(Chapter 5: Ryan meets his match)
After limping his way through the underground passage ways of several abandoned traps, making sure not to step on any of the skeletons that littered the rocky ground. He finally found himself back where he was earlier. In that one chamber where all the barrels were stacked against each other, settling next to the wall. He noticed that his shotgun was still on the ground from where he had dropped it during his first encounter with the magnet man known as Heisenberg.
With the press of a lever, an iron door slowly opened, large cogs working the machinery within the wall to rise the door up for the ex-marine to pass through. He walked up another flight of stairs, each step being slow, feeling like he could collapse with how wore out he was from the constant movement, and hassle to even live in this place. There was light at the end of a small hallway, and he emerged back out into the outside, getting some fresh, but frosty air. It was a relief to be out of those humid, dark caverns littered with corpses, and death. So relieved that he fell to his knees, and stopped himself from falling the rest of the way with his arms.
Ryan noticed that his muscular arms were shaky, as if they were about to give way any second. The cold quickly returning to his body through his trench coat in which had already been ruined with all of the tears it had received so far. The cawing of crows shook him back awake as he looked up, and to his right. The massive castle loomed not too far in the distance, a loud bell playing from one of the towers.
"Finally, fucking finally." He mumbled to himself as he fought to get back up to his feet without falling down on his ass, gritting his teeth as he heaved his toned body up. An ache pulsed through the gauze on his left arm from where a chunk of his bicep had been ruthlessly torn out earlier by a lycan. He groaned as he grabbed hold of the bloody bandages as he began to march up the hill that would lead to an entry point of this castle.
He noticed to his right as he walked up the hill that there were scarecrows, their torn clothing blowing in the wind. However, he noticed a crow pecking at one of it's eyes. Upon closer inspection, these weren't scarecrows at all, but rotting corpses that were crucified, and frozen in the harsh winter air, making them appear as stiff as a scarecrow. Their opened eyes devoid of life, and their soul.
Seeing a crow pick one of the eyes out made him sick to his stomach, he gagged, but put a hand to his sternum to try and keep his composure as he moved on with his journey. The snow crunching under his boots, the blood on the bottom of them creating crimson marks in the snow as he his weight was shifting to his lower body, each step was seemingly a stomp.
As he walked around a curve, the castle became more in view than ever before now. Seeing the large gate within the distance, and a large carriage sitting at the front. As he got closer to the entryway of the castle, the carriage doors swung open all so suddenly, startling Ryan as he was quick to wield his shotgun.
"Go ahead, do your fucking worst..." He growled through his teeth, only to see a gigantic man emerge from it in a seated position. The man was so large it was incredible that he was even alive, he appeared grotesque even. With wrinkles all over his immense gut, he had no neck, and his face was nothing but pudge. His legs and feet were nothing but stubs of blubber, and so were his arms. There was no possible way this person could attack him, so he slowly lowered his shotgun, but remained suspicious. The man wore a large dark coat around his upper body, with his large gut popping out due to it not fitting him entirely. His lower body was covered by a red sash. So much of his skin was exposed to these cold elements, but he figured all of that lard was providing him with enough warmth, similar to how blubber works on walruses.
Contained on the doors of this carriage were various items, this person must have been some type of salesman. Ryan didn't have any money on him, he had forgotten his wallet within the village before the lycan attack started, and there was no way in Hell he was about to backtrack all the way there in the state he was in now, it wasn't a smart idea at all.
"Relax, Mr. Miles, I'm only here to do business. I mean you no harm done." The morbidly obese man said loudly, Ryan was taken aback at how loud his voice was. Every breath the man took was heavy, as if all of that layer of fat was smothering his lungs.
"Who are you? How do you know me? How does everyone know me?" Ryan asked, having so many questions right now it wasn't even funny.
"Anyone who is anyone has heard of you, your name has been spread all around this village, and the four lords. A man struggling to survive on his own in the wilderness ravaged by savage beasts, a man who has nothing left to lose! A man who lost his brethren in a failed mission ten years ago." The massive salesman explained, stunning Ryan even more with just how much everyone knew about him, even the failed mission from an entire decade ago.
So that Heisenberg fella wasn't talking out of his ass when he said he knew more about me... Ryan thought to himself for a moment as the wind blew the snowflakes all around.
"Thanks for reminding me." The soldier sighed, icy air emerging from his mouth.
"You're heading into the castle? I must say it arouses suspicion." The obese business man warned.
"I would head into anything to get away from those fiends, the lycans. I need warmth, and not a place that is dark and humid either like those traps Heisenberg set," Ryan explained, his eyes glancing towards the castle.
"As well as I feel the same amount of suspicion towards you, with all due respect. You're living here with all of these...freaks..." He continued, this got the obese man to let out a laugh, the fat around his face jiggling, as well as his oversized stomach.
"I am but a humble merchant, apologies for my manners, you can call me Duke. Now to business." He said, showing off the various items he had in stock.
"My sincere apologies as well, but I don't happen to have any money on me right now. Everything I previously owned is back at that village, and I'm not going back there alone. However, is there any other way I could make purchase without my wallet?" Ryan said, wanting to purchase something he could potentially use, but unfortunately he didn't have the cash to do it, and it didn't look like this man used credit card machines.
"Nothing in this world is free, Mr. Miles. However, there is some local money scattered around this region from the fallen villagers, and in other places. If you could get your hand on some, you may come back. Mind if I ask you where you got those weapons you have on you?"
"I got these weapons from a single house in the village, an old fella was kind enough to give me his gun for free. He died though, in an attack. So I took his shotgun, some spare clothing, and a knife from a drawer. How does the currency look in this place? If I find enough, I may return."
"Our money is Lei, they look like tiny silver coins. I'm sure you'll know it when you see it."
Ryan nodded his head in understanding now before starting to head towards the castle with his back turned to it, wanting to give the large man some parting words.
"Thanks for the advice, Duke. I'll return hopefully soon with some Lei, God bless you!" Ryan called out before turning towards the castle, taking in a deep breath before heading up towards it.
"Same to you, my friend!" The Duke called out before slouching back into his carriage, closing the doors to prevent any nasty creatures from coming inside.
Ryan finally past the opened gate of the castle, and headed towards the front doors underneath a small canopy where torches dimly lit the place. He moaned in slight satisfaction, and relief as the warmth of the flames from the torches gave him what he desired, a perfect escape from the brutal Winter temperatures. Now it was the time, time to enter the castle, and enjoy his new home!
He placed his hands on the doors, and went to push them open. However they didn't seem to budge, he huffed as he took a step back before placing his hands into the doors again. The ex-marine letting out a groan of effort as he used some force to open them up ever so slowly. When he entered the castle, he made sure to close the doors behind him the same way before turning around to finally get a good look at the interior design.
He was greeted to a small flight of stairs, with a red carpet leading up to a painting of three beautiful women clad in fancy looking dresses. The rug was adorned by pretty golden leaf designs on the sides of them. As he walked up the staircase, he noticed that to his left and right were pieces of furniture. One of them being a large beautiful white vase with golden patterns, and the other being a red colored chest with clear drawers on the front of them.
Having the brief conversation with the Duke mere seconds ago, he checked the vase by turning it over, not wanting to damage it. What came rolling out of the vase was shotgun shells, perfect!
A smile came to his face as he picked the shells up, and stored them into his pockets until he could find another place to put them. He was going to thoroughly explore the castle first before selecting a room. He walked up towards the chest, and opened up the drawer to find a small case of gunpowder, providing him with even more items to craft ammunition.
After blatantly stealing from this place that clearly wasn't his to begin with, he headed towards the large painting that stuck out like a sore thumb in this room. Underneath the painting of the three gorgeous women was a golden plaque that read: "Three daughters: Bela, Cassandra, and Daniela."
The girl on the right of the painting appeared to be wearing a pink dress, and was holding flowers in her hands. There was also a crest of flowers within her pretty dark colored hair as well, including a golden necklace around her neck. The girl in the middle was wearing a white dress, and appeared relatively the same as the girl in pink. These girls all appeared to be twins, and he couldn't really differentiate between the three all that well besides their names.
The girl on the left wore a dark red dress with a white top to it, including the golden necklace around her neck. It was then he backed away from the painting, and waltzed on in to another room. This room was less beautiful than the one with the painting in it. Everything appeared to be made out of strictly wood with the exception of what appeared to be an elevator. There was a bag sitting on a wooden crate, and this brought a grin to his face. Money, fantastic, now he could go trade with The Duke. Out of curiosity, he tried to call the elevator by pressing the button, only for nothing to happen.
"Well, let's go see what I can purchase." Ryan said to himself as he left this smaller room, walking down the stairs to head for the door. As he placed his hands on the large iron doors to give them a shove open, he heard a faint buzzing in his ear, and then it grew louder...
He abandoned trying to open the doors, and swatted around him as these flies were continuously harassing him before flying towards the golden door all in one huge swarm. He turned around with a look of disgust on his face before turning back to open the doors again, but then something caught him entirely off guard.
"Where are you going, little one?" A smug yet seductive female voice said from behind him, Ryan whipped around with his eyes wide. The ex-marine thought he could be slick, and just walk out of here with the money, but he was proven wrong this time.
The large mass of flies began to separate into smaller colonies, and something strange but awesome then occurred. Emerging from the three columns of flies were women! All of them wore all black cloaks including a hood that was thrown over their heads. This had to have been the three daughters in that painting, but they looked drastically different than what he had seen.
Their mouths had black lipstick painted over them, and smeared all over their chins, and face was dried up blood. Not just a little bit, large quantities of it too...
One of the daughters had blonde hair, and a red ruby within her necklace. On her necklace was an assortment of other items, one of them appeared to be a dagger, another a small stick looking object, and a curved blade, as well as a green vile, and a miniature cutlass. Each daughter had one of these necklaces, this daughter was Bela, and she was slowly approaching him just like her two sisters.
The middle child, Cassandra, had brunette hair, and a yellow gem in the crest piece of her necklace. She was seen happily skipping down the small set of stairs towards him.
The youngest one, Daniela, had pinkish red hair, and she had a teal gem in the crest of her necklace. This one was seductively strutting towards him with a hand on her hips, swaying her hips from left to right to strut her stuff as she made her approach.
All three of them were giggling maniacally towards him, and their evil yellow eyes coupled with the black ashen remains of...something around their eyes, not to mention the large amount of dried up blood around their mouths only gave him evil vibes just like the lycans, and the four lords of the village.
"Look at this man! Thinking he can just waltz on in to take what he wants..." Bela said with a lick of her lips, taking out what appeared to be a sickle shaped weapon.
"I recently had a man to devour...but I don't think I'm full enough, I want more..." Cassandra said with devious laughter in her voice.
"I think the cutie can stay with me for a while, he looks so cold...perhaps I could give him a place nice and warm, in my stomach..." Daniela cooed, obviously taunting him.
The three daughters continued to get even closer to him, Ryan put up his fists in a combat stance with a snarl, baring his teeth as he was ready for a fight once again! That to which the three of them noticed.
"Ooh, so scary!" Cassandra teased before laughing wickedly, it was obvious that his fighting stance had no effect of intimidation on them at all. For many men have tried to fight back, only to fail miserably.
"Look at you, baring your teeth at us. What a brave boy you are!" Bela said loudly as if to jokingly compliment him before giving him a harsh shove right to the center of his chest, the impact making his heart skip a beat as he was knocked to his back with a thud!
These girls appeared to have average physiques for a woman, but the force behind that push was monstrous. Were these daughters also superhuman? Even worse for his situation. Cassandra, and Daniela loomed over him while silently laughing as Bela stood over him now.
"He looks delicious..." Cassandra said, her right eye twitching, or was it a lazy eye? Ryan couldn't tell at the moment.
The daughters were attracted to all the dried up blood on Ryan's face, and the bloody gauze over his arm, as well as his exhausted, roughed up appearance overall. Obvious signs that he had been in one Hell of a struggle recently, and boy did these three enjoy a man who helplessly struggles against them.
With a quick swing of her sickle, Bela sank the point of the weapon right into Ryan's knee from the side. The pain immediately caused him to rear his head back to let out a yell, his gloved hands running through his messed up hair. To hear the ex-marine in incredible pain amused these twisted sisters even more than they already were, the blonde took a step over him, and sniffed the air with a look of sadistic satisfaction on her blood soaked face.
"Man blood..." She said with only evil intentions in her voice before giving him a sinister grin, within a snap of a finger, the blonde bloodthirsty witch turned around, and she appeared to glide over the floor as she started to drag him off, her sisters in tow.
The man clawed at the ground as his shotgun had become unstrapped to his back, there would be no getting it back now. His face a look of horror as he tried to stop himself from getting dragged to God knows where they were taking him. Cassandra joined in as well, sinking her sickle into the other leg as they sped up with Daniela still gliding with them down the halls. All of them cackling, and giggling as the helpless ex-marine struggled, and groaned in immense pain!
Doors swung open when Bela and Cassandra got close enough to them, allowing them into other rooms. Ryan felt his body bumping against the floor, he felt his head bouncing up and down off the ground like a basketball, the back of his head in a world of hurt. Two double doors swung open, and finally they entered a massive room in what appeared to be a bedroom, as evident by the large Victorian bed sitting against the wall. The room brought him only meager amounts of relief, for even though it had a cozy fireplace, he was in the presence of these witches, and sitting within a chair in front of a table, sipping a cup of what seemed to be wine...or was it blood? Was none other than Lady Dimitrescu.
The three daughters spaced out, Daniela raising an eyebrow seductively down towards Ryan as she examined him. Cassandra moved closer to the fireplace, Bela stood the closest to him.
"Mother, I bring you prey." Bela said, presenting the ex-marine towards her massive mother.
"You are so kind to me, daughters." The countess spoke as she placed her cup down on the table, rising to her full height of 9'6, turning around to see the man on display for her to see.
"Well, well! Ryan Miles. You survived my little brother's idiot games have you? Let's see how special you are." She said as she slowly approached him, her tall shadow being cast over him. He slowly scooted back towards the wall which appeared to be a wooden board behind him, it stood out from all the decorated designs on most of the walls in this room.
Alcina thrusted her arms into the air with a widening smile, Bela, and Daniela took this as a sign to pull him back to his feet. Bela taking hold of his right arm, Daniela snatched his hurt left arm, and the two daughters jerked him off of his ass, and onto his feet.
Ryan's face was seen cringing in pain, his eyes squinting shut, his teeth clenched together. A painful groan of agony passing through his teeth, feeling the red headed daughter firmly squeeze the bloody gauze on his arm, putting pressure back to that wound he received way earlier. He slowly looked to the side to see Daniela giving him what appeared to be a kind hearted, sweet looking smile, but simple smiles can elude psychotic eyes...
"Awww, poor thing..." The red head cooed sweetly, but her true intentions were more of a taunt than anything else. Distracted by Daniela's flirty ways, Ryan didn't see the knife get placed on his hand, and swiftly slashed across the palm. A sharp, stinging pain came quickly, searing pain being inflicted as the blade glided across his flesh, the initial pain causing Ryan to yelp out in pain.
Alcina swooped her head down following the cut, and locked her crimson colored lips with the cut on his hand. The sharp, burning pain was quickly replaced by what felt like intense throbbing as she sucked away on the laceration. Seeing his blood seeping out between her lips and his hands, staining her pale skin. He turned away, disgusted at the sight of her guzzling his blood down her throat before finally lifting her head away after around ten seconds of constant suckling. The slurping sounds she made as she enjoyed his tasty crimson fluids didn't help it either.
Lady Dimitrescu paused for a moment, appearing to swirl the blood around in her mouth before finally swallowing it down her throat. A satisfied grin on her face, indicating that she enjoyed it.
"Hmmm...fantastic. Nice, thick, and warm." The countess described as she was handed a white cloth by Bela, wiping some spare blood off of her chin before placing dropping it to the floor.
"Oh, can I get a hold of him now. That sounds so delightful!" Daniela chirped.
"But I am the one who captured him!" Bela protested, having a disappointed look in her eyes, as well as an annoyed look too.
"Now now daughters, first I must inform Mother Miranda of his capture. Then...well we can have as much of him as we want to later on." Their mother told them, reassuring them that Ryan Miles would be their dinner shortly, hearing this made Bela giggle deviously, the thought of slicing him up filling her with just too much amusement.
"Put him up!" Lady Dimitrescu said, thrusting her arms up again. Cassandra was seen approaching him now, pulling out a hammer in one gloved hand, and two nails in the other.
Daniela and Bela began to hover from the ground, a swarm of flies surrounding them as they lifted him about seven feet off the ground. Cassandra hovered up with them as well, the two daughters outstretching his arms to both sides, holding them down by the wrists with his hands open wide. Lady Dimitrescu placed her hand firmly on his sternum, forcing him against the wall with a devilish grin.
"Put me down, n-now!" Ryan stuttered, fear coursing through his veins, his adrenaline pumping, his blood all the more thick...
"Be careful what you wish for, Ryan Miles." Alcina said darkly with a cold smirk staring into his soul. Ryan groaned as he looked to the side to see Cassandra placing the point of a nail into the palm of his hand, lowering a hammer to the head of the nail. With his outstretched arms in a T-pose, and dangling off the ground, they were about to crucify him to the wall.
"No, no, no, no, no!" Ryan screamed in terror as he looked around, his face filled with dread. Cassandra slowly turned towards him, one eye partially opened while the other one was open wide, having a psychotic smile as her right eye seemed to be twitching.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait, wait...hey!" Ryan panicked, Cassandra smirked, lifting the hammer up and quickly bringing it down, stopping it just short of the hammer striking the nail to drive it into the center of his right hand.
"Good, the more scared you are the thicker the blood..." She said with a lick of her lips.
"Wait, wait, wait, wait, wait!" Ryan cried, his facial expression showing it was as if he was about to start crying from how frightened he was right now, but it was too late as Cassandra struck the nail with the hammer, the point of the nail punching through his flesh, entering into his hand, blood gushing out from the puncture hole.
The pain was unfathomable, almost just as bad as the pain when a chunk of flesh was forcefully torn by lycan jaws earlier. He reared his head back, and let out the loudest scream of his entire life. A scream mixed with fear, and anguish. His mouth open wide, veins bulging from his head and neck as he wailed.
Then came another hit, and he could feel the extreme pain of the nail driving deeper into his right hand. He continued to scream, and his tormenters enjoyed it. Cassandra laughing maniacally, so was Bela, and Daniela all while Lady Dimitrescu snickered at his torture. His screams becoming so loud that his voice started to crack some, his face turning red, his eyes open wide as tears began to flow from them, running down his cheeks.
Another strike landed, a hard knock could be heard as the nail was coming close to piercing through his hand now. Blood continuing to ooze from where it had been driven into his flesh. Ryan continued to wail in unending suffering, tears rushing freely down his face like a waterfall. Sweat beading up on his forehead, and emerging from the pores in his body as the pain was so horrible, and unbearable.
*Tink!* Another blow was given to the nail, and finally it rammed through the other side of his hand like a battering ram, going deep into the wooden boarded up wall behind him. Ryan screamed ever more, now his voice was completely broken as it cracked non-stop as he wailed in excruciating pain. Everything stopped for a moment as Cassandra hovered away from him.
"God, please God! H-Help me!" He moaned aloud as Cassandra forcefully pressed the hammer into the underside of Ryan's chin, forcing him to look up as she licked his neck some.
"We're only just beginning, you stupid man..." She promised darkly as she moved to his other hand, he slowly turned his head to face Cassandra as she placed the nail down into it, lifting the hammer above it for a few inches.
"Y-you won't get away with this, you psycho...b-bitches!" He tried to say, his voice cracking as he struggled to keep his composure as his eyes were bloodshot from constant crying.
"Shame, we've already have. You've met your match, man-thing." Cassandra said with authority as she drove the nail into his left hand now, and the torture continued as blood gushed forth.
This was completely humiliating, after surviving all that just to get beat by women...
Just to get tortured, have his blood sucked, and have them laugh with no remorse in his suffering. Was this his end? These thoughts plagued Ryan's head as each time the hammer struck the nail, with each unrelenting agonizing strike, doubts started to trouble his mind, he was starting to lose hope. That could be reflected in his eyes, he was starting to give up on finding peace, finding warmth, he didn't want to admit it, but in the back of his mind ever since his plane crashed, he knew he would fall upon a terrible fate, he didn't want to accept it though.
Finally, when the second nail punctured his hand, and drove itself into the wall. Lady Dimitrescu removed her hand from Ryan's sternum, and the two sisters let go of his wrists. Letting his whole body, and legs dangle lifelessly as he was crucified into the wall. The countess noticing the cross necklace around his neck, a smirk came to her face as she brushed her leathery glove against his tear stained face.
"A man of faith, aren't we?" She asked, he slowly looked into her eyes. His hazel ones peering into her golden ones as they overflowed with tears, he tried to man up, but the humiliation and pain he was going through right now was too much for him. He never wanted to end like this, but he held on to hope that God would save him, there had to be a reason he wasn't killed ten years ago during that failed mission. No words were told to the tall woman other than a gurgled cry which cracked into a labored groan.
"Well then, let's see if your God can save you now..." Lady Dimitrescu snickered with pure evil in her voice, slowly leaving the room with Daniela following behind her. He watched as they all left one by one, Bela waving him goodbye, and Cassandra picking up the cloth that was still fresh with his blood on it, sniffing it before twirling it in a cute little dance before leaving, the door closing behind them.
How dare she... Ryan thought to himself, this tall, super sized bitch just made a mockery of his religion. This wouldn't slide, she had crossed the line. Now even in his indescribable pain he was suffering through, it was overshadowed by rage, and determination to turn that attitude of hers down a peg.
"HOW DARE YOU!" Ryan screamed, his voice cracking as several more tears rushed down his face. From outside of the door, he could hear the laughter of Lady D and her daughters, enjoying their work on him as they all got further, and further away from this room he was trapped in.
Several minutes passed by, and the pain was quick to take over his rage again, becoming so unbearable that he was on the verge of passing out from it. His head began to slump downwards, his eyes twitched and struggled to stay open.
"...Sunshine." A voice was heard echoing in the room, Ryan groaned in agony as he struggled to stay awake.
"...Sunshine..." The voice continued, Ryan began to notice how it sounded familiar, so he slowly lifted his head up to investigate the noise, what he saw would shake him to his very core.
It was Malosi crucified as well on a small cross, similar to how the villagers were hung outside of the castle that appeared like scarecrows. It was more gruesome than he could imagine, his body was naked, bruised, battered, and bloody. His big bushy hair was a complete mess, his beard was also torn to shreds as well, leaving only patches of what it used to be. His intestines were seen hanging from a deep gash in his stomach, but he seemed relatively calm for some reason...
"Malosi, what the hell!" Ryan screamed, he started to thrash around, but that only increased his pain, causing him to scream in frustration, and total agony.
"You should have went back to Florida when you had the chance, sunshine. You done fucked up coming here..." Malosi tried to warn, his lips trembling, he always called Ryan 'sunshine' for his kind demeanor when he wasn't fighting anyone, how polite, and kind he was to everyone around him that treated him with love, and respect.
"I tried to man, I fucking tried to." Ryan groaned, kicking his legs around as he tried to think of a way to get free.
"You should have went when the weather was warm, and forgot about the mission when you had a chance." Malosi tried to tell him, but Ryan was stubborn.
"No, I swore an oath that I would raise a family, to tell them about our journeys together in life. I made a promise that I would vanquish the lycans, I love you, brother, I'm not going to let your deaths go unanswered, I will bring justice, and vengeance upon those who wish to see us dead." Ryan growled, having just too much love for his brothers in arms, and his end goal in life to give up.
"I admire the effort, Ryan. However you need to understand that you are not limitless, unless this is a fight you know that you can win, then for God's sake, stand down." Malosi said, trying to tell the ex-marine it was okay to retreat from time to time.
"Giving up was never an option, I can do all things through he who strengthens me...and I will see my work done on this castle, on the lycans, and on that fucking Mother Miranda." He growled as he bent his knees, and dug his boots into the wall, pressing down on it as hard as he could, leaning his body forward as if he was trying to tear himself away from it.
He could feel his flesh tearing on his hands as he pulled against the nails that had driven his hands into the wall, biting his tongue so hard as he tried to resist the pain, that his tongue burst open, and began to bleed. Muffled screams were heard from his closed mouth as he fought to escape this trap, and as the severe pain was becoming too much for him again, he finally broke from the wall!
His body fell seven feet down, hitting the ground with a loud thud, forcing a grunt of pain from him as he looked down to see the nails had come out with his hands. Blood soaking them from the head all the way to the point at their bottom. His voice cracked as he writhed on the floor in pain, his hands shaking from how badly they hurt.
"What if I told you, that you will learn to love your enemies here, and you will make peace with them, and bring them the light? What if I told you that you will sort out the truly bad from the good, and destroy those who need to be destroyed?" Malosi asked, his voice starting to fade away as Ryan struggled to get back to his feet. Using his knuckle to push the nail that was puncturing through his right hand to come out far enough for him to grab with his left hand, and remove it, the process was still painful but not as painful as when they first were punched through.
"Hold on buddy, I'm gonna get you down. Stay there, don't die on me!" He screamed as he desperately tried to move as quick as he could to get the other nail out of his left hand, when both nails were removed, he didn't hesitate to run forward, reaching out for Malosi only to go falling through the air, crashing into the table, knocking the porcelain cup off of it, shattering upon impact once it hit the polished flooring.
Ryan looked back where Malosi was seen crucified, but he, as well as the cross, had completely vanished into thin air. His face shifted with pain, and confusion as he could have sworn he just had a conversation with a person he once called a brother in arms.
"Malosi?" He asked, but then an aching pain shot through both of his hands, a pain bad enough to force Ryan to collapse to his knees. The soldier would have to bandage the wounds up before they became infected. So he removed his leather trench coat, and now he only wore the white tank top on his torso. He took it off, and bit down into it on the strap as he tore a piece of the fabric off from the tank top. He wrapped it around his left hand, tying it securely to it, making sure it put enough pressure on to stop the bleeding, and to make sure it didn't become infected.
Ryan repeated the process as he tore off another strap from his tank top, and wrapped it around his right hand. Now not only was his left arm bandaged up by a blood stained gauze, but now his hands were bandaged up as well. It seemed that the ex-marine was becoming more and more mummified as time went on, but now he was recovered although intense pain still pounded in his hands from time to time, he was ready for a war against House Dimitrescu...
He cracked his knuckles, growling through the pain as he looked down at his belt. He still had his knife within the sheath, and the pistol within the holster. Now Lady Dimitrescu was one tall woman, but he figured enough rounds from the pistol would be enough to take her down, she wasn't another Urias that could be a tank like beast when it came to pain tolerance or immunity at that, but Alcina Dimitrescu only seemed to be an oversized woman from the 30s, what harm could she possibly do, poor Ryan was soon to find out.
The man-thing didn't know when to quit.
He left the room, searching through the castle to try and hunt down Lady Dimitrescu, as well as her witchy daughters. Ryan got into a low stance, making sure nothing or no one could see him as he moved through the castle. He would eventually reach a large open room, the floor was nice and polished, and there was four podiums here. This was the Hall of the Four, he looked towards the other side of the room to see a staircase leading up into another large room like this one. He stooped even lower to the ground as he moved as silently as possible.
Once he reached the stairs, he got on his stomach, and began to crawl up the stairs. Slowly moving all the way up to the top where he would pat his hair down to make sure it doesn't stick up, his eyes taking a peek at what was out there before he would make his move. The main hall was probably the most amazing feature of the castle's interior to him so far, it was a large open room, a staircase curving upwards where two balconies were. A black and white checkerboard floor, with other circular patterns adorning the polished flooring as well. There also appeared to be two sofas facing each other, in between them was a coffee table, these sofas were situated on a beautiful rug in which the coffee table sat on it as well. Not too far away from the sofas and table was a fireplace similar to the one in the bedchambers he had been momentarily crucified in, two armor stands with knight armor on display seemingly guarding the fireplace.
The most prominent feature by far was the gigantic chandelier hanging above the floor, it lit up the entire room as well as some candles on the stairwell. There appeared to be none of those three witches in the room. The coast was clear, he nodded his head in recognition before quickly but quietly bounding towards the stairs, starting to slowly walk up the stairs as silently as he could.
Now he would wait, crouched down behind a balcony, patiently waiting for the tall woman to re-appear with her daughters. Minutes seemed like days as his fists were tightly clenched, his teeth gnashing at the thought of getting his hands on Alcina and those bloodthirsty daughters. Insulting his religion would be the last mistake she would make, and humiliating him as a whole would be a mistake as well.
"Come on...come out..." He silently growled, cracking his knuckles, still feeling remnants of pain where the nails had been driven through them. He would wait, and wait. He eventually started to think of exploring the castle more, but felt that this vantage point would be too perfect of a spot to simply give up. For a total of fifteen minutes, he waited for the women to return.
Finally, double doors were heard opening...
The flies returned to the Main Hall, and the three witchy women materialized from them as if they were stepping out of a dust cloud of sorts.
"Mother! Are you ready to feast upon the man-thing?" Daniela was the first to ask, sounding giddy with excitement.
"Indeed I am, let's go get him..." She said, Bela, and Cassandra giggling in response to this.
Ryan had enough of their giggles, and enough of their cruel games, it ends today.
He stood on the guard rail of the balcony, Bela catching a glimpse of the ex-marine right when he had jumped!
"Mother, watch out!" The blonde screamed, but it was too late as Ryan let out a defiant scream as he leapt from the balcony right onto Lady Dimitrescu's back!
The impact of a falling human made the massive woman stumble around, Ryan wrapping his muscular arms around her throat as she was blinded when her hat fell in front of her face momentarily. Her face smashing into a wall, she screamed in shock as a man didn't go to lengths like this to defend themselves, even the daughters appeared shocked!
Ryan pressed his feet into the wall, and with a jerk of his arms, forced Alcina to take a few steps back. Her hat falling to the floor, accidentally stomping on it. Her pretty hair ending up a mess as it got into her face, she whipped her head around to get her greyish black hair out of her eyes so she could see what was happening.
"We have to do something, we can't let this bastard hurt our mother!" Cassandra screamed.
"Stay out of this, I don't want you all to get hurt!" Lady Dimitrescu boomed as she continued to try and compete against Ryan's erratic, aggressive movement.
Alcina went to reach up behind her only to receive a huge right cross from Ryan Miles, the ex-marine swinging his fist into her large head as hard as he could. This controlled her to take a few steps forward, but then she forcefully jerked herself back to smash Ryan against the wall some. The impact made him cuss under his breath from the pain, and one of his arms came lose, but one arm remained tightly wrapped around her throat, the pressure loosening up.
Alcina backed up again as Ryan desperately tried to get his other arm locked in on the chokehold, hearing the vampiric woman growl furiously as she continued to try and throw the man-thing off of her back as he struggled to hold on. He was once again smashed against the wall, this time it hurt badly, causing him to let out a shout of pain as Lady Dimitrescu twisted, and turned around, leaning forward to try and hurl him off, but Ryan countered this by balling up his right fist, and giving her a hammer blow to the top of her head as hard as he could!
She noticed that one of his arms had come loose, his choking arm as he was trying to maneuver himself around her tall frame, and she grabbed hold of it with both of her gloved hands only to receive a nasty palm strike to the side of her head behind her ear, the sweet spot for a knockout, but as big as she was, as well as her superhuman capabilities, this wouldn't knock her out. These punches weren't even phasing her at all, they were nothing but a nuisance, all she was trying to do was throw him off, but he proved to be a determined little bastard, and he was holding on as hard as he could.
Ryan was backed against the wall once again, so she jerked her head back forcefully, smashing into his jaw, finally stunning him long enough for her to grab hold of Ryan's hurt arm, and slammed him down with authority!
The impact made him groan in agony as he heard a loud pop once his back connected with the marble flooring, but with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, and the determination to make her suffer for insulting his religion, and himself as a whole, it wasn't as bad as he anticipated it to be, but it still hurt like a bitch nonetheless.
"Stupid man-thing!" She screamed with the utmost fury, her golden eyes appearing to glow with intensity as she rushed towards him, attempting to stomp his head in with her heels only for Ryan to swiftly move out of the way, but she remained on the attack!
The countess pounced on Ryan savagely, thinking she would go for a bite to his neck, he quickly brought his right forearm up to protect himself. Instead she locked her hands around it, squeezing it tightly. Her grip was insanely powerful, he let out a scream of pain as it felt like her grip could crush his bones if she applied any more pressure, but she wasn't done yet...
Alcina spun around, and with one single swing, sent Ryan flying all the way to the other side of the room, he let out a scream as he flew through the air, connecting with the doorframe in which would lead to the Dining Room. The impact was so terrible that it dislocated his left shoulder, and it hurt like hell. The daughters were now enjoying his struggle to fight back, evident by their giggles, and laughter.
Ryan's entire left arm was useless now as he grabbed hold of his shoulder, wailing in agony. His plans on taking Lady Dimitrescu out had gone up in smoke, and humiliation began to creep back into his mind. Now he started to fear for his life.
Alcina made her way towards Ryan, and what she done with her hands sent a shiver down his spine. Extending from the tips of her fingers, long metallic claws began to grow. Reminding him of Lady Deathstrike from the Wolverine movies. His eyes widened as she went to stab into his head, evident as she cocked her arm back. Ryan quickly rolled out of the way, and tried to get up only to receive a monstrous backhand from the countess, knocking him on his ass with brute force, a loud meaty whack echoing throughout the entire Main Hall! Now Ryan was fucked.
She pounced on him again, using her claws to her advantage. Sinking them into his clothing, and viciously ripping them off one by one. Her long razor edge claws slicing his leather trench coat to ribbons, and effortlessly making long shallow cuts into his barrel chest. Blood splattering everywhere with each stroke she made with her claws from left to right as Ryan could only helplessly back away as his own blood began to pool up on his chest! Each shot made him yelp in agony, and the daughters were laughing harder now at the sight of him being mauled by their mother.
After four more consecutive claws to the chest, she stood up and slammed her foot down on his sternum at full force, knocking the air out of him for a second or two. Her high heels digging into his flesh! He let out a loud moan from sheer pain but was still defiant as she started to lean down to confront him, sending a hard right hand to her ear that once again didn't damage her one bit, it was as if she didn't even feel it!
"You're done for!" She screamed as she lifted up her foot once more, slamming it down on Ryan's chest again at full force! The point of her heel digging into his flesh once again on his blood soaked chest, as he went to try and remove her large foot from his bloody chest, she twisted her foot from left and right, making the pain one of the worst he's ever had in his life, the sounds of his bones grinding and crunching together were heard due to the terrifying force all while he let out an elongated wail of pain.
He was breathless, helpless, hopeless as he tried to remove her foot, but it wouldn't budge. His attempts were futile, and absolutely pathetic. The look on his face showed horror, nothing he had thrown at her did a thing to her. He was so terrified, and at this point, traumatized, that he looked like he was about to break down crying.
"I can smell your fear!" Cassandra taunted with insane laughter.
"P-Pl-Please..." Ryan begged as Lady Dimitrescu lowered her head to face his, nose to nose almost with how close their faces were.
"You'll be sliced to ribbons, and maybe then you can join your dead friends!" She screamed at the top of her lungs in his face, black veins appeared to be growing on her skin, her eyes a blood red from how infuriated she was at his resistance against her, barely able to control a monster within her...
The ex-marine felt her breath upon his face, some spit flying onto his cheek, some of it landing in his beard. He had cringed in terror as she was screaming at him at first, but he eventually had the courage to make one final act of defiance if this is to be where he dies.
"FUCK YOU!" Ryan screamed as loud as he could right back in her face.
Alcina stood up, and everything appeared to be going back to normal. Her eyes returned to their normal gold coloring, and the black crackling veins were no longer sprouting all over her. As a matter of fact, a sinister smile seemed to have formed on her face.
"Defiant even when your life is in jeopardy, and you have no hope of escape or a chance against me...Admirable, but foolish all the same." She said before taking her foot off of the soldier's gored up chest, his breathing was labored and irregular as he groaned weakly.
"Take this fool to the dungeon, I'm going to go calm down, torture him for a while, but don't kill him yet. I'll give that order eventually." Alcina grumbled as she stormed off upstairs, heading to her chambers to smoke from her long cigar.
Ryan couldn't take it no longer, and within seconds of seeing her leave his line of sight, his eyes closed. The soldier passing out from the pain, Lady Dimitrescu once again putting another dumb man in his place...