[Enayla]

I worked most of the time... but I did draw an occasional picture. This is the one I feel best about.



With close ups:



And for those who care for the story that goes along with it:

Whispery, the voice came sliding through the air. Half velveteen and half made of rough, chafing rocks - the sound of it grated against the senses with its disharmony. In the wake of the voice, came she. Gliding across the floor with a faint smile on her lips. Lips that were lightly parted. Just opened enough to give a glimpse of pearly white teeth, and the tip of a tongue that must once have been pink... but was now a slightly purplish hue.

He meant to back away, or scream. But he was transfixed by the look in her silken black eyes, and by the sound that snaked out from her lips. It was not merely words - it was a song. A song that danced through the air on the feet of a fairy and at the same time seemed to limp and drag itself across the moist stone floor.

"Dance with me, beloved," the voice hissed and spluttered, caressed and kissed. He could hear, all too clearly, the slow rustle of her skirts as she moved across the floor. He could remember, with a stab of pain in his heart, how the fabric of that dress had felt sliding in between his fingers - softer than the fur of a kitten. There were roses in her hair, mockingly fresh when compared to the pallid quality of her skin. Her lips were black and puckered, yet glossy like he remembered them being. Moist, he could imagine. Moist when they would meet his.

"Take my hand, touch my lips, dance." Frozen, he watched her approach... but then found himself finally capable of taking a single step backwards. Her smile deepened, crawling like a spider's legs across the blackness of her lips.

For a moment - he remembered. He remembered, with a growing sense of longing, how he had pulled the curtains of that beautiful room, and then turned around to wrap his arms around her waist. She had smelled of roses and violets, then. The scent had blossomed in his nostrils and seemed to take his sense away. He had buried his face in her hair and pulled her along with him towards the bed. The skirts of her dress had been like cream against the tip of his fingers, so soft that the sensation of touching them would ever remain in his memories.

A moment later, the memories were interrupted. He could feel the light scrape of her nails against his cheek when she reached out, and a sharp sting of pain that indicated broken skin. Her scent was different now. So different. The roses and the violets, with their enticing deliciousness, were fogged by a stronger, more insisting smell. Sweet and nearly putrid, invading his senses, clogging the inside of his nostrils.

"You're a monster..." he whispered, in spite of himself. His eyes lifted to watch her face. The scars that criss-crossed her once so gorgeous features seemed bluish and half-rotten. Even so, she was still pretty. Like a porcelain doll, only broken now. Her eyes were black - so inky and deep that he found himself caught by them. Like a doe by the eyes of the predator, as it slowly approached. Warmth of blood trickling down his cheek. Though he could not see it, he knew that the scratch across his cheek echoed one of the scars in her face.

"No, my dear..." The voice was sibilant and feathery all at once. "I am but the monster's bride."

Her smile had faded now. As the light had faded in the room, that beautiful night. He had held her in his arms and pulled her down, and he had kissed her lips - they had been red back then. He had kissed them with all the passion that his heart had held for her. Her veils had rustled and a few of the roses had tumbled from her hair, falling unto the bed and floor with the soft sound of babies' feet. He can't remember if she had said something, but she had made a soft, whimpering sound and moved to push him away. Her hands had been so small, so delicate. He can't believe how easily they had broken. The fingers had snapped like twigs, and she had screamed. She had screamed all the while, until her voice was raw and chafed and no longer sounded like velvet.

And now... her hand moved to his other cheek, the claws that had once been her nails digging in so deeply that he found himself screaming now - though nowhere as loudly as she had screamed.

"You're not real!" he wailed, pushing her away and turning to run. He ran as if through a dream - so slowly. The rustle of her skirts could still be heard as she pursued. The stench stronger now - putrid like the stench of dead animals. The dusty smell of cobweb was upon her, and he felt it ever so clearly when her hands closed around his neck. So strong, those hands. Not at all like they had been that night. He could not remember how it had begun, exactly. But he could remember the scent of her blood on his hands and the billowing curtains after the window had been smashed. The floor had been covered with glass. He still bears the scars of that on his feet.

There was a sick, wet sound as his head impacted with the stone floor, and he could no longer see with his right eye. He screamed again - his voice like a baby's wail - begging her not to. She did not laugh nor mock him, but rather began singing again. Began singing in rhythm with his flesh being torn from his bones.

"Dance with me beloved,

Take my hand, touch my lips, smile.

Guard me and protect me,

Hold me close,

I belong to you."

And for those who do not care to read the story, but are now angry because I tricked them to scroll down:


Bigger version:
Blah

Well... that's it for now. Ta!

[ July 12, 2001: Message edited by: Enayla ]

[patrick]

EERIE Haunting eyes, very spectral, I love it. Kind of Wednesday Adams meets Shirley Temple.
Awesome, is there a bigger version???


Derrrr, never mind, i finished reading your story....then saw the link.

[ July 12, 2001: Message edited by: patrick ]

[SlightlyTwisted]

Yay! Still beautiful, and so is the story. This is still my favourite creation of yours, and will be for some time to come.

Anyway... I'll add some more thoughtful musings when my face is somewhere near normal size and I can think straight.

Toodles!

[Awetopsy]

Enayla that is, simply put, Gorgeous.

she is a little eerie though.. but you might have been going for that but I think its great.!

[marky]

Eww Enayla - where does all that come from? Do you have a sick mind?
I love the first pic very Pre-raphealite - I just love the work on her hands - really subtle!
I like the story too - who is he? I guess he had it coming to him!

[worthless_meat_sack]

better and better and better still!

[PlantMan]

crikey, these are brill... You keep getting better!
Here are my favourites: The hair in her hand, the part of dress on her shoulder, the wind, the gothness ,those hands are real!
and the roses.
I love the lighting in the second too, there seems substance to the air. That make sense? gulp
Good story too, wheres it from?
As GP says: ilovemonsters!

[Lunatique]

OMIGOD. You just keep getting better!

I'm drooling right now.

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE more beautiful gothic paintings! I love that stuff!

[tayete]

Enayla, every picture of yours is better than the previous. If we have to put the forums down to make you create such gorgeous pics, I wouldn't mind (yeah, I know you all could kill me, and maybe Enayla the first one).
The first one is really really good...but it is sooooooooo saaad.

[adigra]

Beautiful. I really like the color palette, and the overall mood. The hands are excellent. Very, very, good.

[Enayla]

patrick: Thank you =) Of course there's a bigger version. I work in a MUCH bigger format than this. There's no bigger one online, though.

SlightlyTwisted: Glad you like it =)

Awetopsy: She was very much intended to be a little bit eerie. Thank you =)

marky: Aww... My mind isn't sick! *laugh* I don't quite know who the man in the story is... her husband.

kohse: =)

worthless_meat_sack: Thank you very much =) It's always very nice to hear that people think I'm improving, little by little. Standing still, stomping on the same spot, would make me depressed in the long run.

PlantMan: Thank you =D The story comes from my li'll head. Thought I'd go ahead and actually post the story that goes along with the picture instead of just hinting at it like I usually do.

Lunatique: Heeeh, thank you =)

tayete: *blushes* Thank you... but, heheh, I don't think people would be altogether too happy if the forum had to crash everytime I wanted to create a new picture ;) I think I'd be thrown out.

adigra: Thank you =)

[zenonithus]

Cool picture! Very gothic and haunting. The shading is very good, particulaly around the hands. You've captured the rose texture very well. And I enjoyed reading the story.

[raupe]

As nobody has commented on that spider yet:

I love it.

This is a big compliment coming from a spider-hater....

[Loki]

Ha! Forum's up again and what's the first thing I see - another masterpiece from Enyala. I really like the colors and also the mood - you can 'see' the silence, you can feel the stare ...

Onto the next one, Enyala!

[Bishop_Six]

Truly fantastic, and also very very creepy... I'm gonna be sleeping with the light on tonight.

[Fallen]

Stunning...as always Enayla.

[kohse]

. . . . . .wow.

[Enayla]

zenonithus: Thank you.

raupe: Heheh, I reaaaally hate spiders, too.

Loki: I don't know about masterpiece, but thank you very much =) Wish I indeed had the time to draw another one.

Bishop_Six: Heeh, she's coming to get you! ;D

Fallen: Thankee =)

Well... I'm going away over to weekend... see you all come Sunday or Monday! *waves and smiles*

[Rinaldo]

*dreamy sigh*

took me away to another place for a while there=) great writing.

I really like this pic. heh, I'll leave it at that. don't want to let my silly Intellectualising (is that a word?) get in the way of the overwhelming mood of this. 'tis just too damn cool for crits=)

more please=)

[Gordillo]

Lady Enayla.....CHAPEAU!!

[Cos]

holy shee.... very VERY cool work Enayla. Enayla plus the horror subject matter is like twice the treat for me

Definetely my favourite piece from you.

[Mime]

like i said already to you Enayla, wonderful

3 people used to word "gothic" , you should punish them or i may think you dont like me