Page 6 of Scent Of Obsession
I let the moment take me away until I smelled something raw and powerful. A dark essence I’d never encountered before. Intrigued and magnetically attracted, I traipsed without thinking deeper onto the path.
I was possessed.
Bewitched.
That smell wasn’t attractive nor welcoming. It could even be called repulsive, like a heavy patchouli that had turned wrong or a musty, cold basement smell. But it didn’t stop me, because it had to hide something else. Jasmine was an intense and sensual scent, yet it could smell like dirty sex too, even sometimes bad—like pee because of the indoles. But no one would know since popular perfumers had stripped away all the skanky notes.
I stopped on my path when the lights leading to the greenhouse faded. I needed to gather my courage to solve the second mystery of the night. The greenhouse was illuminated—I could still make it. I rushed as fast as I could to it and unlocked the door. Once inside, I discovered the flower responsible for intoxicating my senses.
A corpse flower.
She was unique, overpowering all the flowers around her. Significantly taller than the others, and even taller than most humans, she had a spadix making her look like a giant calla lily. The top of the flower was different, more similar to a carnivorous plant—the one that would shut close and trap intruders. Thorns grew around the trap like teeth wanting to tear at you. She had several layers of petals, from a deep crimson purple with a touch of burgundy red. Protected and caged between the brambles and thorns, they encircled her stem, rising like a maleficent wall. At her roots, she grew petals the size of an ogre foot, where stems of small flowers bloomed next to it.
She belonged to a twisted fairy tale where the forever happy ever after had been rewritten by villains.
The lily of the valley was a symbol of purity. That monstrous flower was the opposite. It screamed of sins. I had found my extreme, something that could revolutionize the most boring of formulas.
A sweet scent which craved a dark, earthly one.
Light and darkness colliding to form the perfect essence.
A match made in heaven—or in hell.
She contained life and death within her, holding the power to immortalize a scent in time.
Inching toward the hostile flower, I reached out to steal a petal. Tonight, I had discovered my sin. I would become a thief.
Despite the repellent odor, underneath was a hidden scent that had the power to shatter all my nerves to the abyss of my soul. It was a common fact that sensory experiences triggered memories into the human soul; they were linked to our emotions.
In my case, I was visualizing me and my mother picking flowers in the countryside. I quivered, the smell transporting me into paradise.A kiss that felt like a first. Lust. A glowing moon.My heartbeat galloped.Dark sheets smelling of patchouli.My throat dried, the hair on my skin hissed.A thunderstorm roaring, the black veil curtains swaying until—
“What are you doing,” a menacing voice resonated behind me. It certainly wasn’t a question but a threat to face the consequences of my actions.
Pulling away from the corpse flower, I faced the imposing shadow. I hid the feeling of shame burning my core, a deathly stillness falling over me. The man took one careful step toward me, stepping into the light so I could see who he was.
Through his mask, I had a glimpse of his obsidian eyes, black with some unfathomable emotion. A few rebellious strands of his raven hair fell onto his forehead. He was merciless and undeniably dangerous, like a man who carried the scars of his past.
The tip of his cigar went red before he stubbed it out under his shoe, and he exhaled his smoke, which danced wickedly around me. I tried not to cough but failed when the leather taste of the smoke entered my mouth. My gaze drifted to the floor, and my eyes stung. When the smoke passed, only the stranger’s dark essence of sandalwood remained.
I dared to lift my eyes up.
Radcliff.
My breaths turned shallow. Nervousness skittered across my core; my whole body petrified under his marbled stare that crept under my skin.
Run.
That’s what any other person would have done. But I couldn’t. My legs were glued to the floor. The presence of him transformed me into stone.
“Get out,” his raspy voice ordered.
Monstrous…
Hideous…
The voice of Adonis echoed through my brain. Which monster was hiding behind the mask? Which dark secrets was this place covering?
It would be a lie to say I wasn’t terrified.
