For a second, everything stood still, even the night's silky darkness held its breath, and then chaos erupted. Rosehead hollered. The crows took off from the roof, cawing madly. Fire breathers lifted their torches, uncertain. The spectators craned their necks to detect the source of the disturbance. Rosehead took one staggering step, then another, and emerged into the light.

People screamed. Some fell, cowering, others froze, transfixed, the rest scattered. The elephant trumpeted in fright, reared, and charged.

Lilith waved her torch. "Mansion! Over here! Like promised. Take me! Take me! Tell her to leave them alone!" She acted on impulse, hoping to distract Rosehead long enough to appeal to the mansion and recover their deal, assuming it was, indeed, broken.

Panther caught up to her, barking. Ed shouted not too far behind. Lilith paid them no heed. A frenzied exhilaration gave her energy, propelling her forward with uncanny speed. This was the biggest mischief she had ever attempted, taunting a deadly spirit of unknown origin. It strangely lifted her mood, making her bubble with terror and glee at the same time. It also made her realize that all of these things—the mansion, the garden, the bush woman—were one and the same. It simply took on different shapes. Ed was right; it must've been the place itself. She felt it throb under her feet.

I don't care who you are, I'm going to put an end to you. Yes, I'll have to die, but I'll die spectacularly, for everyone to see that I was right all along.

An agonizing bellow tore through the darkness. The elephant collided with the giantess, who howled in surprise and fell on it. Their enormous shapes rolled into one. A whoosh, a crunch, a slurp and a thunderous burp later, Rosehead threw what remained of the poor animal into the ring, where it trotted only minutes ago, now resembling an empty skin-sack full of bones. Squawking, hungry crows swooped down, tearing and ripping at the carcass.

There was an awful pause, and then the chaos turned into a catastrophe of gigantic proportions. People ran around without any direction, bumping into each other and shrieking. Those who attempted to escape the rosebushes pressed into their midst with a sickening gurgle. Their muffled cries subsided to moans that would set anyone's teeth on edge. Gabby and Daniel stood on the porch as if spellbound, gazing at the monster.

Lilith burst into the court.

The giantess towered over her, leering.

"Lilith!" cried Daniel and Gabby in unison.

"Lilith, no!" Ed yelled from behind. "Wait!"

"Madam, I forbid you to do this!" Panther barked. "This is outrageous! Stop this instant! I'm warning you! I will bite you!"

Their shouts had no effect. Lilith threw her torch to the ground. "Mom, Dad, I'm sorry," she said, and then, "dear mansion, I apologize profusely for whatever it is you might have heard. Please, excuse my friends, they only meant me well. Nobody is going to set fire to you or the garden or Rosehead, rest assured. I'm Lilith Bloom, heir to this property, and you have my word and my promise."

She felt the ground underneath her shift. It was unquestionably and indisputably alive. Struggling to hold her footing, she continued. "Whoever you are, phantoms of those whose blood was spilled on this land, a garden possessed by the spirit of my twenty-times great-grandmother Rose Bloom, or both, or neither, or something else, I know you're all one. So it doesn't matter. I made a deal with you. Well, here I am. Take me."

The earth shuffled and scuffled and shivered. The mansion shook. It shuddered, it rattled, it gnashed its doors and windows like teeth. Rosehead looked back at it, as if waiting for a signal. The porch steps throbbed and burst, sliding ahead until they hit her feet and nudged her forward. She happily obliged, snatching the girl into a massive palm right from under the nose of her parents, her faithful whippet, and her friend, who, together with servants, poked the giantess with torches, attempting to light her on fire.

Sharp prickles cut through Lilith's clothes and dug painfully into her skin. She felt a flood of relief. She did it. She saved the Bloom family. She closed her eyes and waited for death, hoping it would be over quickly. 

A second passed, then another. Then a minute. Nothing happened. Lilith didn't dare open her eyes. She swayed. Heavy footsteps echoed in her ears. Her scalp erupted in goose bumps. As absurd as it was to worry about such an insignificant detail in the face of being consumed by an otherworldly beast, Lilith realized that in her haste to get to the mansion, she lost her new beret. Somehow, this loss made her heart ache; it made her wish for one more hug, one more kiss, one more word from her mother.

Unable to hold the brave façade anymore, horrified beyond measure, Lilith burst into tears. So big was her grief that she lost all sense of time and orientation, crying in earnest and hoping against hope that maybe somehow she'd escape this nightmare and come out of the garden alive. 

All movement stopped. Rosehead lowered the girl and set her on the grass. Lilith sat up, cradling her legs under her skirt and wiping her face. She was in a clearing, surrounded by a wall of tangled shrubbery so tall that it formed a roofless rotunda. The silvery moon hung in the black sky, watching the girl with interest. 

"The lair has grown anew," she whispered, looking around.

In the middle of the glade a cluster of bushes shivered, and something—no, someone—grunted. Slowly, the greenery parted. Dozens of flower-eyes cast a ghostly reddish glow on the crumpled shape in the middle.

Lilith covered her mouth.

Alfred Bloom, his face swollen and scratched, his suit torn, sat up dizzily, taking in his surroundings. As comprehension dawned on him, he let out an anguished scream.

A shadow covered the clearing. Lilith instinctively raised her head. Above them, level with the hedge top, hovered the mansion. In place of its roof gaped a black hole. Hundreds of heads sprouted from it like a bouquet of hellish roses, jawing and yakking and gossiping all at once, apparently excited. It was their turn to witness a spectacle that was bound to give a nightmare to anyone but Lilith, who felt rather elated by having familiar company; company of those who—as horrible as they were— became her friends of sorts over the week she spent here. Lilith smiled involuntarily. One of the heads winked at her, or maybe she imagined it. It didn't matter.  She was still alive. For some reason the mansion, or Rosehead, or some other deity, delayed her execution. Why? To give the audience enough time to settle in for the show?

"There! There she is!" Alfred yelped, brandishing a finger at his granddaughter.

Lilith balked. Throbbing fury filled her to the brim. "Why, it's very nice to see you too, Grandfather. Did you enjoy your flight?" she said levelly, scrambling to stand. If she died tonight, she'd die with dignity. "Did you wipe the piss off your face already, or would you like me to bring you a towel?"

Alfred clambered to his fours, talking to Rosehead. "Well, are you blind? There's your food!"

"I see you made a deal with Rosehead," said Lilith hotly. "A special meal for a special monster. Bait, that's what you told me I am, bait for Rosehead. So much love for your granddaughter, I can feel it pulsing in your heart. You would be delighted to know, however, that I made a deal with the mansion in turn. Want to know what we agreed on?"

The ground heaved. Lilith shifted uneasily.

Alfred stared at her. His eyes sunk, his arms and legs shook with the effort of propping himself up. "Keep quiet," he spat. "You have no idea what you're talking about. You're only making things worse for yourself."

"Worse than death?" Lilith chuckled despite herself. "Truly astounding. Do you care to elaborate?"

"What do you know about death? How much death have you seen in your short, miserable life? Answer me." Alfred darted at her, but the bushes held him back. He winced and whimpered like a caged animal. "Answer me!" His voice caught at the end. He sagged to his knees, shaking and mumbling.

Pity stirred in Lilith at the sight of his sad old figure. She tried, but she couldn't feel angry anymore. It escaped her with a whoosh. "Is that what you've been doing your whole life, Grandfather, keeping things quiet?" she said wretchedly. "Must've been very tiring. Well, worry no more. I'm paying for your freedom, with my life. You can go now. And..." She bit her lip, making herself say it. "I'm sorry it was so hard for you. I know you didn't choose your burden, so I'll take it over from here. I wanted to let you know that—that—I love you, Opa," she added quietly.

"What?" Alfred looked at Lilith as if he saw her for the first time. His face contorted. For a moment he looked like a little boy, scared and willing to do anything to escape his obligation, yet ashamed of himself for it. 

The uneasy silence stirred above them. Lilith didn't notice that both the heads and the bush woman listened intently to their conversation. Now, crackling and creaking, the heads descended on the clearing and formed a domed roof, obscuring the moon and plunging everything into darkness. The only light came from the scarlet glimmer of roses. The glade turned into a chapel with pulsing walls and a talking ceiling.

Alfred put up a shaking hand. "You...you...ignorant stubborn girl, you believe you can stop it, don't you? You think you can succeed where your grandfather failed? Well, you're wrong!"

Lilith looked at him with sadness.

He managed to put on his usual charm, calming. "My dear girl, I'm impressed, impressed by your chivalry. But you're mistaken. Nobody can stop this, nobody. In a moment you will perish. It saddens me to do this to you, it truly does, but I have no other choice. I'm sparing you a life of misery."

"It's unfortunate that you think so, but it's not up to you to decide what to do with my life," said Lilith softly.

The air around them grew ominously quiet.

"You needed Bloom heir blood, I gave it to you. Take it!" bellowed Alfred. "There she is! What are you waiting for?"

The rosebush woman spread her arms and howled in hunger.

Lilith had seconds left. She had no time to doubt anything; the prospect of imminent death wiped her mind clean. An overwhelming sorrow filled her. She knew now what it meant to die. To die was to let go. There was no fear in death, only forgiveness.

She looked up. "Dear Rosehead, dear mansion, dear spirit of Rose Bloom or whoever you are, before you dine on me, may I have one last request? I hear those sentenced to death have the right to speak before their execution. I would love to say a few more words to my grandfather, if you don't mind?" She waited breathlessly.

Rosehead lunged. The heads erupted in protest. They snaked out hundreds of stem-arms and suspended the monster inches from Lilith. "Talk! Talk! TALK! LET THE GIRL TALK!" reverberated around her. The monster squirmed and thrashed, but the heads wouldn't let go, waiting.

"Dear Grandfather," said Lilith quietly, "I feel very sorry for you. I wish I could help you somehow, but I think you're beyond help at this point, and this makes me very sad."

"What are you waiting for?" Alfred shrieked. "Get her!" He purposefully avoided looking into Lilith's eyes.

She took a step forward. "I don't know if you truly loved my grandmother, but if you did—"

"GET HER! NOW!"

Rosehead moaned. The heads hissed at her.

"I'm sorry for your loss. I know you're scared. You're scared to die. But I'm not, not anymore. I declared myself heir to this property to free my family from the nightmare of a carnivorous rose garden that has been hovering over their heads for seven hundred years. I promised my life to the mansion. In turn, it promised me to stop this massacre, stop it for good. If my short miserable life, as you call it, will pay for many, I imagine it's a good use of it." Lilith took a shuddering breath.

There were shouts from above.

"Oh, this is beautiful!"

"Would you shut up? I can't hear a thing—"

"Shush, the both of you!"

Lilith composed herself and continued. "I hope my mom and dad will forgive me. I hope Panther and Ed will forgive me. And I hope you will forgive me. Because tonight I'm putting a stop to this contemptible, wayward, squalid, abject, unbearable, gruesome, odious, sordid, turbid, and innocuous slaughter—once and for all." She exhaled. Nobody interrupted her. She squeezed ten sophisticated words into one sentence, her personal record.

Alfred's face was the shade of a dirty rag. He opened and closed his mouth, but no sound came out. He stared at his granddaughter, speechless. 

Lilith stood straight. "I'm ready."

A fight erupted. The heads yelled, bashing Rosehead, who produced a roar of such magnitude that Lilith covered her ears. Leaves and roses rained down upon her. The entire enclosure shuddered under the blows of the giantess. Then it felt like the giantess wasn't fighting the mansion any longer, but both of them fought something else, something bigger and stronger and scarier.

There was a crack, and a howl, and a hideous hiss.

Rose Bloom's head detached itself from the mass, expanding and turning into a thing that looked ancient and faceless. It hung over Alfred and boomed at him in a thousand voices, "You broke the rules." 

Lilith stiffened from terror.

"What rules?" croaked Alfred. "Who said there were rules? You wanted an heir, you got an heir."

"Do not defy me," thundered the thing, its voice rousing swirls of torn leaves.

"What did I do? What did I do wrong? I spent my life serving you. And you pay me back by taking my family? By taking my love, my Eugenia? You said you'd spare her." Alfred cowered, shielding his face.

"Grandfather?" Lilith took a tentative step.

"You take care of me," boomed the thing, sinking lower. "You give me blood. You die when you can't give me blood. You kept me hungry for too long. You're too old. Your time is over. You die tonight, not the girl. She is young and strong. She will take care of me now." It grew bigger, folding down on Alfred in a slithering, hissing mass.

"Please, let me live. Please. I don't want to die," he said, convulsing in silent crying.

"Opa..." Lilith heard herself let out a shuddering exhale, without realizing she was holding her breath this entire time. "No, let him live, please," she said to the thing.

It barely regarded her, focusing on its caretaker. "Do your duty." Its voice rolled over the clearing, ruffling it.

Alfred shook like a leaf in the wind. "My dear girl," he said meekly, his posture broken, his eyes dull. "I hope one day you will forgive your grandfather. Give my regards...to your dad."

"Of course I'll forgive you. I've already forgiven you," said Lilith hastily. "But Opa—"

"Farewell," he said and faced the deity. "I, Alfred Bloom, rightful heir to the Bloom property, acknowledge the end of my service to you and give myself up, as is my duty. I declare my granddaughter, Lilith Bloom, as the new heir. May she serve you well."

"At last," said the thing.

"Liebe Eugenia. Ich komme." Alfred closed his eyes.

"Wait! Opa, no!" Lilith bolted, only to be thrown off her feet by a slithering mass of stems that seemed to have sprouted from everywhere, obscuring her grandfather from view, weaving him into a cocoon, and burrowing him with a soft whoosh underground in a matter of seconds.

The smell of freshly dug earth enveloped Lilith. For a moment she stood, stunned, then she lost control, ran up to the tangle of brambles that quickly disappeared into the ground, and tugged at them, tearing and kicking blindly.

"Why did you do it, you monster, why?" she screamed. "Stop it! I want you to stop it! You can't kill people anymore, you hear me! Stop! I COMMAND YOU! I COMMAND YOU TO STOP THIS NOW!" Her voice cracked, but she continued yelling her plea until her strength deserted her and she collapsed onto the ground, sobbing.