I'm about to correct the description of the story once I have a better idea of how to describe it. I want to thank the person for Reviewing this for their comment. Yes I agree there needs to be more of Lady D in RE8. Hopefully we get a DLC involving her so we can get more of her, I mean come on she WAS the Marketing for Village!
Anyways here is another Chapter. I'll have another chapter... Sometime. Not sure. I'm on a roll, but expect delays at some point. Enjoy!
Bitter cold was something he was used to by now. Croatia, Russia, Poland, Siberia, Korea, and Niflheim…
The snow seemed to be protecting them from the horrors of war as fresh snow would cover the bodies of the fallen. Bugs and vermin hid away leaving them only to worry about the most basic of needs like a warm fire or fresh water. Discomfort of the cold forces you to move around to keep your body producing warmth. Like a shark its either keep moving or die. Though, like all battlefields, winter was never safe for him or his soldiers.
He cups his cigarette in his hand to hide the flame out of pure habit, even when he was leaning against a stone pillar. Exhaling slowly out of his nose to conceal his position was second nature. Maybe he was just being paranoid? The Order's enemies didn't have the ability to move to other worlds or times like they did, but he couldn't sake the feeling of danger in the air. The castle itself was well fortified and appeared it could have held out against any forms of assault. Why wasn't this place used by the Germans or even the Soviets during the war?
"I don't like this." He says to himself as he scans the trees by the front door. "These people should have been conscripted into the peoples army. I didn't even see anything related to Red Romania here. Even the area looks untouched."
Finishing his cigarette, he steps into the open to make his way to the driver. The massive iron gate hung above him as he passes the castle gate to see the carriage sitting peacefully on the path. His driver, a young man named Ulman, was nursing a flask more than likely filled with spirts to keep his mind off the cold. While Ulman was indeed a bit daft compared to his peers in his unit, he was useful when it came to driving majority of vehicles. Along with a rather troublesome habit of hiding alcohol in anything he could get his hands on.
"Captain!" Ulman says taken off guard. "I thought you were going inside with Madam Marlin!"
Ulman is a young man in his twenties with sunken eyes coved by round spectacles, a side effect of hard combat and harder drinking. A fur hat covers his head and a brown leather jacket covers his skinny frame.
"At ease." Karl replies tiredly. "The countess inside told her to keep her dogs outside. You have an extra flask, or are you holding out on me?"
Ulman turns cautiously to the carriage, "This isn't a trick, Captain?"
"Ulman," Karl says shortly. "You literally carry more flasks of booze than magazines when on patrol. Stop holding out, I'm freezing out here."
"Only if you give me one of those fancy roll ups the madam has!"
Karl glares at him annoyed at his boldness. He looks to a compartment above the seats, "There is a cigarette case in that cabinet. Take the silver case out and give me one. It looks like the Madam will be in there for a while."
Ulman quickly jumps up into the cabin to get the cigarette's, to much of Karl's amusement. While Ulman looked for roll ups like a child searching for cookies, he looked around the area once more. He could see a small garden with iced over scarecrows near a stone structure with a closed iron gate. To his right he saw the carriage entrance closing its large iron gate locking them into the castles area. Then above the clouds began to turn grey and the wind picked up: A blizzard is on its way and it seems that they will have to spend more than a hour or two inside this gothic citadel.
"Found them!" Ulman shouts gleefully. He hands Karl a roll up first then himself.
"Now the booze." Karl says flatly.
"Fine Fine!" Ulman hands him a flask and Karl quickly takes a drink. The harsh burn of Vodka hits the back of his throat warming him up slightly, or at least taking his mind off of the cold.
"I know we aren't in meat locker," Karl says to him, referring to Niflheim by its nickname, "But that doesn't mean you don't keep your weapon on you."
Ulman nods and grabs his bandolier of brass shotgun shells along with his M1897 shotgun. "I hope we never half to go back to that place, Captain. I'd rather be here any day."
"I'd rather not have to go back to any war." Karl tells him coldly. "But that's just a dream. We have anything else for a fight? I bought that Machine pistol with some mags and a few F-1 grenades. Even found one of those Italian Samurai vests to hold it all in."
"Just that and my shotgun, sir." Ulman replies confidently. "The Madam said we were to pack light. I'm not sure what she's thinking with all these young bloods in the village. It reminds me of that village ambush outside of Juno."
Juno, the capital of Niflheim, and its surrounding villages were a hellscape when they first arrived.
"Agreed." Karl nods remembering the ambushes of the early days. "I don't know what she is thinking."
Snowflakes began to fall from the heavens as the they began to collect on Ulman's shoulder. The gentle snow began to fall with great hast and this caused concern for both of the men. "We need to get this horse in some shelter."
"I'll throw the shooters in a bag." Ulman tells him as he moves sluggishly.
"I'm going to find that woman who led us in." Karl tells him, putting the flask in his coat and cigarette behind his ear. "Maybe she has a place for it to stay the night."
Claudia opens the door to the opulent dining room. The room's beauty was only matched by that at Versailles and would surely make Louie the Fourteenth blush cherry pie red. To one's surprise it wasn't seen as gawdy as the use of gold trim was rather conservative vs the abundance of hand carved European red wood in all of the furniture. Amber light of the chandelier allowed the red wood glow red and its light clashed beautifully with the gray light of the outside world. The woman who leads them inside was busy setting the table with fine ivory plates and cups adorn with blue flowers.
"May I help you?" She asks the woman in Romanian.
"No," She replies softly as she places silverware and plates at three chairs opposite of a larger one. "Mistress forbids the guests from my duties."
"I was once her humble nanny and maid." Claudia replies in the same soft tone. "The Mistress shouldn't have a issue with it."
The woman turns to her fearfully and snaps, "No Ms. Claudia you may not! I can't allow you too!"
She storms off back to the kitchen leaving Claudia confused. In the past she would allow the guests, depending on who they were, to set up their own place at the table if they wished. The family knew a multitude of people and some were rather humble for aristocrats who preferred to set their own place.
"Maybe its her rule?" Claudia asks herself as the woman returned with silverware and another chair.
"The Mistress wishes you to sit beside her." The woman tells her. "The young mistresses are having Halászlé, while the Lady of the house is having Cighiri. I was told you prefer to have Gulyás, yes?"
"I see her tastes haven't changed either." Claudia replies fondly. "Nor did she forget my favorite Hungarian dish. Of course! As well as a glass of wine, a light red if possible."
"Yes Ms. Claudia." The woman says as she places her chair. "Sit please."
Claudia takes a seat at the table beside the large chair. The sounds of heels clicking against cobblestone signaled to her Lady Dimitrescu is on her way. The aroma of spices and fine cooked meat filled the air as the maid works tirelessly in the kitchen.
"Ah I see you found your place at the table." Alcina says to her as she bends over to get through the door to the courtyard.
"It is strange to be sitting at this table." Claudia replies genially. "I actually asked to help out. Old habits die hard, don't they?"
Alcina chuckles lightly and takes her seat beside Claudia. "They do I'm sure." She says to her. The tall lady sits down as the maid brings in two bottles of wine, a decorative bottle and a plainer one, along with glasses. She averts her gaze from both of them as she pours the wine hastily.
Lady Dimitrescu says nothing once the maid finishes while Claudia thanks her. The maid quickly retreats to the kitchen leaving the bottles at the table for the two women. The women take the glasses in their hand to inspect it. They swirl it in the glass to see the consistency and take in a whiff to judge its character. The smell of aged berries fills Claudia's nose causing her to coo happily. "Beautiful even after sixty-five years of aging." Claudia says aloud.
"Indeed." Alcina says taking another whiff of her wine.
"To what should we toast to the occasion?" Claudia ask the Lady of the house.
"We toast to us." She says elegantly. "To old friends."
"To old friends and days gone by." Claudia adds, toasting with Alcina before taking a drink.
"I missed your wine." Claudia comments as she sets the glass down on the table.
"I can only imagine. You and my mother would spend hours tasting wine in the basement below." Alcina replies as she sets hers down. "I remember you giving me my first taste of wine. How long ago was that? Thirty years ago, was it?"
"I believe so." Claudia begins, her voice filled with nostalgia. Memories of a pint sized Alcina running around in the castle in a handmade dress. "You were so young then, but so curious about your family's wine. When you were a child, you would play vineyard tastings with grape juice rather than tea parties. It only made sense to give fourteen-year-old Alcina her first taste."
A warm feeling filled her heart as the former maidan remembers fondly a moment that seemed like a dream to Lady Dimitrescu. The ghostly image of a younger Claudia in handmaidens cloths sitting in her chambers on the second-floor sipping and tasting grape juice like wine came to her mind. She couldn't hide the smile on her face or the slight tear forming in the corner of her eye. Her first taste of wine was that of a thick red drink with a slightly bitter taste. The aroma of fermented fruit filled her nose and its taste arousing her taste buds.
"It doesn't seem that long ago." Claudia says to her. "You've grown up so much since I've been gone."
"You left nearly twenty-five years ago," Alcina remarks as she takes her glass in hand. She swirls it around once more, its thicker than normal nature stuck out to Claudia as Alcina sips it elegantly. "Just before my Father died cholera. You would have enjoyed having seen his funeral. We burned him in a pit then tossed his ashes off the side of the family crypt to the plebians below."
"Twenty-five years, Huh?" She says, taking a sip of wine as well. "Its been that long? Hmmm… My concept of time is fading it seems. It feels like days, honestly. I feel like I should be dusting the shelves, washing clothes, and tending the garden like your mother use to before she succumbed to her condition just before the Great War."
"I remember faintly you told me you were leaving to England." Alcina says to her, her voice, while still full of poise, held a tone of sadness hidden behind it. "You packed your things into a soldier's bag and walked out the door with out telling me goodbye."
"It wasn't how I wanted to leave, I assure you." Claudia continues. "But there is no use in trying to explain what was happening at the time."
"On contrary," Alcina interjects. "You do. I believe you owe me an explanation."
The maid comes through the door with a handcart full of plates of delectable appetizers and the main course. With great haste and equal grace she places each appetizer at preset places on a rack as well as portion out the meals with impressive precision.
"After we finish our meal, of course." Alcina continues before turning her attention upwards to the celling strangely. "Daughters! Dinner is served!"
Only moments after her call for her daughters a cloud of flies envelope the chairs, startling Claudia slightly, and from the swarm three young girls in the early twenties appear in their spots. A blonde, brunette, and a red head in matching black Victorian dresses seems to come out of the abyss to join them.
"Girls," Alcina says to them. "This is Ms. Claudia. An old friend of mine from my youth."
She then gestures her hand from left to right to the girls, "This is Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela. My prides and joys of this world."
"It is an honor to meet you Ms. Claudia." Bela starts off.
"Pleasure to meet you Ms. Claudia." Daniela says.
"Your eyes are mesmerizing. I want them." Cassandra tells her oddly.
Claudia ignores Cassandra's comment, "It is wonderful to meet the next generation of the family. You all definitely take after your mother."
The girls smile and look over to their mother in anticipation for something, from what Claudia could tell. Alcina gives them a odd motion with her free hand. "On to dinner then, shall we?" She says to everyone.
As they began to eat Claudia noticed the manners of the girls as they began eating their aquatic meal. The position of their hands on the utensils, the proper manner they used the napkin, and the small portions they ingest in case of conversation. It was obvious they were trained in the same school of upper-class behavior as their mother was. Claudia's eyes drifted to the girls one by one. She was not going to overlook the off-color comment of Cassandra regarding her eyes. There was an odd feeling regarding the aura's of the girls, the total lack of one. The odd size of Alcina had not been overlooked as well or the entrance of the girls either. Her recon teams that had infiltrated the village prior to her visit wrote of the strange powers of the girls of Castle Dimitrescu, a detail that she omitted to inform her beloved bodyguard about.
"You're daughters are gifted, I see." Claudia replies as she wipes the corner of her mouth.
Alcina smirks as she finishes her bite of meat, "Ah I'm glad that didn't escape you. They are indeed, a product of a gift given to them by our village matriarch. She had blessed them with powers beyond mortal's comprehension."
"I see." Claudia replies intrigued. "May I assume the same in regards to you?"
Alcina pauses and gives Claudia a strange, yet annoyed expression, "Indeed. But it is unwise to comment about another ladies body."
"I mean no offense, Lady Dimitrescu, I am only admiring the gifts bestowed to you all." Claudia says to them.
Bela is first to read the situation to salvage it, "Thank you Ms. Claudia. Our gift has given us things beyond our wildest dreams such as the beauty of our beloved mother."
Alcina's demeanor changed as she realizes Claudia's point, "My apologize, Claudia, it has been a long time since I've spoken to someone I enjoy."
"I apologize for not being specific." Claudia replies, noticing the strange color of the broth used in the girl's meal. It was thicker than any broth she had ever seen with a sickly red color staining the white porcelain bowl. "I understand what you mean. I too have delt with the company of rather unsavory individuals for longer than I would like. You become short with just about everyone, you know?"
"Indeed." Alcina agrees taking another bite.
"How are you enjoying your meal, Mistress?" The maid asks her as she returns to the room with the cart to retrieve any empty dishes.
"Wonderful." She says to the maid with a warm foreboding tone. "It was so well seasoned, served beautifully on porcelain, and made with care. Now that wasn't so hard, was it maiden?"
The women's eyes were filled with terror as she watched Alcina finish the last bite. The tall women stared at her coldly as the maidan took her plate from her and refilled her wine. Before she could withdraw the bottle, Alcina moves in closely to her to whisper something in her ear. The girls simply laugh once her mother finishes and stare at the maidan as she receives their plates. The exchange itself was unnerving, even for Claudia, mounting more questions than ever before.
"Girls, will you leave us be?" Alcina asks her girls kindly. "Claudia and I have a lot to catch up on, in private."
"Yes mother!" They all say in unison disappearing in a cloud of flies. Leaving Claudia and Alcina alone. Alcina takes lead and finishes her glass of wine as the maidan continues to clean up the table.
"Now that the children are gone its time we get down to business." Alcina says flatly. "What brings you back to House Dimitrescu?"
"I felt a strong urge to come back here after all this time, I can't explain it other than that." Claudia says to her honestly. "Would you like me to take your special bottle back to the wine room Lady Dimitrescu?"
Alcina smirks and set her glass down, "No, but you may accompany me to the Opera hall. I would like speak with you in a more appropriate room."
Karl enters the castle once more. He feels a chill run down his spine as his boots click against the tile floor echoing around him. "If I was commander in either the Reds or Fascists, I would taken this castle in a heartbeat."
He makes his way back to the main hall where they first met the tall lady. The clicking of his boots echoed louder and louder as he passed through the hall. A fly sits on his shoulder as he crosses the main hall and into the dining room. Then another and another.
"What the hell is with the bugs here?" He asks himself aloud as the smell of cooking meat catches his attention. "Where there is cooking meat, there is someone nearby."
The fly's silently gather on his back as he moves to the kitchen, "Excuse me Madam!" Karl calls to the maid.
"Hello!" He says again as he opens the door to the kitchen. To his surprise the kitchen was rather distraught with pieces of meat and spices everywhere. A pot sat on a open fire with boiling water and the windows were left wide open letting in freezing air from the incoming blizzard.
"Fucking hell." He groans as the freezing winds race against his face. "She must keep it open when cooking. Can't imagine how hot it gets in here…"
A scream catches him off guard from the near by hallway. He grabs his sidearm, a Browning Hi-Power, and a flashlight from his coat. "Hey! Are you alright!?" Karl shouts down the hall.
Nothing. Not a word in reply.
He didn't like this. He didn't like this at all.
Another scream, a more familiar one, along with the cries of an animal forces his hand and he moves forward with weapon at the ready. A cobblestone tunnel dimly lit by torch light greets him to much of his dismay. The light of the modern flashlight filled the dark corridors with white light. He moves slowly, turning around to check behind him just in case something else was down here every few seconds. Though the corridors he found stares leading deeper into the basement, from what he assumed. A heavy odor of iron filled his nose, it smelled of death.
"Captain!" Ulman shouts followed by a hiss and a growl. Shots rang out from a shotgun followed by the animalist screams of a beast dying.
"Ulman! Respond!" Karl shouts back.
"A beast dragged me to this hell! Save-"
Dead silence. Karl, acting against his best judgement, runs down the stares to see a series of cells filled with torture devices. To his horror three human like beasts were feasting on their horse in the farthest cell. One of them looks up and locks eyes with Karl. It stands up, its human like face covered in blood, and begins to growl. Karl fires, sending three slugs into its head, and then fires into the others killing them.
Changing magazines, he moves on flashing on the corpses. To his horror, they were man like beasts with long hair and blue skin. Their teeth appeared wolf like and their feral demeanor left the impression that maybe this area wasn't affected by the war because of these creatures. He couldn't thinking about this for long and moved on, swallowing his confusion and rage to search for Ulman.
"Fucking Claudia forgetting to tell me fucking wolfmen are here!" He growls to himself as he passes more cells. "Or the fucking Amazonian woman, The fucking torture basement, or-" He pauses as a handful of fly swarm around him.
"The FUCKING FLIES!"
The pale light of the outside world devours the light of his flashlight as a cold breeze smacks him in the face. A large hole in the celling followed by the sight of Ulman laying against a pillar ripped to sherds took his attention. He sat in a small pool of his own blood and several spent shell casings. The shotgun laid across his lap and the bandolier nowhere to be found. A few shells laid on the ground cover in blood, a sign that he was fumbling to reload as more beasts came. On the walls was blood splatter from, what he assumed to be, more beasts but no bodies. A loud growl echoes from the darker regions of the basement catacombs and the rhythmic breathing of an apex predator could be herd closing in. Karl snatches the shotgun up quickly and begins loading shells into it. Once it was full he falls back to the stares to get out of the area.
Whatever it was took over twelve rounds of 00 Buckshot and still wanted to fight. Whatever he could throw after that would only piss it off further. Charging up the stairs he rounds the corner to the dimly lit hallway to be greeted by more flies, but he doesn't stop.
Till he tripped and slid into the floor, "Shit!" He shouts trying to get back to his feet. The flies engulf him and the sadistic laughter of a girl catches his attention. A harsh kick to his stomach turns him over to his back and to his shock a woman in a black Victorian dress with blonde hair is staring at him. In her hand was a large bloody sickle and he eyes screams of death.
"Ooops! Poor Manthing!" She says playfully. "You should watch your step! You could have cracked your head open on the floor! That would have been a waste of good mans blood."
Her hair was golden like the sun and her eyes matched but burned with the desire to devour the weak. Karl blinks several times to be sure this wasn't someone else. Her resemblance was so uncanny it froze him in place.
"It can't be… It cant be…" He mutters. "I-I-I…."
The growling grew louder and louder as the sound of claws rhythmically taping against stone closed on them.
"Awwww," The girl says. "Are you scared? Scared of me? Mhmmm."
"I'm not scared of you." Karl says flatly, "You should be scared of him."
"Who?..."
The beast appeared from the darkness tackling the girl into the cold kitchen storage room pinning her to the floor. The girl screams in pain as the beast howls in her face, saliva oozing out the sides of its mouth. The beast was a larger example of the ones that attacked Karl in the basement, but instead of blue fur from the cold it was black and three times the size. Its claws ripped into her side making her cry in pain.
"Not like this! Not like this! Cassandra! Daniela! Mother!" The girls scream, begging for her life. "Its so cold! Its so cold!"
The beast howls once more and slumps over on its side, freeing the girl, but not for long. Replacing the beast was the smoking barrel of the Winchester shotgun Karl recovered from Ulman. The tall man chambered another shell, its spent case echoing through her mind as the windows howled from the near by windows.
Karl's boot was firmly on her chest, the barrel of the shotgun square in her face, and Bela was wreaked thoroughly from the wolf attack and the cold. His eyes were void of emotion and his face was blank from her perspective. For the first time in her life, Bela felt fear.
For Karl, He couldn't shake what he saw in this girl.
"She looks just like her… Like Jane… Its her…." He says to himself.
"No… Its not… You know its not…. You finished her…" A dark voice says to him. "Now finish this one…"