steal.
About “For Forever And Always”:
I was inspired to write “For Forever And Always” when I saw the cover image on Kevin’s blog post. He encourages bloggers to create content from the images he shares on the post and this one stood out to me. It’s been A MINUTE since I wrote a short story. I’ve not felt inspired to write one recently but this image inspired me.
As for the story, it’s sort of just me having fun with it. You know I love my twists and turns and hopefully this story has a number of them. It was fun to write so hope it’s enjoyable to read. For Forever And Always is slightly inspired by Angela Carter’s The Bloody Chamber. I read it in High School as it was part of our required reading. It’s disturbing but I thought it was extremely creative and enjoyed (I don’t know if that’s the right word lol) it.
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