Chapter 1

"You work in Castle Dimitrescu as a maiden. When working as a maiden in Castle Dimitrescu, there's two rules every maiden must follow: avoid the Dimitrescu sisters at all costs and do not make mistakes. You clean, or you die. Mess up, you become unlucky enough to face the wrath of those awful sisters, or worse: Lady Dimitrescu herself. You keep your head down and stay quiet. You only speak when spoken to, never ask questions when given an order, even if it's something you already did. Follow these rules and you'll be fine," you explained to the new maiden, a young girl fresh from the village.

She had just started her first day working as a maiden and she was quite anxious. She couldn't be any older than sixteen and you took pity on the poor girl, telling her everything you learned while working as a maiden. You clean, mind your business and stay the hell out of the Dimitrescu's way. Everything you told the new maid whose name had already forgotten, were things you witnessed other unfortunate maids do. Of course, it wasn't fair, but it was life. You don't really work in Castle Dimitrescu, you survive it. Most maids don't last more than a few months, but some manage to live in the Castle for little more than a year or more.

It is quite possible that you are the first woman who managed to survive the horrors of Castle Dimitrescu for this long. The other maids all look to you for guidance and try to follow suit. They watch your every move and copy it knowing that you've survived here the longest. The other maids look up to you as if you're the leader or something. It flatters you, but also annoys you. You're usually the one that ends up 'training' each new maid, although you're not necessarily the "head maid."

You're not special and you don't want to be. You want to keep to yourself and do your job in peace. The more people that talk to you, the more problems are created and in Castle Dimitrescu there can be no problems. Lady Dimitrescu's daughters are the problem solvers and if you're the problem, well….

It's unclear exactly what happens, but the 'problem maidens' are never seen again. There's often been talk of maidens being experimented on by Lady Dimitrescu in the Castle's basement and turned into some sort of monsters that stalk the cellars or fly above the Castle guarding it. It frightened all the other maids, but you've grown accustomed to living in a deadly castle with three women who love to torture for fun, a Countess who drinks blood, and monsters roaming the basement halls…. Although, the supposed 'flying monster maids' was just ridiculous. Just a bunch of made up ghost stories the sisters more than likely told to frighten you and the other maids. Of course, you've never actually seen any flying, demon maids since the windows are usually covered with multiple layers of curtains to keep any cold air out of the castle.

As long as you don't catch the Dimtrescu sisters or your Countess in one of their many moods, you're fine.

Today, you were cleaning the Opera Hall with two other maids, Madalina and Ramona, both of whom were waiting for you outside. They didn't question why you were late knowing you were giving the new maiden a prep talk. "Come on," you said as you opened the door from the Maiden's Barracks and out from the basement into the entrance hall. "We don't want to be late," you said, grabbing your bucket and gloves from Madalina.

"Yeah. I don't want to end up like… ya know," Madalina said. You knew she was thinking about a maid who had been killed last month for 'being late' to clean the library. Cassandra had hunted her down and kept her from cleaning the library for a while. The poor girl had been traumatized by the bloodthirsty sister and ran for her life before she was able to start cleaning and even after Cassandra stopped chasing her momentarily, she had been late to begin cleaning the library where The Countess was reading and expecting it to be clean. You suspected Cassandra had set her up for this on purpose and led the unlucky maid to a trap. She hadn't been seen since. "Miranda rest their souls," Ramona said.

"Hmf," you grunted in agreement. As you three made your way upstairs and onto the first floor, you all slowed down, listening for any heavy footsteps or giggling which could alert you to one of the sisters or your Countess. You took the lead looking left and right. "No sign. Let's go," you said, leading Ramona and Madalina to the Opera Hall. The three of you silently made your way to the large room, supplies in hand. You sighed as you walked down the elegant but gloomy hallways.

Living in the castle felt like a prison to you, despite the expensive and beautiful furniture. You couldn't enjoy it as a maid, it wasn't for you to enjoy it was for you to clean. Ramona opened the doors to the Opera Hall for you and Madalina to enter through. You mutter a "thanks," to her entering the huge room. You place your items down on the floor and look around the room, assessing it and determining how dirty it was. "Looks like it was just cleaned yesterday," Ramona sighed.

"Good, then The Lady will be pleased once we're finished," you replied, setting to work on the piano.

"I doubt she's ever pleased," Ramona huffed, walking towards the couch. Madalina went to the stage and began sweeping it. You three worked in silence as always, trying not to be too loud so as not to attract any attention to yourselves. Sometimes, you didn't have to mess up or make a mistake to catch the attention of the Dimitrescu sisters. Your eyes open wide and you could feel your heart beating faster as the sound of maniac giggling outside of the Opera Hall grew louder and louder. You turned around as the door burst open and saw a swarm of flies enter the room. Slowly the forms of Daniela and Bela emerged from the swarm of flies. You looked at the other maids, noticing how scared and nervous looked now.

As the women walked around the room laughing and inspecting your work, you tried to conceal your fear and keep a cold expression. "Well now," Bela said, walking over to Ramona's tiny, shaking figure, "what do we have here?" Bela grabbed

Romona's chin and lifted her head to meet her piercing gaze.

"I swear they get tinier every year." Danielagiggled, circling the poor girl.

"My ladies," you said, bowing to them, "we're here to clean the Opera Hall."

"Yes, I surmised that much," Bela said. You waited for them to continue. Daniela looked over to you, smiling maliciously. "Mother's requested your presence," Bela said, shoving Ramona to the ground.

"Bela, I was going to tell her!" Daniela yelled.

"Well then be quicker next time!" Bela said, smile dropping.

"You always do this! You never let me or Cass take the lead!" Daniela said, stomping the floor.

"That's not my fault!"

"Is too!"

"Why don't you both just tell me?" you suggested, interrupting their bickering before either of their tempers would rise too much. They both snapped their heads to you and began giggling again. "How sweet," Bela said, coming closer to you. "A maiden trying to come in between me and my little sister's flight."

"Does it upset you when we fight?" Bela teased, running her hand down your cheek. You knew better than to smack her hand away.

"Does it make you uncomfortable?" Daniela asked, inching close to your face. She grabbed your hand and brought it to her cheek, forcing you to caress her face. Bela and Daniela burst out laughing as they watched your face redden and you could feel your heart racing. The flies around the sisters began to fly faster and suddenly both Bela and Daniela grabbed your arms and dragged you out of the room. You turned your head back to Ramona and Madalina one last time as Bela and Daniela rounded a corner and turned. They laughed as they flew you, half fly swarm, half human, through the halls of the Castle. You could barely think of where you were going as the sisters came to a halt in front of a door, opened it, and flew you to face the back of a chair where a large figure sat.

Daniela and Bela's cackling died down as you looked up to see where you were, panting from the fear you felt and for being dragged throughout the castle. "Mother, I brought you-the maiden," Daniela said, interrupting her older sister and chuckling at Bela's annoyed face.

"Very good daughters," Lady Dimitrescu said, sitting back in her chair. "Now, we'll wait for Cassandra to come."

"Mother, I could go and fetch her," Bela eagerly suggested, stepping in front of Daniela. "Cassandra's always playing with the maids, she'll take forever!"

"Mother, I could go too!" Daniela said.

"Now now, daughters. There's no need for that." Lady Dimitrescu said, bringing a hand up to silence them.

"But mother- Not buts, Bela. Cassandra is already here," she said as the door burst opened and the swarm of flies grew into Cassandra who was dragging a fellow maid with her. You couldn't tell who it was though, Cassandra pulled her past you and threw her to the ground in front of her mother who was seated in front of you so you could only see her back. "Here's the maiden you asked for, mother," Cassandra said.

"Thank you, daughter." Lady Dimitrescu said, finishing her wine. She sighed and looked at the maiden in front of her. "Well now, you must be the new maid," she said, standing up to her fullest height and towering over the young girl. You felt your heart sink, 'not the new maid,' you thought to yourself.

"Y-Yes, My Lady." the girl squeaked. You couldn't see but you were sure the newbie was shaking. "And what is your name, dear?" Lady Dimitrescu asked.

"Emilia," the girl said.

"Emilia," Lady Dimitrescu echoed and bending down to stroke her cheek. 'What is going on?' you wondered, confused as to why you were called here. "My daughters tell me that you've stolen something."

"W-What?! My Lady, I swear I would never steal from you!" she squeaked out.

"Really? Cassandra, search her." Lady Dimitrescu said. Cassandra giggled, walking closer to the girl, and jumped at the new maid, laughing with her and her sisters and the girl shrieked, doubling down in fear. She searched her pockets and pulled something out, chuckling and handing it to her mother. "Well well," Lady Dimitrescu said mockingly and holding whatever item it was up, "what's this?"

"I-I don't know, My Lady."

"You don't know?" she waited.

"Well, it's a necklace, but I don't know whose it is or how it came to be in my possession."

"Ohh, ohhh! I do!" Daniela yelled, jumping up and down and raising her hand in the air. "She stole it!"

"Wha- no! I swear My Lady, I didn't steal it!"

"That sounds like something a thief would say," Cassandra said, playing into her sister's little game.

"I didn't take that! I swear it!"

"It was in your pockets!" Bela said. Lady Dimitrescu turned around before anyone could say anything else and walked over to you. You felt your heart starting to race again as she came closer to you. "This is yours, is it not?" she said, holding up a metal necklace depicting a wolf howling to the moon. You scrunched up your eyes in confusion and frowned feeling around your neck for the lace realizing that indeed your necklace was missing. "W… well yeah, but I don't know how- Well then, that settles it," Lady Dimitrescu said, turning around and walking over to the terrified maid again smirking. "It seems we've hired a thief." Daniela, Bela, and Cassandra began laughing at the scared girl. "Y/N," Lady D said, "how would you handle this?"

"Um... I'm sorry, what?"

"Well, this is your necklace and it would appear that this maiden stole it from you. How would you go about punishing her?" she asked, turning to face you again. Her hat hid her face but you could still see her glowing eyes through the shadow making her look like a beautiful yet terrifying figure. 'How did she snatch my necklace off without me noticing?' you thought listening to the sisters' mad laughing. It didn't make any sense. She was a brand new maid and from what you gathered after speaking with her you assessed that she was simply a frightened little girl who clearly did not want to work here. 'Then again, who would want to work here?' you thought. "You should slice her neck open and rip out her jugular vein." Cassandra giggled.

"Or, you could cut open her chest and rip out her heart," Daniela suggested. You closed your eyes and sighed. It all made sense, the girl was no more a thief than you. The sisters took your necklace from you and blamed the maiden for it. 'They must be bored today,' you thought knowing that the sisters liked to stir up trouble whenever they were bored. 'It's sadistic really, they just want to play around with her.' You put on your best poker face and turned to face your Countess again praying she couldn't hear your pulsing heart. "Nothing, My Lady."

"What?!" Cassandra yelled disappointment spread across her and her sister's faces as they stopped laughing.

"I beg your pardon?" Lady Dimitrescu asked, stepping closer to you her yellow eyes pierced your own.

"I forgive her." Lady Dimitrescu seemed disgusted for a split second, blinked, and smirked again. 'Did I throw her off guard?' "You mean to tell me, this maiden stole from you, after you've worked here for years and received little to nothing in return, and this new maiden steals the only thing you seem to value and you forgive her?" she asked.

"Actually, I don't think she stole from me. I think this is all a big misunderstanding."

"Oh really? Please enlighten me." Lady Dimitrescu said, staring you down with her scary smirk.

"I must've dropped my necklace and this new maid must've picked it up to see whose it was," you said. Lady Dimitrescu seemed to think for a minute, turning back to the other maiden. "Is that true, Emila? Tell me the truth," she said, holding Emilia's chin up and forcing her to look at her.

"Yes, My Lady. I saw it on the floor and was hoping I could return it."

"A likely story!" Belas said, crossing her arms.

"Why didn't you just say that in the first place?" Lady Dimitrescu asked. The maiden grew fearful once more. "F-Forgive me, My Lady. I was flustered." You wanted to say something to help her, but you couldn't think of anything to say. "Mother please, she's obviously lying," Daniela said, spawning her sickle. "Allow me to finish this lying thief off." The maiden stepped away from the taller woman in fear. "My Lady, p-please!" she squealed crying.

"Y/N, are you sure you trust this girl?" she asked you ignoring the maiden's pleas. 'It almost feels like she's testing me.' "Of course," you said, finding your voice again. "This maid is no more a thief than I am. This is just a simple misunderstanding." The daughters now looked at you like they wanted to carve out your face with their sickles. "Very well then. Emilia, you are dismissed." Lady Dimitrescu said with a displeasing tone. Emilia thanked her, bowed, and quickly walked away from your Countess. "Get back to work," you whispered to her as she passed you.

"Daughters, you are also dismissed." Lady Dimitrescu said, walking over to her chair and sitting back down. You dared to look over to her daughters who were all glaring at you for taking away their next meal. "Yes, mother," they said disappeared into a swarm of flies and flew out the door. "Well now, look at this," your Countess said, holding up her wine glass to you. "It seems I've run out of my wine. Y/N, be a dear and fetch me some from the cellars, will you?" You gulped, closing your eyes, and took a deep breath. "Yes, My Lady."

You turned around and walked out of the room making your way to the basement. 'Did she send me to the basement hoping that I'll get killed by those monster maids?' You opened the hatch and climbed the ladder down into the cellars and looked around seeing no signs of the supposed monsters that roamed the halls. 'Just get in and out' you told yourself as you walked over to a wine rack and bent down grabbing a bottle from the bottom rack. You looked around again as you slowly got back up and waited a few minutes for anything that could pop out and attack you. Nothing happened, though it felt like something should. Surely Lady Dimitrescu sent you down here to be killed, wouldn't she order those monsters to attack you? 'Are they even capable of taking orders?' you thought. Also, she was still supposedly sitting in her chair in that room. Would the daughters attack you? "Stop thinking and just go!" you yelled to yourself, standing back up and walking towards the ladder. 'Why the fuck did I yell that?' you thought as you heard a vicious roar from behind you. Without even turning around, you sprinted to the ladder, putting the bottle in your mouth, biting it with your teeth, and balancing it out on your chest as you began to climb as fast as you could hoping that it wouldn't fall out.

You forced the trap door open, threw the bottle onto the ground, and climbed out of the cellar. The monsters were jumping up at you, trying to grab at you but you were too far away for them to touch you. You laughed out of the panic you felt, flicked them off, and slammed the trap door shut. You grabbed the bottle of wine and walked back to the room your Countess was in and stood in front of her, bowing.

"Ah you've returned, good," Lady Dimitrescu said, still sitting in her oversized chair. "Y/N, be a dear and pour me a glass, hmm?"

"Of course, My Lady." You opened the bottle and began to pour the wine. Lady Dimitrescu grabbed the cap you placed on the table and inspected it, She hummed to herself. "Y/N," your Countess said, putting a gloved hand on your cheek and turning your face towards her as you finished pouring the glass. The bottle was still hovering over her cup as you felt yourself freeze. "You're bleeding," she said, wiping a streak of blood that you realized was coming from the side of your cheek. "Oh, apologies My Lady. I didn't realize that." She smiled at you and put her now bloody finger in her mouth tasting your blood. You tried not to show your emotions and let her know that you were nervous. You were praying she couldn't taste your anxiety. "Mmh," she sighed, closing her eyes and swallowing, "your blood tastes divine."

"Thank you," you said awkwardly. Lady Dimitrescu sipped her wine again. "I trust you had no trouble finding the wine?" she asked. 'How does she know?' "No, no trouble at all." you lied.

"Good, I knew you could do it." She praised you.

"Yeah, it wasn't hard at all," you said nervously, rubbing the back of your neck. Lady Dimitrescu smiled at you and took another sip from her crimson glass. "Is there anything else that I can do for you?" you asked.

"Not for now," she said, dismissing you with a wave of your hand. Just as you were about to turn and leave you remembered the whole reason you were brought here. "Um… My Lady?" you asked.

"Hmm?"

"C-Can I… have my necklace back?" you asked."Oh, of course dear," she laughed, grabbing it from the table. "I had almost forgotten about this silly little necklace." She looked at the old, scratched up, metallic wolf and thought. "I wonder, what is the significance of this?"

"Well, it's… ah…" you rubbed your neck again and thought. "I don't know, I just always wear it." Lady Dimitrescu looked at you curiously as if she was trying to see if you would remember something. Of what, you didn't know. Truthfully, you had no idea how you got the necklace or why it was so important to you, but every time you saw or held it, it brought you a sense of comfort and ease. You couldn't remember anything from your past and of course, it's not like Lady Dimitrescu would offer you any explanation.

At the end of the day, you were just a maiden and it didn't matter where your scar, tattoos, or necklace came from. "Can I just have my necklace back?" asked looking down.

"Of course, my maiden." Lady Dimitrescu said. You reached your hand out to grab it but she instead placed it over your head. Her gloved hand traced the lace of the necklace down your neck and stopped to touch the wolf again. You felt hot and grew nervous again. "There we are, good as new," she said. "You are dismissed."

"Thank you, My Lady." you said, turning around and walking out of the room.